How to Be a Guest on a Podcast

Why should you consider being a guest on a podcast as a therapist? It requires no special connections or insider knowledge. It builds upon a strong foundation that already exists—and that you don’t have to build yourself. It’s highly replicable, without endless hours of content creation required on your part. It’s a genuine service to offer to the public and to other health and wellness entrepreneurs. It’s a unique opportunity to build authentic connections with your dream clients—and it’s completely free. 

Given all these reasons, being a podcast guest is one of the most effective strategies for marketing your private practice. But it’s surprisingly underutilized by a lot of private practitioners. If you’re even a little bit curious about how to be a guest on a podcast, here are some reasons it can benefit you, and some steps you can take to get started. 

Common Myths About How to Be A Guest on a Podcast  

I’ve talked with practitioners across a variety of niches in private practice about why they haven’t yet explored podcast outreach as a marketing strategy, and I’ve noticed some common myths emerge. 

Myth #1: You need podcast experience before you pitch yourself. 
This is a widespread belief among the practitioners I’ve worked with—but if it were true, no one would ever pitch themselves! In reality, being featured on podcasts is an excellent way to start building your own audience, and establish a consistent online presence. As you learn how to be a guest on a podcast, you can use these experiences to bolster the credibility of each new pitch you send out. That doesn’t mean you should wait to get started, though. 

If you’re still feeling insecure, list out every presentation, workshop, or guest training you’ve given—and yes, grad school absolutely counts! And don’t forget that as a clinician, you’re already speaking to your audience every day in your sessions. Once you list out all these accomplishments, you might be surprised by how experienced you really are. 

Myth #2: You need to be a natural self-promoter. 
This is a common misconception of how to be a guest on a podcast, and it’s especially frustrating to me because it’s preventing so many outstanding practitioners from sharing their perspectives with the world. While the prospect of “pitching” yourself might feel at odds with how you operate as a helping professional, at its core podcast outreach is no different from any other form of content marketing. One of the most powerful mindset shifts you can make when pitching yourself is to reframe podcast appearances as a tool to help the people who most need your services to find you. Remember: By promoting your business, you’re promoting their well-being.

Myth #3: You need to have the “right” personality.
Whenever this belief comes up, I encourage practitioners to consider how boring podcasts would be if every guest (and every host, for that matter) shared the same, single personality. Perhaps the most liberating promise of appearing on a podcast is that it’s truly a come-as-you-are situation. 

Knowledge is omnipresent now. Sure, audiences tune in to podcasts for the information presented—but they are also looking for the lens through which it’s delivered. And this is especially true of help-seeking audiences. This means that your lived experience with all its twists and turns, your voice, and everything else that makes you uniquely you is all part of the alchemy that makes podcasts such a valuable and beloved platform.     

Why You Should Consider Pitching Yourself as a Guest

As a health and wellness practitioner, you’re uniquely well-suited to podcast guest appearances. In addition to your natural empathy and the basic organizational skills your work requires, you possess some key qualities that can help you stand out to hosts and audiences alike—from pitch to interview and beyond.

For instance, as an entrepreneur, you’re creative. Whether or not you identify as a creative person, you likely exhibit functional creativity in your work everyday. Each time you anticipate an issue or troubleshoot in the moment, you’re employing the kind of cognitive flexibility that serves your clients well—and is one of the fundamentals of how to be a guest on a podcast. By thinking creatively about the connection between what you offer and the clients who need it most, you’ll make thoughtful decisions about where they’re already tuned in and how to strategically serve up podcast content that’ll meet them there.        

As a helping professional, you’re responsive. This is where your natural empathy meets flexibility to produce meaningful action. Whatever you’d planned for a session, when new information presents itself, you’re able to swiftly incorporate this, formulating a new plan to reflect the needs of your client. This ability to micro-pivot in response to subtle shifts in conversation sets you apart as an uncommonly perceptive podcast guest, easing the burden on hosts and yielding profound exchanges that captivate audiences’ attention.       

Also because of the work you do, chances are, generosity is baked right into your daily interactions with your clients.  (It’s extending the same consideration to yourself that’s more of a challenge.) This giving spirit is a real asset in your podcast outreach, as you’ll be naturally inclined to imagine pitch topics that’ll benefit podcast hosts and audiences while supporting your own marketing goals. 

During the interview, you’ll be able to demonstrate generosity through mindful engagement with the host, openness to sharing your experience, and freely offering relevant tips and resources with the audience. And after the episode airs, you can continue to show your support by promoting and repurposing interview content to help reach new audiences. 

How to Get Started

So now that you know more about how to be a guest on a podcast—and that you have what it takes—how do you actually do it? Whether you’re preparing for your first podcast pitch or your next one, there are some key steps you can take to help boost the effectiveness of your outreach. Resist the urge to skip over these steps. Thoughtful preparation can make all the difference between a pitch that fades into a noisy inbox and one that stands out with resonance. 

1. Reflect on your goals. 
Why are you considering adding podcast outreach to your marketing plan? Are you hoping to attract right-fit clients to your private practice? To direct targeted traffic to your online products or programs? To position yourself as thought leader in your niche? Life’s too short to spend your energy on a marketing strategy  just to say that you tried it. So, take some time to get clear on what you’re working towards in your business and how podcast outreach might support you in your efforts.    

2. Review your greatest hits. 
Once you know who you’re trying to reach and why, it’s time to identify your topics that are ripest for pitching. Take stock of the blog posts, social media posts, or other content you’ve already created and ask yourself: Which of these has invited the most engagement from my audience? Which topics might I explore on a deeper level? 

Create a working list of core topics that you can pull from and adapt as needed to align with the needs of each podcast you pitch. Not only will this help you clarify your message and your goals, but if you can point to topics that have already resonated with your audience, it can help strengthen your pitch as well. Include those metrics when you send your initial email. 

3. Identify your right-fit podcasts. 
In the early stages of podcast outreach, many practitioners begin by pitching the podcasts they follow or by pursuing any connections they might have, regardless of how well these podcasts actually fit with their marketing goals. A much more strategic—and effective—approach is to begin by identifying your “professional neighbors.” These are podcasts hosts who are serving your ideal clients in a complementary way to you. 

For example, if you work with women experiencing postpartum body image issues, your potential pitch list might include podcasts hosted by perinatally-focused doulas, nutritionists, and fitness professionals, as well as podcasts more broadly focused on women’s health, life transitions, and relationships. And, as a bonus, these professional neighbors also make for excellent networks and potential collaborators, referral sources, and community outside of podcasting. 

Perhaps marketing is one aspect of entrepreneurship you genuinely enjoy. Or maybe it’s something you dislike and would rather outsource. Regardless, it’s worth learning more about how to be a guest on a podcast. In the course of a conversation with a peer, you can build genuine connections and credibility with your growing audience. 

You can represent your field with accessible, affirming, evidence-based information—without having to spend the time creating, editing, and promoting the content all on your own. Podcast outreach presents an exclusive opportunity in marketing: It feels good, and does good, for both you and the people you’re trying to reach.