Lean Publishing Tip of the Day 💡 How To Prepare For A Podcast Guest Appearance

Preparing for a podcast guest appearance can be daunting at first, but if you just follow a few tried-and-true guidelines, you'll learn not just how to come across as a seasoned pro, but also how to enjoy yourself.

Podcasts Are A Key Component Of Book Marketing, So You Want To Do As Many As You Can

Podcasts are a totally ordinary part of book marketing at this point.

There are podcasts on basically every topic, with hosts whose personalities and approaches vary widely.

As a self-published author, appearing as a guest on podcasts to talk about your book, and yourself, should be a key part of your strategy for getting attention and growing your audience.

The thing about podcasts is they can be watched, or listened to, or read, at the audience's convenience. People can consume it basically however they like, while they are doing almost anything at all by themselves during their day.

In addition to being multi-channel in that way, podcast appearances can also be broken up into short videos or text- or audio-based social media posts, where the audience's attention can be laser-focused with titles and keywords on very specific topics.

That's why appearing on podcasts is such a powerful tool for marketing your self-published book: it's many things at once, available 24 hours a day, for everyone around the world.

Preparing For Your First Podcast Appearance

If you're appearing on a podcast as an author to talk about your book, it will probably be in the one-on-one interview format.

This is very good news: it means you can have a simple, minimalist setup for yourself, without having to worry about anyone else.

You don't need the greatest gear, especially when you're getting started.

Typically the camera on your laptop will be good enough, and you can attach an affordable camera to the top of your monitor if you're using a desktop computer.

You can even use your phone in a stable phone stand; whole movies have already been filmed on iPhones for years.

Do A Test Video In Zoom

You will want to do a test video by yourself first, and Zoom is a great app for doing this.

It's free and everyone knows about it, but it's also complex enough that if you can set up a good video yourself on Zoom, you'll know what the settings are that you need to get right, even if the podcast host is using a different app, and the settings won't be in the same places.

Start a meeting, get your microphone settings working, your camera working and pointed at you directly in the middle of the shot, and hit the record button to make it feel real.

Practice talking and just moving around a bit in the shot, and watch the recording later to see if there's anything you missed or can improve.

You Wrote The Book; You're Prepared To Talk About It

Sometimes people ask what they need to do to prepare for a podcast interview, which is a fair enough question!

Typically the main answer is to listen to one or two episodes of the podcast you've been invited on to - that's it.

That's because you wrote the book you're being interviewed about! You definitely understand it better than anyone else, and as long as the interviewer does their job well, you won't need to do any preparation at all.

Preparing To Be A Guest On Many Podcasts In The Future

Environment Reproducibility Is A Key Factor

You want to be able to hop into a podcast interview the same way you might hop onto a train seat or into your car.

It should be the same every time, and you should be ready to go in literally just a few seconds, without thinking about it.

So, having an elaborate background or setup process is something you definitely want to avoid.

Don't Worry About Interruptions (But Turn Off Your Phone)

People sometimes worry that a pet or a member of your household might cause a problem during your interview, by making noise or appearing in the background.

While you absolutely do want to try to minimize the chance of something like this happening, don't sweat it too much if something happens during the recording.

Zoom and other apps and tools are great at getting rid of background noise, and the occasional disturbance is not only a fact of life for podcasts, but often a source of fun and personal connection - people definitely want to see your pets at least a little bit, for example.

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