AEE 2351: Backstage with Lindsay and Michelle

Summary

All Ears English Podcast: Episode 2351 – Backstage with Lindsay and Michelle

In Episode 2351 of the All Ears English Podcast, hosts Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan pull back the curtain to offer listeners an intimate look at the creation process of their popular ESL (English as a Second Language) podcast. Released on February 4, 2025, this episode not only demystifies the behind-the-scenes efforts that make each episode possible but also provides practical advice on building meaningful connections through conversations about jobs and hobbies.

Listener's Inquiry: Sophia's Curiosity [02:21]

The episode kicks off with a heartfelt listener email from Sophia, who commends the podcast as her "first thing I listen to every morning" and praises its clarity and smoothness. Sophia's main query is centered around understanding the intricacies of producing the podcast. She writes:

"I was wondering if you'd be willing to share a bit about how you create the podcast, like how you choose topics, prepare and record. I'd love a peek behind the scenes of my favorite podcast."
— Sophia [02:36]

Choosing Engaging Topics [05:27]

Lindsay explains that the foundation of their content selection lies in listener questions, emphasizing the importance of audience interaction. She notes:

"The main way is it comes down to listener questions. That's why we're always asking you guys to send us listener questions into [e-mail]. We have a humongous document of questions, and obviously, we choose the best questions."
— Lindsay McMahon [05:27]

In addition to direct listener input, Michelle highlights how their live events, such as Open Conversation Club and Fluency Party, serve as fertile grounds for topic ideas. They also draw inspiration from their interactions within their community pages and current events covered by reputable sources like the New York Times and HuffPost.

Preparation and Content Development [10:13]

Once a topic is selected, Lindsay and Michelle delve into the preparation phase, which can vary based on the complexity of the subject. Michelle elaborates:

"Sometimes, if it's a real grammar question or a very specific vocabulary that we have to think about... we might need to do a little research."
— Michelle Kaplan [10:19]

A significant aspect of their preparation includes integrating role plays to reinforce learning. Lindsay shares:

"We try to add a role play to most episodes because we've heard from you all that you love those role plays. It's a really nice way to summarize the key words that we've learned in that episode and to move into our final thoughts."
— Lindsay McMahon [10:59]

Recording with Spontaneity and Edutainment [12:14]

The recording days are characterized by a blend of structured planning and spontaneous interaction, ensuring that each episode remains both educational and entertaining (edutainment). Michelle defines edutainment as:

"Education and entertainment. So we wouldn't want to come on here and just say, okay, we're going to talk about the difference. We're not going to make it... we're not going to make it fun for you."
— Michelle Kaplan [11:27]

Lindsay adds that their natural chemistry and unplanned moments, such as laughter or playful teasing, contribute to the authentic feel of the podcast:

"A lot of spontaneity in here, partly because we have fun doing it and partly because we want you to... Connection is not planned."
— Lindsay McMahon [12:14]

Building Connections: Conversation Strategies [14:33]

Transitioning from production insights, Lindsay and Michelle pivot to providing listeners with practical strategies for fostering connections through conversations about someone's job or hobby. They introduce useful expressions such as "day to day" and "what goes into...", which help in eliciting detailed responses about daily routines and processes.

For example, Michelle suggests:

"You could say, how much time do you spend on cleaning the place? Or, you could mix these up. How much time goes into..."
— Michelle Kaplan [15:40]

Similarly, Lindsay emphasizes the importance of understanding the behind-the-scenes efforts that contribute to observable success:

"There's no such thing as an overnight success... there's been years and years and years of work every day."
— Lindsay McMahon [18:37]

Role Play Demonstration [16:14]

To exemplify the conversational techniques discussed, Lindsay and Michelle engage in a role play, simulating a dialogue where Michelle inquires about Lindsay's new job. This practical demonstration showcases the application of the expressions and questions they've outlined:

• Michelle: "So what's your day to day like?"
• Lindsay: "Well, I go in every day and first look at the schedule and make sure I have everything prepared. [16:23]"

This segment underscores the natural flow of conversation and the effectiveness of open-ended questions in building connections.

Final Takeaways and Encouragement [19:02]

As the episode wraps up, Lindsay and Michelle reiterate key points:

• Be Curious: Show genuine interest in others' work and passions.
• Ask Questions: Use specific, open-ended questions to delve deeper.
• Enable Others to Share: Allow friends or acquaintances to "shine" by sharing their experiences.

