Fill in the Blanks and Start Sharing Your Insider Knowledge

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Fill in the Blanks and Start Sharing Your Insider Knowledge"

Podcast: Good Content with Shannon McKinstrie
Host: Shannon McKinstrie
Date: July 21, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Shannon McKinstrie encourages listeners to embrace their role as "insiders" and to leverage their personal, lived experiences to create compelling social media content. Shannon provides actionable content prompts designed to eliminate the guesswork from content creation, making it simple and accessible for everyone, regardless of their industry or experience level. The focus is on authenticity, relatability, and sharing insider knowledge in a way that resonates with audiences and drives engagement.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Year of the Insider

• Shannon stresses that everyone is an insider in some area—be it their job, daily routines, parenting, or even local knowledge (01:01).
  • "All we want to know, guys, is lived experience. We want to be able to trust you." (01:30)
• The best content comes from sharing these unique perspectives and tips that only insiders can offer.

2. Content Prompts: “Fill in the Blanks” for Easy, Relatable Posts

Prompt 1: "You can’t convince me otherwise. ___"

• Example: "Early morning workouts are the biggest mood booster on the planet." (01:41)
• Shannon explains why such hot takes invite discussion and engagement:
  • "They either agree with her or they disagree with her or they're going to try it out." (01:54)
• Suggestions:
  • Sunrise walks are better than sleeping in on vacation.
  • Canva is the easiest way to make your business look more expensive.
  • [Local Restaurant] has the best crab cakes on the east coast.

Prompt 2: "The ___ I’d recommend if you’re ___"

• Real example: "The routines I’d recommend if you’re constantly overwhelmed by your health." (02:58)
• Key is to root advice in lived experience to establish authority and relatability.
  • "As a full time working mom of two… She obviously has found some really cool tricks to the trade." (03:13)
• Niche suggestions:
  • The quad prompts I’d recommend if you’re overwhelmed by your family’s schedule (from a mom who uses AI).
  • Trader Joe’s meals I’d recommend if you hate cooking after work (from a nutritionist who refuses to eat bland food).
• Use variations like "parent to parent," "teacher to teacher," "Costco member to Costco member."

Prompt 3: "My ___ Rules and Habits that Make ___ Easier"

• Example: "My work-from-home rules and habits." (04:10)
• Shannon recommends using a green screen for visual interest:
  • "The green screen is one of your best friends for content growth, literally." (04:12)
• Ideas:
  • My road trip rules, my book club rules, my classroom rules, our family beach week rules.

Prompt 4: "No offense, but you look like you could use a ___"

• Example: "No offense, but you look like you could use a storm rolling in, a candlelit 2pm, cobbler baking, a good book, and a warm drink in your hands." (05:00)
• This format works across all industries and prompts humor and relatability.
  • For professionals: "No offense, but you look like you could use a lawyer in your back pocket."
  • For local experts: "No offense, but you look like you could use a local blogger in Alaska for coffee spots."
  • For side hustles: "Looks like you could use a side hustle where you open up Canva and charge $37 a month."
• Shannon’s emphasis:
  • "We want your story. We want your successes. We want your tricks and tips and humor and everything. Stop underestimating yourself." (05:43)

3. Why These Approaches Work

• Content rooted in lived experience builds trust and connection.
• It gives followers actionable insights and practical advice that stands out amid generic content.
• Shannon wants listeners to stop downplaying their knowledge:
  • "Everything you have to say is worth sharing." (05:50)

4. Recap & Motivation

• Shannon encourages listeners to just start sharing. Don’t overthink; use her fill-in-the-blank prompts as templates.
  • "This is your sign. Go do it." (07:27)
• She reminds everyone that social media best practices have shifted:
  • "We went so left with so much bad advice from other social media people that were like, don't talk about yourself. It's not about you. No, it is." (06:20)
• Now, it's about blending personal stories with value for the audience.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "We are in the year of the insider." (01:18)
• "You guys, it's this simple. We literally just want your lived experience." (01:47)
• "We are very distracted. So the more that you can make us feel like we're getting advice or a joke or anything from a friend we're in." (03:30)
• "Stop underestimating yourself. Everything you have to say is worth sharing." (05:43)
• "Remember, it's identity, it's taste, it's lived experience. This is what we are craving so badly..." (06:28)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:23-01:18 – Introduction; importance of being an insider
• 01:18-01:47 – Overview of “year of the insider” and practical examples
• 01:54-02:58 – Fill-in-the-blank prompt 1 ("You can’t convince me otherwise. ___")
• 02:58-03:51 – Fill-in-the-blank prompt 2 ("The ___ I'd recommend if you're ___") & related micro-niches
• 03:51-04:21 – Prompt 3 ("Parent to parent" and role-based advice)
• 04:10-05:00 – Prompt 4 ("My ___ rules and habits that make ___ easier") & green screen tip
• 05:00-05:43 – Prompt 5 ("No offense, but you look like you could use a ___")
• 06:20-07:10 – Why personal experience and identity matter in content
• 07:27 – Closing encouragement: "This is your sign. Go do it."

