Boost Your Podcasting Confidence And Empower Your Audience With Vicki Noethling Of Find Your Leadership Confidence Podcast

Wish you were one of those influencers with raving fans who binge on your every word, consume all your content, buy everything you have to sell, and demand even more. Then stay tuned while Authority Magazine columnist and buzzfeed contributor Tracy Hazzard shares strategies, tips and tactics from top videocasters, podcasters, authors and social influencers on creating that bingeable factor. Now let's join Tracy as she explores how to rise above all the digital noise with the Binge Factor.

Hey everyone. Welcome to the Binge Factor. I'm Tracy Hazzard and I have Vicki Neffling on Today for Find you'd Leadership Confidence. We've done some podcast swaps lately and I was just on her show and usually I have people on my show first before I go on their show, so it's kind of refreshing. So I'm doing things a little out of order in that I am going on their show, which I always listen to the show, even to go on somebody's show. But then of course I reach a little bit deeper and take a deeper dive into things so that when I have her on my show, I've made sure to listen to even more episodes. But I'm so glad I listened to Vicki's because if I hadn't listened before I went on our show I I wouldn't know that sometimes she asked some rapid fire questions and that would have taken me by surprise and shame on me if I wasn't ready for that because I should be. And so I love that I was able to do that ahead of time and it has built up a better friendship. So I think you're going to hear that through our interview today. You're going to hear this sort of like rapport that we already have because we have a really had a relationship starting to build already. I think this is so much fun to do more of these podcast swaps. So let me tell you a little bit about Vicki Nethling. Vicki spent over 40 years in the corporate world before retiring in 2018. The last 17 years of that career as a project manager. In 2017, just prior to early retirement, she became involved with her first multi level marketing anti aging wellness business, Neora. Their mission to help people look better, feel better and live better fit right into Vicki's long term vision and goal. Her love for self development led her to become a Toastmaster in 1998 and in June 2021 Vicki completed her second term as a Toastmaster International Region Advisor for Region 2 in California where she mentored district leaders on leadership, conflict resolution and strategic positioning. Vicki has devoted the last 10 years building the District 44 Youth Leadership Program and continues to help children 8 to 17 improve their confidence by instructing them on effective communication skills. Vicki believes that one of her keys to success is continually investing in her personal development. And in 2022, she co authored her first collaborative book and launched the Find your Leadership Confidence podcast. She currently has two online courses to complement her webinar and coaching program. Vicki has been a busy, busy woman, I am telling you, when she was mentioning all that she's accomplished. And keep in mind, she's been doing this podcast only since earlier this year. However, she has a lot of episodes under her belt already. So take a listen to Vicki nestling from Find you'd Leadership Confidence and I'll talk to you on the other side.

Vicki, we're swapping this week. I love it. I have just done a bunch of podcast swaps. I'm so excited. That Pod Match has really done that for me this week, and it's been a lot of fun. So you're my fourth podcast swap this week, and I'm so excited because I actually already got to go on your show. So now having you here, we know each other a little better. More fun.

It's like friends.

That's right. Friends are getting together to talk about podcasting. So let's chat a little bit about that. What made you decide that podcasting sounded like the thing for you?

It's funny, whenever I was doing a project for one of my toastmaster meetings, it was the introduction to podcasting, and you had to interview someone in your club and then present that. And I had so much fun doing it after that. I was part of Darren Hardy's Hero's journey, and the very first effort of that was I had to interview people older than me, younger than me, and the same age. And it was during COVID I had so much fun doing that, I thought, I wonder if this is what I'm meant to do.

So you love the interview process?

I do, because it's a conversation and I love to be able to get to know people. And in a lot of Zoom meetings, you don't get time to really know the people that you're talking with. And I wanted to get to know them. I find people so interesting.

And.

And so I hooked up with Adam Homey through Facebook.

I know Adam. I've interviewed him on the show.

Yep. Yeah. Through Facebook. And I just did the done for you because I have no more time.

That's right. Well, I love that. So that's really kind of it. So you felt that the interview process was just. Just fit you, and that made podcasting more logical. I love that. That's really great. So how's your podcast going? Are you feeling really good about it?

So I have 55 done in two months.

Congratulations. That's a lot.

Pod matches. The thing is, that's great is I also do a lot of joint venture networking, and So I have 67, and I just did one today, and I think I've got another 35 or 40.

