Top Tips For Effective Communication in Podcast Guesting | John Duffin

Do you feel lost in the crowd with so many people guesting on podcasts these days? Do you worry that you're just another voice on another podcast? There's something you can do to ensure this isn't you! In this episode, John Duffin explains how you can become an iconic podcast guest who leaves a lasting impression. By focusing on the fundamentals, you'll become a more confident speaker that listeners want to work with. Get ready to optimize your communication skills and "wow" listeners!

MORE FROM THIS EPISODE: HTTPS://PODPROS.COM/268

Takeaways

Authenticity and differentiation are key in delivering a message that sets you apart.
The Navy SEAL's Body of Evidence Technique, a breathing technique coupled with a mindset, can help center yourself and overcome fear and imposter syndrome.
Preparation is crucial for effective communication as a host or guest on a podcast.
Avoid fillers and up-speak by staying focused in conversations and using your authentic voice with confidence and engagement.
Sit up, use your authentic voice, and maintain good body language to enhance your communication during podcast episodes.

Chapters

00:00 Optimizing Communications by Leveraging Your Voice
01:12 The Arc to Authenticity
02:03 The Navy Seals Body of Evidence Technique
06:14 Preparation is Key
08:43 Avoiding Fillers and Focusing on the Conversation
11:07 Avoiding Up-Speak
14:27 Game Day Physicality
16:50 Getting Your Message Received

