Your Intended Message

Audea - the Youtube of audio content: Amit Kukreja

With more than two million podcasts, It's time to create a YouTube of audio content

Audio publishing is exploding online with more than two million podcasts and 48 million episodes. How can this audio content be organized and searched?

Episode 75

Amit Kukreja (CEO & Founder) has launched Audea.io  - the answer to the quest for organized and aggregated audio content. Let's learn more about this new platform, the gap it fills and the future of published audio online.

Why is audio content so attractive and easy to consume?

What are the missing pieces in podcast distribution?

Why are the podcast distributors unlikely to promote most podcasts?

What lessons can we learn from YouTube videos that can be applied to audio?

Visit Audea.io

 

Excerpts from this discussion:

01:12

Let's find out about audio. And people might have said that, when TV came out that radio was going to die, but it didn't. It maybe even got stronger over the years. And people might have said that when when video came out, like YouTube came out, audio is gonna die. But it hasn't.

In fact, there's been a proliferation. And I believe the number of podcast audio podcasts is somewhere in the millions, which sounds crazy. What's happening? What's the attraction of audio? Why is it still here? And what in fact, why is it growing?

 

01:52

I think the recent pandemic definitely gave people a lot more time on their hands over the past two years, and they had more time to do different things.

And audio became one of those core forefronts of how they were ultimately consuming content.

I think one of the big things to understand about audio, and the reason I'm so bullish on it to the point where I made a whole technology company and platform around it, is that I think that it's sort of the next wave of how humans are going to be able to be productive, while still consuming content, content creation and production.

And as you said, the proliferation of it, there's never been a better time to be alive. If you are a content creator, whether you're creating articles, video or audio.

The problem with that no barrier to entry is that there are literally millions of billions of different pieces of content created every day and distributed on major technology platforms. If that's the case, the question then becomes what's vying for our attention.

And audio is one of those mediums where you don't need to stare at the screen, or you don't need to have a sort of intimate relationship with the with the content in a way that it consumes your time, you're actually able to do other things while consuming content on the go and the ability to be productive, which is what we all care about.

But still get the information, which is what we also care about, to me creates a symbiotic relationship with audio as a medium and content as a an emerging democratised way of people consuming different things.

So I think at that point, if audio has platforms that are able to support it and help a and are able to help get it discovered more in the mainstream, then it just becomes a no brainer in terms of how big it can get

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27:12

Where do you see Audea a year from now. And five years from now.

 

Our goal is to get it to the point where we can hit critical mass, I think when we hit a critical mass, we'll be able to get some funding from venture capitalists. We tried to get funding over the past four months actually.

And it was such a rocky experience. It was a tonne of rejections. And it wasn't rejections in the context of the idea is bad. It was rejections in the context of you don't have the numbers, we need yet to justify giving you a couple million dollars.

Because it was a lot of cold emails to a lot of people in Silicon Valley. And I was getting the meetings, you know, people were actually sitting down and talking with me through Zoom. And these are meetings that are very hard to get with people who have very limited amount of time.

So the idea has the interest we know from the venture community. Now it's just a question of us building up enough intestinal fortitude, and empirical data to justify that this is an idea worth funding.

So, best case scenario a year from now I think we hit enough critical mass, we have 1015 20,000 users.

And at that point, we can get some funding from some venture capitalist. And once we get that funding, it's off to the moon in the next five years.

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Speak from the Emotional Perspective of the Audience: Neil Gordon

To connect with your audience, they must realise that you understand them and care

Neil Gordon reveals the Silver Bullet of speaking.

 

We explore:

• The problem that experts and knowledgeable speakers face
• Why and how to take the focus off you and focus on your audience
• How to make that emotional connection 
• How to distill that complicated message into a silver bullet
• The power of one idea
• Valuing the listener more than the speaker
• The fallacy about information

 

Neil Gordon is a former editor at Penguin Book where he worked with New York Times bestselling authors. Neil helps speakers transform their audiences into audiences that are attentive, transfixed, hungry and empowered. Neil wasn't a natural with words. For most of his first 20 years, he abhorred reading. Then a switch flipped and he pursed writing and speaking with a vengeance.

Neil says there are 5 types of public speakers. Which are you? Take the free quiz here

Public Speaker Type Quiz

Learn more about Neil Gordon, his pubic speaking programs and the free introductory course here.