You can fill up your calendar. Wow, that is great.

I could fill it up. And it's great because the theme of it having to grow your confidence is something that everybody can connect with. Everybody feels either they've got it or they need help. And so I try to bring people on that will help you to connect to a solution. I might have the solution or my guest might. And that's what makes it so great.

Well, yeah. Find your leadership confidence. So it's like focus, though, on the business confidence side of things, which is really helping to keep that business model for your podcast and in focus for yourself. I think you're right. I think when something resonates with the audience and then with the guests that you're going to have on and it does it in both ways, then we want to be associated with the show. We want to subscribe to it, we want to listen to it, we want to be on it as a guest. Like, that all is working for you here.

And I love how it develops as you're going. You have those certain questions that you're going to ask, but the results of that, the answers that you get back open up. It's that layers of the onion type of thing. And you may never have expected to go in a direction that you go in, but it just evolves and just grows and develops, and I love that.

So how has some of your toastmaster skills helped you with podcasting?

I think the number one thing is that it taught me to not interrupt. I like to just listen. Active listening is so important, and that's where that richness comes out, because I hear things that people are saying or the tone that makes me think I should dig deeper here, or no, I'm going to pull back and I'm not going to ask that next question because it's not going to really feel well. I think toastmasters help that. But also just having your presence and being comfortable having a conversation and not making it seem like it's all scripted and boring and being able to laugh with my guests.

That live energy, right?

Yes. I mean, you and I had such fun. And that's what I want. I want you to leave thinking, oh, my God, I got a new best friend. And I have to say that I would probably 99% of the people that I've interviewed, I thought, oh, my gosh, I could go out and have drinks or dinner with you easily. It's just so much fun.

I know. That's how I feel. And sometimes we do so many interviews that it's hard to remember everybody. It's those stories they do stick out. So even if I, like, struggle with the name, I'll be like, oh, I remember we talked about this. And so that's what clings on into our memories. And I think that's powerful.

Yeah. And so some of the people that I interview actually could use me to help them be a better speaker, to be more powerful. And that's what I want, to try to get them so comfortable that their natural abilities come out and they get away from that stiffness or that I want to be the smartest person in the room kind of thing, but really have them have their authentic self come out. That's what I want.

Yeah. Well, a good interviewer can draw that out. What are some of the ways that you skill up on interviewing? Have you been studying other people? What have you been doing that's to help you because you were kind of new to this interview thing?

I think that part of it comes from 25 years as a toastmaster, because we do table topics where you have to answer questions that are just off the top of your head, which helps you in the interview process. Also, I'm a project manager by career, and a big part of that is for me to draw out from my project owners what works, what gaps, and so to really get the heart of things. Yeah. Just get to, what is the pain? And how can I fix the problem? Those all help. I loved always watching people like Oprah, Mike Douglas, and my aging myself way back when that was the first person. And I thought, being a talk show host seems like such a great career again, because you get to meet all these cool people and learn about them. I think that Phil Donahue and Oprah were really influential. And also Ellen, she kind of brought a different, more of that conversational, have fun. And so that I think I wanted to be able to do that. So it's years of experience, and I have a few make it all happen.

And a lot of podcasts now under your belt. So that's Right. You crash coursed yourself into it and.

Also kind of preparing for it. Going to your websites, going to listen to your podcast or your interviews, reading about you makes me feel more comfortable and not thrown off too much by surprises.

Well, let's hit some of our questions, because I think when you start a podcast, you aren't always sure about where things are going to go or how you do things. And so what did you find is the most challenging thing starting a podcast and. Or promoting a podcast could be either way.

I think the most challenging thing is for me being able to get in the cadence of I've recorded it and now I'm going to put it out there. With so many done and only so much time, I really literally could put out a podcast every single day. And do I want to do that? Is that what I want? And so I think that piece that follow up to be able to make sure that I am out there promoting as much as I need to, as often as I need to with everything that I'm doing. And I think that's something that as I get more involved in this, it just will become a natural piece. But right now I'm trying to figure out what is the right thing for me in my podcast world.

