Building Podcast Confidence And Trust With Suzanne Sena Of The Confidence Connection Podcast (Podfaded)

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 noise with the Binge factor.

Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Binge Factor. I'm Tracy Hazzard and I'm excited to bring you a new podcaster today who's got a broadcasting background because I love it when I can bring you someone who's got a perspective of what it's like out there as a true broadcaster and then coming into the podcasting world and seeing the differences. So I love that. So I'm bringing you today Suzanne Senna. Her show is called the Confidence Building Trust in a Virtual World. Love. I'm going to read you a little bit about the show in a minute because I love the way they wrote their intro there. They did a beautiful job on it and I want to highlight it for you. But first, let me tell you a little bit about Suzanne. She is a true guru of communication. She spent a lifetime as a broadcaster and a decade as one of the country's most in demand media trainers. Her vast on camera career spans 30 years, includes hosting national talk shows, anchoring national and international news, and hosting unscripted live televised series and events. Her company is called Sena Series Media Training and it provides on camera training of key executive C suites, television personalities including companies like AEG Worldwide, Atlantic Coast Brands, Deloitte and Touche, FabFitFun, Google, YouTube, LA Kings, I mean, Lionsgate Television Group, MTV, NBC, Pop TV and so many more. I mean, talk about a great list of clients. As the pandemic has changed the way the world works, every individual in today's workforce has been forced in the role of a broadcaster and not only having to adjust to communicating on camera, but becoming their own set designer, lighting designer. Actually, I had to reschedule with Suzanne because my lighting was so bad in the new office space here, as you guys can see it, that everything was green, literally green and yellowed out. And so we had to do some lighting revamp in here and so I had to reschedule Suzanne. But we've caught up and we've managed to do this wonderful interview where you're going to really hear her perspective on why she started a Podcast and and what she's doing and she's really addressing the needs of the normal by launching an initiative she's calling vip Help companies with transitioning into the virtual world by transforming each employee into a virtually impactful person. Hence the subtitle on her show Building Trust in a Virtual World. Because when we are a virtually impactful person, we build trust faster and that is so critically important when we're remote working Nowadays her training methods go beyond a basic on camera skills, providing tangible tools, mindset of confidence and resulting in improved communication. I'm just so excited that I can bring you here her today. I'm going to read her descriptive paragraph to her show. So this is the podcast description that it shows up on itunes or Apple podcasts, shows up in Google podcasts, shows up everywhere. This is a perfectly written opening paragraph. Now you should use 4,000 characters. You've heard me talk about that before in your full description of your show. So this is a short one but this is the perfect opening paragraph so I want to read it to you. So the show is the Confidence Connection. America's most accomplished discuss how they do it. But it's also got a subtitle, Building Trust in a Virtual World. In an uncertain world, it's challenging to maintain confidence, much less increase it. In this podcast, Emmy nominated TV host, former and Fox News Channel anchor and confidence catalyst Suzanne Senna shares not only her own insights and lessons, but interviews some of the nation's most accomplished to learn their confidence building strategies. If you're looking to get to the next level in your career, start your own business or just want to be inspired and motivated, this podcast is for you. So that has everything brilliant in it, right. It starts out with a great poise of the position of this podcast in the scope of all the others out there, right. It's an uncertain world. How do you maintain confidence? Right. So if I'm looking out there first for anything like that that is going to catch my eye then it gives her credibility. She's Emmy nominated. She's a confidence catalyst. She's been a Fox News Channel anchor and it tells you what she's going to share and then it tells you what what the outcome benefit. If you want to go to the next level in your career, start your own business, want to be inspired? Here's this one is for you. So I rarely do that as you guys know on the show, but I wanted to read you that because that is a brilliantly written opening paragraph and description for a show that gets you to want to Listen to it. So let's go listen to all the wonderful advice and perspective that Suzanne Senna can bring to us and get our own little confidence quickie and confidence connection from Suzanne.

Suzanne, I'm so glad to have you here. I'm glad to have a pro.

Oh, my gosh, you're a pro. I've been listening to you.

You're great. Well, I'm glad to have a pro. I'm an accidental journalist. That's how I always talk about myself. It's like I accidentally became an ink columnist. And so writing was not my forte, although it was what I thought I wanted to do. And so you come out of this world of being a journalist, having been on TV and you deciding to do a podcast.

