Influential Voices of Authority

3 Steps To The Art Of The Tease – Episode 097 When you want your listeners to stick around and listen to what you have to say, you need to give them a compelling reason. Your listener needs to anticipate what is to come later in the show. You need to excite them. You need to tease them. Anticipation is a key feature to storytelling. Your story should build just like a good plot builds in a movie. You need to make your audience anticipate the content that is on the way. Your story is similar to a vacation you are planning to take. The fantastic anticipation for the trip is almost as pleasurable as the trip itself. You can't wait for the trip to arrive. You want your listener to feel the same way about your story. When your listener can't wait for the story to arrive, you have created some great content with an powerful tease. Your listeners will get more enjoyment from your show when they get the tease payoff more often. The pleasure of the “oh wow” factor will be increased. The joy of anticipation will keep your audience coming back for more. There are three steps to creating an effective tease. #1 - Intrigue Me When you promote content that is coming up later in the show, you must give your audience an intriguing reason to stick around. It isn't enough to simply say, “A great story about this weekend is coming up.” Few will stick around for the payoff. The tease lacks stickiness. It doesn't hook the listener. A creative tease produces anticipation. Instead, use something like, “You're never gonna believe who I was introduced to this past weekend. My world is about to take a wild turn.” With that statement, your imagination begins to work. Who could it be? Was it a celebrity? An investor? A mentor or hero? Imagination is the magic of a creative tease. Stir the imagination of your audience to truly engage them with your content. When possible, intrigue by incorporating the listeners world. “This weekend, I discovered a way to save $100 a month on my grocery bill by changing one thing in the way we shop. I'll tell you how you can do it too.” It answers “what's in it for me” for your listener. #2 - Give Them 80% To create an effective tease, give your listener 80% of the story while leaving out the most important 20%. It is similar to giving the setup for a joke without providing the punch line. Lead your listener right up to the line, but make them wait to step over. The key to an effective tease is to withhold the most important 20%. Let's use our previous example of the attic weekend. I could say, “You're not gonna believe it, but I found a $25,000 antique painting in the attic this weekend. I'll tell you what's on it coming up.” This is a perfect example of withholding the wrong 20%. Who cares who is on it. If it's worth $25,000, it could be a painting of the sky. It wouldn't matter to me. I'd only be asking where I could sell it. $25,000 is the most exciting piece of information in the entire story. That is the piece that I need to withhold to create some excitement. To properly tease, I need to say, “In the attic this weekend, I found an antique painting of Napoleon. You're never gonna believe how much it is worth.” You are more likely to stick around to see if I can retire on my winnings when I set it up in this fashion. #3 - Make Your Tease Unsearchable Make it impossible to search online. You want your listener to keep listening for the payoff to your set up. If I can simply search on Google for the answer to your tease, there is no reason to keep listening. I can just look it up and be done with it. Let's say I have a story about Joe Celebrity getting drunk at High Profile Bar in Las Vegas over the weekend where he got arrested for assault. I could say, “Another movie star got arrested this weekend after he got in a fight with a customer at High Profile Bar in Las Vegas. I'll tell you who it is coming up.” Celebrity name is part of the correct 20% I'm withholding. However, I can look this story up on Google in a heartbeat. If I search “Arrest High Profile Bar Las Vegas”, the chances are good that I will find the story in the first few search results. The tease isn't effective. It is too easy to search. To make the tease more powerful, make it impossible to search. “Another bar fight over the weekend landed another celebrity in jail. The story is coming up.” This tease makes it much more difficult to search. If you entered “celebrity bar fight weekend” in Google, 70 million results show up. It will be much easier to wait for my payoff than to begin searching 70 million Google entries. The three steps to powerful teases will help you begin to engage your audience on the way to building powerful relationships. Use the three steps in your show recap to entice people to listen to the episode. Then, use them again during the introduction of the show to get listeners to enjoy the entire recording. You've worked hard to create your content. A lot of effort has been exerted on your part while writing and recording your show. Make your content intriguing by using these three steps in the art of the tease. When you use the art of the tease, your listeners will spend more time with your show. The increase frequency of the tease payoffs will help your audience enjoy your content more. When your show is more entertaining, it becomes more engaging. When you truly engage your audience with your content, you can begin building powerful relationships. That's where trust and influence with your listener begins. I would love to help you with your podcast. E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

