Stop Wasting Your Listeners' Time - and other lessons from Podcast Movement

I just got back from podcast movement and I'm going to talk about an experience that just shows that, you know, in person, networking beats online every time.And also, what if I told you that most podcasters are wasting their listeners time with one simple mistake that takes 30 seconds to fix in post production? Hit it, ladies. The school of podcasting with Dave Jackson. Podcasting since 2000, I am your award winning hall of fame podcast coach, Dave Jackson.Thanking you so much for tuning in. If you're new to the show, this is why I help you plan, launch and grow your podcast.My website is schoolofpodcasting.com use the coupon code listener when you sign up for either a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription and you can join worry free with a money back guarantee. Today on the show, I am back from podcast movement and it's one of those shows where I got a couple different ideas.And so just so you know, this show uses chapters. So if I start talking about editing and you're like, ah, I don't need this. You can skip to the next chapter.My favorite podcast app is Pocket Cast, mainly for podcasters. They have a phenomenal tool that lets you save bookmarks.And then you can go into a show and say, show me all the bookmarks for this show and it will take you right back to that spot, whether it's downloaded or not. I love that tool. And so chapters are fun. And the first thing I want to talk about is I do a show called the Podcast Hot Seat.So if you're a person that's like, hey, my show's not growing. Maybe you need a session in the Podcast Hot Seat. You can find it@podcasthotseat.com and that show is set up that I do that show when you pay me.It is a service I offer and someone signed up. And to make a long story short, there is a public version and a private version.And they thought they ordered the private, but they ordered the public. Long story short, I did this review, which is fine, and there were some great tips in it.And then they went, oh, I thought this wasn't for the public. And I was like, hmm, I'm not gonna throw the show under the bus. It's an easy mistake. And we figured things out.But there were some tips in there that I thought, you know what? We haven't talked about that a lot. And that is what I just did. And you're like, what? I just gave you a whole backstory to what I'm gonna talk about.What if I just said, today I Want to talk about editing? Do you need any more than that? Nope.But I gave you the whole back catalog about how, oh, there was this show, they thought it was public and it wasn't. Did you need to know that for me to go, let's talk about editing. And editing is that part. I do this all the time.I go in and I have a guest and I'm trying to get them to say something. And it would be weird if I just said, you know, hey, Jeff C. Can you say this about your show? Because I know you think that. I've heard you say it.I need you to say it. Dance, monkey, dance. And Jeff would look at me and go, wow, you're really weird.And instead I give them this background, I kind of point them towards the answer I want and then I ask the question and they answer hopefully in the way I want and I am happy.And then what I do is I go in and I cut out all the lead up to the question where a person is like, hey, I know you've done this and you thought about this in the past and I always wondered if that then da da ba di di ba. And they do the hokey pokey. And yes, they turn themselves around and then they finally ask the question.Well, in the end, the audience doesn't need all that pre made stuff. They just need the question. So that's tip number one.Cut out anything you need besides the question, because most of the time the question can stand alone and the audience doesn't need it, which means you save them time. And when you save someone time, they're generally pretty happy because there's only 24 hours in a day. And you gave some of that back.Now the other thing is, as a guy who was in marriage counseling for what seemed like forever, there's a thing called active learning and it's really good in a marriage. And that's where someone says, well, I feel that yada, yada yada and blah blah blah and yip yip yippity dip.And you go, oh, so you're feeling yip yip yippity dip, blah blah blah and yada yada yada. And they go, yes. And that is communication. When you hear your words come out of someone else's mouth, you feel heard.And you can go agree that we're on the same page. That's great for communication. And yes, you can do that in your interview. And then cut it out.So in this case, I was listening to a show and they were talking about educational tools and they mentioned Whiteboards, and they mentioned post it notes and some other things wasn't really what I would call rocket science. And the host, again, doing a really great communication skill, did active learning and repeated the answer.And I pointed out you don't need to leave that in because unless the audience somehow got confused or B, you brought up a different point of view some other ways, maybe it was a summary, things like that. But I have seen many a show kind of grind to a halt where the guest says something like, ooh, great answer.And then they say the answer again, and I'm like, yeah, I kind of got it the first time. Just for the record, I consider this trimming the fat.If you're a new listener to the show, I absolutely wholeheartedly urge you to go read the book Storyworthy, because I am reading