Influential Introvert: Communication Coaching for Professionals with Performance Anxiety - Clubhouse for Podcasters: How to Connect with New Listeners & Find Guests for Your Show

Episode Date: February 19, 2021

As a podcaster, should you be on Clubhouse, the newish social media app that’s audio only? If so, how can you use Clubhouse to deepen your connection with your podcast audience, help new listeners discover you, and find great people to interview? I will dive into that in this episode. Plus share some surprising things I learned while playing around on this app over the last few weeks.***Hiya, I'm your host Sarah Mikutel, podcast launch consultant at your service.Are you ready to launch a podcast that builds your brand and business, connects you to your global community, and grows your influence? Visit sarahmikutel.com to see how we can work together.Here’s a special treat for you: Use my Buzzsprout affiliate link to sign up for their podcast media hosting and get a $20 Amazon gift certificate. I’ve gotten to know the Buzzsprout team over this last year and love their customer service so much, I moved my shows over here. sarahmikutel.com/buzzsproutDo you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free Conversation Cheat Sheet with simple formulas you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you’re in a meeting or just talking with friends.Download it at sarahmikutel.com/blanknomore and start feeling more confident in your conversations today.

As a podcaster, should you be on a clubhouse, the newish social media app, that's audio only? And if so, how can you use it to deepen your connection with your audience, help new listeners discover you, and find great people to interview? Well, I will dive into that on this episode. Plus, share some surprising things that I learned while playing around on this app over the last few weeks. Welcome to podcasting step by step, where you will learn how to create a podcast that's irresistible. I'm Sarah Mike Gatel, a podcast launch consultant and an American who has been permanently based in Europe for more than 10 years. I especially love helping fellow expats and location independent entrepreneurs build their online brands and businesses through the magic of podcasting. Looking for one-on-one support, visit sarahmicatel.com to book a podcast launch BIP day with me or to check out one of my online courses.

And make sure that you grab my five-step formula for getting on podcasts at sarahmicatel.com slash pitch formula. I've recently been spending time on the app Clubhouse. It's the new shiny thing, at least at the time of this recording. Although I think it's very funny that people who've only been on it since December are already bemoaning the fact that Clubhouse isn't like it used to be since all of the celebrities and marketers have hopped on. Clubhouse is an audio app where people are virtually hanging out and having live conversations about all sorts of topics. Nothing is There's no posting of photos or videos. You can even message anybody if you want to. It's audio only. And as podcasters, I mean, I think this is quite cool. Right now, it's iOS only, so only iPhone and iPad users. But that's

because they're still building and testing. And the platform will be rolled out to Android users in the next few months. So I joined in January. And I was hot and heavy for a few weeks. And then I kind of forgot about it, but I do plan on going back to it because I clearly love audio and think this is a really fun way to connect with people. So here are the things that I really love about Clubhouse. I've met so many potential podcasts guests with great stories that I can't wait to share. I've already connected with a bunch of people. I'm connecting with fellow expats around the world. I love collaborating with other people by co-hosting rooms and that just means like an event. A room is an event. And as a stretch goal for myself, I've been hosting several rooms on my own. So public speaking is not my favorite thing. I'm getting better at it. But the stoics say that we should put ourselves through a voluntary hardship to build our character and to prepare for the worst that the future might throw at us. And also we can't take our lives to the next level unless we stretch out of our comfort zones. And so I committed to hosting a bunch of rooms.

by myself and all of the public speaking, which definitely feels like you are standing on stage by yourself, has helped me grow. I was so nervous to host rooms on my own at first, but after I did my first view, I felt so much more relaxed. So as I've said before, you have to take brave action and the feelings will follow. But there are things that I don't like about Clubhouse, or at least how I started interacting with it. So I don't generally suffer from FOMO, which is fear of missing out, but I felt myself going there with Clubhouse. I kept hearing how this is the next big thing. And if you're not here now, you'll miss your chance to build your audience and grow your business. And so I could feel this anxiety building, this tightening in my body like, oh, I'm not on Clubhouse enough. People were talking about being on it for like five hours a day and more. And I just can't. I want to be in nature and reading and doing a bunch of other things that aren't really to my phone. Plus working, hello. but I felt like I needed to show up and be seen and to bounce from room to room to see what was going on. And one day I was leading a conversation about podcasting, which I love talking about.