PTC096 – Why Is Dumas So Successful Thank you! Thanks for all the e-mail over the past few weeks. Seems my four-episode series on interviewing really got you thinking. Such great questions have been filling my inbox. We will talk about a few of the interviewing questions on the episode this week. We will also discuss how to remove crutches from your podcast. Here are a few of the questions ... Erik, as I am listening to WTF's Thursday episode when he was recapping the behind the scenes of the President's visit, I thought it coincided with your episode this past week, because he was talking about how long the process took. (Host Marc) Maron's producer said exactly what you said about keeping up great relations and communications even if the interview didn't seem likely to happen. I love your podcast. Keep up the great work. -Kim Slusher www.DIStractedLifePodcast.com (A podcast about Walt Disney World travel.) Erik, quick note to say I've been enjoying your podcast on interviewing people. Will you be at Podcast Movement? -David Hooperwww.redpodcast.com (A podcast about Real Entreprenuer Development.) Erik, I just found your podcast, and heard two shows about how to interview. I agree with your concept, but I wonder how does a show like Entrepreneur On Fire --John Dumas--do so well? I listened to his show for a while, but I don't find it interesting anymore. And yet he is doing so well and clearly successful. What do you think? -Thanks. (Name Withheld) Hi, Erik! Big fan of the show, sir! Best help out there for podcasters that want to be better broadcasters! I find myself saying “like” way too much. How can I stop? -Mike Seay www.dorktownpodcast.com (A podcast with comedy, interviews, discussions and more.) This week, we get into all of that and more. Thanks for the great e-mail. Your questions truly help me shape the content of the show. Keep them coming. I would love to help you with your podcast. E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

Six Tips To Land Better Podcast Interviews – Episode 095 How do you land the big interview guests? This is part four of my series on interviewing. In Episode 092, we talked about interview priority #1. We talked about making your guest look good. When you make your guest look good, everyone wins. In Episode 093, you learned two steps to powerful interviews. To create unique interviews, be sure you ask creative, interesting questions. Then, be sure to actively listen to the answers. Then, in Episode 094, we discussed the three skills of great interviewers. To create engaging content that stands out in the sea of sameness, great interviewers learn to lose the script, know their guest and not just the bio, and keep the interview focused on the guest. Before we get into finding guests for your show, let's talk a bit more about great questions. When you develop the ability to find engaging, unique questions, you are well on your way to creating a podcast that will stand out. Turn Over The Interview Rocks How do you find great questions for your guest during your interview? Look in unlikely places. If you want to truly engage your audience, you need to ask engaging questions of your guest. The guest's website or news release is a decent place to get familiar with your guest. However, if you only use these common sources for the basis of your questions, you will be asking the same questions every other interviewer is asking. Your interview won't be different and will not stand out from the crowd. One source I like to use is the people traveling with the guest. Ask your guest's traveling companion if anything amusing has happened lately. It will sound wonderfully spontaneous when you ask about it during the interview. Country artist Miranda Lambert once joined me on my show before her performance as opening act for Kenny Chesney. Before she arrived, I asked her record label representative what she had been doing lately. He told me she had injured her leg night hunting a few days earlier. After Miranda and I exchanged typical interview pleasantries, I said, “It looks like you have a little limp in your step. What happened?” She really wasn't limping much and was a bit surprised that I had noticed. Miranda now got the chance to tell me a great story about falling down a small ravine while night hunting with her husband Blake Shelton. It was a wonderful question that included a story about her well-publicized relationship with Blake without asking typical interview questions. I didn't ask, “So, what have you and Blake been up to lately?” I'm sure she gets questions like that often. Be unique. Be original. Make your interview engaging for your audience and guest. Turn over the interview rocks. Fish For Interviews With Bigger Bait How do you land that big guest for your podcast? Here are a few 6 useful tips. 1 - FIND THE INTRODUCTION Find people that know your prospect. See if they will introduce you. Just the other day, a radio colleague came to me seeking an interview with Taylor Swift. I have interviewed her a couple times. He knew I was able to make an introduction for him. 2 - THE GATEKEEPER'S FRIEND There are times when big names have people that run their schedule. This could be a personal assistant. It might be a booking agent. You need to make friends with these people. In the music business, I always go through the record label. I need to create a strong relationship with that person in order to be at the top of the list when interview opportunities come about. 