They also encourage listeners to submit their questions for future episodes, fostering a collaborative and interactive community.

Conclusion

Episode 2351 of the All Ears English Podcast serves as both a behind-the-scenes tour and a practical guide for listeners aiming to enhance their conversational English skills. By transparently sharing their production process and offering actionable tips for meaningful interactions, Lindsay and Michelle reinforce the podcast's mission: "Connection NOT Perfection."

Listeners are invited to engage further by submitting their questions and exploring additional resources, such as their YouTube channel and All Ears English app, to continue their journey toward speaking American English like a native.

Notable Quotes:

• "Connection is not planned."
  — Lindsay McMahon [12:14]

• "Edutainment is educational and entertainment."
  — Michelle Kaplan [11:27]

• "The more times you speak and connect with native speakers, the less nervous you're going to be each time."
  — Lindsay McMahon [13:14]

Transcript

[Lindsay McMahon]

This is an All Ears English podcast. Episode 2351 Backstage with Lindsay and Michelle.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Welcome to the All Ears English podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl, coming to you from Colorado and New York City, usa. To get real time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All Ears English app for iOS and Android. Start your seven day free trial at allearsenglish.com forward/app.

Today we answer a listener question about what goes into an episode of All Ears English. Learn all the ins and outs of how we produce this podcast and learn how to connect with others about their job or hobby in order to build connection.

[Gaspar]

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[Michelle Kaplan]

Hey, Lindsay, how are you?

[Lindsay McMahon]

Hey there, Michelle. I'm doing fantastic. How are you?

[Michelle Kaplan]

I'm good, I'm good. Lindsay, how much work or how much time would you say goes into an episode of Allers English, do you think?

[Lindsay McMahon]

Well, that's a good question, Michelle. I mean, we have to consider the planning and then we go. We do the recording, we do the preparation, we do the editing. After our wonderful editor, Gaspar does the editing.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Yes.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Shout out to Gaspar and Chandy.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Thank you.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Shout out to Danny. We love our team members here, so I'd say a fair amount of work goes into it. Michelle.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a lot I would say. So today we're actually going to answer a listener question about all these English and what goes into making this podcast. So, yeah, this is from Sophia. Lindsay, would you read the.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Sure.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Read the email for us.

[Lindsay McMahon]

All right, here we go. Here's a question from Sophia. So, hi all. There's English. I'm Sophia. I just wanted to say how much I love your podcast. It's the first thing I listen to every morning and it always makes learning English fun. I'm so impressed with how smooth and clear the podcasts are. Well, thank you, Sophia. That's a wonderful compliment. We love those messages from our listeners, don't we, Michelle?

[Michelle Kaplan]

Definitely. Oh, we love it. Thank you.

[Lindsay McMahon]

I was wondering if you'd be willing to share a bit about how you create the podcast, like how you choose topics, prepare and record. I'd love a peek behind the scenes of my favorite podcast. Thanks so much and I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Best, Sophia, wonderful question.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Oh, my gosh. Thank you so much. That is a great, great question and we are so excited to talk about it here today and teach you guys how to connect with others over their jobs. Huge connection topic, right? Yeah, yeah.

[Lindsay McMahon]

I would say over their jobs or over any process that they do. You know, it could be their hobby. Maybe you have a friend that's into playing classical piano. What goes into preparing for a classical piano concert? Right. There's so many ways this question could apply. So today we're going to get vocabulary for that skill. Skill of asking about a process preparation or producing something, a work of art. Right. How do we do that? And you're going to learn a little bit about the back the, you know, the scenes. Behind the scenes English behind the scenes.

[Michelle Kaplan]

That's right. Yeah. I think we did episode 300. We did behind the Scenes of Allers English. So I think it's, it's time for an update.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Yeah, maybe the scenes have changed too a little bit. Who knows, right? We'll see. We'll see.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Yes. And before we get into it, Lindsay, we wanted to give a big thank you to our reviewers. Is that right?

[Lindsay McMahon]

Oh, yes, 100. Today I want to call out some reviewers for our Android app. So the Android app is another place where you can consume Allers English for free, the full podcast. But you can go deeper and become a premium listener if, if you want. But today I want to call out fareshte from I'm not sure where Freshte is from, but thank you to Feste, a five star review. Thank you to JH JHC another five star review, M.D. shohei Rana, five star review. And thank you to Edison Isaac. Also an amazing review, Michelle. We love when our listeners take the time to go and review the show.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Absolutely. Thank you guys so much. We're so appreciative. We do this for you.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Absolutely. So go over and leave a review. Whether you listen in Apple, Spotify or the app, leave a review for the podcast. All right.

