Powerful Women Rising - A Business Podcast for Female Entrepreneurs

Podcast Guesting Secrets w/Candice Dudley

• Melissa Snow - Powerful Women Rising, LLC • Episode 112

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Podcast guesting is one of the fastest ways to build trust and grow your audience - especially with these tips!

Today I'm chatting with Podcast Guesting Coach Candice Dudley, who helps entrepreneurs just like you get booked on shows that put you in front of warm, aligned audiences who want to hear what you have to say.

We talk about how podcast guesting isn’t just about visibility - it’s about connection. It’s about getting in the right rooms, building real relationships, and making it ridiculously easy for people to say “Yes, I want to work with her!”

Inside this convo, you’ll learn:

  • How to know if you're ready to be a podcast guest (HINT: perfection not required)
  • The biggest mistakes people make when pitching themselves as a guest
  • The secret to getting booked on shows that lead to real results (not just downloads)
  • Exactly what to do to have hosts saying, "She was an AMAZING guest!"
  • How podcast guesting builds trust faster trust than most other forms of marketing

Whether you’re brand new to pitching or you’ve done a few interviews and want to tighten up your strategy, Candice breaks it all down in a way that’s clear, doable, and totally human.

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Melissa Snow is a Business Relationship Strategist dedicated to empowering women in entrepreneurship. She founded the Powerful Women Rising Community, which provides female business owners with essential support and resources for business growth.

Melissa's other mission is to revolutionize networking, promoting authenticity and genuine connections over sleazy sales tactics. She runs an incredible monthly Virtual Speed Networking Event which you can attend once at no cost using the code FIRSTTIME

She lives in Colorado Springs with two dogs, her soul cat Giorgio and any number of foster kittens. She loves iced coffee, Taylor Swift, and Threads.

Speaker 1:

Hello Candice, Welcome to the Powerful Woman Rising podcast.

Speaker 2:

Hi Melissa. I'm super excited to dive in and talk about all this today.

Speaker 1:

Yes, me too. Do you ever feel like a lot of pressure when you are a podcast guest? And you're talking about podcast guesting, You're like don't screw it up.

Speaker 2:

Sometimes because people are probably really expecting you to be well-spoken and never say um, and you're probably not going to get that. But that's okay. I like to keep it real, so it's all good.

Speaker 1:

I love that. We're all about keeping it real and authenticity over perfection, so it's all good. We know that you know what you're talking about. So before we dive into the good stuff, tell us a little bit about you and how you got to this point.

Speaker 2:

Sure, well, I was a teacher actually for 13 years and I've been out of the classroom now for three years. I started my podcast four years ago while I was still teaching. I was just having my third baby. It kind of backed back to back and was really feeling kind of isolated alone, like my journey wasn't being talked about and I kind of gotten into personal development at the time had this nudge for about a year like I just want to start a podcast. I just I don't know why, I don't know the ins and outs Did a lot of Googling, did a lot of you know self-teaching and one day just started the podcast, put the baby down at nap time, had this overwhelming feeling that I was going to be here same place in a year and I didn't feel good about that.

Speaker 2:

So I just needed to take action and I did, and that first episode is still out. It's about starting before you're ready, because that's what I was doing. I didn't know how to edit, didn't know anything in those regards I do now, obviously being in it four years. But I birthed my own podcast that way and in the last four years there's been a lot of pivots. Obviously, I left the classroom, tried a lot of different things in business in the last year and a half. It's really settled into podcast guesting. It really aligns with things that are really important to me. I felt seen listening to other podcasts and that's what I hoped my podcast would do is help other women especially, feel seen. So I love the ripple effect that podcasts can give us as female entrepreneurs, as a community like that a voice and then allow someone listening to feel so seen like oh, she gets me, I'm not alone. That feeling I know from personal experience, can really change the course of your life and create such huge ripple effects. So that's where my heart lies, that's where I'm at.

Speaker 1:

So pairing that four years of hosting with a lot of guests and experience, blending it together as a tool to help women grow their own business through speaking on other people's podcasts, with people, even though you feel like you're having a one-sided conversation, right Like even when I do solo episodes, like I still feel like and sometimes I will say like hi, how are you guys, how's it going today? And I'm like I don't know what the answer is, but I hope that you're doing good. And just like the way that you can connect with people who are listening in such a non-traditional way, I think is really fun, both as a host and as a guest. Yes, I think is really fun both as a host and as a guest.

