← The Podcast Gauntlet - Throw Down, Discuss, Rise & Shine in Podcasting
The Podcast Gauntlet - Throw Down, Discuss, Rise & Shine in Podcasting
You’re the Podcast Host – Be a DICTATOR…
00:20:04
Loading summary
Transcript25 lines
- [00:00]
A
Foreign.
- [00:04]
B
You're listening to the two guys talking podcast network.
- [00:19]
A
You know, plenty of people think that they're a podcaster. Well, guys, you are the podcaster. You are the master of your own destiny inside of your program. It is your show. You're the podcaster. Be a dictator. Or should you? That's what we're going to talk about inside this episode of the podcast Gauntlet. Greetings, everybody. I'm Mike Wilkerson, one of your hosts.
- [00:45]
B
And I'm Brian Ensminger, the other one of your hosts.
- [00:49]
A
Something that many people aren't aware of is the front end deliberation and discussion of our actual topic. And today's was a doozy. Yeah, this is a fun one, mostly because it glances on so many different pieces of what happens inside of a podcast that frankly, I think are essential. Everyone wants to talk about calls to action. Everyone wants to know how to find the guest. Everyone wants to know how to segue out to whatever you're trying to hawk, your sales pitch, all of that. Everyone wants to know all those things. And I don't disagree with any of that. What we're going to talk about today is a little bit different. Brian.
- [01:26]
B
Man, there's so much we could talk about here. And Mike's right. We went back and forth quite a bit about this particular one. I don't know, I probably shouldn't talk about that on the air. He didn't throw anything at me. But we're also separated by a couple hundred miles, so I think we're good with that. But this was born originally out of the idea that, man, this drives me nuts. I see people who have a guest on and there's so many things that happen, they don't pre screen their guests. So it's not a great guess. Not that I've ever done that myself, except that I have. But the thing that drives me nuts is as the host, you're hosting this person, you get to the end, after 30 minutes, an hour, whatever, and you indicate to everybody that you haven't done a lick of research. Because then you turn to your guest and you go, so we're about to sign off. Where can people find you? What should they do next? And then your guest, who's now surprised that you don't know anything about them, says, well, I've got my website here and my other website here, and you can find me on Instagram and Threads and Mastodon and Twitch and Twitter and I've got a YouTube channel and I've got a picture of my puppy over here. And you can also find me at my About Me page. And I've got a course that I'm launching in a couple of weeks. It's pretty good for a lot of people, but if that's not good for you, then you can go check out my book that I'm about to launch. Oh, and then I've also got this course and a master class and three webinars. And next Tuesday, I'm also going to go out for coffee. So if you're in the the Portland area, Portland, Maine, that is, of course, just pop on over to Billy Bob's Potluck and we're having coffee there. I know it doesn't make any sense. And they get to the end and I'm just like, come on, guys. Like, I'm just going to point to a couple of greats that I think like Johnny Carson and David Letterman and some of those talk show people, Whether you like them or not, you almost never got to the end of an interview or the three minutes that they had with somebody to hock their stuff, and the host says, okay, now where can people find you? And what should they do next? No, they hold up a picture of the album that they just released and say, here's the album. Buy it here, and go to the website or whatever. The host owns the call to action. They're still pimping their guests, which is great. That's what they're supposed to do. But they don't turn it on the guest and say, okay, on the fly, come up with something to do. Now, as a guest, I would suggest that you be prepared for that because it happens. So have your one to two things. But as a host, don't do that. Do your research. Figure out what matters. Structure your interview in such a way that it brings that out naturally. And then when you close it up, all you have to do is say, go here, do this thing. It's that simple. Mike, I don't know. I stopped ranting right here.
