How to get on podcasts as a guest (pitch template included)

You'd be a good guest. You know your subject, and you've heard enough interviews to know you'd hold your own. But no host has asked, and pitching yourself feels like begging.

It's simpler than it feels. Pick shows your buyers already listen to, and send each host a short email that opens with a question about their listeners. You get seven steps, a pitch template filled in for a leadership coach, and the part most guides skip: what to do with the episode once it airs.

How to get on podcasts as a guest in seven steps

Getting booked is mostly a good list and short emails. The interview is the easy part.

1. Pick the listener and the problem. "Leaders" is too broad. "Engineers promoted to manager in the last year" is a listener a host can picture.
2. List 20 shows that person already listens to. Ask clients, search YouTube and check where your peers have been guests.
3. Give hosts something to find. Post one 2-minute video on your topic, and keep a short guest page with your topic, three questions and your best clip.
4. Send a short pitch. Open with a question about their listeners, offer one episode and link the clip.
5. Follow up once. A week later, offer a second angle. Then move on.
6. Prepare answers that stand alone. Three stories of about a minute each, plus one next step for listeners.
7. Work the episode after it airs. Turn it into a month of clips and written posts, and ask the host who else you should talk to.

Steps 2, 4 and 7 are where guests win or lose. Most people skip the list, send a bio, and post the episode link once. The rest of this page fixes all three.

Hosts book guests for the topic, not the follower count

You don't need an audience to get booked. You need a topic their listeners want. Buzzsprout surveyed 271 podcasters in 2026 and asked what counts most when they decide on a guest. 87.8% picked a relevant topic. 62.0% picked the guest's expertise. Only 14.4% picked audience size.

Where did hosts find their last three guests? 69.7% named their personal network and 28.0% a cold email pitch. So cold pitches work, but a host who knows you, or knows someone who does, is a far easier yes. Start with those.

Pick shows by the same rule: a small show your buyers listen to beats a big one they don't. As I put it in my Instagram strategy video, "A thousand people who will never hire you isn't a business. 40 of the right people are." I call this qualified attention, and a podcast is a good place to earn it.

Guesting is the last of the six content formats I give executive coaches. As I say in the video behind it, the audience has already opted in to your topic. You get 30 to 60 minutes to show how you think, and the host vouches for you by having you on.

How to find podcasts your buyers already listen to

Start from the listener. A guest directory tells you who needs a guest this week, not who your buyers hear on their commute. Work through these, best first.

Before a show goes on your list, check three things. Has it published in the last month or two? Do most episodes have a guest? Is it filmed? A filmed interview gives you clips. An audio-only show still gives you written posts, but on YouTube it often appears as cover art over sound, since YouTube makes a static-image video from the show art for podcasts that come in by RSS.

Aim for 20 shows, enough for four or five pitches a week for a month. If a show asks you to pay for the guest spot, you're buying an ad, so judge it like one.

Give hosts something to find when they look you up

Hosts look you up before they reply. In my speaking-gigs video I say it about event organizers, and it holds for hosts: "So, before anyone actually books you, they're going to search you." Jordan Blair, Buzzsprout's podcast producer, says most hosts care about three things. The first two are "Can you serve my listeners?" and "Can you communicate clearly?"

So before you pitch, make sure a search for your name turns up two things:

1. A 2-minute video of you on the topic you're pitching. Post it on LinkedIn and YouTube. It's the clip you'll link in every pitch, and it answers both of those questions before the host asks.
2. A short guest page. Your photo, the problem you talk about, three questions a host could ask, your best clip and any shows you've been on. The speaker one-sheet in our speaking guide works with the stage history swapped for episodes.

Past episodes help, but you don't need them to start. Only 24.0% of hosts in Buzzsprout's survey counted a guest's other podcast appearances. Still, each episode goes on your guest page and makes the next pitch easier, the same way a library of you talking beats any bio.

The 2-minute video is a job CreateSocial does in one sitting. Your talking points sit on the teleprompter near your camera, each point is its own section, and Remove Silences and subtitles finish the edit. Once your LinkedIn and YouTube accounts are connected, we post it for you.

A podcast guest pitch template that opens with a question

Most pitch templates open with your bio. Mine opens with a question about the host's listeners, because outreach should never start with a pitch. As I say in my Instagram video, "Cold DMs still work. People just kill them by pitching straight away." Email is no different.

