Influential Introvert: Communication Coaching for Professionals with Performance Anxiety - Podcasting on Facebook Live to Build Community

Episode Date: June 18, 2020

In the last episode,  podcast editor and host Emily Prokop told us about how she manages her ADHD as a podcaster and business owner, and she gave us some great advice on how we can find our focus and be more productive.   Today I’m continuing the conversation with Emily to learn about her podcast production process, specifically how she’s using Facebook Lives to build community.   I hope this episode inspires you to try a new way to connect with your audience.   Enjoy the show. *** Hello. I’m Sarah, your host and founder of Podcast Launch Academy. 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 there. 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.

This either worked or it didn't work. And I think that's why, first of all, we've been doing it for two years and why we've lost over 100 pounds together is because we have that constant analyzing of what we've been doing. Have you been wanting to start a podcast for a while now, but something's holding you back? Maybe it's fear of putting yourself out there or confusion about the technology. I'm Sarah Mikital and on podcasting step by step, I'll break down how to podcast with a little loving motivation to give you the skills and the confidence you need to finally launch that show of your dreams. Let's get started. In the last episode, podcast editor and host Emily ProCop told us about how she managed. her ADHD as a podcaster and as a business owner. And she gave us some really great advice on how we can find our focus and be more productive. Today, I am continuing the conversation with Emily to

learn more about her podcast production process, especially how she is using Facebook lives to build community. I really hope that this episode inspires you to find some new ways to connect with your audience. Enjoy the show. So Emily, you're a podcaster. Do you have any productivity tips? for like your production process about getting, you know, producing an episode? Could you walk me through what that process would be like? Yeah, so with hate to wait, John and I both record our own tracks separately. So I record in Reaper and he records, I believe, in audition. And we go live on our Facebook group through Streamyard. So we record the show live. We stream it live. And actually, if we didn't have our backup recordings, we could always use the Facebook recording because we're

going live and you're able to grab the audio from that. But for the most part, it's both of our tracks separate. And then I send my track to John who puts it together and edits it and adds the music and all that stuff. And then I get it back and I write the show notes for it and I put it up on Libson and we publish it. So you guys do that live all the time? Yeah. Yeah, we record it live. That's really cool. I guess it's helpful to have a partner to do that with. Yeah, we really, I mean, he's really into tech and he likes playing with that stuff. Okay.

And we thought about doing it live, really, I think because we wanted to be so involved with our audience. Like, I wanted them to be able to see us and see us change and sort of an accountability thing as well. Like, we're live and it's worked out really well, actually. When did you guys start that? Two years ago, actually, in April. We're actually coming up, the 23rd will be, I think, our first episode anniversary. So two years we've been doing it. What inspired you to do that and do it with John?

Well, we were both talking about intermittent fasting. I had just found out about it. He had just found out about it. And we realized we found out that we were doing it together, or not together. We found out that we were both doing it. And we DMed on Facebook. And I was like, oh, you're doing this too. Okay, cool.

Like, let's talk about it. we're having this conversation. And I was like, John, we're also podcasters. Like, it inevitably happened that it was like, let's start a podcast. Like, let's just do this. And the fact that we show up every week has kept us so accountable. The fact that I think, I think about that podcast when I'm not podcasting about it. And I'm like, oh, should I eat this? Or, you know, I'm going to have, if I eat this, I'm going to have to talk about it on Thursday. No, I don't really want to talk about it on Thursday. When it comes to productivity, I think podcasting has helped a lot of us. Like, for me, I feel like I'm the type of person who, if I go to a gym, I need to go to a class because I want

somebody to be like holding me accountable. And I feel that way, like, if I really want to do something, I'll announce it on my podcast. Yeah. So people will. So, I will have that sort of like public shaming if I don't, you know, at least for myself. No, the public shaming is awful. Like, just having people, you know, having the idea that I'm going to put this out and everybody knows how to contact me, we get DMs in the Facebook group. If we're not on at exactly 11 or 1109, I finally told everybody, I'm like, if we're not on by 11.09, then we're actually not showing up. And we have to announce if we're not going to be there because we'll get DMs otherwise. Where are you guys? Am I missing it today? And oh, I love how engaged your