- [04:04]
A
Ranchmant, my friend, that was awesome. There's not a whole lot more to talk about after you've just stated what you did. However, one of the big things that also this manages is that it also showcases to your guests that you know what the hell you're doing. Yeah, I don't think I see it nearly as much as I used to, but there used to be this whole thing of where, you know, I've just started this podcast and I don't really know what I'm doing, and that was kind of a cool thing. Guys, it's not cool. It looks like you literally did not go look into your guest at all. That is on the front end of. Not only do you not know where to find them, you're not ready to make sure that they don't throw 3,000 things at your listenership. That's really just bad etiquette. In regard to being a podcast host, I can remember a time vividly where I've made the voiceover academy over@voicefarmers.com I've made a podcast editors training academy that is over@editorcore.com where you can also have podcasts edited. And I thought about making. Where there's essentially a host academy where people can come and cut their teeth on learning the skill sets to become what I think. And the people that I surround myself with. An effective podcast host. Does that mean that everybody that comes out of that particular academy, slash university facility, whatever it is, is going to be exactly the same? No. And that's not what I'm looking for. Right. I'm not telling you that you have to emulate and copy exactly what I do or say. What I am telling you is that there are a series of ways to say things that are not only effective, but help provide a series and level of magnetism that allows you as a podcast host to not only succeed as a podcast host, but to then have some of your listenership then tell somebody else about you. Because I think that sometimes the one inside of podcasting, and I know it's a giant lure, it was for me, the allure of podcasting is that there are. There are essentially no rules. You literally can open up some software, grab a buddy, sit down in front of a computer system or screen or a phone, and you can say and do whatever the hell you want right now. I mean, that. That's.
- [06:18]
B
Yeah, that's what we're doing right now.
- [06:20]
A
Amazing. Especially if you happen to be familiar with anything in the development of entertainment or media of any kind, I. E. Radio, traditional television, making movies, all of those things. Podcasting allows most of that to just completely disappear out of any lens. You get to literally do and say what you want. You get to choose what it looks like. You get to convey whatever ideas you want. And man, that's just amazing. But there's also many things that you may or may not be doing but that you think are edgy or it's outside the box. Well, you know, that's just me that somebody needs to grab the wheel and just say, I have a different perspective. Can I share with you what I think of what you're doing and saying, and it's not to smack you down and say that's wrong. It's to help you understand that there might be some other perspective and that maybe there's something that should be looked at and talked about. There's a series of these that I won't name them because I don't think that I need to. There's one that I really enjoy. There's a reaction channel, and I really like him a lot. He's a young man. He's got a young wife. I'm assuming they live alone. They don't have any children. And he does these really great reaction videos, but they are laced with sexual overtone. So much sexual overtone that I almost want to turn him off sometimes, because do we really need him to say any of the probably 12 or 15 things that he says that are everything from just skirting human fluid to, you know, in n out jokes that, like, how does that. How does that help us? Is that a. Is that a piece of your. Is that a piece of you that. That you're doing that? Because if they weren't there, I. I would be all in. I would listen to every single minute without ever looking at the device or the computer screen and go, what? Because that's a speed bump. And this academy that I'm talking about is exactly what would help people understand more about creating things like that. And then I'll also allow them to know that if you're doing something, if somebody doesn't tell you that these are a potential speed bump, you likely will never know because there are no rules. Right? Yeah, that's the first one. And I don't consider myself a prude. I swear, often, not typically when I'm inside of the podcast cone, because I know that it goes out to not only a larger audience, but I'm also culling most of my or half of my audience if I choose to have a big, giant F bomb in the middle of my sentence anymore. And so I don't choose to do that very often inside of the cone of podcasting, with maybe the exception of to emphasize that, man, that's an effing awesome thing. I've never seen anything like that before. To emphasize that. Not using it as a colloquialism to fornication, but rather to just emphasize what I'm saying. The other big one that I often always hear is when a host will jump into a program and you'll get to any point of that is essentially a call to action about what you're talking about. And instead of just saying, you know, we really want to know what you think. Not unlike what we do inside of the podcast Gauntlet, they will not just stop there and then point over to wherever you can interact, whether it's online, a website, blah, whatever. They'll then pile on to that and it becomes where one of these 30 things that I now list is something you can also chime into. And essentially what you get is you get a paralysis of analysis from whomever is listening.
