← The How To Podcast Series - Podcast Co-Hosts, Practical Podcast Tips, and Podcast Community
The How To Podcast Series - Podcast Co-Hosts, Practical Podcast Tips, and Podcast Community
E617 - Why You - The Question Every Podcaster Must Answer
00:25:11
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Okay, we're rolling. Hey, welcome back to the how to Podcast series. It's Dave with you. Hope you're doing good. Somebody asked me, what is that at the beginning? Okay, we're rolling thing. That's just. I put that in there because I like putting it in there. I'm musician. I've been in the studio a lot, recording with different bands and things. And that's one of the things they'll. They'll. They'll hit. They'll hit us with when we're ready to go. And we know that we're live to tape and it's time to. It's time to hit record. So it just. It's a little nod to my musical background, and that's why it's there. Someone's like, why? Why is that there? So there you go. Now you know it's there. Okay, we're rolling. And we are rolling through 365 days of content for the how to Podcast series. Are you. Are you overwhelmed yet? Do you have too much content from Dave? Remember, I'm not anticipating my audience, my faithful, loving audience who I adore to keep up with every episode, every day. If you. If you are, I don't know how you're doing it, so congratulations. The idea is, look at the titles. Pick the episodes that work for you. This isn't about flooding the Internet with content as much as it's. I just want to live in a creative space in 2026, and I find that I've been finding that my podcasts have been running really well, almost to the point where I don't need to do much and I'm ahead of myself and in that moment, feeling a little bit under challenged, and I just feel like I want to be in a very creative space all year round. Now, if you're on Instagram, I'd love for you to go check out how to Podcast on Instagram. You'll find it through my website, howtopodcast Ca. And one thing I've noticed, though, on Instagram, and I don't know about you, for you Instagram people, is my engagement very low for the how to Podcast series on Instagram, which I find interesting? I. I've been there for a while and I post and I do things on there and I get okay responses and you know who you are. Thank you for checking out my page. I appreciate you, but I don't get, like floods and floods of people coming through compared to living the next chapter on Instagram. My other show, one of. One of my other podcasts it does really well. Really good engagement. Very. Some. A great variety of people coming through too. Not the same people every time. And posts do really well. So I'm finding that the audience for this show tends to be more on YouTube shorts and TikTok. So I'm playing with it, trying to figure out how best to serve my audience and where to invest my time. Instagram doesn't seem to be it. So if you're an Instagram person and you love Instagram and you're not following the show, come and encourage me there. Because I'm like thinking maybe it's not worth my time to be on Instagram. So on threads it's okay too. Not great. I'm just, I'm trying to find you is what I'm trying to do. Not in a creepy way, but just I want to serve you and want to be where you are. So let me know, I'd like to hear from you how to podcast ca. There's a Speak pipe link right there. Let me know what's your. What's your social platform of choice? And maybe you don't even have one. That would be interesting. Let me know. I'd love to hear from you. So I don't know if you really caught what I just did there. That was actually my call to action. Usually what would happen at the end of the show when most people aren't here, I put it up front. And that wasn't my intent was to say, well, I'm going to start this episode with my call to action. It's just in the moment. That's what I was thinking about. I was looking at my phone and I just talked about it. But that's actually maybe a good placement for your call to action. If you're not getting a lot of engagement, why are you putting it at the end? Try putting it in different spots in your show. And yeah, another thing I'm trying is rethinking how I do my interviews. Like a typical interview that I do for living the next chapter, it's. It's one shot all the way through, very little content editing. It's as it was recorded. So if you watch the video version, which is basically a zoom call, and compare it to the audio podcast, it's pretty well the same length of episode, pretty well the same flow. Nothing really cut out unless something substantial happens. It's the same thing. But I'm trying a little bit different approach with my editing for guest interviews. It co hosted episodes here. If you go back to Jordan's episode, Jordan Blair was on from Buzzcast and Dreamful Podcast, and I had her on the show, and I, I did the edit for the podcast, and it was. It's great. I loved it. It was really fun to do that. And I'm like, can I do better? Because Jordan kept coming up with these great examples, and I felt like it needed some color to support what she was saying. So go Back to episode 618 and you'll see Jordan Blair on the show. That was a fun conversation, but check out