Monday, August 2, 2021

Today:

“Remember, it’s not what you say, do, or wear. It’s how you make people feel that generates executive presence. Nothing. Else. Matters.”

Hello, this is Joe Kwon, the Connection Counselor, and welcome to another episode of Executive Presence Morsels - bonus edition. Today, we're going to talk about making of a podcast, the distribution. So we're going to cover two topics today - hosting and post. But, before we get started, just wanting to remind you, on July 5th, we are launching our new daily podcast, Executive Presence Morsels.

I'll be delivering that 5 days a week. It will be delivered in the morning, 7:00 AM Eastern, so you can get your insights bright and early reflect, and perhaps even use them throughout the day to increase your executive presence, which elevates your career, by giving you access to more opportunities.

Do you remember when you heard your first podcast? Do you remember what your favorite podcast is? We would love to know. When did you first start listening to podcasts and why, and what do you love about podcasting? It's really easy for you on Anchor to click a link and leave a voice message, so we'd love to hear, what you love about podcasting and what other podcasts you like. Feel free to leave us a message. I listen to all the messages and where I can, I like to share them in future episodes.

So with that said, let's get started. Hosting. So hosting, don't want to make it too complicated. I like to keep things simple. And it's basically a home for your podcast, right? You have this file, you have some data surrounding the title and the episode of the numbering. That all has to live somewhere.

I mean, it's not exactly a website, but if you think of it as a website. That content has to sit somewhere and have a home. And that's essentially what the host does. So there's two different ways you can think about the hosting. It can either be done, on a website that you purchase and run like a blog, Squarespace, Wix, a lot of the other kind of popular and commonly used websites often have a podcast hosting functionality.

I won't go into all the details, but then there's a couple things you need to do to get that set up, and configured. And then from there you can record and host all your podcasts there. So the other main option are podcast hosting platforms, right? So instead of on a website you own, you either rent and pay money for a separate site to host your podcast. And some of these are actually free.

So Anchor.fm, which I use for this website, for this podcast, excuse me, is free. There's another, kind of older one. I think it's one of the original ones called Libsyn and it's got a very small monthly fee and then there's other, there's other hosts, like, I believe Podbean and Blueberry are other ones that are pretty popular that people use.

I'm not sure if they're free. I think they might be free or for a small cost as well. So it's really easy to find a home for your podcast without spending too much money on it.

And I do both. So I have my own website where I host some of my podcasts and then I use Anchor for some other podcasts. So you don't have to just pick one, and be stuck with it.

The second part I wanted to cover today is the posting of the podcast. So depending on how you have things set up, you may need to set up posting to all the different platforms. So what's a platform? The platform is just the provider that that particular person is using to play the podcast.

So, Apple podcast is one, Stitcher is another one that use that I like, Google Play, I believe has one. Spotify, you may be listening to this on Spotify. Amazon Music has gotten into the podcasting game. So these are basically just different kind of doors that you can open to get your podcasts. And the nice thing is a lot of podcasts are off. All of these platforms are on multiple platforms.

However, here's the thing. For your podcast, you're going to want to make sure you're on Apple podcasts at a minimum because that's, they still have the lion's share of podcasting. And then, anything else you want to be on, you also have to, post your podcast there.

So what does that mean to post your podcasts? Typically what happens is once you've hosted it, there will be something called an RSS link, which basically just looks like a URL. You know, likewww and all the letters that follow after it. What that basically does, is if you provide that to the additional platforms, they'll be able to pull down all the information from whoever's hosting and replicate it onto their platform.

So people can listen now to your podcast in several different places, right? Not everyone has an Apple device or wants an Apple device. So maybe Apple podcasts isn't going to do it for them. So then you need to go on a different provider that's not Apple-specific.

So there you go, hosting and posting. This is where it starts to get a little bit more technical, but you can do it with just a little bit of reading. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know. And again, I mentioned a good colleague and friend of mine, Neil C. Hughes, who does this semi-professionally or I should just say professionally. He does this as part of his living, super knowledgeable guy, and he can either hook you up with some resources or help you himself.

