Press “Play”…I dare you!

Hey Reader,

Let’s start with something “uncomfortable”.

(Not recommended in ‘writing class’)

I want you to “Press Play” on yourself.

Remember when VCRs had that little flashing “12:00” that nobody ever programmed?

That’s how most people treat listening back to their own podcast episodes or speeches. They’d rather leave it blinking forever than actually sit down and watch.

I get it. Watching yourself on video or hearing your voice played back feels like someone’s running their fingernails down a chalkboard made of your own awkwardness.

Your brain starts screaming things like “Do I REALLY sound like that?” and

“Why did I say ‘um’ seventeen times in one sentence?”

But here’s the thing nobody tells you: that squirmy, uncomfortable feeling?

That’s actually your superpower, trying to wake up.

Think about it. When you accidentally catch your reflection in a store window, you instantly adjust your posture. You stand a little taller. Suck in the gut maybe.

(No judgment, we all do it.)

The same thing happens when you force yourself to listen back to your podcast or watch footage of yourself hosting an event.

You’ll notice stuff you’d never catch otherwise…

Maybe you’re talking so fast people need subtitles. Or you’re doing that thing where every sentence sounds like a question? (See what I did there?)

You might discover you say “you know” after every third word.

Or that you pause for approximately seven years between thoughts, giving your audience time to order pizza and finish eating it.

These are the “habits” hiding in plain sight. The things your audience notices but you’re completely blind to.

Can you change it?

Can people go vegan? Can they stop smoking?

Millions have. They changed their habits.

What they WERE doing… wasn’t working.

And yeah, it’s uncomfortable. Watching yourself back is like eating vegetables. Nobody wants to do it, but everyone who does feels better after.

In Radio, we had scheduled “Air check” sessions. You’d sit down with your program director and (painfully) listen to your entire show.

I hated it. Everyone does.

But it improved my On-Air presentation every time.

“You can’t see the picture when you’re inside the frame.”

The cool part?

You’ll also catch moments where you absolutely “Crushed it”!

That’s the stuff worth celebrating… and Repeating!

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Stellar Marketing Quotes

“Creators will have more brand power than companies. It’s not even a prediction; it’s already happening.”

Joe Pulizzi

“In the next wave of marketing, trust becomes the algorithm.”

Seth Godin

Random phone calls to Japan…

A giant Tokyo phone book sitting in a Radio studio is either fuel for comedy gold or the world’s most useless doorstop.

(We went with Comedy)

The plan was simple and stupid in the best way. Call someone random in Japan, live on air, and see how long we could keep them talking.

But here’s the thing about Radio… “Boring” doesn’t work.

Nobody wants to listen to two idiots stumbling through broken Japanese while some confused person in Tokyo wonders why their Wednesday just got weird.

We needed a hook…

Enter “Godzilla!”

Because who doesn’t know Godzilla? He’s basically Japan’s most famous export after Toyota and really good knives. We figured mentioning him would make our random victim think it was just a dumb prank, and they’d hang up immediately.

Except they didn’t. Not right away.

We turned it into a game. Listeners would guess “how long” we could keep our new Japanese friend on the phone before they hung up.

Winner got a prize.

The “Godzilla Timer” was born.

Picture this: We’d get someone like Hiroshi on the line, start babbling away like old buddies, throwing in random responses to whatever he was saying.

“I love brisket too!” or “What kind of mileage you get with that?”

Meanwhile, listeners are hearing him say things that sound like vowel soup.

Then we’d drop it. “Godzilla.”

Usually, a few more heated sentences, maybe some confusion, then “Click”.

Done.

The listeners ate it up because even if you don’t speak Japanese, you can absolutely hear the word “Godzilla” clear as day. It was ridiculous.

It was also brilliant.

Here’s what made it work though… The “Hook”.

Without that Godzilla angle, we were just annoying some poor person in Tokyo for no reason. With it, we had a bit. A reason to listen. A reason to care.

That’s the same reason some podcasts keep you glued, and others make you hit skip after thirty seconds. That’s why some event hosts have audiences leaning in and others have people checking their phones.

You need your “Godzilla moment”.

That thing that makes people care.

If you’re wondering what your hook is or how to keep your audience from hitting the mental hangup button, let’s talk.

(Link below)

No scripts, no phone books required.

Diversions

Your Thoughts

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