A Complete Guide to Having Guests on Your Radio Station

Michelle Ruoff -

Having guests on your radio station can be a great strategy for multiple reasons. It can be a really good way to get a variety of new content on your station, it lends itself to promotion opportunities, and having intriguing guests can potentially bring in new listeners and engage your current audience. There are a couple ways that you can feature a guest on your station though, so we are going to break down each method below.


Playlisting:

  • Guest DJ: Your first option for featuring a guest on your radio station is to have them curate a playlist for you. You could also have the guest DJ create some sound clips of them talking about the playlist to incorporate into the playlist. Having guests curate playlists is a pretty simple way to feature other people and add some variety to your station. Guest DJs could range from individuals who have a specific passion for music to family and friends that would love to curate a playlist for your station. You can even have guests be part of your live radio event, but also have them curate a playlist for another time. Also, if a guest cannot guest DJ in person for your live radio event, this can be a great alternative. This might be a good option for a DJ to gain more recognition and/or for your station to gain more listeners if the DJ has a following.

On Your Live Radio Event:

  • Guest DJ: Similar to having a guest DJ curate a playlist, you could also have a guest DJ for a live radio event. This would likely mean that you do the intro, outro, and any other talk pieces, and your guest DJ would curate the music and do song intros during the live event. This would likely be the best option if you have a guest in mind that has a specific interest in music, but would prefer to talk less during the live event. Like having a guest DJ curate a playlist, this tends to be a great option for a DJ to gain more recognition and/or for your station to gain more listeners if the DJ has a following.

  • Live Set: A live set alone or in addition to other methods of featuring a guest can be a great way to show off a musical guest. They can play as many or as few songs that they would like to and it makes for great radio station content, especially when you include some talk pieces with the guest as well. This also tends to be a very appealing method for musical guests because they are often more comfortable performing and it is an opportunity for their music to be heard.

  • Interviewee: Interviewing a guest is a useful method when you really want to feature your guest and/or you want to learn more about your guest or their knowledge about a certain topic. Interviewing a guest definitely requires a lot of preparation from the host though. Having interviews on your live radio events showcases guests who may not want to prepare content beforehand, but are interested in contributing to your station. Typically, this is the best middle ground option in terms of benefits for you as well as your guest. With an interview, a guest will gain more recognition or be able to promote something of their own and fans of your guest will tune into your station.

  • Co-Host: Having a guest co-host a live event can be a great opportunity to dive into a topic that you and your guest are particularly knowledgeable about. Also, if you have a guest in mind that you know that you genuinely get along with and they complement your personality well, this could be a way to feature a slightly different side of yourself. Co-hosted live events can make for some really entertaining content if the relationship between the co-hosts is right. If you have a notable co-host, they can bring in some new listeners and if the guest is lesser known, but has an entertaining personality and/or expertise, you can help them gain recognition.

  • Takeover: Finally, your last option would be to allow a guest to completely takeover one of your live radio events. This would likely mean that you are not at all featured in the live radio event or only the slightest bit at the beginning and/or end. If you have a really special guest and/or someone who has a lot of really interesting content, this would likely be your best option. With this method, your guest has enough time and space to really speak to your audience as well as dig into whatever content they want to present. Having a takeover would generally be best if you have a pretty notable individual that will bring in a lot of new listeners.

Tip: With all of these methods for featuring a guest, we would suggest that you oversee what your guest contributes since it is your radio station and whatever they contribute ultimately reflects on you. Obviously, you want to give the guest the agency that they need to contribute the best content possible, but it is always a great idea to be aware of what your guest is contributing to ensure that it is appropriate for your radio station.

Bonus Tip: You should always promote guests on social media and request that they promote you and your station in return. In particular, you should ensure that each guest agrees to post about their appearance on your station before it occurs.

Note: Instead of featuring guests on live events, you may decide that you would rather record events in advance that feature interviews, co-hosts, or takeovers and play them on your station at a later date.


Now that you have an understanding about the different ways you can feature guests on your radio station, it is up to you to decide what methods are best for you, each guest, and your audience. It is also important to remember that with any of these methods, you should consider the benefit that your guests want to receive from being on your station. Your guests may want to promote something of their own, they may want to gain recognition, or they may just want to contribute to your station. Each method of featuring guests is more useful for certain guests and scenarios, so be mindful of what kind of feature(s) you offer as well as the benefit(s) for each guest. Regardless of the method that you choose, having guests on your radio station can be really beneficial for keeping your station engaging as well as growing it.


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Article Image: Stuart Bloodworth via Unsplash.