Creating The Greatest Show

Today, we have a special guest—a business leader, serial entrepreneur, and passionate storyteller. Meet Anna Ratala, the Founder & CEO of Zvook, a cutting-edge podcast advertising platform designed for the modern marketer. Zvook, inspired by storytellers and driven by AI, enables brands to effortlessly discover relevant podcasts and book host-read ads with a few clicks—no sales calls or budget minimums required. Additionally, Anna hosts the Found(H)er Mind Podcast, offering an audio journal insight into the journey of a startup founder and the behind-the-scenes of building a venture-backed business.

Takeaways:

• Be authentic and passionate about your journey or topic. Don't overly tailor content to the audience; let them gather around your genuine passion. Keep the podcast conversational, making listeners feel like they're part of an engaging discussion.
• Choose guests wisely, especially in the beginning. Opt for those comfortable with podcasts to ease into a conversational flow. Prioritize a relaxed atmosphere; practice with friends if needed. When recording, forget about the "record" button—be genuine to yourself, overcoming the initial fear of being on air.
• In podcasts, authenticity matters more than scripted perfection; let your genuine voice and personality come through for a more engaging and relatable experience.
• Create a safe space for yourself and your guests to be genuine, fostering a truly engaging and authentic atmosphere. Your authenticity sets the tone for your guests to feel comfortable and be themselves.
• People dislike bad and poorly targeted ads, not ads in general. Focus on creating authentic, well-targeted ads that tell compelling stories about products and services. In modern advertising, authenticity matters—shift from hard selling to creating emotional connections and experiences that resonate with your audience.
• Harness the power of influence and word of mouth. People trust recommendations, whether from friends or familiar influencers like podcast hosts. Building a genuine connection fosters a sense of familiarity, making your brand more relatable and appealing.
• Boost your podcast's reach by advertising on similar podcasts. This approach is effective as you're not pushing sales; instead, you're leveraging the existing podcast-listening habit. Listeners are more likely to check out a recommended podcast within the same genre, creating a seamless and successful promotional strategy.

Quote of the Show:

• “People don't hate ads, they hate bad and poorly targeted ads.” - Anna Ratala

Links:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnnaRatala
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaratala
• Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zvook-co
• The Found(H)er Mind Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/found-h-er-mind/id1657616833

Ways to Tune In:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/12f108ea-018f-44a6-8bb0-9444e9cbf3cc
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creating-the-greatest-show/id1638399900
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1B7OnWCGoxBRzH2rbkEFIf
• Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2NyZWF0aW5ndGhlZ3JlYXRlc3RzaG93L2ZlZWQueG1s
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/creating-the-greatest-show-4823789
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/h5CEp6Q6C-M

Creating The Greatest Show is produced and sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Our special guest today is Lindsay McGuire, the Associate Director of Content & Campaigns at Goldcast and host of the event series Donuts & Demand. Join Lindsay and our host Casey Cheshire as they delve into strategies such as polls and giveaways to increase audience engagement and the importance of creating content that caters to the audience's interests. Lindsay highlights her love for the 'surprise and delight' elements of live events, noting that these are key in retaining audience attention. She also cautions on the importance of carrying out 'tech-checks' before the event and shares several horror stories from past live event mishaps. Lindsay talks about embracing unpredictability and being transparent with the audience as key to successful live event hosting. They also discuss the content strategy after event participation, specifically for marketing purposes.

Takeaways:

• Make Use of Polls: Utilize polls to not only engage your audience but also to get valuable feedback, which you can use to improve your content or serve your audience better.
• Regular Tech Checks: Perform regular tech checks before going live to avoid disruptions. The purpose of the tech check is not only to test equipment but also to ensure everyone's familiar with the platform being used.
• Be Interactive & Strategic: Plan to make your live event or show exciting and interactive. This includes thinking about how to engage your audience, planning surprises, and considering how to phase key moments.
• Practice Makes Perfect: The more live events you do, the more comfortable and professional you will become. Expect things to go wrong and when they do, stay positive and maintain an authentic and relatable persona.
• Importance of Engagement: Quality of engagement is more important than quantity. Even if the audience is small, if they are highly engaged then you're on the right track. It opens the door for relationship-building with the audience.
• Plan Your Content: Be strategic in your planning. Consider your audience and aim to provide what they want to see or hear rather than pushing content you assume they'll like.
• Be Real and Authentic: Show authenticity and realness in your shows. This helps to create a deeper connection with your audience and makes you relatable which in turn increases engagement.

