Becoming a More Confident Podcast Guest | Vince Quinn

Podcast guesting appearances can be intimidating. What if it isn’t interesting? What if you say something wrong? What if you don’t know enough about the topic? Thankfully, there’s a way to grow your confidence as a podcast guest! In this episode, Vince Quinn shares a simple before, during, and after playbook to build real confidence so you can show up as the best possible guest for hosts and listeners! Get ready to become more confident in every podcast interview!

MORE FROM THIS EPISODE: HTTPS://PODMATCH.COM/EP/376

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Podcasting Confidence
10:55 Preparation for Podcasting Success
15:09 Navigating Uncertainty in Podcasting

Takeaways

You will naturally get better over time through practice.
Embrace your unique knowledge and experiences.
Preparation is key to building confidence in podcasting.
Identify a clear and concise topic for your podcast.
Ensure your podcast has a moral or value for the audience.
Provide actionable insights for listeners to implement.
Start with smaller interviews to gain confidence.
Listen back to your interviews to improve.
Stay in your lane and avoid topics outside your expertise.
It's okay to admit when you don't know something.

MORE FROM THIS EPISODE: HTTPS://PODMATCH.COM/EP/376

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Transcript

0:22

You're listening to Podcasting Made Simple. So, you have a passion for a certain subject and it might be something personal, spiritual, or professional. And as much as you have a lot of knowledge and you really care about this thing, you're worried about talking about it on a podcast. What if it's not interesting? What if I get something wrong? Maybe I don't know enough. Well, my name's Vince Quinn. I started my career as a sports talk radio host in Philadelphia, which if you don't quite know, not exactly the friendliest people at times, not the most welcoming market. And I dealt with a lot of these feelings in a very public way. And so I'm here to teach you how to be confident in what you talk about on podcasts. So let's start with the basics. Number one. you will naturally get better over time. And that's because you are getting reps in, you're just getting practice of being on these interviews and having these conversations and thinking about it. And the more time you spend doing that, the more clear everything is, the more confident everything is. Some of those natural fears that you have will go away because you're gonna have good experiences, the better you get. So you will get better. And part of it is you want to be intentional about getting better, right? You're doing that right now. You're sitting here, you're watching this, you're listening to me. And so you are getting better. The more you focus on that, and I'll touch a little bit more on some of the specifics later, but the more intentional you get, the more reps you have, the better you will get and you will do that faster. So it all happens over time. Sometimes that's just how it is. The other part is You have more knowledge than you realize. think about this, for whatever that topic is, I mean, a life experience, you lived it, right? Like nobody has more experience than you. You were there, you were in that moment, you felt those things, you reacted the way that you did, you had that story, you have the context, you have everything that you need. So you have that experience. If it's more of a business, professional, kind of thing, then this is your work. This is your lifestyle. This is what you do. This is how you help people. And so the things that feel at times routine to you are far more profound to your average listener. And what I mean by that is, for example, I'm okay at cooking. I'm fine. I'm not great. I'm figuring it out. I'm trying to get better. And I'm watching this cooking documentary. And what you see is a chef grab an onion and for a dish, they slice it a certain way. I didn't know how to do that. I'm like, okay, well, if you cut it in half and then you lay it flat and then you do cuts one way and then another, you can really dice it quickly and easily. And I was like, my God, this is amazing. But to that chef who's been cooking for 25 years and makes every amazing dish known to man, cutting an onion is not exactly revolutionary, but for me it is. And that's how you have to think about this stuff. The things that are routine to you, the stuff that you've built up this institutional knowledge of over time, you know more than the average person. So be confident in that. Believe in that. That's why you're at this moment anyway and thinking about podcasting or actively podcasting and doing this kind of work and getting out there in this way. Because you care about it. You know a lot about it. You can't help but want to talk about it. So embrace that feeling and embrace your experience there because that's why you're here, that's why you're doing it. So with those things being said, again, like these feelings of anxiety, let's talk about what this feels like, right? Sometimes people are gonna call this imposter syndrome and sometimes it is. Other times you just need to get your reps in a little bit and that's all. It's just first time jitters or you just need a little more clarity. before you get started to feel comfortable. So for me, when I was getting started and I did my very first show in