Neil Can Help

 

Excerpts from this discussion with Neil Gordon:

02:31

One of the things that so many speakers struggle with George is that they know a lot, a lot, a lot of information, they have a lot of knowledge, they've been developing their expertise for often decades.

But the larger issue they face is that they basically have forgotten what it's like not to know something. And then they go out on stage, or they give a virtual presentation, and they do what we call the show up and throw up.

They just vomit out all of their information. They cram. If they have 45 minutes to talk, they cram as much of their content into that 45 minutes as they can.

But for a person who doesn't know what they know, right, who is a newbie who is a beginner at whatever their subject matter expertise is, they might find value in all of that content.

But because learning is so metabolically expensive, it can be overwhelming. And then the friction comes when they don't actually look like they don't actually make anything actionable.

Once the talk is over and saying, Oh, that was really good. And then they move on, they really forgotten about it.

I know that I've been in an audience member like that many times over where I appreciated the value that they had to share. But I just couldn't sort it out in my own mind. And I couldn't make it actionable. Or at least I didn't. 

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03:56

And when you talk when you coach a speaker, do they push back and say, but I can't leave something out? What if I leave something out? And they think I don't know.

 

04:10

Yeah. And what you are highlighting there, George is a larger issue that so many experts have and it's not even just picking on experts, people are like this, in general, is that they go about solving a problem from their perspective.

A person is going up on stage and they're thinking, Am I going to seem authoritative enough? Are people going to be paying attention? Are they going to have me back? Am I going to get Am I being paid enough for this? Or how do I actually get paid for this?

They're focused on their stuff. But effective communication values the recipient over the sender and they focus on the audience

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11:34

How do we transfix the audience?

But the opening of a talk is sort of like the start of a race. A race has this really high point of tension...

On your mark, get set. And that moment, right between get set and go or the gun going off, is that highest point of tension, because anything can happen.

Anything is possible, but nothing yet has. And similarly at the start of a talk, you've walked out on stage, you're there, your audience is there, nothing has happened yet.

Anything is possible. It's very pregnant, a point of tension.

Versus saying, Oh, thank you so much. It's so nice to be here does is it squanders that tension and disperses it.

And one of my favourite examples is a former client of mine, and she had this big national keynote for her for company's national conference. And she just started with,

"A longtime friend of mine didn't know what to do."

And that was it. And at that point, you could hear the pin drop, because she took all that tension and she harnessed it.

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28:36

I will give one piece of advice, per your question, George.

And that is to become absolutely religious, about the problems that your participants your employees are experiencing.

As they understand it, and to create your message as an extension of solving those problems to whatever extent you have the capacity to do.

And so again, people are most likely to embrace the solution must provide within the context of a problem they care about solving.

And if your solution, your vision for the company for the next quarter is a certain thing, they will get on board, much more likely to get on board, if you first help them to feel seen and heard.

It starts with the problem as they understand it.

You learn what are you guys struggling with right now? What does it feel like for you? And then you talk about that at the beginning, and then artfully transition into things from your own perspective, and they'll come along with you for the ride.

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The Empathy Effect on leadership communication: Dr Helen Riess

Empathy is not an inborn trait. It can be taught and learned.

Dr Helen Riess is an empathy researcher at Harvard Medical School and a clinical psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

We examine these aspects about empathy:

• What is empathy and what is not?
• Why is empathy critical to effective communication?
• How might we demonstrate true empathy over fake sympathy?
• How to guard against empathy overload?
• How can leaders apply empathy in building their teams?

Dr Helen Riess is the author of the bestselling book, The Empathy Effect: Seven Neuroscience Keys for Transforming how We Live, Love work and connect across Differences.

Dr Helen Riess is the CEO and Founder of Empthetics, a tech ed company that offers online and blended empathy and relationship skills training for healthcare, business and law enforcement.

 

 

Dr Riess's TEDX talk "The Power of Empathy" has received more than 650,000 views. 

 

Excerpts from this interview:

Most of us have probably heard the word, many people probably have their own idea of what they think it is. Please tell us your definition of what Empathy means to you? And most importantly, what it's not.

 

02:50

That is a great opening question, George, because many people have a sense that they know what empathy is. But it's actually more than one thing. It's an umbrella term. Because people often confuse empathy with just being nice or kind.

Empathy is, is involved quite a few brain structures that enable us to perceive the emotions of others. Of course, that means we have to pay attention to the emotional signals, right? So it helps with perception of emotion, it helps with taking the perspective of other people. So it means taking off our own spectacles and putting on the lens that somebody else is wearing to see the world through their eyes.

