How Professionals Start a Podcast Without Being Ready

[00:00:00] Chris Schwager: Hi, I'm Chris Schwager, video coach and founder of the Complete Video Success System, and I've spent decades helping professionals create high impact videos that build trust, generate leads, and drive business success. And if you've ever felt unsure or under-prepared, or just play an awkward with video, [00:00:15] this is for you.

[00:00:15] Chris Schwager: I'll give you the mindset and strategies to take control, build video confidence, so that you show up like a pro. It's time to make your videos work for you. Today's episode is a little different, isn't it? I'm genuinely excited to share with you one of our [00:00:30] clients, Bassford Consulting, Wayne Bassford and Judith Ling have just launched their podcast Financial Reporting Conversations, and thanks to their new desktop studio and the rhythm that they've been building with Kev and the Ridge Films team.

[00:00:41] Chris Schwager: Their episodes are now live across YouTube shorts, [00:00:45] Spotify, LinkedIn iTunes. And what I love about this episode is it really does offer this such a real honest look at what it's liked when professionals start a podcast from scratch and they're learning the workflow as they go, building [00:01:00] confidence, shaping their structure all while recording.

[00:01:02] Chris Schwager: And that truly, that's one of the smartest ways to start a podcast. You learn once you document it, you do the recordings, they become valuable. Content long after the moment has passed. So today I'm [00:01:15] repurposing a portion of their episode for the Video Conference Collective podcast because financial reporting conversations beautifully shows how real people navigate setup.

[00:01:24] Chris Schwager: They navigate scripting and mindset and collaboration. They start a podcast and refine their [00:01:30] processes in real time. It's interactive, it's fun, it's human, and it's a brilliant reminder that you don't need perfection, just the willingness. To begin. So here's our episode with Bassford Consulting.

[00:️:01:40] Judith Leung: We've got Chris here from rich Films, and he's been helping us navigate everything [00:01:45] from setting up and scripting to recording and distribution of these videos.

[00:01:50] Judith Leung: And Chris, you've worked with all kinds of presenters and formats, and we'll love to get your take on how we can make this series both enjoyable to make, but [00:02:00] most importantly engaging for the audience. So to start off, what's the best? It's a good best setup. It's

[00:02:05] Chris Schwager: good thing I'm here.

[00:02:07] Wayne Basford: I did say we're boring.

[00:02:08] Wayne Basford: We're boring, but our audience is boring as well. Sorry to,

[00:02:13] Chris Schwager: sorry to cut your [00:02:15] question.

[00:02:16] Judith Leung: Oh good. Yeah. What's the best setup for hosting and recording a three-way conversation like we do now, especially 'cause we are hoping to get guests. That would come on and speak to us.

[00:02:27] Chris Schwager: Invest in the Ridgefield. Let's [00:02:30] put your money down now and invest in what we have to offer. This is it. This is the best you can get. You haven't had to leave your bedrooms and we're all going live on this wonderful medium that opens. You guys to the world. Okay, now, yes, [00:02:45] that could be an iPhone. You could go and record your podcast on an iPhone and away you go, okay?

[00:02:50] Chris Schwager: But by virtue of us showing up like we are right now with a premature growings, early starts to a [00:03:00] concept of a podcast is absolutely. The best thing you guys could be doing right now. I'm a big believer in, the, you've heard the phrase build it and they'll come there's a new way of thinking about that and is they will come and then you build [00:03:15] it.

[00:03:15] Chris Schwager: That's a legit thing, right? Don't go and invest and do all this big setup around something. And this is great for your business owners too. The people that are out there that, that are doing this as well. You don't have to get it perfect nowadays. You can. [00:03:30] Start small and chip away at it and improve most things.

[00:03:33] Chris Schwager: Wayne's touched on recycle, reuse. Repurpose is big on his list of ideology here, right? And by virtue of us sitting down and recording this long form, content opens up a whole [00:03:45] bunch of marketing capability for him downstream. And also the evergreen nature of what we're doing here is really important to observe the fact that this is a document.

[00:03:55] Chris Schwager: Most people think about documents, they think about spreadsheets and PDFs. [00:04:00] Video is documentation, and it's in some cases far more efficient than the traditional way of people are thinking about documentation, right? So the way that you can be showing out the way that you can be doing this right now, yes, you can go and invest [00:04:15] and get looking, sounding and slick and all that sort of stuff.

[00:04:18] Chris Schwager: Or if you have the, the knowhow to, to play out your smartphone and talk about something you know is value to your market and do that too. Do [00:04:30] that right now. There's nothing stopping you all right? And don't let confidence stop you. Don't let procrastination and all these other things stop you 'cause that's all your head telling you lies.

[00:04:41] Chris Schwager: Okay. And all that crap is mindset. I've [00:04:45] heard and Wayne knows this, but I bang on about the words trying meant hope, boring, might, these are all my little list of things, the list of words that we're gonna be working with to put more affirmation into this whole thing, right? More [00:05:00] certainty, more authority.

