Nearly every professional has a podcast app on their phone. Very few treat podcasts as a genuine podcast productivity tool. The difference is not in which one shows they follow. It is how deliberately they listen, and whether they ever consider getting on the other side of the microphone.
This episode of the Productivi-Tree Podcast features Noémi Beres, founder of Podcast Connections, a podcast booking agency that has placed hundreds of guests on shows across every major platform. Noémi has spent years watching professionals use podcasts badly and occasionally brilliantly. She knows exactly where the value is and where people leave it on the table.
This post covers both sides. First: how to turn podcast listening into a real podcast productivity advantage: better learning, sharper focus, smarter habits. Second: how to take that advantage a step further by becoming a guest yourself, and why that move is one of the most overlooked networking tools available right now.
Why Podcast Listening Is Still a New Skill
Podcasts exploded after 2020, but Noémi makes a point worth pausing on: consuming content through audio is still relatively new for most people. Blogs, newsletters, books, we have decades of habits built around those. Podcast listening as an intentional learning practice is something most people are still figuring out.
The result: many professionals listen to podcasts the way they scroll social media. Passively. Without retention. They finish a 45-minute episode and cannot name a single idea from it.
This is not a failure of attention. It is a failure of intention. And like any productivity failure, it is fixable once you see the pattern.
The Full Meal vs. Healthy Snack Framework
Noémi offered a frame that is worth keeping: podcasts are not all the same type of content, and consuming them all the same way is the core mistake.
Some podcasts are full meals. Deep conversations, long-form interviews, complex ideas that build on each other. These require your full attention. You do not multitask through a meal.
Other podcasts are healthy snacks. Short-form, quick ideas, daily concepts. These are designed for motion: commuting, walking, cooking.
The actionable shift: before you press play, ask which type of content you are about to consume. Full meal? Create the conditions for it. Phone down, no parallel tasks, enough time to finish. Healthy snack? Pair it with the right activity. Do not try to follow a 90-minute deep conversation while driving through rush hour traffic.
This small distinction is the difference between consuming podcasts and actually learning from them. It is one of the simplest productivity habits you can build.
Podcast Productivity: How to Build Listening Into Your Daily System
Match content to activity. Noémi listens to deep business and mindset conversations while cooking because she can fully focus. She saves lighter content for tasks that compete with attention. Find your own pattern deliberately, not by accident.
Do not queue everything at once. A playlist of 15 saved episodes is a backlog. Backlogs create friction. Save selectively. Come back to specific episodes rather than letting them get buried.
Space out heavy content. Do not listen to three deep-dive interviews back to back. Give yourself time to process one conversation before starting another. This is how memory and application actually work.
Start short if you are new to the habit. Short-format shows train the attention muscle without overloading it. Once the habit is stable, moving to longer formats is easy.
The Second Advantage: Becoming a Podcast Guest
Here is where a lot of people stop. They use podcasts as inputs and learning tools, but never consider using them as outputs. This is the second tier of podcast productivity.
Noémi has placed guests on hundreds of podcasts. Her take: podcast guesting is the single best networking tool available to professionals in 2026. Not because of audience size. Because of the depth of the relationship it creates, between the guest and the host, and between the guest and the host’s audience.
Being a guest forces you to articulate your ideas clearly. It creates a permanent, searchable piece of content that represents you at your best. And it opens doors to conversations that cold emails simply cannot.
One example from this conversation stood out: a professional who attached a link to a podcast interview in a job application. The hiring team could see him in action: articulate, credible, prepared, before the first interview ever happened. One recording, multiple use cases. That is what personal branding built on real substance looks like.
How to Pitch Yourself and Actually Get Accepted
Listen before you pitch. The most common rejection Noémi encounters is that the guest had no idea what the podcast was actually about. Sales show getting pitched by yoga instructors. Research is not optional. Listen to at least one episode. Understand the host’s audience before writing a word.
Keep the pitch short and specific. Three to five sentences. Who you are, what you would discuss, and why it fits this specific audience. Hosts receive hundreds of pitches. A tight, specific, personalized message gets read. A novel gets skipped.
Know your talking points. “I can talk about leadership” is a category. The angle that only you can bring, your specific experience, your specific counterintuitive take, is a talking point. Define it clearly before you start pitching.