MORE FROM THIS EPISODE: HTTPS://PODPROS.COM/268

Transcript

0:02

You're listening to Podcasting Made Simple. I'm your host, Alex Sanfilippo. For this episode's guide and resources, please visit podprose.com slash 268. And now, let's get to the episode. Hey folks, I'm John Duffin here with Duffin Media. I've been fortunate to be able to have hosted and guessed it on a number of podcasts. And today, if we do this right, you'll get the opportunity to optimize your communications by leveraging your voice. What do I mean? Simply this, my whole purpose, my whole intention is to get your message heard, understood, your intended message received. This way, When you're guesting or hosting on podcasts, you'll have the ability to optimize your impact. People will hear you, believe you, and want to follow you. So here's what I'd like to do today. I wanna deliver to you my top tips, hacks, if you will, of ways that you get to do exactly that, optimize your communications by leveraging your voice. What is this all about? This is all about what I call the arc to authenticity. When I'm hosting a podcast, when I'm guessing on podcasts, it's really important to me to deliver an authentic message. The whole rationale behind that is this is what makes me different. And my intention for you is to identify what your differentiation is. Easy for me to say, right? So that differentiation is the way that you're able to communicate that sets you apart. So when people are watching or hearing you, they're like, Oh my God. I get that. I appreciate that. So, some of my hacks are literally ways that will help you make certain your voice isn't quivering or hovering or umming and eyeing or screaming or whispering or questioning or doubting. I want you to stand true. Sit true, if you will, with confidence. clarity and the ability to again get your intended message received. Tips, shall we? No problem. Let's get rolling and deliver what I intended to. Here's an example of a great way to center yourself. This can work on Zoom. This can work live, however you're delivering the message. Podcasts, obviously. But if you're speaking to an audience, if you're speaking to one person or a group, here's a great way to center yourself, to keep your voice true and right. I call this the Navy Seals Body of Evidence technique. It's a two-fold technique and to me, I've used it, people have shown me and when I put these two together, it helps me tremendously. So, do you have 16 seconds? Well, that's pretty much the whole length of time that you need for this. It's a breathing technique. coupled with a little bit of mindset. When you pull this off, it's amazing how you can get yourself centered and right. So here it is, number one, the Navy SEAL's body of evidence, the Navy SEAL's breathing technique, and look, no one is confusing me for a Navy SEAL's person. However, where did this come from? This came from my therapist, who is also a renowned sports psychologist. His name is Joe Dowling. He wrote the book called Zonefulness. the Navy SEALs breathing technique. Literally got Navy SEALs out of a panic situation and I'll show you. It's literally this simple. Four sets of four box breathing. Inhale for four. Hold for four. Exhale for four. hold again for four. I might have rounded up on the 16 seconds, but the fact of the matter is that's your 16 second thing. What was the second part? I call it the body of evidence. Look folks, one of the things that can take you out of a great conversation is fear and worry imposter syndrome, if you will. I don't belong here. I don't have anything to add. I don't feel worthy. All of those things can take you out of the game. So when you're doing that 16 seconds of breathing. Here's the recommendation. Add something, it's not just positive thinking, it's a little more than that, based on science. Also came from my psychologist, Joseph Dowling, the body of evidence is a reminder that you've done something. I'll give you an example from me. So I literally need to remind myself sometimes that I've run a marathon. Now, I'm not telling you that to impress you, trust me. If you've ever seen me run, you wouldn't be all that impressed. but I finished a marathon. I run them in Chicago, Berlin, Germany, just to name a couple, Berlin, Germany. This guy is literally finishing a marathon. So why does that matter? Again, it's not to impress you, but it's a reminder that never in my life did I think I could accomplish that. And I did. I include that sometimes in that body of evidence. For you, for me, it doesn't matter what the example is. This ain't a competition. It's something that you feel proud about that you did that you didn't think you could do anytime in your life. Maybe it's the fourth grade math B. Well, that was just me. But the fact is for you, it's anything, whatever it is, have it available when you're doing that 16 seconds of breathing, right? Have that in layer it in. Those two things are done to remind you that you deserve a seat at that table. The seat at the table, whether you're the guest, whether you're the host, you're here for a reason. You're here to add value. So often we take ourselves out of the competition. The truth of the matter is you deserve to be there. You're bringing something. Those two tactics go to one half. The Navy SEALs breathing. coupled with the body of evidence. What does it do? Put you front and center. And again, you do deserve a seat at that table. Which brings me to my next point. Folks, this is all about preparation. None of my tips, techniques, hacks, whatever you wanna call them, none of them are going to replace preparation. Now, this is not a vocal tip. It's just a tip. You cannot be over-prepared. You can't. When you are communicating with anyone as a host, as a guest, it is really important to make certain that you're in the right place with them. How do you do that? Well, here is a hack. Communicate with them. What are we talking about in terms of the episode? What would you like me to convey? What is an effective communication for you? Would you like stories or examples? Do you want me to omit anything? Here's where I'd like to head. Am I headed in the right direction? These are all general questions that you can be having before you go on with a host or have a guest to make certain that you're not stumbling and fumbling all through. Again, preparation is absolutely the key. There's a former athlete, well actually, there's a current athlete, his name is Russell Wilson. He was playing for the Seattle Seahawks and his line as a young quarterback, somebody asked him what makes you different. His line, preparation is the separation. And that to me is key. Make certain that you're buttoned up so that you can sound casual and at ease. So very often you're having a conversation, whether it's with a friend, whether it's with a guest, whether it's with a client, whoever. I've been in these situations and you're speaking with someone or it's you and you're starting with the ums and uhs and mm and fillers. One of mine is, and all of a sudden what they do is they tend to stop your train of thought. They tend to stop the guests train of thought. When someone hears, um, uh, what would you think is going through the mind of the person you're speaking