Speaker 2:

Yes, it's so much deeper when people can hear your voice. So many podcasts now are adding that video aspect or posting snippets of it on social media. So it's just this you know, almost this fast pace like speeds up the process of someone really getting to kind of feel your vibe and know you on a deeper level than it takes you know much longer sometimes through social media and pictures and things like that. So I love that part too. It kind of builds a community so much quicker.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely so. The first thing I want to ask you is, when it comes to podcast guesting for entrepreneurs, who should be doing it and who should not be doing it?

Speaker 2:

Oh, I love this question because there are things that if you're not ready to do yet, like sharing the episode or feeling super confident in your business, your offers, feeling really embodied in your business If you don't feel that yet, you may not be ready for podcast guesting Although for me, there was a little bit of trial and error where doing a couple of guestings before I had all that figured out helped me get to where I was going. So I don't want to say like don't do it. But if you feel frustrated with the algorithm, you keep feeling like you don't know if it's working and you're sick of social media. Or maybe your social media is okay but you just wish you had more control and things like that. For me, there was times where I was like I just wish more eyeballs would see this, like I know that this can help so many people, I just need more eyes to see it. So I dove in with different things. I saw like 30 reels in 30 days challenge and I just felt burnt out from that and I felt exhausted, like I was putting all my eggs in one basket and I wasn't getting the increase in followers of 5,000 new followers that so many people that were doing these challenges were seeing, and so if you've ever felt like that or that type of thing didn't work out for you either, podcast guesting might be a really great fit.

Speaker 2:

It's something we don't often think about, especially if we aren't in the podcasting world, because it's you don't realize that as hosts, you and I we're looking for awesome guests all the time. We're putting out weekly episodes yes, some are solo but we're also looking for people to fill gaps that we aren't going to talk about on our show if we're not the expert and we're looking for those people to come in. So, knowing that hosts are always looking for guests, that's another thing too. And so you want to jump in and do podcast guessing when you feel that I wish more eyes would see this. I just want to be in front of a warm market, because when you find the alignment and we can talk about the strategy and finding that those pieces that are part of my system in a little bit, but when you make sure the show is aligned, like we have female entrepreneurship, like we have a lot of things that match that, that's going to put us in front of a warm audience instead of maybe people going to social media, scrolling past your reel, things like that.

Speaker 2:

So if you think about the mindset piece too, when people go to podcasts they're usually ready to learn something or they are in a different mindset than when, at the end of the day, I go to social media to scroll and detach and just check out. So it's a very different vibe going from one platform to the other. So hopefully that answers the question, but it's definitely for a lot of people because of how many kinds of podcasts there are. There are shows for you, I guarantee it. But if you don't feel confident in your offer yet speaking about it, that's maybe not the best choice. So that would be my take on like who it's not for yet, not that it's not for you, but yet. But if you feel really confident in that offer, this is a great thing to add to your plate.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so good, gosh. There's so many things that you said that if you feel really confident in that offer, this is a great thing to add to your plate. Yeah, so good, gosh. There's so many things that you said that I want to touch on and go back to. So one of them I think it was the very first thing that you said was maybe you're not ready for podcast guesting if you are not willing to share your episode.

Speaker 2:

Yes, let's say that louder for the people in the back. Yes, and I get it. Sometimes things happen. You didn't check for alignment, maybe you didn't listen to their show. You got invited on, you said yes, you showed up and you were like I do not vibe with this host. This is not good, I can't share this. I don't believe in what they're talking about Because you didn't follow my system or any system.