radio, was 25 years old in my hometown. It's a big city, it is Philadelphia. And I have so much anxiety that I walked about five miles before the show because I didn't know what to do with myself, just all this pent up energy. And I spent about four hours preparing for that four hour show. So literally for every minute of the show, I spent a minute preparing, which is not exactly common. So let's talk about preparation because that's one of the biggest ways that I was able to cope and develop and build confidence in what I was talking about. Because every time when I'd sit down, do a show and I still do this today in podcasting, I want to come up with a few specific things that make it clear of what I want to say and how I want to build this show. So let's start from the top down and I want you to think about this as we're going through this list. I want you to think about it for your major topic. What is that thing you want to talk about and how does it fit into this context? So number one, I just kind of tipped it there. It is topic. What are you talking about? This should be short, easy to describe. It should be clear. The less complicated the better if this is a personal experience. Right? You might initially want to tell somebody, well, I had this time, I went on vacation five years ago and I went with my ex and it was fine for the first couple of days. But then on the third day of the trip, we had this one thing at lunch and it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Let's, let's slow down. Okay. What is that story about? If it's about bad relationships and picking up signs of bad relationships as experienced on a trip that you had, that's your topic. Right? I'm going to talk about this bad experience that I had on a vacation and what it says about relationships. Okay? Like that's the idea. What are you discussing? What is your topic? If it's more of a professional thing, then it might be, hey, here's the number one thing that you need to do when you're starting an LLC because you're a lawyer and you help people set up LLCs and that's what you want to talk about. Well then, great, let's talk about what that number one thing is, but it's a very simple, clear, and focused topic. That's important. Then, now that we have our topic, what is your main point? Why do you wanna talk about this thing? Telling a story is great, if there's no moral, if there's no value, then you just told a story for the sake of it, right? And that's not really what this is about. People want value, if it's on that personal side, that spiritual side, then it's going to be more things of personal growth. Like what are the lessons? What are the things that we can analyze from this? What does it say about the human condition? Those are things to consider. From the business side, like what is the value of this in running a business or starting a business or, you know, doing whatever kind of professional work that I do? That's really important. But it needs to have a point and you should know what that is because it makes it easier for you to pitch yourself onto shows. Hey, I want to talk about this thing to really show this point. And then from there, the third thing that really matters now that we've got our topic and now that we have a point, it's what's the action? It's what can people do about this information? So you've told me this story, you've given me this data, you've told me why it's important, now what can I do about it? And this is important because a lot of times when you're doing these podcast interviews, there's a whole other half of the conversation. The first part is let's explain the story and the situation or the opinion or whatever it might be. Let's explain your topic. And then now as we're talking about the point of all of this, it's naturally gonna flow into Yeah, what can you do about it? How do I implement this change into my business? How do I analyze this in my personal life? What questions should I be asking myself? Maybe you deal with burnout, right? There's a lot of stuff out there about personal burnout and how to navigate that. I've been through it. But how are you helping people with that? What questions should they be asking? What things can they do to address that issue? That's what you need to know. And When you think about it then, right? Like I'm gonna give you an example and I'll keep it on the idea of burnout. So if I was gonna talk about that, which I'm not, I'm not a qualified expert in this area, let's make that abundantly clear. But for example, I wanna tell the story of how I burned out at my old job and then built a healthier relationship with work when I started a business. If that was the topic, right? Okay, great. And what is the point of that topic? I want to share my story to help people who are going through it. We don't talk about it enough or people don't realize what the symptoms are. I want to increase awareness. Great. And then the action is I'm going to say, hey, again, if I was qualified, I would say, here's some things that you can do. Here's some resources that are available. Or in a professional side, it might be if I am a coach or a psychologist or whatever that might be certified, I can say, And here's how you get in touch with me if you need help with this. Like these are things that you can do on your own. And then for professional help, you can come to me. But you can see then how everything is clear and