Influential Voices of Authority

Storytelling Transform 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? Storytelling can transform your podcast. People do business with people they know, like and trust. Stories help you develop that knowledge, likability and trust. Your stories define you and will touch many more people than typical information. The stories you tell and the details you include reveal many things about you. That begins to develop that like and trust. It can be a bit scary to reveal things about yourself on your podcast. Develop the ability to recognize your unique thoughts and the courage to reveal them on your show. Two radio coaches have influenced me greatly over the years. They each have similar views on storytelling. Radio consultant Randy Lane says use stories to “make it human by making it humorous, compelling or tragic”. Radio talent coach Bill McMahon suggests you decide what you hope to make your audience “Laugh at, marvel at or better understand.” How do you want your audience to feel after hearing your story? Frame that feeling in your engaging introduction. Decide what you hope to reveal about yourself with the story. Stories help you connect, motivate and inspire. There are four parts to the storytelling structure. Engaging introduction This pulls your listener right into the story. Your introduction should tell your listener exactly where the story is headed. Vivid details How will your emotion be revealed in the story? Use vivid details to make your story come to life in the theater of the mind. Powerful conclusion Wrap up the story by reframing of your engaging introduction. What else? Asking “What Else” will transform your show. Don't let the story simply end and fade away. Turn it into something powerful. Many treat a subject in a similar manner. That is why we hear the same style of interview. If you want to stand out and be different, transform you content by using your unique style. "What Else" can we do with a compelling story? You could create a video, continue the conversation on social media, follow up with listener input in the following episode or various other things. Let your story lead to something bigger. Ask “what else can we do” and see where it leads. A few housekeeping notes this week. Coupon code ends this week! Get a one-hour coaching session with Dave Jackson and me for only $50 if you act before June 30, 2014. Dave and I are now hosting the Podcast Review Show together. Our guests appear on the show to have their podcast reviewed by the two of us. Typically, hiring the two of us individually for an hour would be hundreds of dollars. Not only do you get an hour of consulting from us on this show, you get to plug your show for a sixty minutes. Our guests typically pay $99 to be featured on the show. Dave and I have decided to cut you a break. By using the code “coach50”, you can appear on the show for only $50. You get half off. Still an hour. Still feedback from both of us. Still plugging your show. Half the price. The code is “coach50”. This deal ends June 30, 2014. Get in on it now before we close it. GET REVIEWED - CLICK HERE. If you are truly serious about building your podcast, improving your show and increasing your traffic, you should also be attending the Podcast Movement in Dallas on August 16 & 17. Find my affiliate link online at PodcastTalentCoach.com. We are only 10 weeks away from the Podcast Movement. Register today. I'd love to help you with your podcast. E-mail any questions or comments you might have to Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can also find tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

Where To Start Podcasting – PTC 046 I recently had lunch with the guys from the “200churches” podcast. Jeff Keady and Jonny Craig are pastors at a 200church in Northwest, Iowa. They want to encourage and support other pastors of “smaller” churches. As we were having lunch, Jeff was telling me about their start in podcasting. They had all of the equipment and were ready to roll. As they were about to record their very first episode, Jeff said he didn't know where to start. What was the first thing he was supposed to say? Where to begin is a natural problem. You know what you want to say. You simply don't know where to start it all. How far back to the beginning of your message should you go? You have all the equipment. You have set up the technical details of the podcast. How does the show content begin? Whether you are a brand new podcaster, or someone with hundreds of episodes under your belt, this episode will help you with your content. If you are just beginning, this will help you create your framework. We will walk through content preparation as you lay out the show. If you are an “old pro”, this content will be a great refresher to help you step back and evaluate your progress. When we have done something for a long time, assumptions begin to creep into the content. We sometimes take small details for granted as if our listener has been with the show from the beginning. There are six steps to defining your content and preparing your podcast. 1. What do you hope to accomplish? This includes both the topic and the show overall. Set a goal for each topic, the episode and your podcast in general. 2. What are the interesting topics you hope to address on this particular episode? As you determine your topics, look for a theme to develop. 3. How will you treat each specific topic you hope to address? What will you do with the content? You could answer the question, demonstrate the answer, play some audio, show charts to support your answer, or use some other treatment. Find a way to make it your own. Your approach should be unique to you. 4. Create an outline for the flow of the show topics. This is important for the show introduction. Bullet points should suffice. Do not script the show content. 5. What supporting information will you need for the show? Organize and highlight for easy access during the show. This will help you sound prepared as you begin to build credibility with your audience. 6. Write your introduction. Write your conclusion. Include your call to action. If you would like a worksheet to walk you through this process and others, visit the worksheet section at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. I'd love to help you with your podcast. E-mail any questions or comments you might have to Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can also find tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