Speaker 2:

Part of it is doing your homework. You need to listen to their show. You have to check for that alignment. It's a waste of time if you don't and then you're going to burn bridges because now you're not going to share that episode. You and I know as hosts that does not feel good when people do not do that. Because a guest episode from a host perspective especially if you're running your own editing and all that it is way more time consuming to schedule, to edit, to get things ready, media stuff ready, to put on social media, emails, things like that, than it is to just do a solo episode. So knowing that you have to go in expecting to share it, that's the fun part too. Or you're not confident enough in what you said, which now that's a mindset thing, or that's some practice in your speaking and things like that. But yeah, you need to be ready to share the episode, or don't say yes.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's such a good one, and I also want to talk about a little bit what you said about how you have to be in a space where you feel confident about your offer, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I would say that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be in a space where you feel 100% confident as a podcast guest, right?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. You're probably not going to feel like that. I can remember hitting record on the first episode and then hitting publish, having not edited. I can remember my first guesting experience being super nervous. But the thing to know is, as hosts, we want you to do well, we are cheering you on, we're there to catch you, we want it to sound good, it's our show, we're going to publish the episode. So we are on your team and so you need to know that, going in, you also should feel totally secure in that. It's just a very controlled environment. We get to set up where we want. We book the time when it fits best in our schedule. There's a lot of really great pieces.

Speaker 2:

It's very different than speaking on a live stage. I've done that too. That doesn't light me up, that depletes my energy so bad. But this kind of thing because I'm an introvert one-on-one. So just because you think you might be shy introverted, I am too this can still be a really safe space, a very empowering space to use your voice as your driving tool in your business. It also when you speak about your business, your offers and what you do over and over, you get better at it and I've noticed in my clients and myself, social media emails to my people those all really get better and better because you're honing that message, because you're going to listen to the episode and you're going to find little things that I should have said this just do it with some grace and not so much judgy judgerton energy and just what can one thing I can do better next time and do that and shift and adjust and you're going to get better, and so that's going to ripple throughout your business too.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

I think this is making me want to go back and listen to like the first podcast episode I ever did of my own, which was like two podcasts ago, and I just think it's so interesting to listen to, like the very first ones, and I Like not have that expectation of yourself that you are going to sound like Candice or you're going to sound like me.

Speaker 1:

And I read this book once. I wish I could remember what it was called, but it was about social anxiety and it was written by a psychologist who worked with people who had social anxiety. And she said people always come to me and they say I want you to help me get rid of my anxiety so that I can go live my life. And she said it's actually the opposite. You have to go live my life. And she said it's actually the opposite you have to go live your life in order to get rid of your social anxiety. And I keep thinking about that with this too. It's like if you wait till you get to the point where you are like a hundred percent confident in your ability to like say everything perfectly and crush it as a podcast guest, you're probably never going to be a podcast guest.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, and you will also not have put the reps in to get to the level that you expect yourself to be at. Right, you have to be okay being a beginner walking into the arena, knowing that there are people that are going to connect with you. They have not connected with anybody else. They are looking for you and they're going to be so excited to meet you where you're at. If you don't let yourself be a beginner, you can't ever get to that level.

Speaker 2:

So I always tell my clients too one it's okay to ask the host if they edit. Most do. It's a very different vibe if you know they don't and you've got to go straight through. But even that that's okay, because then their style is having a real conversation, very authentic, very laid back. But if you're listening to something that has no ums, no stumbles, no filler words, either that person has put in a ton of reps in the speaking category or someone is doing editing.

Speaker 2:

So you kind of we listen to very polished things often and so we need to sort of give ourselves a lot more grace and let ourselves get out there, because you don't get to walk in and be this professional speaker if you've never done it, and that's okay. Like I said, there's people that want you. They're not. They haven't connected with me, they haven't connected with with Melissa, so they're waiting for you and I trust that in my whole being. And I think most entrepreneurs have to kind of have that blind trust because otherwise what are? What are we doing if we don't trust that there's people out there that need us as we are?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely. So what we're going to talk about today in terms of podcast guesting, I think is relevant to people who are wanting to get into podcast guesting, but also people who are already doing it but maybe not getting the results that they want or they don't know if they're doing it. Quote, unquote right, so let's talk first about like, what should we be talking about? Like, I have all of these things that I could talk about. So how do I know, when I'm looking for a podcast to guest on, what to say when they're like, what do you want to talk about?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely so. The first step that I have is clarifying your niche topics, just picking out and I help you do this in my guesting accelerator, I help them come up with these topics I say three very specific topics in your niche. And how do we get there? Well, we gotta do some thinking, we gotta do a little pause before we jump in. If we don't do this step, there's no point, I think, in searching for podcasts, in pitching yourself, because you're going to come off with.

