How to Leverage Your Podcast to Earn Speaking Gigs

Practical Tips for Podcast Success  

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If you’re thinking about starting a podcast to grow your speaking business, remember these five practical tips for long-term success: 

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#1 Start by Being a Guest 

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If having your own podcast seems too overwhelming or time consuming, start by being a guest on someone else’s podcast. By being a great guest, you can still use podcasting to build relationships, solidify trust and credibility in the marketplace, and test content for your speeches and books. 

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One of the most valuable aspects of HEROIC is the community of leaders, speakers, and authors you become part of when you train here. Many have podcasts and would love to have fellow Alumni appear as podcast guests. Connect with podcasters in your cohort or circle to see where you could add value as a guest. 

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#2 Consistency Beats Perfection 

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It’s only natural to want to create the “perfect” podcast: one with funny, engaging, entertaining, mind-blowing, and useful content. The one with crystal-clear audio, perfect transitions, and only the most impressive and elite guest speakers. 

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Perfection is a noble goal. Consistent improvement and iteration is important. But when it comes to starting a podcast, consistency matters more than perfection. 

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If you start your podcast, do a few episodes, then disappear for six months before releasing another episode, it’s unlikely your podcast will be successful. Posting regularly is essential for long-term podcasting success. 

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That being said, there are different ways of being consistent. Publishing regularly doesn’t mean you have to release a new podcast episode every single week. 

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Planning, recording, editing, and releasing episodes takes time, energy, and focus. It’s essential to determine how often you are realistically able to regularly produce episodes. 

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For some people, doing podcasts by season is a good model. Here’s how recording podcasts by seasons works: Each year, you choose a topic for that season, you interview a certain number of people, and you publish a pre-determined number of episodes. You promote that season throughout the year, then give yourself a much-needed break in between seasons. 

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This is a very effective way to release podcast episodes in a consistent way that doesn’t become too time-consuming. 

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#3 Speak to Your Unique Audience, Not to Everyone 

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During GRAD | Speech Writing Mastery, one of the first essential speech-writing lessons you learn is that your speech is not for everyone. While it’s true that your message might resonate with people from a variety of backgrounds, your message will have more impact if it’s tailored to a specific group of people. 

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The same goes for your podcast. Identifying a specific audience for your podcast will make it easier for you to connect, resonate, and impact those listeners. Knowing your audience is essential for earning their trust and inspiring them to act on your message. 

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If you’re struggling to find a specific audience for your podcast, try asking yourself these guiding questions: 

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• What do the people I work with, consult for, or serve want? What stands in their way? 
• What is the problem I’m addressing? Who experiences this problem? 
• Which audiences would benefit from hearing my perspective about the problem? 

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Crafting your podcast for a specific audience can help you have a deeper impact on the people you are best intended to serve and help. And it can help your podcast lead to speaking gigs because event organizers will realize that you understand and connect with their specific audience. 

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Often, quality is more important than quantity. Having the right listeners is frequently more valuable than having a huge amount of listeners or episode downloads. I know some podcasters who, although they have very small audiences, consistently profit by building relationships with the right people. 

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#4 Use Your Podcast as a Testing Ground 

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Another valuable way to leverage your podcast to increase your speaking success is by using it to test content for your speeches and books. 

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Here’s how it works: As you’re developing content for your new keynote, share small sections of your speech, stories, or important points on different podcast episodes. See what resonates with your listeners, paying special attention to what questions they have and what aspects land with them. 

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Testing your speech or book can help you identify areas of confusion and resolve them before putting content into the spotlight in a high-stakes situation. It can also help you improve your speech and fine-tune it for your specific audience. It gives you valuable real-time feedback that can make the difference between a bestseller and a flop. 

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Using my podcast to test new ideas for my keynote speeches has been highly effective for my speaking business. Not too long ago, I shifted the focus of my podcast towards AI to  test ideas and content for a new speech. The feedback I received helped me refine ideas and eventually create a new speech, “Surfing the 100-Foot AI Wave.” Leveraging the podcast to see what resonated (and what didn’t) deeply impacted the overall success of the new speech. 

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#5 Do What You Love, Outsource the Rest 

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One of the reasons why some podcasters struggle to consistently produce episodes is because they take on the responsibility of doing everything related to their podcast. While this might save some money upfront, it can be exhausting, frustrating, and unsustainable. 

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It’s much easier to produce a podcast with an experienced team. (And this makes it much more enjoyable for you, since you can focus on doing only the things you like most.) When you find people who can help you take care of the technical aspects of your podcast, it lightens your load, improves the quality of your podcast, and makes podcasting much more enjoyable and sustainable. 

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A Valuable Opportunity to Connect

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Podcasting can be a valuable tool for speakers who want to grow their speaking business through the power of relationships. It can solidify your position as a thought leader, build credibility and trust, and lead to new speaking opportunities. 

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Like your speech, the ideas and messages you share on your podcast have the potential to impact the people who need them most. It can lead to authentic connection and help you build a community of fans and followers. 

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Just imagine the sense of satisfaction that comes from meeting a listener who says, “I loved the episode you did with the grandson of Viktor Frankl,” or “I listen to your podcast every day during my morning commute.” Podcasting can spread your message further than ever before. 

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Although podcasting success won’t happen overnight, as you focus on consistency rather than perfection, identify and speak to your unique audience, and authentically build relationships, your podcast can become the spark that leads to visionary ideas, increased revenue, and valuable new opportunities.