Effective Call To Action - PTC045 I was listening to an interview CD that accompanies each issue of Success magazine. Publisher Darren Hardy was talking with Founder and President of Piranha Marketing, Inc. Joe Polish. During that interview, Mr. Polish proclaimed great marketing makes selling easy and unnecessary. Selling is Easy You may not be selling in the traditional sense of products or services in exchange for money. However, you are making a call-to-action within your podcast. It may be selling for money. It may also be inviting your listener to come again, asking him to visit your website, requesting that she join your mailing list, inspiring him to get involved with a cause or any other action. It all involves selling yourself. Polish's statement was bold. As he went on to explain himself, Polish made perfect sense. In fact, his comments were very similar to the marketing and branding information we've been discussing with regard to your podcast. We have discussed the call-to-action in previous episodes of Podcast Talent Coach. We simply need to determine what we hope to accomplish with our podcast episode before we begin recording. In summary, Polish said great marketing gets people properly positioned, so they are pre-interested, pre-motivated, pre-qualified, and predisposed to do business with you (or act on your call-to-action). Great marketing therefore makes selling easy and unnecessarily. If you have truly engaged your listener and created that strong relationship we've been discussing, the selling should take care of itself. Selling becomes difficult when you are trying to get your listener interested. Selling before your listener is motivated is a challenge. Trying to sell to a listener that isn't qualified is hard work. If your listener isn't predisposed to taking action, you will need to sell hard. Building relationships with your podcast involves telling great stories. Revealing things about yourself through stories makes you real. Your listeners get to know and like you. As you continue to help them over time, you build the trust they seek. When you have taken the time to build the relationship, your listener will be pre-interested, pre-motivated, pre-qualified, and predisposed to do business with you. They will be ready to buy. Selling, in terms of convincing your listener to buy, will be unnecessary. Your marketing and engaging relationship will have them ready for your call-to-action. Do the hard work up front to make selling easy. Shouting Will Not Help You You can't shout your way into a person's trust circle. They only way to gain trust is to add value. Give them something they can use. Building trust is the foundation of revenue generation for your podcast. As you build trusting relationships with your podcast, continue to ask yourself, “How am I helping my listener?” Continue to give, and the trust will develop over time. When you begin every discussion with your product, needs or wants, people will tune you out. You will begin to sound (and be treated) like advertisements for used cars. Shouting doesn't work. Your listener won't care and will rarely return. Serve first, many times over. Then and only then can you effectively sell. Shows like the “Dave Ramsey Show”, “48 Days To The Work You Love” and “Smart Passive Income” are all designed to help their listeners first. Sure, they all have products to sell as the end result. However, they never begin with their product. The discussions on these shows always begin with the listener's needs in mind first. As you prepare for your show, find great ways to help. Your help may come in the form of entertainment. You may serve as companionship for your podcast listener. Help them find other forms of companionship as well. If your podcast is only one hour per week, there are 167 more hours in the week that aren't occupied by your show. Your listeners will surely need more companionship to fill a few of those hours. Help your audience fill those hours, too. Are you building trust, or are you shouting? Ask For The Sale After you've done the hard work building the relationship, don't forget to ask for the sale. One afternoon last week, I stopped by the quickie mart to get something to drink. As I waited in line at the cash register, the gentlemen in front of me set his purchase on the counter. Among his items was a 2-liter bottle of soda. The bottle of soda was $1.69. The clerk said, “Did you know these are on sale two for $2? You can grab another and save yourself some money.” The customers responds with, “Looks like I need to grab another bottle.” By simply asking for the sale, the clerk doubled the purchase. The customer also benefitted by saving some money. In fact, everyone wins in this transaction. The store is paying the clerk an hourly wage whether he sells one bottle of soda or 100. The cost of the clerk's time to the store remains constant. Wages are the biggest expense to the store when figuring cost of goods sold. Therefore, by adding another bottle of soda to the purchase, even at the lower price, the store makes more money also. It all happened because the clerk asked for the sale. This week, review your show to ensure you are building those relationships. Start with the listener instead of your product or service Determine how you are going to help your listener with this episode Put a strong call-to-action at the end of the episode Let's Work Together I would love to help you with your podcast. If you would like to improve your content, call-to-action and business, I have a few openings for coaching clients. You need to be serious about making some money with your podcast. It may not be millions. However, you need to have the desire to make a little money. We will work together to build a customized plan for you, your show and your business. We have to date before we can get serious, right? I'm offering a complimentary coaching call to a few candidates who are serious about their improvement. We need to see if we are a good fit for each other. There will be no high pressure sales pitch. We can review your show to see if we work well together. If it clicks, we can lay out a coaching plan for you. If the call is not all you had hoped, no harm. We'll just continue on as friends. There is only room for a few. My calendar simply will not allow me to coach everyone. If you are interested … and serious … e-mail me at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. We can get the conversation started. Find tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