Keep it short and about their listeners. Blair is a host herself, and she spells out what makes her ignore a guest pitch: "if it's clearly copy/pasted, too long, or shows zero understanding of my audience, I'm out." Copy this and fill the brackets:

Subject: Episode idea for [show name]: [episode title]

Hi [host's first name],

Quick question: do your listeners ever ask you about
[the problem you solve, in their words]?

I ask because [one detail from a recent episode,
e.g. what a guest said and why it stuck with you].

That problem is my whole job. I help [who]
[get what result]. Here's the episode I'd bring:

"[Episode title]"
1. [The mistake your listeners make]
2. [What to do instead]
3. [A story or example that shows it]

Here's a 2-minute clip so you can hear how I
talk about it: [link]
[One line of proof: a past show, who you work
with, or a result you can back up]

Would that fit what your listeners need right now?
If not, I'm happy to send two other angles.

[Your name]
[Your guest page]

Follow up once, a week later. Buzzsprout's advice is at least once after a week or so, and two follow-ups at most. Make yours add something:

Subject: Re: Episode idea for [show name]

Hi [first name], bumping this in case it got buried.
If the first idea doesn't fit, here's another:
"[Second episode title]"
Either way, I'm enjoying the show.

On LinkedIn, split it in two, the way I message event organizers in the speaking-gigs video. The first message is only the question:

Message 1 (with the connection request)
Hey [first name], loved the episode with [guest].
Curious, how do you usually find guests for
[show name] these days?

Message 2 (a few days later)
The reason I ask, I work with [who] on [problem],
and I think your listeners would get a lot from
an episode on [topic]. Happy to send a 2-minute
clip of how I talk about it. Want me to send it over?

Worked example: a leadership coach's pitch, filled in

This is the email filled in for a hypothetical leadership coach who works with engineers promoted to manager. The brackets left are the parts only the show can fill.

Subject: Episode idea for [show name]: Why your
best engineer is struggling as a manager

Hi [host's first name],

Quick question: do your listeners ever ask you why
their strongest engineer became their most
frustrated manager?

I ask because in your episode on [episode topic],
your guest said most new managers still review
every pull request themselves, and I've been
thinking about that all week.

That problem is my whole job. I coach engineers
in their first year as managers, so they stop
doing their old job on top of the new one.
Here's the episode I'd bring:

"The first 90 days after you stop writing code"
1. Why new managers keep grabbing the keyboard,
   and what it costs their team
2. The one-on-one question that replaces code
   review as their feedback loop
3. A 30-day handoff plan a manager can start
   on Monday

Here's a 2-minute clip so you can hear how I
talk about it: [link]
I work with engineering managers at software
companies of 50 to 500 people.

Would that fit what your listeners need right now?
If not, I'm happy to send two other angles.

[Your name]
[Your guest page]

Look at what's missing: no "I'm passionate about leadership" and no certifications. The proof line just says who the coach works with. The clip is a 2-minute take on talking point 2, so the host hears the exact conversation they'd be booking.

How to prepare so every answer can stand on its own

A clip only works if it makes sense to someone who never heard the episode. So shape your best answers to stand alone: the question in your own words, your take, one example, then the point. About a minute each.

1. Listen to two recent episodes. Note how long answers run, what the host always asks and how the episode ends.
2. Ask the host four things in advance. Is it filmed? How long does it run? When does it air? Can you have the video file and post clips from it? It's their recording, so ask early.
3. Prepare three stories. A client problem with the identifying details changed, a mistake you made, and a framework you can explain in a minute.
4. Pick one next step for listeners. Just one. A free checklist works if it's small. As I say in my Instagram video, "Nobody wants your 40-page guide. Make it solve one problem in about 5 minutes."
5. Set up the day before. Headphones, a USB mic, a quiet room, the camera at eye level and a light in front of you. Test all of it on the link the host sent.

On the day, use your buyers' words for the problem. When the host asks where people can find you, give your one next step and stop. A list of five links is a list nobody remembers.

After it airs, turn one episode into a month of content

One guest spot can feed a month of your own content. Most guides stop at "share it on social," which wastes the best raw material you'll get all month: 30 to 60 minutes of you answering good questions.

As I say in my speaking-gigs video, every episode is one more thing that shows up when someone searches your name, plus a long conversation you can clip. In the executive coaches video I put it at six pieces of content from one conversation, if you have a system. Here it is over one month:

Each clip has to make sense with no episode around it. A moment that starts with "and like I said earlier" is a dead clip, and how to post clips on YouTube as Shorts has seven checks for spotting one. In content funnel terms, the clips find new people and the full episode earns their trust.