group is. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's really phenomenal. And we didn't expect it either. We weren't sure what we expected, but we were like, let's just make a group one place on social media that we can direct everybody to. We have a Twitter account as well, but the Twitter account is really just for the automated, hey, this episode is out. And I even tell people, I'm like, don't follow the Twitter if you want to talk to us. Come into our group. Oh, my gosh. I love it. So you're doing it live. Do you script out anything in advance? Like, how do you plan for an episode? Well, so we know that we're going to be talking about our weeks. And for me, and I know John does this sometimes, for me, I have a post-it note that I have with my journal every week. And it just has hate-to-wait notes, like anything

that might jog my memory or that I'll come to on Thursday morning when I'm looking at, you know, what do I want to talk about? And a lot of the times something will happen maybe on Friday or Saturday. I've learned this. And if I don't write it down, I'll just come and be like, I think it was a regular week. I lost weight. I don't know how. It's one of those things where if I'm writing it down, if I have that Post-it note in my notebook that I'm writing in every day, it kind of reminds me, hey, let's take stock of what happened, what worked, what didn't, what made us feel good. That's the other thing with dieting and intermittent fasting, like I really got in touch with, hey, this food actually doesn't make me feel as good as I think it will. And just having somewhere

to write it down and capture that means that on Thursday I get to look back and sort of assess what went well and what didn't. And it turns into sort of the show notes and the notes I use for the episodes. I also will jot down stuff while we're talking, stuff I need to research and links I need to grab. That's pretty much the process for that one. I think that's just a brilliant tip right there is if you are in a conversation with somebody, make a note right then and there about what you want to include in the show notes and then you don't have to worry about remembering that. Yeah. And I listen to it anyway coming back when it comes back after being edited. just as another set of ears. I normally don't have to do anything to it. But also for the show notes,

it's also nice to go back and listen to what we were actually doing that week. And so for John and I, not only do we have to analyze what we did that week to lose weight or to gain weight or whatever we're doing for that, but he has to listen to it again to edit it. And I have to listen to it again to do the show notes. So it's like we get to reanalyze what we did for the week. It's almost, I don't know, like rubbing our noses as a way to show us, this is what you did. This either worked or it didn't work. And I think that's why, first of all, we've been doing it for two years and why we've lost over 100 pounds together is because we have that constant analyzing of what we've been doing. I don't know if that makes sense. It makes perfect sense. And I think it can be used

for anything, not just weight, but any sort of goal that you want to achieve. You know, our mutual friend, Elsie Escobar, talks a lot about how we, your podcasts are your legacy. And I think they just tell such interesting stories about us because I've definitely mentioned on podcasts, especially my travel when you can trace my journey of, you know, starting my own business and stress and, you know, rabbit holes and different challenges and not being as mindful and like present as I want to be. And just that evolution of different things that I've tried to like shift and live like a more balanced life. And so yeah, I like that that record is out there. You know, it can feel a little bit weird having the whole world hear your challenges.

But hopefully, hopefully we're helping other people who might be in similar situations. That's the thing is because we are so vulnerable on the show and what's interesting is when you look at the behind the scenes, it's me being vulnerable in a conversation. with John, and John's in a conversation with me, and we're being vulnerable with each other, but we also have this sort of undescribed third person listening that we're very aware of, not only our live audience when we're recording, but also when we put it out. And we're being very vulnerable with each other, so sometimes when listeners will reach out to us, they're on very friendly terms, and I know nothing about them.

And it's a little like, it's scary sometimes, and they're just like, oh, honey, let's talk about Shark Week and PMS because you were talking about it on your show. And I'm like, oh, who are you? Okay, we're going here. Great. That sounds like a great episode that I'm going to have to go back and listen to. Oh, every month I talk about it. That's the thing about being vulnerable,

especially when it comes to weight loss or health or anything like that. There's stuff that I do keep personal, a lot of family stuff, anything that's very telling about my life that I don't want people to be able to research and find out where my kids go to school or their teachers or anything like that. But I'll talk about things that if somebody else knows, it's not that big of a deal. Like, all right, Emily is PMS this week. All three people she's in contact with might want to keep your distance. But it's not that big of a deal when, you know, I'm talking to John and I'm saying,