Empathy involves what's called an effect sharing, which means that when we see somebody in an intense emotion, we actually share that emotion to some degree, because of how our brains map other people's emotions on our own brain structures, which is why when we see somebody really sad and sorrowful, sometimes we get a little misty and teary ourselves, or when we're around people that are just elated and happy it buoys everybody up.

That's called shared aspects or shared emotions. And then empathy works with all of these brain parts to process what other people are thinking and feeling. Which then motivates empathic concern, which is really what gets us to do things to help other people.

And then the output after we feel that concern, is what I call caring compassion, because that's what comes out of us. So empathy is really the input that allows us to perceive and understand and then based on many factors, including just how well we're doing taking care of ourselves, we have the ability to show caring and compassionate behaviour coming out of us.

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10:11

I'm curious about the concept that empathy can be learned. So if it is a skill that can be learned and can be honed, where does one start? Where does one start to say, Okay? How's my empathy level? How do I improve it?

 

10:39

So, importantly, empathy is a mutable human trait, which means it changes, it's not the same, I don't have the same empathy every single day, and neither does anyone else.

When we talk about empathy, we have to realise it can be blunted. So as I said before, if you're around too much pain and suffering, you at some point, might have to limit your exposure, or take a breath and step back, or even take a day off.

Because there's only so much the human mind and heart can absorb. So when we tamp down empathy, we are at risk for losing it if we don't replenish, and we don't kind of reset to be sensitive to other people.

And the reason I got into all of this empathy research is that, through my own experience, working with patients and just reading the media, there has been a time when patients are really saying they don't get enough empathy and care from their doctors.

And I was seeing that as a major problem. Because if you don't feel cared about, you're not that likely to follow recommendations or even want to come back and see that doctor. I was really on a quest to see if if you can beat empathy out of people, can you also bring it back? And a lot of people said no, if once you burned out, that's probably it like, or maybe those people never had any to begin with.

And through my research, I realised that we are most empathetic when our challenge channels are open, when we're really focusing on the other person and not so much on ourselves.

And that there are ways to enhance our perception of other people, for example, by learning to read their faces accurately, because the human face is actually a roadmap of emotion. But if we're not looking at each other, you're going to be missing what people are feeling.

And of course, during this pandemic we're in when half our faces are covered, it's even more important to pay attention to what people are saying with their eyes. And, our eyes and our forehead is where most emotion is actually expressed.

So the good thing is that even if we cover our mouths, where we can, you know, it's easy to fake a smile, but it's very hard to fake the other emotions because they're expressed in the eyes.

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72 Austin McCulloh, How to Set the Stage for a Successful Sales Conversation

Why is opening more important than closing for success in sales? How to turn an apparent disadvantage to your advantage? 

Selling is a competitive pursuit, and it can be difficult. It can be challenging and rewarding. It doesn't need to be scary. It requires thought, preparation and habits. Most important is the mindset and self-talk. What are you telling yourself to win or sabotage your success.

Highlights from this conversation with Austin McCulloh

Rewiring your response to the word, "No"

Setting daily routines to maintain your energy levels

How to open the connection with a prospect and why this is important

How a guy only 5 foot 7 became a team leader in college football

 

Austin McCulloh, is a specialist in lead generation. He has personally made more than 16,000 prospecting contacts on Linkedin. He's helped his clients generate more than 25,000 prospecting contacts. He manages his energy levels and follows repeatable systems to build relationships and spur business growth.  

You can learn more about Austin and his services here www.mccullohadvising.com

You can also book a free, no-obligation call on his calendar at the website.

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Excerpts from this conversation with Austin McCulloh about the sales conversation:

 

I'm guessing that you gained lessons from that experience that has helped you today. And if there are one, two or three lessons from your experience playing football being a smaller guy than the rest of them, what what are those lessons that have stayed with you?

02:36

Hmm, that's a really good question. I've never had anybody actually asked me that question. The one thing that's coming to mind is, it's not always a bad thing to have disadvantages.

Now, was it a pain because I was smaller. So I didn't have the physics on my side. Yeah. But I believe life is always preparing you for where you need to go. And obviously, my intention was never or my plans were never to be in the NFL.

But because I needed to compete with these guys, much larger than I was on the football field, I had to work out harder, I had to work out more. And that taught me to be more consistent taught me to be more disciplined.

And for example, our coach even wanted to be one of those leaders who, whenever we're doing something and he was up on stage, he would always call me up to demonstrate an exercise when we were lifting.

