What Publishing 2000+ Episodes Will Teach You with Dave Campbell – Episode 115

[DRIVING GUITAR THEME MUSIC IN // GHOSTHOOD FEATURING SARA AZRIEL “LET’S GO” BEGINS]

MARY:

Podcasting can be a very lonely place sometimes. Yes, it can be fun. You’re connecting with people, you’re sharing your thoughts. But when you create each episode, you don’t always get feedback. And that loneliness comes down to like, is anybody even listening? Does this really matter? But yeah, you see the downloads, but what do the listeners really think? However, getting listener feedback doesn’t just mean reminding your listener about what to do to share that feedback, right? It’s like at the end of my episodes, I talk about sending me a voice note or sending me an email, but honestly, that’s not where most of my feedback comes from. It also happens in other parts of my ecosystem, from personal meetings, in person events, random social posts that I do, emails, newsletters, they’re all valuable feedback. 

So when I threw out a LinkedIn post about meeting a guest, one of my little listeners said they’d come on the show and someone I’d never even met before, he’d never commented on anything before. So in my LinkedIn world, I probably have a lot of listeners that I don’t even know about. See, social media can be for good sometimes. It can connect you with your listeners. 

So no matter how much I don’t like social media, it was actually through LinkedIn that I met Dave Campbell, a listener of the podcast and a fellow Canadian too, on the other side of the country, who is just as passionate about podcasting as I am. He loves what he calls collecting people along the way through his interviews and telling stories, and being curious and creative about this whole process. You’re going to learn a lot from him because he’s a host of nine different podcasts and over the past seven years released well over 2,000 episodes. 

So he definitely has a thing or two and a few stories to share to help you keep podcasting. And he does it while having a full job too. So podcasting is really his side passion here. So he’s got a superhuman strength and energy, I must say, to do all of this while keeping that full time job. So you’re gonna learn a lot about how to lead with story and curiosity, specifically on how to keep on podcasting while you’re so busy with other parts of your life, right? Podcasting isn’t the main thing in your life. Everyone’s got something else to do. So a regular life plus podcasting. Dave is gonna show you how to. 

This is Episode number 115 with Dave Campbell on the Podcaster’s Guide to a Visible Voice.

<< WOMAN SINGS: So so so so let’s go >> 

Dave, thank you so much for coming on the show because as you said, you’ve listened to all my episodes where as the host, I’m still like, wow, really?

[INTRO MUSIC ENDS]

Oh my gosh. But then also, you’ve said to me, you have nine different podcasts. You’ve been doing this for a long time. Like, how do you have the time to do all of this?

DAVE: Well, first I have to say, people say, don’t meet your heroes, and I’m meeting my hero right now. 

MARY: Oh, thank you. 

DAVE: So I’m breaking a rule, I guess, because I do love your show. And as a representation of your audience, I want to say thank you first before we jump into this because you bring so much value to us as a community of listeners. You serve us well. I love your show. I love your spirit, your energy. You’re a firecracker in a bottle [LAUGHTER] and it is the best, the best time ever. You keep me company. And I just want to say thank you, Mary, for all that you do. First of all.

MARY: Oh, thank you. Yeah, in a bottle, when you said that, that’s hilarious because I’m like five foot one. I’m such a small person that people have tried to put me in their pocket before.

DAVE: Really?

MARY: So a bottle. Ah, yeah, yeah. But yes. No, seriously though, like, you listen to so many shows, you have nine different podcasts. Like how. I am serious. How do you have the time to do all of this?

DAVE: Well, I don’t sleep a lot. I’ll have to say that up front. [LAUGHTER] I do work nights, so I listen to you at night. So 3 o’ clock in the morning, while you’re resting comfortably, I’m listening to Mary Chan. So and loving every minute of it. So that’s my listening habits. And then when I get home in the daytime, my wife’s at work, I have some free time here and there, so I do my recording and my editing and all that fun stuff at home. And it’s in the margins of life, but I’ve been able somehow to squeeze a lot into those margins. So, yeah, it’s a lot, but it’s a lot of fun as well.

MARY: Well, and when you say squeeze into those margins, like from what I understand, you’ve got a full time job, you’ve got two grandkids you were just telling me about. You know, you’ve got all these shows. So in the podcasting, like, workflow, are there things that you just aren’t focusing on or. So how do you pump out? I just feel like you’re churning on this hamster wheel of recording and editing?

