Hey Greenblasters!

Firstly, there are a BUNCH of new readers here (372, to be exact!)

Let me be the first - and only - person to say:

Last week was my daughter’s 1st birthday.

Don’t worry, this isn’t an essay on the fleeting nature of time, or a rundown of all the cute shit my daughter said and did for likes. I only mention it because at one point, I found a rare moment of peace and quiet with my sister and brother-in-law.

I talked about being on a podcast with Tarik Ali recently, and not feeling happy with my “performance” due to being exhausted from having kids (and I guess, a pulse).

My BIL (Reddit for “brother-in-law”) asked me:

“Is a podcast like public speaking?”

I hesitated. I wasn’t sure I understood what he meant. So I asked him. He said:

“I mean, like, is it the same kind of activity as speaking to an audience?” he said, which is what I thought he meant, but to me the answer was so OBVIOUS that I thought I must’ve misunderstood.

Before I tell you what I told him, it’s worth pointing out that this is the whole problem with being an “expert” trying to talk about your expertise with an audience:

YOU spend all your time thinking about your topic; they do not. YOU’VE read everything you can get your hands on; they might not even know your topic exists. And even for non-experts trying to communicate something, the curse of knowledge gets in the way.

I remember learning about this phrase from Steven Pinker, in his incredible lecture at the Royal Institution, which begins:

**Click above if you’re so inclined, and start at timestamp: 31.35 for the Curse of Knowledge bit, but really, just watch the whole thing. It’s hilarious, fascinating, and it’ll instantly make you a better writer & speaker.

The answer to my BIL’s question “Is a podcast the same as public speaking?” is:

YES. If you want to be a public speaker, you should be on podcasts, and treat them as a different version of the same thing.

In fact, every single person who wants to be taken seriously as a leader in their field should have “Appear On More Podcasts” as a goal for 2026/27. I think you should view it as a chance to speak to an audience who may be a potential client, employer or collaborator'; even if the tone is conversational, the podcast is not “relevant”, and even if it gets minimal views.

For instance, I got a corporate contract worth $3.5K last year from appearing on this silly and ridiculous (but fun) podcast:

As of now, the YT video has 134 views. So there ya go.

BUT, beyond just podcasts, think about it like this:

If you are:

You are speaking “in public.”

If you take seriously the idea that you have a “personal brand” - which really just means a “reputation” - then you should also realize that every conversation is a “touchpoint” with your brand - which really just means an experience or interaction with you.

This is how that could go wrong:

If I read your writing on LinkedIn, and you’re funny and warm, and then we speak on Zoom, and you seem cold and boring, what am I gonna think?

Maybe they don’t write their own posts.

Maybe they don’t like me.

Maybe this is who they really are.

You obviously don’t want those questions circulating in the minds of the people you want to work with, or who work for you, or “underneath” you, or whatever.

That’s why I teach my clients not just “presentation skills” but “public speaking skills”, which are transferrable to conversations like 1:1 meetings and podcasts.

However, there is one main difference between “traditional speaking” and a podcast, and this is why I felt unhappy with my performance on Tarik’s Waiving The NDA podcast when I watched it back yesterday.

Think about how you listen to podcasts yourself.

Maybe you have a favourite show, that you seek out every time a new episode drops. Maybe you’re on a long car ride, and you search for a topic you find interesting. Or maybe, you come across something on social media, or YouTube recommended videos while you’re eating lunch, and you go:

“Huh. This could be interesting.”

That is VERY little commitment compared to being in a room, listening to a speaker, where the whole point is that everyone is there to listen to that person.

Speakers can still definitely lose an audience in person by being boring, but it’s way harder for the audience to just switch to doing something else.

But in the podcast scenario, if you are bored, YOU HAVE THE WHOLE OF THE INTERNET to choose from if you don’t find the subject matter interesting right away.

And that’s what I want to get better at:

Start strong, give the skeptical listener a reason to commit, and stay focused on delivering the kinds of sentences people remember.

Tarik is amazing for launching his podcast. But that makes him a LITERAL beginner, and it’s always better for you not to rely on the host to say what it is you want to say.

Next time I go on a smaller podcast, I’m going to come with a loose “one-liner” for why someone should listen to this episode, based on what I talk about.

See Alex Merry’s excellent newsletter below for an example. This one’s a bit TOO prepared maybe, but I love how concise & foundational it is:

2. Give the SKEPTICS a reason to listen

I spend a lot of time talking to people who already agree with me. That is, they agree that my work of teaching people to tell their stories and connect rather than perform, is vital and necessary. People like:

This of course compounds the Curse of Knowledge issue I mentioned before, but it also means I don’t get enough practice convincing people who don’t already think like I do.

And on a podcast, the audience is likely to be WAY more diverse-thinking than a live event where everyone is in the same job function, say.

So:

I’m going to be writing a series of newsletters & LinkedIn posts where I handle foundational objectives about my topic:

These writings will help me talk to the fence-sitters out there, which matters when you want to build your audience.

Stay tuned for these :)

And finally:

I’ve been working on my book about my 3-Act Origin Story framework this year. I’ve also been trying to become a better writer in general, and the podcast below has helped me do that:

In this episode in particular, Mark Forsyth, author of The Elements of Eloquence,outlines some of his favourite “rhetorical devices” and famous examples.

I won’t go into it, but he explains WHY certain phrases “stick” in the minds of people, which is due to clever construction, i.e. use of effective rhetorical devices.

I’ve been looking to use more and more of these types of phrases in my writing intentionally, and also NOT being afraid to use lines I’ve come up with in writing in my speaking engagements.

Which means you should go on as many as you can, because despite the distinctive format, it is still public speaking, and we all need all the practice we can get.

That’s it for this week!

For now, Greenblast… OUT

P.S. Please reply HUMAN if you liked this, and to ask me any questions at all, OR:

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This is a photo of me doing a Zoom call so you have visual proof I actually do this.