So I hope you enjoyed and learned something today. This is how I'm setting up my podcast for you. Again, we're launching on July 5th. I am so excited! We're getting closer to the launch of Executive Presence Morsels. Just want to tell you, I'm terrified because I promised all of you that I will produce an episode every single week day. Five days a week, holidays, vacations don't matter, committed for one year.

So that works out to roughly 260 episodes, without missing a single day. That is my promise to you. And I don't like to break promises. So I'm terrified at all the work and energy that will have to be put in, but it's totally going to be worth it.

I'm so excited. I'm already having a blast recording these bonus episodes. So see you on July 5th. Please subscribe. Please leave a voice message with some encouragement, questions, whatever you like. We'd love to hear from you.

My name is Joe Kwon, the Connection Counselor. Remember, you can change your life - one connection at a time.

Friday, July 2, 2021

Today: We explore what you need to turn your podcast idea into a reality. We also review some of of my favorite examples of well-made indie podcasts.

Some of my favorite examples of podcasts that made it happen:

1. Stories of Selling Human, by Alex Smith

2. Own Your Awkward, by Andy Vargo

3. Getting Unstuck, by Jeff Ikler and Kirsten Richert

4. DreamsRecycled, by Tiffany Ann Beverlin

Your turn: We'd love to hear from you. Use the "Message" button on the Anchor app to share a story, question, or feedback related to this episode. Or email us at joe@connectioncounselor.com

Learn more: Details about the book, online course, YouTube tutorials and more can be found at www.connectioncounselor.com/executive-presence-place

Music: Earning Happiness by John Bartmann is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License

“Remember, it’s not what you say, do, or wear. It’s how you make people feel that generates executive presence. Nothing. Else. Matters.”

Transcript hHello, this is Joe Kwon, the Connection Counselor. I'm so excited. This is our last episode of Executive Presence Morsels - bonus edition, before the launch of our actual podcast, Executive Presence Morsels, which is taking place the day after Independence day, July 5th. So starting July 5th, I'll be meeting with you every day, 7:00 AM in the morning, sharing some executive presence insights that you can use throughout your day to elevate your career.

So these episodes have been to give you a little bit of, preview of what's to come, as well as some of the background as to how this podcast is made, as well as if you're interested in making your own podcast, giving you some very simple, streamlined tips and tricks that could maybe nudge you in the right direction and get you creating something, rather than Googling and spending all your time, reading different.

So today we're going to talk about making a podcast - the reality. So these are going to be some of my experiences from actually participating in creating four separate podcasts. And I'll share with you some of my insights and learnings, as well as highlighting some podcasts that I've been on, with colleagues and friends, where I think they're doing something exceptional, that I want to point out that maybe that can give you some insights, as well.

So the first principle I want to share with you is "part of one is better than none." So let me say that again, "part of one is better than none." So many episodes that I've come up with, so many things that I put together, whether it's a book or online training or a podcast, it was done in tiny little pieces.

It's kind of cobbled together over time and then edited to make one cohesive piece. So sometimes it may just be five minutes. It may be 30 minutes. It's very rare that I can actually have the time to go from beginning to end, uninterrupted and create the perfect product. You don't have the time often to do that, unless this is your full-time gig, and even then things get in the way.

And also creatively and energy wise, often it doesn't happen that way. Sometimes you just have 30 minutes of kind of energy or mojo to go, and then you kind of peter out. So anytime you spend after that is actually wasted time. The key is...to do just a little bit, right.

To be consistent. And even if it's like one minute today, three minutes tomorrow, and then you're having a really good day the day after that and you do 20 minutes, it's that consistency and keeping to do it. Because what happens is if you skip too often, then one day becomes two days becomes four days.

I'll go to the gym in a week. And then all of a sudden it's a year and later and 30 pounds later. And you'd never gone to the gym, right, after buying that expensive or what seemed at the time, a good deal, a monthly subscription, right? So doing even just a little bit, right? Even if it's just a thought or writing something down, making an incremental effort really will go a long way to help you produce something consistently. It doesn't seem that way, but it definitely makes a difference.