3 - WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME? To score a guest interview for your podcast, you need to begin by explaining how the interview will benefit your prospective guest. The fact that your audience will love it has no bearing. It really doesn't matter to your guest if your show or your audience will benefit from the guest's appearance. When your guest makes the decision whether to appear on your show, they will only consider how the appearance will benefit them personally. Are they promoting a new book? Do they have a new product available? What is in it for your guest? Make it easy. 4 - SHOW THEM WHAT YOU'VE GOT Provide your prospects some examples of your great work. If you have endorsements, share those as well. Create a short sizzle reel containing some of your best work. Provide some social proof that they won't be alone in accepting your invitation. 5 - SIZE ISN'T THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS Many podcast hosts use their audience size to lure guests. If you have a reasonable audience size, surely use it to your advantage. However, don't stop there. You may be overlooking many other ways you could benefit your guest. You could offer to give your guest exposure on your website. You may have visitors to your site that do not listen to the show. Promote your guest on the site with a link to their content. This will be an additional benefit. Mention your guest and interview in your blog. Again, your guest will be reaching additional audience. You are helping them spread their message beyond your podcast. Your audience for any one of these avenues may be small. However, when you combine the benefit of each distribution method, your proposal for the interview will be more appealing to your guest. Use every audience you have to your advantage. Offer to promote the interview and your guest's information to your mailing list. You may have many people that receive your newsletter who may never listen to your podcast. By including a link to your guests website in your mailing, your guest will reach additional people. Take credit for that. 6- DON'T TRIP OVER THE NAMES YOU DROP Play to your guest's ego by dropping a few names. If you have had other notable guests on your show in the past, let your guest know. Tell your prospective guest they will be among good company. They will feel more comfortable saying yes to your request. Use these six tips to help land some of those elusive, big guests for your podcast. Before you know it, you will be chatting it up with some of the best. If you have never subscribed to the Podcast Talent Coach podcast, please spend two minutes to do so. I would truly appreciate your generosity. Click the link and then the subscribe button in iTunes. Do you need help with your podcast? E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's see what we can do. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

3 Skills of Great Interviewers – Episode 094 (This is part 3 of a 4-part series on interviewing.) So many podcasts sound similar. The same guests. The same questions. The same answers. The sea of sameness. As a podcasters who conducts interviews, how do you stand out? How do you make your interviews different and unique when compared to the others in your genre? Podcasters that create powerful, unique, engaging interviews possess common traits. After coaching radio talent for over 2 decades and conducting my own interviews for 25 years, I have learned the skills that are necessary to conduct great interviews. There is good news. You can easily learn these skills and begin to rise above the rest of the vanilla interviewers. Let's go over all three skills. Lose The Script When you are interviewing a guest on your podcast, be real. Be present in the moment. Truly listen to the answers your guest is giving. Your next question may come from that answer, and the question many be nowhere in your notes. As you prepare for your interview, don't script your questions. When you have a script, you will be too focused on the script and less attentive to the answers of your guest. Lose the script. Instead of scripted questions. follow bullet points. Be prepared for your interview by being familiar with the material. Have an idea of the questions you want to ask. Review your bullet points to the point that you are ready to ask various questions about a single topic that might come up during the interview. Be sure to make your questions succinct. A long-winded question is hard to follow for both your guest and your audience. Ask one short question. Let it lead into another short question. It may take three questions to get to the same answer as it would with your one long question. However, three short questions will be easier to follow and digest by your audience. If you are concerned with following a script, you won't allow yourself to explore unexpected twists and turns presented by the answers of your guest. Television hosts such as Jay Leno and David Letterman used a list of questions on their blue cards that were previewed and screened by a show producer. The host may have started with one of those questions. They would then let the interview flow on its own. If the discussion hit a lull, Leno and Letterman would revert back to one of the bullet points on the card to restart the conversation. You will never saw either of these hosts ask the card questions in order, in full or in a vacuum. The