another book about storytelling and I'm about a chapter and a half in. And I swear, every book about storytelling, the first third of it is stories are good. You should tell stories.Stories have been around since caveman, but they don't actually tell you how to tell a story. And the book Story Worthy does. And so Matthew, he kind of emphasizes that every moment in your story needs to be essential.If a detail, a scene, or a character does not contribute directly to the casual chain of events or, or the overall transformation in the story, it should be removed.So if I go to tell you a story about something that happened at Podcast Movement and I don't tell you it happened at Podcast Movement and the story is still good, then we don't need that detail. So with this in mind, if I take out why I'm asking the question and it doesn't affect the overall momentum of the interview, then I can take it out.Likewise, I don't need to redo the answer, I don't need to repeat it. It's not crucial, and let's just keep moving forward.The other thing that came up during this consulting call that I was like, oh, I should, we should bring this back up, is a lot of people worry that if they cut up too much of the answer and they alter the discussion, that somehow the guest is going to come back and listen to a conversation that they did weeks ago, in some cases months ago. And even if it's days ago, I don't know about you.I don't remember what I had for breakfast, let alone what I said on a podcast four days ago when you asked me about yada, yada, yada. And so my point here is, at least for me, I've been on quite A few interviews where I've been interviewed.I have friends who have been interviewed, and you've probably been interviewed as well. And yet if I go back to listen, it's due to this thing called an ego, where I will go back to see how they introduced me.And at the end, I will listen to make sure they said schoolofpodcasting.com because that's kind of why I'm going on there, as well as to bring value to their audience. But I rarely will listen to the whole interview. And there's a very simple reason for that.I was there, I know what I said, and I trust that the person isn't going to change the words around to suddenly have me say things that I didn't say. So if you're worried about that, I'm like 98% sure you don't have to worry about that.In fact, I once did an interview, and about 20 minutes in, the guest just dropped this knowledge bomb. And I was like, oh. And as I was editing that, I was like, it's a bummer that my audience has to wait 20 minutes to hear that.Not that the rest was bad, but it wasn't as good as this. And so you know what? I. The answer and the question and moved them right to the front. Yeah, you can do that again.As long as you're not making your guests say something that they didn't say. You can rearrange this in whatever you want. Maybe there's now kind of a story arc or there's just a way to build up some suspense or some stakes.But I just wanted to point that out, that it was something like I said. I did this consulting call and I was like, this is something we should bring back up.Because I've heard especially the concern that what if the guest comes back and they realize that I took out the 47 million times they went, da, da. You gotta read my book. Yeah, they're not.In my opinion, they're not coming back to make sure you didn't touch any of the enormous words that I said and that, you know, they're not just, you're okay as long as you make them sound smart. I don't know anybody that's going to complain about that. So to kind of. You'll hear the phrase tighten it up.You can remove you and the way you asked your question, you can listen to the question and listen to the answer as a boxed set and go, should this stay in the interview? And if you go, yeah, we kind of went on a tangent. You can Remove the question and the answer.And then if the answer was good at the end, did you then repeat their answer? Because if so, most of the time, we don't need to hear the answer twice. Unless you added some new perspective that the guest didn't.And your audience will thank you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There was one thing that I got to do at Podcast Movement that I have not done in a very long time.It brought me great joy and I want to do it again. And that was Deidre Shen has been on this show. She's from Cap show. And Dee had a baby three months ago, little baby girl who is absolutely adorable.So much hair on this kid. And I was, you know, doing the typical, you know, talking baby talk as she sat there in her stroller.And Dee picked her up and said, here, do some cuddles and hand me your baby. And she smelled just like a baby, sounded like a baby. And this is my typical effect I have on females. She cried and wanted nothing to do with me.And so. And then got really, really nice. It was wonderful. And so thanks D. And then congrats to you and the hubby for the new one.And I said, what have you been up to? And they launched a site called Thule. And it is T U U L I E dot com.It's what they've done is they've taken Cap show and broken it into bits where if you just want a YouTube art generator, they got that. They're working on one tool called Hype. It's actually available now.And if you want a description for your YouTube or LinkedIn, it's kind of a promo pack for like webinars is another one. They're working on one for transcripts. So that was interesting.But that was, for me, the highlight of Podcast movement was holding this cute