DAVE: Well, the other thing too, Mary, is these. These shows are all completely different. 

MARY: Yeah that’s right, yes. 

DAVE: So, yes, I would jump in one day. I can jump from an author conversation to a conversation to dads, a podcast conversation about podcasting. I’m all over the place, and sometimes I actually will introduce the wrong show to my guests [LAUGHTER] when we go live. I’m like, hey, welcome to the podcast. And they’re looking at me like, I’m not here for that show. I’m like, oh, wait, sorry, let’s do that again. Because there’s just so many things going on. 

There’s so many things I’m interested in and curious about. And I found that podcasting has really helped me to kind of unlock those interests and have time with people that really, I probably should never be in their calendar. But thanks to podcasting, I can have these conversations and I’ve learned so much. I’m just a really curious person, who’s really like, not being supervised properly. [LAUGHTER] I can go and do whatever I want. Nobody stopped me yet, Mary. So I’m just going to keep going.

MARY: I love that because that’s the thing I really realized coming out of working in radio, where you really are put in a box, right? There is a show format. You have to do things a certain way. You have advertisers, you have PD’s, which are program directors, and they have the big CEO that you all, you know, you have to do, do all these things within the confines of the radio station. 

But podcasting alleviates all of that. You get to have all the creativity you want. You get to do what you want. It’s your show, so you can say what you want too. So then how do you prioritize what you’re going to do first or next? Is it based on, like, the show or your tasks or how does that workflow look like?

DAVE: Well, some of them are commitments that I’ve made to my audience as far as how I show up and when. So my one show, the How to Podcast series, it’s every single day for the year 2026. So that’s 365 in a row.

MARY: Oh yeah.

DAVE: So that’s a commitment I’ve made really for myself because I wanted to be in a creative space for the entire year. I also go on social, different platforms during every day, doing like a one, one quick post, just face to camera type post. And those are doing really well as, as well. So I’m, I’m putting myself in a place where even though I have all these shows, I was kind of getting comfortable and they were all kind of running like a well oiled machine. And I thought, I don’t want to get bored and I want to push myself. So for my own sake and to challenge myself, that’s why I’m doing that daily episodes on February 14, Valentine’s Day weekend, I actually gave myself a challenge as well to do 24 episodes in 24 hours.

MARY: Oh, whoa.

DAVE: So I stayed up from 10:00am on the Friday on the 13th all the way into the 14th at 10:00am on the 14th. And I did every single hour, recorded, edited and posted a new episode over a 24 episodes miniseries that I did for podcasters. And I was up all night and at about 3 o’clock in the morning, Mary, my podcast got really strange, [LAUGHTER] really strange at that time because my brain and my voice was almost gone, if you can imagine talking that much. But it was such a cool experience. Will I do it again? Probably never. But it was really fun to do as well. 

So that’s that. And then the other shows all have their own schedule, which I’ve committed to and I’ve been doing for a long time. So I just, I’m in a maintenance mode for them and they’re kind of running on their own, which is really exciting. It takes time to get there. When I first started, I never thought I’d be doing this much. But yeah, my wife has cut me off at 9, Mary. I’m not allowed to do anymore.

MARY: I’m glad there’s some boundaries.

DAVE: Right? Yeah.

[LAUGHTER]

MARY: Just very quickly, when we go back to that 24 hour one, did you like set an alarm and was able to nap? Like how, how much time did you record or did you not nap at all?

DAVE: Well, I tried to fit them in within a one hour period of time, including editing and posting and show notes. 

MARY: Oh god yeah. 

DAVE: So everything, I did everything right in that one hour time frame. 

MARY: So no naps?

DAVE: No, I went all night and I watched the sun go down from my window and I watched the sun come up from my window and I went. This was ridiculous. Why? Why did I do this to myself, Mary?

MARY: That is quite the experience. And I think we all have to go back to listen to that 3:00am episode.

DAVE: Yeah. Uh, yeah, it’s quite weird. Yeah.

MARY: Okay, so then you’ve done all of this work. What is then the point? Like, what would you say is your goal for podcasting, whether it be for each show or in general? What is that goal for you?