oh, yeah, the reason I ate so much this week is because my breakfast. body just wants sugar and nothing else and you can't tell her otherwise. You're keeping it real, as you should. Exactly. Another thing that you're doing that is quite vulnerable is you're recording a book live. Yeah. Tell me how this idea came about. Yeah. So with my other podcast, the story behind, which has been on indefinite hiatus for a while now because work just got so crazy. I had already written the book for it and it did very well and the publishers decided they wanted to do an audiobook. And it was very funny having these email conversations of, okay, and we want to make sure that you have, you know, the right recording equipment. And I'm sitting there

thinking, you know, I have a podcast, right? You know, the book's based on a podcast. Okay, just all right, fine, cool. So did they give you like a bunch of new equipment? No, no, they didn't. And in fact, they were going to send me to a studio to record it in New York, and they were going to have me record it there in a professional studio and put it together. And then when this whole COVID crisis happened, nobody was going anywhere. And so they put it on hold. And then they kind of gave me, you know, maybe we can do this at home now that we think about it. And I'm sitting there like, you know, I'm a podcaster. Why didn't you think of this earlier? But, you know, didn't want to say anything. So they were like, okay, well, let's get a sound check. Let's hear how it sounds to record a chapter. And so I decided, you know, I really haven't done much with my audience because I'm on this hiatus. I don't know when the next time I'll be able to sit down and research a full episode and write it all out. But I miss them. I miss my audience. And I know that they're also going, they're the ones who bought the book in the first place. And many of them have asked for the audiobook. And again, I would,

still like, you know, this is a podcast, right? Many of these chapters are podcasts, but there are a few chapters that I didn't turn into episodes that I'm really excited to be able to record now. And I decided to go live in the Facebook group while I was recording it. So people see the behind the scenes of recording an audiobook. They actually get to see what a punch and roll is, which is one of my favorite new techniques that I wasn't using when podcasting, but now I'm using it for the audiobook and... Tell us what that is. Oh, so punch and roll.

If you make a mistake, you actually stop the recording. You don't just keep going and try to fix it later. You actually stop the recording. Go back to maybe the beginning of that sentence or the beginning of the phrase. Put the cursor there, press record and record that whole phrase again. So at the very end, basically the whole thing is put together exactly how you want to want it to be with no mistakes because you've already recorded over those mistakes. And one of the cool things with punch and roll, especially.

how I use it is I can listen to what I've already recorded up to that part that I need to record again. So I'm listening to my voice. And sometimes you can see me mouthing it because I want to make sure to get that natural breath and the natural pacing in as if I didn't make that mistake. Yeah, that's brilliant. And God, those publishers are lucky to have you. So not only are you recording the audiobook in your home, you're also editing as you go. Yeah, that's the really nice thing. When they heard the sample back, they were already telling me, okay, so we do this technique called punch and roll. And I was like, I know this. I know this, guys. And I was so happy that it was one of those things where, oh, man, I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. And I want to like rub it in all my

teacher's faces like, look, here's my potential right here. I'm so proud of you. And we kind of skirted over the issue, but yeah, you got a book deal through your podcast. How did that? That's such a huge accomplishment. How did that come about? I've been doing the story behind at that point for about a year and a half and a book company had reached out to me. And they said, you know your podcasts that you're writing for every single week and your scripting out would make perfect chapters in a book. Have you thought about turning it into a book? And the funniest thing about that is my whole life I wanted to write a book. And as soon as I started podcasting, it's like that dream didn't, it didn't go away, but I just had forgotten about it.

it and I didn't realize that, yeah, every week I was making these thousand word scripts for the story behind. And yeah, if you actually did put it together, it would make a book. And for a lot of the chapters, I was able to take scripts I had already written and fix them up so that they could be more readable for other people and not as a script for me. And then I was able to do 20 chapters that were brand new that I wanted to have the chapters that weren't already in podcast form as a way to be like, hey, you know, I know you guys listen to my podcast, but you also buy the scripts too. I felt weird doing that. So I wanted to be able to give people something that they couldn't get on the podcast and that they'll now get on the audiobook and the Facebook lives for it. Do you know how the publisher discovered you?