Why it's so interesting because, you know, if I had a dollar for all the times people would say to me, have you ever thought about doing a podcast? I would have a few dollars. I would have a lot of dollars. And I thought, you know, I've never wanted to do one. This is interesting because I just thought, oh, you know, I'm so busy and I do so many things, and that just sounds like a lot of work. And everybody has a podcast. And then one day I was doing an interview with somebody and I was working with a small group of students, and I did these just for them. They could listen in. And I'm having this wonderful interview with somebody very accomplished, and I'm suddenly thinking, well, this is what a podcast would be like. I could do interviews, you know, and I wanted to do it immediately because that was a small group and these interviews were so great and there was so much to gain. And I thought, well, only a few people are hearing these. I need to do it. And when I realized for some reason that could be almost like a talk show, I was all in.

You know what, that is so interesting because so often I think when I was writing articles, and I'm sure you found that when you're interviewing someone and you get like, you know, what a two minute spot, if you're lucky, that you just don't get to the whole story that you've gotten behind the scenes, you didn't get to hear. No one else got to hear that, and now they can.

Exactly. Yeah. I like the long form, definitely.

That's so interesting. Now, do you find it frustrating or freeing compared to the production support and the other things that you have in television?

Well, it's really different. I mean, I guess the most freeing thing about it is I don't answer to anyone Else, it's mine, you know, it's completely mine. I have produced shows before, but most of the things that I've been interviewing for when I've been a broadcaster, you know, I was not the be all and end all decision maker. So obviously I have a lot more control over who I interview and what type of tone I want to have in the interview. But what I love most, I think, is that I find that with podcasting, people are much more revealing. I think there's a feeling that you're only talking to one person, and especially if you're doing it without video. And most of mine have been without video. And then it's just like you're talking to a friend, and then you forget when it goes out into the world. Oh, my gosh, everybody can hear that, you know, So I just find it to be very intimate.

So it sounds like you do a lot more post editing so that you're. You're cutting out, maybe reframing your questions occasionally. You know, I can say this because I've listened to so many shows that it does seem more polished than other people's shows. Do you find that that's a lot of work?

Well, first of all, I have the most amazing producer in the world, and I told him today I'm going to mention him because he has been a saving grace for sure. I never have tried to edit these myself. His name is Nick Tantillo and Tantillo Productions, he's all mine. But no, I guess I have to share him for other people. But I never tried to edit it on my own. And one thing I did learn is because of my background, where we always did a lot of production, I was too worried about making it pretty in the beginning and especially where I was concerned. So if I had said something and did it a little bumble, I wanted it cleaned up, you know, But I quickly realized that the authenticity was really important. And so a lot of it sounding polished has to do with a. I'm working with the most professional team, honestly, between Nick and me. And also I have my associate producer working on it too. And we're just so prepared, I guess, that there isn't a lot that we're changing. Mostly anything. If something is repeated a lot, or to be quite honest, on my end, because I like to be so conversational, sometimes we don't need to hear me just go on and on. But it's good for the guest to get them comfortable and responding to answers. So sometimes I throw more stories in about myself. But at the end of the day. I want it to be authentic and I want it to be listenable because, you know, because you've done a lot yourself and I'm sure every once in a while you're like, well, I'm glad this isn't live because my audience, I'm.

Glad I edit, you know, a while ago.

So sometimes we'll take out some gaps and things like that, but really produce it much less than you think, other than the music and you know, do the intro afterwards rather than live to tape, so to speak. We do it later. But no, it's. Yeah. In fact, I had to be slapped on the hand a couple of times. Leave that bobble in. That's okay. It actually works better that you're being real.

So. Yes, well, it is different when you're looking at it. So when you do video, you definitely don't want to over edit because it gets all jump cut and nasty looking. There's a lot more room to be able to do it and so you can get heavy handed with it a little bit. You could. Yeah. Well, you know, every. You mentioned this before. Every celebrity journalist, broadcaster has a podcast out there. At least it seems that way. The reality is is that there's only 350,000 active podcasters, even though there's a million podcasts. So it's hard work. Right. What have you found to be the most difficult part of podcasting?