DAVE: I think my mission in life, Mary, and it’s come recently for me, is the realization that I think I’m here to collect people. I think that’s my goal. You can collect all kinds of things in life, but for me, if I can collect people in my world, podcasting has been the way to do that again. I’m, I’m still a little bit shocked I have time with you, like somebody that I admire, and here I am on your show. I just. It’s. It’s amazing that you can not only meet great people through podcasting, you can build a community in podcasting, and you can find some of the nicest people you’re ever going to meet in podcasting. So that’s my goal. I want to collect people, and I think podcasting has given me that outlet to do that in a really fun and exciting way.

MARY: Yeah, that’s one of the things I love about podcasting as well, because we, as podcasters, we are very much isolated, right? In our office, your bedroom, your, wherever you’re recording this, in your closet, right? It’s such an isolating experience. But not at the same time, because how I found you was just a random LinkedIn post about, Hey, I need a guest. And you were like, me, I’ll do it. And I’m like, yes, I’d love to meet this guy who’s also Canadian, and we love podcasting. So why not get together for a chat and just learn more about the craft that we love and how that works in our lives to help other people who love the same thing we do. So this podcasting goal of yours of collecting people is awesome. I love the phrase of that. collecting people.

DAVE: Yeah. And it’s working because now I have you, and I’m excited and thrilled. So this is great. This is great.

MARY: So, okay, looking back at over, over, well over 2,000 episodes, what has surprised you most about podcasting that you just didn’t expect from the start?

DAVE: How well, it would help me develop my own personal skills off the microphone. So my listening skills, my attentive, being attentive to people when they’re speaking. My wife loves it because I actually listen better, [LAUGHTER] and by the time she gets home, I’m talked out, so it’s pretty quiet around here. So she loves that. That’s a definite benefit as well. But my ability to listen, my ability to, to connect with people, even if it’s through the computer, for example, right? And I’m. I’m pretty much an introverted person. Going to a large meetings and events doesn’t light me up. I’ll do it. But unlike my wife, who gets power and energy from those kinds of settings, it kind of depletes me. So I find that podcasting allows me to express myself and connect with people in what seems a little bit more manageable ways than an unmanageable big space. So for me, that’s kind of. That’s why I’m so interested in this and why it seems to be working well for me.

MARY: You mentioned community. Describe what you mean by that. Because I think some podcasters think like, oh, if I’m podcasting for my coaching business, I need to create a community, right? Like an online platform, or that a community might mean trying to get listener feedback, which they feel is hard to get sometimes, right? So describe for me what you mean by community.

DAVE: There’s a couple different ways I could go with the answer for this. I do have an online community that I started three years ago where we meet with podcasters from around the world and we just support each other. It’s listeners of the show and people who have never listened to my show gather together as podcasters and people who want to podcast. So that’s one thing I’ve been doing. 

I find community is also found in our connections when we go to events. I know you went to POD Summit recently. I was there a few years ago as well. Anything we can do around Canadian content in community I think is super important. That’s why I started my Canadian Podcaster magazine as well. There’s a lot of different elements to community. I’m a big fan of the idea that nobody should podcast alone. 

MARY: Mmm.

DAVE: Just like you shouldn’t go swimming alone and you shouldn’t do a lot of other things alone. I think in podcasting you should do it in community and have people in your world to cheer you on. There are days when we don’t feel like coming to the mic. We don’t feel motivated or energized yet. The moment we get into our show and start recording and having these great conversations with people we admire, it just lights you up and fills up your tank. Even though you think you can do it alone. I would highly suggest that you don’t. I think you really need to connect with people because it’s going to help you in the long run.

MARY: Yeah, I do too. There are times too, within my own show where I’m like, oh, what am I going to talk about this time? Or what’s the next episode going to be? But when you get to actually do that interview or that conversation that you have with someone, it sparks a new idea and then you’re like, oh, maybe I can talk to this person. Or the person you’re talking to is like, oh, then you need to talk to this person. 

And your community, your network, just really grows. And I love what you’re saying here about how, you know, you shouldn’t do it alone. And I think creativity needs to have a spark of other people in your world. Even though a lot of this work is very, especially if a lot of this work is very solo and you’re just doing it by yourself. So then outside of, like, your meetups and that sort of community, are you receiving a lot of feedback on your show for that part of the community?