some of the edits I was doing. I, I did a little kind of voiceover moments where I came in and talked about what was coming next, added in some clips from Jordan's shows that she's on, some music examples. I wanted you to experience what she was saying when she was saying it. So go find it, listen to it. I'd love to get your feedback. That's a lot of work to an. To do an edit like that, but I'm playing with it. I'm, I'm, I'm running with podcast scissors and seeing what happens. So my challenge for you is to don't just do the same thing the same way every time, but take a moment to go, what if we did this? Try it. If it works, great. If not, continue. Go back, pivot change. But at least you're trying something new. So don't get in a rut. The difference between a rut and a grave is the depth of the hole. So get in a rut, change up your show. Go try it. In our episode today, what I really want to focus in on is a key question for all podcasters. Whether you're just about to start, you're about to hit record for the first time, or you've been doing this for 20 years, there's a question that we should all wrestle with in the podcasting space as it relates to our audience, to our content, to our podcast idea. And it's simply two words. Why you? That's it. This one of the shortest questions ever. Why you? When we talk about our why, we're usually focused on the audience. We're focused on the content. We're focused on other things than ourselves. I think as podcasters, we need to look in the mirror and go, you want to start a podcast, but why you? And not, like in a judgmental way, but in a curious way. Why. Why are you going to be the podcaster to talk about this topic or talk, do this show? Why you? I think that this is a question we should answer and answer it often, not just once in our podcasting journey, but keep coming back to this question, why you? As much as we downplay it in podcasting and say that it's a community over competition, we are competing. We're competing with other shows. We're competing with time. Our listeners only have so much time per day, per week, per month, per year to invest in your show. So we're competing against that. We're competing against everything else. It's not podcasting. Tv, movies, work, family, all those other things. We're competing with it all. So when we say there's no competition in podcasting, I kind of go, well, it might be friendly competition, but we are competing to some degree with something every time we put an episode out. So that comes back to this, why you then? Why you for this show? Why should you be the one publishing a podcast about this topic? Why? Why should listeners choose your voice over the thousands of other people in the world who talk about what you talk about? And why are you the right person to speak for this community, to be the rep, to be the. The platform? Why you? I think that nasty thing called imposter syndrome comes in, creeps its way into our life when we don't answer the question, why you? Why me? Podcasting doesn't require a fancy degree. Podcasting doesn't require you go to university and study podcasting. Podcasting doesn't require a boss permission, somebody to report to, somebody to say it's okay to talk about what you want to talk about. Podcasting doesn't include any of those things. And when we focus really on the audience, but we don't focus on ourself. I think we're missing out on something here. I'm challenging you by the end of this episode that you can come up with your own answer to the why me? Why you? Question. When we start our show, we don't start with a massive audience and we don't start with the expert credentials to be a podcaster. It simply comes from the act of doing that. We find our voice, that we build an audience, that we create content that goes out into the world and brings people back to the show. Our authority comes from being one step ahead of our audience at all times. Like any good teacher, teachers in school don't need to know everything about the topic. They just need to know more than the students to stay one step ahead so they can lead and guide while the teacher learns as well. Teachers go to school not to teach all the time, but also to learn. That's why they have those teacher days where they get together and hang out and get the job skills and the teaching skills to continue being a source of encouragement and information in their role. So they don't have it all figured out. Even with their fancy degrees, they don't have it all figured out. They're still learning. And I think that we need to tap into that as podcasters. I think when we talk, when we wrestle with the idea of why you, it comes back to the fact that you have lived through some stuff. You've been down a path, you have lived experience, you have a unique angle, you have unique insights, you have your own raw honesty, and you have the scars from solving a problem that you have faced in the past. You've fallen down and you've gotten back up again. And in that, you've. You've figured out kind of where the pitfalls are. You've figured out where to step and where not to step. And you can be a guide for somebody who is just a little bit behind you. You can be that person who reaches back