Your Podcast Brand Revisited - PTC044 This week, we revisit my most popular episode. This episode has been downloaded almost twice as many times as any other episode I have released. Maybe you missed it. Maybe you caught it and this will be a great refresher. Either way, I have received great feedback on the content and I am sure you will enjoy it. On this episode, we discuss how to turn you, your content and your podcast into a brand. How do you create that powerful podcast brand to stand out amongst the sea of podcasts that are available online? Find the original show notes HERE. A few housekeeping notes this week. Get a one-hour coaching session with Dave Jackson and me for only $50 if you act before June 30, 2014. Dave and I are now hosting the Podcast Review Show together. Our guests appear on the show to have their podcast reviewed by the two of us. Typically, hiring the two of us individually for an hour would be hundreds of dollars. Not only do you get an hour of consulting from us on this show, you get to plug your show for a sixty minutes. Our guests typically pay $99 to be featured on the show. I've convinced Dave to cut you a break. By using the code “coach50”, you can appear on the show for only $50. You get half off. Still an hour. Still feedback from both of us. Still plugging your show. Half the price. The code is “coach50”. This deal ends June 30, 2014. Get in on it now before we close it. GET REVIEWED - CLICK HERE. If you are truly serious about building your podcast, improving your show and increasing your traffic, you should also be attending the Podcast Movement in Dallas on August 16 & 17. Find my affiliate link online at PodcastTalentCoach.com. We are only 10 weeks away from the Podcast Movement. Register today. I'd love to help you with your podcast. E-mail any questions or comments you might have to Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can also find tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

6 Ways Stories make your podcast powerful PTC Episode 043 Zig Ziglar used great stories in every point he made. He was a wonderful storyteller. Dave Jackson and I spoke with the Contractor's Secret Weapon podcast this week on the Podcast Review Show. They hosts told a great story about earning the #1 spot on Google. The story really helped solidify their points. You don't need to include constant stories in your podcast. You only need a few memorable stories to make your podcast stronger. 6 ways stories make your podcast powerful. Transport your listener to other places using stories Visual words Theater of the mind Would I enjoy taking a one-hour car ride with this person every week? Develop friendships Like a one-on-one conversation in a car Do I know the host by listening to the show? Reveal things about yourself People get to know and like you Stories define your character People begin to trust you Let others live vicariously through your stories They can enjoy your journeys without the risk May be the reason there are so many entrepreneur podcasts Stories make you human Humorous, compelling or tragic Laugh, marvel, sympathize Put yourself on the same level as your listener There are worksheets available on the Podcast Talent Coach website that will help you develop your stories. These worksheets are free. The Show Prep and Topic Development worksheets will be most helpful with your stories. You can receive further help walking through the worksheets by getting the Podcast Talent Coach Workbook. It is available in paperback HERE and on the Kindle HERE. To discuss my personalized, one-on-one coaching, you can reach me at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. If you are truly serious about building your podcast, improving your show and increasing your traffic, you should also be attending the Podcast Movement in Dallas on August 16 & 17. Find my affiliate link online at PodcastTalentCoach.com. Prices increase by $40 on June 1. Act now! I'd love to help you with your podcast. E-mail any questions or comments you might have to Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can also find tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

Memorable Podcast Brand Episode 042 Have you noticed all of the interview shows popping up lately? It seems everyone wants to have an interview podcast. Many simply copy the other successful interview podcasts and hope to stand out. How can you be different while being the same? Jared Easley and I were talking the other day. He publishes the wonderful podcast “Starve The Doubts”. We were discussing his approach to make his interview show stand out amongst the sea of sameness. Jared creates a unique approach to the interview show in a couple different ways. First, he not only has a guest to interview on his show, he also has a guest interviewer join him to ask the questions. This gives the show an extra dimension. The questions on every interview have a little different perspective. Second, Jared asks unique questions. He opens every show asking about the guests favorite concert. He then sprinkles in “would you rather” and “fill in the blank” questions. Jared does his homework on every guest to create questions that are well-informed. These two steps help to create a unique interview experience and overall solid, memorable podcast. Be Memorable If you want to keep your listener coming back show after show, you need to make them remember to come back. You need to remain top-of-mind for your listener. That is the purpose of audience engagement. Make your listener remember you for something specific about your show. As you build your show, make it about one thing. Find one particular thing that will be remembered. If you try to be all things to all people, you will water down the show. Everything will be nice. However, isn't usually truly memorable. You will get lost in the millions of messages your listener receives on a daily basis. Find one point that you can make amazing. Take it over the top. Make it the “goodbye” scene in “Titanic”. Make it the “I am your father” scene in “Empire Strikes Back” between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. Your particular point could be the point where you assure your caller that everything will be ok. It could be the fantastic story of your brush with celebrity. It is your show. Find the magic. Stir emotion. Make it amazing. Bring your listener back. Be memorable. Do They Remember? When you consider the entertainment 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 100,000 podcasts available for consumption. Most of them are average or worse. 