DAVE: Yeah, I’m getting direct feedback from people who attend and listen to my show, which is great, because they’ll be like, hey, in this episode, you talked about this, Mary, I’ve, I’ve recorded that episode months ago…

MARY: Yes. 

DAVE: …I don’t even remember what I said on that show because I’ve moved on in my brain, and I only have so much space up here under the hat, so I don’t remember all the time, but the fact that things resonate with people, and then they can quote me verbatim what I said, and they’re like, yeah, you talked about that on episode, blah, blah, blah. And I’m like, oh, I did. That’s right. Uh, it’s kind of, it’s, it’s so amazing to have time with somebody who listens to your podcast. And I always encourage anybody that has the opportunity to talk to a listener, to A, ask them how you found the show. Like, how did you find us? How did you find this podcast? Because you want to do more of that. But I definitely, definitely connect with them because I’ve done this through the microphone to an unseen listener, and they’ve responded. And it’s the coolest thing ever to get a voice message or an email or a DM from somebody because you called them out and said, hey, I see this person in this city in Germany, thank you for listening. I’d love to hear from you. And two weeks later, there they are in your inbox. You’re like, what is really works? It really works.

MARY: Yeah, it really does work. Because like you said, at 3am you’re listening to me, and I’m going, what? Why? You should be sleeping. [LAUGHTER] But it’s that personal, that connection. Okay. Podcasting seems to be like your, your love right now. But when I was looking you up, you know, doing my Google stalking,… 

DAVE: Uh oh. 

MARY: …you have an HR background. Why podcasting then? Like, how do these two things connect?

DAVE: Yes. HR Background. One of the things I loved when I was in school for HR was interviewing, because I interview a lot of people in HR for positions. There was one day, Mary, where I was interviewing at a local library, a public library, and they set up like a job fair, but the other interviewer didn’t show up. So it was me by myself with a room full of people looking to get placed in jobs. And I had to go table, to table, to table around the room multiple times and went from. It was like speed dating. Interviewing people in a short amount of time, figure out their qualifications, connect with them, and move on.

 So one of my little tricks that I use, Mary, and anybody can use this is I would say to them, the person in front of me, what is your red door? And they look at me funny, like, what did you say? I’m like, what’s your red door? And they’re like, I don’t. I don’t understand what you’re saying right now. I’m like, okay. So my wife and I just went looking at real estate recently, and you see so many houses back, to back, to back, to back, that you don’t remember was that house with the big yard in the back? Did that have the pool or the big garage? I don’t remember. It was the house with the red door. Oh, yes, I remember that house. 

I want to know from you sitting across from me right now as I try to place you somewhere for a position, I want to be able to remember you against this stack of resumes you see in front of me. What’s your red door? What makes you stand out against all these other people? So that I will remember this conversation when we’re done. And it’s like, oh, and that’s the feeling. 

And I love doing that in interviews where I have what I call “red door moments” with my guests, where it’s like, oh, yes, I remember talking to Mary Chan. She was on my show, and she is amazing, right? And I can tell you all kinds of stuff about Mary Chan because I know her red door for me, and that’s my connection point. So interviewing for HR led perfectly into interviewing for podcasts.

MARY: And the thing I actually take away from this is that your storytelling, because it’s not just about, like, in job interviews, people might say, oh, yeah, like, what’s your value proposition? And then you’re like, what was that supposed to mean? Like, uh, but you tell the story about real estate and looking at houses, which connects with people. People connect to stories. So it’s the storytelling piece that is so powerful for podcasting that you’re utilizing from your HR days. So I’m going to throw it back to you. Dave, what is your red door for podcasting?

DAVE: Oh, wow. Okay. Well done. Touche. I like that. For me, it’s the connection with the listener. It’s putting something creative into the world and knowing that somebody finds value in it. A quick example, Mary. I have a show called, Dad Space, a podcast for dads, and I did in November, it’s Movember, where we talk about men’s mental and physical health. And I was talking and we do. And that in the month of November for that show, I do a daily episode because it’s also national podcast post month, where we do 30 episodes in 30 days. It’s been around for 18 years now, and it’s a challenge for podcasters to do a daily episode. 

