Why I Lost a Major Podcast Opportunity

(and How to Make Sure It Doesn't Happen to You)

A couple of years ago, I had a big podcasting opportunity come across my desk. A friend from NPR thought I'd be a great match for a project happening in Nashville and got me connected with the production company.

I'd been self-employed for 20+ years. I wasn't looking for anything like this, but when I saw who I'd be working with, I agreed to a meeting.

My personality and knowledge was a perfect match. The work was off-mic and something I could do without even thinking about it—I'd done exactly what they were asking for thousands of times.

Then I ran into a snag when talking to one of the people interviewing me …

"We already have a host," she told me.

I hadn’t even mentioned wanting to host—I wasn’t a great match for the topic. But because my resume contains so much hosting work, she assumed that was my goal.

The Downside of Being Known as a "Host"

When you're best known for your work on the mic, many people will think it's all you do. They don’t know the behind-the-scenes work it takes to do radio or podcasting.

The other issue is, a lot of people think hosting is the "holy grail" of working in radio or podcasting. They can't imagine why anybody would prefer production or non-mic role.

Personally, I'd rather be a producer than a host. The only reason I do as much hosting as I do is because, when the projects I've worked on were created, I was the only one available who could do the hosting.

A Warning to Podcast Hosts

If you're like me, and host on a lot of the projects you work on, consider doing more exclusively non-hosting roles to help showcase your non-mic abilities.

Let me be clear—I'm not saying to "play small" or do work you don't want to do. If you want to be the host, go for it. But if you want to be known for more than hosting, you'll find it helpful to do more non-mic work using somebody else to host, so it will be clear that you do more than host.