Zachary Bernard on the Art of Pitching Podcast Hosts Without Getting Ignored
By: Alyssa Miller
Every day, podcast hosts receive dozens of guest pitches. Most of them get deleted within seconds. Zachary Bernard, Founder of We Feature You PR, has spent years studying what separates the pitches that get booked from the ones that get buried, and the difference is simpler than most people think.
“The number one reason pitches fail is because they’re about the guest, not the audience,” Zachary says. “Hosts don’t care about your resume. They care about whether you can deliver value to the people who listen to their show. If your pitch doesn’t make that clear in the first two sentences, it’s over.”
Zachary’s agency has sent thousands of pitches and built relationships with over 700 podcast hosts since 2021. The patterns he’s observed are remarkably consistent. Personalization wins. Generic templates lose. And the guests who do their homework before reaching out land interviews at dramatically higher rates.
The foundation of an effective pitch, according to Zachary, starts before you write a single word. Listen to at least one full episode of the show. Understand the host’s style, their audience’s interests, and the types of conversations they gravitate toward. Then build your pitch around that understanding.
“Reference something specific,” he advises. “Mention an episode you enjoyed and explain why. Then connect your expertise to a gap or topic their audience would benefit from hearing about. That’s it. No life story. No corporate bio. Just relevance and value.”
Zachary recommends keeping pitches under 150 words. Start with the specific connection to the show, introduce yourself with one sentence of context, suggest three to five topic ideas that align with the audience, and close by making it easy for the host to say yes.
“Short pitches respect the host’s time,” he says. “And they show confidence. If you need three paragraphs to explain why you’d be a good guest, you probably haven’t thought clearly enough about your value proposition.”
One common mistake Zachary warns against is attaching media kits or one-sheets in the initial email. Attachments can trigger spam filters, and many hosts prefer to evaluate the pitch itself before reviewing supplementary materials.
“Send the pitch clean,” he says. “If the host is interested, they’ll ask for your media kit. Let the pitch do the work first.”
Follow-up is where most aspiring guests give up too soon. Zachary notes that many successful bookings happen on the second or third follow-up, not the initial outreach. Hosts are busy. Emails get buried. A thoughtful follow-up a week later signals persistence without being pushy.
“Following up is not pestering,” Zachary explains. “It’s professional. Keep it brief, something like ‘Just wanted to circle back on my note from last week. Would love to chat about being a guest if you’re booking for the coming weeks.’ That’s enough.”
Zachary also stresses the importance of topic selection. Rather than offering broad themes, successful pitches propose specific angles that feel fresh and actionable. Instead of pitching “leadership,” pitch “three leadership mistakes founders make in their first year and how to avoid them.”
“Specificity signals expertise,” he says. “A broad topic tells the host you haven’t thought deeply about their show. A specific angle tells them you’ve done the work and you’re ready to deliver.”
For entrepreneurs tired of sending pitches that go nowhere, Zachary’s final advice is to shift perspective entirely.
“Stop thinking of it as selling yourself. Think of it as offering a gift to their audience. When you approach it that way, the pitch writes itself.”