Quote of the Show:

• “You can be less polished and perfect and a little more relatable. We want those authentic and personal moments.” - Lindsay McGuire

Links:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/McGuireWrites
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsayladeroute
• Website: https://www.goldcast.io

Ways to Tune In:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/12f108ea-018f-44a6-8bb0-9444e9cbf3cc
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creating-the-greatest-show/id1638399900
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1B7OnWCGoxBRzH2rbkEFIf
• Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2NyZWF0aW5ndGhlZ3JlYXRlc3RzaG93L2ZlZWQueG1s
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/creating-the-greatest-show-4823789
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/URahHYi2HE4

Creating The Greatest Show is produced and sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Brilliant minds don’t always make for a great podcast. Good discussion and empathetic guests appeal to an audience better than improperly conveyed information. Learn how to improve from someone with a graduate-level education in counseling psychology, years of experience and training in the counseling profession, and experience pivoting his knowledge to apply to his podcast. Listen in to hear from social entrepreneur and founder of Awarepreneurs, Paul Zelizer.

In today’s episode, you will learn how to discover the right guests, nurture the right connections, and find the balance between overly coached conversations and tangential discussions. You will also hear how to engage your audience using empathy and overall, create the greatest podcast.

Takeaways:

• Find the right guests and prepare them to have extraordinary dialogues. Take the time for a prep call to build rapport with the guest, tell them about your audience, and explain the type of dialogue you want to have, whether it’s precise, loose, or a mix of the two.
• You can have two brilliant people on a podcast with a poor relationship or two average people with a great relationship. The latter is superior. Build a rapport with your guest, even if you only have five or ten minutes to talk before hitting record.
• Find a way to describe your audience to your podcast guest, so they can adapt their information and conversation to appeal to them. Be able to explain what the audience cares about, what they want to learn, and why they listen to your show.
• Build relationships with PR and podcast booking agencies, these agencies get paid by their clients to get them on shows that have their niche audiences. It may take time, but the effort pays off in the form of referrals for the ideal guests.
• Find the balance between overly stiff conversation and unstructured tangential speaking. If the guest turns into a college lecturer, the listener may tune out, but the same outcome can happen if the guest breaks into too many side discussions with no relation.
• If your guest starts to speak as though they have been overly coached, don't be afraid to interrupt them to improve the interactivity of the conversation. Generally, podcast listeners prefer a "good combination of relationality" rather than a TED Talk style speech.
• Podcasting allows the host and the guests to be invited into the space between listeners' ears. It is the most intimate form of mass communication so you need to make it relational, you need to incorporate real-life context into the conversation.

Quote of the Show:

• “Emotional intelligence is more predictive to your success in business than your technical skills” - Paul Zelizer

Shoutouts:

• The Nurse Keith Show with Keith Carlson https://nursekeith.com/the-nurse-keith-show/

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulzelizer/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulZelizer
• Company website: https://www.paulzelizer.com/
• Company website: https://www.awarepreneurs.com/

Ways to Tune In:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/12f108ea-018f-44a6-8bb0-9444e9cbf3cc
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creating-the-greatest-show/id1638399900
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1B7OnWCGoxBRzH2rbkEFIf
• Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2NyZWF0aW5ndGhlZ3JlYXRlc3RzaG93L2ZlZWQueG1s
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/creating-the-greatest-show-4823789
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/Pn5UbAkRnGs

Creating The Greatest Show is produced and sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Get ready to learn from an entrepreneur, thought leader, speaker, and people management & HR expert! Mike Coffey is the President at Imperative Information Group and the Host of Good Morning HR. Mike gives out his secrets to preparing to host a podcast, how to continue building your relationship with your guests, and how his podcast can provide recertification credits to HR professionals that listen to the show.

Takeaways:

• Your podcast should let your guests shine. Making your guest look as good as possible starts with your preparation as a host. Before your guests can give a great answer, you need to tee them up with a great question.
• Researching the topic that the guest is going to speak about helps podcast hosts ask amazing questions. Consider consuming any content your guest has produced, such as books, blogs, videos, and other podcast interviews.
• Doing research before the interview provides you with an understanding of the basics of the topic. This allows your guest to get into the practical application of their area of expertise which creates value for the listeners and gives the guest a great content asset.
• Using a podcast, the host can lay the foundation of a strong relationship with their guests. This is especially powerful for businesses as a source of referral partners that know and trust you from their experience as a guest on your podcast.
• Staying in contact with your past guests is crucial for cultivating your relationships with them. An easy way to do this is to share relevant industry news with prior guests. You should be intentional in your approach but avoid overly-programmatic messaging.
• Whether you use a prep call well in advance or just the first 5-10 minutes of the recording, you should make sure that the guest knows the first question and that you have their name, company, podcast, etc. correct for their introduction.
• There isn’t one set way to host a podcast. As the host, you need to find the style that works best for you. For example, some hosts prefer a conversational style show while other hosts would rather have a neatly scripted show.