Well, first of all, definitely when I started, I didn't have my team as set and I tried to do everything myself. And you're right, the hours, especially being somebody who's such a perfectionist, you know, I want to listen to everything and then even just setting it up ahead of time, finding the music, I don't know if people realize and what it takes to create with that right sound. I think I listened to 400 tracks before. The right one just felt so right to me and jumped out. But I think the most challenging part is really it's, it's the time that it takes. I love all of it. I'm an interviewer, I'm curious. I have a great team. I ask them to get some research together, but I always do additional research on my own. And that alone takes time. The booking, the confirming. We always send our interview guests a surprise package ahead of time, which is a gift of a microphone and it's in a box. And we do that a. I get to help control the quality, but it's a nice little thing we do. And even just that, when we book them, writing out the card, putting the box together, getting it out, lot of moving parts. It's 100% a real production. And if you're one person doing it, you're doing the job of about five people, definitely.

So this is of course the binge factor and we're going to get to your binge ability factor in terms of what I think. But did you ever learn about bingeable content in terms of podcasting? Like, I mean, we've heard about bingeable tv, right? Bingeable Netflix, but have you heard about that in podcasting before now?

I had not. And I love the concept and you've already given me a lot of food for thought by listening to the ones I have of yours. And I thought, you know, here's one thing I'll tell you. I started my podcast for a very specific reason, which I'll get to in a minute. And shortly after a friend of mine said, well, how do you monetize that? And I said, well, I don't. I'm not trying to. And that might sound strange, but. And maybe one day I will. But the intent of it wasn't to make it bingeable or, you know, it was for research so that I could gain more information for my speeches, for, you know, my own educating that I do when I coach executives. And also just because I so enjoy it and I wanted to produce quality, I didn't want things to get weighed down with a lot of my focus being on who can I get a sponsorship by? If it leads to that, great. But I am in a position that's fortunate. I'm doing it because I love it and because I think there are lessons there for people.

Oh, that's great. So why, why this podcast? Why the confidence connection?

So this is part of that story I was getting to. So about a year ago, I entered into a business arrangement with somebody who was helping me with a long term goal of becoming a keynote speaker in the corporate sector. And taking everything I've learned over the years and figuring out what my area of expertise was, we came up with confidence almost to a thought leader degree. Because in my 10 years of coaching some of the most accomplished people in the world for television or for speaking and all of that and going back to what I've accomplished in my own world and how did I do those things and other people don't try or they don't have those same skills, came up with all of these thoughts on confidence. So over the past year have been developing content with that in mind, a book with that in mind. So the Podcast was going to be confidence related to A, start promoting myself out there being associated with the word confidence and specifically Confidence Catalyst, and B, to continue to gain research, as I mentioned, for things I might put into my speeches and examples. You know, when you can quote, you know, a four time super bowl winning champion and something they believe in, it still can work in a speech I give, but it's just so. It's just so much great info. But what happened is because it went from, for corporate America, about corporate America and how to get ahead and have that conference, America's Most Accomplished tells us how they do it. Well, it went to Building Trust in.

A Virtual World, which is your subtitle. So I'm glad you brought that up because that was gonna be my next question.

Nice segue, right? Thank you.

Yeah, perfect. You're doing my job for me, Suzanne. I should have known.

My fault as an interviewer, you know.

That is such a timely subtitle, Building Trust in a Virtual World. And honestly, this is the one thing that I have found over podcasting for the six years that I've been doing it for the 500 podcasters that work, you know, that are in my. That building trust is the first and foremost thing that podcasting does in such an interesting way. What are you bringing to that? What sort of viewpoint are you bringing to the building trust model?

Well, it's interesting because I didn't when I decided the whole confidence catalyst had to sort of go on the back burner for now because there are no keynotes going on in conferences and I think there'll be a place for all of that. I didn't want to stop the podcast, but I wanted it to be timely and I wanted it to be a little more with what's going on now. So I still speak with people in all different, you know, areas of expertise and business and performing, but I'm just acknowledging now that we're in a different place. So again, getting very personal, how is that affecting you with your life, your kids, your family, your work? And it's partly to impart knowledge and tips, but it's also, I think, to help remind people that we're all in this together. And when you hear somebody who is like the president of CBS Television Studios talk about what he's been doing in the last couple of weeks at home or his perspectives on that, it just makes you realize like we're all the same. This has equalized the playing field. You know, there are no people in the high level offices. We are all in our homes. You know, So I think it's a little bit more about being reassuring. And if you've tuned in and listened to my podcast, I think if anything's really bingeable about it, it would be what I call my confidence Quickies. And I personally started the idea of every once in a while I do a very short podcast, just me sharing my own perspectives, sharing my own motivational mantras. And those have been very, very popular. And for a certain audience, I think that's where a self help kind of thing comes from. Like, if you like one of my quickies, you're probably gonna like them all because.