So that taught me to be a leader in front of others of my actions, not just in my words. So I guess now that I'm an entrepreneur, and I have been for years, playing college football, especially at the size disadvantage ended up being a benefit, because it just taught me how to be consistent taught me how to be a hard worker.

03:41

And, if we talked about nothing else, Austin that that one point would probably make this interview valuable by itself.

So having a disadvantage is actually an advantage. Because you learn to get to get over the disadvantage. You learn to use it to your, your, your benefit.

And that's probably the best lesson especially when it comes to sales. Because selling anything is tough. There's you've always got competition.

Let's talk about the sales conversation. You help people improve and make their sales conversation more effective. Where does the conversation start?

04:27

That's a great question, George. So I always like to say there are four steps, okay. And I go from the first to the fourth, top to bottom for anybody who's watching.

The first point in sales is making the contact. The second stage right below that is the conversation and that's what we're going to come back to that's the answer to your question, George.

The third one is you need to set up meetings and is obviously the fourth is closing the business. So I kind of fumbled around so to recap this contact Conversation, meeting or meetings, and then new business close business.

So to answer your question, the most important one, there is the conversation. Because in today's world, it's not that hard to make a contact, especially on social media, you reach out to your family and friends, there are a lot of people who contact, okay.

When you get a meeting set, it's not as tough to make a sale. Because if you say the wrong word or their objections, we all know that it's easier to handle those actually on the call, and then closing business. Have you ever heard sales is about opening? It's not about closing?

You know what I'm talking about? Huh? Got it. A lot of people think it's about closing. So really, the bread and butter out of those four steps is in the conversation piece. And of course, I'm more than happy to elaborate on that.

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71 John Arms, Fractional Work - How does it work?

Fractional work. Is it right for you? Is it right for your team?

John Arms writes, speaks and advocates for the professional gig economy which is becoming part of the new normal for work. He serves as a fractional Chief Marketing Officer.

 

In this interview we explore:

How is fractional work different from consulting?

Why might fractional team leaders be attractive to a growing business?

Why might fractional work be attractive to experienced professionals?

How might a stagnant business leverage the wisdom of fractional team leaders?

What are the challenges of fractional work?

How might fractional workers freshen the workplace culture?

 

John Arms is co-founder of Voyageur University, a learning community for people transitioning to an independent career. Learn more about Voyageur U here.

You can get 30 days free with the code NEWTRAIL

https://voyageur-u.salesreach.io/freedom

 

Want to know more before you go further? Check this free guide book.

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Find John Arms on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnarms/

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70 Jason Hunt, Social Media Marketing?

Does social media marketing work? When does it work best? How to integrate your online marketing funnel?

Jason Hunt is Co-founder of Merged Media, a full service digital marketing agency. We explore the integration of social media, paid advertising, lead magnets, podcasting and email within your marketing outreach.

To experience success with digital marketing, you need to connect the dots of the various platforms and approaches. Jason Hunt describes how that process works.

We explore the strengths and challenges of these platforms:

Facebook- still the ruler of the social media jungle

Google Ads - more pricey now, yet still effective because of the intent of the searcher

Linkedin - more focused on B to B 

YouTube - the video variation of Google

Tik Tok - it's evolving into more than a place for dancing videos

Pinterest - a visual experience most relevant for reaching national markets

 

Learn more about Merged Media and the Merged Marketing podcast

 

In this excerpt, Jason Hunt describes the funnel.

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A great example of this is an episode that we recently did with a man by the name of Joe Garcia, and we talked about the five steps to manifesting your dream. Okay, that was the topic of the podcast episode. And we put it out there to the world of Facebook.

And what I did was this was important because the target audience is very important, the closer we can marry that message to the person seeing it, the better click cost, you're going to get better lead gen cost, you're going to get just got to marry that message up as as as the best as best as possible with that user that seeing it.

So in this specific episode, the five steps of manifesting your dream, it was a quick clip of Joe talking about one of those steps.

And we use that clip and targeted an audience of people that were entrepreneurs, but also showed interest in law of attraction. Okay, so by narrowing the audience down to not just entrepreneurs, but entrepreneurs that are interested in the law of attraction, this is a very good audience for this particular podcast episode.

So those click costs to get somebody from Facebook, to go to see that ad, watch the ad and then go over to our podcast was like three cents a click.

