Episode Summary: "How to Not Look Stupid While Podcasting (Trust Me)"

Podcast: Your Podcast Consultant: Podcast Tips To Avoid Podcasting Mistakes
Host: Dave Jackson
Episode Date: May 1, 2026
Episode Duration: ~9 minutes

Overview

In this brisk, anecdote-filled episode, Hall of Fame podcaster Dave Jackson tackles one of the biggest anxieties for new and aspiring podcasters: the fear of "looking stupid." Through a mix of personal stories, humor, and practical advice, Dave demonstrates that mistakes are inevitable, but are best addressed with self-awareness, learning, and the wonders of editing. The episode encourages creators to embrace their early missteps as invaluable learning experiences—reminding them that even the most awkward moments can lead to either a great podcast or, at the very least, a great story.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Embarrassing Lesson (00:00–02:15)

Dave recounts a personal 4th of July mishap:
Standing in the rain for fireworks, he checks his phone while walking, trips, and badly scrapes his hands and knees in front of neighbors.
- Quote: “My brain is telling me, you’re falling, and this is a concrete sidewalk.” (01:25)
Takeaway: The root cause of looking stupid is often “doing something stupid.”
- Quote: “So here’s how you don’t look stupid. Don’t do stupid stuff. Thank you. Good night.” (02:15)
Lesson: We all make mistakes—how we respond is what matters.

2. Social Permission for Looking Silly (02:20–03:28)

Dave draws parallels with group behavior:
- Browns fans barking, spelling O-H-I-O at parties, and performing the Chicken Dance at weddings.
- Quote: “There aren’t too many other things on the planet that make you look that stupid. But because it’s a wedding...we are willing to join in the fun to look stupid together.” (03:15)
Takeaway: People are comfortable looking silly in a group; the fear is worst when feeling exposed.

3. Demystifying the Podcast Audience (03:28–04:15)

Reality check for new podcasters:
- Early episodes usually have a tiny audience—family and a handful of friends.
- Quote: “When you first start out, you’re going to be lucky if you get, you know, how many cousins do you have? If you get more than 30, that’s impressive.” (03:45)
Advice: Early missteps are low-stakes; use this time to learn and grow.

4. The Value of Starting Small (04:15–07:10)

Dave’s musician analogy:
- His bands began with low-pressure gigs (like a cancer benefit), gradually moving up to larger venues.
- Early gigs had their own embarrassing or teachable moments, such as the chain-smoking singer at a cancer benefit and accidentally trashing a venue over a hot mic.
- Quote: “‘Hey Ben, this place sucks. I’m going home.’ And it went out over the PA system.” (06:22)
Lesson:
- Mistakes are part of the journey.
- Quote: “The easiest way to not look stupid is to not do stupid things.” (07:10)
- Quote: “It’s smart to learn from your mistakes…it’s even better to learn from someone else’s mistakes.” (07:15)

5. Podcast-Specific Practical Advice (07:10–08:15)

Embrace editing:
- Many “stupid” moments can be avoided or corrected in post-production.
- Quote: “You can make yourself sound as smart as you want right now.” (08:05)
Recent experience: Dave references a tough interview, stressing that even pros must edit for rhythm and flow.

6. Reframing the Fear of Failure (08:15–End)

Dave’s “two outcomes” philosophy:
- “When you go to start a podcast, you’re gonna have one of two things. You’re gonna end up with a great podcast, especially if you keep going. Or you’re gonna have a great story about that time when you started a podcast.” (08:28)
Encouragement: If help is needed, reach out for coaching or community support.

Noteworthy Quotes & Memorable Moments

“So here’s how you don’t look stupid. Don’t do stupid stuff. Thank you. Good night.” (02:15)
“There aren’t too many other things on the planet that make you look that stupid. But because it’s a wedding...we are willing to join in the fun to look stupid together.” (03:15)
“When you first start out, you’re going to be lucky if you get, you know, how many cousins do you have?...If you get more than 30, that’s impressive.” (03:45)
“Hey Ben, this place sucks. I’m going home. And it went out over the PA system.” (06:22)
“It’s smart to learn from your mistakes…it’s even better to learn from someone else’s mistakes.” (07:15)
“You can make yourself sound as smart as you want right now.” (08:05)
“You’re gonna end up with a great podcast...or you’re gonna have a great story about that time when you started a podcast.” (08:28)

Timestamps for Key Segments

00:00 — Personal 4th of July mishap story, setting up the theme
02:20 — Group behaviors and feeling safe looking silly in a crowd
03:28 — Podcast audience realities (“your first 30 listeners”)
04:15 — Lessons from being a musician, learning in front of small audiences
06:22 — Embarrassment over a hot mic and learning from it
07:10 — The role of editing and learning from others’ mistakes
08:28 — Final encouragement (“great podcast or great story”)

Episode Tone & Takeaway

Dave keeps the tone conversational, humorous, and down-to-earth. His approach demystifies content creation blunders and frames them as necessary steps to mastery. The message: don’t let fear of looking stupid keep you from starting or growing your podcast—use small audiences and the power of editing to your advantage, and remember: every stumble is a potential story or lesson for you and your future audience.

Transcript

A (0:00)

It was July 4th, and I had walked to the end of my street where I could see fireworks, except I also felt the first raindrop, and I thought, oh, no, I'm not standing in the rain to see fireworks. And I ended up doing something very stupid. And I'm going to tie that into podcasting for you.

B (0:22)

Welcome to your podcast consultant. Small lessons with big value. With more than a decade of experience and millions of downloads, this hall of fame podcaster is a featured speaker, author, and mentor to thousands. Now he wants to work with you. He's your podcast consultant, Dave Jackson.

