5 Reasons You Should Be a Podcast Guest, Not a Host

Not everyone should have their own podcast. Rarely, but sometimes, for…. reasons… I’ve advised people to get themselves booked as a guest rather than host a podcast themselves. But what are those reasons? Glad you asked. I’ll share with you my 5 reasons you should be a podcast guest, not a host.

As you’ll see, this article is inspired by a question posted on LinkedIn by a lady doing some market research for the analytics and ranking platform, Rephonic.

She wanted to hear from people at podcast agencies like ours whether there’s ever a reason we’d give to a potential client to not start a podcast.

And truthfully, I have done this for a few reasons, a few times. Here’s the five reasons I’ve given people in the past, for steering their focus more towards a podcast guest-based journey, rather than starting their own podcast.

Now clearly I’m not going to just leave this list here and have you feeling sad because you don’t understand whether any of these would apply to you.

So let’s break them down one by one and elaborate on what I mean, and why they could indicate hosting a podcast is not the best option, right now.

Personality

Let’s be real, some people are born communicators. They just come alive when someone gets them to riff on their thing. Others require a little more patience and encouragement.

Now there’s nothing wrong with being either way, but you need to be realistic when it comes to bringing that character to a podcast.

If the idea of recording an episode fills you with dread considering all the research you’ll need to do so you don’t sound like an idiot, and then on top of that, you baulk at the idea of recording original words exiting your mouth, then perhaps hosting the podcast isn’t the best use of your time.

As a guest, you’ll be an expert in your thing, and your thing alone, meaning you won’t have to do any major new research. All you’d have to do is stay on top of trends in your niche.

Voice

When I first worked in radio, I had a dreadful voice. But it was a thousand times better than it was before I started. Because I had presenter training, and learned how to use my voice properly in a broadcasting way.

I was privileged, I know. Not everyone can get access to vocal training, and justify it because of their job.

And here’s the deal, even with the vocal training, I still don’t have the best voice for podcasting. I’d say in all honesty, my vocal skills are just slightly above average.

I’ve made that matter less by becoming an expert in other areas like audio engineering and editing, so I know how to make myself sound far better than I should.

If you’re coming at podcasting from a fully ‘doing it yourself’ perspective, and won’t have access to a professional editor, you need to be realistic about your voice.

I’m not saying you have to love your voice.

Most of us don’t.

But you do have to be self-aware enough that you know your voice isn’t going to absolutely grate on listeners.

I’m not saying this should be a thing. It shouldn’t. In an ideal world, every single human being should be entitled and empowered to share their voice with the world, regardless of any imperfections. But we don’t live in an ideal world. We live in a very critical and judgemental one where people have ridiculous standards around things.
And guesting would be a great way for you to learn and practice how to get the best out of your voice, and receive feedback on it.

Your schedule

Does your day consist of mostly being slightly late for important meetings, and getting angry and resentful at people for impinging on your time? Yeah, then running a podcast for yourself isn’t for you.

At Podknows Podcasting, I pride myself and my people for helping clients publish episodes with literally just minutes per month invested in that.

But even I can’t help you if the question “Do you have a couple of hours on the Tuesday three weeks from now to record a few episodes” results in an “Absolutely not!”, then we really can’t do much to help you, can we?

Podcast guesting slots can sometimes be anything up to two hours for one podcast, so start there and see if you can fit those into your life. If you can, then you might be able to consider starting out for yourself!

Willingness to invest

Your laptop microphone sounds terrible. So you’re going to need to invest in a cheap dynamic microphone at the bare minimum.

I mean, we’re talking around $80 (£60 at the time of writing) for something that will make you sound 1000% better.

If you’re not willing to make that purchase, then will you really be willing to spend the pennies in other areas that you’ll sometimes need to as you grow?

Lacking the necessary expertise

Not everyone is meant to be the circus ringleader. Some are born to be the trapeze artist.

The trapezist has a crucially important role. Often, they’re part of a double act where they’re responsible for safely swinging their colleague fifty feet in the air and be so well timed they can catch them on the other end.

If they’re not brilliant at that, it can end in disaster. They’re not thinking about eating flames or walking elephants in a circle, or entertaining the audience and ensuring they’re engaged.

Sometimes it’s ok to be the trapezist, and hit your beats at the right time, and ensure you don’t let the audience feel horrified.

It may not be your name everyone shouts out in glee, but they’ll have you to thank when they learn something new.

And that’s what episode descriptions are for.

Also, get this; some of the biggest names in podcasting started out as guests on other shows.

Want to get some free advice on whether you should start a podcast or become a guest? Click the button below to get in touch!