One of the things podcasters say is “find your voice” without knowing that it’s Jargon. After all, is my voice lost? What does that mean? Today we will look at finding your voice, and I will tell you what the difference is to the listener. Because the interesting thing is your voice isn’t lost. It’s just got a lot of clutter on top of it.
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What Does Finding Your Voice Mean?
You start your podcast (congrats!), and you feel uncomfortable. You feel out of place, and people say, "You need to find your voice." That is a really vague instruction.
Steps to Finding Your Voice
I mention this in almost every episode. It starts with specifically knowing your WHY and Your WHO.
The more information you have on each, the clearer the target. It is the blurryness and fuzziness vision of your show that leads to insecurity.
Who Are You and Who Aren't You?
What do you believe in? What are your values? By defining what you will and will NOT talk about help clear the path for your content.
The Netflix show House of Cards had a scene where the main character kills a dog in the first scene. This was on purpose, as they knew this would upset people. They thought, "Well, we might as well draw a line in the sand and offend people upfront. If they couldn't take the first episode, they would NEVER tolerate what else was coming in the remainder episodes.
Get Comfortable Through Practice
Think back to all the firsts in your life. The first step, first tricycle, bicycle, first kiss are things we weren’t good at when we started. So do it again, and again with the goal of improving with each version of your episodes getting better.
Acknowledge That This Will be Uncomfortable
When you feel yourself wanting to pull away or come back to it later, push through. If you’ve ever been through counseling of any sort (single, couples, etc) it is uncomfortable. However, you come out better on the other side. I dread getting on a treadmill but never regret getting off. So when you feel that uncomfortable feeling come upon you (and it will) embrace it. You're learning. You are growing. You are improving.
Not Everyone Will Like You, and That is OK
Life is not a popularity contest. That is one that is easy to say, but not always easy to live. As with everything, the more you practice it, the better you will get at it. So when you get your first one star review realize that the listener was not your target audience.
Follow Your Gut
There is only one of you. You are 100% unique so embrace that. Every night there are multiple stations covering the same topics. There are different strokes for different folks. Being you is very easy for you. When you try to be something you're not, it's very hard to pull off and often robs you of your passion.
Double Check the Facts In Your Head Saying Negative Things
Brenda was trying to prove herself to an invisible audience. She had assumed they wanted her to skim over a broad topic. When she got her episode in front of ACTUAL people she found they would rather go deep into a narrow topic.
In The End Be Yourself
In the end you've had an entire lifetime being you. Relax and embrace your uniqueness. Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks, and Rod Stewart have unique voices. You either love them or hate them. Their uniqueness has enabled them to have careers spanning multiple decades.
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Mentioned In This Episode
The YouTube Formula: How Anyone Can Unlock the Algorithm to Drive Views, Build an Audience, and Grow Revenue (aff)
Building a Better Dave "The List" Episode
Overcoming Impostor Syndrome
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