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Links for Merged Media

https://www.facebook.com/mergedmedialtd/?ref=br_rs

https://www.instagram.com/mergedmedia/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH3SVt5G6ZzT8DqNwN2Y9GQ

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69 Howard Rankin: Thinking, Consciousness and Critical Thinking

Communication starts within your body, not necessarily within your brain. How do you feel about that thought?

I Think, Therefore I am Wrong, is the title of the latest book from Dr Howard Rankin. How does the title of that book make you feel? Does it intrigue you or disgust you? Why?

Your body and mind are designed to communicate effectively within the body. Yet, communication with other people might not work so well because the body/mind relationship is based on survival and energy conservation.

Topics and Ideas that we explore in this discussion:

• I think, therefore I am wrong. What does that mean?
• Why might we ignore facts or distort reality?
• Your brain is an energy hog.
• Why do we experience binary thinking? And why is that dangerous?
• How might physical activity help you recharge or rewire your brain?
• When was the last time you truly enjoyed eating a grape?
• How might nature help you reset?

Communicate with Influence

Check this online training program from Dr Howard Rankin on how to be more successful with your communication.

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68 Graham Brown, The 3 Box Storytelling technique

How to build your story on the framework of The Christmas Carol and it's not Bah Humbug!

Graham Brown offers analysis, practical insights and artistic encouragement to storytelling in business.

Highlights from this discussion with Graham Brown

Leveraging the power of the journey

Move people to change while making them feel that they are on familiar territory

How to diminish the fear of the unknown

The power of analogy when you want to become the Uber of ...

People forget what you said, yet remember how you made them feel

The importance of allowing listener to fill in some of the blanks

How to rehearse and refine your key stories

The relevance of the back story. Why are you here?

Why old stories are the best

 

Graham Brown is the founder of Pikkal & Co, an award winning podcast agency based in Singapore. He has the experience of hosting over 400 episodes on his podcast. He is an author on the subject of The Digital Transformation of Communication. His works include The Human Communication Playbook and The Mobile Youth: Voices of the Connect Generation.

Podcast Guesting Pro is a dedicated Podcast Booking Agency that works with B2B thought leaders. They help you reach new audiences and build your authority by booking you on podcasts to showcase your expertise and spread your message. Learn more here...

https://www.podcastguesting.pro/

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67 Holley Mignosi, Hypnotic Body Language Supports your Stories

Leverage your body language to convey more powerful stories

You might have heard that story telling is an effective way to convey your message. However, are you using your body to support your story or might your body be sabotaging your intended message?

Holley Mignosi is a former model, acting coach and fitness coach who appreciates the nuances of body form, posture and movement. She helps speakers coordinate their body language with the power of stories.

Get your free copy of the 15 Hottest Hand Gestures so you can add Sizzle to your presentations.   https://www.holleymignosi.com/hot15

 

Listen to her powerful life-changing story. (It starts at 16:59 if you can't wait.)

 

Insights from this interview with Holley Mignosi:

• Your body is communicating 100% of the time, whether you are award of it or not
• Athletes and dancers are keenly aware of every movement of their body
• Your presentation doesn't start when you start to speak, it starts when you enter the room
• We are looking at you and judging based on what we see
• Hands are trust triggers; Let people see your hands
• Why the underdog story is so powerful and why you need to heal before you tell it

The Four Es of Engagement

1. Expanded Posture
2. Engaging Eye Contact
3. Emotional State Control
4. Echo Technique

The Four Pillars of Charisma

1. Curiosity
2. Playfulness
3. Resilience
4. Victorious

Learn more about Holley Mignosi and her programs for the Art of Storytelling and Hypnotic Stage Presentations at her website  https://www.holleymignosi.com/

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66 Peter de Jager, Problem Solving - Where is the Box

Problem Solving: First we need to see the box

Peter de Jager explores the challenges, beliefs and joys of effective problem solving

Problem solving is a fundamental skill, yet many get it wrong. They approach problem solving like mathematics in their search for the right answer.

Insights from this discussion with Peter de Jager

• There is no spoon
• Your box might not be my box
• There is no one right answer
• The problem is not the situation
• The problem you see might not be the real problem
• The first step is to reassess the situation
• Your solution might address the situation while not addressing my problem
• The problem might be a matter of perception

Peter de Jager has been addressing problem solving and change for more than 40 years. He is an agent of change and champion of problem solving. And yes, his perspective has changed over those decades as he continues to change...

He has produced more than 100 webinars on the topic of change. You can find the library of his webinars here...

wwwTechnobility.online

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