Start with smaller shows. The fear of judgment is biggest when the stakes feel high. Start with podcasts that have smaller audiences. Make mistakes in a lower-pressure environment. Even the best guests had awkward first interviews. The solution is practice, not avoidance.
What Happens After the Recording Ends
Many professional guests finish the interview, thank the host, and disappear. They treat the episode as a deliverable rather than an opening. This is the equivalent of a great first conversation at a networking event, followed by zero follow-up.
Noémi’s instruction: do not disappear after the recording. Send a thank-you. Ask for a follow-up chat. Ask if they know any other podcast hosts who would benefit from having you as a guest.
Podcast hosts talk to each other. They refer guests they liked working with. One warm referral from a host beats fifty cold pitches. The interview is the introduction. What you do after it ends is where the real value accumulates.
On Imposter Syndrome and the Fear of Starting
Noémi hears this constantly: “I don’t have enough to say.” “I’m not ready.” Her response is practical: you are not ready until you start. No level of preparation eliminates the awkwardness of a first interview. It only gets better through repetition.
As Santi quoted in this conversation, attributed to Mark Twain: “I am an old man who has known a great many troubles. Most of them never happened.” 90% of what keeps people from starting to guest on podcasts exists only in their heads.
What Makes a Podcast Guest Genuinely Good
The guests who are remembered are the ones who are genuinely present—not performing. Not delivering a polished pitch and actually listening to the host, responding to what was said, and going where the conversation naturally leads. Vulnerability over perfection. Authenticity over authority.
The simplest frame: treat the conversation as a chat with someone you genuinely want to learn from. Because that is what the best podcast conversations actually are.
Podcast Productivity Tips to Start This Week
Audit your current listening habits. Are you actually retaining what you hear? If not, change the context, the format, or the intention you bring to it.
Identify one podcast in your field that you respect. Listen to two or three episodes. If you can picture yourself adding something useful to one of those conversations, that is your opening to pitch.
Write a two-sentence pitch. Not to send yet. To clarify who you are and what you bring. If those two sentences are specific and clear, the pitch is 80% done.
At its simplest, podcast productivity is not about consuming more. It is about using what you consume, and eventually, contributing to the conversation yourself. Treat podcast productivity as a long-term investment: the more deliberately you listen, the more you grow. That is where the real compounding happens.
Noémi Beres is the founder of Podcast Connections. You can find her on LinkedIn, look for the microphone icon next to her name.
This conversation is part of the Productivi-Tree Podcast, hosted by Santiago Tacoronte. If you want to be a guest, reach out at info@santiagotacoronte.com
Episode Transcription
Noemi Beres (00:00)
we have podcasts that are full meals and then you focus on them and you listen because they are important. And there are there are podcasts that are just healthy snacks. And these are just good to, you know, have them in your body, but those are for entertainment.
If the podcast is good and it gives you adds value to your life, you will listen
Santi Tacoronte (00:20)
Busy is not This show is about a difference.
Santi Tacoronte
And on Productivi-Tree, I talk to the thinkers and experts who are reshaping how we understand time, focus, and meaningful work. Subscribe wherever you listen. Let’s dig in.
Santi Tacoronte (00:37)
No, Emmy Beres, welcome to Productivity.
Noemi Beres (00:41)
Thank you so much, Santi, for inviting me today. It’s a pleasure to be here.
Santi Tacoronte (00:47)
You’ve been in online content for many years. You’ve been in you’ve been doing blogs, videos, and every kind of online content. ⁓ as a learning format, where do you see podcasts today? And why did they get so popular versus other type of contents that quickly fade away?
Noemi Beres (01:10)
This is a very complex question and I I love it. It’s it’s a great one. I think it’s still a new format when it comes to consuming content, like comparing to blogging or newsletters, like everybody you know talking about that like blogs are dead, newsletters are dead, they are not, but you know, whatever. But but ⁓ listening to podcasts, consuming ⁓ information through podcasts is pretty new. I know that our podcasts were
Alive before 2020, before the pandemic, but the big boom came after 2020. So they are still relatively new and people getting used to it. And because of the format that it’s video, audio, it’s so easy to consume. So basically, it’s people, you know, they they kind of stop reading stuff, like stop reading books, and ⁓ everything is just getting faster. So consuming content, consuming knowledge.
through podcasts is just so much easier right now. And I think that’s why it has a very bright f future ahead of it because people are just it’s just easy. Like people people are lazy usually and it’s just easier for them to to do that ⁓ through through podcasts.
