🎧 Podcast Mastery: How would you answer this question?

Vanessa Van Edward’s Diary of a CEO episode has been seen over 6.6 million times in a month. One of the reasons why was because she had a rock solid answer to Steven Bartlett’s opening question…

For the listeners, it’s a brilliant question…
They don’t want to waste time listening to something that’s meh.

But for the guest, it has the potential to break the podcast before it even starts.

Most people, upon hearing that question would…

1. Panic 🫨 - due to an inability to distill our message concisely,

2. Ramble ⏳ - throw as much at the question as possible in the hope that something sticks, or

3. Overpromise 🌟 - Exaggerate their answer and set expectations that are impossible to meet (heaping even more pressure on themselves as a result).

Vanessa knocked it out of the park in just 15 seconds. In this clip, I’ve shared her answers to the first 3 questions (115 seconds) so you can see exactly how her first answer plays out. Enjoy… 🍿

Three key takeaways from this clip:

1. Keep your early answers short ⚡️
   Short answers (with high warmth) signal confidence. They also create intrigue and help to establish a conversational rhythm with the podcast host.
   
   From the listener’s perspective, it also helps to avoid overwhelm early on. In the early stages of a talk or interview, the listener is still tuning into your communication style.
   

   Answer to Question 1: 15 seconds
   Answer to Question 2: 19 seconds
   Answer to Question 3: 38 seconds
   
   The length of Vanessa’s answers grew with each question that was asked.
   

2. Pinpoint the gap 📍
   That means having clarity on your two elements. Your audience’s
   
   1. Fears and frustrations
   2. Hopes and aspirations
   
   ‘If you do not know how to communicate with people, you can't connect with people, you can't have good relationships, you can't have supportive friendships, you get looped into difficult people or toxic people, you have trouble getting raises or promotions. When you are able to control your communication, it helps you not be overlooked, not be misunderstood, and that affects your friendships, your partner, your career, and also helps you feel more confident walking into a room.’
   

3. Back up your claims with evidence 🔬 

   Not only will you come across as more credible, but you will also create a deeper level of trust with your audience.
   
   Over the course of the 2 hour 43 minute podcast, Vanessa shared:
   
   1. 63 practical tips,

   2. 11 statistics,
   3. 12 frameworks,
   4. 9 studies.
   
   That’s a new valuable insight every 1 minute and 42 seconds 🤯.
   
   How?! Look closely at this pic…
   

   

   Vanessa brought notes with her (the pink cue cards on the table).

It is so refreshing to see someone at the very top of their game using notes in such a public forum.

Permission to take notes with you to your next podcast appearance. It’s high time notes are seen as a sign of confidence, rather than a clutch.

If you’re speaking on a podcast this week, go get ‘em!

Alex

P.s. I’m doubling down on podcasts this year as part of my thought leadership strategy. If you think I might be a suitable guest for one of yours, reply to this email :-).