[Michelle Kaplan]

All right. So let's get into it. So first we're going to talk a little bit about the process for all Your English. And then we're going to get into teaching you guys how to talk about. How to connect with somebody about their own process. Yes. So, okay. So, Lindsay, how do we choose topics? What are some ways?

[Lindsay McMahon]

Well, the main way is it comes down to listener questions. That's why we're always asking you guys to send us listener questions into support. @allersenglish.com we have a humongous document of questions, and obviously we choose the best questions. So the more specific your question is, the better. But that's. That's the best way. That is the main way that we choose content. Other ways we do it is we also listen in to our live events that we do with our students. Open conversation club, fluency party. What are some themes that we're hearing in terms of things we could work on as a group, as a community? We look in our community pages where we connect, you know, on the Internet over there just for our students. That's another place we find ideas.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Definitely. Yeah. Right. So, but we. I think our favorite episodes are the ones where we get listener questions, because it's just directly what you guys want. Yes, but we also got ideas from our real lives. So these are also fun because we recognize that we. We. We can hear something and then say, wait a second, this is important. So sometimes it's important it something that couldn't be a listener question because it's something that you. You observed about somebody else. So, for example, Lindsay and I, we just did an episode about the difference between a and an and Juan. And this came from Lindsay's interaction with somebody who was making this mistake.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Yes.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Yeah.

[Lindsay McMahon]

I was seeing this mistake over and over for a year in every email I got from this person. And I said, nope, we have to address this on the podcast and solve this problem. Right. So I think that's a great way. So, Michelle, you and I have Antenna out. When we're out in the world and we pay attention, we observe language.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Right?

[Lindsay McMahon]

We observe language. Well, first of all, right, right. Yeah.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Right. Well, yeah. And then, I mean, on. On my end, definitely I will. I mean, even just the other day, I was with a friend, and she said two things, and then I said, wait a second, I need to stop and write this down. And I made a note in my email. I said, thank you. You just gave me two ideas for all your's English ep. So because, you know, it, it's. It's kind of working the other way. So one way is that you guys do the observing, and then one way is that we do the observing. And so we, if we know something is going to be specifically really useful for you, we'll say, ah, this is good.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Yes.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Another thing we do is sometimes if there's articles we read or information we see. So we might get inspiration from New York Times, HuffPo. Right. It could, could be something like that. And then find ways to make it our own and to teach you something from that, for sure.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Or cultural topics come up. We want to address holidays around the world. Sometimes we get ideas from one episode and that naturally leads into another one. So. But the main way is from you all from our.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Exactly.

[Lindsay McMahon]

So, you know, the takeaway here is just send us your questions.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Send us your questions. Yes. I'm always so happy. I'm always so happy when we go. Yeah. So guys, yeah, there is a big document. So when I go in to plan some episodes, I'll. I'll first open that document because first I want to get to you. And when I see and. And again, we could do a whole episode about how to ask a good question. We could.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Michelle. Hey, there's an idea.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Yeah, there you go. And so guys, basically, you know, as specific as you can be, that's what it comes down to. But we could always talk about that more another day.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Exactly. Love it.

[Michelle Kaplan]

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[Lindsay McMahon]

All right, Michelle. And then once we have our winning question of the day, what do we do after that?

[Michelle Kaplan]

Yeah, then we have to prepare. So depends. You know, sometimes it's one that comes pretty naturally, pretty easily to plan. But sometimes, if it's a real grammar question or a very specific vocabulary that we have to think about, what is the difference? Because sometimes to native speakers, I'm sure you guys realize this with your own language, your own first language is. It can be. Somebody might ask us a question. We know there's a difference, but we have to think, wait, what is this? Right. It doesn't come naturally as a native speaker. It doesn't always. It's something we may have never thought about before. And so it. We might need to do a little research.