I think that's such a really good, important question, is that there's a lot of conventional advice out there. So, I mean, there's tactical advantages to doing one a day, right? John Lee Dumas will tell you that the key to his show is that he did it every day. Like, that's it. That's the key to why he won the podcasting game. So tactically, that can help you. But if at the end of the day, it's really not doing it for your core business, or if you're losing momentum or losing interest, it can have a cost to it too. So that might not be right for you. It is important to strategically sit back and think about, is this right for me, is this right for my business, is this right for my show and my listeners? And is this really what I want to be doing? Even though tactically someone would say, oh, yeah, do that.

Part of what I do is a speaker. So if I'm always on air, if I'm always doing podcasts, I can't get out there and speak. So then that kind of defeats the purpose of what I'm trying to do. Even though I really love this, I really want to get to the point where I'm able to get out there speaking in person again. And also doing some online training and some of things like that. So that's where I'm sure at some point I'm just going to hire a va. Then it's not a problem. It's now their problem to get that out there every day.

Get it out there? Yeah, get it out there for me. I love it. Well, let's talk about the three things that we talk with everyone about. First things is great guests. So you've discovered that Pod Match is really working for you. But do you do anything to vet them? How are you making your choices, determining if someone's a good fit for you?

Yeah, I do take a few minutes. I read through all of the information that they have on their profile and as I said, I'll go to their websites if I'm not sure enough. There's some things. As soon as I read it, I see this is a perfect fit. This will be a great guest. I do look at the percentage. If it's above 64% or 65%, I'll go ahead with that.

Just to hold on, Vicki's referring to there's like a Pod Match kind of percentage, like how well matched you are to the criteria that you set. So in the beginning, if you haven't set really good criteria, you could have two. They're too good or they're not actually good enough. And so you need to really play with that. But over time you refine it and you have, obviously.

Yes. And what I found is that there are people that are focused more on businesses to try to help a business that's got people and structure to help them find their niche and improve. And I'm looking to help individuals more so. And so if they say that they're out there to find a way to help with their hr, immediately, I know you're not a right fit for me. But if they're out there trying to help, you know, these are tricks for LinkedIn or these are things that will help you on social media or other speakers. I have a lot of people that come on that teach exactly what I teach, and I like that because to me, it is a personal relationship that you want to have. That is why I think the coaching world works, because you want to have a person that is comfortable with you, that you are comfortable with them, so that you can make that connection and you want to work with them and you will trust them. And so I try to find people that are going to compliment the needs of my audience.

We have a good friend, Scott Carson, podcaster for the no Closer show, and he calls it Coopetition, which is like cooperative competitiveness, and really, that's the way I look at it too, is like, if all of us podcast coaches got together and really banded together and helped each other, we'd actually find out. We'd probably refer each other a lot more than we think. Right. And so that kind of model happens with speakers as well. You might not really think this is the right speaking event, but if you've been coordinating and working with others, built a network and a friendship, you're likely to refer them onto it. And so that builds rapport with that event organizer with you, and it may get you the right opportunity later, and it helps someone else in your network. And that's amazing. So I agree with you. It is a good idea to think about having someone who might be kind of closely matched to you and use that to build your network and build an audience, because their audience and your audience are the same people. So you never know.

Right.

What's going to happen there.

And also, they turn out a lot of times to be potential summit guests. And you don't want to do a lot of summits a year, but when you do one, you want to have a nice assortment of guests. And so that's what I'm kind of building is having this smorgasbord, if you will, this little cafeteria of different people that will be enticing to you to come and kind of get a rounded training in a summit, rather than we're just all talking about the same thing.

Right. Well, so interesting you said, and I don't want to leave it there because my audience would be mad at me and I'm sure to get a message and email back. But you said you don't want to do a lot of sum tier. Why do you think that?

It's just because I became an entrepreneur because I wanted to have some time to myself.

So it's just a lot of work.

And so I do have an app that will be coming out that does the summit all in the app, and that will take some of the work away. I do a lot of things. I have a few businesses, and so I want to be able to have my time. And I think one, a quarter to a quarter is probably where I'll start, and then we'll see how it goes.

That still seems like a lot to me.

Yeah, it's one of those things that you have to experience to really know what works and what you want to do. And so let me just get to that point where I experience it. But I do look Forward to that. I love organizing things.

Well, that sounds like fun. I look forward to that as well. So let's talk about increasing listeners. What have you found is really working for you to increase listeners? Is this something you're doing on social media? Are you using your email? What are you doing that's working for you?

