Ep #145: Seven Ways To Be a Great Podcast Guest

Hi docs, welcome to The EntreMD Podcast, where it’s all about helping amazing physicians just like you embrace entrepreneurship so you can have the freedom to live life and practice medicine on your terms. I’m your host, Dr. Una.

Well, hello, hello everybody. Welcome back to another episode of The EntreMD Podcast. And I am excited as always to be in your ears. And you’re going to get a lot of inspiration or really practical tips out of what we’re going to talk about today because today I’m going to be talking about seven ways to be a great podcast guest. You know I talk a lot about getting the word out there, getting your message out there.

And one of the things we do in the EntreMD Business School is we would do podcast tours, go talk about what you do, talk about your business, talk about how you help people. Share your stories, be an inspiration. And so, I was like, “Well, while we’re at it why don’t we talk about some ways to show up powerfully and how to be a true bless, a true help to anybody who has a podcast, whose podcast you get to be on.” There’s a right way to do it. There’s a wrong way to do it. And I’m going to share seven ways you can do it right and it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Now, before we do that I really want to give a shout out to a doc. I had posted on the private Facebook page for the EntreMD community. So, if you’re not part of it go to entremd.com/join. It’ll take you straight to the Facebook group and you can request to join the group. You will have to answer some questions otherwise we won’t be able to let you into the group, because of course we have to verify that you’re a physician, because it’s a physician only space.

And so, I posted something on here and I’m going to read the post and then I’m going to shout the doctor out. So, this is what I posted. It said, “Dr. Una, I am so scared of putting myself out there on social media. The haters will come for me.” So that’s what sometimes doctors will say, that’s what I thought. And so, this was my response. I was like, “I wish I could tell you that they won’t come. If you choose to go out there they will come for you, I can almost guarantee it. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way I want to lend you my way of thinking about it.

Number one, if you do nothing the haters will come for you. They will come for you for doing nothing. Number two, if you do something the haters will come for you. They will hate you for doing something. They will come for you no matter what you do. So how about you do what you want to do anyway starting today?” And then I ended with the question, “Are you really going to let them stop you?” And then some people commented, “I really needed to hear this today.” And stuff like that.

And this amazing doc said this, she said, “I read this post. I had been working on an article for a while but was afraid to send it out. I read your post and clicked submit and here it is published.” Okay, so she had her article published on KevinMD. Her name is Dr. Jordana Rothschild. So, a big shout out to you doc. I am just so grateful that you’re like, you know what? I’m going to go do it. I’m going to get my voice out there. I’m going to go help serve my world.

And so, I’m going to put the link to our article in the show notes so you can go read it, it’s Doctors are Humans, not Heroes. A really good read. So, the link will be in the show notes, check it out and you can give her a shout out as well when you join the group. Alright, so a big shout out to you Dr. Jordana, that was so, so, so good.

Alright, so seven ways to be a great podcast guest, alright, seven ways. So, number one, number one is be responsive. Be responsive. What do I mean by that? Well, when you go to be a guest on someone else’s podcast and this applies whether it’s a podcast, it’s a YouTube channel, you’re speaking at an event, whichever, it’s the same principle. When you say yes, “I’m going to be a guest on your podcast”, and all of that.

It’s not unusual for them to ask you for head shots, to ask you for bios and all of those kind of things. When you get asked, respond. Don’t be the person they have to send two or three emails to. And of course, I’m not judging because I’ve done all the things I’m going to tell you about, I’ve done them wrong. That’s how I know them. So, I’m not judging. But don’t see the email and not respond and they send you a second one and a third one and all of that stuff. Just respond.

Now, if you’re somebody who is going to talk on a lot of podcasts and all of that stuff, you know this is coming. So, you can just open a Google document, put your bio there, so it’s a copy and paste situation. Go to Dropbox and upload your head shot and get the link, it’ll give you a link. And so that way you have your bio and you have the link to your head shot as one thing on a Google document that whenever anybody asks you for that you can just copy or paste.

You can make it a templated email. And so, when somebody asks you for that, you just copy their email, put it in there, boom, send, done. So that’s just a way to shortcut it where it doesn’t feel like you’re doing this over, and over, and over again, but be responsive.

Be the person who is like the assistant will tell the person, “Oh my goodness, everybody else I have to follow them up four or five times to get anything out of them. But just one email and this amazing doc gave me everything I need.” So, bio, head shot for instance, they’re going to ask for that, just have it somewhere and be responsive. So that’s number one.

Number two is be prepared. So, I want you to remember this. And if it won’t make you seem crazy I need you to say this out loud right where you are. Do not wing it, thou shall not wing it. Now, when you’re a guest you’re not really going to be able to script what you’re going to say. But you know some of the things you’re going to need to talk about. And so, think about them. It doesn’t mean memorize them but think about them. Kind of put your thoughts together. Get the flow together.