Second principle I'll share with you. How do you actually get these things done? Right? Like I get that question a lot. So the principle I'll share with you is it's not because I'm super hardworking or more industrious than anyone else. I mean, I work pretty hard, right? But I don't think that's the key.

The principle I'll share is "a factory line saves you time." Right? What does that mean? A factory line, saves you time. What I've noticed is when I'm most productive, I'm kind of repeating the same thing over and over again. Right? So if you think about different things you may need to do for a podcast, there's recording the intro or filling in the titles or coming up with titles. Rather than do one episode and do A through Z for that episode and then repeat, sometimes what helps a lot is let me, let me come up with five episodes.

I'll come up with five titles right now. I'll start to fill in the five intros for those titles and I'll create sort of a production line. And what happens is if you're doing the same thing over and over again, you get faster, you get better, you get better ideas.

So you're actually much more productive doing things repetitively and breaking up into pieces, than trying to go all the way straight through and repeating it. That can be good too, but in general, to be more productive, I feel like having more of a production line or a factory line definitely saves you time.

The last principle I'll share, and this one is so key, I call it "in order to prevail, prepare to fail." Right? So you just have to know that there'll be times where the recording doesn't work well, or you say something stupid or something got deleted by accident. Just understand that these things are gonna happen.

So what are the things that you can prepare to do to offset those? So for instance, If you have a launch date, give yourself enough time and start working ahead of time, so you're not trying to do everything the night before, and then you're up until 2:00 AM in the morning. And then you find out the next day, you totally botched the launch and everyone's hearing your great first episode and it's all staticky or you're totally missing a section and you're embarrassed, and then now you've just given up.

However, if you prepared for the launch and you tested everything three or four days before, you'd have adequate time to rerecord, to rejigger things just to fix what you need to do. So in that way, if you're prepared to fail and know that things can go wrong, you can handle it better. And also you give yourself the space and sort of the mental capacity to go in and fix it.

I want to share with you and highlight just a couple of podcasts of friends and colleagues of mine that I've been on and just really quickly to share some things that I really like about what they're doing. So Alex Smith, he does a sales podcast called Stories of Selling Human.

And what I love about what he's doing is I talked about passion and your topic. He's really taking his passion, which is not sales. His passion is. Operating like a human being, right? Like as a real person that cares about others and not just about yourself. His job is in sales, but it's really about being a human and he brings great, other salespeople who have that same mentality.

And one of the great things that I think he gets to do is he gets to network and meet other great salespeople. So it's really a win-win situation. So Alex is doing a great job - Stories of Selling Human. I'll include links to all these podcasts. Definitely check it out.

Another great podcast is by my good friend, Andy Vargo; met him at the no longer virtual conference. He does this great podcast called Own Your Awkward. I won't spoil the story, but Andy has a really interesting backstory. And his theme is feeling awkward for a lot of his life. And he really turns that and leverages it into a strength and his business. And he makes his living by talking to other people about how they may feel awkward and how you can get through that and how you could actually use that to your advantage.

So check out Andy's podcast - Own Your Awkward. He's also a standup comedian, which jeez, it takes a lot of bravery. Public speaking is tough, but stand up comedian, come on. So Andy has some really great insights to share, as well.

Next Jeff Ikler and Kirsten Richert. Two dear friends also met through him through NLV - the No Longer Virtual conference.

They do such a great job co-hosting, right? So I didn't talk about this much, but you can also co-host. You don't have to go it on your own. Definitely have a good relationship with your co-host, right? Because you don't want to be talking over each other or arguing. I think they have such a good trusting relationship and they've known each other over the years so this works for them and they have this great educational podcast called, Getting Unstuck.

It's about education and innovation and solving those really sticky problems and figuring out ways to do better for, you know, our youth and for the children and people that we're trying to educate. So check them out if you're interested in a co-host format. They do it so well.

I've been on their podcast, more than once actually, and it's just a great experience. It doesn't feel any different than going with one great host. So check that.

And last but not least, Tiffany Ann Beverlin and she has a podcast called, Dreams Recycled. I won't spoil it, but Tiffany also has a really interesting backstory how she started her business, the name of the podcast, how she came into all this. Actually she came on my podcast, Why it Works, and I learned a lot about her backstory on that podcast. So check out her podcast, Dreams Recycled.

