AP 0082: How Do I Tactfully Decline a Request from an Audience Member to Be on My Show?

AskPat 82 Episode Transcript

Pat Flynn: What is up everybody? Pat Flynn here and welcome to Episode 82 of AskPat. I'm so happy you're here. Thank you for listening in.

I also want to thank today's sponsor, which is ZipRecruiter.com. ZipRecruiter is a great site because if you're looking to hire anybody in your business, the best place to do it is through ZipRecruiter, because instead of going to every single job board out there and posting your requirements for your job, you can just put it on ZipRecruiter; they post it out to the fifty top job sites out there, all with one click, and they highlight the best candidates for you, making it easy for you to hire the right person fast. So again, that's ZipRecruiter.com/pat. That's my referral link.

Now, on to today's question from Dana. She's asking a question about audience members who want to be on her show, or on her podcast, so let's take a listen.

Dana Ryan: Hi Pat, it's Dana Ryan from The Diaper Dirt Podcast, which is a podcast all about parenting young children. I've recently started doing interviews and they've been going really great. I have actually been getting some requests from some people to be on my podcast, and I don't really feel that they would be a good fit, however they're still a part of my community and I have a relationship with them. Do you have any advice on how I could tactfully decline an interview with someone in a way that is nice and also maintains the relationship? Thanks so much for all you do. Bye bye.

Pat Flynn: Hey Dana, thank you so much for your question and first of all, congratulations to you and your podcast. I checked it out on iTunes, it seems to be doing very well, you're keeping up with it and you have ten reviews, all five star reviews, which is perfect, and that's awesome, so congratulations. It's awesome that you're at a point in your business or in your blog or podcast now where you're getting people coming to you to want to go on your show. I'm at that point now as well, and I do have to decline a number of people who want to be on the show. There are different ways to do this, obviously, but I think no matter what the case may be, you also want to be always honest with those people, but you also want to somehow thank them for wanting to be on the show and giving or wanting to give value to your audience. I totally understand what you mean about how sometimes those stories just aren't right, and it's your show, so you should be able to decide who gets on. But, as you said, those people are a part of your community and you want to make sure you nurture and take care of those relationships.

So here's what I would do. I would reply, of course. You want to make sure you reply, but then I would just be honest. I would say, “Hey, you know what? Thank you so much for wanting to come on the show and contribute your story or your knowledge or your expertise. Unfortunately, right now with doing one show per week, I already have a lot of guests lined up and it's just not going to be a good fit at this moment in time, however”—and this is the part you can choose to do if you feel like it or not, but I think this would help ease the pain a little bit from the respectful decline, I would say—”you know, every couple months, I'm putting together a post highlighting stories or information coming from the tribe, and I would love to feature your story there if that's okay. So if you wanted to write out a paragraph about what it is you do and how you got started or whatever the case may be,” if you're highlighting success stories from your community or things like that, that would be a great way to have them still feel included, to still feel like they've contributed, but then sort of ease their way and let them down nicely from saying no to the podcast. Because the podcast, you've got to make sure you have guests on who know what they're talking about, and I even have had guests come on the show and I had to reply to them after recording interviews and said, “You know what? I'm so sorry, this just isn't up to the standards. It was maybe my fault for not asking the right questions, but for whatever reason it just didn't click, and I'm sorry. If there's anything I can do to help you, let me know.” It's my show, and I want it to be top-quality. I have a standard, and you should too, and I think it's obvious that you have one, because you're already filtering through people who want to be on your show and people who should be on your show, but again that sort of letdown with a sort of give-back, still being able to highlight them in some way, which I think is always important.

I've done a number of episodes of AskPat before, talking about the importance of highlighting people in your audience, and that's one way to do and do it on a mass scale, one post highlighting ten or twenty or however many people contact you, highlight their stories on your site. It's just not in the podcast, and that can go a very long way.

It's interesting Dana, I actually got some help from the Pat Flynn Twitter followers on this question too. When I started to answer your question, or right before I started to record the answer, I asked everybody on Twitter, “How would you kindly decline someone in your tribe who wants to be a guest on your site or show and it's not a great fit?” And I got some great answers for you that I want to share.

Jared says, “Be completely transparent about why and use as a teaching opportunity if possible.” That's a great one. Eric says, “I would suggest a site or show that they might be better fit for,” and I think that's a great idea. That's a fantastic idea. Brad said the same thing, he says, “I'm honest and upfront about it. I genuinely wish them luck getting published or featured elsewhere. Maybe refer them to somebody else.” That's great. Jade Craven—Jade, what's up? Hope you're listening. She says, “Emphasize the importance of protecting your community and vision for your site. Alternatively, get a VA to reject,” which is interesting. Jennifer says, “Ask them to contribute via another format if applicable.” That goes along the same lines of what I had suggested. Then she follows up with, “Otherwise, just take them out to dinner and celebrate your differences.” I think there's something to be said for that, not necessarily taking people in your audience out to dinner, but just to celebrate that there might be differences and that not everybody in your community might be ready to get on your show or they're not quite there yet. I think if you wanted to give them constructive criticism that would help, and if they're truly somebody who is a fan and follower, they would be somebody who would understand what you're trying to say and why you didn't accept their request.

So Dana, I hope that answers your questions. Thank you so much for asking it. If you, the listener, have a question that you'd like answered here on the show, just head on over to AskPat.com. Thanks for checking it out. You can just ask right there on the page using the widget from SpeakPipe. Of course, I want to mention our sponsor for today, which is ZipRecruiter.com. Again, if you go to ZipRecruiter.com/pat, you'll be able to check it out. It's free, it's absolutely free to use, and it's so cool because you can put a job description or a job requirement out there, if you're looking to hire somebody, to several different places, all with the beauty of one click, and you get to see who the best candidates are. It's the best way to filter through all of the job sites out there and get the best candidates to come and work for you. Again, it's ZipRecruiter.com/pat. A lot of people have been enjoying that, actually, so check it out if you need some help.

Finally, as always, I want to mention a quote of the day. This quote is from Eleanor Roosevelt, and she says, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” That's actually one of my all-time favorite quotes too, and I always do what I can to make sure that happens. Not anything crazy, like bungee jumping or skydiving, but something that tests you a little bit, something that gets your heart beating, something that might make you feel a little uncomfortable because truly, life begins where comfortable stops. So take care, I'll see you in the next episode. Peace.