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Conclusion: Shannon's Call to Action

Shannon wraps up the episode with heartfelt encouragement, pushing her listeners to stop overthinking and start posting content based on their own lived experiences and expertise. She urges everyone to avoid “bad advice” that says not to share personal stories, reaffirming that today's audiences crave authentic, insider perspectives. Whether you’re at the airport like Shannon, at your desk, or in any walk of life—your knowledge is valuable, and there's an audience waiting to connect with it.

Final Words:
"This is your sign. Go do it. I love you, friend. I'll talk to you next week." (07:27)

Transcript

[A]

Foreign. I am your host, Shannon McKinstry. Welcome to Good Content, the podcast where I remove the never ending content creation,

[B]

guesswork and overwhelm so that you can

[A]

actually enjoy being on social media again and growing your business with what has always worked. Good content.

[B]

All right, guys, so last week was all about reminding you guys that you are insiders. Whether you're a stay at home parent, you are in grad school, or you work at an actual a 9 to 5 that you can let us in on. You are an insider. Today. We're going deep. Now I am literally at the airport. It is a crazy week and I just want to crank this out quick because I want y' all to have major wins. I already did a post today on Instagram. I shared it. I'm basically going to take you through it so that, like, when you look at the post, you're like, oh, my gosh, I know exactly what to put in the blanks. I know a lot of you are like, I struggle with the blanks. I got you. Okay, so as a reminder, what we talked about last week was that you are an insider. Whether you work at. I'm sitting here at the airport. So let's say Delta or Enterprise. You can give me all sorts of little tips. I know you know, em, if that's not your jam, you, you actually. It doesn't excite you, that's fine. What do people come to you for? So let's go through these because all we want to know, guys, is lived experience. We want to be able to trust you. So even me with this post I did yesterday, which it was today, but by the time you guys are listening, it's tomorrow. So it says, the best content ideas I save for you this week and how to make them your own, no matter your niche. So again, right away, that tells people, I save these for you. I'm an insider. I've been doing the research for you. So again. Oh, you're a plumber. What are the things at Home Depot that, like, everyone overlooks? Oh, you're a realtor. What are the places that, like, even locals don't know about? Right. We are in the year of the insider. All right. I just want to jump in and help you guys win big this week. So number one post one is Monday. But again, you guys can do these over the next few weeks if you need to. It's. This is not a homework assignment, but obviously I'm going to beg you to get these posts up. Okay, so Monday's real, because these are all reals. It did really well for the particular creator. It says, you can't convince me otherwise. Blank. Her says, early morning workouts are the biggest mood booster on the planet, which is so good. And people are going crazy because here's the thing, they either agree with her or they disagree with her or they're going to try it out. So something like that. Like, if you think about it, you're bringing in all sorts of people. People that already are like, yep, I agree. Or B, are like, ugh, I hate it. Or C, let me try it. So really top of funnel type of content. The examples I put on the Instagram post was like, you can't convince me otherwise. Sunrise walks are better than sleeping on a in on a vacation. Canva is the easiest way to make your business look more expensive. Blank, meaning the name of the restaurant has the best crab cakes on the east Coast. You guys, it's this simple. We literally just want your lived experience. We want your insider knowledge. We want to know your hot takes, your perspectives. It's that simple. Literally. Okay.

[A]

All right.