People may ask you to introduce yourself. Well, think about what you’re going to say and have it all put together. People are going to ask you about your story. Maybe they’re going to ask you – for me, ask me, “So this entrepreneurship thing, how did it start?” There’s a narrative. Well, think about that story. Talk about that story to yourself in front of your mirror. Or trace it, I started off in a job and then my boss said that I should become an entrepreneur.

And after he said that I was like, no, I can’t do it, then talk about your fears that were there. And eventually you started then you realized it was a school of hard knocks and you’re like then I had to get some training. And I got the training, I was able to build a successful business and now I help other people do it. Just follow the trend so you know your story. You have a bag of stories, you know it. So, you can think about that. You can think about, well, what are the kind of things I would talk about?

Maybe you would talk about overcoming your fears. I’m just using myself as an example. Or maybe if your thing is fitness and wellness, and all of that stuff, maybe you’ll talk about habits and stuff like that. So just think about it. Think about it. It doesn’t mean memorize it because we don’t want you to memorize it. We want you to have a conversation. But you still want to think about it. So, your thoughts are kind of put together, your stories, you have them. You have a bag of stories and you pull them out at will and deliver a really good story. So be prepared.

Don’t memorize, don’t cram stuff, don’t, but the idea is not for you to sound scripted but you don’t want to sound scatterbrained either. So, give some thought to it. Give some thought to it.

Alright, number three is know the audience. Know the audience. So, it’s not your podcast, it’s not your audience. Get a feel for who typically listens to this podcast. What do they typically talk about on this podcast anyway? Maybe listen to an episode or two. You may not need to reference it but who knows, in your conversation that comes up. I heard the episode you do with x, y, z, or whoever. And just like you guys were talking about there, this is the same the concept, blah, blah, blah.

And I can’t tell you how meaningful that would be to the podcast host. Now, I’m not telling you to do that if it doesn’t apply. This is not a showmanship thing. We’re going to talk about the real reason why you’re there in a second. But at the same time if it comes up it does. But even if it doesn’t, you know the audience. You know the kinds of questions that the host will ask. You know how he steers his guests so you know what he’s trying to get his audience to hear or her audience to hear.

You know that, you get a feel because the main reason why you’re there is to serve the audience that is there. It’s not for you. So, know the audience so that you can do a good job. Don’t go in not knowing the host, not knowing the audience, not knowing any of that. Don’t do that. One episode will help you figure it all out. So that’s number three.

Number four is be on time. So, if the interview is supposed to start at 5 o’clock, then be there at 5 o’clock. Now, of course there are things that happen and all of that stuff, so of course. But if it’s happening every single time you show up then that’s not too good. So, plan to be there on time. And if your podcast episode is at five and you’re logging in at five, you’re late. You know what I mean? You can try to go five minutes before, just put that there, even if the guest hasn’t opened the virtual room, that’s okay. But it’s better to be early than to be late.

So, plan to be on time. Plan to be on time. Plan to be seated, everything together. You’ve tested your tech so you’re ready to go. You’ve drank your water. You’ve listened to your happy music so you’re upbeat. So funny thing about me, I’m a little more animated now. But when I started off I was really, really, really monotone, not doing a whole lot and stuff like that. So, I would have to prep myself when I did Facebook Lives.

So literally I did – so when I did the Legacy Parent show, you guys have heard me talk about that. So, this is as a pediatrician talking to parents. And I got a lot of patients in my practice because of it. And so, I did it on Thursdays at 1:30pm, so that was during lunchtime. And so, what I would do is literally I would set everything up and then I will pull up Because I’m Happy, the song, and I’m listening, dancing, all that kind of stuff while I’m getting all my things ready.

And then once I hit go live, the music goes off, I hit go live and then with that energy I’m like, “Hi everybody, this is Dr. Una, welcome to the Legacy Parent show.” And I wasn’t that excited as a person. But I did that to kind of pump myself up. So, if you need to do that you can do that. I don’t need to do that anymore because now I’m just so pumped all the time. But if you need to do that, that’s fine. You do that 10 minutes before you start, five minutes before you start. And just do everything and be on time.

So, the bottom line is be respectful of people’s time. Show up on time, so that’s number four.

Number five is have the right intention. Have the right intention. Now, when you go to be a guest on a podcast, will it grow your audience? Most likely. Will it grow your business? Yes, if you do it strategically. Will it grow people’s exposure to your brand, the position of your brand, all of that? Is that why you’re there? No. No. The boss of the podcast would be the person who listens to the podcast. So, your primary agenda is to serve the audience, it’s to serve the audience. So, whose in the audience? What is their pain? How am I going to help them get out of their pain?