Speaker 2:

Probably you've seen on threads where people post, I have a goal to guest on 25 podcasts this year. Who wants me? And as a host, I'm going to keep scrolling because, while I might also have the same goal and I'm excited for you, I don't know what you want to talk about. That's not giving me any value. And, as a host, I need to know are you going to talk about? That's not giving me any value. And, as a host, I need to know are you going to bring value to my show? That's my only concern, because my audience, that's what I'm protecting as a host. So, um, starting off with those, those niche topics, one question you can ask yourself is if you had to guest on a podcast tomorrow and there's no time to prepare what comes to mind that you're like this would be it. This is what I would go off of. There's something there. That speaking topic is there. The other thing that you can do is a lot of us have offers or a free offer of some sort and you can think about what is in there as a speaking topic, because hopefully your free offer has some alignment with your paid offer and your dream client signing right. And if that's there, there's a speaking topic in there, or two, and so we want to get really specific as to who that's for. It's going to help a host say yes to you so much faster. It also means that you're going to possibly get no's quicker as well, but I think that's a great thing, because to me, what it shows is you are dialed in on what you talk about and what you're passionate about.

Speaker 2:

If we don't do this step, what can happen is you get on a show they might start throwing questions that you aren't prepared for. It's not in your niche. So now you feel uncomfortable. You feel like you're stumbling and don't know what to say because they're asking you things that aren't what you're an expert in, and then people get done with the episode, they come over to your social media, they come to follow you and that page is totally different than what you ended up talking about because you didn't do these steps. So I have two pillars and that's a streamlined system and value led. So that's kind of what everything falls back to in my system and my process.

Speaker 2:

So again, that first piece of that niche topic it's vital and we have to look at those things in order to do anything else. But once you have that, once you get those, you can start the pitching, you can start looking for podcasts. All of that because that is your navigation. That's how you know what's aligned, what's not aligned, where you fit. That's how a host is going to identify right away yes, I need this topic on my show and that's just. Yeah, that's your first step. You don't do anything until you've done that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I think the part about being very niche, specific is important, because I think sometimes people think that the more broad I mean we do this with business too right we think the more broad the people that we help and the things we help them with, the more likely we're gonna get customers and clients. And I think I see people do this a lot when they apply to guests on the Powerful Women Rising podcast is they think if they have a more broad topic, it's gonna apply to everyone and it's gonna work for every podcast and that's actually a good thing. And for me it's like I get so many that are like I can talk about how to build your business in a way that feels aligned. I can talk about, you know, the money mindset issues that are stopping you from making money, like there's a handful of ones that are basically like over and over the same variation of the same thing, and I generally don't look past that title, right, because I mean I've got I think I've got 168 applications right now to go through and so I need a way to narrow it down and if you sound like everybody else and you're going to talk about what everybody else wants to talk about.

Speaker 1:

That's probably not going to get you in the door. We're going to talk a little bit more later about how to get picked as a guest, but I just wanted to throw that out there in case I forgot to later. So you've already touched on this a little bit, but I want to kind of drill in more on if I'm ready to podcast guest. I know what I want to talk about. How do I go about finding the right shows to be a guest on?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. So I do this for my clients at step two, handpicking the podcast. So if you were to do it yourself, this could be a time-consuming thing because so many people that come to me they're like I went to search on Apple and Spotify and when I search I just get these huge name podcasts and I'm not looking to guest on these big production podcasts. I'm looking for shows like yours, independent podcasters, and they can be hard to find because they're not going to come up in search engines, that's true. So I'll give you the inside scoop. So I have a tracker and I can send this. We can link it in the show notes. I have a tracker you guys can have, Because if you do this, you're going to want to keep some sort of a system, but you go to a smaller show. So if you're listening to Melissa's show and I don't mean to say yours is small, I just mean that it's not, like you know, have celebrities and things like that on it.

Speaker 1:

Okay, yes, you know, have celebrities and things like that on it.

Speaker 2:

Okay, yes, in a lot of ways I'm not Joe Rogan, thank you. Thank you, that's what I was trying to say. So you're listening to Melissa's show and you see that she has other guests on. They might have their own podcasts, as do I. So then, if you're aligning with Melissa, maybe you're aligning with me. You hop over to my podcast, the Better Brave Podcast. You'll find that I also have guests that have their own shows.