Quote of the Show:

• “The main drive behind my podcast is less about building a listenership than creating new relationships with those guests” - Mike Coffey

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imperative/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrcoffey
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrcoffey/
• Imperative Information Group website: https://imperativeinfo.com/
• Good Morning HR Podcast: https://goodmorninghr.com/

Shout Outs:

• Kevin Lashus - Austin, TX-based lawyer and guest on Episode 69 of Good Morning HR
• Tyler Cowen - Host of Conversations with Tyler podcast
• Lex Fridman - Host of Lex Fridman Podcast

Ways to Tune In:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/12f108ea-018f-44a6-8bb0-9444e9cbf3cc
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creating-the-greatest-show/id1638399900
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1B7OnWCGoxBRzH2rbkEFIf
• Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2NyZWF0aW5ndGhlZ3JlYXRlc3RzaG93L2ZlZWQueG1s
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/creating-the-greatest-show-4823789
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/iEHQAXt4SF8

Creating The Greatest Show is produced and sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Asking a question isn’t the only way to get your guest to share amazing insights, sometimes your silence can be just as effective as a question. Learn more from an entrepreneur, Fractional CFO, and former President of the Washington D.C. Chapter of EO. Greg McDonough is the Managing Partner of Blackburn Capital Advisors, the Host of The Impactful Leadership Show, the Author of The Turnaround, and 7x Ironman. Greg shares how to understand more from what your guest is saying, what the job of a podcast host is, and how to interview multiple guests at the same time.

Takeaways:

• Silence is very powerful. Don’t cut your guest off or try to anticipate the word they’re about to say. When you think they are done speaking give them an extra second before saying anything because they may have more to share.
• Listen carefully to the words your guest is saying and the message they are actually sending with those words and their non-verbal signals. If you sense there may be a disconnect between the two, ask the guest to dig deeper and share more.
• Your job as the host should be to get the guest ready to answer a great question and then just let them go. They are the start of the show, but it’s important to remember that you need to put up guardrails for the conversation.
• It’s good to come into a recording with 3 or 4 questions primed that you can use when you need to pivot the conversation or get deeper into who someone really is. Have a “hail mary” question in your back pocket, just in case.
• The goals of your prep call with a guest should be to define the audience, make sure the guest is comfortable on camera and their audio sounds good, and preload them with the opening question so they can have a great answer.
• If you’re interviewing multiple guests at once, it’s helpful to address each of them by name when asking a question to avoid both guests talking over each other while trying to answer your question.
• When you’re interviewing someone you look up to or could be startstruck by, try to break down the interview into bite-sized chunks. This way you just have to think about what’s happening for the next X minutes and it’s easier to make it through.

Quote of the Show:

• “It really comes down to listening and avoiding the temptation to finish somebody's sentence, to anticipate what they're going to say, to derail their thoughts.” - Greg McDonough

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregorymcdonough/
• Company website: https://blackburncap.com/
• The Turnaround: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076C17M79/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i
• The Impactful Leadership Show: https://www.impactfulleadershipshow.com/
• Triathlon Parents Blog: https://triathlonparents.com/

Shout Outs:

• Wamiq Hamid - The Impactful Leadership Show Ep. # 042 - https://www.impactfulleadershipshow.com/e/the-responsibility-of-the-role-wamiq-hamid-the-impactful-leadership-show-episode-042/
• Simon Sinek, Author of Start with Why
• Kerri Garbis - Leadership in Action Ep. # 010 - https://www.leadershipinaction.live/e/superior-speaking-skills-kerri-garbis-leadership-in-action-episode-010/
• John Spence - The Impactful Leadership Show Ep. # 010 - https://www.impactfulleadershipshow.com/e/strategies-for-success-john-spence-the-impactful-leadership-show-episode-010/
• Steve Murphy & Javier Peña - The Impactful Leadership Show Ep. # 041 - https://www.impactfulleadershipshow.com/e/listening-to-your-team-steve-murphy-javier-pen%cc%83a-the-impactful-leadership-show-episode-041/
• Warren Rustand - The Impactful Leadership Show Ep. # 006 - https://www.impactfulleadershipshow.com/e/becoming-the-beginning-learner-warren-rustand-the-impactful-leadership-show-episode-006/
• Jen Mazer - The Impactful Leadership Show Ep. # 021 -