[Lindsay McMahon]

100%. And we try to add a role play to most episodes because we've heard from you all that you love, that you love those role plays. It's a really nice way to summarize the key words that we've learned in that episode and to move into our final thoughts for the episode. We make sure everything's there. And then, of course, allers English is edutainment. We consider this edutainment. So we need to make sure it is edutaining. Michelle, what is that? That is a combination of two words. What is.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Okay, so edutainment is educational, education and entertainment. Right. So we wouldn't want to come on here and just say, okay, we're going to talk about the difference. Right. We're not going to make it. The whole purpose of the podcast is to make you want to learn, to make you. Yes. Excited about it and to make it fun for you. Otherwise, what. What are we doing? Right. So we want to make sure that it's ed edutainment.

[Lindsay McMahon]

And I think a lot of the edutainment piece is spontaneous. You know, a lot of the times when we break out in laughter or we tease each other or we come up side point, those aren't planned. All right, so a good portion of these episodes are unplanned. There's a lot of spontaneity in here, partly because we have fun doing it and partly because we want you to. We want you all to see the spontaneity in English, Right?

[Michelle Kaplan]

Yes.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Connection is not. Is not planned.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Yes. And I think that's a very good point. Is. So I think people have asked us before, do we script out the whole episode? No, no. The only thing that might be scripted is an example explanation of something. You know, we. But, well, even that will usually change up or we'll, you know, if we have a role play, that's of course scripted. But the general discussions, our relationship, how we how we talk to each other. That's not scripted.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Exactly. I love it. And then it comes to recording day, my favorite day of the week. Michelle, you and I meet, we do a quick overview of the episode of what we'll be doing. So we know what we're going into, but we don't. You know, I think the cool thing about Allers English is we, and we kind of, we practice what we preach here. We don't get stuck in perfectionism. Right. We, we know what we want to teach. We know our goal is to help you all come away feeling confident about being able to connect. And so we don't sit there and analyze everything and get nervous before we hit record. We don't have time for that.

[Michelle Kaplan]

No, no, no, we gotta get going. We gotta get going on these episodes. Yeah, we release a lot of episodes for these podcasts.

[Lindsay McMahon]

So that's kind of a magic formula for reducing anxiety, is just creating a lot of what you're, what you're doing. And for our listeners, that means speaking and connecting a lot. Because the more times you speak and connect with native speakers, the less nervous you're going to be each time.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Yeah, exactly, exactly. And then of course, you know, we add in any information we want to highlight or think their listeners should know if there's something special or maybe we want to thank our reviewers. And then we, we turn on the video and we make sure that our settings are good. Right, Lindsay? Yes. All about the settings.

[Lindsay McMahon]

And our listeners need to know, guys, if you didn't know, we're over on YouTube, you know, this, this episode, along with all the others, is available on YouTube as a video. So you can go check it out over there as well.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Exactly. So that's a little bit of all ears of English, but how can this help you with your speaking, with your connection? So, as Lindsay said, this is great for asking someone about their job or any sort of process they're into. Maybe they do woodwork, whatever it is. Yeah. So we're going to teach you a couple ways to talk about. So. So the first one is this expression. Day to day.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Yeah. Meaning every day we want the, the kind of, the more mundane things in a way, we want to know that information. How does it look on a day to day basis? Right. On a day to day basis. Or what goes into a X, like our listener at Sophia asked us, what goes into an episode? What goes into making an episode?

[Michelle Kaplan]

Right, right. So if your friend is learning to write music. Right. Maybe they're taking a music theory class or something. You'd say, well, so what, what goes into writing a song?

[Lindsay McMahon]

Yes, I've always been interested, you know, if you're a restaurant owner, what goes into opening a restaurant for the evening? You know, I find that interesting.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Yeah.

[Lindsay McMahon]

So easy and crazy. Oh, my gosh. What else, Michelle, what's something else our listeners could ask?

[Michelle Kaplan]

Well, you could say, how much time do you spend on blank? Right. So or, or you could even say, how long does it take you to blank? So I mean, if for the restaurant example, you could say, oh, how long does it take you to prepare for the night? Right. Or how much time do you spend on cleaning the place? Or, or you could also say, you could mix these up. How much time goes into.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Yep, yep. There's a lot of different ways we. The important thing is just asking the question and starting that conversation. Sometimes for our listeners, maybe they're finishing up with college, university and thinking, what industry do I want to be in? This is a really important. These are questions we need to know because certain careers might look really glamorous, but on the day to day, maybe they're not as great.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Right? Yeah, I think that happens. Yeah. So, but there's tons of ways to connect. We gave you a few ways today. Lindsay, should we, should we do a role play?

