Transcript
So one of the most common fears that I see that prevents people from starting a podcast and you wouldn’t believe even famous athletes and world-renowned coaches and people who are just, you would think, wow, they never feel this type of fear. How could they feel fear about speaking into a microphone and sharing some of their thoughts? And the truth is that does happen. The root fears that all of them usually have is this fear of being seen. It’s a paradox.
And I can relate to it because it’s like you want your stuff to be seen. But at the same time, you have this cringy fear when you think about certain people seeing it. So who knows? It could be friends, it could be family, usually, as people close to you at all, what might they think they’re gonna judge me, or it could be the fear of criticism from strangers, because yeah, I’ve got rough comments before. And it’s not fun. So it’s easy to freeze up. When you think about like, oh, putting my thoughts out there is not safe.
And there’s a term that I’ve come up with for this. It’s called TMZ syndrome. It’s this idea that you are afraid that people are going to catch you doing something wrong. And you don’t want to put yourself in risk or danger. And as silly as it sounds, creating content of any format, even though it’s safe in so many different ways. At the same time, there is a primal danger. I think that our brains do signals, especially when it’s around something we care about, or it’s around something new that we’re just learning or exploring.
So let’s say that you are in the fitness industry, and you want to start a YouTube channel or you want to start a podcast, there is this excitement that you might feel the thought of doing that and sharing but then immediately, when you think about the act of executing or publishing, it’s this feeling of being really small of like, oh, this is not worth publishing. Like, there are a million videos out there doing this already. Why would somebody watch this podcasting to me is very similar to bodybuilding in the sense that people are afraid that when you start lifting weights, you are going to turn into some jacked bodybuilder who has been doing it for 15 years to purposefully look that way. And so there was always this fear from even some of my male clients. It was like, I don’t want to get too big. I don’t want to get too bulky. And the answer to that is that look, it takes a lot of work to put on muscle, it doesn’t just happen overnight.
So podcasting is the same thing, right? People aren’t going to just find your show. Do you know how hard not just for me but all the clients that work with me how hard-working to get their shows, discovered and seen, and get more eyeballs on it? And so it doesn’t just happen by accident any more, where all of a sudden, your episode is gonna go viral? I’m not making fun of anybody who has this fear, or anybody who has this feeling of like, oh, I don’t know what to talk about, or know from my point of view is good enough to talk about, there are some people might be like, Well, yeah, don’t make anything, then you shouldn’t be making that thing, you should just do something else. And I’m not of that mind, I am of the mind that you should capture that moment because it will never happen again.
So why not actually capture it, even if it’s bad. So the two platforms that really work for people who are afraid of it being seen by their, co-workers or their friends or family, people, you don’t want to see your stuff. podcasting and YouTube are the best platforms for that. Because yes, let’s say if you’re plugging your show on Instagram all the time, Instagram is a place where people do browse and search. And yes, people might find it. So that might be something if you want to avoid it altogether for a little while, don’t do it. But if you publish on just podcasts alone, and you publish on YouTube, the only people that are actually going to be listening and finding your stuff are the ones who care.
So one of the things to calm that TMZ syndrome is to realize that not everybody is searching for your show, not everybody is going to find your stuff isn’t something that goes away overnight. And I’m not sure it’s something that even goes away after years and years of actual podcasting. It is something that you have to actively overcome every time you press record or speak into a microphone. So I think it’s just knowing that filtering people down is not a bad thing. If you’re a divorce attorney making content for people who are going through a divorce then if you’re not going through a divorce.
Don’t try to get those people to subscribe to your show and download your stuff and listen, go find people who are already going through a divorce. When I first started putting my whole first year of business, I really did think okay, it’s just the tech and the editing that’s getting in the way if people could have that part solved then they would absolutely do a podcast. But the more I talk to people I realize it’s not just that it’s really this deep fear around like oh man, I don’t want to look like I’m being a somebody that feeling is cringy to most people. I think your ultimate solution to that if you still want to create content you want to kind of conquer your TMZ syndrome is to create without telling too many people for a while. Don’t tell everybody you have a podcast or that it’s long Jean, launch it without even telling everybody and let it kind of find its way to the right people create a separate account, separate YouTube channel, or separate Instagram, where you can plug the show and let it grow for a little while, but maybe you’ll get comfortable with sharing it with people after a little while. And then you can always do that. But you don’t have to do that from the start.
Just because you wait a year, year and a half, or two years to do something don’t somehow magically allow you to bypass all of the mistakes, obstacles, and barriers, you still have to go through some of your bad episodes and gain confidence on and that’s something I need to pay attention to. And so one step short of actually publishing your show and telling everybody about it is to have your equipment. You could even just do it on your phone and voice memos. Just talk just record and see what it’s like to do that because it is a very cathartic process. Make sure to record your first three episodes without any intention of actually publishing it. Just record it and give yourself a feel for talking out loud. Record your first three episodes solo. And don’t do it with a guest do it just with yourself and get comfortable with the idea of hearing yourself talk out loud. TMZ syndrome is a very real thing. I acknowledge that and it’s not something that goes away overnight. So I wish you the best of luck. I hope what I shared with you today helped with helping you kind of get started if you enjoyed this video, I think you’re gonna enjoy some of these to make sure to check them out or save them for later. And as always, thank you so much for hanging out. I appreciate you and I’ll see you next time.