little baby. So there was that.The other thing that's great about all podcasting events, and it's different than going to an online thing, there is something about being across the table from somebody, and if you get lucky enough to go to dinner with someone or things of that nature, it's just a different form of bonding.But the thing I've noticed as I go back and back and back to these events, number one, it's my buddy Greg over@rss.com he said, at an event, you are not a podcast, you are a brand. And you move ahead by people knowing what you're known for. So I am.I remember once I went to a Christmas party and a guy came up to my now ex wife and said, hey, are you the podcast guy? And so I'm the podcast guy. That's fine.And what I noticed is, like, in this case, I got to sit down to a table where Jeff C. From Social Media News Live. That's a great show. Was there, as was Lou Mongello, who's been. Actually, both these guys have been on the show. Lou, of course, WDW Radio.And catching up with these guys, you build the relationships that you pick up right where you left off. I'll give you an example. I saw Larry Roberts, better known as the Red Hat guy. What's he known for? A red hat.And every time you see one, and it's not that kind of, you know, make a man. It's not that red hat. And he's a marketing guy, and he's an AI guy. And I got to talk to Larry just for a second to say hello, how are things going?This and that. But didn't really get to hang with Larry. But I know if I had, we would pick up right where you left off. So it's all about building relationships.And I've said it before, relationships lead to opportunities, and opportunities lead to relationships, and relationships lead to opportunities, and opportunities lead to relationships. And eventually, some of those actually pay. But that was my big takeaway from that. My talks went great.I did one talk on monetization, and I did another talk where, again, the relationship with Jeff C. He had somebody on his panel who couldn't make it. And so Jeff was like, hey, Dave, want to be on a panel? And he knew I could fill in.And again, the relationship led to opportunities, and so that was cool. I got to work the podpage booth, so I got to connect with a lot of our customers, which is great.And I got to hang out for a few seconds with Adam Curry, the creator of podcasting, and I got to walk 8 million steps because these hotels are ginormous. Of course, my next place will be down in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the Empowered Podcasting event, and I'm looking forward to that.I'll be speaking at that one as well. That one is kind of the direct opposite of podcast movement. Podcast movement is a little more corporate, and it's huge.It's ginormous in these giant resorts where the Empowered Podcasting Conference is more. Definitely more independent podcasters in a. I believe it's a Hyatt hotel. Nothing super. It's not a red roof in by any means.It's still a little bit of a chunk of change, but it's going to be a little More focused and a little more intimate. And I love those kinds. I did talk to Brian Barletta, the new president of Podcast Movement, and I said, hey, Brian, because if.If you're new to me, I kind of. Sometimes I'm not the most subtle person. I'd rather just, you know, say the truth and get to the point.And so I said, I kind of hear rumblings on the street because Brian and Tom Webster, they run sounds profitable. And they have, you know, they help sponsors and wannabe sponsors understand the podcasting space. And so consequently, I went to Brian.I go, hey, like, everybody's kind of just thinking that next year, podcast movement, it's gonna be ads, ads, and more about ads and more ads. And he's like, no, no, no, no. We are about the creator. It's always about the creator.And yes, some of those creators want to know how to secure advertising. He's like, but in the end, it's all about the creator.And from what I understand, the minute they are done being edited, all the videos will be available from Podcast Movement. According to Brian, any kind of growing industry like podcasting should not be held back with a lack of education. So that's kind of cool.I will be pointing that out once those get released. And as for the merger with podcast Movement and sounds profitable. It's like, what do you think? And my answer is, why no, Brian?He seems like a nice guy. I know. I talked to Dan. Dan seemed fine. Dan Franks, the former head of Podcast movement, he's still going to be running the show.James Kridlin from POD News is going to be, I believe, and again, this is all brand new, the guy that's going to help choose the speakers, which will be great because James has a knowledge of podcasting on a global perspective like no other, in my opinion. And it is moving to New York City.So I was happy to hear it wasn't going to be at a Gaylord, because I just feel the Gaylord hotels are cost prohibitive.I saw a post from my buddy Steve Stewart from the very first podcast movement, and it wasn't in a fancy hotel, and it was done over the weekend so that people who had a day job could attend. And I don't know that we're ever going to get back to that. It'd be nice, but it was definitely.The hotel was more affordable, and it wasn't during the week, so we didn't need to take vacation. Or if you did, maybe you took a Friday. And so I'm looking forward to seeing as they move to New York City for next year.Because if the goal was to get away from the gaylord to make it more affordable, I'm not sure moving