- [10:00]
B
Yeah.
- [10:01]
A
So instead of saying, what do you guys think? And then point to a direction to go and tell us instead, what they'll do is they'll do something to the effect of our show depends on your feedback. We want to know what you think. Did you think that Brian's hair looks great tonight? Did you think that Mike's mustache looks a little bit more red than usual? Do you like to wear dresses while playing volleyball? Wearing roller skates at the local diner? Do you like driving your car on solid ice in the middle of summertime? All of the questions, regardless of how silly they are or not, they instantly drive every piece of interest and question that you might have asked that was legitimate. It blanks out the audience. So guess what they'll tell you. They'll tell you nothing.
- [10:42]
B
Right.
- [10:43]
A
Because they won't contact you because you didn't ask what is traditionally usually one question. That doesn't mean that you can only have one call to action in regard to a question in an episode.
- [10:54]
B
Right.
- [10:55]
A
You can ask a question, but just ask one question every time that you're asking. I think that that's terribly effective. What that also allows you to do, depending on the type of program you have, it allows you to segmentize the videos so that if while you and your co host or your entourage are recording, you can now grab each of those either audio or video bits, and if each of them have a good, solid, dedicated call to what you think about whatever it is the one, you can still leech that out and make that its own episode. And now it stands alone, but also has a call to action in regard to whatever you want. Yeah, I think that that's terribly effective. And that is a piece of the curriculum that I would make inside of a host academy. I know that there are many people that would not only be interested in that, but that would benefit from that. Wildly.
- [11:41]
B
Yeah. One of the things that I really like about what you've shared is it requires that you have a plan. You have to know generally what you want to ask so that you can build the content toward that. That doesn't mean that things can't change, Right? Every battle ideally starts with a plan. We're not necessarily going into battle, but that plan changes as soon as there's an engagement, right? So just have a plan. That's the same thing with the question for the guest at the end. Just have a plan. Honestly, Truth talk. Your research can be as simple as before you hit record, say, what's the website I should tell people and what should I ask them to do? And whether you give that call to action at the top or the end or both. Hint, hint, both. You've got it. You've got it directly from them. It's current, it's relevant, and you don't have to turn to them and say that and then deal with the fallout. Right? It's you as the host, establishing that you're the host. You have a plan. It's a conversation, it's a dialogue, it's a whatever, but you're the host. Just think of it this way. If you invited people over to your house for a thing, you probably have a plan. It may be a very loose plan, like we're going to sit down and watch the game and eat chips, or it could be a full on on dinner party. Doesn't really matter. You, as the host, it's your responsibility to have a plan. If everybody comes over and you say to them, so what are we doing tonight? Everybody's going to be confused. And that's the same things that happens with your guest and with your audience if you don't have a plan. The one thing that I really wanted to key into on what you were sharing about the one question and not adding a whole bunch of other stuff that plays to hosting the guest as well. I can't tell you how many times I've, well, honestly been guilty of this, but also seen this, where a host has a great question, but before the guest can start answering it, they go off and do other things.
- [13:39]
A
There's a variety of things that you've talked about that I think are critical when it comes to being a podcast host. The most important part is that at all, looking and sounding like, you know, what the hell's going on. I have met enough people, especially people that have a good long pedigree and history of being either on television or radio, and for whatever reason, they get in front of a podcast mic inside of a podcast and they admit that they're an idiot inside of podcasting. And I'm like, I'm reasonably certain that there are some mechanics inside of podcasting that you probably don't think or really do understand. Yes, I, I'll give you that. But you, sir or ma', am, are not an idiot when it comes to having a conversation with somebody. What are you talking about? And I, I know that there's a more, there's a more subtle way to ask that, but I just, I, again, I want to be plain. What do you mean you don't know what you're doing? I mean, like, do you ever want to walk up to somebody and say, I can't wait to get your money. I don't really know what I'm doing, but I really can't wait to get your money.
- [14:47]
B
Right.