So I do that as well on top of everything else. But last year I talked about encouraging men to get help with their mental, mental health. And I had a person from New Zealand listening to the show who reached out to me, a father of four, who said, I’ve been struggling with my mental health forever. Like, just, I thought I could do it myself. But listening to this, I’ve actually made my first appointment because of your show. And I’m like, can you imagine what happens in your brain when somebody is impacted like that and makes a change? 

There’s a quote, Mary, that I love, and it’s about an apple seed, and I talk about it on my podcast often. And the line basically goes, “you can count the number of seeds in an apple, but you can’t count the number of apples in a seed.” Simply meaning you can pick out the apple seeds and put them on the table in front of you and add them up. But pick up any one of those seeds in your hand and you have no idea the unlimited potential of that seed and how many apples are going to be produced because of that one seed. 

And as I put my podcast out there into the world and this gentleman in New Zealand goes and gets mental health, he’s going to go back to his family and his kids are going to grow up in a better home, he’s going to have a better relationship with his wife, he’s not going to do something drastic and leave this planet too early because of words that came through a microphone to his ears through a podcast like, I don’t need to make any money with my show just hearing that, Mary, that alone for me is the reason why I keep doing this and why I keep coming back to the mic, because there’s a potential that that one seed is going to change somebody’s whole future. And you can’t measure that seed, that one listen that turns into a life change for a family. In any of your analytics, you can’t measure that. So that’s why I do it. That’s why I keep showing up. That’s my red door.

MARY: Uh, that’s a great answer because I’ve talked about it many times too, right? There’s an episode about like, the intangible things of a podcast. That is one of them. You just never know who you are going to touch and change their world. And especially like you don’t hear the feedback. So people think, oh yeah, people aren’t listening or yeah, I see the downloads. But like, what is that impact? You’re creating impact without knowing it. And that is such a powerful thing about podcasting that I think people lose sight on when they’re so focused on the download numbers or the monetization or things like that. 

So I’m wondering too then, do you feel that pressure to have like, those monetization strategies or it’s just our society of being so, you know, being productive, which clearly you are productive in producing this content. But like all the other societal pressures of making money and all of that stuff.

DAVE: There’s a lot of podcasters that I work with and I know that are very successful in that avenue and I encourage that. The more money that comes into the pot in the podcasting space, the better because it’s an acknowledgement of how powerful podcasting really is in the global sense. But I’ve been doing some studies too, that only about 8% of podcasters make life changing full time income from their show. 

MARY: Mhmm.

DAVE: So where’s the other 92%? They’re the people like me who have a job in podcast in the margins of life. So that’s where the majority of podcasters are. So there’s gotta be a balance to that. I don’t go after sponsorships for my show, but I have like a call, it’s a Buy Me A Coffee link where people can make, you know, they can give coffees to the show. And that’s been so successful that Buy Me A Coffee emailed me and asked me if I was up to no good because there was too many things coming in and they’re like, what are you doing up there in Canada? Because this is not normal. And they were like, they’re almost threatening me, like, this doesn’t look right. On our end. And I’m like, no, it’s just my audience being kind. 

And what I do with those donations, Mary, is when I set up and help a podcaster like you do. You help podcasters? I get them to set up a buy me a coffee, and I end their first donation. I take the money that comes to me from my audience and I redistribute it back out. Kind of a Robin Hood thing, I guess.

MARY: Mmm, yeah.

DAVE: I give it back to the podcasters that are starting. I want them to see that first email and that first donation that came through me from my audience to the next podcaster. I was actually able to take a new podcaster to Pod Summit two years ago,…

MARY: Oh cool. 

DAVE: … and my audience paid for the whole thing. That podcaster is a new podcaster. They got their hotel, all their meals, all the costs for the entire event covered by my audience. My audience sponsored a podcaster to go to that event. So, like, come on, like, that’s the coolest thing ever.

MARY: That is the coolest thing ever. How did you come up with that idea? Where are all these ideas coming from?

DAVE: I don’t know. Well, it’s probably 3:00am while I’m listening to Mary Chan’s podcast. That’s what I’m doing. I’m listening to you going, oh, my gosh. Yeah, that’s. That’s where things come. They, I get these things happened, and I. I don’t know where they come from, Mary, but they work. And I just put them out there. I try them. I’m not afraid to try new things. I’m not afraid to fail in public. I like to build in public, is what I like to say. And it, sometimes they just take off, and it’s great.