[00:05:01] Chris Schwager: And now these guys, just so you know, are authorities. They know their shit. Here's the thing, this new medium, this new way of doing things is where it can come unstuck because of it's [00:05:15] unfamiliar to you and for anyone in your audience who has popped open their recording app and tried to record themselves and then fills the void after that recording with negativity, with doubt [00:05:30] is filling it with the wrong information.

[00:05:34] Chris Schwager: Because ultimately the best thing you should be saying after you do your first take. To the world should be, that was good. How do I improve it and fill it with [00:05:45] something that's actually positive and productive and will actually move you into the next realm, which is progression, which is getting good at it over a period of time.

[00:05:54] Judith Leung: And Chris, we've been doing a, you've helped us doing a lot of work on scripts with podcasts, [00:06:00] should. We be scripted or be more spontaneous?

[00:06:04] Chris Schwager: I don't know. Judith, do you think we should be more spontaneous? Look, Wayne's spelling it out to us. Okay. He's saying make it like Huberman. He's saying make it [00:06:15] easy and flowing and cross.

[00:06:16] Chris Schwager: And the fact that I've given you guys these headsets to work with and. And this medium riverside to be able to do these wonderful edits. This can be amazing interaction. Okay. It has its airtime and its little gaps and a little bit of let's say [00:06:30] awkwardness.

[00:06:30] Chris Schwager: Okay? But that's where the editor can come in and actually get that stuff organized, right? There's not a should or shouldn't. It's again, always thinking about whatever we're doing here in the production of this. I'd say this is completely relevant to [00:06:45] your audience. Whatever we're doing in the production and the tech and all this other stuff is still not about us.

[00:06:53] Chris Schwager: It's still not about us. Now, yes, we need to learn skills, we need to build confidence, all that stuff, right? But ultimately, if [00:07:00] people aren't listening, if they don't see value, this is nothing. And that's the thing that I think the world needs to really focus more attention on is them not you, them. And when you start to turn that [00:07:15] shift in that mindset around it becomes a little bit more manageable to, to drop the guard with perfectionism, drop the guard with expectations of model and ideology on what it could be.

[00:07:27] Chris Schwager: And just go, Hey, this is what it is. [00:07:30] The, this is what it is. This is where we are at and this is what we want for this not hope not meant not try. This is what we're doing. And by virtue of you, Wayne, and I'd say this for [00:07:45] you specifically, you are the expert. You are the model, you are the authority. And what's really exciting about this is your resource to tap this bloke every week.

[00:07:58] Chris Schwager: How good is that he [00:08:00] is one of the, he's a unicorn that's showing up in this way, right? So tap him. Subscribe to the channel.

[00:08:09] Wayne Basford: Describe the Wayne as a unicorn. Should as a unicorn. He said, I'm the gay. One of the, of [00:08:15] this call,

[00:08:16] Chris Schwager: Here's the thing, right? The language that, that the finance world uses about themselves.

[00:08:22] Chris Schwager: I find overly derogatory. I find it upsetting because it's not bo it's boring to me. Yes. Let's just let's just [00:08:30] put that around boring. We wanna, we're

[00:08:32] Wayne Basford: boring us. That's why we go scuba diving or do kar. See or go ski. We are boring people that do okay. Interesting things outside of right.

[00:08:42] Wayne Basford: Accounting. That's how we live our lives. I go running with the [00:08:45] balls in po I go skiing on black. I bet you didn't know that about Wayne Go ski for 20 years, but right.

[00:08:51] Chris Schwager: Account, all these one of things you can be talking to account, filter that in, into you're a boring accounting podcast, and you'll end up with something really interesting, right?

[00:08:58] Chris Schwager: E everybody wants human [00:09:00] interaction. Okay. And what, by the, by virtue of people or the finance community talking about themselves, I. As boring. It's not, it's boring for me because I'm a creative, i'll born up on video, but it's not boring for the people that are listening. They're well informed, they understand what's going on.

[00:09:14] Chris Schwager: They're getting

[00:09:14] Wayne Basford: [00:09:15] value of it. Couple of you know, I love Monty Python and Monty BI was bored up with Monty Python taking the piss out of chartered accountants because it was the correct thing to take the piss out. Chartered accountants and a Monty Python quote that [00:09:30] is brilliant the most in, the most interesting thing a chartered accountant can say.

[00:09:35] Wayne Basford: No comment. Now, that actually made it into Monty Python's flying Circus. A hundred years ago, I was [00:09:45] psycho metrically analyzed at Pricewaterhouse, we did a Belbin thing. And if, bin's got this different thing and one of my third characteristic is a plant which is actually cre, which is creative.

[00:09:59] Wayne Basford: You, [00:10:00] plant is the creative person. And the feedback from the person that was doing all this psych psychiatric testing on me was, Ooh, that's very unusual for an accountant. That's very unusual for an [00:10:15] auditor. I think we being Price Waterhouse at the time or we being me included within that, that being creative is not a desired [00:10:30] characteristic of an accountant.

