Guest Preparation Guide

Smashing the Plateau Podcast

JOIN THE LIST OF OVER 1000 INCREDIBLE GUESTS

Let's Have a Great Conversation

Thank you for agreeing to be a guest on Smashing the Plateau.

The podcast features conversations with experienced independent professionals and the experts who support them.

Our audience consists primarily of consultants, advisors, coaches, fractional executives, and other experienced leaders who have chosen an independent path.

The best episodes explore the realities of independent leadership and the decisions that shaped them, including:

  • Important decisions and tradeoffs

  • Major transitions and inflection points

  • Lessons learned through experience

  • Navigating uncertainty

  • Maintaining momentum

  • The value of perspective and trusted relationships

Our goal is not to create a highly scripted interview.

We aim to have a thoughtful conversation that helps listeners learn from your experience.

What Makes a Strong Episode

Our most memorable conversations:

  • Explore meaningful turning points

  • Share lessons learned through experience

  • Reflect on difficult decisions and tradeoffs

  • Reveal how thinking evolved over time

  • Offer perspective rather than tactics

The more specific and personal your examples, the more valuable the conversation tends to be.

Conversation Themes

You do not need prepared answers.

However, it may be helpful to reflect on a few themes before we record.

Your Journey

  • What brought you to where you are today?

  • What major transitions shaped your path?

  • What lessons have stayed with you?

Decisions and Tradeoffs

  • What decisions had the greatest impact on your business?

  • What opportunities have you learned to decline?

  • How has your judgment evolved over time?

Growth and Momentum

  • What challenges continue to require attention?

  • How has your definition of success changed?

  • What helps you maintain momentum?

Perspective and Support

  • What role have trusted peers, mentors, or thinking partners played in your journey?

  • What support systems have been most valuable?

  • What advice would you offer someone facing a similar challenge?

We may also discuss your current work, with an emphasis on insight rather than promotion.

One Final Question About Community

At the end of every Smashing the Plateau conversation, we ask a short question about community.

Over the years, the answers have become one of the most interesting collections of perspectives we've gathered.

Community means different things to different people. 

At the end of our conversation, we'll ask:

What's your favorite thing about community?

Your answer may be featured separately in our newsletter, on social media, and in future community-related content.

Sharing the Conversation

Smashing the Plateau grows primarily through thoughtful leaders sharing meaningful conversations with the people who will benefit most from them.

There are two ways you can help extend the reach and impact of this work.

Before Your Episode Airs

As a fellow leader in this space, you can help amplify our work by:

  • Sharing the podcast on LinkedIn

  • Encouraging your network to subscribe to SMASH Matters™ with this link: Subscribe

  • Rating or reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts by clicking here

This helps strengthen the broader community of independent leaders navigating similar challenges.

When Your Episode Goes Live

When your episode is released, we will send you:

  • A direct link to the episode

  • Suggested promotional copy

  • Branded graphics

Episodes that receive early engagement and sharing reach significantly more independent professionals.

Your support helps ensure the conversation reaches the people it was intended to serve.

Thank you in advance for your partnership.

Recording Logistics

We will record both audio and video.

We have scheduled one hour together, which allows sufficient time for a relaxed conversation and an edited episode of approximately 30 minutes.

Several days before your recording, you will receive an email from SquadCast.fm <invite@squadcast.fm> with the subject line “You are invited to record on Smashing the Plateau.” This is an invitation with the session link for you to join the scheduled recording session using SquadCast.

For the best experience:

  • Restart your computer before joining

  • Use a wired Ethernet connection rather than WIFI for the best network stability.

  • You will need to be in a quiet space, with an external microphone for audio input and external headset or earbuds for audio output. If you don’t have an external microphone for audio input and external headset or earbuds for audio output, you should purchase or borrow them for your recording session. Your computer’s built-in microphone and speaker are not sufficient quality.

  • Listen to a few recent episodes before we record

Please read these instructions for additional details.

If you have a book or other materials you would like to share before the interview, you may send them to:

David@SmashingThePlateau.com

or

David Shriner-Cahn
Smashing the Plateau
302A W 12th St #161
New York, NY 10014-7906

If we are not yet connected, please connect with me on LinkedIn.

Release

By participating in the Smashing the Plateau interview, you agree to allow Smashing the Plateau to record and distribute the content in any manner, and to use it in speeches, books, and other media. Smashing the Plateau may use your name, image, and voice in connection with these uses.

Thank you again for contributing your experience and perspective to Smashing the Plateau.

I look forward to our conversation.