How would you navigate a situation where your guest cancels last minute before recording?

Staying calm, and having a pre-plan is really essential in these situations, as it not only helps you navigate your time, and give you can option to complete other tasks from you to-do list. And redirecting focus in this way makes you more productive, and avoid negative self talk.

Staying calm is key. In my experience, having a backup plan is essential. Prepare a list of potential guest replacements or have a solo episode topic ready. You can even rerun a popular episode with fresh commentary. Communicating transparently with your audience about the change shows respect for their time and keeps them engaged. This approach not only salvages the situation but also makes it a good idea for you as a podcast host.

If a podcast guest cancels last minute most times they are black listed from being able to reschedule. It may sound harsh, but the cost of renting studio space, the time involved in pre production and taking the spot from someone else - it's simply not okay to be flaky. That being said if a guest legitimately sounds sincere and grateful and got sick or had a genuine family emergency OF COURSE it's okay to be human. So the boundary is for careless flakiness, not human to human empathy. With the new found available time slot "quick dial" potential guests from a waitlist. See if anyone is available and if not create a solo episode. Or go do some self care with the time added back to your calendar to be energized for magic moments ahead.

Als erfolgreicher Podcaster solltest Du Dich niemals von einem einzigen Gespr?ch abh?ngig machen. Dementsprechend ist es immer zielführend, einige fertige Aufnahme bereits dem Redaktionsplan voraus zu sein. F?llt mal eine Aufnahme aus welchem Grund auch immer aus, so kann einfach eine kommende Folge vorgezogen werden. Die Kontinuit?t des Podcasts ist damit jederzeit sichergestellt.

Depends on the reason. Sometimes life happens and I'm flexible. Recently had a very aggressive PR team push a guest that I was lukewarm about. Their topic was relevant, but not exciting and since they were so pushy, I thought, well, new listeners may not have heard this advice, so let's do it. They ghosted me. They won't be rescheduled. Another person had to move because of a change in their schedule. That actually worked out better for me. It's all in how the need is communicated, how you acted initially and more. I had one guest (with Alzheimer's) that really frustrated me. She got a lot more slack than anyone else in 7 years. Totally worth my patience.

If a replacement guest isn't feasible on short notice, pivot to recording a solo episode. Share your expertise or insights on a topic relevant to your audience. Use this opportunity to delve into a subject you're passionate about or address frequently asked listener questions. A solo episode allows you to showcase your knowledge and personality, strengthening the bond with your audience. Additionally, consider sharing behind-the-scenes insights or discussing future plans for your podcast to keep your listeners engaged and excited about what's to come.

Yeah, although I've not tried this myself but I've planned it, as this'll help me create my challenges more interactive through live options on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. This'd provide you a platform to reach larger audience at one go, and have Q&A Sessions.