[00:10:31] Wayne Basford: And I was told that in 19 89, 19 90, so I was brought up. As a whole generation of people that the desired recruitment model was not [00:10:45] being creative.

[00:10:46] Chris Schwager: That's all good in my, the audience.

[00:10:48] Wayne Basford: That's my audience.

[00:10:50] Chris Schwager: Okay. Let's not steamroll this. Judith, back to you.

[00:10:53] Judith Leung: Yes, sure. So Chris, what are the common pitfalls in podcast production?

[00:10:59] Judith Leung: You probably have [00:11:00] seen so many. How do we avoid them?

[00:11:02] Chris Schwager: Yeah. I like the, I did look at this question and I was like, ah, the number one thing, think about this, right? If you're into podcasts and you're bombing it down the highway at 110 ks an hour, if you're in Thailand, Singapore, India, Dubai, Philippines, [00:11:15] whatever your speed limit is there, the cars going crazy.

[00:11:18] Chris Schwager: It's a lot of wind noise and everything else, and you're trying to listen to your favorite podcast, right? And it doesn't matter how well. Produced it is. Or it could be something that started up new like this, which has probably got relatively [00:11:30] good production value. But the worst thing is to have two people speaking.

[00:11:34] Chris Schwager: To have either the host or the guest that's speaking at normal volume. Everything's acoustically set and it's nice and normalized, and everything's nice and loud. And then the [00:11:45] guest or the host coming in nice and quiet like this, and you can't be able to hear them. Now, not because they're whispering, but because the levels are completely unbalanced.

[00:11:52] Chris Schwager: Now this is completely nerdy and techy. Oh, it's probably boring to you. But this is one of the. This is one of the pitfalls [00:12:00] that people aren't balancing out their bloody levels and making it easier for the poor person in the car just to listen like a normal radio station. That is a common pitfall.

[00:12:10] Chris Schwager: I see. If people straighten that out, the podcasting world would be a better place. [00:12:15] Just quickly, if you are ready to take control of your video production, but. Feel stuck. Check out the video. Confidence Collective it's live coaching in a supportive community that's got your back. We cover four essentials tech messaging on camera presence and implementing what you learn so you can create consistent, confident [00:12:30] content that truly connects links in the show notes.

[00:12:32] Chris Schwager: Now back to the episode.

[00:12:33] Judith Leung: Is it up to the editor that like, to help us with that?

[00:12:36] Chris Schwager: Yeah, it's, yeah. Yeah. No. Like the reason why we don't have headsets and big cans on. Because that does jack shit. Because you guys don't know about [00:12:45] audio production enough to have big headphones. Yes. You can know when you're bumping your mic.

[00:12:50] Chris Schwager: That's about as good as it, it really does. But otherwise, no it's up to the editor because you, if you've got guests on, you can't control the level of their voice. You're gonna have some [00:13:00] people that'll come in very loud in some bits, and then, yeah, and just talk under their breath. In other parts, you can't control that.

[00:13:06] Chris Schwager: You're not gonna train them through that. So it's really up to the audio editor or the video editor too, work that out. And it's a very simple tactic that we've been doing for [00:13:15] years. It's still lots of video production companies and audio engineers and guys that don't do. Very well. So yeah we wanna straighten that out and make it easier again for them, for the audience, for the listeners, for the people that yeah.

[00:13:27] Chris Schwager: Are gonna be that community. 'cause we want them [00:13:30] coming back and if they can't hear you. That's no good. We want them hearing, we want, we wanna be communicating.

[00:13:36] Wayne Basford: One of the things that I've learned from you you've emphasized with me is just almost how quick you can't waffle on video. You're [00:13:45] impatient on video.

[00:13:47] Wayne Basford: And the more than that. Certainly of you coaching me mean now listening. I'm just obsessed with watching video clips and watching or listening to podcasts and think get on with it. Get on with it. I've listened to this for [00:14:00] 30 seconds. I've learned nothing. I'm bored. Yeah. And I just click off it, I'm a YouTube junkie.

[00:14:07] Wayne Basford: Yes. But YouTube lists all this stuff I could watch. And yet you had your period. You [00:14:15] had that yeah. Element, and yet you've lost my interest. I don't care what you ate for breakfast yesterday, or whether it's a nice day or all this stuff. In my case, all the pregnant pauses and how slowly I speak. You're getting good at it.

[00:14:29] Wayne Basford: You're getting better, you're [00:14:30] off. That's it. I'm going on to the next one. So that's my, yeah.

[00:14:33] Judith Leung: So that comes to our next question, like, how do we make sure that we are not boring?

[00:14:39] Chris Schwager: Yeah. And look, this is a little bit less about you guys at this point because Wayne's segued in my mind [00:14:45] to something that I think is really powerful.