interview became organic and developed according to the answers of the guest. Your interview should do the same. Know Your Guest, Not Their Bio If you are only familiar with the bio of your guest, you will ask the same questions every other interviewer has asked. Your guest will be bored. They will provide the same lame answers they have given on every other show. There will be very little content here to engage anyone. Instead, do a bit of research on your guest. When searching for your guest on the web, don't stop at the first page. When skimming articles about your guest, don't just look at the first few paragraphs. Find the unique material deep within the article. When you have discovered something of interest about your guest, don't tell them about it. Let your guest tell you the story. Throw them the easy pitch that they can hit out of the park. You don't want your interview to sound like the Saturday Night Live bit where Chris Farley interviewed Sir Paul McCartney, leaving McCartney the only option of answering “yes” to Farley's question. Let your guest shine. Just because you know the details of the story, you don't have to reveal that you do. Ask the question in a way that sets up the story so your guest can tell it. You will both look great. The bio of your guest will give you common information. If your listeners know anything about your guest, they will probably be familiar with the content of the bio. Instead, do your homework. Know the guest, not their bio. Keep Yourself Out Of The Interview When you have invited a guest to appear on your podcast, your listener is interested in hearing your guest. Your guest is the star. If your listener wanted to hear what you think about the subject, there would be no reason to have the guest on your show. You could simply disseminate the information by yourself. There is no problem if you want to provide the information yourself. Just simply save your guest the time, effort and dignity by leaving them at home. Many hosts want to show the guest how much they know about the subject. This will sometimes come in the form of long, detailed questions. The host will fill time with personal stories that display their knowledge. Unless you have invited your guest to debate you on a topic, as an interviewer, your job is to make your guest look good. Don't invite the guest if you simply want to show how smart you are. Ask your guest questions that will allow them to tell great stories. David Letterman, Jay Leno, Jimmy Fallon and the other great talk hosts use their monologue to address any topics they want to discuss. When they bring their guests on the show, they ask questions that will elicit great stories. Then, they sit back and listen. Do your homework. Ask wonderful, open-ended questions that set up great stories. Then, sit back and listen. Keep yourself out of the interview. I would love to help you with your podcast. E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

Two Steps To Powerful Interviews – Episode 093 Last week, we discussed the #1 priority of your interviews. That episode was part one of a series on interviewing. This week, I would like to share with you the two steps to take in order to create powerful interviews. Over the 25 years I have been on the radio and coaching radio talent, I have had the opportunity to interview many, many people. More importantly, I have had the chance to discuss the art of interviewing with celebrities, managers, coaches, consultants, radio talent and many others in the industry. Time and time again, I hear the same thing. There are two elements that create successful interviews. Now, you can use these two steps to create great interviews on your podcast. Don't Ask That Question If you have a decent guest on your podcast, they have probably been interviewed many, many times about the same subject. Popular guests often get bored with the same questions being posed to them over and over again. To make your interview truly engaging for all involved, find unique ways to ask questions that serve the guest as well as the listener. Often, you will hear a host ask their guest stale, typical questions. You know the questions. “So, how did you come up with the name of your latest project?” You may hear them ask, “What have you been up to lately?” Guests truly dread these questions. They serve no real purpose, yet everyone asks them. I have had musicians confide in me off the air how much they hate doing radio interviews, because they are all the same. When I once asked a question taken from the band's website, my guest said, “Oh, I see you've read my bio.” He called me out right there on the air. Most hosts take the easy way out and just skim the bio or news release and take their questions straight from there. Using typical methods lead to stale questions. “When does your album come out?” “Where did you get the name for the band?” “How did you guys meet?” Pop group Ben Folds Five began making up answers for the question “Where did you get the name for the band?”