This week I'm going to give you some lessons I learned from Speaking at We Are Podcast 2018 in Brisbane Australia. We also talk about the effectiveness of Audiograms.
I know a few people who love to travel. Monica Rivera from the You Wanna Do What? podcast gave me a great tip to download any episodes from Netflix to my iPad. George Hrab from the Geologic podcast (who gets to go to all sorts of cool stuff because of his podcast) gave me some heads up on a voltage converter.
It's Rarely as Bad as It SeemsWhen I heard the phrase "17 hours on a plane (along with some shorter flights for a total of 20 hours)" I thought it sounded like a horror story. I pictured some little punk behind me kicking my kidneys while their parents order another jack and coke from the flight attendant.
In the end, even in coach, I was able to stretch my legs. I had two seats between my fellow passenger in my row and slept off and on. There were probably 3-5 small children who would occasionally cry, but it was not the nightmare I had envisioned.
When I think of things that I have dreaded in the past, they are rarely as bad as you think you're going to be.
Erode Your Comfort ZoneI can be shy. When I go to a restaurant I'm not looking to think outside the box. When I was told that a large chunk of my schedule was planned for me, I got nervous. I didn't know where I was going, and except for a few people, I didn't know who I was with, what we were doing, and what I needed to be ready. We had assigned seats both days including assignments on who to go to lunch with. One day, Sean Desouza was going to cook authentic Indian food (I have never had Indian food).
The Know Like a Trust FactorI talk about this all the time. When you create valuable content on a consistent basis, your audience trusts you and likes you. If you can share a bit of yourself, they get to know you. When people know, like, and trust you then you have influence.
I know Ronsley Vaz from his "Should I Start a Podcast" show. We may have bumped into each other. I finally got to talk to him at Social Media Marketing World where I was speaking. He asked me if I would speak at We Are Podcast. I said yes on the spot. Who doesn't want to go to Australia? I saved up my pennies (and busted out a charge card) and made it happen.
As I mentioned above, I was nervous. This was a new country, a new conference (for me), with new people. The first day was very good. I got to meet a lot of people. It was somewhat of the "warm up act" for the main event happening the next two days. Every speaker at this event was awesome. Every person I met was super friendly and shared my love of podcasting. The hotel I stayed at was great. By the end of day one, you could color me impressed, and I was ready for day two.
By the end of day two, I believe I had met about 95% of the people there including Jules from Hong Kong Confidential. By the end of day two, where I once felt uncomfortable I now felt relaxed.
The Speakers RetreatWhen I realized that I was