Santi Tacoronte (02:25)
I’ll tell you a little story, annoy me. ⁓ when I started listening to audiobooks and later on podcasts while I was walking or ⁓ on the gym, at some point I noticed that I was hearing, but I was not listening. Do you think this is a problem or a challenge people face with podcasts today? The angle I’m coming is that
Noemi Beres (02:44)
Hmm.
Santi Tacoronte (02:54)
I see podcasts as a productivity learning tool more than as an entertainment. And I know there are every kind of podcast. There are podcasts that are more about entertainment. And I consume some of them. There are some podcasts about jokes that I love because I love a good laugh. So where do you see this heading ⁓ in combination with the lazy comment that you just said?
Noemi Beres (03:08)
Ha ha.
It’s it’s funny you you asked that because ⁓ I think problem today’s world is we we hear but we don’t listen to each other either. And I think that’s kind of a problem with podcasts too sometimes. But I would I would compare this to good nutrition, Santi.
It’s like we have podcasts that are full meals and then you focus on them and you listen because they are important. And there are there are podcasts that are just healthy snacks. And these are just good to, you know, have them in your body, but those are for entertainment. So and and to be honest with you, I do listen to podcasts a lot, obviously, because of work, but my fav when I listen to my favorite podcasts.
And for example, I do like cook or you know, I do my cooking stuff in the evening or anything like that. I I focus on the podcast and I always remember everything. If the podcast is good and it gives you adds value to your life, you will listen no matter what you’re doing. If it’s just a mediocre podcast or like it doesn’t really catch your attention, I guess you just tune out. But if it’s a really good one, I mean talking about like you know, Louis Ho’s.
school of greatness or something, you’re not gonna tune out because the guests and the questions are amazing. So it doesn’t really matter what you do. I think it’s about the quality of the podcast. If it’s good, you won’t tune out. But I agree, sometimes happens. When you multitask, you lose the attention span of focusing on listening. So yeah, it’s like yes and no. Like depends on the podcast, I would say.
Santi Tacoronte (04:55)
Mm-hmm. I want to deep dive a little bit on the attention part, Noemi, because there are podcasts that are in nature very long. And my assumption would be that it’s difficult or more difficult to keep attention span to them. And there are podcasts that are we had Laura Vanderkam a couple of weeks ago, ⁓ an incredible book writer and podcaster, and her podcasts are four minutes in the morning.
Noemi Beres (05:04)
Yes.
Santi Tacoronte (05:23)
⁓ or five minutes. So where do you recommend people to start? In more longer stuff that perhaps is more aligned with their taste or shorter things that build this ⁓ this muscle of paying attention?
Noemi Beres (05:41)
I would say let’s start with the with the shorter version. But it really depends on your personality. If you are into deep conversation, deep long conversation, and you want to dive deep into them, you can you can go for something like you know, an hour-long conversation, or you can split it up. That’s what I do many times. Like, okay, I don’t have time to listen to the whole interview, but I keep it, I save it, and then I go back and I listen to the rest because it’s so fascinating, it’s so interesting.
But if you are a newbie, you know, when it comes to listening to podcasts, start with shorter format, sh start with these micro podcasts. It’s easy to digest. You always learn something from them. And then you can always you can always go to the, you know, to the longer versions or the longer the the the longer podcast.
Santi Tacoronte (06:33)
My dad still has a radio in the in the washroom, and when he shaves, he plays the radio. Where I’m going is I come from the radio generation, Noemi. It doesn’t exist anymore, as far as I’m concerned, as far as I’m aware. And it it it it evolved into the video generation. Now, podcasts started the same. Audio, but now
Apple is moving into video, YouTube of course, Spotify is also having video podcast. Is there is there something in audio that you think is different, better, more special or sentimental versus videos?
Noemi Beres (07:17)
I love this. I love this question. By the way, I come from the radio generation too. I born seventy-nine, so I’m I was still recording music, you know, from radio.