So what I try to do social media, a lot of my audience comes from LinkedIn and Facebook. And so I make sure that whenever I put out the podcast, I'm on it every day. I have a scheduled time that I'll go and I will do my postings and looking at things. So I want to make sure that I'm putting out value. And even after I've done the initial post, I'll reference something, you know, as I'm reading information that's out there on LinkedIn, it will bring me or remind me of a podcast that I've done. And so I'll reference that and give them another shout out. And I think that's important because there are contents that are in those podcasts that whenever you're just looking at it, that initial swipe content or whatever, it might not be the right time for you to hear it, but later on there could be a problem or something that comes up that exactly what was given at that podcast will help you.

I love that when you get that aha yourself and then you're able to share that with others.

I had interviewed a woman who helps you get to college for free. She really helps you find the money to help you have your kids not have debt. And I love that. And I'm constantly running into people, especially because I do things with the youth where what she said is important for them to hear. And so I'll refer back to her podcast and to my website to check it out. And that's the beauty of this, is that the evergreen piece, right, what we do is not gone. I had another person that said, when do you do your podcast? I work and I don't know that I can hear it. I said, it is recorded. And I did that for a purpose, not to have live. Live might be exciting, but I wanted you to be able to refer to it when it was convenient for you.

It's so interesting that you just said that about dropping these nuggets, because I swear, I think the universe had sent a message through you to me. Because when we were recording on your show, when I was on your show and interviewed at the end, you were mentioning how you had interviewed someone who was talking about sympathy and bereavement and how do you talk to someone who. What do you say to someone who's lost someone? And would you not know it? But the next morning I woke up and one of my employees lost her husband. And I was like, I need to talk to Vicki. And I was so glad you were on it because I need to write this note to her. And I thought, I'm going to ask Vicki at the end of our call today what I should say. What tips did you have? Because your podcast hadn't aired yet, so I couldn't find it. So. So, yeah, but that was it. You dropped that to me, and it was something that I needed right in that moment. And that's one of the things that I love about podcasting, that it can be right there at that. Right, Mom? So how do you make that happen? And the only way to do it is to go with your gut and remembering it, sparking your memory and sharing that back through social. I think that's a great way to go.

And the other great thing about it is that we should always be learning and developing. I truly believe in lifelong learning, and I think it keeps us young and it keeps us active. But that is why it's so great to have all these guests, even people again, that. That do the same thing I do, because there's always a nugget. There's always something that I didn't think about or I forgot. That's the thing, too. It's like, oh, my gosh, I remember. I learned that a long time ago and I didn't use it anymore. So there's always something that you didn't know you needed to know that was there for you.

I'm going to interrupt our three things, because I want to stop right there and hit it on your binge factor, because you just mentioned it right there. This is what I believe the binge factor for find your leadership confidence is, and that is that you are very, very skilled at chasing that golden nugget that I need to hear. Like, you go and you dive into it, and you don't drop that path. A lot of interviewers drop that path, but you don't. You continue on it and follow that thread all the way through to get to that heart of what is different about what I'm saying or is unique about the message that needs to come out or. Or, well, rounding that message so that it gets the whole story in there and you're going for that. And I think that's what really makes your show unique. There are lots of shows on Confidence, and there are lots of shows on business, but when you really get to something that's getting all the way in there and getting the whole amount that I need to do something with, that's valuable.

Yeah. You want to leave them wanting more. And I think that's just really so important.

You want to leave them wanting more but not missing out. Right. That's the kind of key balance.

Oh, absolutely. You always should have a paper and pencil when you're listening to my podcast.

I do. I've got notes here.

Exactly.

I love that. Well, let's talk about return on investment and monetization. Obviously, you've not monetized your show yet in terms of traditional thinking, but you've gotten a return on investment already. Has it gotten you speaking events? Because that's the one thing I think that a lot of speakers out there are thinking. If I start a podcast, I'm going to get speaking events right away, and this is just going to magically work. What is the return on investment that you've discovered?