[Lindsay McMahon]

Yeah, let's do it. So here we are, friends, and you are asking me about my new job. All right.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Okay. All right. So what's your day to day like?

[Lindsay McMahon]

Well, I go in every day and first look at the schedule and make sure I have everything prepared.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Oh, neat. And how much time do you spend on gathering all the information together?

[Lindsay McMahon]

Just like 20 minutes.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Okay. And so what goes into a call with a client?

[Lindsay McMahon]

Well, we just talk over what they expect from us and what the schedule will be. We go over any of their concerns. It's pretty extensive, actually.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Sounds like a lot.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Oh, nice. Okay. Very natural conversation, wouldn't you say?

[Michelle Kaplan]

I would say.

[Lindsay McMahon]

All right. So, Michelle, first you asked me this opening question. So what's your day to day life? And I like this because it's kind of open ended, but you're really being clear that you mean on a daily basis. Don't tell me about the high points, just the great times when you're in the spotlight. Tell me about the day to day.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Right, right. Yes, yes, exactly. And then I said, and how much time do you spend on gathering all the information together? So getting more, more details from you?

[Lindsay McMahon]

And I said 20 minutes. And you said, okay. And what goes into a call with a client? And what do you Mean, what goes into. Exactly. What does this mean exactly?

[Michelle Kaplan]

What is involved? What happens? Yeah, what is.

[Lindsay McMahon]

What happens exactly. What's involved? Maybe did you have to prepare for it? Lots. There's lots of sub questions that could go under that.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Right? Exactly. But, yeah, there's. So there's so many places we could take this. You know, this is a huge topic, but I think mainly is be curious. Let. Let that person shine. Your friend has a new job. Let them shine. Your friend talks to you about their new hobby. Let them shine and share it with you. Show that you're interested.

[Lindsay McMahon]

I think this is also a really. These are good conversations to have because you know that expression, there's no such thing as an overnight success or, I don't know, maybe it's a different expression. But the idea is, you know, this person has become successful. Maybe you have a friend who's become a famous actor or actress, and all of a sudden it looks to someone on the outside like they just made it all of a sudden. But there's been years and years and years of work every day, getting up and working late, working. And so that's another angle on this topic and this question. We could learn the truth behind how hard someone has worked throughout their career, right?

[Michelle Kaplan]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Because you're, you're only seeing what's going on on the outside. You don't see all the hard work, you know, all the, you know, you see the surface level.

[Lindsay McMahon]

You don't see the 10, 000 hours. Right. Malcolm Gladwell's concept. The 10, 000 hours to go into mastering a concept or a skill. Yeah, for sure. Love that.

[Michelle Kaplan]

So that's why it's, it's good to have these conversations. Lindsay, do we have another episode that will help our listeners?

[Lindsay McMahon]

Yes, we do, Michelle. I'm glad you asked. It's episode 2340. Just scroll back a little bit further back, guys. It's called do you have the gift of gab In English? And that's a kind of a common expression. You're going to learn what it means and we'll go into that topic. All right.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Okay, awesome. So takeaway for today. I, I would say be curious. Ask. Ask questions. And just always let the other person have a chance to share themselves. And that'll help with your connection.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Yeah, that'll help for your connection, for sure. And if you're looking to get into a certain industry, ask lots of questions like this. Make sure you set up coffee dates, informational interviews, phone calls, build mentorships in that industry so you really know what you're going into. You know, what are you really signing up for that's so important to make sure we make the right choices in our careers.

[Michelle Kaplan]

That's true. You may like the idea of something, but when it comes down to the daytoday, you learn about it. Maybe you have to work every weekend, maybe you have to, maybe there's something that doesn't work with your, with your lifestyle and what you're looking for. So definitely good to, to ask about that and find out.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Yeah. And special thank you to Sophia for asking this question. And the final takeaway for our listeners, Michelle, is send in your questions.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Yes, good episodes.

[Lindsay McMahon]

Send your Questions to support allersenglish.com all right, perfect.

[Michelle Kaplan]

All right, Lindsay, thanks for talking about this with me today and thanks for the question and we'll talk to you guys later.

[Lindsay McMahon]

All right, Take care, Michelle.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Bye. All right, bye.

Thanks for listening. To all ears, English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our two minute quiz, go to allearsenglish.com forward/fluency score. And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time.