How to Be a Podcast Guest People Actually Remember

A Businettes Academy workshop with Carol Mae Whittick, Podcast Host, Voice and Presence Mentor

Thirty seconds is all it takes to make a podcast audience want to hear the rest of your story.

That line, from Carol Mae Whittick, sums up exactly why this workshop existed. Carol has hosted over 230 interviews on her podcast HER Conversations since 2017, works as Oracy and Competition Lead for the English-Speaking Union, and became President of Bromley Speakers Toastmasters in July 2026. She trained as a singer long before any of that, and it's her voice work, not a media training background, that shaped everything she shared with Businettes this week.

Breathe From Your Belly, Not Your Shoulders

Carol opened with box breathing, the technique she recommends before any Zoom call, stage or microphone.

"Most people, when you say take a deep breath, their shoulders go up. That means nothing when your body's concerned. You want to breathe down into the belly, as low as you can, imagine you're filling your belly from the bottom up."

Inhale for five counts, hold for five, exhale for five, repeat for as many rounds as you need. It calms the nervous system before a podcast, a pitch, or any moment that puts you in front of an audience.

Find Your Resonance Instead of Raising Your Volume

Carol doesn't have a loud voice, and said that's never been the point.

"It's not about loud. When someone's shouting at you, you pull away from that. Whereas if someone is speaking to you at the same level, but speaking with their resonance, then they're going to feel you."

To find it, hum gently with a hand on your chest until you feel where the vibration sits lowest and strongest, usually somewhere around the breastbone. Speak from that point rather than higher in the throat, and the voice carries further with less effort and less strain. It's also, she said, the fix for networking rooms that get loud: lean in and find two or three people rather than trying to shout over a whole group.

Tell Your Story in Thirty Seconds, Not Ten Minutes

When Carol first started podcasting, a guest answered "tell me about yourself" by starting at age four and talking for an hour. She let it run, because she was new. She doesn't let it run anymore.

"The more succinct you can make it, the better. Remember, you are not Beyoncé. People don't care, they just don't have enough information about you."

Her advice is to find the pivotal moment, the point right before the shift into whatever you do now, rather than the whole chronological story. Aim for twenty to thirty seconds, and leave people wanting more rather than answering every question before it's asked.

"If you launch into it and you're still talking ten minutes later, they're actually waiting for you to stop. Leave them hanging, and they'll ask you more questions."

One attendee asked how to decide what's actually relevant. Carol's answer: find the pain point or the transformation, since that's the part people remember and the part that makes a story feel earned rather than rehearsed.

Pause More Than Feels Natural

Filler words, Carol said, come from trying to think and talk at the same time while anxious. The fix isn't to speak faster. It's to prepare your stories in advance so you're not inventing them live, and to pause rather than fill the gap with "um".

"Pausing gives the people who are listening to you a moment to catch up to where you are, and it brings more emphasis to what you say."

On a pre-recorded podcast, a long pause can be edited down. What can't be fixed afterwards is talking over the host, so let silence do the work instead of rushing to fill it, and use non-verbal cues like nodding rather than speaking over someone who's agreeing with you.

Walk Into a Room Like the Party Can Start Now

The last section, on presence, came from Carol's years working in hospitality around famous people.

"What I noticed about famous people is they have this energetic spread. When they walk into a room, they've decided the party can start now, because I'm there. You have to walk in with that same kind of audacity."

It isn't arrogance, she was clear, it's a decision to take up the space you're already in rather than shrink from it. Her practical exercise: close your eyes, picture the room you're in, and imagine yourself filling every corner of it. Then try it somewhere with zero stakes, ordering coffee or talking to an Uber driver, before you need it in a room that matters.

Quick Answers From the Q&A

Sounding more assertive: assertiveness isn't a different voice, it's believing the one you have is already enough. If people already tell you your voice is calming, that's authority, not a weakness to fix.

What mic to buy: any USB mic under £50 plugged straight into your laptop will outperform a built-in laptop mic, and Zoom will let you choose it from the audio dropdown.

Where to send people: give one single place, not a scattered list of every platform you're on. Most people won't go looking, so make the one link count.

What's the one place online you'd actually want a new contact to land on, and does it currently show them what you want them to see?

About Carol Mae Whittick

Carol Mae Whittick is a voice and presence mentor, podcast host of HER Conversations, Oracy and Competition Lead for the English-Speaking Union, and President of Bromley Speakers Toastmasters.

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