Jul 26, 2022
There’s this thing that happens to athletes when they over train. They over-analyze every stroke, swing, or step. They start to overthink what they are doing. Their motions and reactions become too premeditated, too stiff, too awkward. The pressure to perform mounts… and then, usually when it really matters, they choke.
I hear something similar with podcasters. They don’t choke necessarily, they just stop sounding like themselves and their show starts to tank.
Now, don’t get me wrong. It’s important to try to improve your performance. You want your show to sound great and you want to make sure that your content is serving your listener - but not at the expense of your authenticity.
This is not a free pass to wing it. I repeat - I am not suggesting that you stop trying and start relying on whatever natural talent you have.
On the contrary - you do want to focus on constantly improving how you show up for your audience and how well you serve them.
BUT… if you find yourself manipulating your show or its content, following what some guru says will get you more downloads. Stop right there.
If you find yourself sounding formulaic and stiff because you are trying to do what the pros do - give your head a serious shake and [imagine Cher here] Shnap out of it!
One of the things that you can always count on bringing to the table for your listeners is YOU. You are the one irreplaceable part of your podcast.
Love you or hate you, YOU are what is going to create your loyal audience.
When you start to take YOU out of the equation because you are trying to fix YOU (aka, your voice, how you talk, your presentation style, or your ideas) you will lose the magic.
In other words, you’ll do the podcast equivalent of 6 putting away your 5 point lead on the 18th hole. Why are you looking at me? I didn’t do that.
Here are a few tips for reconnecting with your authentic podcasting self
Seriously, if you try too hard in your podcast, you risk losing the authenticity that likely brought your subscribers to you in the first place.
Keep your performance updates simple and subtle. Pivot, don’t do a full 360 with your content. Improve a little bit every episode and don’t expect to become Marc Maron overnight. Heck, even Marc Maron doesn’t try to be as good as Marc Maron!
And, for the love of pizzapops, don’t try to coach yourself! Get some professional help to guide you to the next level (not to the top… just to the next level!)
Oh, yeah… that’s what I do. Feel free to book a free 15-minute coaching call. That should give us enough time to get you started without getting you overwhelmed! We can talk about the one issue you think you need the most help with.
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My Performance Episodes
https://podcastperformancecoach.com/podcasts/#performance
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