. In fact, they almost had a different answer every time the question was asked. They had to make the interview interesting for themselves. Every guest is looking to benefit in some way from the interview. Usually, they have come on a show to promote their latest book or new product. You can help them do that without asking painful questions. Let's say you are interviewing a musician who has a new album coming out on July 1st. You ask, “When does the new album come out?” Your guest will instantly think, “Didn't this guy do any homework before he set up this interview?” Your guest will also be saying in his head, “Oh, not this line of questioning again.” Instead, make your questions interesting. Ask, “When you album comes out on July 1st, what will you be doing to celebrate?” You could also ask, “The album is released on July 1st. Who have you slipped some advanced copies to?” How about asking, “When the album hits stores on July 1st, where will you go buy your first copy?” Believe me, every artist buys a copy of their first album in the store. They just want to see it on the shelf. By asking creative questions, you've helped the guest promote their goods without sounding stale. You have also avoided the mistake of stealing their answer. Be unique. Country artist Little Big Town was recently a guest on my show. By reading information about the band on the internet, I knew all four members have kids. I also knew all of the kids travel with them when they tour. I could have asked, “What are the names of your kids.” How about, “Is it fun traveling with the kids?” I'm sure they get asked all of the time. By getting a little creative, I asked the members of Little Big Town, “When the kids travel with you guys, what is the craziest kid thing you have on the bus?” They had just purchased a new kiddie pool for the summer that would fit on top of their gear. They also have a pink pottie for toilet training. It gave them a great opportunity to talk about their kids without asking the same, lame questions. Keep your interview engaging. Be creative. Find unique ways to ask questions that serve the guest as well as the listener. By all means, don't ask that question. Did You Really Hear That? When you are conducting an interviewing on your podcast, really listen to the answers your guest is giving. Don't be in such a hurry to move on to the next question. Engage with your guests in order to make your show engaging for your listener. I'm sure you probably think you are listening. In reality, you are probably thinking about the next great question you can ask. Even if you aren't asking it, you are preparing the question in your head. Stop. Be in the moment. Really listen to the answer of your guest. Let the answer spark your next question. If you truly listen to the answer, you will then ask the next logical question your listener is asking in their head. When you are more concerned about the next question rather than the answer coming your way, you will miss the magic. Your guest could be giving you great question leads that you won't find in their bio, on their website or in their news release. If you don't make it through your entire list of questions, nobody will know but you. The goal of the interview is to engage your audience. It doesn't matter if that takes three questions or twelve from your list. In every interview, intently listen to the answers. Did you really hear that? To create powerful interviews, ask unique questions and then actually listen to the answers. Your podcast interviews will improve and be better than most other interviewers in your niche. Using these two steps will help you create engaging content and a respected podcast. I would love to help you with your podcast. E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

Podcast Interview Priority #1 – Episode 092 I recently received an e-mail from Bill Frank. He discovered me at NMX2015. Bill was wondering how my coaching may help him with his interview show. I thought you may be having the same question. This week, with the hope of helping you improve your interviews, I would like to begin sharing some of what I have learned while interviewing guests on the radio for 25 years. You can find Bill Frank at brainstorminonline.com. His show in iTunes is called “Brainstorming with Billy The Brain". Make 'Em Look Good When you have a guest on your podcast, it is your job as the interviewer to make the interviewee look good. You are the professional. You know everything there is to know about your podcast. Your guest is new to your show. They may even be new to interviewing. Help them. When you help your guest get comfortable and look good, you help them successfully promote whatever it is they came on your show to promote. They will be grateful for that. Your guest will see the benefit of being a guest on your show. You will develop a reputation. That success will help you book even better guests in the future. Word will spread. There are a three steps you can take to help your guest look good. No Yes/No First, ask open-ended questions. This will allow your guest to convey the information they have come to share. If you ask yes/no questions, your guest will be stuck trying to figure out how to get his point across. It will also be easy for him to simply say “yes” and leave it at that. You will then be the one trying to find the next point to make. Open-ended questions allow your guest to elaborate on their subject. What's In It For Me? Second, know why your guest is on your show and help them make their point. Do a short pre-interview before you start the show. Ask them about the important points they would like to hit. Then during the show, ask them questions that help them make those points. If your guest tells you their spouse really had a huge impact on their success, ask them about their biggest influences in their success. Make it easy for them. Set Them Up Lastly, get out of the way. You don't need to show your guest or your audience how much you know