with? I'll help you. Doubt, confusion, lack of focus. Everybody does this by the way. Everybody ums, uhs, again, and. uh, everybody. I'm not saying to sweat it, but what I am saying is this is typically fixable. No one loves hearing it. If you're speaking with somebody and you've got some sort of relationship or rapport, they're going to forgive you. They're not going to worry about that. But here's a great way to omit and avoid it. Focus. I've spoken in front of audiences and one of the things I realized is this, this works with one person or a group. which is to really, I call the tactic watering the plants, which is focusing on a person, whether it's for a thought, whether it is for a sentence. A podcast interview is typically a one-on-one. So that's easy, right? Make certain you are laser focused, not just on the host or guest, not just on the conversation in general, but the exact train of thought. You wanna follow everything. It is so... hard to go into the ahms, ahs when you are really focused. So what this does, stay with the person speaking with you. Worry less about the bullet points of what you're gonna say next or what you're gonna intend to convey. Did I get my top three? Don't worry about it because when you do that, you've already are projecting forward, which can be a mistake when you're speaking. You wanna literally be in. because follow up questions are incredibly compelling. Oh, tell me a little more or give me an example. Or I didn't know that whatever it is that you were staying connected in the conversation, because I'm going to tell you some of the most compelling conversations come from what would appear to be a random thought by you being able to follow up, it proves that you were listening. Number one, it. demonstrates that you're able to carry on a conversation and who knows where it's gonna head. And by the way, that who knows where it's gonna head, and often it's good news. Now, one of the things that I often have been, I speak enough often, get asked a lot is in regards to do I sound okay? I'm gonna give you an example of conversations that I've had where a simple tweak, a hack, would get you past a point of doubt and insecurity and into a point of confidence and engagement. And it's the term you might've heard before, which is up speak. That's exactly what it is, which is ending your thought in a question. Listen, everyone does this as well too, but have you been in conversations with people where everything sounds like a question? And if I go to the store, do you want me to pick up milk or eggs? Here's the thing. Of course you're going to ask questions. If you're hosting a podcast, it's probably your job to ask a couple of questions, but everything shouldn't sound like a question because here's why. People are hearing this and there's almost this sense of unnecessary rhythm. People follow rhythms. I worked with a renowned voice coach, Roger Love. He talks about the top five of pitch, pace, tone, melody, and volume. and refers to up-speak. Of course, you're going to ask questions, but let me tell you, be really careful with the up-speak because when you hear, should I sound like this or that, or should we go here or there? It often gets confused with doubt, insecurity, I want you to take the lead. The problem is, if you're the one that is in taking a lead in a conversation, people hear that. and maybe they're going to run scared. So how do you address that without being too focused on how you sound? And by the way, all of this is to be done. So it's a natural sense of communication, not worrying about, do you sound good? Do you sound pretty? None of this is in play here, right? So simply what you can do is remember less is more in regards to the questions. Even when you ask a question, you can ask it in a declarative, engaging way. Would you rather we go here or here? Would you rather we do this or that? Folks, when I talk about those sorts of things, it still sounds engaging. It just doesn't sound unsure or doubtful. You want to be in a conversation. Again, remember that part about the seat at the table? Well, here's another example. Don't take yourself out of a conversation. because it's sounding like you don't know if you should be there. You do deserve a seat at the table and you should sound that way too. Look, hopefully the goal is you're doing a ton of podcasting. When you're doing all of that podcasting, you want to make certain people are hearing you, your true voice. That's terribly important. None of this is to, as we talked about before, make you sound a certain way. make you sound pretty, make you sound like an announcer. As a matter of fact, no one wants to hear an announcer-y people anymore. I've gotten dialed back in some of the work that I do where people will say to me, well, John, you're sounding a little announcer-y. And I laugh and it's like, well, I'm just talking. I have a certain way of speaking. My reminder, none of this is to help you sound like me. In fact, it's the exact opposite. I want you to version of you. If you're in front of a live audience, this trick, this tack works well too. But the fact of the matter is, I call it your game day physicality. Game day. Meaning the situation. You want to make sure you're being heard properly. A couple of quick examples. Have you ever seen someone on Zoom that's got themselves all pulled in together to make sure that they hear you? Well, first off, that's scrunched up body. is a mistake. What's the hack? I'm going to sound like your fourth grade teacher, which is literally sit up, pull your shoulders back a little bit, smile a little bit. What's happening? The airflow from your vocal cords, your vocal folds, your larynx is enabling the airflow to come through so you don't have to worry about raising your volume. This is your natural, I call it your middle voice. It's typically here. Because if your upper register is here and your lower register is here, I want you somewhere in the middle, that easy conversational voice. If you get out of it, if you're up here, that's okay. It's an easy fix. Bring yourself back to the middle. Why? It's your most engaging, true, authentic voice. And remember the key is it's your most authentic, engaging voice. It's not the tonality that I'm worried about. It's the authenticity in the way that you sound. So you're in front of your computer, right? Easy, just make sure you're sitting up straight. Just make sure you're centered in a way that you're comfortable. Your hands, your body language, keep them around you. All of this plays really badly on a Zoom screen. I have to watch that for me. But the fact is... The physicality is in your voice. Remember the science that's connecting to your body and your voice because you want to sound true and right. So there you have it. There's a few basic techniques to help you get your message received by getting your message received. My hope for you, my wish for you is that you become a wildly popular podcast host or guest, everybody wanting you, everybody needing more for me, my intention, my wish. is that I'm able to use my own techniques to make certain that I'm sounding true, right and authentic. I thank you for investing the time with me today. I'm John Duffin and I hope you have a fantastic day.