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Host Onboarding — Need A Guest

For Podcast Hosts — 75,000+ Podcast Network

Great Episodes Are Made Before Anyone Hits Record

We place vetted guests on shows we can vouch for. That only works if the show is ready — so every host clears eight stages before a guest is ever assigned. Each stage has one gate. Nothing advances until that gate clears. It is not paperwork. It is the reason our guests arrive prepared and our hosts get episodes worth publishing.

  • 8Stages to clear
  • 1Gate per stage
  • 7-10Days to full approval
  • 2+Guests a week once live
Apply As A Host See The Standards

How Host Onboarding Works

Stages 01 to 05 happen once, before your first booking. Stages 06 to 08 repeat for every episode. A host who keeps clearing 06 to 08 stays in rotation and gets first look at our strongest guests.

Host + Us

01

Apply And Verify The Show

You tell us about the show, we verify it independently. Deliberately the shortest stage — we would rather find a mismatch in ten minutes than on recording day.

You Send

  • RSS feed and hosting platform
  • Average downloads across your last ten episodes
  • Publishing cadence and your last published date
  • The recording platform you use
  • Your five most recent guests

We Check

  • The feed is live and the cadence matches what you told us
  • Audience sits at or above [download threshold] per episode
  • Past episodes are complete, published and still up
  • Two previous guests confirm the experience was good
The Gate

Feed verified and the show meets our published minimum. If it does not yet, we tell you exactly what is short and you are welcome to reapply.

Host Signs

02

Sign The Host Standards

One page, plain English, e-signed. Not a contract full of clauses — a short list of the promises that make this work for the person on the other side of the microphone.

You Agree To

  • Show up, on time, for every booking you accept
  • Record on equipment that meets our spec
  • Send the raw file within 48 hours
  • Publish within 21 days
  • No pitching the guest, and no pitching your own offer inside their episode
  • No edit that changes what the guest meant

We Agree To

  • Only send guests who match your stated format and topics
  • Brief every guest on your show before they arrive
  • Give you 48 hours notice minimum on any guest change
  • Back you if a guest no-shows or misrepresents themselves
The Gate

Signature on file. No booking is created for an unsigned host — the system will not let us.

Host + Producer

03

Pass The Tech Check

Fifteen minutes with [Producer], or a recorded sample you upload yourself. We are not judging your studio — we are catching the problems that otherwise surface at two minutes past the hour with a guest already waiting.

What We Test

  • Microphone: a dedicated USB or XLR mic, not laptop built-in and not wireless earbuds
  • Headphones: wired, worn throughout — the single biggest fix for echo
  • Room: no hard echo, no open window, no fan in shot
  • Connection: upload speed and a stable wired or strong wireless signal
  • Camera and lighting, if you publish video
  • Local backup recording switched on

If Something Is Short

  • We send the spec sheet at [spec sheet link] with three options at three budgets
  • You resubmit a sample when the gear arrives — no reapplying, no queue
  • We will not book you in the meantime, and we will tell you why plainly
The Gate

A 60-second sample approved by our producer. Approval is logged against your profile and refreshed if you change your setup.

Host Builds

04

Build Your Show Profile

This is the card every guest reads before they accept. Most complaints about a bad interview are really complaints about a mismatch, and a mismatch is almost always a profile that was vague. Be specific here and everything after it gets easier.

You Define

  • Format: solo interview, co-hosted, panel, video or audio only
  • Runtime, and how hard you hold to it
  • Interview style: conversational, structured, or challenge-led
  • Three topics that land well with your audience
  • Topics and questions that are off the table
  • What happens after publish: assets, timestamps, promotion

Why It Matters

  • Guests self-select out of shows they are wrong for, before you meet them
  • We stop sending you guests you would have declined anyway
  • Your profile becomes the reference if a guest ever disputes what was agreed
The Gate

Profile complete and approved. Every field filled — "anything goes" is not an accepted answer for topics or format.

Host + Us

05

Set Your Booking Rules

The no-show problem is a calendar problem. We solve it by connecting your real calendar, adding buffers, and making confirmation an active step rather than an assumption.

What Gets Configured

  • Calendar connected, so availability is live and never guessed
  • Buffers either side, so back-to-back recordings cannot collide
  • Reminders at 7 days, 48 hours and 1 hour
  • Time zone confirmed in writing on both sides

The 24-Hour Rule

  • You confirm the booking in one click at the 24-hour mark
  • Unconfirmed slots release automatically and the guest is rebooked
  • Reschedules need 48 hours notice, twice per booking maximum
  • A release is not a strike. A silent no-show is
The Gate

Calendar live, reminders on, and one test booking completed end to end. You are now eligible to receive guests.