to New York City is going to make it more affordable. I've been in New York City. It's an interesting place. It's a busy place. There are a lot of people.And the few podcasters I saw at Podcast Movement that were brand new, like, I'm thinking of starting a podcast new, which is great to see. We need more of those. Those people were from Dallas. They were local and decided to come.And if we're looking to get more people to show up, well, if you're in a giant city like New York City, you might have more people that decide, you know what, I'm just gonna go. Because they don't have to pay for hotels, and travel will be much cheaper. So everybody asked me, well, what's your opinion about next year?And I'm like, like everybody else, I guess we'll see. It doesn't sound like the. The team is going to change much.It sounds like it's focused on the same thing as always, which is serving the podcasting community. And so I'll be in New York City next year at Podcast Movement.The last thing I wanted to talk about, especially if you just got back from Podcast Movement, especially if you're new, if you're not even going to Podcast Movement, you're trying to figure out how to start your podcast. Overwhelm is normal. It absolutely is.I talked to some new people on Tuesday, and I said, by Thursday, you will be overwhelmed and you will feel this pressure in your chest, this tightness, this just, how am I ever going to get this going? And I feel that way anytime I do a new project.I have been working with a coach who got me out of my comfort zone to do some things, and I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. And it was just a matter of starting. It really is. I've told you before, when it comes to getting on a treadmill, I never want to get on.But once I get on, get that speed up, I'm actually kind of proud of myself when I get off. But the dread of getting on the treadmill is no fun. And that goes for really anything new.But if you think about anything good for you, whether it's knowledge or nutrition or whatever you're doing, it's usually, I don't know what I'm doing. There is that part. I remember the first time I drove a car.I just felt like it was 4,000ft wide, and I was up on the sidewalk and I was nowhere near the sidewalk. But you get used to it. And so just figure out what you need to do next. And sometimes you don't know what you need to do next.I do have a checklist, by the way, if you go to schoolofpodcasting.com checklist, there is a podcast launch checklist. And if you're not sure, you're like, well, Dave, I've already launched, but I'm like, kind of not sure what to do.I do have podcast hotseat.com which is just a fancy way of getting some consulting for your show for your website. And of course, that comes with a free month of the school of podcasting.But I just wanted to let you know, because sometimes you're sitting there thinking, I'm the only one that doesn't get this. Everybody else is doing this. But I don't. And I'm just here to tell you there are a lot of people that are feeling exactly the same way you do.And don't let that imposter syndrome, that negative voice that's always on your shoulder. Right. You rarely listen to the positive one on your side that goes, you know, I've done hard things in the past and I'm still here.We don't listen to that one. We listen to the one on the left. It's like, I told you you weren't gonna get it. Just ignore that one. You've got this. Just focus on one thing.What's the next thing? I use an app called Todoist, and I'm much better, I would say, in the last three months of using it than I was at the beginning of the year.It's kind of sad when the one thing that you can't put on your to do list is look at your to do list. But I got better at that. Kind of got out of the habit of doing that and my productivity slumped and I was like, well, you idiot.You know, sometimes you have to hold yourself accountable and go, hey, let's get going here. So I just wanted to throw this in that if you are feeling overwhelmed, it's. That's normal anytime you're doing something new.Tomorrow I'm going to be going to the Content Creator Expo, better known as CEX, in Cleveland.And so for the next three days, really two and a half, I'm going to be getting fed with a fire hose, and I absolutely plan on Tuesday, going home, going, I just learned all this stuff about SEO and AI and all this other. And I'm going to be going. I don't. Yeah. All right, well, let's pick one and see if this works.Sometimes it helps to kind of come up with your vision of what you're trying to do. And, you know, some people actually come up with a mission statement.We had a episode a couple months back about running your podcast as a business, and some businesses have mission statements, and that sometimes helps you make a decision. So go to your favorite AI tool and ask it to write a mission statement for you until you get one that you truly believe and you truly feel.Maybe that's something that can be your North Star to guide you to success. But again, bottom line, I wanted to let you know if you feel overwhelmed, you're perfectly normal.And if you need help with that, go out to schoolofpodcasting.com if you throw on a slash, join to that. You can join our community. We have a lot of people in that group that feel exactly the same way you do. Can help you get through that.Along with myself again, unlimited consulting and of course, step by step courses. It's all there. Schoolofpodcasting.com join until next week. Take care. God bless. Class is dismissed.