Why Your Podcast Guest Pitch Was Ignored

NOTE: This is Part 2 of my thoughts on pitching yourself (or somebody else) as a podcast guest. You can read the original three rules of podcast guest booking here.

Rule #1 - The Relevancy of a Podcast Pitch Should Be Obvious

I recently had a situation where a publicist from a company I know reached out to me a few times about booking a guest who didn’t seem to be a perfect match, but had a background that could have been the foundation of a great story.

I believe everybody has a good story somewhere, if you’re willing to look for it. After hundreds of interviews and thousands of episodes, I’m very good at doing this, so I followed up via email.

Our emails went nowhere, with the publicist basically sending me the same basic “pitch template” again and again.

Normally, by this point, I would have already dropped it. I knew her company though and I’ve had a good experience with other agents there, so as a professional courtesy, I called her to find out more info on the guest and ask for her specific ideas on what she thought would be a good “hook” for the episode, since I wasn’t seeing her vision that he was a match.

“That’s your job,” she said.

She was right—it ultimately is my job and I have the last call. But it’s also the job of a booking agency or publicist to make it easy for me to do my job. 

A good publicist would have seized on the opportunity to work with me and get a guest booked.

The pitch below has a similar problem:

[NAME REDACTED] teaches on a variety of different subjects and we can discuss what would be the perfect fit for your clients.

There’s nothing to discuss—I need more details. This is why I have a system in place that walks people who are pitching me through the process of getting me what I need, step-by-step. 

I need specifics. What subjects does [NAME REDACTED] teach? What makes him an expert? How will his expertise benefit my audience? 

Without these details, it's impossible to see the value somebody brings. 

Rule #2 - Don’t Lie to Podcasters

Don’t start any relationship you want to have with a podcaster by saying one thing, then doing another. For example, teasing one direction (or a specific guest) for the interview, then switching things up once a podcaster has shown interest.

What this usually looks like …

You’re promised an A-List guest, such as the president of a company or celebrity. This gets you to reply to the pitch, showing interest.

But the agent/publicist doesn’t actually have access to the initial person who was mentioned, so switches the offer up to somebody else involved with the company or project.

It’s not always a bad offer, but it’s still a dishonest way to start a relationship.

Rule #3 - “Download Numbers” = Stupid Way to Validate Podcasts (or Guests)

Yes, audience reach for a podcast (or any media) is an important thing to consider when booking yourself or others for media appearances. However, impact, which is really what you’re looking for, has less to do with the single metric of “download numbers” and much more to do with how specific and relevant the audience is and how engaged they are with the content.

A specific and engaged audience, even if it’s small, is much more valuable than a large, but general audience.

And it works both ways.

If you’re a podcaster and only do guest selection based on how “big” somebody is, or how many social media followers somebody has, you are missing out on great guests.

Nobody listening to your podcast cares about how popular somebody is—this isn’t high school. People want good information, inspiring stories, and to feel something when they listen to you. The guest is icing on your cake.

You are in charge of your podcast, not guests and not agents.

By adhering to these principles, both podcasters and those who book guests can create meaningful, impactful content that resonates with listeners.