Speaker 2:

So it becomes kind of this breadcrumb trail and what I do is I find that for people and I listen and I utilize my network of four years of hosting and guesting that I already have contacts. But you can do this. Right, I started at zero. But for those that want things sped up, want to not add all that to their plate, there's people like me that do that. Right, I started at zero. But for those that want things sped up, want to, you know, not add all that to their plate, there's people like me that do that. But that's kind of where you can go and I say you know you don't need to listen to every episode they have, but you do need to, you know, read their show description, listen to their intros, get some solo episodes of theirs under your belt, you should be able to tell pretty quickly if there's some alignment and there should be. And that doesn't mean that you should be the same person. Obviously you're not going to guest on their show. If you are, there's no point. They can just talk about it. But something should match right. There should be a value, a mission, something that's in common. That's going to give you that connection.

Speaker 2:

When you don't have that, that's when it's kind of a waste of time, that's when people say, well, this isn't working for me, yeah, because we're not doing the system, we're not looking for the alignment. That piece is vital. That's where you're going to be able to get in front of those warm audiences, because the host having someone on your show, you know as a host, it's like borrowing their credibility and trust that they built with the audience, because we don't just let anyone come on our shows. Right, we have this, this you said you have 168 people waiting to be on your show and you've only allowed however many this year to be on. So the listeners know that, and so when you have someone on, it's like vetting them. And that's what I mean by getting in front of a warm audience. You're in front of people who probably are already interested in what you're doing because they already follow Melissa's show and now they're excited to hear what she brings on because they're already aligned with her. So we get to speed up that know, like and trust factor so fast.

Speaker 2:

So sometimes people think of podcasting as a long game, and it is in a lot of sense, you know, because it's evergreen content, it's out there for so long, it's searchable and it can be found for so much longer than social media. But I also think it's really fast because it's not just someone scrolling your social media, maybe hitting follow, maybe not hanging around for months. Possibly someone could take action immediately from watching a show and come over and book something with you because they just felt like you spoke to them and that they already know that the host is vetting them and maybe they really love the host. So I have a client, kelly, and she comes to mind and she's got about 1,500 people on Instagram and she's got about 1,500 people on Instagram Not a big following, but she worked with me, had a goal of guesting on six shows for the year.

Speaker 2:

She did eight in a week and was booked out through summer. So it can be really fast when you do the system right, when you do your niche topics, check for alignment. That's that homework piece with the podcast. So that's really important to do in order for it to kind of convert for you or bring you new people into your neck of the woods. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

I think the part about listening to an episode or two before you apply to be a guest is really important and I think, as I, I was, as I was listening to you talk, I'm like I know for me as a host, it's important to me that they've listened because I want to know that they vibe with the style right.

Speaker 1:

This isn't like super rehearsed. Sometimes I have no idea what's going on and I'm like wait, who are you? What are we talking about? Like, and I need you to be okay with that. I'm very much about being human and that's not the vibe for some people. But I also think, as you said, it's really important for you, as the guest, to have listened to it, because that's how you make sure that it actually is somewhere that you want to be showing up. It actually is someone that you want to be aligned with and you know, maybe you look through the other people that they've had on the podcast and you're like ew, ew, no, don't like her hate everything he stands for, right, so maybe that's also not the show for you.

Speaker 1:

So a lot of reasons to do that work beforehand. I actually ended up I don't know if this was before or after you applied to be a guest, but I ended up adding something on my application for guests that was all the way at the bottom of like this will be. I put like this will be a good fit for you If this. It won't be a good fit for you If this. Please listen to an episode.

Speaker 1:

First blah, blah, blah, and then all the way at the bottom, I said if you've read this far, please tell me. Somewhere in I'm telling you, of those 163 applications I currently have, I maybe know 15 of their favorite fruits and it sounds really silly, but I did it intentionally because if you're not going to take the time I mean it's not long, it literally would take you about two minutes to read it if you're a slow reader. But if you're not going to take the time to read that and find out if this podcast is a good fit for you you're just all about get me on as many podcasts as I can, as fast as I can then this probably really isn't a good fit for you. So I think that preparation piece, and like doing your research, is very important.