And it’s so fascinating to see the all these changes. And yeah, I mean, the thing is that it doesn’t really matter that podcasts have a video version. People still consume more audio version because they listen to podcasts on the go. So it doesn’t sometimes it doesn’t even really it doesn’t really matter they have a video version because they do that on the go, like by driving, gym, cooking, whatever, walking. So
I I studied some data about this and people basically listen to more to these interviews and it doesn’t matter they have a video version. But having said that, the video I think just it kind of ⁓ brings you the human connection. And I think that’s also really important because you can see the person, you can see their facial expression, whether they’re smiling, ⁓ you and and you just you feel them closer to you. It it’s going to be a more intimate
relationship with the guest, in my opinion. But the thing is that people are always rushing, they’re always busy. They’re not gonna usually they don’t sit there and watching you or during your all those interviews. They rather listen to it. But I would say it’s still it’s it’s a more personal, more human relationship with with a podcast interview when you watch it too on YouTube or on even on Spotify.
Santi Tacoronte (08:56)
When we started this podcast, Noemi, ⁓ I was very hesitant to publish video because I was thinking to myself, why will someone spend forty-five minutes looking at the screen and seeing two people talk, right? They’d rather listen to it. That was my thinking behind. But then ⁓ looking at the Tim Ferry’s podcast, I I got exactly into the same point that you just said, right? Seeing the facial expressions it’s an added value. You can do without
Noemi Beres (09:14)
Mm-hmm.
Santi Tacoronte (09:23)
But there is a there is there is something and there I I must admit that there is people that is great at putting these facial expressions that bring a lot of emotion to to what they’re saying. You, for example, with your beautiful smile. Now, annoy me, you work professional your job is to match people or figure out what someone should be listening to professional podcasts.
Noemi Beres (09:37)
Thank you.
Santi Tacoronte (09:52)
You’re a matchmaker. You bring guests to the podcast with the relevant topics. When you do that in your thinking process, ⁓ how do you go about it and and decide that this guest is an excellent match for this podcast because people will enjoy that specific conversation.
Noemi Beres (09:54)
Yes.
I I actually love this this part of my job because there’s where the magic happens. Obviously, we really need to know our clients, the guests’ story and topics inside out in order to represent them and in in order to find the perfect match for them. So once once they sign up with us, we always have an hour-long conversation where we go through everything. You really have to get to know them. And once you get to know the client, you can match to the podcast.
But you have really have to get to know the podcast as well. So that’s why I have a really good relationship with with all the podcast hosts I’ve been working with for many years, because I want to know them. I want to know them. I want to know you, Senti, as a person, not just a podcast host. I would love to know about your business, about your life and your hobbies. Or, you know, when I get on a call with the podcast host, I try to bring the human touch.
In those conversations and talk less and listen more to these people because I seriously and genuinely want to know them because that’s how I can match people. I can I can feel their energy. Are they vibing? Is this a good conversation? Is like a huge gap between them, the way they think. So there’s so many tiny things that you have to consider when you match people, but
The most important thing is to listen to each and every person, to the host and to the guest as well. And once you do that, like this active, fully be present listening, then you can match them. It’s it’s just so easy after a while. And and I love that most of my clients are like my friends and I love working with them because I get I got to know them so well during this journey.
Santi Tacoronte (12:01)
Hmm. You have heard to hundreds, if not thousands, of podcasts. Is there anything that works for you or any advice you can give to our listeners in terms of matching content to the type of activity? I’m going back to what you’re doing and what you’re listening at the time that that you’re doing. Is your content when you commute different than your content when you walk or your content when you are in the gym?
Noemi Beres (12:30)
It really depends. I mean I I don’t think we have a rule for that, like a rigid rule that like when you are in the gym you can only listen to, you know, fitness podcasts or whatever. Or you can only do, you know, r real crime podcast or whatever podcast when you when you want to chill out. I think it really depends on your mood.
And on your style and there there are no rules. You can do whatever you want and listen to them. But I like I said, I’m cooking and I’m listening to deep conversations like about mindset and business and I love that part. So I don’t think it matters as long as you as long as you are present when you when you listen to this podcast.
Santi Tacoronte (13:12)
Mm mm mm. Is there any specific routine you follow before tuning into a podcast? We have an excellent guest this the last year called Conchetta Cuccherelle that recommended to prepare for every focus activity that you have. Like literally, literally spend even if it’s a few seconds, mentalizing yourself of what’s your next thing, right? Do you follow or advise to follow any
Focus technique before listening to a podcast.