[00:14:46] Chris Schwager: And again, if we think about the audience and what's in it for them, then you can't afford to wait. 10, 12 minutes for you guys to finally get to a point. The whole reason why hooks exist in the first place is to [00:15:00] grab attention fast. And this is not for the sake of having a hook. And I'm saying like the start of this podcast, if we run it with your intro, Judith, that is not the hook, right?

[00:15:10] Chris Schwager: The hook is. The vital bit probably coming from Wayne [00:15:15] because he is the guy that everybody wants to model off, right? And be like, then him and his profound, hopefully not talking about how boring he is, him saying something profound is the hook, right? It's it shapes the context of what this program's about [00:15:30] because if you can't get that buy-in at that start, Wayne's told you've lost them.

[00:15:34] Chris Schwager: And not only have you lost them for that episode, you potentially lose them. Forever. Or for at least a long time before [00:15:45] you earn trust back. Now what I'm talking about is binge watching, binge listening. We all do it. The Netflix 2020 saga really got us in that repeatable cycle because we had nothing else to do.

[00:15:57] Chris Schwager: We might as well sit on our couch, watch couch watching [00:16:00] Netflix, right? But that is ultimately what. Businesses should be striving for, is to get more people watching with more ex excitement and more value from it because they are in a habitual cycle of watching you [00:16:15] because they're getting value, they're getting good substance from it.

[00:16:17] Chris Schwager: Because you are the go-to resource for the most important information around auditing and boring finance stuff, right? So that, that's the trick here. And so I, I would argue that anybody that, that comes in. Without [00:16:30] a real plan of attack and real certainty around it, is delaying or prolonging that potential onboarding of listeners there that could be right there in front of them wanting to listen.

[00:16:40] Chris Schwager: But because we're not putting in the mechanics and the mechanism to do it properly at the start, it [00:16:45] could just drag it out a little bit. So the community I think is important. And I don't think it's not just, oh, create once and then. Because it's syndicated to Spotify and iTunes, that automatically it'll open up this kind of Pandora's [00:17:00] box of people that are gonna start consuming the information, like all marketing, whether it's a single little social media video or a video for your website or a podcast, it needs to be constantly marketed and talked about market remarket.

[00:17:14] Chris Schwager: [00:17:15] And what I call market the marketing, okay, is a really important part of making sure that it gets the audience that it deserves. And in six months time, if this episode still hasn't got [00:17:30] the capacity that you'd like in terms of viewership or listeners, run it again. Promote it again. It's funny it's funny, my, I've got over 200 episodes on our video conference Collective podcast, and the most watched episode is episode one.

[00:17:43] Chris Schwager: Not because it was [00:17:45] rockstar podcast right from the start, but because people are curious to see where we started. To see how shit it was back then and see the evolution and how it's grown since.

[00:17:55] Wayne Basford: My, my aim for this is I say to keep us honest. So I, [00:18:00] and keeping me honest and I had a great plan and did a follow it through is always best practice to be honest, but that this will be in six months time or certainly a year's time.

[00:18:09] Wayne Basford: Let's do Halloween 2026. Okay, let's have a rerun of it. [00:18:15] And you, your guys will tell me how to insert a clip and do a flashback. So Wayne, you said this in October 25. So Judith, did you do it? Oh, so this is going back to the recycle reuse. [00:18:30] This is Diary. Hopefully by,

[00:18:31] Chris Schwager: hopefully by then, Wayne, we don't have.

[00:18:33] Chris Schwager: We don't have one of these lingering around. We are, we're, we haven't got the tombstone for this podcast. We've actually got people that are engaged and [00:18:45] listening and ready to go. So I just thought in the spirit of Halloween, I didn't introduce that. Thank you little for those that are listening.

[00:18:51] Chris Schwager: They have no idea what they've just what's just happened. I pulled up a headstone prop. It is just about to turn Halloween here and we're celebrating. And so I thought that [00:19:00] would be an useful segue.

[00:19:03] Judith Leung: Yeah, let's try to avoid up too Stone. Wayne, what about, do you have other questions for Chris?

[00:19:10] Judith Leung: How do I get better?

[00:19:11] Wayne Basford: Yeah, good. So that's the, what's your plan [00:19:15] for getting me in particular? Yeah good. Because Judy's far more advanced than pays far more attention than me. How do I get better?

[00:19:20] Chris Schwager: Yeah, it's really good. And like you mentioned, unknown unknowns, right? What does that mean?

[00:19:24] Chris Schwager: Do people know what that means? Thi this is one of those things that I think is really, it's a couple of tactics, right? [00:19:30] Structurally, there's a couple of different methods that can go into these episodes that actually make it structurally more organized. What's interesting is people's brains don't work well when you load.[00:19:45]

[00:19:46] Chris Schwager: When there's a a caloric load on it, right? If you don't set the stage right at the start and then journey 'em through or send them on the voyage, okay? And not the journey, the voyage and the voyage represents this start, middle and end, or [00:20:00] before, during, and after concept. And there's a way to actually navigate that properly to keep people entertain and interested and hooked in, and take them, take you from the unknown.