That's right.

And I heard somebody say this to you the other day, or maybe you said it, but what feedback I get is more that more you like. Just talk to us.

Well, you know, this is one of my favorite episodes that you did was Patricia Braggs, who I love. I mean, I've loved her for a long time. Yeah, I know. So it's one of my favorite ones that you did. And for those of you who don't know, it's like Bragg's products are just like killer apple cider vinegar if you've ever heard of it. Bragg's is the one, right. Amino acids, like the whole thing. So she's 91 and not the greatest. Yeah. Woo hoo. She's got energy and all of that, but I'm sure she was difficult to interview because she's probably not hearing questions quite right. I get, you know, you could tell, that's why it was probably a little shorter than your other ones. But she makes up for it in excitement. Right. And but here's the thing, is that when you interject your story in there, when you started telling about how you found their products and used them, that has such a high power to your audience. That's really where, Suzanne, I see your binge ability, your binge factor of your show is in these interjections of the real you. And they come through in your quickies, they come through in your conversations. Definitely don't edit that out because it's what really makes me want to hear more of you. I want to hear more about your viewpoint and your background and the people you know. And that's really, at the end of the day, you know, I think about what a broadcaster can gain from a podcast in monetization. It's not about the ad dollars. Your value as a broadcaster is in getting someone to tell the story, right?

Yeah.

Your broadcasting value is in being able to get the good guest and your network to tap into to get that story the right time. And that's what you're proving here with your show. You're proving to the nth degree that you have what it takes to be a great broadcaster, but you also have what it takes to be a great personality that I want more from.

I love that and I love that word binge ability. I'm going to use that.

Please do.

I really do. I love that and I appreciate the feedback. I do find the balance for the most part. I do leave everything in that I say now too. And it's funny because, you know, Tracy, years ago I had a show on the E Channel called out to Lunch. I created the show. When I first created it, I created it as a recurring news segment and they weren't sure if it was gonna work or not. I had a reason. I created it and I would take celebrities out to lunch and we'd chat and all that. And I put myself in it a lot. A lot of it had to do with the interaction. And when it aired the first time, first of all, the powers that be said it's too long. It's like two and a half minutes. And I said, we'll watch it and if you don't like it, I'll cut it down. They watch and they said, okay, we'll air it just as it is. But some journalists would contact me and say, it's not supposed to be about you. And I honestly said the reason the show is good is because what I'm doing in my being open shares enough where the people I'm talking to, their banter and it's the back and forth. You know, I did one with Sarah Jessica Parker and there's this really great moment in there. And she said, you remind me of a friend of mine. And I said, oh, oh, is that a good thing? And she said, oh, she's a wonderful person. I said, oh, good, so she's not someone who owes you money. And there's something like that. And the editor said, oh, don't leave that in there. Like that's just so self ratitude, whatever. And the truth is little known fact that because I later used a clip of that on my promotional reel, that is the clip that had them bring me in to do Regis Philbins live with Regis when they were looking to replace Kathie Lee. And I was told straight out, we know Sarah Jessica, she's not the easiest of interviews. And I know you must have just met her, yet you two sounded like you were buddies. And that is why I got brought on. So that was my instinct.

Well, another one of my favorite moments in Suzanne's show is when you were interviewing the E. Entertainment co founder Larry Neymer and you tell him the story of how you started working for him, basically, and how he gave you your shot without him knowing it. Right. So this is it. And what it felt like to me was like if I were an up and coming broadcaster and I heard that story, I'd be like, I gotta follow Suzanne's career. She's gonna give me that path. Like it would have that, that story had that, like there was still that little gush of gratitude and like remembering how it felt. And you expressed that in such a great way that it made me go, yeah, I wanna feel that too, if that was my choice in career. But yeah, so these are the moments, these are the moments that really make great bingeable shows and people we just want more from. And that's really, at the end of the day, I want more from Su to hear more about her. I want to hear more about what's going on. I want more of your confidence Quickie. So from a technical perspective, I'm going to just. I would normally do this in the outro, but I'm going to do this with Susanna because I want her to hear it because she's working towards a goal of being a keynote. And so what I see from people who are who, that's their podcasting goal, is that having a feature like your confidence quickie is a technical. It's technically brilliant because it gives that audience something to consume from you. That's a little low hanging fruit, passive. You're not going to get everyone in that audience to go, oh, I gotta book you on the next keynote or I'm gonna go buy your package or your product or your book. But they might go, I'll hit subscribe and check out one of those quickies. And then before you know it, they've consumed all of them, they binged on them and you now have a fan who turns into maybe business, who turns into being a great referral, who gets you more fans. Right. So all of that is a lead generator and it works really well and you've got something really brilliant going on there, so keep doing that.