about their topic. It is their topic. So many hosts ask long, elaborate questions proving just how smart they are and how much they know about the subject. If the host knows it all, there is really no reason to have a guest. (see “One Of You Isn't Necessary".) Ask great questions because you know so much. That ability will make you look much better than actually knowing. Using our previous example of spousal influence, you do not want to say, “Your wife played a huge role in your success with her support. That must have been a real help to you.” You just stole his thunder. You've only left him the option to say, “Yes” and make some menial points. Instead ask, “Who was the one person other than yourself most responsible for your success?” You've created some anticipation for your audience. You've also just thrown him a softball that he can knock out of the park with a fantastic answer about his wife. He looks great for having such a stellar answer. You also look great for asking such a brilliant question. Everybody wins. Help your guest succeed. Allow them to answer great questions. Most of all, make 'em look good. If you have never subscribed to the Podcast Talent Coach podcast, please spend two minutes to do so. I would truly appreciate your generosity. Do you need help with your podcast interviews? E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's see what we can do. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

My Podcast Resource Toolkit – Episode 091 (These tools can be found on the resource page at PodcastTalentCoach.com. Most links on that page are affiliate links. I receive a variable commission for all purchases made using those links.) We are coming up on episode 100 of Podcast Talent Coach. This podcast has been up and running for a little over 18 months. I thought this would be a good time to review the tools I use to in my business. This includes the tools I use to create my podcast, website and newsletter. We will also review the resources I use to learn, grow and develop. I have been using most of these resources for at least 18 months. Some have been used longer. A couple tools are more recent. For the most part, I have been a long time user and have been quite happy with each of them. That is why I feel confident recommending them to you. You can find affiliate links to most of these online at PodcastTalentCoach.com. COACHING RESOURCE This list doesn’t include much technical information, such as mixers, processors and software. I leave that to Dave Jackson at the School of Podcasting. He is tech expert who helps me. If you are looking for help setting up the studio, Dave is your guy. He leads off my resources. TECHNICAL RESOURCES A few technical tools from my studio include my mic, my mac and a few web tools. My studio mic is an ElectroVoice RE20. This runs about $450. It is a high quality mic used in many broadcast studios. It is much more than a new podcaster needs. However, if you are serious about podcasting, this is a great mic. My backup mic is a Blue Yeti. It gets the job done, but is a condenser mic. This costs around $100. You might be better off with a Audio-Technica ATR-2100. It is a great USB mic for about $60. For audio editing, I use Adobe Audition. I will occasionally use Garage Band for quick projects or when I'm traveling. I use a Mac Book Pro 13” for the flexibility and ease of use. It cost me $1,200. My mp3s are tagged with ID3 Editor from PA Software. The price tag was $15. I Host my audio with Libsyn. That runs $20/month. My URLs were purchased through GoDaddy. The price really depends on the URL. You can usually find a deal. After the initial deal, I pay about $45/year. I have a website on Homestead and one on Host Gator with Wordpress. Homestead is a stand alone site builder. Host Gator just hosts my Wordpress site. Homestead is $20/month. HostGator is $135/year, just over $11/month. Wordpress is free. On my website, I use Paypal for my transactions. Most of my providers accept it. Plus, they have a card option for my customers. I use Aweber for my newsletter. It is $196/year. Just over $16/month. I looked at Mail Chimp. Both are very similar services if you have a list under 5,000. Canva.com is a decent resource for creating graphics. They have a decent photo library as well. Most photos are about $1/photo. I self-published my workbook through Create Space, an Amazon company. You simply upload a .pdf. It is fairly simple to use. Not very expensive. They also sell the workbook through Amazon and converted it to Kindle. I am in the process of creating a membership portal through WishList Member. $297. They have solid training videos. I am not yet complete with this one. LEARNING TOOLS Dan Miller and 48Days.com is where it all started. He has great tools to help you find your passion and the work you love. Internet Business Mastery is a great podcast and course that has helped me refine my business focus. Jeremy & Jason have been there and done it. Michael Hyatt has a great membership site with Platform University. It is based on his book Platform, which is a must read as you develop your podcast. There is great learning inside the community. He only opens membership a couple times a year for enrollment. I got in early on this one and haven’t looked back since. Audible.com has turned my car into a mobile classroom. I am usually listening to a couple books a month on top of the podcasts. You can get a free book when you use my affiliate link on the resources page. Most of all, I cannot say enough about Dave Jackson and the School of Podcasting. If you want to learn the technical nuts and bolts, check out his course, membership and training tools. You can find affiliate links to most of these online at PodcastTalentCoach.com. I would appreciate the support if you choose to use any of these links and great products. I would love to help you with your podcast. E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

