If you don’t have a canned email that gets sent out to your guests that allows them to show up prepared for their recording, there’s no better time than now to implement one!
This email sets expectations, handles the logistics, and gets your guests showing up prepared — which means better audio, a more relaxed (and fun!!) conversation, and a lot less time spent troubleshooting things that could have been sorted out in advance.
Here’s what to include, and a template you can make your own.
What the email needs to cover
The goal is to give your guest everything they need without overwhelming them. Your guest is probably busy, so a long, complicated email full of technical instructions is going to get skimmed. Keep it warm, keep it practical, and make the most important things easy to spot.
Your prep email should include:
- the recording date and time (with timezone),
- the release form,
- your recording platform deets and how to access it,
- audio (+ video) setup basics,
- a short questionnaire — for bio, social handles, topics they want to cover
A note on audio setup basics: this is the part a lot of hosts skip entirely… but please don’t skip it. Your guest’s audio quality has a huge impact on how an episode sounds, and it’s WAY EASIER to ask your guest to use some kind of mic than it is to try and make poor quality audio sound good in post. Ask them to use a microphone — even a basic USB mic or a pair of wired earbuds (usually) sound way, way better than them talking into their laptop mic.
Copy and paste this template into your CRM and make sure to customize anything in the square brackets. You can also change the copy and put it into your brand voice, add emojis and gifs, and do whatever you want to it to make it feel like YOURS.
The template:
Subject: Getting ready for your episode on [Podcast Name]
Hi [Guest First Name],
I’m so excited to have you on [Podcast Name]! Here’s everything you need ahead of our recording on [Day, Date] at [Time + Timezone].
Before we record:
Release form: Please sign the guest release form — [INSERT LINK – if you don’t have one & need one, get one here at Contracts Market]. It only takes a minute and it means we’re both covered.
Questionnaire: Please fill out this short form so I have your bio, headshot, links, and social handles to put in the show notes — [INSERT LINK].
Setting up your audio:
- Use a microphone. A USB mic, a headset, or even a pair of wired earbuds is a big step up from your laptop’s built-in mic. If you have one, please use it.
- Wear headphones. This stops your mic from picking up my voice coming through your speakers, which can sometimes create an echo in the recording. Any headphones work — wired or wireless.
[Optional – Setting up your video:
- Use a ring light if you have one or sit in front of a bright window. The more light you have, the better the video will turn out, and the more people will be drawn to watching it.]
On the day:
We’ll be recording via [Platform — e.g. Riverside, Zoom, etc.]. [I’ll send the link the day before / The link to join is: INSERT LINK / the link is in our calendar invite].
We’ll take 5 minutes at the start to make sure our audio [and video] look [and sound] great before we start the recording, and then we’ll record for approximately [X minutes].
[Optional: If there are questions you want them to prepare for, or anything else you want them to know ahead of time, tell them that here]
After we wrap:
Your episode is scheduled to go live [within X weeks / on DATE]. I’ll send you an email [as soon as it’s published / the day before it goes live] with everything you need to share it with your audience.
In the meantime, if you have any questions at all, just reply to this email.
Can’t wait to record with you!
[Your Name]