MARY: Yeah, I think it’s that idea, too, of, like, you are taking action on these things and testing them out. And I, I think podcast is such a great way to test things out because we have to create so many, not have to, but, like, we do create so many episodes that we are reiterating either that process or that way of thinking each and every time. So would you be willing to share some of these experiments of, like, what. What totally failed? What just didn’t work out for you… 

DAVE: Oh wow. 

MARY: …that you thought would have been good?

DAVE: A complete flop.

MARY: Yeah.

DAVE: Let me think. Wow. I don’t know how many I. How. How long is the show? Okay. There’s. There’s so many. I’ve kind of scaled back on my. On some of my social posts. I’ve been trying to find my audience online. Mary Outside of the podcast. So I’ve been experimenting. For example, I will make a post on my Instagram account for How to Podcast. I will make another post on my Living the Next Chapter. I have, I have accounts for all my different shows, by the way. So I will go on Living the Next Chapter’s Instagram. I get immediate response, great interaction. Oh my gosh. Boom. Everything is like instant. 

I go on How to Podcast crickets, there’s nobody there. I’m like, where did you all go? Like, come on, I know you’re there, you’re following. But no, nothing, nothing. I tried on that 24 hour thing that I did in February. I not only recorded, edited, posted podcasts every hour, I also went live on the even hours. So 2, 4, 6, 8. 

MARY: Oh geez. 

DAVE: I also went live on, on YouTube, on TikTok, on all the, on LinkedIn. I went live and I just. There were people showing up at 3 o’ clock in the, 4 o’ clock in the morning on even times. And I was having conversations in between doing everything else. So I tried those and some worked, some didn’t work. And I think that’s the big thing is we just, as creative people, we need to play and we need to find what works. So if one thing doesn’t work, then, then abandon it. 

And going back to, when you meet your listener, ask them how they found you. Because if nobody tells you that they found you on Facebook and you spend 40 hours a week on Facebook,…

MARY: Haha, yes. 

DAVE: …you might want to reinvest some of that time where people actually did find you and they all found you on LinkedIn and you’re like, I never go on LinkedIn. Well, maybe you should because your audience is giving you information there. So that’s another part of it is fail in front of people. Don’t be afraid to fail. People are. People fail every day. Just go out there, try, and you’re not going to break anything. And you’ll find some great people along the way.

MARY: Yeah, because everybody fails on all sorts of things. And it’s just the learning moment. And you’re like, okay, well that didn’t work, so let’s try this instead. Or let’s just never do that again. Like, you can just pivot and go in a different way. I also wanted to note the other thing you said about like, live streaming, podcasting 24 hours a day. The beautiful thing about podcasting is that somebody is always awake right, …

DAVE: [LAUGHTER] Right. 

MARY: …around the world. Somebody, somebody could be listening. So you never know. Dave, this has been real, uh, fun. I think we could Talk for a very long time about podcasting and such. But just to. To wrap up, though, like, you are so excited about podcasting, but, like, right now, what are you excited about?

DAVE: Well, there’s a lot. Again,… 

MARY: Yes. 

DAVE: …the show could be a lot longer. And that’s why you’re going to have to come on my show, Mary, because then we can continue the conversation.

MARY: Sure.

DAVE: That’ll be a thrill for me to have you on my show. What I’m loving, uh, what. What’s really working for me, too, is just the whole again, going back to the community, building up, people, sharing messages. I’ll give you one quick story before we go. I had my author podcast, Living the Next Chapter. I had an author on the show, and she’s a psychiatrist. And by the time we were done the interview, we hit stop, and she looked at me on camera and she said to me, have you ever gone to school for psychiatry? And I’m like, oh, no, never. I’ve never. No way. No, I have no idea what you do. 

She said, the conversation that you and I just had right now is what I would have with my peers. And she said, who are you? [LAUGHTER] Who are you? And it’s this moment of, like, that deep kind of connection with a person makes them walk away from that interview going, A, that was worth my time, and B, I’ve never been asked those questions before. I’ve never got into that part of my story before. And that’s the curiosity that as podcasters, we need to lean into. Be curious about the people in front of you and pay attention, listen, honour them. 