[00:20:13] Chris Schwager: So [00:20:15] to clarify what that means, when I looked at that as one of my questions that were coming my way, I thought, oh, this is the unconscious incompetence. Have you guys seen that quadrant? Have you ever seen that quadrant, Wayne, you'd surely be familiar with [00:20:30] the unconscious incompetence to conscious confidence.

[00:20:34] Chris Schwager: Do you remember? Yeah. Okay. So basically, I don't want to bore you guys through, 'cause it really is better to see it as a visual, but this unconscious incompetence is, I don't know. [00:20:45] What? I don't know. I don't know how bad I really am, and I don't know how to even start getting good. And that's where most people start.

[00:20:53] Chris Schwager: And you guys have actually taken a big commitment here and a big, chunk to, to chew. Really with this, it is a voyage, [00:21:00] this journey that you're on from making this, making you better, Wayne is a voyage, right? And the voyage will end up. And I say will instead of might or hope, right? Because I'm very [00:21:15] critical about language will get you to consciously competent.

[00:21:24] Chris Schwager: Okay? Meaning, you good conscious competence, you know [00:21:30] your good, you know your strengths. Okay? And so this is a lot to do with the. Mental attitude and the language, not just for Wayne, but we all tell ourselves that create a bit of a scotoma or a bit of a distraction [00:21:45] in our lives instead of feeling that blank spot with progression and, hey, I'm gonna, that was good.

[00:21:51] Chris Schwager: How do I improve? You feel it with that was shit. That was boring. We won't do that again. You see what I'm saying? So it's a little bit [00:22:00] about changing the attitude, putting structure in place. A good structure that makes it easier, less caloric load for the viewer and the listener, and they're able to, to journey through without, or the voyage through, without the burden of trying to figure out the code of what's [00:22:15] going on here.

[00:22:15] Wayne Basford: You touched on two things. We touched before. I like the zoe structure of a podcast or a YouTube that go through a quick fire. What's this? Is this a problem? Is this not a problem? This not a problem. And then. [00:22:30] Really, everybody knows that from the rest of it.

[00:22:32] Wayne Basford: We're just gonna talk through those problems. So I love that you, your idea that you, if you don't tell people how long this is gonna go on for, you think, are we there? Yeah. I'm bored. Yeah, correct. I'm bored. How long? I need to get a cup of [00:22:45] coffee. I need to do, this is just going on. So setting them up, what they're gonna listen to, tell them what you're gonna tell them. Tell them what you've told them. Which is told yes. Which old presented language still works in this yes. Environment. Now, one of the, one of the things I find [00:23:00] interestingly, between me and you, apart from your smart and tidy, and I'm me and your creative, and I'm board.

[00:23:05] Wayne Basford: See, there we go.

[00:23:06] Chris Schwager: Load can't loaded with negative shit, right? I do. Hey, you're a sexy bloke. You just gotta tidy up your hair.

[00:23:13] Wayne Basford: I I do find it. [00:23:15] This, if you've ever listened to a Bill Bailey interview, I am Brit, I am British, and my persona and what I believe is decent, if you and the Bill Bailey quote is if [00:23:30] you ask somebody, a British person, how's it going?

[00:23:33] Wayne Basford: The best you'll ever get is not bad. Not bad, it could be worse. Now that's a British response and he in this attitude, which is you, and [00:23:45] most of my I don't, I'm not sure how many my audience. That are actually Australian Australians. I know there's lots of Australian passports, but very there's loads of Brits and South Africans within it.

[00:23:56] Wayne Basford: If you ask an Australian and particularly you. How's [00:24:00] it going, Chris? Awesome. Absolutely awesome. Killing it. A British person will never say that. They almost get uncomfortable by people's enthusiasm. And a lot of the coaching that you are giving me, [00:24:15] be positive. It's awesome. I'm gonna be awesome.

[00:24:17] Wayne Basford: I have never said the word or described myself as awesome in my life. And if I did. I very likely should go away and think about it and get a nice [00:24:30] pint of British beer and convince all these Australians mad. So this is a style thing of even knowing who my audience is and yeah. A lot of my Audi and I've worked in Singapore, I've worked in Asia a lot.

[00:24:43] Wayne Basford: The [00:24:45] amazing, loud, confident Aussie you. Scares the hell out of them. It's not natural to them. So I know all this. I want you to make you into an Australian, a very confident [00:25:00] la it's a scary route that you might be trying to take me up.

[00:25:04] Chris Schwager: I'm about making sure my clients are coachable and in order for that to, in order for that to be, you got hard life.

[00:25:10] Chris Schwager: Yeah. In order for that progression. The acknowledgement here is [00:25:15] not to change someone or manipulate someone. Okay. And I'm just recently a neuroco certified specialist here, so talking to someone who knows what they're talking about. However, this is about filling [00:25:30] just being very mindful and raising awareness that.