Thank you. Well, you talk to so many people about these things and I know you know what you're talking about, so I appreciate it. As you know, I'm fairly new to podcasting, although, boy, the time is going by fast. I can't believe how quickly. I mean, it was Months ago now, and it feels like, oh, yeah, yeah, we just yesterday.

Yeah, well, because also, because you're banking up episodes that haven't aired yet, so you also have recorded. So that's. Yeah, yeah, that feels like it. Well, let's hit a couple of our tips for the audience and so that we can really get through some of our five tiers. So what are some ways, especially as a broadcaster, that you find to get really great guests?

Well, first of all, I think professionalism is super key to getting great guests. And what I mean by that is some of the best compliments I've gotten from some of the big guests that we've booked is they've checked out the podcast and they thought it was very well produced. And I take a lot of pride in that. So they know. They hear me, too. And one of the comments I got was, it's clearly not fluff. Now we have fun on the podcast. But that also I take as a compliment. So I think being professional, having great cover art, having a great look in general, the polishedness of it, not that everything has to be perfect, but that it has to seem respectful. And you know that you're a good interviewer. And if you aren't a good interviewer and you're just having fun, get some tips because you can learn to be a better interviewer. We teach that in some of the training that I do. And then also I have had booking assistants, so I fortunately started with a publicist on this, and that was one of the things that they've been doing. Now we're at the point where we're getting requests from people to be on the show, and that's a nice change. But it all starts with, and you probably know this too well, we got that big one. So now we can say this person trusted us and then the next person trusts us, you know.

So, yeah, no one wants to miss out nowadays on a hot new podcast.

To be on right time on their hands. So that's good, too. It is.

It's working in our favor. So now, have you. You did this for a somewhat personal purpose and you have your own personal goals and your why for this. But you need listeners. Have you worked hard to increase listeners? What have you done that you found is some of the best ways to increase listeners?

Well, one of the things that I find is with social media, and I think you've mentioned this before as well, putting audiograms together for many reasons, you know, and that's been a learning curve, too, because at first it would just be you know, a quote in writing and then, oh, wait a minute, if it's actually video, it gets more shares and this. Well, we don't have video. Oh, but if you make it an audiogram, it's. It's perceived as a video. And that's been something that I think has been helpful. And one thing is once somebody get. You get them in the door because of one interview, it's very clear by the stats that they then start listening to the other ones. So that's been fun to see the numbers growing. It's been sort of a soft sell promotion and I think a little bit because we shifted a little, we're finding some our way a little bit still, but we'll just keep. Word of mouth is the best. So a great product is really what you want to do to get. To get your audience growing.

That's right. And doing more interviews like mine. So going on other podcasts gets you new podcast listeners.

Right? Very true.

Exactly. There you go. So you've talked about producing in a professional way, but what do you think is the one key thing that you must do yourself?

Oh, I'm such a control freak. It's been really hard to let go of some things. The one thing that I absolutely have to do myself is I have to hear the final version before it goes out. You know, I can't have somebody else listen and decide what needs a little cleaning or what doesn't. And I just want to make sure I'm putting the best product out there and that I feel comfortable with that. So I have to do that myself. I have to make the final pass to make sure everything's there. And listen, sometimes it's easy peasy because, you know, you did a great interview. The only thing you're really cutting out is that time in the beginning before.

You officially start, everybody has to cut that. That's the.

So sometimes it's really, really easy that way. That's the one thing that I have to do myself. Everything else, I'm sort of delegating. I write my own intros, you know, and of course I have to record my own intros.

You're the only one who can record. That's so true. I love that. So now you mentioned social media, but how do you encourage engagement? How have you done that with all the other, you know, things that you've done on social over time?