Noemi Beres (13:47)
think it’s important maybe to tune out a little bit and don’t consume too many things at the same time, like back to back. Like if if I want to, for example, focus on a podcast and I know it’s going to be an amazing conversation. I’m so looking forward to it. So I don’t do anything else. I’m not listening to anything else before or after. So I need time to process that podcast. So I think you just like again slow down a little bit. Don’t consume too many podcasts.
right after each other because it just it it just mixes up in your on your mind, too many thoughts running through your head. So just take your time, slow down when you when you come to these podcasts and and try to just focus on that particular one.
Santi Tacoronte (14:32)
Let’s move to the other chair of the or the other side of the podcast, the one you’re sitting in today, becoming a podcast guest.
Obviously there is a always a marketing and promotional ⁓ element of being a guest in a podcast. But from a productivity perspective and on more on the preparing for a podcast interview.
Do you think ⁓
Being a guest in a podcast help people grow personally?
Noemi Beres (15:10)
Absolutely. I mean, just imagine the the amount of people that you’re talking to. I’ve been doing podcast guesting in the past six years. And I think the the most beautiful part is that you learn so much from other people, even you are a guest. Even you are a guest. I mean, we have so much to learn from each other, and I think that’s the most beautiful part.
So it doesn’t really matter that like you’ve been guesting maybe just for a shorter time, you always take away something. And and I think that’s really powerful. Mo probably the most powerful part of being a guest.
Santi Tacoronte (15:47)
For those that are thinking now to become a guest in a podcast, what is your let’s say two three things that they should be preparing for now?
Noemi Beres (15:59)
Well, first of all, ⁓ check out the podcasts that are available, you know, in the market, which are like we have millions of them. So you have you have you have a job on your hands. But I would say start with listening to podcasts and get to know the podcast host. You visit their LinkedIn profile, what they’re doing, is your is their business aligned with what you do? Do you like their energy? And you can only figure this out
by listening to that particular episode. So there’s one thing. I think that’s that’s crucial. And once you found the podcast, obviously you want to pitch yourself to the host. But that pitch that you’re sending must be unique. You need to stand out because podcast hosts nowadays are getting hundreds of emails and podcast pitches daily basically. Plus, we haven’t even talked about the AI-generated podcast pitches that are just coming and coming into the mailboxes.
So try to stand out and make time. Sit down and ⁓ try to figure out how to write a unique pitch that is personalized, that is you, and not just ⁓ ChatGPT generated whatever pitch you want to send to the host. I think that’s really important because people will know it and and they will figure it out. So just put your soul into that email that you want to reach out to the host. Always
Don’t when you write a pitch, please don’t write a novel or anything like that. People won’t have time and they don’t have time to read everything. So try to find a sweet spot when you reach out to the podcast host. I think that’s that’s also crucial. And be super clear about your topics and talking points. So many people who appear
Who approach podcast hosts, they email them and tell them, I can talk about marketing, I can talk about sales. Yeah, that’s absolutely fine, but you need to niche down because that’s just too generic. So you have to figure out your own topics and talking points. You have what you want to talk about during a podcast conversation, and you need to practice, practice, practice them. Practice at home, practice in front of the mirror, practice with your partner before you get on a show. Because, yeah.
I mean practice will make you a master of of doing things, but it it need it needs time and needs practice. And I could tell you like a hundred more different things to get ready before a podcast interview. there are there are so many things that ⁓ and of course again when you when you get on a show, when you get accepted, yeah, be prepared for everything and anything. You know, you you you should look presentable and
Be in that kind of mindset and give yourself hundred like hundred percent fully and concentrate. Be present when you are on a podcast interview because that’s when the magic happens. Like if you think about like okay, so what am I gonna do after this call or people will feel that you’re tuning out and then they lose the attention and they they leave the conversation. I mean if you are energetic, bring your best, bring your best self to every single conversation.
Santi Tacoronte (19:12)
I love that. ⁓ Beyond Visibility Legeneration we already said, what are other benefits ⁓ for those that are podcast guests?
Noemi Beres (19:27)
I think that podcast guesting right now in 2026 is the best networking tool and is the best way for relationship marketing. Because many people think that, okay, I did this interview, it went live, whatever, done and dusted, let’s do the next one. No, it’s not about that. I always encourage people to get in touch with the host first, thank them after the interview, then
Hop on a you know ⁓ interjust a chat after the conversation, basically after the interview ended, and figure out how you can help, how you can serve each other. Because I’ve seen so many business relationships, friendships just blooming out of one single podcast interview if you use it widely wisely. So I would ad I would suggest get on a post-interview chat with the host.
