Instead of finding every guest yourself, you can let people apply to be on the show. Mato scores each application for fit, ranks them, and lets you approve the best ones straight into an interview invite.
Share your guest form
On the Requests tab, click Share guest form (the Interviews tab has the same button). This opens a dialog with:
- A public link at
/be-a-guest/<your-show>that anyone can open and fill in. - An embed code you can paste into your own website.
Applicants fill in their name, email, a LinkedIn or X profile (at least one is required), why they want to come on the show, and how they would help promote the episode once it airs. They can also name their own podcast and say whether they are open to a guest swap. Before their request reaches you, they confirm their email address through a verification link.
Review a request
Verified requests appear on the Requests tab, ranked with a fit percentage next to each name. A count at the top shows how many people are waiting. Until someone applies, the tab shows "No requests right now". Click Review to open the request:
- In their words shows their motivation, in their own words.
- How they'd help it travel and their own show cover the promotion side of the pitch.
- Mato's read scores the request on topic and audience fit, credibility, promotion reach, and swap potential, and suggests episode ideas drawn from the pitch.
From here you can:
- Reject the request.
- Approve only, which keeps the person in your guest records without sending anything yet.
- Approve and invite, which approves the request and sends an interview invite in one step, using the topic Mato pulled from the pitch and the host, format, and length from your auto-invite settings (see below). If the request has no verified email, no host configured, or no usable topic, this instead opens the invite wizard with the guest's details already filled in so you can finish it by hand.
Use the arrow keys or the Previous/Next buttons to move through the queue without closing the dialog.
Auto-invite
At the bottom of the Requests tab, turn on Invite strong requests automatically to skip manual review entirely for requests that qualify. Configure:
- Interview host is required before you can turn this on.
- Interview format is Guided Q&A, or Conversation (beta) where that is enabled for your account.
- Interview length sets the length in minutes.
- Who gets invited is either people Mato recommends, or everyone who verifies their email. The spam filter still applies either way.
Only people who verified their email ever receive an automatic invite.
What to do next
Approved requests carry into Invite a guest if you finish the invite by hand, or straight to Guest recording guide once the invite goes out. Everyone you approve, invite, or interview shows up on the Guests and profiles tab.