[B]

Second Tuesday. The hook we have is the blank. I'd recommend if you're blank. So for this particular real. That went viral. Crazy viral. The routines, I'd recommend if you're constantly overwhelmed by your health. Now, what person can't relate to that? Almost all people can. And you know, it's cool. It's like, okay, why do I want to take her advice? Because underneath it says, as a full time working mom of two. So if you're a full time working mom, or even if you're not, you. You see that and you're like, oh, dang. She obviously has found some really cool tricks to the trade. So you could do the quad prompts. You could do. Let's say you're in a virtual assistant AI world. The quad prompts I'd recommend if you're constantly overwhelmed with your family's schedule from a mom who uses AI to save 10 plus hours a week. So again, if you're in the tech space, that's a perfect way to do it. And you don't even need to call yourself. Like, I think we're even getting away from like, as a virtual assistant, as a doctor, as a this. It's like, no. As someone who fixes people's bo. Broken bones, as someone who is raising kids to be more xyz, like, we. Again, we're scrolling fast. We are very distracted. So the more that you can make us feel like we're getting advice or a joke or anything from a friend we're in. Okay, so the other idea I had for you guys was like the Trader Joe's meals. I'd recommend if you hate cooking after work. As a nutritionist who refuses to eat bland food. And everything's in the caption. Easy. You guys see how lived experience these are and how they're so insiders. Okay, next one. It says parent to parent and it gives a whole suggestion on this like thing on National Geographic that you can help your kids watch to like, you know, to keep them busy and have your coffee hot. Because it. Larry says parent to parent. If you just need a few minutes to yourself to get things done or drink your coffee, you need to try out xyz. And it goes on. Explain it, you guys. Costco member to Costco member, teacher to teacher, corporate millennial to corporate millennial, friend to friend. 1. What is some sort of insider knowledge you have a hack you have found. And that's it Again, look at Instagram to see all these. You guys are so silly. Easy. Next one. Remember you did your homework last week, so you should be good to go right now. And I'm so excited to hear how this goes. Next one is my blank rules and habits that make blank easier for this creator. He said my work from home. Rules and habits. Right? And it's a green screen, you guys. The green screen is one of your best friends for content growth, literally, because there's so many visual aspects to it that hook us in. And he just, in his notes app, he made a list, screenshotted it, made it the background. And if you open the edits app, which is a free app from Instagram, you open the camera and there's literally a button that immediately takes you to green screen. And you choose your photo and then it's just you over the image. It's freaking easy and brilliant. So yeah, you could do my road trip roles, my book club roles, my classroom roles, my our office roles, our family beach week rules, and then you just rattle them off and everything is in the Instagram post for you to do. All right, last one, guys. Ready this reel again. It's like a 7 second B roll reel with some training audio. No offense, but you look like you could use a blank. Ready? This is so brilliant. No offense, but you look like you could use a storm rolling in a candlelight at 2pm Cobbler baking a good book and a warm drink in your hands. Anyone can do this. You're a lawyer. Oh, no offense, but you like you could use a lawyer in your back pocket. A da Da. Da on speed dial and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Oh, you just moved to Alaska. Okay, so you can say, no offense, but you look like you could use a local blogger in Alaska who can tell you where to go for the best coffee, the best this and that and that that. You guys, these can be used by any stinking industry. You could also use this to show Canva flow desk, any of this stuff, right? Looks like you could use a side hustle where you open up canva and add your da da da to a Canva doc and charge $37 a month for it and make another $2,000 a month. This is what I mean by lived experience. And in the caption you go, this is my story, you guys. We want your story. We want your successes. We want your tricks and tips and humor and everything. Stop underestimating yourself. Everything you have to say is worth sharing. And I cannot wait to hear how these goes. This is a very quick, very short and sweet podcast, but it's because you guys did the re search and homework last week. And those. I handpicked these for you. Now that you've listened to the podcast and read the Instagram post, you are good to go, my friend. Remember, it's identity, it's taste, it's lived experience. This is what we are craving so badly because we went so left with so much bad advice from other social media people that were like, don't talk about yourself. It's not about you. No, it is. It's about them. But how do we learn from people? We learn each other's recipes, our favorite running shoes, the hurdle that got us over depression. That's what we want to know. We want to know from you. All right, I'm get off this airport floor. Sorry, I had the video off, so this won't be on YouTube because the Wi fi is a little sketchy. It's just been a long day of traveling. I have a back to back speaking tomorrow. I cannot wait. It's gonna be amazing. And this, all of this came from posting what? I know. Posting things I didn't think anyone gave a crap about. So this is your sign. Go do it. I love you, friend. I'll talk to you next week.