What she does really well is she builds community, right? She's got this great website for a community, the podcast caters to that community. And she's really masterful at building things for her community that are important to her community and that address their pain points. Remember we talked about in the content section, "what's the audience's pain?"

And Tiffany has created this great business around understanding, resonating, and connecting with her audience. So just a few podcasts besides mine to inspire you. And hopefully you'll get a chance to listen to those and get something good out of them.

Well, July 5th - coming right around the corner! We're launching our daily podcast, Executive Presence Morsels. Five days a week, delivered fresh to you in the morning a tasty morsel that you can take with you to sustain you throughout the day; think about it, reflect on it and act on it so you can build your executive presence and elevate your career.

My name is Joe Kwon. I'm the Connection Counselor. Remember. You can change your life - one connection at a time. Thank you.ere

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Today: Find out the basics of how this podcast and other podcasts are made. Today we cover the most basic equipment you will need to record, as well as some recommendations for what works.

For examples of the equipment mentioned, check out this corresponding blog post: https://www.joekwonjoe.com/blog/2021/6/15/making-of-a-podcast-the-equipment

Your turn: We'd love to hear from you. Use the "Message" button on the Anchor app to share a story, question, or feedback related to this episode. Or email us at joe@connectioncounselor.com

Learn more: Details about the book, online course, YouTube tutorials and more can be found at www.connectioncounselor.com/executive-presence-place

Music: Earning Happiness by John Bartmann is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License

“Remember, it’s not what you say, do, or wear. It’s how you make people feel that generates executive presence. Nothing. Else. Matters.”

Hello, this is Joe Kwon, the Connection Counselor, and welcome to the easy peasy way to make a podcast - part 1. Today we'll be covering equipment, and this is bonus material for Executive Presence Morsels, the podcast that we're launching on July 5th.

And what I wanted to share is, I get questions a lot about how to do a podcast. I've been doing several for several years now, “Why It Works,” “The Big Lie,” and most recently “Si-Suite” with ALPFA, which is a Latino non-profit that I'm on the board of for the New Jersey chapter.

And so a lot of people are interested in podcasting. They enjoy doing it, and they're thinking about doing it themselves. So I just wanted to share a little bit about my process and how I made this podcast and also how I make the other podcasts, but in a way that's very accessible. Non-technical. So if you're interested in doing this yourself, you'll have a little bit of a steer and you can sort of get going without having to spend, a week or a month researching on the internet. You can just get started with this information.

So hopefully it'll help you and you'll enjoy creating and generating podcasts as much as I do. Cause it's one of the favorite things that I get to do creatively and also semi-professionally, as well. So today we're going to talk about equipment, right?

So if you're going to record a podcast, you need equipment to record it right at its most basic level you need a microphone or something that has a microphone to record what you're saying. And secondly, you need some equipment to store that recording, right? Because your headset or your microphone typically will not store that recording itself. You need a phone, a tablet, or a laptop to actually store that recording so then you can do things later to it and then make it into a podcast and have that post.

So today we're going to keep it simple. We're just going to talk about the actual, equipment that you need to record the audio. So there's two ways you can go about this, and I've done, both of these ways, so they both have advantages and disadvantages.

The first way is not what most people think about, right? When most people think about podcasting, they think about buying a semi-expensive or really nice microphone. And then it's sort of mounted on this boom arm, and then it's got like strappy things to keep it from shaking and all sorts of weird attachments. And that's great.

You can definitely do that, but if you really want to get started, you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars to do that. You can actually do it much more easily. All you need is a microphone that can give you a clean and clear recording of your voice. So plenty of options here, I'll share some that you can use.

First, what I don't recommend is using your laptop or phone or iPhone or Android phone microphone, just because the audio of that generally is not that great for recording. In a pinch it'll definitely work and depending on what you're doing, people may not really notice or complain, but typically you want something that's more of a dedicated mic for speaking into.

