Podcast Pitchings Dos & Don’ts : How to Land More Podcast Interviews

As someone who is a gatekeeper for a podcast and someone who has successfully pitched myself to be on podcasts, I want to help give you some dos and don’t to help you. I see pitches from authors, bloggers, speakers, who do an amazing job. I also see the cringeworthy pitches. So let’s go over my dos and don’ts of pitching podcasts:

Don’t write a novel as your pitch. – So many people are scrambling to get onto podcasts to promote their business, their book, their whatever. If the person who is screening these requests sees a wall of text their eyes will glaze over.

Do send something short and sweet – You want to catch the attention of the gatekeeper and get them to respond and ask more questions. Then you can add more information.

Don’t spell the podcast host’s name or their podcast title wrong. OK so this also goes with, don’t put the wrong podcast name in (like if you’re copy and pasting your pitch). Don’t refer to one of the co-hosts as a guest.

Do take a few moments and do the research on how to spell the person’s name.

Don’t ask to plug your book, plug your business, or anything else. The podcast does not exist for you to promote things. People listen to that podcast to be entertained and informed.

Do look through the topics that have been covered and write a thoughtful pitch based on what you can add that either hasn’t been covered yet, or was covered by someone else but that you can add onto. You need to actually listen to the episodes that you think are related so you can intelligently reference that episode and give a sentence on how you can add to it. Don’t say “you’ve never covered this topic before,” because if they have, they will delete that pitch so fast.

Don’t speak in absolutes. Don’t say “I’ve listened to every episode and you’ve never done X.” Have you actually listened to every episode? Have you looked at all their associated content?

Do frame your experience with their podcast based on your actual experience. “I found your podcast last month and I started binging as many episodes as I can. I love your content and I would love to have a conversation with you about X.”

Don’t dismiss the team that supports the podcasters. Many podcast hosts need to outsource their scheduling and support. Don’t diss the person who is answering your emails.

Do take a moment to get to know that person. If they are the gatekeeper, they are advocating for you. As a gatekeeper I’ve had people write back to me after I send a note saying “hey received your request, we’re inundated email” with a “wow, I didn’t know you were helping with that podcast.” Hmm, I’ve been on every week since mid-August. So you’ve just told me that you don’t even listen to the show.

Okay, so these are my top dos and don’ts of pitching podcasts. I’ve put all of my knowledge of researching, crafting a pitch, nailing the interview, and following up into a FREE 6-day email course for you. You’ll get my handy dos and don’ts PDF as well as lots of actionable tips so that you can get booked!
SIGN UP FOR THE FREE COURSE: https://mailchi.mp/1ef6cafaa0fe/podcastcourse

Earlier basics of podcasts video series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPjyg91Bu_g&list=PL5wG4jOiELp0TWIk-wmMJTwkUQ2PCrMIh