What it means to "Go Pro" as a podcaster
What does it mean to “go pro” as a podcaster?
I was listening to a recent podcast episode of Modern Wisdom when I found myself pondering this question.
The host Chris Williamson, opened up about how his podcast really started to take off and gain traction, once he decided to go pro with it. It got me thinking about how many creatives I come across who dabble in their pursuits, but never fully commit.
I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. But if you really want to see results, what got you to where you are, probably isn’t going to get you to where you want to go.
Here is an analogy – picture a professional athlete transitioning to the big leagues. Do they accomplish such milestones single-handedly or without the requisite investment in terms of time, money, or energy? Certainly not. They invest in coaches, extra training, early mornings, late nights, surrounding themselves with the right people, and getting the right equipment.
Podcasting is no different. In fact, any pursuit requires you to take more steps than perhaps you’re comfortable taking.
Let me share a personal story to illustrate this for you.
From around the age of five, I really wanted to become a singer. Luckily for me, I grew up surrounded by very supportive parents who could see that I had the drive and helped me find the direction.
My passion was akin to having blinders on; nothing else mattered, and so I worked towards the goal.
The process of “going pro” involved countless singing lessons and practice sessions, standing before mirrors, observing my facial expressions as I sang various lyrics, focusing on my breathing and singing the same lines over and over again. Recording these sessions allowed me to listen back later and analyse areas that needed improvement.
Having a teacher to guide me through my craft was an integral part of this process. And not just one teacher either, I would learn what I could from one, and then move to a new one when I felt like I wanted to hone a different style.
It is essential to realise that, in any pursuit, there is a cap to achievements when relying solely on your own abilities. Reaching that next level requires a bit more.
Applying this to your podcast, it is critical to acknowledge the dynamics required for improved outcomes. At some point along any creative journey, you are bound to require further development.
Over a decade, I nurtured my singing ability through lessons with various coaches and teachers, each contributing uniquely to my skills.
And how did that story end?
Did my hard work pay off?
As a songwriter I had my work featured on NBC, CTV, Foxtel and in an Adidas online campaign. I received a Professional Development Grant from Warner Music, won a host of songwriter awards, worked with great producers, landed myself in the top 12 of Australian Idol and released two albums I’m extremely proud of.
My dedication to “going pro” paid off.
Somewhere along the line, I fell out of love with the process of live performance, mostly after I had my first child. But my nature is to always find a new pursuit, and this time I wanted to use my “unfair advantage” in audio production.
And a new “going pro” journey began.
Now, think about your podcast or creative pursuit from this perspective. Do you hope to “go pro” one day, and what are you doing to get there?
The journey towards pro in any area of interest is going to involve engaging others to aid in your development. This will necessarily include taking on constructive feedback and criticisms and learning to implement these suggestions. But remember, this doesn't mean listening to everyone. Seek advice from those who understand your path and can provide valuable insight.
Take a moment and think about where you are, and where you’d like to get to.
If you want to reach an elite level, it will require a different approach.
Transcript:
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[00:00:00] Brianna: Welcome back to my face. My name is Brianna. I'm the head honcho here at Bambi Media. Today we're talking about going pro. Inspiration for this podcast episode has come from a podcast that I was listening to, Modern Wisdom. The host Chris was talking about how he didn't get serious with his podcast until he decided that he was going to go pro with it.
[00:00:29] And what does going pro actually mean? Well, it means devoting time, energy, money into things that you wouldn't normally Devote to, let's say in your podcasting journey, just think about a professional athlete for a moment when they're going pro, when they're going to hit the big leagues, do they do that all by themselves?
[00:00:50] Do they just spend no time or money or energy doing it? No, they don't. They spend a buttload of time getting better and they have coaches that help them with specific things and they do a bunch of research into what they need to do. I can tell you a story about me growing up as a musician, as a singer.
[00:01:12] So since I was, I don't know, four or five years old, I wanted to be a singer. And as I grew, that became a stronger mission for me, I turned into a songwriter, I really wanted to write songs. and once I had decided that this was something I really wanted to do, it was like I had blinders on.
[00:01:36] There was nothing else that really mattered. Granted, I lived at this time with my parents, they could help support me, I could devote as much time and energy as I wanted into it because I didn't have a bunch of other responsibilities coming at me, you know? I was young and I could just do it by myself.
[00:01:54] Lots of singing lessons, lots [00:02:00] of practice, lots of standing in front of a mirror and watching myself. Looking at how my face changed when I sang different words. Focusing on what my breathing was doing and that I was getting through to all the other aspects that the breath helps control with singing.
[00:02:18] I would record myself using a tape player back then, and then later I would listen back to what I had done during my singing lessons so that I could understand where I could improve Going pro meant having a coach, a teacher who could help me get better at my craft and pick up things that I just didn't know about.
[00:02:41] You don't know what you don't know and it couldn't ring more true than going pro in anything. If you're trying to do it all by yourself, then you're only going to get to a certain level. You're only going to get to a certain point. so I want you to think about your podcast in the same way.