4 Essential Elements of Powerful Storytelling Why should you use storytelling in your podcast? Have you noticed a lot of the business interview podcasts sound the same? We are hearing the same guests answer the same questions time and time again. How do you become unique in this sea of sameness? Use stories. Storytelling can transform your podcast. The power of storytelling can help listeners get to know, like and trust you. Through that knowledge, true friendships are formed. Stories help define you and your character and personality. Great storytellers create fans. Don't fit in, stand out. In this episode, we discussed great storytellers in various genres, such as country singer/songwriter Lee Brice, pop singer/songwriter Jason Mraz, Walt Disney and Zig Ziglar. All are great storytellers in their own right. In podcasting, you cannot afford to be boring. Interest in your story never remains constant. Your information can only become entertainment when interest is rising. A great story continues to develop the plot and raise the interest. There are four elements to great storytelling. Give your listener a reason to care, reveal the details, create a great resolution, and then ask what else? Give Her A Reason To Care Begin by creating an engaging introduction. What do you want the audience to feel? Begin your story there. Your engaging introduction is the roadmap for your listener. This will tell your listener where the story is going. Reveal The Details Details are more believable than generalities. Be sure to use all 5 senses in your details. Put your listener in the moment by creating wonderful images in the theater of the mind. Details help reveal specifics about your thoughts, beliefs and character. Listeners begin to know, like and trust you. Powerful Resolution Your powerful resolution is a reframing of your introduction. This is where you put the nice bow on the package. What Else? Asking “what else” will transform your show. This helps continue the conversation. “What else” will let your content live on long after the episode is over. Let your story lead to something bigger. This is all part of your strong call to action. Get your community involved. How Can You Be A Storyteller? Ask yourself these questions: What is the engaging set up? How will your point be revealed in the story? What is the power resolution? What else can you do with the material? Here are a few other episodes that can help you refine your storytelling: Powerful Podcast Stories - Episode 043 Stories Transform Your Podcast - Episode 047 The Real Reason People Listen To Your Podcast - Episode 083 Who Else Wants A Unique Brand? - Episode 076 I would love to help you with your podcast. E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

What Is Holding You Back? – PTC Episode 089 At New Media Expo 2015, I met many podcasters that were weeks and months away from launching. "I'm 30 days away from launching.” "I'm about 90 days from going live with my podcast.” "I'm still conducting interviews preparing for my launch this summer.” What is holding you back? I know what you feel. I was in your shoes when launching my podcast. Planning. Learning. Researching. Trying to get it just right. Don't let perfection keep you from launching. We often let procrastination creep into our lives disguised as “planning” and “researching”. We tell ourselves we will launch right after we complete a few more steps on our “to do” list. Here is the problem: The “to do” list keeps growing preventing us from launching. When I was launching, I started with a blog. The blog grew slowly. I finally came to the realization that podcasters would rather listen to podcasts than read. My podcast planning began. I started watching videos on podcasting. Podcasts about podcasting filled my iPhone. Newsletter subscriptions hit my e-mail inbox. The NMX virtual ticket was my next purchase. I even bought books about podcasting. I consumed everything I could find. I kept telling myself I was preparing. Truth is, I was just procrastinating. Months into my learning and planning stage, Dave Jackson from School of Podcasting reached out. Dave found my blog and wondered why I didn't have a podcast. Dave, don't you understand? I'm planning. I'm researching. I'm learning. Look at all the work I'm doing. Dave wasn't buying it. He had seen this movie before and knew how it ended. During that 90 minute phone call, Dave pushed me. He challenged me. Dave had confidence that I could launch in a week or two. I simply needed to move. That was the trick. Start with the first step. You've heard it before. Every journey begins with the first step. Your first step may not be in the right direction. However, you make corrections as you go. Eventually, you reach your destination. People often ask me how I can stand and speak in front of 15,000 people. I started with the first step. Speaking in front of 20 people in speech class was tough enough. To earn extra money in college, I began working as a wedding DJ. That job forced me to make announcements to groups of people every weekend. One