God’s gift to trumpeters
Every person who hosts a podcast, has a blog, a youtube channel, or basically has any kind of online presence has a struggle.
It’s a struggle that 99.999% of people who consume their content will never know about.
And that is the balance between the ego and the ego.
Allow me to explain.
On one hand, the fact you’re doing anything to build a following (even if you do it poorly) is making you stick out like a sore thumb among peers and colleagues. You know you’ll be marked as “arrogant”, “egotistical” for doing something outside of “the plan” i.e. go to college, get a degree, get a nice job and retire.
And the truth is, you will be. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of public opinion.
On the other hand, you know you need to be entertaining, otherwise all your efforts are in vain. And entertaining doesn’t mean being constantly on the lookout for a cheap laugh. The driest topic in the world can be entertaining if certain criteria are met.
Anyway, it’s kind of a Jekyll and Hyde situation. You have various elements of your personality, you bring certain baggage with you into the venture that can inhibit you from performing at your best.
Like the old Far Side cartoon, where a bunch of warthogs are in a room, and in comes this prima donna warthog, and one of them says, “There he is, God’s gift to warthogs.”
If I were to bring into my Trumpet Dynamics podcast the attitude of, “Hey, look at me, I’m God’s gift to trumpeters…” the show would stink to high heaven. No one wants to listen to someone who’s full of themselves, who places too high a value on their presence in the community in which they reside.
But if I have an attitude of, “This show is a gift to the trumpet community. It’s not perfect, but I’m doing my best to earn an honest living and you can take it or leave it.” It changes the dynamic completely.
But at the same time, I need to be the focal point of the show, otherwise I can’t build a following.
This is where the struggle comes in, and it’s a real thing. And finding that proper balance doesn’t come overnight. Like my chiropractor said years ago about repairing a crooked back: “It’s a process, not an event.”
At any rate, the process continues for me always. But if you’ve been thinking of getting into the podcasting game and would like a bit of guidance on how to get started, then our Podcast Artistry™ program might be something that piques your interest.
We’ll get you started in the direction of producing a meaningful, impactful show.
To check out what we’re about, go to this link: https://committedmedia.org/podcast-artistry/