But that particular night, I kind of just felt like I was going through the motions. I had done a bunch of thieves rooms like before and my energy just wasn't there. And on the part of something greater podcast, I talk a lot about cultivating your inner observer and listening to what the sensations in your body are telling you. And you can especially notice these sensations when you're feeling a lot of anxiety, those butterflies in your stomach or anger rising up when, you know, you might get like heated sensations when anger flares up. But also like low level stress and joy. Our bodies are always telling us something, always giving us information. I'm trained in the narrative enneagram, which teaches us to know.

notice, pause, and allow when you feel those sensations. So notice without judgment, pause, breathe into it, allow it to be, and then just explore what these messages are telling you. And so I did this that night when I was doing that podcast Q&A. What are these sensations my body telling me? And I realized that I was showing up because of FOMO because I felt like I had to be there. I was seeing all these other rooms about making a million dollars with your podcast and thinking, That's just not the conversation that I wanted to be having. And so I left that podcasting 101 session feeling paradoxically, energetically deflated, but also revitalized deflated because my energy just wasn't flowing that night. And, you know, when I was in advice, like how to mode when it was

all about money, and I got really excited when I was helping people have some real aha moments about their podcast and their story and hearing their stories. And so hosting the room that night gave me more clarity and focus and pull me back into my mission of helping women who've traditionally been the support person for everyone else, the people pleasers, the go-to gals, help them step into the spotlight and prioritize their own dreams. So I really want to help them literally and figuratively share their voices with the world through podcasting through coaching. And this means pushing through anxiety and overwhelm and procrastination

and replacing this with calm, confidence, and fast action. So I still plan on hosting rooms on Clubhouse about podcasting, but also about the Enneagram and Stoicism and mindset. And I plan on showing up in a more mindful way driven by love and service and not this frenetic, I have to be there, kind of energy. So listening to my body, what lit me up and what didn't, pulled me back into right action. Help me slow down and enjoy the conversations in the rooms that I was in. Because at first, when I first joined Clubhouse, I felt this tension, this tug after being in a room for a few minutes, like, oh, maybe I should see what else is out there. What other rooms are, you know, happening right now. Maybe I should be trying to speak somebody somewhere else. And I went, when I

noticed that poll, which felt almost like I was on fast forward. I said, hang on. Like, I like what I'm hearing here. I want to stay in this room and really listen and be present. And so this internal listening raised my awareness about the conversations that I want to have. Now, the relationships that I want to build, how I want to spend my time when I really started to feel more grounded and present and receptive. And I remembered that. And I remembered that. the value that we give is not just the advice that we offer, but also the stories that we share. So, do you have to be on Clubhouse? No, nobody has to be anywhere. But Clubhouse could be a fun place to experiment. I've been experimenting like crazy over these last few months. I started a new podcast,

and then I decided that I wanted to combine it with an existing one, because the themes of what it means to be a good global citizen and exploring a world beyond our borders, we're so aligned. So I'm embracing the spirit of having a vision, but not being obsessed with the outcome. I really want to get more excited about the steps to get there and not being afraid to change course or to feel like everything needs to be perfect. So when I started that new podcast, you know, it was kind of an experiment. and there were a few things that I wanted to try with starting something new. But at the same time, I was like, hmm, should this be one podcast or two? And I just decided to like try it out having them be separate.

And then I decided I wanted to bring them together. And so we can change our mind. So I'm just embracing all sorts of flexibility this year. So I just wanted to share some, I guess, unconventional ways of how Clubhouse has helped me grow and learn more about myself. Now, let's say that you try Clubhouse and you absolutely love it. Well, here are some more strategic and tactical tips that could help you build community. Actually, let me back up. Clubhouse is invite only for now. There's a wait list or somebody you know can invite you in. So people have a limited number of invites and they'll need your phone number and your Clubhouse

handle. So you download the app, claim your name or handle. And then you can ask people, you know, if they have an extra invite or if your number is already in their phone when they log on to Clubhouse, if you signed up to join the wait list, they could get a notification and then send you an invite. So that's a little into the weeds. But when you do make it into the club, follow people who you are interested in and also clubs that you are interested in. So both individuals and clubs will be hosting rooms, which I mentioned are events and events. a lot of these events are kind of one-offs or people will create them on going. Right now, there's no way to actually create an ongoing event that happens every week. You just have to

keep starting the same room over and over again on a weekly basis or whatever your cadence is. But both individuals and the clubs will be hosting rooms on any topic that you can think of. And you can also host your own rooms as well. And I definitely recommend that you host at least a few rooms on your own to see how you like it. I discovered that for me, it's a lot more fun to have a co-moderator to share the stage with. And it does take some of the pressure off as well. And there are different things that you can do with the rooms as well. You could have an interview with somebody and then let people ask questions. You could have a theme and then just jump right into people sharing their stories, people do talk show style. I've seen people record podcasts. So you're not,

