Podcast Talent Coach

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

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 foc

Focus Of Your Podcast – PTC Episode 037 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 their 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.   I was listening to the Solopreneur Hour Podcast with Michael O'Neal this week. His show is one of my regular, weekly listens. The podcast frequently features

Podcast Negativity Trap PTC Episode 036 A quick note … Dave Jackson of School of Podcasting has invited me to join his Podcast Review Show podcast. Each week, we invite a podcaster on the show and review their podcast with them. Dave and I help our guest refine their content, delivery, production, branding and website. If you would like to find our more, head over to PodcastReviewShow.com.   This week on Podcast Talent Coach, we get a question submitted by Steve Stewart of the “Money Plan SOS Podcast” Steve brings up two questions. With all of the negativity surrounding us and pulling us in, how can we keep on a path of positive messages? How can you be passionate without being negative?   It is good to recognize the negative influence in our content. Negativity surrounds us everyday, making it difficult to stay positive. The nightly news uses the philosophy “if it bleeds it leads”. The political talk shows are typically more about the negatives of the opposition rather than the virtues of their position. The

Creating Podcast Avatars Before you can create a great podcast with meaningful, powerful relationships, you need to define your target listener.  Most podcasts decide they are focused on a niche and leave it at that.  I hear, "My podcast is for entrepreneurs."  A broad category of listeners isn't defined nearly well enough to help you focus your content. When creating content, you will approach fans of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League different than you would talk to fans of the New York Philharmonic.  You will speak differently to young men in college than you would to grandmothers who enjoy knitting.  When you define your target audience, you will define your strategy to reach that audience. If you are creating a podcast around retirement, your target audience may be defined by gender and age, such as men in their early twenties or 50-year-old women.  Their age is the commonality. Your target audience could also be defined by a common passion.  The podcast could cater to fans of Harley Da

MORE PODCAST ENGAGEMENT I received an e-mail the other day that contained a question I'm asked quite often. For quite some time, I've tried to solve the problem myself. I've read books, listened to interviews, purchased products and reviewed tons of notes and articles I've collected over the years. The question? How do we create more engagement with our podcasts?   Before we jump into engagement, let's review your checklist from last week. On the last episode, we discussed ways to sound more confident in your content. Your checklist included four items. Be yourself. Tell a story on your podcast this week that will reveal something about you. Do everything in your own style. Start by defining that style. Move beyond information by defining what is in it for your listener. Stir emotion. Review a past episode while actually listening like a listener.   Now that you have some time between posting the episode and reviewing it, this might be a good week to listen to your show like a listener. See if you

How To Develop More Podcast Confidence Self-confidence is a battle we all face.  Most recently, I received nearly the same question.  How do I become comfortable as a speaker? We have discussed this topic in the past on the Podcast Talent Coach podcast.  In episode 012, I offered tips to become more comfortable with the timber and sound of your voice.  This week, I would like to give you a few ideas to use to develop more confidence in your content. I had a coaching call and received an e-mail in the past couple weeks that included this topic. Both podcasters were unsure of their speaking ability.  They felt they may lack authority on their topic. I had a coaching call with a gentleman who had recently launched a new podcast. His career to this point had involved public speaking and presenting. He was self-conscious of how he sounded on his podcast. He asked if he should get a voice coach. The second question came in an e-mail. "So far I have interviewed and recorded 3 people and when editing I'm realizing h

Your Professional Podcast Sound PTC Episode 032 When I first started in broadcasting, I doubted my voice, my sound and my ability. I doubted whether I belonged with the other professional broadcasters. Would they find me out and end my broadcasting career before it began?   Everyday, I would search for ways to sound more professional. Any idea that would come along to help me sound more prepared I would put to use. If I thought an idea would help me sound organized, I would give it a shot.   Overnight radio is where most broadcasters begin. I did overnights for the better part of four years trying to find my way. The desire to belong in the category burned inside of me. My passion to sound like a professional drove me show after show.   After years, I realized the fear of sounding unprofessional, unprepared, and unorganized is perfectly common amongst broadcasters. The desire to be credible and belong in the category burns inside of most that go on to become successful. The inner critic is present in all of u