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. Are You Using Cows? The unexpected is amusing, delightful and memorable. Being direct assumes your listener cares about your marketing message. They don’t. Your listener cares about his or her needs, wants and desires. Attract their attention by doing the unexpected. To engage your podcast listener and create a relationship, you need to be memorable. In order to be memorable, you must be unique. Be distinct, unusual, and unexpected. If you sound like every other show, you will not stand out and get noticed. Chick-fil-a could have easily become another fast food restaurant lost in the sea of mediocrity. Founder Truett Cathy wouldn't let that happen. The company pays great attention to the details and does the unexpected at every turn. The Chick-fil-a mission statement is, “Be America's Best Quick-Service Restaurant.” Sure, every fast food joint wants to be the best. Few are willing to put in the work. One Saturday, we were on a road trip. We were passing through Des Moines, IA at 8:45p as we pulled into the mall to grab a quick bite. We found out the mall closed at 9p. As you can imagine, most restaurants in the food court were cleaning up. We were one of two parties there to eat. We stepped up to the Chick-fil-a counter and apologized for cutting it so close and causing them extra work. The gentleman behind the counter assured us it was no trouble at all. We received our (fresh) food quickly and grabbed a table in the middle of the food court. About five minutes later, the Chick-fil-a employee came to our food court table to make sure everything was alright. This was a mall food court. Few fast food restaurants ever check on you in their own establishment. You especially do not receive this sort of attention 10 minutes before closing. That level of service is the norm at Chick-fil-a. They always take the extra step to surprise and stand out. It is carried through to the careers they offer, the scholarships they provide to their employees and the process of accepting partners and franchisees. The company uses cows in their commercials to promote chicken sandwiches. The Chick-fil-a website even has a special section devoted to the cows. When a cow parachutes into a football game promoting chicken sandwiches, it us unexpected. Chick-fil-a is memorable. If you can create unique, memorable experiences for your listener by incorporating the unexpected, you begin to create powerful, meaningful relationships. Are you using your own cows in your podcast? Swing For The Fence Rather than being consistently good with your podcast, be occasionally great. Your listener will remember one big thing from your show. They will not remember every detail, every comment or every e-mail answer. They will remember that one thing you did. Each show, try to make one big splash that will be memorable. Swing for the fence. Many know the great Babe Ruth as one of the greatest home run hitters in baseball. Many also know that Ruth struck out roughly twice as often as the league average. He struck out 1,330 times. Babe set out to do something exciting. We wanted to be memorable. Sometimes, that meant striking out. People don't remember all of the singles Babe hit. Even though he is 2nd all-time with his on-base percentage of .474, nobody talks about all the times Ruth got on base. He had 1,517 singles and 506 doubles to his 714 home runs. That is nearly twice as many singles as homers. Doubles and home runs were just about equal. Why do people remember all of the home runs? Because they were exciting. Babe was occasionally great. He was great often enough to be memorable. You don't have to set records. Simply make your podcast occasionally great. Nobody remembers your strikeouts. Don't worry about them. When you finally hit the home run, people will remember. Every now and then, swing for the fence Risky Stands Out As we develop meaningful relationships with your podcast, we in turn build credibility that will support our call-to-action within your show. To develop strong relationships, you need to create engaging entertainment that will get you remembered by your listener. To be remembered, you must stand out. You stand out when you are loved. You are remembered when you are hated. You fade into the background when you are plain, vanilla and trying to not upset anyone. If you don't stir strong emotions, you are easily forgotten. When we create, we expose our perspective. We open ourselves to criticism. It is natural to want your thoughts, views, art and creation to be accepted by everyone. To avoid being disappointed, we often play it safe. Those fantastic, memorable personalities are usually both loved and hated. Rush Limbaugh is loved by the conservatives and hated by the liberals. Dave Ramsey is loved by the conservative investor and hated by credit card companies and whole life insurance salespeople. Dr. Laura Schlessinger would consistently be critical of her callers. Yet she would receive more callers than she could handle on any given show. Safety lacks creativity. It is risky to be truly creative. However, that is really the only way to get noticed. Safe blends in. Risky stands out. Keep your listener coming back show after show. Remain top-of-mind for your listener. Make them remember to come back next week. I'd love to help you with your podcast. E-mail any questions or comments you might have to Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can also find tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

The Show Funnel Solution – PTC Episode 041 If you listen to online business podcasts, you've surely heard the business funnel discussed. Online marketers move a large group of people into the big end of the funnel. As the price increases, the funnel gets smaller indicating fewer people buying. Similar to the business funnel, we want to move our listeners through a show funnel. We want to engage our listeners, hook them by piquing their interest, and finally moving them through our content. The size of the listener pool gets smaller as the group moves through the funnel. Many people will see our headline. A portion of those people will move further to read the description. An even smaller group will continue to move through the funnel by beginning to listen to the show. A subset of that group will actually get to the end of the episode. How can we move our listeners through the episode more efficiently? How can we get more of our listeners to reach the end of the episode? In this episode, we discuss five tips to help you with your engaging content and the listener progression through your funnel. 