Yesssss. You are a seasoned expert and thought leader in your space and people respect and love you. You REALLY know your stuff, have decades of experience, and are well-experienced in media appearances and public speaking — you’re The Maven!
So what does that mean? People will listen to you because you’re you — your reputation precedes you and that frees you up to host a show that you are most interested in. They will tune into conversations that you host because they know you’ll make it worth their time. They will just as quickly consume your solocasts because they love to hear from YOU. They will sing your praises and tell all their friends once they get hooked on your show.
When it comes to your show, you are well-suited to host conversation-style episodes, solocasts, or a mix of both. If you can record with your guests in studio, even better! Longer episodes, released in seasons, focused on sharing powerful insights and stories will be the bread and butter of converting your loyal listeners to paying customers — the really good kind.
What Kind of Episodes Will Convert Your Target Audience Into Paying Customers
1. Conversation-Style or Solocast
Hear this: your target audience trusts you to vet the best people in your space, ask them the questions they are dying to know the answers to, and keep it entertaining and inspiring. That’s why they subscribed, why they listen, and why they keep coming back for more. Remember that conversation-style is different than interview-style, so don’t be afraid to give your two cents and have a true dialogue with your guests. A seasonal show format will be your best friend so that you can prepare great solo content and only invite great guests on.
2. Longer Episodes
Since the focus of a conversation-style show is on conversations with interesting people, you have time to let the episodes run long. People will 100% listen to an hour+ long conversation if you keep it insightful, authentic, and relevant to their interests. You’ve been building great relationships and collecting amazing stories for decades, so lean into them! There’s no better way to keep your audience engaged with you for that length of time.
3. General Outlines
Whether you are hosting a guest for a conversation or sharing your wisdom in a solocast, a general outline will make all the difference in the quality of the episode. Make sure you prepare enough questions to understand your guest’s genius, but be willing to go off script if the conversation goes in a more interesting direction than you planned. When outlining a solocast, think through the FAQs you always get and base what you share on that.
Who Am I to Tell You What Kind of Show Host You Are?
Hello, I’m Christine Baird, founder and head producer at Worthfull Media. I’ve been working in personal brand media production since 2014. Since then, I have supported dozens of small businesses, personal brands, and larger endeavors in launching and growing their podcasts and YouTube series. We offer audio and video production services and teach experts-in-their-field how to make better shows, less often, with more worth.
Bonus Resources to Get You Started? Here you go
1. Read this blog post I wrote it to help show hosts see the value in making a seasonal (rather than “always on”) show.
2. Watch this video I recorded for our Show Host Series on YouTube all about The Mavens.
P.S. Meet Me in Your Inbox for More Show Host Tips (including the resources mentioned above)
P.P.S. Curious about the other show host types? Check out The Expert and The Curator