7 Questions to Ask While Planning Your Podcast: #1

Who are you?

This is the most obvious…and most nerve-wracking question on the list. Of course we know who you are. We know your name, your interests, your profession, things like that. But do we know the real you? Do you even know the real you? This question is trickier than it may seem at first glance.

In my experience of self-evaluation, as well as observing others in the online space and life in general, people are terrified to ask, let alone discover, their true self. This brings us out of our comfort zone. The easy thing is to fall in line, get okay grades, get a job, take out a 30 year mortgage on an average house, and basically blend in with the rest of the mass of humanity. Just be a good soldier and follow the orders from the generals of society, the elites in media, medicine, politics, science and religion.

I’m willing to bet fraudulent money (or good money if it exists somewhere) that there’s a little voice in the back of your head saying this isn’t totally okay. A man may be willing to take it on the chin, suck it up to provide for his family. A woman may be willing to tolerate a bunch of drama, sometimes an absentee husband, disrespectful children, to keep the family together.

But is that what you were put on this earth to do? Merely survive? To exist?

I’ll bet two cans of navy beans and an MRE (prepared at my survival off-grid bunker of course) you’re at this website because you’ve decided this isn’t sufficient for your life. You’re willing to do what you have to do to provide for the short term, but you have an urge (some would call it a calling) to do and say something outside the realm of what passes for respectable opinion and lifestyle.

It’s liberating once you realize who you really are, your true purpose on this earth. The journey to that destination is utterly terrifying. At first you feel completely exposed, like those dreams where you show up for work without clothes on. I’ve had those dreams often. Each time I have one, I’m not embarrassed when someone points out I’m stark naked; I just laugh it off and say in essence, “Let’s do what we have to do.” In hindsight, I realize this is my subconscious coping with personal decisions I’ve made made that definitely put me against the grain of the masses and conventional thinking.

But all that makes me who I am, and why I feel at liberty to encourage you to take some risks in your life. Doing a podcast seems intimidating when you see a million plus podcasts just on Apple. If you don’t do some serious self-examination and figure out who you really are, how you differ from all the other people doing a show, I’m just going to come right out and say you’re in for a discouraging experience.

When you know who you are, how you’re unique, and have at least an approximation of what you have to say (more on that in a jiff) it’s incredibly rewarding, even if it never earns a dime in revenue.

Asking yourself tough questions that answer this question is kind of like laying the foundation for a skyscraper. It just takes time, and there are no shortcuts to do it properly. This process may take years of not just asking and examining, but the decisions you make, how you react to circumstances in your life. Once the foundation is laid, then we can go about building the frame, the interiors, the decorations, etc. But you have to know the answer to this question first and foremost.

The short video I put at the beginning of this post is from the movie, Lawrence of Arabia. If you haven’t seen it, it’s the story of T.E. Lawrence’s transformation from a bored officer in the British army who can’t find his place in this world to a major figure in the conflict between Arabs and Turks in the Middle East. When Lawrence receives his assignment to represent Great Britain in the peacekeeping negotiations, he not only assimilates into the culture (gaining the respect of the Arabs who find the pompous and pampered Brits more than a bit annoying), but he undergoes a major transformation in his identity as a human being.

The scene in the video is Lawrence and his assistant at the Suez Canal, in need of assistance from the British army to further their cause. A British man on the motorcycle asks, “Who are you?” Lawrence has just led a major assault on a Turkish stronghold, definitely going above and beyond what was expected of him in his mediatorial role. The line is symbolic of Lawrence asking himself, “Who are you?” Are you a British officer? or are you going to legitimately identify as an Arab? He does the latter, fully committing to the Arab cause and becoming a major figure in the  region.

I say this not to encourage anyone to get on a plane to the Middle East and instigate insurrections against military fortifications, but to say that Lawrence answered that all-important question “Who are you?” by simply taking action and letting the chips fall where they may. He didn’t know exactly what was going to happen when he took that assignment from his cozy assignment in the Jerusalem military headquarters. All he knew is he was deeply interested in Arab affairs and wanted to do something to bring peace to the region.

The question “Who are you?” is by far the most important one you need to answer when starting and operating your podcast. It’s the thing that will make yours special, what will make people want to hit the Play and Subscribe buttons on their iPhone.

The topic is important, as is bringing on interesting guests, the audio quality, things like that.

But it’s all for naught if you don’t know you. If you want people to be interested in YOU, it stands to reason you should know you better than anyone else knows you.

There’s nothing more tragic in this world (of podcasting) than someone going through all the effort and expense of starting a show only to basically sound like everyone else in their niche. This is why I say answering the question “Who are you?” can be rather terrifying.

Many people start podcasts because they see others doing it and having some success, so they think, “That might be a good idea for our business.” It is a good idea, but if you don’t know YOU, what makes you unique, it’s just a matter of time before you burn out. Because you focus on the content, the guests, the topic, when you should be making YOU front and center.

You’re unique, precious snowflake. Now let the world know about it!

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