personal stories matter

You've got a business to promote. So, what makes you unique?

To find this out - I often ask clients about their relationship status, where they're from, what their hobbies are, life challenges and causes they care about. Plenty of business podcasts want to know more about the person that they are interviewing - besides your role and expertise, who are you as a person?

This matters because it helps with finding more relevant podcasts for you. More information also means more interesting talking points and more reasons to connect with you.

It also helps podcasts with deciding who they want to speak to. A business podcast may interview several former management consultants, but not if they all want to talk about the same thing. Often, what usually differentiates guests are their back stories.

One may have experienced burn out and after stress leave decided to become a career coach

A second could have left their career to finally set up the pottery studio they had been dreaming of

A third may have decided to increase their social impact and is now the CEO of a local charity

I made these up. But these are the types of personal stories that give the motivation behind why someone start a business.

You don't need to confess everything about your life, but just have a few interesting bits about yourself to share and why / how they relate to your business.

It might seem irrelevant and intrusive to you, but it builds a picture of who you are and why your story is worth sticking around 30 - 40 minutes for. Podcasts are not adverts, they are for stories, inspiration and expertise.

So consider, if you want to guest on podcasts - what makes you who you are?

What brought you to where you are now?

It might just be one of the reasons someone chooses to work with you over a competitor.