Getting Out of Your Own Way: Finding the Courage to Podcast

Dave Jackson:
You've been wanting to start a podcast for a while. You keep trying to record and you are just paralyzed with fear. I'm going to tell you some things that I do to get your content out.

Brother Love:
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.

Dave Jackson:
So I'm on Reddit and I see this post, and this person says, I have a message I need, want to get out, and literally cannot get out of my own way. I keep thinking about all the editing I'll have to do, uh, followed by the criticism I'll receive from God knows whoever. I also tried telling myself, do it for you, but I still freeze before I even hit record. Perfectionism? Hell yeah, she says. I want it to sound so good, like really good, but I don't have the budget right now for production, so I'm stuck between just drop it and but what if it's bad? Here's my other issue: I have notes, but I ramble anyway. I have a script and it sounds like a Roam bot. Then I have, of course, nothing. She says Whitney Houston here.

Dave Jackson:
Nothing, nothing, nothing. And the thing is, some of my best stuff happens when I'm just in it, in the zone, talking, uh, feeling it. But I can't figure out how to capture that in a way that is also listenable without spending 4 hours editing out every um, like, and tangent. So the main question is, do people care? Like, do people actually care about the rambling or the audio quality if the content hits? Is there a format that lets you be in the moment and still keep things tight, or do you just let it be messy and trust that people will follow you anyway? Are there folks here who just record and post with minimal editing? How do you live with yourself? Because I have something worth saying and I'm tired of it sitting in my head. So this is what I recommended, and I realize I didn't read this whole thing. The question is, do people care? They do when you waste their time. They do when you— that's the big thing. Podcasts are free, but they're not.

Dave Jackson:
People are paying with their attention and their time. And so I said, I have found that even if you over-edit, because people do say, um, But when they say, um, like, you know, um, so much, um, that it gets annoying, that's a problem. So an um here and there isn't a big deal. So this is what works for me. I write a blog. Why? Because I'm kind of ADD, and I have to figure out what am I trying to say and how do I want people to feel. And so that's the first thing. Then I read my blog 3 times.

Dave Jackson:
Not to memorize it, but to get the gist of it. And I do not cheat. I read the whole thing from top to bottom 3 times. Then I boil that down to 3 or 4 bullet points, however many bullet points you need, and that's kind of my map to keep me on track. Then I press record and I talk to my friend, you, You're sitting right across the desk from me right now. And much like a phone call, it's just this invisible person on the other side of the desk, and I riff on the bullet points. Then what do you do? You edit, because you're not perfect. Anything that went off the rails too much, you edit out.

Dave Jackson:
And that starts by knowing who you're talking to, because again, you don't want to waste their time. Keep in mind, you don't have an audience yet, so you're worried about people leaving comments. Who? You don't have an audience yet. And so this person is worried about people leaving comments. If you're really worried about comments, don't start a podcast. It's that simple. You're gonna get comments. You will eventually get a 1-star review, and that's okay.

Dave Jackson:
There's a name for that person: not your target audience. But also, you don't have an audience yet. You're not going to get any comments because you're going to get maybe 10 downloads that first episode, depending on how many cousins you have. So even if it's bad, nobody's going to hear it, and you should get some feedback before it goes live. At the School of Podcasting, we have listener parties. I love them because it's just the most constructive feedback an uplifting experience. Everybody that's done it loves it. And so we often say at the School of Podcasting, thanks to, uh, Ryan Parker, he was the first one that said it.

Dave Jackson:
He said, look, nobody's gonna punch you in the face. It's, you know, you're across the world. So keep that in mind. Do people care? Yeah, if you waste their time. And I have listened to shows where it was just someone talking about what they did during the week, but there wasn't any lesson to learn. I always say you want to make people laugh, cry, think, groan, educate them, entertain them, and if you can save them time or save them money, that will deliver value. But here's the other thing: you can't get better at something if you aren't doing it. When I first started to play the guitar at a young age, my fingers were too small.

Dave Jackson:
When my hand grew, I was left-handed, and it was like trying to learn how to play the guitar in a mirror. And so I said, that's it, I'm not left-handed anymore. And then it was a matter of I wasn't strong enough to press hard. You have to press hard on a guitar to get the notes to sound right. But I kept trying, and eventually I was able to play. And I've played since I was, I don't know, probably I don't know, 12. I mean, I tried when I was 5, my hands were too small. But it's not something that you're just going to turn on the mic and all of a sudden you have the same experience as someone who's had 3 years on a microphone.

Dave Jackson:
But how do you get better? You practice and you keep going and realize that there is nothing you can do. There's nothing you can do to make episode 1 as good as episode 10. Here's something else you can do. Instead of focusing on you and how scared you are, focus on your audience. Focus on that one person who really needs to hear your content. Because in the end, when your need to serve is larger than your fear of looking stupid, you will press record and you will publish. Now here's the other thing I'm gonna point out, and maybe you've already figured it out. I have a cold.

Dave Jackson:
I've stopped 3 times to cough, and my nose is a little stuffy. Who cares? Yeah, I sound a little different. Can you understand what I'm saying? Yes. Don't overthink it. Don't let perfectionism stop you from making, you know, what could be a really good podcast. If you aim for perfect and you miss, you might land on really, really good. If you need help with this, if you need somebody to listen to your stuff, maybe you want to have a listener party of your own, go over to schoolofpodcasting.com and use the coupon code listener, and that'll save on either your monthly, quarterly, or your yearly subscription. See, I can't breathe, and so I can't talk.

Dave Jackson:
Do we care? No, because you know exactly how this feels when you're sick. But I wanted to get a message out. I've been on the road and I saw that and I was like, oh, that's this week's episode. So schoolofpodcasting.com. I'm Dave Jackson. I help podcasters. It's what I've been doing for almost 21 years now, and I want to see what happens when I work with you because I want to be your podcast consultant.