So I have not gotten any speaking events, paid ones. I have actually spoken on three summits in the. In this time frame since I've done my podcast, and then two books that I've been in compilation. So it is coming in those ways. But I just changed over or added that I could be a guest on Pod Match because I hadn't had that. And I thought, oh, my goodness, I love this interviewing people, but I should probably go out there and show people that I actually can speak on my own, too, and talk about what I do. My goal is I spend about 90 minutes a week to try to find speaking engagements outside of my podcast guest. But I really think that it's gonna be from my collaboration with my podcast guest that will evolve into speaking, because it's that whole know, like, and trust and understanding what I do and how I could help you.

I think that's so, so true that podcasting builds it a little bit faster than other places, especially when you're consistent and constant like you are, that you've got. You're prolific about it. So it makes event organizer look at that and trust you faster than someone else. Because they're like, look, they show up every week for their audience. They're not going to miss my event. They're going to show up, they're going to be reliable. Like, there's a certain amount of that that they can gather already from just checking that out. And then they listen to you and they hear your energy and they hear how you command an audience. And I think that goes a long way to getting you more on that side of things.

But I definitely, that's my goal. I'd like to speak at least two times a month at the minimum. And I just think because you can reach a larger crowd, especially from a virtual standpoint, and then, you know, maybe that will end up with them coming to one of my courses or having for 2023, I'm going to do a retreat. That's a goal I have out there because I think when you get people away from their normal environment in that kind of retreat mode, I think you can just make such a difference. I did that with my Toastmaster leaders and it was so impactful. And so that's a goal that I have, is to be able to help them with not only their virtual experience and their presence, but also to be that 21st century leader. I don't think I had my tagline for you.

I think events have to come back up. So I'm so excited you're thinking about retreats. I think people are starting to think about that. I think it's time, yeah.

10 or 12 people all just looking to find ways to just be better leaders.

So tell me a little bit about the books that you mentioned before. What books are you working on right now?

I have one that is a collaboration with Suzanne Evans and it is on leadership finding pace in what you do. So that's being persistent, having an active listening, being courageous, and also having emotional intelligence as you lead. So that's the one that I'm working on right now. It's in the final edits of putting together.

I like that term, finding pace. That's a really great way to say it.

I do a great webinar on that too. But my other item is, I don't know if you can see this, but it's unstoppable. The subtitle, though, is the one that catches everybody's attention. It's being fierce, fearless and unfuck withable in life and business. And it's Rochelle Marie Lawson is the main author. So she and I did a podcast together. She was my very first guest on a podcast and we again became best friends kind of thing. And so she asked me if I would be in her book. So I have that book done. That came out in February. I launched my podcast in March. In May I did my final for the Suzanne Evans book. And now I have till September to do Imana Guy is another one of my coaches. And so I have a book that, a compilation book with him Wonderful.

Well, you are busy, Vicki. I don't know. I don't know how you're managing to keep that all and keep that pace that you've been talking about and making sure you have time for yourself. I think that you've taken on a lot of challenges here and really just quickly found your pace in it. And I think if there's anything that I've learned from you over our interview together before and this one now, you find your pace quickly. What's the key to that?

So I think Covid actually probably that and turning 60 just before COVID in 2018. I think what it taught me was that life is not predictable. And there are too many times where we say I should have or maybe someday. And I just decided this year I'm already getting those wonderful Medicare things. So I decided that someday is today and I would just say yes and I would take action. And so since July of last year, I have been taking action and it's been so wonderful. It's been so revitalizing. It makes you want to get up in the morning even though you don't have to, you know. Although I did take on a 40 hour project management in addition to everything else I do.

So we all occasionally do overburden ourselves, right?

Yes, we do. But the thing is, I remember my husband's grandfather. He was 86, 87 when I met him. And he worked still. That was the first person I ever knew that that was that age that worked. And about 89, 90 years old, he quit. And that's whenever things started to go wrong. And so I don't ever want to be sitting on a couch eating bon bons kind of girl.

I can't imagine myself doing that either. Like, it's just not me. So I get it.

And so I also remember all of the struggles that I had in my life to try to prove myself. And so that's where I get my joy, is to help people, especially women, find their joy and find their place in life. That's going to bring them happiness. Success doesn't bring you happiness. You are happy and success follows. And I think that's what I'm trying to do is help them live a better life. And so each business that I have is geared to help them live a better life. And if I do that, then my life is good. I can check that box off.

I think that ties into we talked about on your show, which was really this idea that confidence isn't a state, it's all a part of that. It comes from these Things.

