How can you take your guest episodes beyond a basic Q&A? When you think of a podcast, what comes to mind? If “a mic and two people talking” is your first thought, you’re in good company, but in this episode, Mary encourages you to expand that definition. Your show is about so much more than the interview. That one-time guest isn’t the person who keeps listeners coming back week after week—that’s you! So, how can you use strategic guest selection to leverage the values, interests, and timing of both the host and the listener?

When you bring on not just the most popular guest but the one who is truly the best fit, you gain a stronger episode, a more dedicated listener base, and a more cohesive show.

Get picky about your guest picks with these helpful tips:

• Why this month’s most sought-after podcast guest might not be the right choice for you
• Why platforms that match guests to podcasts aren’t ideal
• How your podcast values play into your guest selection every time
• How to tweak your publishing schedule to get the most out of every episode.

Links worth mentioning from the episode:

• Episode 62, How to Land Someone From Your Dream Guest List: https://www.organizedsound.ca/how-to-land-someone-from-your-dream-guest-list-episode-62/
• Episode 71, Celebrating with Values to Nourish Your Podcast: https://www.organizedsound.ca/celebrating-with-values-to-nourish-your-podcast-year-end-break-episode-71

Connect with Mary!

• Leave a voice note with your feedback at https://www.speakpipe.com/VisibleVoice or email visiblevoicepodcast@gmail.com
• Get the full transcript of the episode at http://www.visiblevoicepodcast.com
• Read up on more secrets with the Visible Voice Insights Newsletter https://www.organizedsound.ca/newsletter
• To learn more or work with Mary, check out https://www.organizedsound.ca
• Link up on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/marychan-organizedsound/
• Engage on Instagram @OrganizedSoundProductions https://www.instagram.com/organizedsoundproductions

Show Credits:

• Podcast audio design, engineering, and edited by Mary Chan of Organized Sound Productions
• Show notes written by Shannon Kirk of Right Words Studio
• Post-production support by Kristalee Forre of Forre You VA
• Podcast cover art by Emily Johnston of Artio Design Co.

Transcript with Audio Description:

[MUSIC IN - GHOSTHOOD FEATURING SARA AZRIEL “LET’S GO” BEGINS]

MARY: When you think of a podcast these days, what do you envision? Like, what is a podcast? Most people I talk to tend to say that if there's a microphone and there's two people talking, you've got a podcast. So, yes, that could be a good barometer. Like, a lot of the celebrity type podcasts are going that route. But podcasting is more than just interviews. 

I mean, this episode alone is a solo episode where there is no guest, but it still is a podcast. With the exceptional growth in podcasting since the pandemic, when we were all at home listening away, connecting to other humans through our earbuds and headphones, we've seen this interview style show get replicated over and over and over again. And I see the allure you want to emulate your favourite thought leaders. It's an easy route to get started, and we want to have a connection with someone. So an interview style show is definitely the way to go. 

However, what if we can make interview style shows better? What if it's more than just two people talking? On this episode, we're going to take a look at what we can be doing differently for our podcast and how being choosy about your guests will actually make a better show for you as the creator and for your listeners. 

This is episode number 94 on the Podcaster's Guide to a Visible Voice. 

<< WOMAN SINGS: So so so so let’s go >>

Over the years, as I created my show, this very podcast, almost at 100 episodes, yay, I'm gonna get there. 

[MUSIC ENDS]

I've evolved based on my interests, capacity, and curiosity too, like wanting to experiment for myself and for my clients, using this podcast as a testing ground. Some of the things I did was change up my branding, my frequency, and even my format. So if you actually look back on the history of this very podcast, you'll see in my first year, I did only solo episodes every single week. And that was tough. It was a slog to get through, but it was my goal because I wanted to see what that felt like, to do an episode every single week, because that's what everybody was saying. You had to produce content every single week. And I'm glad I met that goal. But I totally knew that path was not for me. I am not a weekly content creator in that sense. Proud to have done it, but glad it didn't stick. 

And then when you look back, my second year, I went to rotating guest and solo episodes. That publishing every two weeks format, which I still have today. And it's a pace that really challenges me, yet gives me the pauses I need during the summer and winter and so, this every two weeks with the little mini breaks in between. I really fell into this and really loved this frequency and really loved what this gave me in terms of joy of creating the podcast, yet still something that I could do in my capacity with running my business. And still actually at that time when I was starting recovering a lot from my traumatic brain injury from my accident that I had and you know, having a family and life and all that stuff too. So that was great to figure out in my second year. 

My third year, I refreshed my branding to see what that impact was like, because like with all things, you know, things evolve and you want to change how things look a bit. So why not? Tried that out in my third year, which is still the branding that you see today. Year four, I was more particular about my guest choices. This is where I was experimenting more about this theme for this episode, about strategic interviews and how do I choose my guests and what does that really entail in the whole grand scheme of things and the value of my podcast and in the industry too. I started seeing trends towards guesting companies popping up like those matchmaker type things, and I wanted to see how those worked and why some guests were always not such a great match for your show. I really wanted to experience what that was like. 

And then that takes us to last year and now this year. Years five and six, I've gotten into a really good rhythm, at least from this recording, right? Like, I feel very in line with what I'm doing with my guests and making sure that the ones that I choose to come on the show are aligned with certain themes or my curiosities. And you know, your curiosities too, because you asked me questions about podcasting and sometimes those themes are very timely or sometimes they're just have been simmering in the background for a while and I've just been waiting for the right person to show up. 

My point is everyone grows and learns and so does your podcast. So looking at how you choose your guests can also change. And that is okay.

[MUSIC IN]

As I said earlier, many of the big name shows we want to emulate because we look up to them. They look like they're doing something right. Right? So if they're doing X, why can't we, they have success with guests on their show, so why can't we have guests as well? Many of the big name talk shows are big names because of the very fact that they have a talk show. An interview style podcast, of course, is very similar and in line with that same structure. You pretty much have your own talk show. 

But what many people don't realize is that those huge big name shows also have a huge team behind them, whether that's for the actual production and editing of the show or for things like guest coordination. And this is where my episode here is really landing. I'm getting tired of that guest coordination side of things on podcast episodes. On one hand, I get it, you are the star of your show. You don't have time to schedule guests for those big name talk shows. That makes sense. 

But on the other hand, it smells like they're only focused on the publicity cycle. You know, like A, these guests are an easy land as long as you talk about what they want to promote, that's the whole promotional publicity cycle. B, makes it easy for you to fill a spot on your publishing schedule. Nothing like some easy guests to have, right? And C, they are on all the other big name shows already, so they're doing a publicity circuit, the cycle or in the podcas