1. Develop A Goal For Your Show As you develop your podcast, you need to determine what you hope to accomplish with the show. What will the show be about? What do you hope to make your audience feel? Is there some call to action you wish to make your listener take? After you have developed the goal for your show, stick to it. All content on your show should support your goal. If your goal is to help consumers get out of debt, don’t spend a lot of time discussing your favorite, new CD. Your listener has come to your show expecting you to deliver on your promise. If you tell her you help people get out of debt, deliver that content to her. When you start discussing anything other than that, your brand promise is tarnished. She will be headed elsewhere. In his “My Disney Podcast”, Correy Webb discusses all things Disney. He discusses his cruise adventures, visits to the parks and other traveling tips. If Correy suddenly began discussing the poker game he had with his buddies last weekend, you would be disappointed. Poker isn’t the reason you’re listening. His Disney promise would be broken. A great brand is built slowly with great consistency. Deliver on your brand’s promise. However, before you can deliver, you need to develop a goal for your show. 2. Prepare For Your Show Before you begin to record your show, you should spend just as much time preparing for the show. It is very similar to mapping out a trip. You not only need to know where you are going, you need to know how to get there. Many hosts will have an idea of which topics they hope to address on the show. They may have a few e-mail questions to answer or a current event to discuss. That is where most quit. They think, “Well, I have our ideas. Let's do this.” They then begin recording. This is a big mistake. You must plan what you hope to do with each topic. How do you hope to answer the questions? What will your opinion be on the current event. Most importantly, how will you present it to your listener. If you plan to answer an e-mail question only because you think it is a good question, but you do not plan out your answer, you will wade through the answer. It will take you much more time to answer the question than is necessary. Your show will therefore lack momentum. Your listener will become easily bored. When you stumble your way through your answer unprepared, your listener will wonder if you actually now where you are going. Before you open the mic, plan out your show. Jot down some notes. Write down the few important points you need to mention as you're answering the question. Then, make sure you stick to your plan. Dan Miller does a wonderful job of this in his podcast “48 Days to The Work You Love”. He knows exactly which questions he wants to answer in his show. He knows exactly how he wants to answer them. He also has a few solid examples for each answer. Dan tends to over-promise at the beginning of the show with the questions he hopes to answer. He should either stick to a time limit for each answer, or promise fewer with the potential of a few “bonus” answers at the end if time permits. Give your show more momentum and energy. It will happen when you prepare for your show. 3. Tease Me 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. It is like 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 content. When they can't wait for the story to arrive, you have created some great content. Teasing is the art of creating anticipation for your audience to entice them to stick around for the payoff to your setup. It is a critical element of your show. Teasing helps create momentum for your podcast. When you promote parts of the show that are coming up, you must creatively tease your audience. You must give them a 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. Tease. Create anticipation. Instead, use something like, “You're never gonna believe what I found in the attic this past weekend.” The evening news does a wonderful job at teasing. Create anticipation. Tease me. 4. Create A Power Intro The opening of your podcast should explain the purpose of your podcast and let your listeners know exactly what to expect as if this is the first time they have ever heard the show. A well-crafted introduction serves two purposes. First, it tells the brand new listener who is hearing the show for the very first time exactly what to expect from the show. It is like the intro to a late night talk show. “From New York. It's the Late Show with David Letterman. Tonight, Tom Cruise. Larry The Cable Guy. And Katy Perry. Letters from the mail bag. Tonight's Top Ten list. And Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra. And now, former New York City Medical Examiner … David Letterman.” You know exactly what is coming your way, even if you have never seen the show before. Second, those that have heard the show before are confident that they are in the right place. Those regular listeners will find comfort in the opening of the show they hear each time they tune in. Fans will also feel like they are “in the know”. This is similar to singing the theme song of your favorite sitcom. As soon as you hear the first few notes of the theme song, you know you're on the right channel. Your show intro should elicit the same response. As you create your show open, treat it as if every listener is saying, “Hey, I'm new here. What's going on?” You'll make everyone comfortable as the show begins. 5. Make Your Listener The Star Make your listener the star. It is your show. You know where it is going. When listeners are involved in your show, it is always your job to lead your guest and make them the star. There are many ways to incorporate your listeners into your show. Live interviews, live calls, recorded voicemail messages, and e-mail are a few of the possibilities. Incorporating listeners into the show gives your entire audience a vested interest in the show. With guests, you must remember you always know more about your show than they know. You know the goals of your show. You know the plot and strategy. You are always on the show. They are new. Lead your guest. Phrases like “great question”, “I'm glad you mentioned that” and “I didn't realize that” make your guest feel they are adding to the show … as long as you are authentic in your comments. Financial guru and radio host Dave Ramsey is great at guiding his listeners. When a caller begins to ramble on, he will always step in with, “How can I best help you today?” That is a great way to say, “Get to the point.” You need to remember that your callers are not professional. They are not sure how to adequately edit their question while still providing all of the necessary elements. Just as you do not need to answer every e-mail you receive on your show, you do not need to read the entire e-mail. When you are using voicemail and e-mail questions, edit them before you use them. Keep the essence of the question while eliminating the unnecessary details. Nobody will fault you for editing a 4 minute voicemail message to a great 30 seconds. They will probably thank you. The edited call is still the call as long as you aren't changing their words. Your show is entertainment. Edit