Should you start a podcast?

If you’re a speaker, coach, or expert, it can feel like the obvious next step. Visibility. Authority. Credibility. Influence.

But is it actually the smartest move right now?

In this episode, John takes a balanced look at podcast hosting and why sequencing matters more than trends.

Podcasting can absolutely become a powerful business asset. It can sharpen your thinking, strengthen your authority, expand your network, and generate enquiries. Done well, it becomes a content engine and a long-term brand builder.

But it also demands time, focus, energy, and consistency. And if your positioning isn’t clear, a podcast won’t fix that. It will simply amplify whatever is already there.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. The real advantages of hosting a podcast
2. The hidden time cost most people underestimate
3. Why most niche podcasts don’t monetise directly
4. When hosting makes strategic sense
5. Why guesting often builds authority faster than hosting
6. How guesting strengthens clarity and confidence
7. The difference between building a content library and building a reputation
8. Why sequencing matters more than momentum

If your business foundation is strong, a podcast can amplify your impact.

If it isn’t, guesting may be the smarter first move.

Clarity first. Platform second.

Mentioned in this episode

1. Strategic Podcast Guesting for Speakers (first three lessons free) presentinfluence.com/podcastguest
2. Episode with Julian Treasure on listening and communication

Want to go deeper?

If you’re considering podcast guesting as part of your visibility strategy, check out John’s audio programme:

Strategic Podcast Guesting for Speakers

Designed to help speakers, coaches and experts become more known, more confident, and more commercially aligned through podcast appearances.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Should You Start

00:55 Why Podcasting Appeals

02:20 The Hidden Costs

03:59 Hosting Versus Guesting

04:58 Guesting Builds Clarity

09:25 Sequencing And Foundations

12:18 Avoid Guru Traps

14:28 Strategic Guesting Program

15:54 Hook Listeners Fast

17:54 Wrap Up And Next Steps

Visit https://strategic-speaker.scoreapp.com to take the 2-minute Strategic Speaking Business Audit and find out what's blocking you from getting more bookings, re-bookings, referrals and bigger fees. There's a special surprise gift for everyone who completes the quiz.

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Mentioned in this episode:

SPGFS - Hiro.fm

Becoming known will always make it easier to get booked and podcast guesting is one of the easiest ways to make that happen, when you have the right strategy. This program will teach you everything you need to know about podcast guesting, from the tech stack to making an impact. You'll get all the tools to stand out as an amazing podcast guest and get booked on great shows.

Copy of Should You Start A Podcast?

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John: Here's a question for you as a speaker, coach, or expert, should you start a podcast? If you're not sure about the answer, this episode might just save you at least six months of your life. It seems these days, like every other speaker coaching expert has a podcast, and if you want authority, influence, credibility, visibility, start a podcast, that's the message.

John: But is it actually true? Well, I'm pretty sure all the people who offer podcast growth and content strategy services would love you to think that that's the case, but it might not be.

John: So before you build your studio and commission the cover art, it is worth pausing. Not because podcasting is a bad idea, obviously I don't think it is 'cause I have a podcast. It isn't a bad idea, but pause because it isn't always the right next move, and the sequence of things matters. So let's take a look at this properly.

John: When you curate conversations, you become the connector, the one asking the questions, the one bringing interesting voices together, and that does carry some authority.

John: Then there's the networking advantage. A podcast gives you a legitimate reason to approach people high up in your industry, who you would otherwise struggle to access some excellent professional relationships. Begin with a simple message. Would you like to come on my show? That matters. There are also funnel opportunities, speaking inquiries, coaching leads, strategic partnerships, occasionally sponsorship.

John: It does happen, and let's be honest, it can be enjoyable.

John: Most niche shows never really monetize directly in any meaningful way. But they can monetize indirectly through selling their own services.

John: Here's the uncomfortable one. One that I know personally, hosting can become a sophisticated form of procrastination. It feels productive. It looks impressive to some people, but it doesn't always move the business forward. That doesn't make it bad. It makes it something to approach a little more deliberately.

John: Hosting can amplify what's already working for you. It deepens your authority, strengthens your relationships. It expands your reach. But if your business is still finding its footing, the calculation changes. Because what you usually need at that stage isn't a platform. It's clarity. Clarity about who you serve, what problem you solve, how you articulate that problem,

John: why you are the person to help with that, and why it matters now, what commercial outcome you drive. and really that's where Podcast guesting becomes incredibly powerful.

John: Sometimes that small audiences, sometimes that's very significant audiences, you can test out your positioning in live conversation. You learn to introduce yourself without rambling, hopefully. You answer unpredictable questions from time to time and you can discover where some of your explanations wobble.

John: Podcast guesting can also build your reputation. Guesting forces you to develop clarity under pressure or otherwise risk going on and on and having people tuning out. so you could record. 30 or so solo episodes and never get to confront any of your weak spots, but 10 guest appearances will expose them pretty quickly. It's a much faster feedback loop, lower overhead, higher leverage, maybe a little more scary for some people. but when you do eventually choose to host your own show, if you do, You are no longer a beginner. You're clearer, more commercially aligned, more confident. You understand a bit more about podcasts, so it's not theory then it's pattern recognition.

John: writing the book or trying to do the high level content, which they're not really ready for just yet. Now, if your background has the expertise and you've just been putting off, getting into being a speaker, then yeah, maybe you are ready to be hosting a show. Maybe you are ready to have the book ready to go out there, but there's something that happens when your content meets the real world on real people,

John: that you get to experience in podcast guesting from time to time, especially with hosts who do their research, that you will get challenged in the right way on things and you'll get to test out how well your material works in the real world. So you do need to be prepared for the long game with podcast hosting as well.