Every Episode

06

Prep The Guest, 48 Hours Out

Forty-eight hours before recording you receive the guest brief. Reading it is the difference between an episode your audience shares and one that opens with "so, tell me a bit about yourself."

You Receive

  • Guest bio and how to pronounce their name
  • Three angles that are genuinely strong for your audience
  • Anything they have asked not to be asked, and why
  • Links, figures and claims we have already verified

You Return

  • One-click acknowledgement that you have read the brief
  • At least three of your own questions, so we know it was read
  • Any format change the guest needs to know about
The Gate

Brief acknowledged and questions submitted at least 12 hours before recording. If neither arrives we contact you directly, rather than letting the guest walk into an unprepared room.

Every Episode

07

Run The Recording

Same shape every time, so nobody is improvising the logistics. The first five minutes are not the interview — they are the reason the interview goes well.

The Sequence

  • Join five minutes early. The guest was told the same
  • Green room: check levels both sides, confirm headphones on
  • Confirm local backup recording is running for both participants
  • Walk the run of show: length, structure, how you will close
  • Record. Note the timestamp of any moment worth clipping
  • Stay two minutes after to confirm both files saved before anyone leaves

Hard Limits On Air

  • No pitching your product or service to the guest
  • No inserting your own offer into their episode as a host read
  • No topics that were flagged off the table
  • No surprise second interviewer the guest was not told about
The Gate

Recording completed and both local files confirmed saved before the call ends. This is the step that prevents the lost-episode conversation a week later.

Every Episode

08

Deliver After The Recording

The recording is not the deliverable. The published episode, in the guest's hands, is. This stage is tracked because it is the one that most often quietly does not happen.

Within 48 Hours

  • Raw audio, and video if recorded, sent to the guest
  • Confirmation of your target publish date

Within 21 Days

  • Episode published and live
  • Live link, plus timestamps for the strongest moments
  • One promotional asset the guest can share
  • Guest tagged when you post about it

What We Do With It

  • Log every date against your host record
  • Feed the result into your reliability status
  • Send the guest a two-question review of the experience
  • Route our strongest guests to the hosts who keep clearing this
The Gate

Live link submitted. Your status updates and you stay in active rotation for the next guest.

The Seven Non-Negotiables

Everything above is process. These seven are the standard itself. They apply from your first booking to your hundredth, and they are the same for every host in the network.

Attendance
Confirm at the 24-hour mark and join five minutes early. If something genuinely breaks, tell us before the slot, not after it.
Microphone
A dedicated USB or XLR microphone. Laptop microphones and wireless earbuds are not accepted on any booking.
Headphones
Wired headphones, worn throughout. Non-negotiable, because it is the single fix that removes echo from the guest's audio.
Backup Recording
Local recording on both ends, every time. A cloud recording on its own is not a backup.
Raw File
To the guest within 48 hours of recording, without being chased for it.
Publish Window
Live within 21 days. If your schedule pushes past that, tell the guest before the deadline rather than after.
No Pitch
You do not sell to the guest, and you do not sell your own offer inside their episode. Sponsor reads placed around the episode are fine. A pitch aimed at the guest, or dropped into their segment, is not.

How Reliability Is Tracked

Every host carries a live status. It is visible to you at all times, it is never a surprise, and it decides which guests you see first. Nothing here is punitive — it is how we keep the promise we made to guests.

Active

In Rotation

No open strikes. First look at our strongest guests, priority on high-profile placements, and no producer needed on your calls.

Watch

One Strike Open

You keep booking. A producer joins your next two recordings, and premium placements pause until both clear cleanly. A strike expires after 90 days.

Paused

Out Of Rotation

Three open strikes, or one serious breach. Bookings stop, outstanding deliverables are still owed, and we review together after 90 days.

What Counts As A Strike

  • Not showing up to a confirmed booking
  • Cancelling inside 24 hours without an emergency
  • Raw file still not sent seven days after recording
  • Episode still unpublished 45 days after recording
  • Pitching the guest, or inserting your offer into their episode
  • Recording below spec after a written warning
  • Asking a question that was flagged off the table
  • Losing a recording because no local backup was running

Ready To Start

Clear Stage One This Week

Send your feed and we will verify the show within two business days. Most hosts clear all five setup stages inside ten days and take their first guest the week after.

Apply As A Host Browse Case Studies

Questions before you apply: support@needaguest.com
These standards were written from what guests told us went wrong. They are reviewed twice a year, and hosts in the network are asked first.