“And I carried that into engineering in college and was going to go into computers, but then kind of got into robotics. But through all of that, I was still doing college radio. And again, that was like backdoor access to, ‘Hey, can I use the studio in the off hours? Can my band record our CD here in the summer when the stations technically shut down?’ And then that got me into, well, I’m on-air talent now, which in college radio is, as Strongbad used to say, I can describe college radio in five words: dead air, um, dead air.” -- Brian Richardson

This episode’s guest is an engineer turned technical communicator who’s currently working as the Security Initiative Lead for Intel’s Data Center & AI Marketing team. He also produces DIY videos from his farm in Oregon, hosts events and panels for Dragon Con, one of the world’s largest pop-culture conventions, and is one of the co-founders of their in-house video team, commonly known as DragonConTV – and he certainly has some interesting stories to share about that.

But I know him best as the drummer and emcee of the band Play It With Moxie that we’ve been performing in together for over 18 years at a small music convention in Atlanta. His name is Brian Richardson and not only is he a very funny guy, he’s also extremely knowledgeable when it comes to helping techies share complicated ideas.  His answer? Infomercials! I’ll let him explain.

As always, if you have questions for my guest, you’re welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes.  If you have questions for me, visit audiobrandingpodcast.com where you’ll find a lot of ways to get in touch. You can also join regular Clubhouse chats in The Power of Sound House, at 2pm Eastern every Wednesday. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter will let you know when the new podcasts are available and what the newest Clubhouse rooms will be about. And if you’re getting some value from listening, the best ways to show your support are to share this podcast with a friend and leave an honest review. Both those things really help – and I’d love to feature your review on future podcasts. You can leave one either in written or in voice format from the podcast’s main page. I would so appreciate that.

Dead Air, Um, Dead Air

We start off the episode with Brian’s early memory of sounds, from taking apart an AM radio to the first time he heard a lightsaber. “I vividly remember seeing Star Wars at the age of five in the theater,” he recalls. “And I don’t remember like the entire plot of the movie, but I remember it moving me and there’s a whole element of sound design in that like the lightsaber noise.” He tells us about how his fascination with sound and audio engineering led to band, then AV club, and then his first radio gig. “And then that got me into, well, ‘I’m on air talent now,’” he says, “which in college radio, as Strongbad used to say, I can describe college radio in five words, dead air, dead air.”

The Human-to-Nerd Interface

Brian and I talk more about his early years at Dragon Con, and how he helped create what’s become known as DragonConTV. “Once we got the whole DragonConTV operation up and running,” he says, “that’s a whole different story. But I ended up in this parallel track of like becoming sort of the, the human-to-nerd interface, whether it was on the technical side of things, or whether it was on the actual, like stereotypical nerd side of things.” Being the human-to-nerd interface, as he puts it, taught him about the subtleties of communication, and he realized that it’s an often-neglected skill when it comes to STEM careers. “When I was getting my master’s degree,” he explains, “I was teaching a computer hardware course. And I discovered very quickly as the person grading the lab reports that my students didn’t know how to communicate. They’d do a 12-page lab report for a three-hour lab.”

Learning from Infomercials

We take a closer look at his work as a technical communication instructor and the surprising role that his infomercial parodies on DragonConTV played in his strategy. “So we started making like, you know, fake commercials, fake news reports, music video parodies,” he recalls. “To make a thing, you must first deconstruct it. And infomercials are a beautiful comedic parody because they’re such exaggerated forms of story.” He explains how infomercials and technical communication often have the same goal of breaking a problem down to layman’s terms and offering a solution. “This is what most people are looking for when they have like technical money to spend with a company,” Brian explains. “I want to find a solution for this particular problem, or you’re going to inform me about a problem I’ve never heard of before and give me the next step. That’s exactly what an infomercial does.”

Fail, Fix, Learn, Act

As we wrap up the first half of our discussion, Brian tells us how he dissected the infomercial into four basic parts that can be used for any sort of targeted, solution-oriented message. “So I broke the infomercial down into four structures,” he says, “which I call Fail, Fix, Learn, and Act.” We talk about the classic Snuggie commercials and how they fit into this pattern, and what sets the infomercial’s Fail, Fix, Learn, and Act story structure apart from other, more conventional narratives. “There is nothing after Act,” Brian explains, “because, after Act, it is their story. They are going to take what you have taught them and take it to the next level. So they are now finishing the story.”

Episode Summary

• Brian’s early memories of Chicago baseball and X-wing fighters.
• How clarinet lessons and AM radio led him to a career in audio engineering.
• What DragonConTV parodies taught him about technical communication.
• The surprising link between technical solutions and television infomercials.
• Brian’s infomercial communication strategy: Fail, Fix, Learn, and Act.

Stay tuned next week as Brian tells us about some of the celebrities that he’s worked with and interviewed at Dragon Con, about how being a good panel host can sometimes mean playing the jerk, and about his new “nerdsteading” life in Oregon, including a Doctor Who chicken coop.

Connect with the Guest:

Website: https://siliconchef.com/

Follow Brian Richardson on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/siliconchef/

Connect with Brian Richardson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardsonbrian/

Follow Brian Richardson on Twitter: https://twitter.com/siliconchef/

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