This is where CreateSocial saves the most time. Upload the episode's video file and open Find Clips. On a long recording like an interview, it suggests the moments that stand on their own, each about 15 to 90 seconds with a strength score, and it can stitch a setup to its payoff from different parts of the conversation. Each clip becomes its own vertical video with subtitles. From the same episode we write the LinkedIn post, the X thread, the carousel, the email and the blog post in your voice. Audio-only show? Add the episode's YouTube link to your knowledge base, and we add what's said in it for your written posts to draw on.

Ask every host for your next booking

Your best lead on the next show is the last host. Hosts know other hosts, and guests travel by referral: in Buzzsprout's survey, 28.0% of hosts got some of their last three guests through referrals from past guests. So end every recording with one question: "Who else should I talk to?" Ask again when you send the clips.

Most guests skip this. The founder of the School of Podcasting wrote on r/podcasting in October 2025: "The biggest benefit of doing interviews isn't that the guest will share the episode (most don't because you asked the same questions as the last four interviews) it's the relationship with the guest that you nurture after the interview." Share the episode, send the clips, make an introduction back, and the host remembers you.

When a listener reaches out, get them on a call quickly. As I say in the speaking-gigs video, "A 15-minute call does more than 20 messages." How to get coaching clients with video walks that path from first message to booked call.

One more show for your list. CreateSocial has a podcast for business owners, and I'm looking for guests. If you'd like to be on it, apply by booking a call with me, and pitch me the way this page shows you.

How CreateSocial turns every guest spot into a month of posts

CreateSocial helps coaches, consultants and founders build a personal brand that brings in clients, speaking gigs and podcast invites, without content taking over the week. It learns what you know and runs the whole content week, video and written: ideas, scripts, posts, recording, editing, thumbnails and scheduling. Each interview you land feeds it, and your hours go to the calls.

• Ideas built from what you know. Add your website, past videos and client stories to your knowledge base for 80 personalized ideas a month, with hooks and talking points or full scripts. Trending Now adds what your niche is talking about every Monday, and "Ask me first" asks you a few questions so your clip tells a real story.
• The clip recorded in one sitting. Read from the teleprompter near your camera, at your desk or in the iPhone app, one section at a time with one-tap retakes. Dual mode frames 16:9 and 9:16 at once, so one take works wide and vertical.
• The episode cut into clips. Upload the interview, delete words from the transcript to trim it, run Remove Silences, and let Find Clips pick the moments that stand alone.
• Written posts from the same conversation. LinkedIn posts, X threads, a blog post, an email to your list and a LinkedIn carousel you export as a PDF, each refined in a chat until it sounds like you.
• The month out from one calendar. Schedule to TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and X, each with a caption written for that platform, and we post it for you once your accounts are connected. The Analytics page then shows which clips landed, with views, likes, comments and shares for TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Also in the one plan: competitor tracking, eye contact correction, subtitles in 11 styles, B-roll with free stock video, YouTube thumbnails made from your video, screen recording with your camera as a bubble, reaction videos in Layout or Stitch mode, green screen and virtual backgrounds with or without a real green screen, and platform safe-zone guides for TikTok, Reels and Shorts.

A host wants you on the mic, not your PR person. Here you get the founder. I'm Ben Moore, and I built CreateSocial on my own, bootstrapped, here in Cincinnati, Ohio, so you talk to me directly. Feature requests come to me, and a lot of what customers ask for gets built. Before CreateSocial, my agency generated millions of followers and millions of dollars in revenue for its clients, and I've generated hundreds of millions of views.

It's $129 a month, or $99 a month billed annually, with no add-ons and no per-feature charges. Start your free trial and record your 2-minute pitch clip inside it today. Want help picking your topic and your first 20 shows? Book a free strategy call with me.

Send your first three pitches this week

1. Write down the one listener you want and the problem you'd talk about.
2. Ask three clients which podcasts they listen to for work.
3. Look up two peers' guest credits on Podchaser, and build a list of 20 active shows.
4. Record your 2-minute clip and post it where hosts will find it.
5. Send the pitch template above to your three best-fit shows, each with one detail from an episode you heard.

Set a reminder for a week from today to send the follow-up. A free CreateSocial trial covers the clip now and the month of posts once your first episode airs.