Protect Your Podcast Voice Your voice is your power.  It is your tool.  Without your voice, you have no podcast. Throughout the year, it is inevitable that you will get sick.  Maybe it is just a scratchy voice.  Maybe you lose your voice altogether.  When illness hits, what do you do about your show? A few weeks ago, I made a trip to a conference in Nashville, Tennessee.  Five days of shaking hands, conference room sessions, and group dinners along with two flights there and back, made it difficult to avoid the germs.  As much as I did to rest, eat properly and protect myself from getting sick, illness still found me. The sickness had me down for the count.  I had a horrible cough.  My throat was sore and raw.  The frog sound coming from my voice box was not anything I could use to record a podcast.  What was I going to do? Luckily I had prepared.  I had been working two weeks in advance in preparation for the trip.  In case I didn't make it back in time to record the podcast for that week, I wanted to be sur

TURN YOUR PODCAST INTO A CONVERSATION PTC EPISODE 030 Let's have a conversation. People want to feel part of the discussion and not like they are sitting in a lecture. How do you create that atmosphere on your podcast? Talk to me, not at me Treat your audience as an audience of one Let your listener live vicariously through you Use your regular voice Do everything in your own style   Talk To Me, Not At Me When you are podcasting, talk “to” your listener.  Don’t talk “at” her.  You are not announcing.  You are having a personal conversation and building a relationship. Podcasting is an intimate conversation with one person.  The conversation is typically one person speaking into a microphone addressing another single individual.  There may sometimes be hundreds of thousands of people listening.  However, they are all listening by themselves.  Even in an automobile with others listening via communal speakers, the members of the audience are listening by themselves in their own head.  Each listener i

EPISODE 29 – MORE PODCAST LISTENER INTERACTION   Many podcasters ask me how to get more listener interaction with their show. How can you get more listener feedback and comments? We need to transform your information into engaging entertainment. When your content is engaging, people take notice and take action. If you want your listeners to interact more with your show, make your content engaging.   When you tell stories on your podcast, you reveal things about yourself. Vivid details are critical elements of great storytelling. You are creating theater of the mind. Draw pictures in the mind of your listener.   Details are more believable than generalities.   Details reveal specifics about your thoughts, beliefs and character.   Details put your listener in the moment helping them envision your story in their mind.   Garrison Keillor, in one of his “Stories From Lake Wobegon”, describes a woman who endures crushing loneliness and town gossip. Keillor says, “She got into bed with a dying man – so she could sin

EPISODE 28 – BUILDING YOUR PODCAST BUSINESS Most every podcaster has the desire to turn their podcast into a business. Though some podcasters treat their show as a hobby and an outlet for their passion, many reach a point where they wish to monetize their efforts. Podcast profits are possible in many forms when podcasters get creative. Most podcasts do not generate enough cash to stand alone as a business. There are ways to generate revenue from the podcast, such as advertising and sponsorships. These methods typically bring in money in direct relation to the size of the audience. It is traditionally called CPM, or cost per thousand. (M is mille - Latin for thousand, M is also the Roman numeral for thousand.) There are two primary issues with relying on advertising as your primary revenue source. The first downside of CPM is the direct relation of hours to dollars. When you stop putting in hours, you stop taking out dollars. When you stop creating the podcast, the revenue stream stops as well. When you exchan

CONFIDENCE TO BEGIN A PODCAST I'm Erik K. Johnson, founder of Podcast Talent Coach. I help people refine their content to transform their information into engaging entertainment so that they can convert their podcast audience into powerful, profitable relationships. Have you ever struggled with your confidence to launch or record an episode of your podcast? Have you worried that you were just pretending to know what you're doing? That someone might find out that you didn't really belong amongst the podcast professionals? I've been there. I was at that point when I started in broadcasting. While in college getting my degree in architecture, I became a party DJ to make some extra cash. Music had always been a big part of my life. I had been a musician since I was 11. However, I had wanted to be an architect since 6th grade. Getting my architecture degree was never in question. Around my junior year of architecture school, I started becoming disenchanted with the field. It was then that I picked up a part ti

Consistent Podcast Brand Message – PTC Episode 026 New Media Expo 2014 in Las Vegas at the beginning of January was an amazing experience.  Every podcaster I met was interested in sharing the knowledge.  I discovered many new podcasts.  The best part of the event was meeting so many fantastic people. One common theme came to light as I listened to so many people sharing their ideas.  Podcasters are always looking for new things to talk about on their show.  They want to keep their content fresh. It is understandable that podcasters want to continue to deliver new content.  You want to keep your listeners returning for new ideas.  Delivering the same message over and over may get boring and stale.  However, when you stray too far from the core message, you run the risk of diluting your brand. There is a podcast about business and marketing.  I would listen to it on a regular basis.  This went on for a few months. I began noticing the show would post inconsistently.  Sometimes it would be weekly.  Other ti