You can always email them and ask them about it. And because that’s where the magic happens again. That’s how you can build relationships. That’s how you can network. That’s how you can ask ⁓ other podcast referen recommendations from the host. Because podcast hosts talk between each other. They know each other. So if you want to get on other people’s podcast, just ask them. It’s like, hey, do you know any other great host that would love me as a guest? And they won’t say no because they know at least 10 people that would love to have you on their show.
Santi Tacoronte (20:55)
And I can ⁓ give attestation, Noemi, of the relationships. in this seventy plus episode we have episodes we have released have made a lot of ⁓ unique connections, I would say. And you know what someone told me recently that just came to my mind. Someone that was trying to find a job and it was attaching the link to a podcast interview.
As part of the job application. So the hiring managers and HR can see them, can see him, he was a guy, in action. Some sort of like a pre-interview and see who who he was. I think this is fantastic. It saves a lot of time for the recruiters and it saves a lot of time for the candidate. Because if you wanna see him in action, here I am in this podcast.
Noemi Beres (21:45)
Yeah. I love that. I’m that how brilliant is I never heard of anything like that, but I think that’s a brilliant idea. That’s that’s super cool.
Santi Tacoronte (21:53)
Now let’s help a little bit people that is on the fence. Noemi. There might be people that is going through a bit of what is called the imposter syndrome. I might not have enough to say to go in a podcast. I’m a bit nervous. ⁓ will I be good enough? You know, would I have enough things to say? How can we help them? Because I’m very sure there are millions of people out there that are either introverts or
Noemi Beres (21:59)
Okay.
Santi Tacoronte (22:21)
A bit shy or they didn’t have the or didn’t take the first step, how can they I I I love the con the the concept of experimentation, controlled experiments, low risk experiments. How can they perhaps experiment without all the nervousness and pressure of trying to pitch for a medium, big size podcast?
Noemi Beres (22:45)
I would say start with small. Start with small because like you won’t fall like so deep if if you start with small podcasts. They don’t have that big of an audience. So you can always like make mistakes. And to be honest, like we all make mistakes. And our first podcast interview as a guest or a host, it wasn’t our best one either. So everything needs practice. And people need to be patient with themselves and give themselves grace. And just take your time, take it slow.
You you don’t have to be in John Rogan, you know, in two weeks time when you start podcast guesting. Just start with the small podcast. And if you have podcast host friends, which we all have by now because everybody has a podcast, so ask them first. Ask people you know, like maybe personally or virtually. Ask those people that you like and you have really already like a friend you know, friendship with them, maybe. Like, okay, can I be a guest on your podcast? Because you c it’s so easy much easier.
to to test your knowledge or your test your podcast guesting experience on smaller shows and in a cosier, friendlier, warmer atmosphere. So just start small. And then of course everything needs practice. So after the 10th, 20th or 50th interview, you’ll be absolutely fine. I also understand there are some people are just not perfect for for guesting because they might be like, you know, introverts or they don’t like to listen to their own voice.
Which I hear a lot from people. Like it it’s so fascinating to hear that, like, I hate my voice. I can’t listen to my own voice. Like, okay, then don’t listen back to the interview. Because that’s only in your head. Like ninety percent of the things that we are worrying about, it’s always just in our head. And the ten percent doesn’t really matter. Anyway, so just try to imagine a podcast conversation as maybe a friendly chat.
Between two people over a cup of tea or coffee. Don’t think about the rest. Don’t think about like hundreds and thousands of people who might be listening to this conversation. Like you’re sitting at home, usually in your home office or office, and you’re talking. Like there’s this is not like keynote speaking and then hunt you know, a thousand people like watching you from afar. So Yeah. Just enjoy. And I think it’s try to enjoy it as much as you can because that’s the the most important part.
Santi Tacoronte (25:08)
I love what you said about ⁓ it’s in your head. You know, this this frame there that some people in the audience have asked me what it says because it’s not very visible in camera. Perhaps I need to take care of this. It says I’m an old man who have known great many trouble. Most of them never happened.
