The best way to answer “Who are you and what do you do?
I want you to think about the times that you made introductions to people. Maybe you're introducing a coworker to your spouse or a friend from one area of your life to a friend in another area of your life. You likely say something like Bob, this is Gene. Gene, Bob. Bob is one of the best copywriters I know. And Gene is a fantastic graphic designer. What you don't say is Bob Gene, Gene Bob. Now, tell each other who you are and what you do because they'd both be caught off guard.
If you ask me what's the worst question podcasters commonly ask their guests, you'll get one unequivocal answer from me. So tell us who you are and what you do. And while I've spoken about why podcasters shouldn't ask that question, if you go on podcasts, chances are you're still getting it. And that's what I wanna talk about today.
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I'm your host, Joe Casabona. And today, I wanna talk to you about how to answer the question, who are you and what do you do? As a podcast guest, you need to turn this question into a way to stand out.
So let's start with what not to do first. Perhaps, the worst answer you could give is to rehash your bio. It's likely that the host already told people who you are reading a provided bio or recording an intro after the interview. Plus, people can just read your bio. That's what makes this question so bad in the first place. It's not helpful and it's not unique information.
Instead, what you want to do is deliver value right out of the gate. What I try to do is tell a story that clearly illustrates how I help people. Which means I need to know the topic and audience ahead of time. If we're talking about podcast sponsorship, I'm telling people about how podcasting saved my business. If we're talking about workflows, I'm telling people how I knew something needed to change when I completely burned out in 2020. This does a couple of things. It helps people learn a little bit more about me without me just rereading my bio. It makes people emotionally invested in my story. The people I help can empathize with the story I'm telling and it illustrates the kind of transformation I can do for them.
So how can you do this? The answer is to tell a story. I write all about digital storytelling over on [podcastliftoff.com]. But your goal is to tell a story of automation, make the listener the hero, and position yourself as the guide. You want to communicate to the listener that:
1. I see you.
2. I've been where you are.
3. I know the way out.
4. And most importantly, I can help you.
Why does this matter? Because a great podcast interview can do a lot of things for you. It can grow your authority. It can get people onto your mailing list, and it can reach new clients. It could be a gold mine for creating your own content. But a bad podcast interview is basically just wasted time. It won't be good for the podcast, and it won't be good for you. If you start strong, win over the audience early, and steer the conversation in the right direction that you need it to go in, It could be a huge boon for you in both the short and long term.
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Thanks so much for listening. And until next time. I can't wait to see what you make.
Hey. Before you go, I want to tell you about a free resource I have called My Podcast Process Templates. They are a set of Notion documents that give you a full podcast planner, a show planner, and even some AI prompts to help you get the creative juices flowing. You obviously want to improve your podcast workflows and save time, and these templates will give you a basis for all of your other processes. Through my Notion and Airtable templates, I am able to automate a number of things as well as stay organized so that I am using my podcasting time more efficiently.
If you wanna get your hands on these templates completely for free, you can head over to [podcastworkflows.com/templates]. That's [podcastworkflows.com/templates] to get your free podcast process templates, today.