it as such. When interviewing a well-known guest, make it easy for them. Open with great questions for which you already know the answer. Talk hosts like Jay Leno and David Letterman have producers that do a pre-interview with their guests. They will ask the guest, “If Jay asks you about ____, what will you say?” The producer then puts the great questions on the blue cards for the host. Jay may not know the answer, but the guest knows the question is coming. If you know your guest has done some amazing things, ask them about it. Then, let them answer. I hear so many hosts interview guests as if they are trying to show the guest how much they actually know. In turn, they answer the question as they are asking it. This leaves the guest very little to say. You and your show become great when you make your guests and listeners the star. Using these five tips will help you refine your content and give it focus. This will help you move your listener through your show funnel. Develop a clear goal, prepare for the episode, tease your listener, write a power intro and make your listener a star. You will be well on your way to transforming your show. A few housekeeping notes for you. Dave Jackson and I are now hosting the Podcast Review Show together. Our guests appear on the show to have their podcast reviewed by the two of us. Typically, hiring the two of us individually for an hour would be hundreds of dollars. Not only do you get an hour of consulting from us on this show, you get to plug your show for a sixty minutes. Our guests typically pay $99 to be featured on the show. I've convinced Dave to cut you a break. By using the code coach50, you can appear on the show for only $49.50. You get half off. Still an hour. Still feedback from both of us. Still plugging your show. Half the price. The code is coach50. Now, we cannot possibly review everyone. Once we fill the available slots, this deal will go away. We have already had a great response. Just a few openings remain. If you are serious about your improvement and would like to be on the show, get registered today. We have not made anyone cry yet. At half price, it surely cannot hurt that much. Just use coach50 when you register. If you are truly serious about building your podcast, improving your show and increasing your traffic, you should also be attending the Podcast Movement in Dallas on August 16 & 17. Find my affiliate link online at PodcastTalentCoach.com. I'd love to help you with your podcast. E-mail any questions or comments you might have to Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can also find tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

THE GENDER MARKETING DIFFERENCE – PTC EPISODE 040 There is a big difference between marketing to men and marketing to women. The book “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus” by John Gray, Ph. D. discussed in great detail the communication and relationship differences between men and women. These differences are critical in marketing. They are also important elements to your podcast strategy. I'll be speaking at the Podcast Movement in Dallas August 16th & 17th. My affiliate link is online at PodcastTalentCoach.com. I will be doing a session on this very topic showing you how to make use of these marketing tactics in your podcast. Today, we are going to cover five major differences you need to consider when marketing to the different genders. Keep these differences in mind when you are shaping your podcast content. Please understand that I am speaking in generalities. I understand these statements won't hold true for every person. These points are are simply how most men and women react in common situations. The definition of stereotype is “a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group” There are times when the stereotypical case will not hold true for a specific situation. Most of the time, this is the case. THINKING In a broad sense, men tend to think very linearly. Women usually think very spatially. To be effective communicating with each gender, you must understand these differences. You must also select one to target. The same message will have difficulty reaching both genders effectively. PROBLEM SOLVING Men and women also take different approaches in the way they solve the problems. Because men think linearly, men focus on the solution. Men try to determine what steps are needed to reach a successful outcome. If a man is in need of a new car, he will find the solution step by step. A man will review his options, compare the features, determine the best buy for the money that will do the job, and make the purchase. Men typically move through a problem step-by-step. If the steps are all completed successfully, he buys the vehicle. Because women tend to think globally, they are typically concerned with the way their relationships are affected by problems and the possible solutions. A woman tends to consider how each person in her close circle is affected by each possible solution. If she is in need of a new car, she will typically consider her needs and those of her family. Will her kids be safe? Is there enough room for everyone? Will the features please her family? Are there entertainment features available to keep her kids occupied on trips? She will also consider how her friends will view the purchase and if she is being treated right by the salesperson. If the relationships all benefit from the purchase, she buys the vehicle. You can see evidence of this difference in the way auto makers market to the different genders. Minivans aimed toward women will play up the features for the entire family. The commercial will depict the envy of the neighbors. The storyline may even show mom juggling soccer practice, shopping, carpooling and work. These commercials tend to be very spatial in nature and focused on relationships. Commercials for trucks that are targeted toward men will usually tout the problem solving ability of the truck. The script will play up the horsepower, torque and hauling capacity of the truck. The commercial will usually show the truck pulling some ridiculously heavy load, like trees or ships or something. Men will be convinced they can get the job done with this particular truck. The steps are very linear. When handling tasks, men tend to be single-minded and focused on one goal, while women usually multitask well. This difference probably began with the cavemen. Each had well-defined duties in the household back in the cave. Cavemen would set out to find dinner and bring it home. He had one task with one goal. Women handled the entire household doing many things at one time. Men needed to be very focused to find dinner without