And I think it’s attributed to Mark Twain. So if people that is listening now that is thinking, should I be on a podcast now? I encourage them to reach out and to and to try it because this is absolutely free. 99% of what we think is risky or or or a a problem is just imagination. Noemi, what is the
Noemi Beres (25:28)
Exactly. Yes, yeah.
Santi Tacoronte (25:54)
Biggest mistake people make when pitching themselves to a podcast, the one that gets them ignored almost immediately.
Noemi Beres (26:03)
When they don’t listen to the podcast and they have no clue what the podcast is about. I heard these horror stories when sales and marketing podcasts getting pitched by yoga instructors because they just didn’t take their time to listen to one single episode or to check out the podcast. And then you go absolutely wrong and they will ignore you from the moment your email arrives in their inbox. So I think it’s just
Being respectful with the host and listen to an episode, at least read the show notes, the description of the podcast, do a bit of research because without research, you can’t really focus on the perfect podcast for your for yourself and for your business.
Santi Tacoronte (26:48)
Hmm. So research and then I have a a question about I think it it’s broader, is perhaps public speaking, but what do you think in your experience about after listening to so many podcasts and guests and hosts makes a guest really, really good? What is the couple of things that you say is the must have is the the pepper that every guest must have?
Noemi Beres (27:16)
You must be open, you must be vulnerable when you are on a show. And maybe it’s a cliche, but be yourself. So I I’m the same Naomi as I’m I’m usually at home. So just bring yourself to the table. Like don’t put on a mask or something that you’re I’m this whatever professional. Because people won’t align with you and with your message if you are acting. I mean you can smell that like far away. So I think it’s
Like being open, being vulnerable, being present and really listening to the host and interacting with the host, I think it’s it’s crucial when you are a guest. And of course, don’t forget to smile, because no one likes a guest who is not smiling. And I think that that’s important. Even if they don’t see you, they hear you. And even someone is really serious or really monotone, people again will tune out. They won’t align with you.
Santi Tacoronte (28:15)
How do you deal with feedback for guests? Because I imagine that, especially in the internet era, some of the feedback people give and I am an own victim of this kind of victim. Well, victim is.
Feedback is feedback, feedback is not victimism, but ⁓ I have seen some comments that ⁓ made me probably want to hang the microphone. ⁓ what do you how do you recommend people deal with feedback and tough feedback and and trolling even in the internet?
Noemi Beres (28:45)
I mean trolls are everywhere. So I would say just it’s easy to say that just don’t pay attention to those people because you just feed their ego or their feed their whatever is in their head and and just who cares? It’s their opinion and ⁓ you have your own opinion. I know it can, you know, it can be a bit harsh and it can hurt our ego, but we have to deal with it. This is life. I mean
You just have to get used to it that people, not every people is absolutely nice with you, but you never know what’s going on in their lives. So I I just take it in in the that space. Like I don’t really pay attention to those. And thankfully, my I would say my clients got pretty good feedback from the podcast host, so I I’m really glad for that. But of course, that’s why when you hire a podcast booking agency, because some clients told me, tell me.
Which podcast host did say no to me as a guest? And I I told them, it’s like no way I’m gonna tell you that because that’s why we work with you. We take the no’s and you take the yeses, and that’s absolutely fine. It’s like you know, it won’t damage your ego. It it it’s just fine.
Santi Tacoronte (30:01)
More a content question than podcast per se knowing me, but I mean generally you see that what catches attraction in the internet is the ⁓ get rich quickly type of content these days. Trading, become millionaire, billionaire, get a Lamborghini. Do you think this type of content is somewhat shadowing a bit too much?
thought leadership or more well thought or more human, less materialistic content these days?
Noemi Beres (30:39)
I think it’s less and less. The effect is less and less shadowing nowadays. I remember when I started in the online marketing space back in 2007, that was yeah, that was all about these getting rich schemes, whatever, Lumbo Lambos and Yachts and everything. And it was so just deceiving and and all these, you know, dream world people built up. But nowadays, especially since AI appeared.
And you can generate anything in two seconds and you can do anything with it. I think people crave realness and not fakeness. And they recognize it now so much easier. They want the human connection. They want a human touch. And in my opinion, heart-centered leadership is just becoming more and more important in the podcasting world and in not just the podcasting world, but but like in the online world as well. And people crave
Realness. People crave being seen, heard and valued on and in different spaces. So I think it’s getting more and more important as the tech improves or AI takes over the world. So I think it’s this human touch will be just kind of priceless in the upcoming years and decades.