It’s kind of like a dance. You can’t step on each other’s toes. It’s pretty painful. Stay out of the way. Ask the questions. You’re a great example of this, Mary. Ask the questions, lead your guest, but then also step back and give them room to talk. 

And I think my early mistake starting out is I was so excited to have somebody with me at an interview that I would redirect them mid-sentence in their answer, and they didn’t even finish their complete thought. And I’d be like, oh, and then this, and, oh, oh. And I want to ask Mary about this. And my audience reached out and very lovingly and gently said, dave, when you ask Mary a question, can you let Mary answer the question? Because we’re listening and you keep. You keep interrupting her. And I’m like, oh, I do that. I do that. And that helped me to be better. 

So get feedback from your audience. Keep practicing, keep playing. You’re doing great out there. If you’re doing a podcast and you’re in great hands with Mary, everybody, just by being here. 

[CHIMES AND ENERGETIC RHYTHMIC MUSIC FADES IN AND BUILDS]

So, again, as a big fan of your show, Mary, it’s an honor to have time with you. So thank you.

MARY: I am so astonished by the amount of energy this man has. He calls me a firecracker off the top, but really he’s the one doing daily podcasts and that 24 hour one, I would call that torture. Not fun. [LAUGHTER] But clearly he wanted to challenge himself and his level of curiosity of doing this work to do something different each time, whether it will be successful or fail, whatever that means in his mind. But really, it isn’t about doing what’s right, right, like the next thing that you’re supposed to do for him. And I’m sure, like most podcasters like you, the majority of podcasters aren’t in it for the money or the big celebrity shows or those big brands that are out there. You are the ones doing this, making a podcast because you want to. It’s your passion project, whether that is tied to a business or not. Most podcasters do this because they love it. 

So it makes sense to learn from others who are creators like you and not just a period yourself to those big shows, especially those celebrity shows. And I get that sometimes we want to emulate those big shows because we like what we’re hearing and so we can do that. We have to understand, though, that these big shows have big budgets behind them and that’s not what you and I have. What we can take away from those shows, though, are maybe their show format, how they present themselves. But on a greater level, we need to look at people like Dave to show us what it’s really like to wear all the hats and do everything yourself because it’s not easy to do. 

So we have to hear that passion behind the voice. So thank you, Dave, for coming on the show and being a fan of the show too, and telling me that you are a fan. I so appreciated that. I love Dave’s example of sharing those red door stories and being an example of what it’s really like to podcast, podcast with a passion. So I want to throw it back to you. What is your red door story or one of those seeds that he talks about that has happened to you with your podcast? I’d love to know. And like I said, at the very top of the show, listener feedback is what drives what we do. 

You’ve heard it through Dave’s stories, you hear it through me. What has your podcast done for you lately? Share your seeds stories with me, Voice Note. You can send one of those with the purple send voicemail button on my website VisibleVoicePodcast.com or you know what, you can record your own voice note and email it to me as an attachment. That works as well. Or just type one out too. VisibleVoicePodcast@gmail.com. 

On the next episode, I’m going to dig deeper into this voice aspect that Dave and I touched on in this episode, but actually I went on to his show called the How to Podcast series and we really get into voice. So you’ll want to hear that part of the conversation. And really it’s part two of the conversation that you just listened to with me and him. 

So the next episode though on this show, not to get too confusing, I wanted to expand more because of this whole video craze and needing to be seen visually. I’m going to share how audio can still reign supreme. How being your natural and I really don’t like this word, but it’s one that really resonates with people, authentic. Being your natural, authentic self is what really powers your voice, whether you have video or not for your show. So we need to be having these conversations with ourselves and work with our inner dialogue in order to be with our natural voice and love that voice that you have. So more voice stuff next time on the podcast.

[MUSIC ENDS]

<< OUTRO – SHOW CLOSE // UPBEAT DRUMS THEME MUSIC IN- GHOSTHOOD FEATURING SARA AZRIEL “LET’S GO” BEGINS >>

MARY: Thank you so much for listening to the podcaster’s guide to a Visible Voice. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d love it if you share it with a podcasting friend. And to reveal more voicing and podcasting tips, click on over to VisibleVoicePodcast.com. Until next time.

<< WOMAN SINGS: Let’s go >>

<< MUSIC ENDS >>