- [14:48]
A
Because I, I, I don't. That doesn't impress me. It doesn't make me want to do business with you because, like, am I supposed to be impressed? Because you're expressing your willingness to, to be truthful about your skill set? Is that, is that where I'm supposed to go with that? It doesn't mean I got to go get the best, most expensive people, but where is the value in you telling me you're, you're not really worthy of my time or attention or money because you're new. The funny thing about this program, Brian, is that I think we might have come up with probably 10 or so different topics that could all be their own little fortress inside of the podcast gauntlet where I think we wanted to go. The essence of this particular episode was this, is that you've got to command the ship that you are literally driving when you are the podcast host. I think this goes doubly so when it is an entourage of people. There's a number of podcasts that I really, really enjoy listening to and taking in that are made up of usually between 4 to 9 or even 11 people that I've seen inside of their conglomerate. And what I always note there, you know, when you start saying, wait a minute, 11 guests inside of a pod. Yes, yes, a huge one. It's giant, multi, millions of subscribers on YouTube. And you're like, well, wait a minute, how the hell does that get managed? And you know what the answer is? You're gonna laugh at this one. They've all been there. They've all been to the podcast or they've seen the podcast, and they know to either wait their turn or, you know, giant shocker here, the podcast host knows how to guide the conversation, especially to the people that don't say anything because they don't know when to chime in or if they're worthy to chime in because they might be a new voice inside of these what I think are reasonably large and robust series of podcasts. Their political stances and vision of what happens inside of entertainment. They're not for everybody, but they're valid. They're able to say what they're saying and want people to know, and then they ask for input. The most important part of his program, or at least one of the ones I'm thinking about, is that at the end, he literally says the words, if you listened. I'm so appreciative that you were here. If you disagree with me, I'm even more appreciative that you took the time to listen this long. And we've talked about that in a couple of other podcasts where I don't need you to agree with me on everything. In fact, I'd rather you don't, because then there's more to talk about. That is another piece that's inside of what I think would be an incredibly valuable Host Academy experience, where you can. You can dialogue and talk about those things. And what I also love is that I know that the Host Academy would eventually get someone that is the, you know, the bull in the china shop that's just kind of all elbows walking around the room. Right. And I don't mind that either. There's a couple that. That really do have places inside of some of the programming that I, I'm like, I can just wait. There he is. Oh, and here he comes. I can wait for stuff like that. And it's almost a. It's. It's like watching a sitcom and knowing that that character is about to come in. The, the, the. The guy from Seinfeld that, that comes in with the crazy hair. I've gotten his name. Kramer. The Kramer of podcast characters is what I'm talking about, where, you know, you're just having a reasonably haha conversation and the door opens up and crawl.
- [18:18]
B
Yeah.
- [18:19]
A
And those are things that you either look for and you enjoy or maybe you don't. But all of those things, I think, are really, really good, solid pearl moments. The developing pearl moments that would help people. A lot of people, especially the people that think they know everything, too. We talked about that inside of our recent Chemistry set episode too, where working with people that you either don't agree with or maybe you've just never experienced a personality like theirs, I find a lot of value in that because it really helps you to perhaps solidify how you have developed as a podcast personality or how you interact inside of a conversation. And so that's where you ask, well, go ahead.
- [19:02]
B
I was actually just going to hint that we head here. So I should step back and let you be the dictator.
- [19:08]
A
Shut up. It's my turn to talk. That's where we ask you guys, what do you think of everything that we talked about inside this episode? There's been many things, but do you need to be a dictator inside of your podcast? That's what you're going to tell us inside of the contact form down at our website. Over at podcastgauntlet.com go to podcastgauntlet.com, click on the contact form, fill out the quick web form, and let us know what you think about being a dictator inside of your own podcast. Until next time when we throw down discuss. Rise and shine in podcasting. I'm Mike Wilkerson, one of your hosts.
- [19:45]
B
And I'm Brian Ensminger, the one of your hosts that really wants you to like and subscribe this video.
- [19:50]
A
And I, as the dictator of this podcast, require you to click the like button right down here. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time.