[00:25:34] Chris Schwager: The, it's my belief that people gravitate towards certainty, towards clarity. Okay. And when you provide that for them, the load on their brain is far less and therefore it's [00:25:45] making it far easy for them to process the information.

[00:25:47] Wayne Basford: My and I'll count and again, a hundred percent correct, but my nervousness and I know I've been not appearing a smug knowit all, so this balance [00:26:00] between being.

[00:26:01] Wayne Basford: Confident and authoritative versus you are s smug, knowit all, and I'm bored and listening to that smug knowit. All that's probably them listening to me. That's my psychology in my psychology [00:26:15] of,

[00:26:15] Chris Schwager: yeah.

[00:26:15] Wayne Basford: Avoiding that.

[00:26:16] Chris Schwager: So your nervousness is related to your nervous system by virtue of you guys being here.

[00:26:22] Chris Schwager: It's easy for me to be here. Okay. Because I've been running a podcast for six years because I've been on camera most of my life [00:26:30] because I video coach people and confidence, okay, you guys are all fresh and new to this. So if there is discomfort right now, that's exactly where you should be. You should embrace discomfort.

[00:26:41] Chris Schwager: Discomfort is where we grow. That is stress on your nervous system. [00:26:45] So if there's not clarity or thought, if there's stagnant pauses, if they're fumbling through words, that is. Accept that is what it is. Okay? And this is the beauty of growth and just RA raising more awareness around [00:27:00] this. It's not there for you to find that, see that as a burden, or why can't I do this?

[00:27:04] Chris Schwager: Why can't I do that? Why aren't I improving? It's just a raising awareness that the discomfort, it's the analogy would be, Hey, go try and play the piano and there's no coach and no teacher. And [00:27:15] after a year you've played and played, and all you can do is chopsticks by the end of it, and that this is the thing, you need a coach. You need someone to support you, someone that's in your corner, to make sure that you're actually getting a melody out. That it is clear. It is clear and sharp, and people can listen to it. They're not gonna listen [00:27:30] for long if it's just chopsticks.

[00:27:33] Wayne Basford: Do you like that analogy?

[00:27:34] Wayne Basford: I like that, but I, but you know what I mentioned, one of my aims is people work in a bubble. Too many auditors and accountants are doing exactly what [00:27:45] you've just said. The, in terms of learning their skill, learning their trade. Here's the standards. There's nice book. I've got books on the shelves behind me.

[00:27:54] Wayne Basford: Here's the standards. There's the piano. I'll come back in. [00:28:00] 12 months to see how you've got on or, okay, I'll give you two. Two of you can sit there next to the piano because I don't want you to be alone. Yeah. And so part of what I'm trying to do with this. Trying this what you are doing what you [00:28:15] are doing.

[00:28:17] Wayne Basford: You you, this is like having a conversation with Yoda. There is do or not do, there is no such thing as try. Yes, exactly. I'll now Chris. Yeah. Yoda, so you are preaching, you obviously somebody [00:28:30] like Star Wars and you are living in the Yoda world. If

[00:28:33] Chris Schwager: you've lasted this long in this podcast, I, God bless you.

[00:28:36] Chris Schwager: And we, I'll also just point out attention to Wayne, and this is another thing you guys can just be very aware of, is, Wayne's dropped in [00:28:45] Huberman, Zoe and Billy. Billy Bailey and your audience might not know who they are. And so what's constantly useful in your podcast and this might be, you could argue that, you could argue with

[00:29:00] Chris Schwager: me on this, that people understand everything about bloody he audits and this, that, and ya.

[00:29:05] Chris Schwager: But if there is any sense of doubt or leaving anyone left out, you always explain what you've just said. So what I mean by that, right? [00:29:15] You spell it out, you go through it in more detail, you throw in an analogy, and what I mean by that is that's gonna then help them, the different learning styles of different people to make sure that nobody's left out in the cold.

[00:29:28] Chris Schwager: They're all there on [00:29:30] that voyage with you and that nobody's there going, who's Huberman? Who's Zoe? What's he talking about? Okay. So you can always, we can always. Collectively, this is myself included. Do more with [00:29:45] being a higher consciousness around what your audience will or will not understand

[00:29:50] Wayne Basford: you.

[00:29:50] Wayne Basford: You do realize this is the only conversational lighthearted e episode in the history of financial reporting [00:30:00] conversations. So you guys are cutting in. We'll just talk about cutting edge the accounting standards board this, the sustainability standard, but under this board that the said that. You, we, this is the only lighthearted episode we'll have in the next 12 months.

[00:30:14] Chris Schwager: [00:30:15] That, that doesn't need to be the case. And so what I really want you guys to understand here as well is by virtue of you discovering what your pillars are, we call 'em pillars. We'll call 'em topical points, right? And this is again, where it's really important that you explain this in your podcast [00:30:30] overview.

