Authenticity: Why start a podcast?
I started a podcast!
Did you know?
It began with a friend saying, “You’re a communication coach; why don’t you have a podcast?” and my not having an answer to that challenge!
People start podcasts for all kinds of reasons: including sharing their passions, promoting their business, building their brand, creating an online community, and engaging with their audience. Some people also view podcasting as an avenue to make money through sponsorships and advertisements.
In truth, none of those reasons was foremost in my mind.
Yes, I’m passionate about communication and want to grow my engagement, business scope, and income! But you can’t promote communication coaching: someone recognizes a need for help in this area, or they do not.
My goal is to allow my passion for effective communication to benefit listeners by sharing what I do, and how I do it.
So I called it The Communication Mastery podcast. I’m on a journey with my listeners to grow our communication skills into mastery that fuels business and personal success and strengthens a sense of community.
The first few episodes laid the groundwork: why I love what I do, how I got to this point, and some background on the powerful tool I use most. Then we start to get into practical application with an overview of communication challenges, insights into communication distress, and so on.
Feedback so far has been positive, and people are beginning to share the podcast with friends. It’s a relatively low commitment, with an episode every two weeks, each about 20 minutes long. From the start, I wanted to be as transparent as possible, so we released it on video through my YouTube channel as well as on all the audio podcast platforms.
I’m looking forward to hearing more from subscribers as the weeks go by - what they find helpful, what questions they want answered, and the topics they are curious about.
My first feedback came from my friend as I finished recording an episode recently. I was concerned that my delivery had stumbled a little as I concluded the episode and voiced my doubt to him. His response? “I wouldn’t worry - you sounded authentic.”
That’s what prompted me to write this blog, AND why I’ve started a podcast - I want my authenticity to benefit others!
In a world that’s full of filtered, edited, perfectly-presented content that is often shallow or divisive, we are hungry for more authenticity.
What does your authentic self look and sound like?
How can you offer your authenticity to us all?
Let’s make an authentic difference!
Your Communication Coach,
Mark.