Ep 137 How to Find and Pitch Podcasts to Speak On ft. Case Lane - Header.png

Speaking on podcasts is a great way to grow your business and strengthen your public speaking skills. While most of us already know this, we may not be clear on how to go about finding podcasts to speak on. How do we know what podcasts are a good fit for our business? How do we actually find podcasts to speak on? What podcasts are our ideal clients listening to?

In this week's episode of The Speak to Scale Podcast we're chatting with Case Lane on how she finds, pitches, speaking on, and maximizing podcast interviews. If you've been thinking about adding 'speak on podcasts' to your list of goals for the year, this episode is for you.

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The DIY Podcast pitch Approach

If you start searching for information on podcast speaking, you're likely going to find much more information about how to have your own podcast than how to be a great podcast guest.

While many people suggest that you hire a PR firm to pitch podcast speaking opportunities for you, we don't. You end up spending excess money and not seeing the results you want. Our suggestion? Keep podcast pitching as an in-house operation. That doesn't mean you, specifically, need to do the pitching. However, you're going to see better results if you or one of your team members are reaching out to speaking opportunities on your behalf.

A DIY approach to podcast speaking allows you to access the full scope of podcasts that are out there (at the time of recording this there are almost 2 million podcasts).

One of the best perks of doing your own podcast-speaking outreach is the relationships you build. Since you're the one reaching out to and connecting with the podcast hosts, you get to foster a relationship with the host that can develop into future collaborations, opportunities, and friendships. This is a key component that you potentially miss out on if you're outsourcing your podcast outreach to a firm.

How to Find Podcasts to Pitch

With nearly two million podcasts currently on-air, how do you find the ones right for you? We're usually told to search apple podcasts for relevant shows but that only shows up a small subset of the podcasts out there. I wish I could tell you that there is a magical database that houses information for all active podcasts but there is no such there.

The good news is, there are quite a few podcast directories that collectively give you more than enough information to get you started like Owl Tail and Pod Knife. Before you start searching for podcasts to speak on, there are a few things that you need to know.

What topic do you want to speak on?
What are the keywords associated with this topic, your industry, and the shows you want to speak on?
What categories are these shows listed under?

This information is going to help you search for podcasts to speak on, strategically.

Refine Your Speaking Search Results

Once you start entering your keywords into the database, you're going to have quite a few shows to sift through. Not every podcast listed in your search results will be active. Many hosts simply stop producing their shows without an episode announcing the end of production. You'll want to take a close look at the last date of publication and see if this seems like a show you still want to pursue. Keep in mind that sometimes hosts take production breaks or seasons off.

Another thing to ask yourself while you're sifting through your search results is, "Does this show interview guests, or is it a solo podcast?" You don't want to waste your time pitching to speak on shows that do not even bring guests on to the show.

How to Pitch Podcasts to Speak On

When it comes to pitching yourself to speak on podcasts follow whatever process the show has in place for pitching.

Go to the show's website
Look for any information about suggesting guests for the show
If there is a form, use it!
If you don't find a contact/speaker submission form for the podcast, email the host directly.

Email is a great way to send an intentional pitch that sparks a conversation. However, if the host explicitly tells you how they want to be pitched or they include a speaker submission form, be sure to use it. Each host has their own behind-the-scenes processes for producing their show. You're most likely to be selected to speak if you follow their processes.

Sending the Email

Don't start from scratch with every pitch you send. Create an overall template for you want to send to hosts and then personalize it for each show. You'll want to include a little bit of an introduction, what you want to talk about, and a holding place for potential subjects you could speak on.

Once you have a template to get you started, you'll want to use the research you collected in your search to tailor your email to that specific podcaster.

Things to consider when you're drafting your podcast pitch email:

What have they been speaking about on their show up to this point?
Have I actually listened to the show while I researched?
Is this an audience that I want to speak to?
What type of speakers have been on the show and what topics are they covering?
Have they covered the topics you want to speak on?
If so, is there another angle you can suggest for that topic?
Is there anything you have in common with the host?

Your email should be more than a cold-pitch. Think of it from the angle of networking and building relationships. You've done this research on an individual you want to get to know. Now you want to send them a message telling them why you think that you could have this connection and help their audience with the information that you have. That sounds a lot easier than working to make yourself sound awesome, doesn't it?

The first few emails may feel awkward but as you start to receive positive replies, it will become easier and easier. Keep going! You probably will not receive responses to every email that you send. You may not even get 50% to respond to you. It doesn't matter.

Even if you've worked so hard on the pitch, you did your research or put it all together and you get no response, that doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't a good pitch. It may mean the host is not prompt with responding or they file pitches into a folder until they're ready to bring on hew guests. Even with the best pitch in hand timing isn't always on your side and that's OK.

If you're not already a member of the academy, we'd love to invite you to apply to join The Speaking Strategy Academy. You'll get instant access to our A-Z speaking training system with video lessons, transcripts, scripts, templates, and more.... access to our live group coaching calls, personalized 1:1 feedback on your work from me, and an opportunity to present your work live in front of our community for hot seat coaching and feedback. What are you waiting for, friend? Apply today!

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