and helps somebody to avoid some of the things that you've been through or how to traverse through some of the things you've been through, but do it in a safer way with better results. So that's why you think about your dad, for example, or someone in your life who has battled burnout and they found the tools that no one else shares. Your why you isn't just picking topics because they're cool. It's the story that only you can tell. It's a perspective that's shaped by your own stubborn passions and the way that you've navigated life and your own personal wins. What I'd love for you to do, and I'm going to put this in the show notes, is to complete the sentence around why me? As a statement to anchor you and maybe put this somewhere where you're going to see it near your monitor, near your microphone, your recording space, your fridge, bathroom mirror. I don't know. Somewhere. Somewhere where you're going to interact with this on a regular basis. I want you to fill in this sentence and I'll fill in mine for you as an example. But this is how it goes. And look at. Look in the show notes. You'll see exactly what I'm saying here. So here's the statement. I want you to write it down and you're going to fill these in. So you're going to start with I'm and there's a blank. And in this blank you can put your role, your experience, that kind of thing. Say I'm blank and I podcast. So blank. And in the second blank, you're going to put the audience. So I'm. What's your role? What's your experience? And I podcast so that my blank audience doesn't have to struggle or wrestle with hate, fear, whatever. That's it. So let's put it into the context of my dad Space podcast, for example, DadSpace CA. It's a podcast for dads, by dads, if you're interested, for dad space. Okay, so why me? So I'm. And here's my fill. In my first blank, I'm a empty nest father of three. And here's the next part. And I podcast so. And my blank would be here in my audience. So I'm an emptiness father of three. And I podcast so that dads who feel ill equipped to be a good dad have the tools and the community to be better. And then the last part, so that my audience, those dads, don't have to worry if they're doing it right. So there you go. There's my statement. Now take that. I wouldn't do that for your own show. And pin it somewhere where you're gonna see it. Put it in your show notes, put it in your trailer. It fuels your consistency. And when your downloads kind of plateau or they even go, they just slow down altogether. I just want you to keep going back to this why me? Statement. Weave it in. Everywhere that you do, throw it in your description, your guest pitches, your intros so the listeners instantly get why you're worth their time, why you're worth their investment. Your why you statement will shape everything you do as a podcaster. It will give you direction. It'll be that North Star we talk about. It'll be that thing that keeps you moving in the right direction. And when you try to podcast without direction, you get lost. You lose sight of your audience, you lose sight of your content, you lose sight of yourself. And you end up spinning your wheels, investing time in the wrong things, chasing trends and creating content for the sake of creating content, not because you have something to say. I would much rather you skip a week if you have nothing to say than to just create something to fill a gap. Your listeners don't want to be a checkbox on your to do list. They want connection. They want to connect with you as a podcaster. They value your opinions, they value your insights, they value your consistency that you keep showing up for them and you build a relationship with them over time simply by you being you. So don't struggle with how often you release your episode, what time of day, what day of the week, all of that stuff, how long the episode should be. Should I have my intro? Should I do a call to action? The beginning, middle, end, all that stuff. It's all pieces of a puzzle. Focus on the big picture of a completed puzzle, not the individual pieces on their own. It's overwhelming. 2000 piece puzzle. 2000 pieces all over your desk. But when you finally have a vision of what this looks like, in the end, it gives you direction. So focus not on the task, but focus on the result. And your why you statement is going to help you. There's a quote that I've. I've gone back to many times in my life that gives you a better picture of having a bigger goal and not focusing on the little things. Focus on the result again, going back to that puzzle. Focus on every little piece, but focus on the result. What's this going to look like when I'm done? Put that box in front of you, bring out the picture that comes with the puzzle and make that your guide. Don't focus just on the puzzle pieces in front of you. And this quote talks about how to motivate people. I just love it. Here it is. I'd love for you to hear it. I think it gives you a lot of good perspective as we as podcasters think about how we show up in our world and how we serve our audience. But listen to this.
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If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. Antoine de Saint Exupery.
