Keeping Your ITL In Mind - Jen Allen - Creating The Greatest Show - Episode # 017

In many ways, great podcasters are like great salespeople, a comparison that gets even stronger when the two disciplines crossover. Jen Allen is the Host of Winning The Challenger Sale Podcast and the Chief Evangelist at Challenger. Jen shares how to avoid your show becoming overly scripted, why a guested format show isn’t about the host, and how to define and serve your Ideal Target Listener.   Takeaways:Prepare for interviewing a guest on your podcast as you would prepare for a sales call with a prospect. While you might not know everything about the guest, you should have a good idea of who they are and what their point of view will be. You should avoid having an overly scripted show. One way to do this is to give your guests a general idea of the topic you’d like to talk about. You can send some questions ahead of time, but with too much lead time they will come with very scripted answers.Growing a podcast that is attached to a brand, such as Challenger, is much easier than starting it entirely by yourself. Known brands come with a built-in audience that can start listening from episode one. If you’re hosting a podcast with a guested format, the focus should not be on the host. You should do everything you can to put the spotlight on the guest and ask questions that present their ideas in the best possible lightHosting a guested podcast is a great way to learn more about a specific topic because you get the opportunity to talk with subject matter experts. As the host, you don’t have to have all of the answers and you get to ask the burning questions you actually have. Through your preparation, you should know what your guest would share about their ideas in a LinkedIn post, rather than everything they would put in their book. This way you have a high-level view of their ideas and you can ask authentic questions. You need to identify the ITL (Ideal Target Listener) of your podcast and understand the why behind the podcast. For example, the ITL for Winning The Challenger Sale is frontline sellers. Knowing your ITL will inform your guest selection and content topics.    Quote of the Show:“Guest selection is truly everything” - Jen Allen   Links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferallen1121/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenAllenCEB Company website: https://www.challengerinc.com/events/winning-the-challenger-sale/ Podcast: https://www.challengerinc.com/podcast/  Ways to Tune In:Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/12f108ea-018f-44a6-8bb0-9444e9cbf3cc Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creating-the-greatest-show/id1638399900Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1B7OnWCGoxBRzH2rbkEFIf Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2NyZWF0aW5ndGhlZ3JlYXRlc3RzaG93L2ZlZWQueG1sPodchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/creating-the-greatest-show-4823789 YouTube: https://youtu.be/wBDcpuNSbJA   Creating The Greatest Show is produced and sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/