Speaker 2:

Those are really good points, because that quality over quantity is key here, because if it's just trying to get on as many shows as you can, like you said, you got to think what's going to happen after this. It's going to be released, they're going to probably tag you on social media, so people are going to be a click over there. You are going to be associated with that podcast and what they're about. So if that doesn't feel good to you, that's not. We don't want to just say yes to everything. We don't want to pitch ourselves to every podcast, but it's another good segue too into pitching.

Speaker 2:

We can talk about that next of like what goes in that, because some of people have an application that we can just fill out, but a lot of them don't, or a lot of them aren't going to give you that link until you've talked with them or sent a message. So we can kind of talk about what goes into that too, because I'm sure you get the emails that are from big companies and they're pitching some like mine's, female entrepreneurship and podcasting as like the main topics, and you get a male realtor like what we're missing, no, this is going to the spam folder. Um, so we there's a lot of things we can do to uh, minimize the Factor and help you feel not salesy and pushy, because nobody wants to be. You know, running their business like that yeah.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so let's talk about can you hear anything in the background? Okay, I'll edit that part out, but it's like it's hailing and it's incredibly loud and I mean I can tune it out. But if everyone else and you were here again, I was going to be like, okay, let's pause for a second. No, I haven't heard anything yet. Okay, good, okay, so let's talk about that. Then let's talk about when you are pitching yourself to a show. What do we need to do in order to make sure that we get noticed and give ourselves the best chance of getting picked to be a guest?

Speaker 2:

Right. Two things I think need to go in this message. One well, first of all, skip the email. Send a DM if you can. I think I've talked to too many hosts in the last year that we're just getting too many emails that are bad, spelling our names wrong, copying and pasting the title of our episode. Clearly haven't listened, it's just. It's too icky. Right now People are sending emails Million percent.

Speaker 2:

Yes, emails are going to the junk folder, so send the DM. If you can do it in a voice note, that's even more amazing, because who's not curious enough to be like what are they sending me? I need to listen to this, but there's going to be two things that should go in there. Again, the value led here pillar is big in this one One. Have you done your homework? We've talked a lot about that, but I need to have like a sentence where I know that you can tell me something that we match on, we mesh on. There's a value, something quick where I'm like oh, they've definitely listened, they've checked into this, because that's important to me and most hosts Our podcasts, our babies, our passion projects. We need to know that you have done a little work. And then the biggest part of this message is what value are you going to bring to the show? And that's those three niche topics. So if you've already done that, what I would say is it's very simple. You just say you know, I know I can bring your listeners so much value. Here are three topics that I know I could bring that value for. You know what do you think? And it's just as simple as that.

Speaker 2:

I get a lot of questions like well, how long should I be following them? And you know I don't want a cold message and I think so many of us started off entrepreneurship or I did anyways, and the people I know did in MLMs and things and we're not in them anymore. But they give us like a cold messages, like a bad rap. I don't think there's any amount of time that has to have been where you followed someone. As long as you've done the system, you've listened to shows, you've checked for the alignment and you know you can bring value that they haven't had a guest on before. That's brought that topic to life. So if you've done all of that and sent that to me as a host, I'm going to be able to look at your topics really quickly and say, yeah, I got to have that one on. And here's another pro tip If you write these niche topics in the form of podcast episode titles, that's another thing we love, because I don't need to think so hard.

Speaker 2:

I don't need to think how can I make this work? It's an immediate yes or it's oh, I haven't had that twist on it and again get niche down in there, like, instead of just saying, oh, podcast guesting, you know I can talk about that. Maybe it's podcast guesting for the introverted female entrepreneur Like you can go as as as deep as you want with that. And that kind of brings me back to another point, another reason to listen to people's podcasts before you guest on them. If I know that I'm going on a show and it's all mompreneurs, it's an easy tweak to tweak my wording and say moms and that's going to feel better to the listener. So, if you, you know, listen to the show before you send your pitch.