being eaten by a tiger. Women needed to multitask in order to tend to the house (or cave), handle the children and keep the family in line all at the same time. You can see this difference in society today. When men are watching television, they watch television. When men attend a sporting event, they watch the event. Men are typically focused on the thing they are doing. This is usually true even if they are doing it with friends. Women, on the other hand, typically have the ability to multitask very well. Women can be cooking 3 different dishes for dinner, talking on the phone, and keeping an eye on the evening news all while being fully aware of what the children are doing in the other room. Women multitask in a way that astonishes men. Men cannot understand why women spend an entire baseball game talking with the people around her rather than watching the game. Men are there to watch the game. Women attend because it is a way to socialize and strengthen her relationships. She enjoys the game for much different reasons. The tendency to focus on one task or many creates another interesting difference between men and women. Because they tend to multitask and focus on multiple items simultaneously, women do not seem to tire of activities as quickly as men. When men focus on one thing only, they will become bored with that particular item before a woman. Men will want to move on to the next thing. Therefore, men tend to like new and different. They tend to appreciate change more than women. Women will tolerate repetition much more than men, because they are not as focused on one item at a time. It may also take more messages in different ways to effectively reach and influence a woman. Men and women also differ in the way they remember things and events. Again, men are linear. Women are spatial. COMMUNICATING Men typically view communication and problems solving as a way to show their strength and power. Men typically see things as a competition. It is a linear approach. They seek validation by solving problems. When men are communicating with each other, you will often see each attempt to “one-up” the other. You will often hear, “Oh, you think that's bad. One time something worse happened to me.” Other men do not typically take offense to these comments. These challenges are a way for men to show their power and dominance. Women use communication and problem solving for much different purposes. Women use both as a way to strengthen the relationship. Women seek understanding when tackling a problem. Rather than seeking validation, women are typically seeking empathy from and an opportunity to bond with their communication partner. You will rarely hear a woman try to “one-up” the person with which they are communicating. However, you will hear, “Oh, that's terrible. What did you do?” When I go out to lunch with my buddies, we have a good time. When I get home, my wife will ask me what we talked about. I will tell her, “Nothing really. Sports and politics.” She finds it baffling that we didn't discuss his son's birthday or our family vacation. We debate the nuances of professional versus college sports. We might discuss the benefits of one political candidate over another. That's how men communicate. Men use a friendly challenge to bond. Women tend to see that style as a lack of understanding. RELATIONSHIPS Men and women also handle relationship problems differently. Just like problems in any other area of life, men typically seek the solution (linear) while women tend to use problems to strengthen the relationship (spatial). Understand these differences as you build your relationship with your audience. Let's take a typical, hypothetical couple. Tina and Adam have been together for 3 years. Their standard Friday night is eating take out and watching TV. Tina says, “Adam, we never go out anymore.” In Tina's head, she is thinking, “Our relationship needs more 'us' time. We don't spend enough time together having fun.” Adam replies, “Fine, let's go out tomorrow night.” Adam is thinking, “Done, problem solved.” Tina then gets a little more aggressive with, “That's not what I mean.” Now Adam is really confused. “You just said we don't go out enough. Let's go out tomorrow night. What's the problem.” Tina says, “I'm not just talking about going out.” Conversations similar to these fall apart, because men and women approach the problem in much different ways. Women use the conversation to strengthen the relationship. Men use communication to solve the problem. “Going out tomorrow night” means different things to each of them. MEMORIES When men remember events, they tend to remember in a linear fashion. They will remember events in sequence as one thing happened, then the next and finally the last. It is a sequential time line. If a man were recalling a party, they would typically begin with the setting and who arrived first. He would walk through the time line of the party. His description might begin with, “Things got going in the kitchen. We moved downstairs and shot some pool. Paul had a bit too much to drink and after he broke the lamp trying to dance, the party came to a halt and everyone headed home.” It is a step-by-step recollection of the events. Women typically remember events in a very spatial way. They will remember who attended the party. They will remember the great time that was had by everyone. Women will recall some of the great conversations that took place. The memories would possibly include the laughs, the gathering places and the details of the atmosphere. The recollections of women tend to be global in nature. These differences between men and women will play an important role as you define your target audience. Will your communication be spatial or linear? This is something you'll need to decide before you can move forward to create the structure and content of your show. Gender is only one characteristic of your target audience. There are many others to consider. Just as if you were describing one individual person, gender would only be one characteristic of that person. I'd love to help you with your podcast. E-mail any questions or comments you might have to Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can also find tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