[00:30:30] Chris Schwager: Highlight video saying in the financial reporting. Conversations. The four major elements that were c that a universal right for this podcast are, hey, the expert Chris comes on and talks about marketing for, [00:30:45] or, marketing challenges or, bloody confidence challenges or whatever. We're talking about financial reporting stuff and audits.

[00:30:51] Chris Schwager: We're gonna talk about this and we're gonna talk about that. By you setting that stage and the tone and the environment then makes it what you want it to be. Not, oh, this is the only [00:31:00] episode we'll ever make it. If you want more of these candid chats, then we can, bring in a bloody comedian like I, I interview.

[00:31:07] Chris Schwager: So in my podcast, this is context, so you guys can understand what I'm talking about here. What I mean by that is that I have five minute hot [00:31:15] tips, so I'll look for an SEO term and go and. Put a whole episode around that. That's just me blasting out some information. I'll interview clients.

[00:31:28] Chris Schwager: So this is the best thing about podcasts is you've got 'em on for half an hour. [00:31:30] Leverage the shit out of that thing, right? So you get 'em recorded. You include plenty of about your company and the testimonials and making sure that they speak favorably about you. 'cause you can grab all that.

[00:31:43] Chris Schwager: You get a little bit about them and a bit more about the industry and how all that works and some useful information for the audience.

[00:31:43] Chris Schwager: But that. Is a great [00:31:45] application for podcasting and for long form content because you have that as evergreen content for the rest of your life. You have that always to refer back to from a marketing perspective.

[00:31:45] Chris Schwager: Then I'll go out and interview random people like Joseph McClennan ii. A guru that's hooked up with Tony Robbins [00:32:00] in, in the States, and somebody that's mentored me around neuro encoding.

[00:32:04] Chris Schwager: And I'll have him on the show and we'll be completely off cuff. We won't be talking about video at that point at all. We'll be talking about mindset and what and personal development and growth. Okay, so [00:32:15] for a. For a podcast that's titled The Video Conference Collective, we've channeled it and tiered it in different ways that break it up for the listener and break it up for the audience.

[00:32:25] Chris Schwager: And the first time I ever saw anyone really do this was Gary Vaynerchuk [00:32:30] in his podcast, I'm sure one episode through his bloody table on the board through his iPhone on the boardroom table, and literally recorded like a 50 minute meeting. And that was the whole episode. No Polish, [00:32:45] no intro, no nothing, and I was like, okay, so this is what content can be.

[00:32:52] Chris Schwager: Again, more about documenting than creating. This is what it can be. The value of having [00:33:00] listening in on that conversation around that boardroom table could be hugely valuable to the audience. Does it have production value? No. You could barely hear most of the people around that boardroom table, but.

[00:33:10] Chris Schwager: Again, that just blows my mind that can happen and it still can be so [00:33:15] useful for people.

[00:33:15] Wayne Basford: One of the things I find I'm desperate to get people to have chats with people to question me. You live in an ivory tower. What's the weird way you don't understand? So I've tried to try and get, I want audit [00:33:30] partners on these.

[00:33:32] Wayne Basford: Podcast, I want to chat with an audit partner, and then I've got, they're my client base and they should, their business models should say they need to make profile. I'm [00:33:45] giving them the opportunity. I say, I've got this great opportunity. It's a win-win. I. I'll build your profile and you gimme content and you're a mate and you're a client, so I wonder, and you can't believe how far [00:34:00] they run, of all the great ideas and great offerings.

[00:34:03] Wayne Basford: Yeah, I will, i've spent all this money with Chris on all this gear. It's really good gear. It's better than you are a bigger firm than me, but my gear's, my production's better than yours, better than your firm, which is a bit embarrassing [00:34:15] for you, mate. You are a partner of that firm.

[00:34:16] Wayne Basford: Why haven't you got this gear?

[00:34:18] Chris Schwager: Maybe don't lead with that when you're asking him to come on the show. It's me. It's me. Listen mate, my gear's better than yours, but come on anyway.

[00:34:25] Wayne Basford: And they run away. Yeah and I know some of [00:34:30] these guys Yeah. Would be good at a conversation or Sure. Or enthusiastic or topical or, yeah.

[00:34:39] Wayne Basford: Close to the call phase, but yeah. So you know, back to success to get interesting [00:34:45] guests that will a won come on. Yeah. Okay. Is part, but it's, I'm struggling with it. Simplify the load,

[00:34:54] Chris Schwager: simplify that caloric load is happening before you even get them on the show. This, the, [00:35:00] if that conversation is not easy and palatable and digestible and just if you know that already, Wayne, and that's happening, then you've really gotta come in.

[00:35:07] Chris Schwager: For instance, when I got up in front of 500 people at the recent A factor event, it was something hosted by, as I mentioned, Tony Robbins [00:35:15] best buddy Joseph McClendon ii, and I got up and I said, man, I'm running a podcast. I'd love 15 minutes of your time. And he goes, yep. And I was like, he's gonna shoot this down now.