Speaker 2:

But also, before you get on the show, refresh your memory. Listen to that, that show that morning or whatever, to refresh your memory of, like, who are you going to be talking to, so that you can talk to them. And you're not going to talk about male entrepreneurs. We're on a female entrepreneur like you can just tweak things to say she and whatever, and that's going to go a long way with listeners too. But yeah, that's what goes in that pitch is show you've done your homework, real briefly, and then get that value in there. What, what value are you gonna bring? That's all we really wanna know as a host, and then we'll take it from there. We'll send you the link to apply or the link to book, whatever, but and don't get hung up on the no.

Speaker 2:

I think I said this, but this shows that you are honed in on your message, and it goes back to that old saying it's like if you knew you had to get to like 27 no's before you got the big break or the like, you would fly through those 27 no's so fast. So just trust the process, trust the system, um, and don't take the no's too personally. You also might get ghosted Like. That happens too. That happens to me too. So what's like? But life goes on Like no one knows. You did keep going Like. I guess I'm like what's like? That's not that bad. Nothing happened, you know. So shoot your shot and give it a go.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. Yeah, I think to. To go back to well, this is kind of both topics. But to go back to the question about, like how to find shows that you're a good fit for, I have done things like podcastguestcom or Podmatch. I'm still on both of those. Obviously, that can be a little tedious, can be a lot of work. There's a lot of podcasts and a lot of podcast hosts on there and a lot of podcast guests on there, so I don't know how great your odds are at all times, but I have had some good results with those and I think one of the things that's helpful, especially in the very beginning, is on platforms like that, they ask you very specific questions for your application, like it's handled through that platform, so you don't have to try to figure out what should I say, what should I do Like, what should I share with them. They have very specific like what are the three key takeaways, what are five questions that the host can ask you, and I think sometimes in the beginning that can make it a little bit easier too.

Speaker 2:

Right, I filled out things too on those platforms. I just haven't I on their paid platform, so I haven't gone all in cause. I, I've made it work myself. But, yes, definitely there's things out there that can help you for sure. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so is there anything? I mean, I feel like there are so many topics like so many subtopics to the podcast guesting question, but is there anything that we haven't talked about yet that you want to make sure that you say to anyone who is listening who is thinking about becoming a podcast guest or someone who's been doing it for a while, but they're like I don't know if this is really working for me. Any parting words or wisdom? Sure.

Speaker 2:

I think we can talk about the meat of it when you get on to speak. There's three pieces and if you're feeling like things aren't flowing or you're not really seeing any new followers or any new leads or anything like that one, maybe give it more time because, like we said, there's a time factor in there too. But also there's three things that kind of go into that. One is your introduction. Like you started off the show, tell me a little bit about yourself. You know you want to make that quick, you want to have a little story to it, but it shouldn't be five minutes long when the show is a half hour. You've now taken, you know, a good fraction of the show to introduce yourself and that's what got me cut off by a host four years ago. So I can speak to that because I was so excited and I was so thrilled and I went like life story spewing it out, and it's like, yes, there's a ton of pivots made and they're all great stories. Let the host ask you and lead you down the right path. Keep that intro really short and talk about who you help now and if those other stories come up, that's awesome. But that intro needs to be pretty short. Pretty short because otherwise it eats up too much time and we don't get to get to the second part, the value that you're going to bring. That's where you're seen as the industry leader, the expert, because the host is looking to you to teach on something, to speak on something. And if you've done the system and you've done your niche topics and we're in your wheelhouse, you should be able to passionately, excitedly, talk and answer all these questions. And in that part, if there's things that you want to make sure you mention, or you are worried about blanking out and forgetting, like mom brain, it happens to me all the time. I thought it was pregnancy brain, but I can assure you it never left. So we just blank out, have some post-it notes in front of you with those three main things. That's just going to put you at ease too.

Speaker 2:

And then that third thing is I call it the outro, but I'm sure we're getting to it where you're going to say hey, where can people follow you, like, where can people go? You want to have somewhere to take them, not 50 places to take them. I've had clients that have five amazing free downloadables, but one podcast episode is too much to talk about. It doesn't mean you can't have that, but in one episode we want one thing. It doesn't mean you don't have other services, you have other offers, but we got to really hone it in for one podcast episode because, one, we don't have the attention spans to listen to all that. Two, you're going to sound more like a generalist and so when that host is asked later on by someone, hey, I need someone to help with this, that and the other, and you're like the people are going to come to top of your mind. Maybe guests you've had on those referrals are pretty amazing, especially with your connection with the host, because we've dove in deep here. If we met in a coffee shop, we would never have a conversation like this. So that's another powerful networking piece of podcasting.