We haven't had much effort put toward engagement. And again, something I got from the one I listened to this morning, even from you, is that, oh, what about kind of contest. And, you know, I'm juggling a lot right now. The podcast is my passion. I didn't. When it came down to what was I going to do? When One Direction shifted a little, I started putting more focus again on my virtual training, which I've done with the media training for years. And I didn't want to give up the podcast because I love it so much, but I haven't spent a lot of time engaging with it or promoting with it. Love it when people share. Of course, I comment if I see someone else has commented, but I think that's the next step. The next step is I feel strongly enough now about what we've built to just get out there and start interacting with people more.

Oh, well, you should. You should have confidence in your product, that's for sure. Exactly. That's right. Now, we talked about the fifth thing that we usually talk about. This best way to monetize it. No, you've been listening to some other shows and other things, you know, and you've chosen not to here. What do you think is maybe a potential path for you in the future?

Well, as far as monetization, I could see it happening. I have a lot of things I'm thinking about first and foremost is that, of course, anybody who checks out my websites or go to anything, they're going to see, see that I do keynotes, they're going to see that I offer products that offer training. And with the right audience going to those sites that will monetize it, probably already has. Maybe you don't know how somebody hears about you or someone gets a referral. I will say this. You know, I just recently picked up a new client for private coaching who contacted us through, you know, direct message on Instagram because we're posting these. So one thing does lead to another. So that's an absolute. Maybe. Depending on how the audience is defined as we go forward, who turns out to be our biggest audience, there'll be a collaboration. You know, it just hasn't been my priority. But of course, that would be amazing.

Wouldn't that be amazing?

Yeah, maybe what I'll do is package some of the stories into a book and sell that. I don't know yet, since it's not the highest thing on the list. That's tbd.

Let's talk a little bit about confidence.

Yes, ma'. Am.

I find that one of the hardest things for our podcasters to do is to start recording. And I don't know if you've heard this episode, but I have a system that I try to get them to get started to, like, rip the band aid off. But I would love your view.

I would like to know that system. Can you tell me quickly before.

Yeah, quickly. Yeah, absolutely. So our system is I get them to do an interview first with someone they already know at least a little bit. They don't have to know, like, all about them. They don't want to be best friends, but somebody they know that's their first thing is because you'll show up for somebody else and start recording. But then if the recording goes bad or. Or if you forget to turn on record, this person's friendly enough that they're not gonna get all upset at you. So that's my rule. Yeah. And then the second one is then go back and talk about, do your little short intro, intro episode or trailer episode where you're talking about what the show's gonna be, because it helps you imagine what it's going to look like. And then you go and you do your first topic or your quickie or whatever, your other piece of topic, if you've got a different one. So now you've done all the three different types of episodes you might need, but you do them in that order.

That's really great. I should have talked to you before I started. You know, I have the advantage of being a professional broadcaster, so a lot of that was not intimidating to me. But what was intimidating to me is the technology. And I really wanted to do it right. And I did a ton of research, and you know that you could find eight different ways to do podcasts. They could be zoom, they could be. You know, I used to use. Gosh, I can't remember right now, but there are so many podcasting possibilities. And I had trouble with all of my practice podcasts. I set up practice podcasts with friends, and every time there was some kind of glitch, they couldn't get on, they couldn't do this. And it made me so nervous. And it was actually because one of these didn't work for an actual podcast. And we just said, let's just jump on zoom. And I didn't even know for sure how to do that for a podcast, but I did it. I think the best advice is to work out a lot of those bugs early and do it when the stakes are not high and listen back. And that's when you learned the things that you should have done and you will do now. But it does help to have a professional weighing in. So even if you just have somebody who's done podcasts, before or a professional podcast producer. Listen to the practice ones to give you those tips. You could save a lot of heartache and get your confidence boosted before you get going.