A (0:49)

So we're going to talk about looking stupid today. But to finish my story, I was kind of walking fast, and I did what most people do these days, which is really stupid. I pulled out my phone and started scrolling through stuff as I was walking up. I'd only walked about a block and a half, so it wasn't that far up. And the next thing I know, I'm seeing my phone go flying out of my hand, and my brain is telling me, you're falling, and this is a concrete sidewalk. And what had happened was the different blocks were uneven, and my left foot had just stopped. And so I was falling, and I had some momentum behind me, and luckily, I let go of my phone and went to brace myself and skinned my. You know, the butts of your hands. But I also completely wrecked my knees. And I get up. Well, everybody is standing in their front yard because, again, you can see fireworks from my street. And they're all like, are you okay? Are you okay? And of course, I'm a guy. And I go, yeah, yeah, I'm just a little embarrassed. I'm fine. And I keep walking, and I can feel the pain in my knees, but I'm trying to look cool. And I stumble on home, and I get inside and my knees are wrecked. And actually, a couple years later, my knees still have the scars from that. I should have probably gone and got some stitches or something, but it's the 4th of July, nothing was open, etc. Well, Dave, what does this have to do with podcasting? I look stupid. I was doing something stupid. That's why I looked stupid. So here's how you don't look stupid. Don't do stupid stuff. Thank you. Good night. Thank you. But here's my point. I live in Cleveland, Ohio. Well, near it, not really Akron, but you get the point. And if I go to a room full of friends, let's say we got 30 people in a room, and I scream out, here we go, Brownies. Here we go. There's gonna be people in that room that will bark like a dog. They will literally go, roof, roof. Grown adults will bark like a dog. Since we live in Ohio, there's the whole Louie Louie song. And when you get to the one part, everybody goes, oh, H, I O. Apparently we're really into spelling in Ohio. But again, okay, but here's the ultimate one. If you're at a wedding and you go to the reception, probably after dinner, one of the first things they're going to play is, You know that. And everybody stands up and you remember. Do you remember it now? You kind of, you make your hand. You do your little hand puppet and then you do. Then you flap your arms under your armpits, and then as you crouch down, you kind of do a little twist. And then as you stand up, you go. That is known as the chicken dance. And there aren't too many other things on the planet that make you look that stupid. But because it's a wedding and because everybody else is doing it, we are willing to join in the fun to look stupid together. So with this said, people are worried about doing a podcast because they don't want to look stupid and they feel like the audience is listing. And I always like to remind people when you first start out, you're going to be lucky if you get, you know, how many cousins do you have? Okay. I always say if you get more than 30, that's impressive. It's probably closer to 10 to 20. And so if you're going to look stupid, this would be the time to do it. When I was a musician, I played for years, and when we finally were good enough to play in public, we didn't go to the biggest clubs and say, let us get on the big stage. No, no, no. We started. I remember our very first gig for one of the last bands I was in. We played a cancer benefit at a high school where the band was in the middle of the football field and everybody was walking around earning money for that. And the great part of that was our lead singer was a chain smoker who chain smoked through the whole thing at a cancer benefit. And. But it got our chops in and got our reps in. And eventually when we were pretty seasoned and we had kind of figured out what we were going to be when we were on stage, then we started going for the bigger things. We worked our way up. Now, did we occasionally look stupid? Yes. Even after we'd done that, one of our favorite clubs we want, we really like. When we started we said, someday we're going to play Fatfish Blue in Cleveland, Ohio. And we finally sent them a demo tape and did everything, and they said yes. We had a running gag. Then at the end of the night, when we're getting ready to pack everything up and we're almost done, the bass player would look at the keyboard player and go, hey, Ben, this place sucks. I'm going home. And we would all giggle and grab the last things and go out. So we are at Fatfish Blue, which is no more. It was a bar that was previously a concrete parking lot deck. So the acoustics were not exactly premier, but we were happy. We had played the premier blues club in Cleveland, and we're almost done, but we haven't. They have their own PA system. And so the bass player, not realizing that he was, I don't know, four inches from a microphone, turned to the keyboard player and said, hey, Ben, this place sucks. I'm going home. And it went out over the PA system. And while we had been booked for most of the year there, we then lost all of our gigs. And we learned a valuable lesson there. You know, some. Some things we maybe should wait till we're out in the parking lot to do the running gag. The bottom line is we did something stupid and we learned. And so the easiest way to not look stupid is to not do stupid things. And so they always say, you know, it's smart to learn from your mistakes. And that's true. It's even better to learn from someone else's mistakes. And so that's one of the things that I help people do. I understand what podcasting best practices, and that's what I teach at the school of podcasting. So don't try to do this, and don't try to do this. Now. I always explain that you may be different, but in the end, that's why there's editing, and you can make yourself sound as smart as you want right now. This evening, I was recording an interview I did, and it was myself and another person that I've known for years, but we just could not get a decent rhythm going. And so what do you do with that? You edit out the boring parts. You edit out the parts where we're talking over each other. You can make yourself sound brilliant. So don't worry about it, because you've looked stupid in the past, and you will probably look stupid in the future. And I always say this, and it's kind of a joke, but it's kind of a knot. And that is when you go to start a podcast, you're gonna have one of two things. You're gonna end up with a great podcast, especially if you keep going. Or you're gonna have a great story about that time when you started a podcast. If you need help with this, don't hesitate to reach out. You know where to find me. Schoolofpodcasting.com Click on the join button and get access to One on One Coaching, an amazing community and step by step courses. Use the coupon code listnr when you sign up for either a monthly or yearly subscription. I'm Dave Jackson. I help podcasters. It's what I do and I want to be your podcast consultant.