Speaker 2:

But if you talked about a bunch of different things, they're not going to think of you and that could be what you're missing. It feels scary to just narrow it down, but I have so many things I do. Yes, I get that, but until you get people into your neck of the woods on your email list, things like that, we're not going to show them all that. It's just too confusing and we can't make decisions and you're not going to be the one to come to top of mind to refer. So have somewhere to send them. That can be a quick free resource, a downloadable. It can be your own podcast. It just should be somewhere where you can get them into the ones that have listened this whole episode and are still here. Like, obviously they're interested. You want to bring them into your community? Right, you can. That's another ball you can drop is if you say, hey, you know, thanks for being here, like I don't have anywhere for you to go, because then they can never come hang out with you.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's brilliant. I also think I'm going to give a little couple little bonus tips, and I don't know if this is true for every podcast host, but there's two things that I love when a podcast guest does. One is when she well, it's usually she. I've had two men, I think three men, on the podcast um, when she like throws the ball back to me, right. So, like, you answer a question and you're like I'm blah, blah, blah. What do you see with your clients, candice? Right, like, like, if you help us keep the conversation going, we very much appreciate that. Like, I have done interviews. I try to keep them 25 to 35 minutes, but I've had interviews that are over an hour because it's just such good stuff and I just can't stop. And then I've had some that are like 10, 12 minutes, because I literally like ask the question and they answer it in like a sentence and then they stop talking and I'm like, okay, well, we have now gone through all of my questions and it's been seven minutes.

Speaker 2:

And to add to that, when like a conversation, so when there's a natural pause, if you thought of something to add while they're talking, go ahead and say oh, that's a great point. Let me add this, because it's a conversation going back and forth, so I know what you mean. You don't just want to only as the guest. You can only speak when you've been asked a question. Most podcasts we're having a conversation, so treat it like that. Take a big breath, relax if you can, and just let that naturally happen too, whether it's you asking them questions or speaking after they've said something that you're like oh great point. That made me think of this too, because we love that. That's how it flows. Like you said, if you only speak every time I ask you a question, that can make for a short episode, potentially, or just like an awkward feeling, one that may not go over as best as it could be.

Speaker 1:

Yes, another thing that I really love and this is all the more reason to do your research and listen to some episodes beforehand. And even if it's a podcast I've listened to, but it's been like months and now I'm doing the interview I'll listen to another one or two, especially if they seem sort of relevant to what we're talking about the day before or the morning of, so that when we're on the interview and we're having a conversation about whatever I can be like, oh, that reminds me I was just listening to your podcast episode where you interviewed Candice about podcast guesting and I loved what she said about blah, blah, blah. Right, like the guest giving a pitch for my podcast and also telling listeners like, if you love this, you will also love to listen to this one. Like that makes me so happy.

Speaker 2:

Oh yes, I can think of people that did that on mine and it's like pings your little heart. My Enneagram three loves it.

Speaker 1:

I'm like, wow, this is not your first day, You're the best. I love that. That's all such good advice. So if people okay, now we're going to test you on your outro no, we won't be grading you or anything but if people want to know more about you they want to know about what you do, they want to learn more about how you can help them get onto more podcasts as a guest. What's the best way for them to connect with you?

Speaker 2:

My name Candice Delly, so at Candice Delly on threads and Instagram would be the best place. Come on over, send me a DM about this episode. It's me behind the screen, so it's a one woman show. You're gonna definitely reach me, but I would love to hear what you thought, or if you thought, of a question that we didn't answer.

Speaker 1:

And then, if you really want to get going, you can go ahead and download my free guesting getting started guide with a few more tips and things to get you moving in the right direction Awesome. I will put links for all of those in the show notes so people can reach out to you. Yes, she is an actual human and she does want to hear from you. So go send her a message and tell her what you thought. Tell her if you have questions. We would love it. Thank you so much for being a guest, candice. This was awesome. Thank you so much, I loved it.

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Melissa Snow

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