[00:35:27] Chris Schwager: I said, he goes, yep, go see Brandon at the back. He'll take care of it for you. [00:35:30] And I'm like, shit, that was easy, right? And so I got him on the episode. Now, I didn't know if it was gonna happen or not, whether it was all just showing off in front of everybody, but he stuck to his word, got him on the show, and I, he hooked in from the state somewhere and I, the first thing I asked him was, how long do [00:35:45] I have you for?

[00:35:46] Chris Schwager: I didn't, he didn't have questions. He didn't know where it was gonna go. I said, how long? And he goes, oh, I've got about an hour. And I went, fuck me, right? So I went in low because I wanted to keep it, I'm only [00:36:00] gonna, I'm only gonna use 15 minutes of your really valuable, important time. And he was so gracious to give me one hour and really love our audience.

[00:36:11] Chris Schwager: Love them. I've actually got this written right down here, and I [00:36:15] never mentioned it, but love your audience, Wayne. Okay? And that starts before they come on the show. That starts before you get listeners. By you putting that graciousness out there into the world, despite some shoot downs and whatnot, refining that [00:36:30] process so that it's low caloric load.

[00:36:32] Chris Schwager: They're not having to process, you're not gonna dump it all on them in one hit. You're just going, look man, I'll run this little podcast. It'd be great to have you on. It's super easy for you. So I'm gonna take up much of your time. I have you for 10 minutes, man. [00:36:45] It's, you're done. It'd be so easy.

[00:36:46] Chris Schwager: Nothing. It's like a phone call. Would you be interested because I'd really love you. I think you're a really valuable part of the puzzle. And I'm, I know that you can offer a great amount of value for the audience. So playing around with what I've just suggested, there is not a [00:37:00] just do what Chris did, right?

[00:37:01] Chris Schwager: It's a test and measure. Now we have our mechanism in place, which we will blueprint share for you. That's how you will start introducing it. If it doesn't work, we'll change it up and we'll do something else. Okay. But it also is a little bit more about, in [00:37:15] that outreach is a little bit, and we all know this.

[00:37:18] Chris Schwager: About volume and about numbers. About numbers game, right? And actually going out to 10. And if you see, if you get a bite from one or two, okay. But don't shoot it. Don't get shot down. Oh, nobody wants to come on my show. It's, this is all, [00:37:30] again, pat yourself on the back. Love who you're asking with good intentions.

[00:37:33] Chris Schwager: Put that energy into it and go in with a modest. With a modest offer and see what comes with it.

[00:37:41] Judith Leung: I think that's a great place to pause for today. I've known as [00:37:45] looking at the cloud, we've got talked close to now until next week, this call. Yeah. But this has been a bit of an experiment and.

[00:37:53] Judith Leung: This kind of behind the scenes look at what we are thinking about financial reporting conversations and what it could become. [00:38:00] So if you've been listening and have thoughts on what you'd like to hear in future episodes or who we could invite, or what we could better, or whether you would like to

[00:38:08] Wayne Basford: be a guest.

[00:38:08] Judith Leung: Yeah, really love to hear from you.

[00:38:11] Wayne Basford: Have you not learned anything? This, anybody listen, that would like to be to [00:38:15] interview

[00:38:15] Chris Schwager: me or be a guest? Please. Please. Okay. So we're not recapping, we're not recapping on this. This has been a great episode on financial reporting. It hasn't, and the majority of this has been about trying to straighten you guys out, right?

[00:38:28] Chris Schwager: So let's make sure we [00:38:30] end with a firm language. This is, we've taken a little direction, but I think you'll all agree this has been some valuable information on mindset. On accounting and also how to steer your business so that you get the most amount of [00:38:45] people all looking at your business and doing wonderful things for you.

[00:38:48] Chris Schwager: That could be an alternative,

[00:38:50] Judith Leung: I would just say. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, we'll go back and reflect. You're also,

[00:38:54] Chris Schwager: I'm not bad. We all have room for improvement. [00:39:00] Sorry, Judith, back to you.

[00:39:01] Judith Leung: Yeah. So stay tuned everyone for a proper episode. But thanks for joining and we'll see you soon for a real episode of Financial Reporting Conversations.

[00:39:11] Chris Schwager: Thanks for listening. If this gave you a clear picture of what it's like to start a [00:39:15] podcast, let it be the nudge that gets you moving. You don't need flawless setups and perfect plan, or a podcast voice, just a simple workflow, a bit of curiosity and the courage to begin just like Wayne and Judith did with their financial reporting [00:39:30] conversations.

[00:39:30] Chris Schwager: And if you are already inside the video conference collective, keep documenting your own processes. Repurpose what you've learned, build content while you build confidence. It's one of the most efficient ways to grow your visibility and your voice. Especially [00:39:45] when you're preparing to start a podcast for your own business or your brand.

[00:39:49] Chris Schwager: I'll see you on the next episode.