[00:02:56] If you're trying to get a better result, what are you putting in that's different to what you're doing now? Really, like, be honest with yourself. What are you putting into this? And are you hoping for a different result without really changing much? At some point, at some level in any creative pursuit, and I would argue most pursuits, You have to develop further. So And as a singer, as a musician, I continued to develop over a long period of time. I had dedicated singing lessons for 10 years, a decade of learning to sing with different coaches, different teachers.
[00:03:37] And once I was finished with one, I had developed a really good skill in classical voice. Then I would go, okay, I probably don't need to know as much about that now. I want to incorporate some more jazz or Broadway style. And then we went and found a teacher that was really good at that so that I could develop that area and then bring those combination of things together and [00:04:00] molded into what I actually wanted to be, what, how I actually wanted to sound and how I wanted to represent my unique voice. So that was a decade of mastery. Like a pursuit of mastery that I went on and then after that, I went into musical theater. So from grade 10, I started doing musical theater, uh, productions and I was in quite a few of those.
[00:04:23] So I was learning again, different skills that I could pile onto there. And all this time from the age of about 12, I started songwriting. And I would write, write, write, write, and I would record myself with these songs, and then listen back to them, and then change things, and then change the lyrics, and change the, the way that melody went, and I would add harmonies, and I would put different things in.
[00:04:47] I was thinking about it all the time. And how that then manifested later on, was I went on to do some incredible things as a musician. I had songs featured on NBC, on Foxtel, an Adidas campaign. I had songs featured in, in short films as well. I won different awards.
[00:05:08] I got a professional development grant with Warner Music. and on top of that, I also went onto Australian Idol and I got into the top 12 of that crazy reality program as well, all from that mastery, that going pro, that laser focus, those blinders that I had on to go, this is what my focus is.
[00:05:31] This is what I want to do. How can I pull these things? How can I learn as much as I can from different people, from different industries, and bring it all together and turn it into something that is unique to me and is at a pro level. I also went on to do a, a degree at the conservatorium of music.
[00:05:50] and then recorded two albums. All this time working with different people, collaborating with different people, going pro Ultimately, for [00:06:00] me, what happened was I fell out of love a bit with the process of live performance and I had a child and I didn't want to do that anymore. And again, then I came back to my focus of, okay, if I don't want to be a professional touring musician anymore, how can I use the skills that I already have?
[00:06:23] To go pro in something else. and that's when the love of podcasting really began for me, because I already had an audio production degree. I was already a really good storyteller and songwriter from all those years of professional development in that place, and it felt like a very good fit for me to jump into the podcasting space because it was still telling stories in an audio format and being creative in the process.
[00:06:52] So I want you to think about that podcasting point of view. If you're devoted to this as a medium, if this is part of your marketing, part of your business, part of your professional career to have a podcast, what are you doing to uplevel those skills? Are you learning how to interview better?
[00:07:13] Do you have a speech coach? Do you have someone helping you craft content? Or someone you can bounce ideas off with your content that isn't just someone that works in your business that doesn't have those skills anyway and you're all just kind of shooting in the dark?
[00:07:29] Have you bought a better webcam? Have you got a decent microphone? Have you got some lights? You know, I'm nowhere near done with what I'm doing here and the level of complexity and the level of things that I want to pile onto this, even just our own podcast. What are you doing? what's the one thing that you can end the year with for 2023 that you think will really help you in your podcasting journey?
[00:07:58] For next year, for [00:08:00] 2024, maybe that strategic coaching with me here at Bambi Media to get a bit more of that VIP experience. But also the last thing I want to say is that no matter who you engage to help you. With this next phase of what you're doing and it doesn't need to be podcasting any Pursuit.
[00:08:23] You must be able to take their criticisms, to take their constructive feedback and learn from it and Implement. You've got to swallow the ego that maybe you've developed at this point and go They're the one that knows this. I'm engaging this person. I'm paying this person money to help me go pro, so I'm going to listen to what they say, and I'm going to implement what they're asking me to implement. You don't want a yes man. You don't want someone that says, you're doing a good job, just keep doing that.
[00:09:00] You want someone that picks you apart. And I've had that the whole way through my professional development as a musician and then into podcasting as well, learning from different people that already have skills in the area to develop my skills.
[00:09:16] and allow constructive feedback. But don't listen to people that don't know what they're talking about. Don't ask an opinion of someone for something that you've created that they don't actually have any skills in. Because what they're going to give you isn't really valuable feedback. They can give you an emotional response.
[00:09:39] They can tell you about how something feels for them. But the actual nitty gritty of what it is that you're trying to do, trying to develop, needs to be someone that knows what they're talking about, that has been where you are, or has trained or coached people from where you are.
[00:09:56] They're the people that you listen to. [00:10:00] So when you've decided, I'm going to go pro, they're in podcasting, whatever it is, it doesn't need to be podcasting, but I'm talking about podcasting because this is a podcasting show. When you decide you're going to go pro, what are you putting in place to go pro?