I don't, actually. I'm really not sure how. And that's one of the things with podcasting with opportunities that come along, I always want to ask. And when I do, it's never in the way that I expect. It's never like, oh, I found you because you were featured in new and noteworthy, which I've never been. It's always, oh, I read about you in the podcast business journal or inside podcasting, or I saw you on a list of 25 most popular history podcasts, something like that. It's always something like that where I don't necessarily know. It's not me putting myself out there. But I think also, knowing that when I write show notes, I'm thinking about Google and I'm thinking about how easily my information can be found. And I'm trying to go about things in the right

way where I don't want to do the shortcuts. I want to be able to do it the right way first so that if I have to go back and fix a mistake, it's not like I have to start from scratch. It's probably I have to tweak a thing here or there. I was going to ask you whether reading your book live, I'm on air, like, if you felt nervous about that. But I guess you do live stuff all the time. How did you feel before you did the first one? I felt nervous about that because it's my writing. And that's one thing growing up that my writing was always the thing for me. It was always the thing that I kept in a locked journal. If I had to write for school, I was very nitpicky and very perfectionist, but when it's writing for me, it's very almost internal. And I'm trying to think of it. I'm trying to

think of the right word. Not discrete, but private. Private, yeah. When I write, it's very private. When I would write scripts to talk about on the story behind, I knew I was writing to perform. So it made the writing a little less private to me because I knew I was performing it. With the book, I kind of went back into that private writing mode again. And actually, for a long time, I couldn't even read my book because I was so worried about finding the mistakes. I couldn't deal with it. I was like, oh, my God, this is my stuff. I would feel bad when I would hear people being like,

I loved your book, and I'm thinking, but you're reading my thoughts. You're in my mind. Get out, get out, get out. Like, I really cringe thinking about people reading this book. And I knew I had to face that. And I had to get over that. So going live helped me do that.

And I'm reading through it. And I actually have a red pen now that I'm making adjustments and finding mistakes. and dealing with them live on air, which is actually a weird way to stay accountable and be like, hey, hey, people are watching you. You've got to get over this. This is not something that you have to sit there and feel bad about. You have to keep going so that you could make a second edition so that you can find more mistakes so that you can fix it. And again, going back to everything

being a practice, thinking of my book as, this is just the first edition. That was a huge relief when Mark DeCote, actually, from the resourceful designer, he said that to me. He's like, so, that's your first edition. And I was like, you're right. It's not the final B-end all of Emily's writing right there. So that's helped a lot. And yeah. I love how this circled back. It's all a practice. And I'm sure podcasting has helped push you out of your comfort zone and get more comfortable putting yourself out there and like in many other ways, I'm just like you, where I feel like, yeah, writing was a much more private thing. And I was thinking recently, I feel like, you know, in 2008, I did one of like my Italy Johns and just ran away for a few months. And I had this,

like, secret blog for just like a few people. And I was like, I think my writing was better back then because I didn't care. You know, I wasn't doing it because I wanted a million followers. I was just sharing fun stories with a few people who I cared about. And I was like, that was the best writing I've ever done, I think. And I want to get back to that feeling of not caring. It usually is. And I think that's why you're seeing people, I didn't realize that this was a term until a few weeks ago. But I guess they have a fintzagram, which is people's fake Instagram, which is where they actually show stuff.

And I'm like, oh, yeah, I have that too. But it was my first Instagram account that I don't want people to go back to and look at, Huh, when Emily first got a smartphone and tried to take pictures, like, I don't want people to go back to that. But I still use those tiny little outlets that maybe only 25 people, really close friends who knew me in high school and stuff like that, they can follow. So I'll be a little bit more open on that. And I do find that I get a lot more fulfilled with those sort of posts as opposed to the post on my professional one where I'm actually teaching somebody. but the fact that I'm writing in a way to help others is very different than writing in a way to sort of document your own life for you and your friends. And it's fun to sort of have those little outlets here and there. Well, Emily, thank you so much for talking to me today. Where can people find out more about you?

Absolutely. You can find out about me going to e-podcastproductions.com. If you want to listen to Hate to Wait, that's over at hate towait.com. And the story behind is that the story behind podcast.com. com. Excellent. And it's hate to wait, W-E-I-G-H-T. Yeah, hate-to-wait. Yep. All right. Thank you, Emily. Thank you. Thank you for listening to podcasting step by step. You are now one step closer to launching that podcast you've been dreaming about, but I want to get you even closer. I created a free guidebook for you with actionable worksheets called Eight Mistakes New Podcasters Make and How to Fix Them. To find that, head on over to sarah micotel.com slash fix. 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.