Podcast Brand Positioning – PTC 025 At NMX 2014 in Las Vegas at the beginning of January, I discovered a ton of great podcasts and met many new, fantastic people. Here are a few of the new podcasts I've been enjoying lately. “The Feed” with Elsie Escobar, Libsyn's podcast “Unpodcast” with Scott Stratten & Alison Kramer “Penn's Sunday School” with Penn Jillette “Fat-Burning Man” with Abel James “The Solopreneur Hour” with Michael O'Neal “Beyond the To Do List” with Erik J. Fisher “Podcast 411” with Rob from Libsyn As I was listening to new podcasts, I heard one particular show get concerned over a critical review he received from anonymous individual. I understand podcasters are concerned with reviews. Your show is your art. It is your baby they are calling ugly. Please remember, one listener is such a small percentage of your overall listenership. There will always be somebody critical of you and your point of view. If you have 100 listeners, that is only 1% of your audience. If you have people com

Making Your Podcast Brand Stronger Review your show on a regular basis. Actually listen like a listener. That is the only way to improve. Many hosts finish recording a show and think, “That was pretty good. What’s next?” They might recreate parts of the show in their head to determine what might make the show better next time. Usually, there isn’t much time spent actually reviewing a show. There are so many other duties to handle. It’s on to the next thing, which is probably editing, posting, and promoting the show. In order to make your podcast better, you need to spend quality time listening to the show. Play it back. Grab a pad of paper and write down the parts that jump out at you. Jot down the “oh wow” moments. Take note of the sections that didn’t work exactly as you planned. In this episode, we cover the questions outlined in the Podcast Talent Coach Show Review Worksheet.  Those questions include: What did you hope to accomplish on this show?  Did you succeed? How did you make the audience care? Where

THE POWER OF YOU This week is a little self-reflection.  I'm not sure I'm doing my job with my message and serving you as well as I can.  Is my communication cutting through in the correct way? This past weekend, I attended the New Media Expo (NMX) 2014 in Las Vegas.  I had an incredible time and learned a lot.  The inspiration I receive by attending these conferences is amazing. The only thing more incredible than the inspiration is the friendships.  Mike & Izabela from Music Radio Creative held a meet up at an amazing wine cellar within the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.  We all had an incredible time mingling with other amazing podcasters.  Mike & Izabela held the gathering in a room of the Wine Cellar & Tasting Room at the Rio.  It was like sitting in their living room with couches, chairs and end tables near a bar filled with wine and cheese.  The intimate setting really spawned some great discussions. During the meet up, I had the chance to sit down with Kenn Blanchard from "Black

Creating Powerful Relationships with Your Podcast It has been said may times before.  People do business with people they know, like and trust. To make your podcast successful, you must create meaningful, powerful relationships with your listeners. In this episode, we review five of the many ways to improve and foster your listener relationships. Their Voice Will Always Be More Meaningful One major purpose of your podcast is to foster relationships with your listeners.  Many podcasters use e-mail, texts, tweets and posts to interact with their audience.  The podcast host typically reads these on the air.  Unfortunately, using these methods of communication puts distance between you and your listener.  It is much more compelling to hear the words of another individual in their own voice than it is to hear someone else tell the same story (or ask the same question).  Written word loses the passion when it is read from an e-mail.  The inflection, meaning and emotion is always different when read by anothe

Where is your podcast going in 2014? A goal is a dream with a deadline.  What are you dreams for the next year?  If you don’t have a map & destination, you’ll only wander.  You'll never get anywhere.  Let's be specific and set some deadlines. What is the one big thing you want to accomplish over the next year?  Develop little steps to get there.  Break the big goal into bite-sized pieces. If you create a weekly show, you only have 52 shows over the next 12 months.  It may sound like a lot.  However, you need to be intentional to reach your goals. What is your call to action within your podcast?  How can we make that call-to-action more effective?  Where are you sending your listener each episode to get more info?  Be specific and write it down. Are you monetizing your podcast?  There are many possibilities, such as books, speaking engagements, seminars, affiliates, products and more.  If you have yet to monetize your podcast, schedule your time to create something powerful.  Be sure to include deadli