How to Find Podcast Guests

Where to Find Guests

Source 1: Your existing network — past colleagues, college friends, business contacts. Highest acceptance rates. Source 2: LinkedIn search by industry and seniority. Source 3: Twitter and X — follow industry hashtags and engage before pitching. Source 4: Conference speaker lists (DLD Tel Aviv, Slush, Web Summit). Source 5: Other podcasts — guests on similar shows often welcome more appearances.

Building Your Target List

Aim for 100 named contacts. Use a spreadsheet with columns: name, title, company, why this guest, channel, status, last touch date. Update weekly.

The Pitch Formula

5 sentences. Sentence 1: 1-line context (who you are). Sentence 2: Why this person specifically (reference their work). Sentence 3: Show context (audience, episode count, listenership). Sentence 4: The ask (30 to 45 minute remote recording). Sentence 5: Easy yes or no (suggest 3 specific dates or a Calendly link).

What Makes a Great Pitch

Personalization is everything. Reference a specific tweet, talk, paper, or article. Generic pitches get 5 percent acceptance. Specific pitches get 35 to 45 percent. Mention any mutual connections by name (with permission).

Outreach Channels Compared

Warm intro through mutual connection: 60 percent acceptance, takes 2 to 5 days to set up. LinkedIn DM: 28 percent, fast, easily targeted. Twitter and X DM: 22 percent, fast, requires existing relationship or social signal. Cold email: 18 percent, takes longer. Instagram and TikTok DMs: 8 percent, generally not effective for B2B.

Multi-Channel Outreach

Combining LinkedIn plus email doubles response rates compared to either alone. Send LinkedIn DM first. If no response in 7 days, follow up via email. Reference the LinkedIn message in your email to show consistency, not desperation.

Tools to Speed Up

PodMatch (USD 50 per month): global guest database for hosts and guests. Matchmaker.fm (free tier): entry-level matching. LinkedIn Sales Navigator (USD 79 per month): best for B2B research. Hunter.io (free tier): find email addresses. Apollo.io: combined contact and outreach database.

The Booking Process

Once a guest agrees, send within 24 hours: 1-page brief on format, Calendly link with 4 to 6 time slots, and a 5-question pre-interview questionnaire to align on topics.

Where to Record

For local Israeli guests, in-person at a quality studio dramatically improves audio. Browse Pody studios across Israel. For remote guests abroad, Riverside or SquadCast for double-ender quality.

Maintaining a Pipeline

Top podcasters send 5 to 10 outreach messages per week. Track acceptance rates and improve pitch over time. Always end an episode by asking the guest for 1 introduction to someone else they admire — referrals compound your network.

See our complete guest guide. Hebrew: למצוא אורחים.

Related: recording guide, how to start.