concise and it's all in alignment. So when it comes to this idea of uncertainty, right, of how do I do this and how do I be confident in it? Well, you've laid out exactly what you're doing, why you're there, why you're saying it. and what the value is, and you're pitching yourself that way to these shows. So they know exactly what this is about and should ask you questions in that lane. So that's really what it's about from preparation. And that's really the core. Like the most important things are there. What we're going to do now is talk about some ways to supplement your confidence and some tips and tricks that you can do. as you're actively making these appearances. So some of the simple things when it comes to strengthening your argument, and this will improve your confidence, dig up stats, right? Stats are good, very simple. Hey, here's a stat that says what I'm saying is correct. Great. Nice and easy. People understand numbers as long as you make them simple. Anecdotes, so life experiences or in a professional space, maybe it's client experience, things like case studies, those are supporting arguments, they're ways that you can relate with people. It's something that you'll be comfortable talking about. And when somebody asks you, for an example, during an interview, you can be more confident because you already have a story in mind. Yeah, do you have any examples of when this has helped a business? Yeah, actually, I have this client from a year ago and here's what they did and here's how it helped them and it was a great result. Great, you did it, right? It's proof. So that's what you're looking for. And then any other kind of general research, that you can provide to make all of your argument stronger or your storytelling stronger. And I say this because yeah, one, it is to make a stronger case, but on the flip side, there's a chance that you're not quite as confident as you thought because it turns out you might be a little inaccurate. Like it happens. Sometimes you have a wrong opinion, you don't have enough information. So go research these things and verify. your fears. If there are things that you're worried about, go and prove those things wrong before you get on the microphone. Then you don't have to worry about some host like upending you and getting into some sort of confrontation or some level of embarrassment because you've already fact checked yourself. That's the idea. Create the supporting argument. And if it turns out what you thought is getting proven wrong is the more you dig deeper, then reanalyze that, rebuild your opinion and pitch that. But it's the opportunity to grow and evolve. Sometimes we have great opinions and the market changes, the industry changes, society changes. So we always do need to be aware of that and update. So that's some of the more preparation things. lastly, when it comes to dealing with a show and your experiences on it and afterwards, a couple of things here. Book smaller interviews to start. Smaller the interview, the better. If you're not comfortable, low risk. Get your reps in, book a bunch of small interviews until you feel comfortable, and then get more aggressive on trying to get on bigger stages. You've gotten the reps, you've talked about it, you have some talking points, you know the flow of it, you know the common questions you get, it will get a lot easier. Another thing is listen back to those appearances. Where did you do well? Did you drag a little bit in the story and give too much detail? Maybe you want to shorten that part up a little bit or add more detail in a particularly compelling part. of your story. Those things are important, but if you don't listen back and experience it the way your audience does, then you're not going to know. And knowing will give you confidence. So go back, don't beat yourself up too much. Just talk about how do I get better? And again, you will get better. Another thing, now these are more tactical things, but stay in your lane. If people are trying to drag you to places that you're not comfortable with, things that you don't have expertise on or a willingness to talk about, don't talk about it. You don't have to go where a host tries to take you just because they're trying to take you there. You can say, well, I don't really know about that thing. But back here in this topic that I was talking about, you know, like you're taking the conversation and driving it back to the track that you've been in and You're going forward from there and you're implicitly telling the host, I don't want to talk about that. I'm talking about this. So be comfortable driving the conversation back into your lane. And then lastly, and this is a big one, admit when you don't know something, you're not expected to know everything. And that's part of the uncertainty. That's part of the anxiety of it is, my God, what if I don't have an answer for this or for that? And then you try to prepare a billion different things. It's going to drive you crazy. So don't make yourself do that. Instead, just keep it simple, admit when you don't have the answer and let it go. So with all of that, we've covered a ton of ground. I hope this gives you some confidence that you're getting ready to do your podcast interviews or as you're doing podcast interviews. Best of luck out there. Take care. For more episodes, please visit podmatch.com forward slash episodes. Thank you so much for listening.