So, if you really want to go easy and cheap, you can just use the microphone on headphones that you get that you use with your phone, right? As long as you try it out and record it. So it could be like your iPhone kind of white headphones, the ones that don't really fit in your ear, the wired ones and it has a little mic on it. You could use that. Or another version of that, that you have for your phone.

Or you could just use the kind of headset that you have, um, you know, maybe for work with the boom arm, uh, or the ones that you see, uh, for those of you who are old enough in the Time-Life commercial, you know, the woman in the call center has that boom arm.

You could use that. And that works great too. And the nice thing about that is it's dedicated to, your voice and a call. And so it doesn't pick up a whole bunch of sound around you outside that and, and the boom arm with the mic is situated kind of right in front of your mouth. So that makes it kind of easy.

There's two other ways you could go about it. One, you could have a dedicated mic that just goes right into your phone or device, and record that way. So this way it's not your device’s mic, but it's a microphone that hooks into your device.

I use to record this Executive Presence Morsels podcast, what I'm recording right now, it's a great little mic called the Shure MV88. And that has a lightning attachment that goes right into my iPhone, so I don't need any dongles or anything. And then for those of you who are on Android or a device that doesn't, that isn't an iPhone, there's the Shure MV88+, which has different attachments, so if you have a usb-c or other attachments, you can also use it. So that one, you don't need to have an iPhone to use, but they're essentially the same microphone.

And the great thing about this is it gives you some more settings in terms of how you record, in terms of how it sounds and how wide you're recording.

And also some basic equalization to play around with that. So, the reason why I use that for this podcast that I'm recording now, is it’s super easy. And it's just kind of like run and gun. I just plug it in to my phone and I start recording. And I get a pretty clean and good recording without too much muss or fuss.

Uh, for some of my previous podcasts, I actually use a headset, the type you might use for a conference call. And that gives really great quality as well. And I love that. And then sometimes there's a lot of background noise in my house or outside, and it doesn't pick up a lot of that. So that's also a great option.

I'll share a link in the show notes, with different recommendations or places where you can go to check these out that way you don't have to research for hours on end. So use it for inspiration or if you like any of those, definitely go ahead and check them out. And I'll include a range of prices from inexpensive to yeah, if you really want to get, get high-end, I'll throw in one or two there as well.

Now that you have the equipment for recording. Oh, before I forget, there's one additional way you can record, which again is mic’s like the Blue Yeti, or some really sort of fancier, more dedicated mic’s. You can definitely do that and it'll give you a nice recording.

Just one warning on some of these mic’s. If you think about a microphone, like when you go to karaoke or you're on stage and you're giving a speech, you know how the mic is like an ice cream cone and you're talking into the top of the ice cream cone?

Some mics are designed to be that way, whereas other mics and a lot of the mikes that people are using these days, like the Blue Yeti, they're not top address mic’s which means the top of the microphone. They're side adress mic’s.

So it's almost like you're talking into the side of the ice cream cone. Still the top, but on the side, not on the very tippy top. And I've noticed a lot of people, either when I’m a guest or on their podcast, or I just see, they're actually using the microphone incorrectly and their voice isn't getting recorded as well, because they're talking into the wrong part of the microphone.

So whatever microphone you get or use, just make sure you read the instructions and understand most importantly, where you're supposed to be talking into the mic because it's not always the same based on the type of microphone that you're getting.

So hopefully this has been helpful for you. July 5th, we're launching our daily podcast, Executive Presence Morsels. We're going to be delivering it five days a week delivered in the morning, so you can get those insights and think about and apply them during the day.

So five days a week for the next year, that's my commitment to you to deliver. And I would love to hear from you before we launch our first episode. It's really easy to record a message on Anchor.fm. I'll include a link in the show notes here where you can record your thoughts, questions, story, suggestions, things you'd like to hear, whatever you would like to share with us for Executive Presence, Morsels. I’d love to hear from you.

And as a bit of appreciation for you listening to this bonus episode, I will include a preview of our show. So you can take a listen. So see you on July 5th. I'm so excited to do this with you! This is Joe Kwon, the Connection Counselor. Remember, you can change your life, one connection at a time.