But getting a pro is such a good advice, Suzanne, because I can tell you that my now son in law was my first podcast editor. And he. And he said to me, and you know, he was a high school student at the time, and he said to me, and he was dating my daughter, right, like so, like, you know, a little uncomfortable. He goes, he goes, tracy, I don't mean you're making my job just slightly harder and editing, because every time you go to ask a question, you go and you're taking a breath and I can hear it on the microphone and it's hard to edit out. And he's like, could you try not to do that? And so that was like my first production advice was from this kid. And I was like, like, oh, I didn't even know I was doing it. But until you listen to it, you don't know. And he was doing such a good job of editing out. I still didn't know.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. So that really helps to have somebody who knows more than you kind of weigh in before you get started. And the other thing is, I don't know if you did this. I did not. I found out later that it's common to have a few in the can so that when you actually launch, you've got a few episodes and then you don't find yourself in the position I was of. I need to get another guest. You know, I mean, you gotta start.

That's right. Well, we recommend that to all our clients is to do that is to get a month ahead of yourself. And so, yeah, but it, if you do that, it that slight pressure of having a tech problem or having to reschedule and, you know, can be in your favor and you'll be like, okay, I can stay calm about this. I don't have to rush and I can still do a thorough job and I don't push something out I'm not happy with. Because that. That's important to you.

It is.

So do you have any competence advice for someone who is going to, you know, this is their first attempt at some type of broadcasting. And what's your advice for that? What's your confidence quickie for us?

Wow. I just, first of all, trust your passion because if you're authentic and you're passionate, it's something you really want to do, it's going to start to come naturally. Learn from me. The expert broadcaster who had to remind herself to be more authentic because things shouldn't be so scripted and all of that. And then trust yourself. Because as you pointed out, Tracy, I think what really pulls people in is when you're being revealing and honest and sharing and you're not just cranking out questions. One thing that I will say is don't worry too much about the questions. It's great when you have something sort of a regular segment like you do with the tips, that's great. But you don't want the interview to be question one, question two, question three, because if you're worried about the next question, you're not listening. And if you're not listening, you're going to miss an opportunity. And one thing I can say that I'm very proud of, in my interviews, I listened back and I think, like, let's go back to Patricia Bragg really quickly. After that interview, I had a little pat on my back for myself because I thought, that's a good interview, because I'm a good interviewer. And I'm just saying that not to be full of myself. I've just done this for years. But it was challenging. And when somebody isn't 100% being sharp or. And you have. You're aware of this. I think other people might have panicked who weren't experienced and tried to fill something in that wasn't there to worry about those slower times. My associate producer listened and said, well, there are some long pauses. And I said, well, I chose to leave some of those there because it's real. And I felt like it showed that I was patient and listening well.

And, yeah, absolutely. You know, that's a really good example episode. If you want to hear everyone out there, if you want to hear what happens when you get a guest who does completely answer a question they like, say, yes, she said it very enthusiastically, but she didn't then expound on anything. So there's that pause after of like, what do you do well. And Suzanne didn't panic. She was patient, and she left that in. So that's what she's talking about right there. So go listen to that episode, because I really think you're going to get a good sense of how you can handle a difficult interview. A win. And not difficult in that, you know, someone's challenging you or back in your face, but a difficult interview and trying to really get through and get good questions answered.

Yeah, I'm so glad you brought that one up, because it was very dear to me. I thought she was adorable, and I Wasn't sure how our audience would respond, but it's done very well. You know, I think mechanics, it's just everything's motivating. I find that there's something in every episode that I'm especially thrilled to share with the world.

What's some of the favorite feedback before we go? What's some of the favorite feedback you've gotten from your audience?

Well, one of the things that has just touched me immensely is that I've been told, you know, your energy, Suzanne, or your, you know, you just always, whenever I listen to you, I leave feeling more confident. That's kind of bingo, right on the money of what I'm trying to do to be reassuring. And when people say they've learned from something or I get the feedback. I really needed to hear this one. I really needed this one. You know, it just. I have chills now thinking about it because, you know, it sounds silly to say if you just touch that one person, but the truth is, it's very meaningful. There's a lot that I get from doing this, and it's not about money. It's about what I feel. Even yesterday, I recorded two podcasts, and I was sluggish in the morning, and I felt not the best mood because life is challenging for all of us in some ways. And right now and afterwards, I just felt high on life because of what I learned from these people. And I have always, since my days at E, felt that the biggest privilege in the world as a journalist is being able to sit down with some of the. The most interesting people and ask them whatever you want. You ask them questions, learn. I ask people questions so that I learn something. I ask because I'm just interested. There's just.

There's.

It's just a privilege. So I don't know why I put podcasting off for so long, but I sure as heck love it now.