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My hope for you as a podcaster is you long for the endless immensity of what podcasting can be. An ocean where you can't see land for miles. And that's the opportunity in front of you. So get past the microphone, get past the content creation, get past the name of my podcast. How frequently will I do the show? Those are all pieces of the puzzle. Focus more on the result. And when we come back to the question of this episode, why you? I like to make this question three words instead of two instead of why you? As the main takeaway, I'm going to say add one more word to this right in the middle and be why not you? Why not you? Why not be the voice of this community? Why not be the person with curiosity? Why not be the one to start this show? Answer the why you? And then answer the why not you? I think you're going to find this will help you to settle in your own heart and mind that you're in the right space. If you have questions about this and you're like, yeah, but I'm still wrestling Dave, then come join our community and meet up. Reach out to me through my calendar link. Let's have a conversation. You're not meant to podcast alone. You're not meant to do this by yourself. You're meant to do this in community. So please stop wrestling with yourself. Find people in your world that can build you up and support you. I would love to be one of those people at howtopodcast. Cat, why you and why not you? A couple questions for you to think about as you get ready for your next episode. Thanks for listening. Hey, it's Dave. Thank you for sticking around to the end. This is where we do our call to action, or pathway to engagement, as I like to call it. And here's what's interesting. I've been doing this podcast for years now, hosting meetups, helping podcasters, editing for people, doing a lot of the behind the scenes stuff. And I, when we have people who follow the show, reach out to me and say, dave, guess what? I'm like, what? They said, I just hired my first consultant. I'm going to go work with them and help me with my podcast. And I kind of go, wait a minute, you what? They're like, yeah, yeah, I found a podcast consultant and they're going to help me with my show. It's hard to pretend to be happy. Why? Because I want to work with you. I like, wait a minute. Like Dave, you know the guy Dave, who's been doing the how to Podcast series and eight other podcasts, and the guy that's been with you the whole time and we've done meetups, we've done time together, we've spent time together and you've hired somebody else now? Maybe I'm not your person. That's okay. I'm totally fine with that. By the way. Keep coming back. I love having you here, but if you're like, well, I didn't hire you because you don't have anything like that, do you? And I do, and I have been for a long time and I don't talk about it enough, apparently, because people are going to other people looking for things that Dave does. So in the spirit of Dave and in the spirit of making better connections with you, I do have personal coaching in podcasting. I have podcast community. I have all of the resources, I have all of the background the history in podcasting and the love for you as a fellow podcaster. If you're looking for a podcast coach, somebody who can walk with you, somebody who cares about you, someone who is your challenger, your cheerleader, and your coach. Because even though I've said on the show you can't be all three, I think I am. And I want to help you. So howtopodcast Ca, please, before you go searching anywhere else, come to where we started and where we met first. Right here. I'd love to help you. How to podcast. Come reach out to me. I want to talk to you. Thanks. You're still here. That's amazing. Great. This is our little time, just you and me. It's a bonus. At the end of the episode, most people are gone. So just us. When I talk a lot on the show about building in public, and people get nervous about building in public, they only want to show the best of the best. They don't want to show the messy middle. And there's a TV show called say yes to the Dress. Now, am I an avid watcher of that show? Probably no. I know about it, but I don't think I've even watched an entire episode. But the title of it, say yes to the Dress. I would like to rename that say yes to the mess. And as podcasters, we need to say yes to the messy middle, where we don't really know what we're doing, where we don't have all the answers, and we. We feel a little bit uneasy. We feel like we're putting ourselves into a creative space where we're going to have to grow a little bit. When you were a teenager and your body was growing, everything hurt, right? Growing pains. You remember that. Your bones hurt, your muscles hurt, your body was. You're getting taller. Everything's kind of like changing, right? Your whole. Your whole body is going through this big change. As podcasters, we're going through changes as well. You're learning, you're growing. And to hide that messy middle, I think robs your audience of seeing somebody grow in real time. And also, you don't get to see how you've changed. So instead of hiding the mess and only giving us the best of the best, it's time to say yes to the mess and let people in. Let them see you grow. Because if people can be motivated by your growth, they can take that home with them. That could be the start of their growth journey. They're just going to model after what you're doing, and I think that's what we do as podcasters. We set the stage, we start the conversation, we present the idea, and then we get out of the way and our audience takes it from there. So instead of say yes to the dress, say yes to the message, and let people see your messy middle as you try to figure this thing out. Don't just show them the results. Show them the journey, show them the path. And in that, your audience is going to fall in love with you even more. Say yes to the mess. Thanks for being here.