Listening to your own recorded voice can be a bit cringe-worthy, but podcasts are a useful addition to your marketing arsenal. By introducing a new platform for sharing your insights, you broaden your audience and visibility.

Podcasts take you from words on a page (which have their value) to a human voice. It’s a way of reaching people who don’t really read LinkedIn posts or email newsletters, or people who don’t see your written content because of algorithms or overflowing inboxes, or people who are already fans and want to consume everything you produce (hopefully the latter).

So don’t wait to be invited to a podcast. Identify channels that resonate with your audience and proactively reach out to see if they’d be interested in featuring you (we could do that for you obvs).

Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking on The MedTalk Podcast for its FemTech series. It was my first ever personal appearance so if you’re feeling intimidated by the idea of doing a podcast, I know exactly how you feel.

Here are some quick tips I used to prepare (easily gathered through an online search and supplemented by my own experience), so you can ace your next podcast appearance.

BEFORE

• Listen to previous episodes of the podcast.
• Research the topic, host and other guests. Check how to pronounce their names!
• Pr
  epare your angle. What is the data, experience, case study or achievement that listeners would be interested in?
• Read reviews to understand audience preferences.
• Put yourself in the listener’s shoes. What are your own preferences when listening to podcasts, and how can you apply them?
• Record yourself so that you can adapt your speaking style, to reduce pesky ‘umming’ or up the energy and enthusiasm.

DURING

• Don’t panic! You can usually redo sections or ask for parts to be edited if something goes wrong. It’s in the interests of the host to make you look good too.
• Use the names of hosts and guests to create a warm, conversational tone.
• Keep your answers concise and focused on the question.
• Reference prior episodes to demonstrate your interest and preparation.
• Include a specific call-to-action for listeners, such as how they can connect with you on social media.

AFTER

• Send a thank you note to the host.
• Promote the episode on your social media channels.
• Incorporate the podcast in your marketing – such as email newsletters (this email is an instant example).

Preparing, doing and wrapping up a podcast can be a lot of work, but the spotlight earned for your business will pay off.

You can listen to me on The MedTalk Podcast here. There is a lot to say on women’s health research but I used the 20 minutes to focus on our ThoughtSpark report on how we can objectively assess research attention. I received questions in advance so I could prepare, but I kept my notes in bullet form to avoid sounding sound robotic or unnatural. Did I succeed?

On a completely different topic, I had the opportunity to speak to Management Today, reflecting on my business and leadership lessons so far. For those of you running your own business or launching a start-up, the guests’ thoughts on learning to delegate might be especially helpful! You can listen to the full podcast here.

To chat about your own podcast contributions, book time to meet with me or email me at sarah@thoughtsparkagency.com.