Well, Suzanne, thank you so much for joining us. The confidence connection, Building trust in a virtual world. I think, you know, what you've shown us today is that not only are you building trust out there with an audience, with a potential next keynote speak event planner, who knows what you're building trust with, but you're also building trust in yourself. And that's the real confidence quickie you gave us today. So thank you for that, Suzanne.

Theresa, you're awesome. Stay in touch with me. I just think you're really doing great work here and appreciate you having me on the show today.

Oh, you're welcome.

I'm sure you enjoyed that as much as I did. Suzanne is a brilliant mind in terms of, like, thinking about the value of everything, why she's doing this. She's got a thoroughness to her that it shows up in the show. It's that professionalism she was talking about. So when Susanna sets her mind to starting a podcast, she's going to go all out and do it at the utmost highest professional level that she can do with the time constraints. Right. That's what she says. And she built herself a team to help her do that as well, because she realized how important this is. And what I really do love about Suzanne's perspective on this is that she started the show without the intent of this. I'm going to get sponsors, I'm going to get advertisers. Because she's right. It distracts from the start of the show. And one of the things, I think many of you who follow Feed your Brand, which is our other podcast, which is more about tips and other things, you'll hear Tom Hazard, who's my partner and husband, and I talk about these things all the time, that when you set out to start a show, you have to demonstrate what you're really going to bring to the table, what you're going to bring to your audience, what you're going to bring to other gaming, what you're going to bring to sponsors in the future, if that's your plan, or you're going to bring to whatever your business goals. And in this case, Suzanne really wants to show that she can command an audience, that when keynote speakers are in demand again, that she's the one that they should choose if they want to talk about confidence. And I'm going to tell you that that confidence topic is going to be a hot topic when events return. So she's right on the timing of everything. On top of it. I love the building trust in a virtual world, because if I think there's anything that's going to be the sort of the mantra for as we move into next year and as we end this year, is that we have to rebuild trust all over the place. And so our corporations are going to have to hire speakers to rebuild trust with their employees and their teams. And so she's going to be hitting at a topic that is of utmost importance at the right moment as well. So she's positioning all of that and building all this great foundation. And sometimes we get too caught up in the idea that we got to have an immediate gratification and an immediate result to something, and we don't build great foundation. And Suzanne has set in the confidence connection. Great foundation. A great foundation of demonstrating that she is the confidence catalyst, that she knows what she's talking about, that she has an ability to connect with an audience and connect with other guests, that she has ability to really command that topic and command herself and her audience at the utmost professional level. And when I hear that, that I think that's the person for me, that's the person I want. She's demonstrating at every level what she's going to bring in the value that she brings to the world so that when the timing's right, she's going to get snapped right back up and be the keynote speaker of choice. So, kudos, Suzanne.

Great show.

All of you out there, you can learn a lot from Suzanne. You can absolutely get a lot from listening to her show. I love the confidence quickies you're going to get. You're going to really enjoy them. They're great, great boosts of information about how you might handle difficult situations. So those are out there. You definitely want to binge on those. The other thing that I really think that you're going to find is her command of interviewing is really great. And that's why I want to make sure that you also know how to connect with her. So in the blog post for this episode, as always, we have direct connections to Suzanne, to her show, but also to the Sena series, which is her program, her course, her virtual event that she's doing that helps you build confidence, that helps you build some skills there. So if that is of interest to you, definitely want to go to the blog post for this episode@thebingefactor.com check that out and go directly to the link to find her and the series as well. So thanks, Suzanne. Gosh, I'm so excited that I've been getting so many fabulous podcasters suggested up to me. And you know what I'd love here is I'd love that sometimes I can get someone who's just gotten started, who's really still early in that sort of 25 episodes and just getting that base down, and they're still finding their legs, and we still get brilliant ideas and brilliant thoughts about how we might handle our show, how we might do things differently. And I'm always learning here, and I hope that you're always learning, too. If you have someone to suggest, don't forget, you can reach out to me@the Bingefactor.com and you can suggest them. You could even recommend them, and you can even apply yourself. So if you think you deserve to be on the show. You've got something to share and you'd like to talk with me. I'd love to have you. So go to thebingefactor.com thanks everyone for listening. I'll be back next time with another podcaster success story and some ways to become binge in this virtual podcasting world. Thanks everyone for listening. I'll be back next time.

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 Tracy's column, please go to thebingefactor.com guest and apply.