Defeat the Podcast Jitters - PTC Episode 039 This week we discuss how to properly prepare for your podcast, and how to overcome the podcast jitters. I began my broadcasting career when I was 19. It was completely by accident. I was going to college to get my architecture degree. Since I was 12 I had been tailoring my education to be an architect or engineer. In college, I had the same fear of public speaking as most people. In our design classes, we had to do presentations in front of a panel of judges. I absolutely hated doing these presentations. During class, four or five students would present during the hour. It would take about a week to get through the entire class. That was the worst part. The anxiety would build for presentation day only to not get your name called. I would have to live through the anxiety again in anticipation of presenting during the next class. I never envisioned being a public speaker, radio talent or any other presenter. My younger brother worked for a radio station at the time. I was home for the weekend doing nothing like most college students. That was when the phone rang. It was the manager of the radio station looking for my brother to fill in during a shift. My brother wasn't home and I was offered a part-time job. My career in radio started just running the board for long-form programs. I only talked on the radio between the 30-minute shows. I might give the time or temperature. Otherwise, I would sit around while the show played. Speaking was minimal. As an elective for my architecture degree, I took a class called “Broadcasting For The Non-Major”. I figured being in a radio station for a part-time job should make this class a little easier. It would also help me learn more about my job. That class eventually led me to become the music director of the college station. That position got me a job working overnights at a commercial station. Suddenly, I instantly found myself talking to 10,000 people. I was no longer talking between long-form programs to a handful of old people. This was real radio. Over time, I started to get comfortable talking on the radio. It took a little time. I eventually got there. As I started picking up more hours on the air, my boss started to send me out broadcasting live in front of a crowd. I was being sent onstage to introduce concerts in front of 10,000 people. These were no longer people I couldn't see. They were right in front of me. It took me years to figure out how to overcome those butterflies I would get each time I stepped in front of a crowd. There were tips and tricks I learned along the way to help me. It was a combination of things I learned over the years that helped me defeat the jitters. In this episode, I would like to show you how to shake the butterflies out of your system. It could save you years of trial and error. Preparation is the key idea in the process. Here are four steps to properly prepare for your show. To Overcome Jitters - Prepare your material - Rehearse - Focus on one person – preferably your single target listener you have defined Create Great Notes - Bullet points – don't script - Tell stories - Give examples – play audio - Determine your open and close, intro and outro for show and each topic ... “now it's time for” is not an appropriate intro Set the Room - Get the temp correct – be comfortable - Get some room temp water - No distractions – phone, family Prepare Your Equipment - Close other programs - Prepare your software - Turn off your phone, close e-mail, close IM - Test your mic and set your levels - Contact and prepare guests & co-hosts What other tips do you use to overcome the jitters? I'll be speaking at the Podcast Movement 2014. It is a national podcast conference in Dallas Aug 16 & 17. The speaker roster looks amazing. It is only about $135 for the standard ticket before June 1. Get my affiliate link here. Next week, we will discuss the differences between marketing to men and women. You'll learn how this will shape your podcast content. I'd love to help you with your podcast. E-mail any questions or comments you might have to Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can also find tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

2-Person Podcast Tips A few notes before the episode this week. I am speaking at the Podcast Movement in Dallas August 16th and 17th, 2014. It is a national podcast conference that has an amazing roster of presenters and speakers. It is less than $135 (including fees) for the standard ticket before June 1, 2014. I would love to have you join me there using my affiliate link. Get your ticket by clicking the logo in the bottom right corner online at PodcastTalentCoach.com. Dave Jackson recently invited me to join him on the Podcast Review Show. You can find the show and listen at PodcastReviewShow.com. Each week we invite a podcaster on the show for a critique of the entire business from content to website to revenue opportunities. If you would like to be featured on the show, click the “Get Reviewed” link at PodcastReviewShow.com. Joining a two-person show forced me to review my tips for shows with multiple hosts. How do you maintain the level of quality and professionalism? How do you maintain the focus without running down rabbit holes and getting lost? Most of these tips apply if you are a solo podcaster or only have guests on your show. There are five areas to develop for a show with multiple hosts. Define Each Role Select your partner carefully If you are the same, one of you isn’t necessary What is each expected to bring to the show Responsibilities During The Show Who drives Who sets up topics Who cues others Smooth Flow Develop hand signals to avoid talking over each other Use chat if can’t see each other Use names of each host to allow listeners to follow along Use a show clock so each host knows where the story is headed Begin stories with your intriguing introduction so your partner can follow Other Work Decide who handles other tasks like booking guests & post production Equal sound quality Use similar equipment Record on separate channels for processing & post prod If It Ends Create an agreement before you begin What happens to the show if someone wants to leave? Who owns the content if someone leaves? Who owns the business & clients? “Oh, it will never happen. We’re married/best friends/brothers.” It happens all the time. Don't fool yourself. Plan your show before you begin. If you are already creating content, it is never too late to start. Start planning today. This week: Define the roles of each member of your show and put it in writing Start using the names of those on the show Create an exit plan for the show if it should end Next week we will discuss how to prepare for a show. We will review topics like how to get over prelaunch jitters, how to use your notes, and what should be included in your prep outline. I'd love to help you with your podcast. E-mail any questions or comments you might have to Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. You can also find tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.