Evo Terra:
Why do you podcast?
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Yes, plenty of selfish reasons are important if only to keep you podcasting.
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But does it go deeper than that?
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I asked the community and was blown away by the responses I received.
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Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
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What bigger mission does your podcast plug into?
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What lofty goal are you trying to achieve with your podcast?
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What higher purpose are you trying to serve with your podcast?
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The inspiration for today's episode comes from a friend of mine,
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Pam Slim, an amazing community builder and business leader from
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right here in the Phoenix area.
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She asked that question on stage recently, and the idea of a bigger mission that
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your podcast might plug into or track back to, it struck me and stuck with
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me actually, which is kind of weird because I actively rail against things
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like mission statements for businesses.
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Maybe that's because I'm cynical and I've typically found that the words
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that are written down from a company on a mission statement have very
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little to do with the actual business practices that business practice does.
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But, I recognize that's a very cynical take.
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So I've been pondering Pam's question for some time.
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What bigger purpose does a podcast plug into?
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And I've been thinking about that for like the twenty-odd podcasts I've done in
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the seventeen years I've been podcasting.
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And if I'm honest, a lot of them were purpose-free.
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Some of them actually came into their purpose over time, and it
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was the rare few, like this show, for example, that actually started
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life with a stated purpose in mind.
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Now, not that there's any rule that says your show has to have a purpose.
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Again, many of my shows did not, and all of them were fun
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to do for at least a time.
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So I was curious about this.
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So I sent out a tweet last night, asking for podcasters to share their raison
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d'être, if you will, for their show.
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I got a lot of replies.
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Thank you all very much for your replies.
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In the interest of time, I'm just going to share some select
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ones on the program today.
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Fellow Phoenix podcast person, Garrett Godfrey, says on his show Good Patron
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that he explores "...how we can better support the bands & musicians we love."
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That's a very nice purpose.
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Supporting musicians, independent musicians, specifically,
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is a very good thing to do.
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Ex-Phoenix podcaster, Dr.
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Carrie Gillan, has a show called Vocal Fries, and she says it exists
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"...to highlight the fact that judging language is judging humans in racist,
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sexist, classist ways, and more."
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Hm.
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That's pretty amazing.
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I also heard from Susan Ni Chriodain.
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She said, “Over 80% of people are disengaged in the workplace.
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In Life Beyond the Numbers" - that's her show - "conversations are about how
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to have a more fulfilling work-life."
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Wow.
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That's a cool thing to do.
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Amanda Kendall says that her podcast, The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, "...connects
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to my whole kind of life/career purpose, which is sharing the value of travel
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as a tool both for personal growth and to make the world a better place."
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I know many travelers who feel the same way.
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Martha Lawton of the podcast Squanderlust says her show's purpose is "To help
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people overcome fear and shame around how they have managed their money,
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so they can face where they are now and change it for the better."
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Letting people know that it's okay.
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That's great.
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Now, beyond Twitter there were several more responses, but I also
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reached out to the fellow members of the Advancing Podcasting community,
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which you can join for free, by the way, advancingpodcasting.xyz,
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and I got a few answers.
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Neil Hedley of The Snooze Button podcast was the first one to reply.
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His show is there not just to help people get better sleep.
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Neil hasn't been able to sleep since he was, like, six years old, but he says,
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"It's an effort to save people from the hucksters who would capitalize on
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ignorance by pushing ridiculous solutions that don't actually help people."
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Skepticism coming out.
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I love it.
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We'll stay there for a minute because Gary Arndt replied.
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He says in his show, Everything Everywhere, "I'm
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trying to combat ignorance.
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Too many people just don't know much about the world around them.
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How it works and how it all came to be."
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Hence the show, Everything Everywhere.
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And I was really taken by the answer that Andrew Clews from
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the Motoring Podcast provided.
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He said:
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"Our podcast wasn't started for any noble or higher reason than
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no one else was doing a UK-centric motoring news curated show.
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As we’ve gone on, we have found ourselves fighting misinformation/lack
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of understanding for subjects such as autonomous vehicles,
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AI in cars, electric cars.
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I wouldn't, for a one minute, pretend to be doing it for the greater
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good or something, but factually poor reporting does 'irk' me."
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That's an incredibly self-aware observation, Andrew, and a
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nice way, I think, to bring us back full circle on this topic.
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Maybe your show doesn't connect with a bigger mission or a
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lofty goal or a higher purpose.
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Maybe not, but maybe it does.
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Maybe, like Andrew, you figure out that there is something there.
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You discover it as you go along and podcast.
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The trick therein is finding that higher goal, that higher purpose,
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that mission that's out there,
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the trick is then elucidating that succinctly and then making sure that
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becomes your north star as both you and your podcast progressed down the road.
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Looking back on things, I think it's a lot easier.
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If I look back at my own history of podcasting, I think it's a lot easier
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to build a shared experience for your listeners and a sense of community
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amongst you and your listeners.
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If in fact, the podcast does have a bigger mission at stake.
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Again, not required to do that.
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I'm just saying it might be a little bit easier.
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So if that's important to you building that shared experience, having a
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sense of community around your pod.
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Maybe look at the mission, the higher purpose, the goal you're
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trying to achieve with the show.
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Let's do a quick Boostagram!
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Now it's time for the boost-the boost-the boost- Boostagram Corner.
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Boostagram Corner.
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I don't know a thing about crypto.
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A big, thanks to James Cridland from pod land and pod news and all the other
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potty type things that James does.
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He sent me a boost of gram on fountain, great little app.
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And his message was I'm happy.
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Oh, by the way, James, I'm happy to test with you any single time, because
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he simply said, it's nice to see.
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To do testing.
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He didn't say anything specifically.
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He just said he was testing the process and I'm happy to test
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with people much like that.
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Welcome to the world of value for value in apps.
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It's very nice to see boosts from the new podcast apps like fountain.
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You can find more of those podcast apps@newpodcastappsdotcomandpleasevisitpodcastpontifications.com
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slash value for value for ways you can support me and my mission
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of making podcasting better for podcasters and listeners alike.
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I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
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Cheers!
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Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra.
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He's on a mission to make podcasting better.
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Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes
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section of your podcast listening app.
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A written-to-be-read article based on today's episode is available at
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podcastpontifications.com where you'll also find a video version and a corrected
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transcript, both created by Allie Press.
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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.