Santi Tacoronte (31:59)
Let me drop then the mandatory AI question in this podcast. Hashtag AI. ⁓ so I can perceive that you’re not a big fan of ⁓ fully podcast, fully created AI podcast. Obviously, neither am. Do you think AI has a space in the podcasting world and any step of the podcast life cycle? ⁓ like perhaps ⁓ research or other parts of it?
Noemi Beres (32:02)
Ha ha ha.
Mm-hmm.
I love AI. I love using AI in my work because it helps me save so much time when it comes to research, when it comes to just setting up things. It’s a brilliant tool. But it will never replace the human connection. No matter what we do. I mean, this part what we’re doing now, yeah, you can replace it with two AI figures or whatever. But that’s not us. I mean, that would take away from the
From the worth of the conversation. So yeah, you can make a perfect AI interview, but who would listen to that? Like honestly, like people they want to like shoot movies with AI and so on and replace amazing actors or actresses. I don’t think that would be would be the same birth. And yes, there’s a place and time for using AI in the podcasting world, like editing, creating amazing images for your podcast.
Creating descriptions for your podcast, show notes, whatever. You can use it for so many things, it saves you time. It’s a tool. It won’t never replace the human part and the human conversation.
Santi Tacoronte (33:34)
I have five questions for you. Quick fire questions. I have very humanly crafted and I’m gonna ask you to answer in thirty seconds or less. You ready?
Noemi Beres (33:42)
Okay.
Okay.
I’m ready. Let’s do it, Santa.
Santi Tacoronte (33:51)
Number one, the one podcast you would recommend to any professional who has never listened to a single episode.
Noemi Beres (34:01)
It’s ⁓ the Diary of a CEO by Stephen Bartlett, my favorite. So yes, start with that.
Santi Tacoronte (34:06)
I also love this one, Noemi, but I had
hoped in my little heart that you will say this podcast. No, I’m just kidding. number two. Honest answer. How many podcast episodes do you have saved that you never finished?
Noemi Beres (34:24)
A few only a few because I I keep them, save them, and then go back to them if it’s really interesting. So I I’m a listener, so I I don’t just I I when I what I s when I start something I finish it too. So
Santi Tacoronte (34:26)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
What is the best thing you learned you ever learned from a podcast that actually changed how you work or how you think?
Noemi Beres (34:48)
It’s the small steps approach that like especially when you have you know, you are down or you have bad days, even if you do just a few small things, you can still you s you can still get your to your goals. So the small step approach in life, I think that’s I learned from one very particular conversation which I loved.
Santi Tacoronte (35:08)
If you had to choose for the rest of your life, guest or listener.
Noemi Beres (35:13)
Guest all the time. I love guesting. I love, you know, getting asked great questions. So guest, absolutely.
Santi Tacoronte (35:20)
Okay, then number five. Pitch yourself for the world biggest podcast, Steve Bartlett Podcast, in one sentence. Go.
Noemi Beres (35:28)
Yeah.
Okay, so I help people ⁓ turn podcast conversation into real human connection, auth authority and long term business relationships and not just about visibility.
Santi Tacoronte (35:48)
Steve, I know you’re here to this podcast. So take a look at Noemi. I hope to see her very, very soon in in in one of your episodes. Noemi, let’s wrap this up. How can people work with you, guests and hosts? How they can get in touch and how can they avail your podcast’s magic match matching services?
Noemi Beres (36:16)
You can always visit our website always visit our website which is podcastconnections plural dot co and you can get in touch with us there and you can always get in touch with me on LinkedIn. I’m pretty active. So if you might type my name in, Noemi Berris, you always find me there. There’s a tiny microphone sign next to my name and get in touch with me and let’s have a chat and figure out if we can work together.
Santi Tacoronte (36:43)
Noemi, thank you so much for ⁓ teaching us a bit better the relationship between the creators and the listeners and consumers at the end. What I’m taking away today, and I’m gonna summarize it, hyper summarize it today in one single keyword is authenticity. It’s about human authenticity. Podcasts are beyond marketing and and having a visible brand and selling.
It’s about this thing we’re doing today, talking and bringing surfacing all our humanity all together. Thank you so much for being with us today.
Noemi Beres (37:22)
Thank you so much for interviewing me, Santi. It was an honor to be here.