Using Podcast Guesting to Improve Your Public Speaking Skills

Written by: Neil Thompson, Founder, Teach the Geek

Neil Thompson, Founder, Teach the Geek

Want a low-pressure way to improve your public speaking skill? Appear as a guest on podcasts.

There are over 400,000 active podcasts, so you can definitely find some that would love to have you as a guest.

As a podcast guest, your speaking skills will improve because you’ll get practice answering questions extemporaneously. You can also build relationships with the podcast hosts. Networking is so important in building a career, after all.

If you’re convinced that podcast guesting is something you’d like to try, here’s how to make it happen.

Determine what you want to speak about. Being in the plastics industry, perhaps a topic could be 3D printing.

Go to listennotes.com. It’s a podcast search engine that can direct you to millions of podcasts.

Type in 3D printing. You may also try affiliated keywords like additive manufacturing and polymer science.

Click on the podcasts that come up. What is the podcast scope? Do they accept guests? When was the last time they released an episode? Jot down this information.

On the right hand side of the screen, the podcasts’ social media handles are listed. Contact the podcasts via these handles. Even better, the podcasts may have a website with contact email or a contact form.

If you’re emailing or filling out the contact form, mention that you listened to an episode of the podcast, and say something insightful about that episode. Podcasters want people to listen to their podcasts. If you show that you’ve listened to an episode, you stand a better chance of getting a yes. State what your proposed speaking topic is and why you’re qualified to talk about it. Ask whether this topic would be of interest to the host and the host’s audience, then state that you’d love to be a guest to talk about the topic.

If you don’t want to search for the podcasts, hire a virtual assistant on an hourly basis to do it. Tell the virtual assistant the scope of podcasts you want to appear on. Also tell the virtual assistant that the podcasts must accept guests and have released recent podcasts. Ask for podcasts’ contact information, too. The virtual assistant will give you a list of podcasts, and you can contact them from there.

When you’re a guest on the podcast, remember to be calm. You’re talking to someone through a screen on a topic you’re an expert in. Always try to embed stories into your answers. Especially based on the podcast’s audience, stories are key to keeping listeners’ attention. Don’t ramble. Shorter answers are better than longwinded ones; the host can always ask follow up questions. When the host asks how listeners can contact you, direct them to your social media handles and LinkedIn page. Ask the hosts to let you know when the episode is released, and offer to share the episode. Keep in touch with the podcasters. Suggest names of others they may want to interview. If you have an idea for a future episode, reach out to the hosts again to pitch that idea; they may bring you back as a guest.

Now there’s only one thing left to do…get started!

P.S. SPE has two excellent and popular podcasts designed for plastics professionals around the world! Check out PlastChicks--The Voices of Resin!, hosted by Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri, and Plastics and Beyond, hosted by Lilian Judy.

Are you nervous? Do you speak too fast? Do you struggle with time limitations or find yourself fumbling through your slides? While public speaking and presenting may be challenging, as a plastics professional, it's one of the best ways for you to get noticed and excel in your field. Teach the Geek to Speak will help you create impactful presentations and give you the confidence in public speaking you've always wanted. SPE members get a special 25% discount on the Teach the Geek to Speak program. Use discount code "SPE25" when registering. Sign up today and nail your next presentation!

For more in-depth tips, you can also listen to the Teach the Geek podcast at podcast.teachthegeek.com.