What are some stories that I’ll tell them that’ll help them see you’re not alone, we all go through this but this is how I overcame it and so can you. What are those hang-ups that you’re going to help them through? What are you going to motivate them to do? What practical tips can you give them that will make them get wins right away? You are there to serve the audience. You are not there to serve your ego. You are not there to serve your business. That’s not the primary reason you’re there.

So, when you go on there, you’re not going to be good in the podcast host’s books. That’s not why you’re there. There are people who give up their precious time to listen to that podcast. You are there to serve them. You are there to make them go, “Oh my goodness, I am so grateful the host of this podcast brought this guest on because this changed my life.” That is why you’re there. You have to have the right intention. You have to be thinking about them. You have to be talking to them. It’s not about you. So, you have to have the right intention.

Number six, you know what I decided? I’m just going to give you a bonus. Number six is have all the intentions. So, one is have the right intention, the primary intention. But this one you have to have all the intentions. And I’ll tell you what I mean by that. Whenever you show up on a stage and being on a podcast, that’s a virtual stage, it’s still a stage. Whenever you show up on a stage your goal is to create a win, win, win situation.

I did a training for the doctors in the EntreMD Business School before we did the EntreMD Business School expo, which was so good, so, so, so good. We talked about this concept. It’s a win, win, win situation. So, what that means is when you are done speaking, three people should be like, “Oh my goodness.” So, number one would be the audience because you created a win for them. Number two would be the host because you created a win for the host. And then number three would be you, or your business, or you personal brand because you created a win for yourself.

So, win for the audience, you do that by helping them overcome whatever hang-ups are in their way, helping them get wins, inspiring them, motivating them, giving them practical tips, all of that. You create a win for the host by doing a number of things. And one of the things you can do is compliment the host. The audience can hear that, wow, you are so lucky to be a listener to this podcast because this person right here is a real deal. And I’m not telling you to lie.

But I’m thinking if you went on their podcast, there’s something about them that you respect. So, talk about it, elevate their brand, promote them to their audience. Tell them, “Listen, and I saw that this guy right here has this freebie, you should do it, you should follow him on social media, his Instagram, the post he did the other day. I mean look at what he’s doing. You should do that.”

And then the third is you should also remember to create a win for yourself, so whether that’s offering a freebie, whether that’s telling them to come and subscribe to your own podcast, telling them to come and use your services, whatever. You should have created a win, win, win. So have the right intention, that’s number five. Number six is have all the intentions. If you’re an entrepreneur and you are going on a podcast tour, you are doing that, part of the reason is part of your marketing. It’s part of growing your positioning, your credibility and all of that stuff, so do all of it.

So, number six, now, this one, yeah, this one you really have to do. This one you really, really have to do. So, this is number seven because I threw in that bonus one. So, this is number seven. Share the episode. Oh, my goodness, when they’re done and they tell you, “Oh my goodness, your episode is live.” And they send you, they may send you an audiogram, and they send you some quotes and all that stuff. I mean they literally paid somebody to do all this stuff and share all these assets with you. Share the episode.

Now, you might go, “Yeah, but I was scared about how I did.” Share the episode. The person had enough confidence to put you in front of his or her audience. That’s how much faith they have in you. The least you can do is share the episode. Share the episode. Tell people, “Oh my goodness, so honored to be a guest on this person’s podcast.” Tag them, tag them on the post, on all of that stuff, email lists which you should have. Email it to them, say, “Hey, check it out, I was here”, blah, blah, blah. But share the episode.

Share the episode because guess what? They helped you elevate, you should help them elevate too. This is a win, win situation. You got in front of their audience. They should get in front of your audience too. It’s a win, win situation. Share the episode. And somebody may be going, “I have never shared an episode.” Well, guess what?

You can start a new thing, every Thursday you can call it throwback Thursday. And you can say, “Guess what? Two years ago, I was a guest on this podcast, so amazing.” The following day, “Hey, two weeks ago I was a guest on this podcast.” That’s fine. You can make up for lost time but share the episode and tag the person. Share the episode, tag the person.

Alright, number eight, and I think number eight is really important. And it may be a little challenging in the beginning. But if you practice, and practice, and practice it will become normal. And that is be present. When you are being a guest on somebody’s podcast, be there. Because you can literally be there and you’re just like, “Okay, these are all the things I came to say, it doesn’t matter what he says or she says. I’m just going to say all these things.”

Or you can be so nervous that you’re not even really listening to the questions that are being asked. You’re not there. You’re not there. Be present. You’re going to practice it just like everything else you’ve practiced. And you’re going to become really good at it. So, when someone’s asking a question, you’re really listening and you’re really giving an answer. And when the person responds to that answer you can go on because you are there, and you’re listening, and you’re present.