weekend it hit me. People simply are not as interested in my speaking success and failure as I am. If I mess us while speaking, there is a good chance I will be the only one to remember. People don't care that much. The same is true with your podcast. If you mess it up, few will notice let alone care. Dave Jackson always uses a quote from Ryan Parker from FoodCraftsmen.com. “Nobody will punch you in the face.” Are you letting self doubt keep you from launching? Is the Impostor Syndrome holding you back? "Why would anyone care what I have to say?” "What if I fail?” "What if I make a fool of myself?” All of the self doubt is natural. We tend to make more of our mistakes than anyone else. Don't let the fears hold you back. Find someone to push you and hold you accountable. We could surely work together where I can help that happen. You could also just find a friend that will push you to launch. Either way, push yourself to make it happen. Now is the time to launch. Not 90 days from now. Not 30 days from now. Not after you have 8 episodes in the can. Launch now. Record an episode and get it out. Set some deadlines and take some baby steps. Let's make it happen. Pick a date and launch. I would love to help you with your podcast. E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

A Memorable Podcast Brand – PTC Episode 088 Do they remember? When you consider the options podcast listeners have, the importance of creating a powerful brand really becomes apparent. I searched iTunes for podcasts about hockey. There are hundreds of hockey podcasts available. Thousands and thousands of episodes exist that deal with hockey. You can find various topics, including drills, NHL teams, coaching, fantasy hockey and many more. How do you stand out? How do you get noticed? Your listener needs to remember your podcast, so they can return and listen again. That is the way to build a following. It really doesn't matter how many people listen today. What builds a strong podcast is the number of listeners that come back the next time, and the next time, and the time after that. You build your audience slowly with more listeners this week than you had last week. Get your listener to remember to return. Using your brand to create strong relationships with your listeners is critical to the health of your podcast. If you are bland, you will get lost in the sea of average. There are over 200,000 podcasts available for consumption. Most of them are average. If you refine your content, turn your information into entertainment, and transform your podcast into powerful relationships, you will easily stand out from the crowd. It is a must not only for your success, but your mere survival. Begin your brand today. When it comes time for your audience listening again, do they remember? Be Yourself A great podcast is a great relationship. It is just like creating a great brand. In order to develop that solid relationship, you must be yourself. You can’t fake it. When you try to be someone or something you are not, you will not sound authentic. Eventually, the truth will come out. Have you ever met someone you had admired from afar, only to have them do something that didn't fit with your image of them? Maybe it was a baseball player, or a movie star, or a politician or a musician. You met them with great expectations of an encounter with your hero only to find out they were rude and average. It turned out they were only being who they thought they should be for the public when really they were someone completely different in real life. Everyone has their flaws. That is what makes them human. Howard Stern has flaws. He makes his flaws part of his show. Domino's Pizza admitted the errors of their ways with their cheap, low quality pizza. They laid it out for the world to see in their marketing. Your listener will accept your flaws. They will feel like you are “one of them” when you admit your flaws upfront. Don't be afraid to expose yourself. When your listener discovers you are something other than the character you portray, the bond of trust will be demolished. Your relationship will be forever damaged. Build a solid brand. Be yourself. Unique, Vivid, Mental Images When someone tells a story, on the radio or in a podcast, it is theater of the mind. When you hear the old time radio show describe the dim light on in the servant's quarters, the scenery is playing out in your mind in a unique way unlike the way anyone else could envision it. No other person is imagining the clothing of the characters the exact same way you are imagining them. That mental theater is unique to you. You are listening and imagining by yourself. Podcasts make the one-on-one approach even more important. Podcasts are often enjoyed through headphones. Your audience is truly listening by themselves. The headphones block out all other sounds and distractions. You have multiple “one person” audiences at the same time. Yet, it is still one person. Connect with your “one person” audience by creating a great theater. The theater will be different for each listener, because they are using their individual imagination. Create a movie and put the listener in it. Make the story an individual experience for the listener. Engage the listener with vivid details and a fantastic storyline. Make them forget they are listening to a podcast. Create great theater of the mind. Create unique, vivid, mental images. I would love to help you with your podcast. E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.