Influential Introvert: Communication Coaching for Professionals with Performance Anxiety - Want to Grow Your Podcast Audience? Communicate What You Stand For

Starting point is 00:00:02 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. How do I get more listeners to my podcast? Have you ever asked yourself this?

Starting point is 00:00:31 I'm sure that you have because we all ask this. And the funny thing is, at first, a lot of us are afraid of anyone hearing our podcast, but then at the same time, we want everyone to listen. We are working hard on these episodes, and we're producing them for the benefit of other people. So how do we grow our audience? This starts by having a clear understanding of who we are and what we stand for in this world. That sounds pretty simple, right? but sit with this idea for a minute because it's a big question. It is the biggest question. Why am I here? What matters to me? Am I living a life that's aligned to what matters to me? Am I talking about these things on my podcast?

Starting point is 00:01:15 Not many people spend time reflecting on what they really value in life or how our everyday lives match up to those values. Sure, they might be floating around in the back of our minds, but we don't give ourselves the space we need to really contemplate how we want to show up in the world. And until we get clear on what we stand for, we won't be clear in what we want to share with the world on our own shows and on the podcast that we guest on. And if we don't know what we're all about, why would an audience rally behind us? So who are you? What do you stand for? Bernie Sanders ran for the U.S. Senate several times in the 1970s, and he lost every race. It doesn't matter if you like Bernie or not or what your political affiliation is.

Starting point is 00:02:03 His story has something that we can all learn from. So Bernie was born and raised in Brooklyn, but he spent almost his whole adult life in rural Vermont, and he moved there in the late 1960s, along with a bunch of other progressives who were getting a little bit tired of big cities like New York. Bernie had been active in the civil rights and anti-war movements, and in the 1970s he decided he was going to start running for political office in Vermont as a liberal socialist. And he didn't start small like trying to get a seat on the local planning and zoning committee. He was running for governor and Senate and he kept losing very badly.

Starting point is 00:02:41 And running for office is hard. You are spending every waking moment knocking on doors, calling people, getting rejected, and then losing is soul-crushing. But Bernie knew what he stood for and his message didn't change. At one point, his friend set him down and said, Look, Bernie, this Senate thing isn't happening right now. But you have some support in Burlington, which is Vermont-Sippy Capital. Why don't you start smaller and build your base?

Starting point is 00:03:09 And so he did. Bernie Sanders ran for mayor of Burlington and he won by 10 votes. The businessman and other people who had been in charge of the town did not want socialist mayor, and so they started throwing all sorts of obstacles in Bernie's way like hiding information that he needed to run the town effectively, but Bernie kept building his community. What he stood for didn't change.

Starting point is 00:03:34 His message didn't change. He was mayor of Burlington from 1981 to 1989. In 1988, he actually ran for Congress and he lost, but then he won, and he kept winning. In 1990, he was elected to Congress, and in 2007, he became a United States senator, and his message did not change. He knew what he stood for and his audience knew what he stood for and that audience grew. You might know that in 2016, Bernie's political movement caught fire

Starting point is 00:04:06 and his supporters were literally chanting feel the burn at his rallies when he was running for president of the United States. Bernie is running again for president in 2020 and if you look at his website, he says, I'm running for president so that when we are in the White House, The movement we build together can achieve economic, racial, social, and environmental justice for all. Will Bernie be president? Who knows? But he's already won because his message, which hasn't wavered in more than three decades, has shifted the political conversation in Washington, D.C.

Starting point is 00:04:43 Now, Democrats are openly supporting and campaigning on ideas to fight climate change, offer health care for all, forgive student debt, these discussions would have been unthinkable a few years ago, but they're happening because one man who lost many elections before he started winning, he knew what he stood for, and he repeated this in language that people could understand, and he ignited a movement. So what do you stand for? What do you want out of life? What do you want to be known for? What is your message for this world? what brings you the most satisfaction in life? How much time do you spend doing this? Why were you put here on this earth? Who do you want to serve? How would someone describe what you stand for? Can you

Starting point is 00:05:37 sum this up in one or two sentences? Identifying your mission, vision, and values for your life is your foundation. When you have clarity on this, everything related to your podcast will flow more easily, from the interviews that you participate in to what you post on social media. Your messages will be more consistent and more meaningful, and this is when people really start listening to you. This is how you grow your podcast audience. 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

Starting point is 00:06:25 sarahmicotel.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 at sarahmicatel.com slash blank no more.

Influential Introvert: Communication Coaching for Professionals with Performance Anxiety - Want to Grow Your Podcast Audience? Communicate What You Stand For

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