John: Many experts don't have shows that spotlight their own expertise, but rather bring guests on and not really boosting their own credibility as an expert in the process other than perhaps having some intelligent conversations.

John: but even if you want to have guests on your show, having solo episodes as a speaker, as an expert yourself is going to be critically important. show is only gonna be your own expertise, that's absolutely fine as well. But guesting will still be important

John: even if you're doing a solo show with no guest whatsoever. And here's why, There is a particular kind of person that you want to get in front of to follow you and listen to your podcast, and they are the kinds of people who are already listening to podcasts.

John: If you don't perform well, they're not so likely to want to come and check you out elsewhere or hear more of what you want to say. So how you show up as a podcast guest is just as important as how you show up as a show host in having your own show.

John: If you've been following my work for any time, you'll know I'm becoming increasingly obsessed with sequencing, with the order in which things happen, not just what works, but what works when. Now, a podcast amplifies clarity, it rarely creates it though, if you don't have that starting out, it's a very long journey to getting these things figured out that will be full of frustration and is more likely to lead to you giving up before you get to your 10th episode.

John: one of the lessons that I've had to learn the hard way in business is that reaching for the attractive levels of business visibility like podcast hosting to a degree, but something like being an author and being on stages is absolutely great to want to do those things.

John: But doing any of that before you are ready is more likely to damage your progress and discourage you than to help you along. So the foundational elements are really important to have in place, and podcasting in itself is not a magic fix. Anyone who thinks they're going to suddenly start a show and the audience is just going to appear is going to be very disappointed because unless you are already very well known in your industry or unless you are already famous in some way, shape or form, people are very unlikely to just come and check out your podcast.

John: Now you really have to stand out. So a podcast can build your authority, it can sharpen your thinking, and it can expand your reach, but you have to be ready for the slow growth curve. and remember, this can be something that can be exactly how you want it to be. You can have limited series, you can have a funnel that's just gonna be five episodes, if that's what you want to do.

John: don't buy into the idea that this has to be something that you do every single week or twice a month, or once a month, or even every day, as some of the podcast gurus still tell people to do.

John: I'm not a podcast guru. I'm not invested in whether you start a show or not,

John: If you're starting a show, get some external help. Find somebody who knows what they're talking about, not these cheap podcast guru people

John: That will start constantly popping up in your emails if you start a show because they want to sell you their services to promote your show. nearly always. They're buying you follows from bot farms and that is something I would not encourage you to do,

John: Just go do it. Have fun, enjoy it. not trying to be any kind of barrier to that. but if you are expecting and hoping for any kind of return on investment with the show that you create, then you have to be strategic about it. And putting out content that isn't ready or show that isn't really fully developed or realized is only going to hurt

John: your brand rather than boost it. The same as, writing your business book before you really know enough or starting working with clients when you haven't really figured out what it is that you are helping them with fully, and you don't have the full solution for them, you are gonna come unstuck at some point.

John: You will see much quicker results that way and be much more encouraged in keeping it going as well, And it will be a much quicker journey to having your podcast become a professional asset for you instead of something you just hope works out in the long term. Now, podcast guesting

John: is definitely valuable for you in this journey as well. Even if after this you are thinking, well, maybe I'm not gonna start a podcast right now, I think it's one of the pillars of becoming known in your industry.

John: So I have created a course, a program that is designed specifically to help speakers, coaches, and experts use podcast guesting strategically so that you can have a much better chance of getting on the kinds of shows that you want to be on and standing out from the crowd, But also making sure that when you're on those shows, that you are presenting yourself and your content in such a way that it's gonna get invited back, hopefully, but also is gonna be engaging and attractive to the audience of that show to want to check you out

John: rather than what most guests tend to do, are being a little self-indulgent and thinking, this is my chance to take the stage and give you my presentation

John: This is definitely not the best way to be showing up as a guest, and yet many people do come on and think, all right, I'm just gonna give you a mini version of my TED Talk

John: They're more interested in do you come across as someone who seems likable, warm, competent in what they're talking about confident as well with what they say and concise enough to be able to deliver in a way that people aren't gonna have to wait too long for any sort of payoff?

John: We need to, front load stuff a little bit more and make sure that People get value early on in the conversation because one thing you can guarantee with podcast episodes, whether they're your own or someone else's, is that if you haven't hooked your listener or viewer within the first 60 seconds or so,

John: hook in the audience for you and for your host, and people are much more likely to want to listen to the whole of that episode. You can figure out how you want to do the hook yourself, And if you are looking for help with podcast guesting in particularly, I do have a new program available, and the first three lessons of that are completely free.

John: All you need to do is go to present influence.com/podcast guest or one word, and you can get those first three episodes.

John: And if you like it, you can get the rest of the course at the current low launch price of $95. and we'll give you some of the basics of that whereas rest of the program takes you into some of the more in-depth elements of showing up as an amazing guest and really getting leverage through strategic podcast guesting. So I hope this has been valuable for you.

John: If you are starting a show, let me know. I'd love to hear about it.

John: Alright. I hope that helps you and I had to rerecord this episode Because I think I missed out a lot of the good stuff about what makes podcast hosting so good and why I enjoy it, and why many people who are speakers and experts in the industry do podcast hosting. But please know that, as as valuable as it can be and as fun as it can be,

John: there's a lot more involved. All right. I look forward to checking in with you again very soon. Got some more episodes coming out for you And if you are wondering, Hey, John, didn't you say last year that you were gonna start cutting back on your episodes? That hasn't been happening yet? Um, no.

John: This is the joy of podcasting. I'm still figuring some of this stuff out. I hope you'll stick with me whilst I do that. In the meantime, wherever you're going, whatever you're doing, have an amazing rest of your day. I'll see you next time.