And you can say, “Yeah, that reminds me of this.” You can have a real conversation because those are really the best podcasts. You can have a real conversation. So be present. And listen to a lot of podcasts. And the person I’ve seen do this the best is Ed Mylett. So, he has a podcast called The Ed Mylett Show. And he is an entrepreneur. His probably net worth is probably somewhere around 400 million, does a lot of motivation, inspiration and interviews some pretty great guests, really, really good guests.

But he’s there. He’s present. He’s not over-rehearsed. He’s not so scripted. Now, he’s a host, I’ve heard him as a guest but this is his own podcast so he’s a host. But he’s really there. Great follow-up questions. Great perspectives. Great things like, “Wow, what you said I just got this out of it and this is how I’m going to apply it to my life.” It’s so good. So, I would say go take a listen. And listen to how he engages with the guests on his podcast and subscribe. It’s really good stuff. So, it’s The Ed Mylett Show, so go check it out.

And then practice being present. That’s something I still work on. But I’m probably going to work on it forever. But that’s something that I really work on because I was the really introverted, introvert, very nervous, what if I don’t know the answer to the question kind of person. You know what I mean? But the more you practice the better you get. So those are my eight things.

So, number one be responsive, number two be prepared, number three know the audience, number four be on time, number five have the right intention. Number six which was really a bonus is have all the intentions, number seven share the episode. That’s a little bit of a pet peeve of mine, come on, share the episode. So, share the episode. And number eight be present. Be present, be you, be authentic because guess what? People love you.

If you’re trying to be a copy of somebody else, I mean you can only be an inferior copy. People love you. Your people love you. So let you show up and let you shine when you go to be a guest on somebody else’s podcast.

Alright, so now that you know these seven things plus the bonus, which makes it eight things. Then I want you to think about them and the next time you show up on a podcast from the beginning of the process to the end. So, when they tell you, “Hey, we’re so excited, here, go schedule”, all that stuff. You’re responsive. You practice your story. So that doesn’t mean walk around memorizing your story but that just means that you’ve thought it through. And you have a nice flow to tell your story and all of that stuff.

You do some quick research, find out who the audience is. Maybe listen to one episode. You show up on time. You have the right intention. You don’t go there like, I’m going to go sell all my stuff. No, that’s not what you go there to do. You go there to serve. And then you share the episode and the host is like, “Oh my gosh, she’s so amazing.”

And listen, let me tell you what happens when you do this. People take note. And when someone says, “I had this speaker cancel for my event, I’m looking for a speaker.” They’re like, “Listen, you need to talk to this doc. That’s exactly who you need to talk to.” “You started a podcast. Wow, your podcast is doing great. Let me tell you someone who will be a great guest for you.” You are going to have people who are going to be evangelical about getting you on other podcasts because the experience they had with you was so good, so good.

And you might be saying, “Dr. Una, I don’t have any podcasts I’m a guest on.” Well, so your first step is go apply. Go to a podcast, say, “Hey, I know you talk about this, this is what I talk about. I would love to serve your audience. I have talked about this, and that, and that.” And go get on a podcast and then practice this. And then DM me or PM me and let me know. Who knows? Maybe I’ll shout you out like Dr. Jordana. Maybe I would.

So, take this and this will be such a gamechanger because, not just because it’s the right thing to do. But because you’re going to give your host such a beautiful experience. And the host is going to become an evangelist telling everybody about you and how they have to have you on their shows.

So that’s what I have for you today. So, what I want you to do is I want you to share this episode. Share the episode, that’s number seven, share the episode. Take a snapshot of it, a screenshot of it, post it on your social media, tag me. So, this is your practice, tag me and say, “Oh my goodness, people, you need to listen to this.” And if you have friends who you’ve seen, are on podcasts and all of that, jus say, “Hey, how accurate is this?” Someone who has a podcast, say, “What do you think about a guest that shows up like this?”

So, share the episode, we are doctors, our voices need to be heard. Our voices need to be heard and this way we get to show up in grand style. So, thank you so much as always for listening. I really appreciate you taking the time. I appreciate you sharing. I appreciate you posting about it, DMing me, PMing me, letting me know how it is changing your world. So, thanks again and have an amazing week. And I’ll see you on the very next episode of The EntreMD Podcast.

Hey, if you love listening to The EntreMD Podcast I want to invite you to join EntreMD On Demand. It is my signature subscription program that gives you access to a library of business courses designed to help you do one thing as a physician entrepreneur, and that is to thrive. Just head out to entremd.com/ondemand and I’d love to have you join us. See you on the inside.