I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what is the barrier for us to start a podcast? Or if you have one, to continually getting episodes out and staying on top of our podcasting game. Some of this hesitation is not knowing where to start. Or we have the excuse that we’re too busy. Something else more important comes up. While most of these can be true, I believe the real reason we don’t start is because of just that. We’re not starting at all, not even with one small step!
So on today’s episode, I want to give you permission to just start. If you don’t start with anything, how will you ever get your voice heard? Yes, having a blueprint or a map to follow, how to get from point A to point b is nice, but how are you ever even going to start at point A, if you’re not taking any action?
I was talking with a potential podcaster the other day and she said she had been thinking about an idea to start a podcast for years. Soooooo many years that she doesn’t even want to tell me the exact number, but to say that it was more than three. MORE THAN THREE YEARS?!?!?! Imagine in that time, what she could have accomplished with her podcast if she started right away.
You probably have been ruminating on ideas, whether that is to start a podcast or get that episode concept recorded. What I want you to do, is start now. One great way is to write it down. I love a dedicated notebook and write things down with pen and paper because there’s research to show that when writing with pen and paper, it requires more cognitive abilities and slows you down to really think more about what you want to write and to better retain the knowledge that was written down.
I put this into practice when I had my concussion or mild traumatic brain injury. At the time, I was having issues with short term memory, such as items on a grocery list or listening to write down notes quickly enough. I would hear, but I couldn’t write. Or I could write, but then stopped listening. But by using pen and paper, I was able to gain that short term memory back. Writing things down created new muscle memory and reconnected my neurons in my brain to create pathways for short term memory. Now, I’m not a brain science person at all, but I did work with a Cognitive Therapist and her work with me was truly amazing! Your brain is a muscle and you can train it to what you want. I wanted my short term memories back, so I had to start somewhere and writing things down was that first step. It took hours of practice and essentially re-wired my brain. now if I forget my grocery list while I’m at the store, it isn’t so terrible! Because I wrote it down earlier, that short term memory was created and I can go back in my filing cabinet of a brain to pull out the information I needed.
So start jotting down all your ideas. I’m talking bullet points and notes. Nothing is a bad idea. Don’t stop it and keep going without scratching out any ideas. It could be a story, a how-to, stats, research or even something you don’t think might be relevant. It doesn’t matter. This is the right side of your brain in action. The creativity, intuition, imagination all rhythmically flowing together working optimally without the distraction of editing. Down the line, before you’re ready to record the episode, you can then revise and modify your notes.
Now I mentioned writing with paper and pen, but I dooooo looooove my tech! Throughout my high school years, my typing classes were a proud moment. (Yes, we had typing classes back then in the ’90s!) I was always the top three of my class in terms of typing speed and the correct words per minute. I was thrilled to hear those keyboard keys clacking away and I still do. But with our phones and devices these days, apps are making things easier to streamline our processes and I do admit, I have a fair amount of notes online. I love using Trello as my online project management of choice. In fact, I use it to organize and manage my podcast and suggest to my clients to use it too for managing their own podcast! From my phone, I can save web clippings, make notes for episode ideas so I don’t forget them or even start typing away like I mentioned earlier about letting your creative juices flow.
And tech helps with the editing part. It makes things smoother. You can re-order your bullet points to see how all your points fit into a story or episode. What is your big idea or theme for the episode? What is your beginning, middle, and end? This is the left side of your brain; to be analytical and methodical with your approach.
In no time, with these small steps to just start, you’ll have a completed outline for an episode so then you can get to the fun part – the actual recording! Get behind the mic and use your voice!
You’ve got to start somewhere to get your voice heard, so start now. Let the creativity fly and don’t edit yourself. Keep going with your ideas and this is your starting point for either launching a podcast or publishing that next amazing episode. You’ve got this!
I want to know what you’re starting. What one small step or action are you taking towards your podcast today? Record a voice note on your phone and send it to me VisibleVoicePodcast@gmail.com or drop a comment on this post!