there's, right now, Clubhouse doesn't really want you to record. The rules are a little bit fuzzy. So I think that if you're recording, you need to get the consent of everybody in the room, if they're possibly going to be recorded. So that's a little bit cloudy. But then some other people are recording their podcasts and for the most part in a clubhouse, things aren't recorded. It's in the moment media. When you're moderating a room, people can raise their hand to speak and then you can invite them on to stage. And I've seen moderators call on people in the order that they came up onto stage. So they'll be speaking in the order that they joined the stage. And then other moderators prefer what they call popcorn style where people just jump in whenever they feel like they have

something to say. Whether you are moderating or in the audience, make a note of the people you're interested in learning more about and like make little notes about things they say. So whether it's like a co-moderator who you don't know that well or somebody who came up from the audience who says something really interesting, make a note about what you want to connect with them about. There's no messaging within Clubhouse, but you can connect your Twitter and Instagram accounts. And so what people generally do is if somebody is saying something really interesting, they'll click on their profile and then connect with them by, like, say, Instagram, and then they can leave them a DM referencing, and then you can just follow up with them later if you want to. So connect with the people you want

to talk to and reference something that they said. And you don't have to connect with everyone, obviously, who strategically do you want to partner with? Who would make a good podcast guest? Who could be a good referral partner for your business? Is there an ideal customer or listener who had a question that you can answer? You can follow up with them over on Twitter or on Instagram. When you are hosting a room, bring the energy just like you would for your podcast and do something called resetting the room. So Clubhouse has all of its own little language. So resetting the room is people are going to be drifting in and out during the conversation. So every 15 or 20 minutes or so, reintroduce who you are and what the discussion is all about.

You can also plan your rooms in advance. So you can start a room like last second or you can plan a room in advance. There's a little calendar system in Clubhouse. And that just helps people know in advance that a topic they might be interested in is coming and then you can also promote the event outside of Clubhouse on social media or on email or wherever you have connections to people. And also when you're hosting a room, welcome the new people to Clubhouse. It's such a new app that a lot of people are just joining and they don't really know what's going on. And you'll be able to identify who is new because they'll have a little

party popper emoji attached to their image for the first week or so. So let them know. that when, so you're brought up onto stage and also when you're moderating, you've got access to a microphone. And when you tap on and off of the microphone, that's the clubhouse version of

applause. And another little thing that they do is PTR. It's called pull to refresh and you're just like pulling down your screen so it can refresh and people change their photos sometimes depending on like the discussion topic that's

happening. So anyway, PTR, that's what that means in case you hear it. When you go into a room as a listener, you will be on mute. If you raise your hand to speak by tapping on the hand icon and the moderator brings you up on stage, you will automatically be unmuted. So the etiquette is to mute yourself right away unless you're talking. The exception to the rule, as I mentioned, is when you tap on your microphone on and off, people can visually see that, and that is Clubhouse's applause. What has become applause. And then when you get on to stage, introduce yourself quickly. So have your little sound bite ready and then either ask an insightful question or share something useful, a story related to the theme, something you've gone through. Be mindful of the contribution

that you want to make. When you first join Clubhouse, I don't know what it is. is, but I think we all go through this phase of we feel like we have to say something. But we don't always need to say something. Sometimes it's like good to just sit back and listen. So think about like, what do I want to add here? And finally, invite people to connect with you. If you're a host, you can literally invite people to connect with you during your intro and when you're resetting the room, when you're closing. So share wherever you want them to go to find out more about you and of course mention your podcast. Both moderators and audience members can also encourage connection by writing bios that are really specific about who you are, who you help,

and what you're interested in talking about. So with Twitter and Instagram, they give you like hardly any characters to talk about yourself in the bio. In Clubhouse, you can write so much more and it's also searchable. So in your bio, make sure that you're including the keywords of how you want people to discover you. Like, what do you want to be known for? Make sure that's in your bio. And the top three lines, though, are the most important. So just make sure you've got your sound bite up there.

And if you have a freebie that you want to offer people in exchange for their email address, in your bio, point them to your Instagram or Twitter account and include the link to your freebie there. So in your clubhouse bio, mention your freebie and say to you had on open. to your Instagram or Twitter account, whichever one you choose, to get access to that freebie. That way, when they go on to that other platform, they'll get to know you better. And they can directly message you if they want to and connect with you in that way. All right, that's all that I've got for you today.

Are you on Clubhouse? Let me know. But let me know on Instagram because, as I've been talking about, you can't write to me on Clubhouse. That's all for now. To learn how you can sign up for a one-on-one podcast launch BAP day with me or to learn more about one of my online podcast courses, visit sarahmicatel.com and make sure that you grab my five-step formula for getting on podcasts at sarah megatel.com slash pitch formula. Do you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free conversation sheet sheet with simple formulas that you can use so you can

respond with clarity, whether you're in a meeting or just talking with friends. Download it at sarahmicatel.com slash blank no more.