Right. It's an outcome.

Yeah, it's an outcome. And that's really, I think, exactly what you are embodying. Everything that you've been doing and everything that you come across is you embody that ability to be paced, empower others. So thank you for that, Vicki. That's amazing. So before we go, I want to make sure that you instill some confidence building tactics for anyone who might be sitting on the fence, who hasn't started their podcast yet, or who might be like, really not feeling right about their show, and they're just sort of sitting there not feeling confident about it. What advice do you have for them?

I think one, you should join PodMatch. I think that that's a great start. Because what PodMatch does, if you don't have already a system in place like I do, it forces you to fill out the blanks, to really put a system in place. It allows you to say, oh, what's my Facebook and all of my URLs? And as the podcast person, the host who has to put that out there, having all that information at one place makes our job easier, better. So for my system, I have all of the things prepared in advance so that I try to make you as a guest, have less stress. And when I know that you are prepared, then I know my job will be easy. And so if you are a podcaster out there, that is just kind of doing it by the seat of your pants kind of thing, you know, just like, oh, I got a podcast in an hour and you haven't done your homework. That podcast is probably not going to go as well as it could. I'm not saying it's going to be a bad podcast, but it might not go as well as it could.

There's confidence in the systems and the process.

Yes. And I know that with the questions that I have, it's going to hit about 35 minutes. And so then I know then if I book another person an hour later, I'm not going to go over. I'm not going to have to have any kind of craziness going on. I think the thing that you need to remember is what is your presence like? Is your lighting good? All of the things I teach? Are you having that engaging presence as you're doing your podcast that makes the people feel like they're just sitting across the bar from you or in their living room and you're just having a conversation with the three of you, you, me and my guest.

It feels that intimate.

Yeah. And that's what you want. I think that's what makes a great podcast. And I love that we do the video. I know that probably, I guess this is a vodcast or whatever, but is.

That what we call it now? I don't know.

I think so. I think that's what I've seen, but I think that this is really taking that to the next level. Clubhouse is great. You can hear, but I just love to see your expressions even as you get excited and passionate about things. I just love that. And again, I think it makes it relatable.

That's a funny thing. The very first show that I started, we actually recorded all the video. We did it. We Skyped with people. Way back then. It was like Skype was a terrible place to record, but that's what we did and we always had it. We just never used it. But we did it because I never wanted to talk to someone that I couldn't see. I felt better about that. It has the right energy exchange. That's why I love speaking too. I love the energy exchange of it. Well, Vicki, find your leadership confidence. Great show. Thank you for bringing into the world. I'm so glad you started your podcast. I look forward to keeping up with you and keeping up our friendship to find out what's next for you, where you speak, and what return on investment your podcast brings to you. Thank you for being here.

Oh, thank you so much. It's been just a joy. And yeah, you are my BFF for a while.

I love it.

Thanks.

I told you we were going to have some fun in that. She is a busy woman, right? She has done so much. She has gotten a lot of confidence in her own ability to podcast and I think that that's amazing. So she's tapped into the things that she's already done. Well, she's already kind of done a fast learn process in the podcasting world on herself as well and really built up this repertoire of being able to help people in a more full service way. So I love that that's what Vicki has built into all of this programming and she's really figured out how to slot podcasting into her whole program of things that she's offering. Her books, her courses, her speaking, all of it's starting to fit in together and the pieces are all coming together. And podcasting is just a moving part within that successful model for anyone looking to do more speaking, more selling of books, more selling of courses, things like that model, Vicki. She's got a fabulous model here. So find your leadership confidence podcast. Vicki Nestling you'll be able to find out everything about her and how to find her, how to connect with her@thebingefactor.com in the blog post for this episode. And don't forget to check her out on LinkedIn, because that's where she spends her time. So if you want to connect with her directly, go straight to LinkedIn and her website. I look forward to talking with you next time and bringing you some more incredible podcasters like Vicki on the Binge Factor. Take care.

You've been listening to the Binge Factor Podcast. For more information on podcasting and videocasting success tips and tactics, please go to thebingefactor.com and be sure to listen to our other show for podcasters called Feed you'd brand. If you'd like to be interviewed on this show as well as Featured in Traffic Tracy's column, please go to thebingefactor.com guest and apply.