Mastering the Art of Podcasting (with Professor Roger Smith)

Ever feel like your introversion holds you back from starting a podcast or building your personal brand? In this episode of Introvert on Stage, I sit down with Professor Roger Smith, an expert in communication and faculty advisor for WGMU at George Mason University. Professor Smith shares invaluable insights on making your podcast feel like a one-on-one conversation, storytelling techniques for audio, and how introverts can gain confidence behind the mic. Plus, he reveals the career-changing advice that shaped his journey: Do what you love, and the money will follow. If you’re an introvert with big dreams but hesitation about putting yourself out there, this episode is for you!

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Transcript

Speaker 1 0:01

Welcome to Introvert on stage . It's me, Olivia Lee championing introverted entrepreneurs and their mission to build magnetic personal brands and share their message with the world. Ready to turn your quiet strength into your brand superpower. You are in the right place. Let's prove that being introverted is a greatest asset. Thanks for putting me in your ear and let's get started. Today I wanted to welcome a special guest, professor Roger Smith. Professor Smith is an undergraduate advising coordinator for the communication department at George Mason University, and also a faculty advisor for WGMU, our campus radio station. So I know that he will have a lot of value to share and expertise from working in the radio station industry and also through his role as an educator. So welcome Professor Smith <laugh> .

Speaker 2 0:53

Thank you very much.

Speaker 1 0:54

To jump right in, I wanted to hear your stories. Could you share with us your journey into studying communication arts and what drew you into working in the radio industry

Speaker 2 1:06

As a teenager? I think it was like almost like 13 or 14. I would , uh, listen to far away radio stations at night, like WGAR in Cleveland. Uh, I found it fascinating how that form of communication could be considered one-on-one, even though they had thousands of listeners. And I was part of a broadcasting group in high school, and we produced a weekly Saturday morning show at nine of the clock playing music and talking about events. Then my mom took me to James Madison, where we met with the chair of the Department of Communication Arts and I thought, yeah, I feel right at home. So worked at the radio station , uh, WMRA playing classical music or bluegrass music or jazz. Then I worked at a station, Stanton, Virginia, 40 years ago this summer doing top 40, and that was the best technology. I worked with, the best mentors I have, and then I still have the paper ad from the Washington Post advertising for an adjunct instructor and an advisor of the campus radio station. Two part-time jobs applied it and I was able to get that. So 30 years later, I'm still here. I think what fascinates me about communication is the ability to use a public AirWave, but to talk one-on-one with folks and personalizing the conversation. That's what I've always strived to teach and to emphasize because this is still a one-on-one medium and that's what makes it a a great medium.

Speaker 1 2:28

You highlighted the importance of calling the audience as one person instead of you all who are listening, and I wanted you to be elaborate for people who didn't get a chance to hear that explanation that I got to hear in class.

Speaker 2 2:42

It's a very unique thing with audio podcasting because it's a unique experience of how we consume it, and the three examples I always give, how long does it take to, to get to work? How long does it take? You're on the treadmill at the gym, how long does it take to walk your family dog? 20, 25 minutes. In each of those cases, that's , uh, a good length of our podcast and how are we consuming it? It's just one person. You're talking to thousands, but this is an intimate situation where you are talking and you have one person in addition to whoever else is in this podcast. You have to personalize the conversation. If somebody's privy to a private conversation, you've got someone interested in listening and they'll be listening more intensely. You don't talk to everybody. Yeah, it is everybody, but I would rather you attack this with I'm talking to one person at a time.

Speaker 1 3:37

How can the host make it so inclusive that the person listening doesn't just feel like the fly on the wall?

Speaker 2 3:44

That's a great question. If we know our target member, what would they ask? What would this 30 5-year-old father of three want to know from this expert about parenting? A lot of it's gonna go into research in a sense. You are a voice for the listener and you will be asking questions basically from their perspective. And so you are in a sense bringing in that listener who is targeted with questions that they want answers to. If you do your research not only from the listener's point of view, plus the person you're going to interview, you're going to have an interesting interview podcast, you think about who that target listener is, what would they ask? We do some research ahead of time. What would you ask if I was gonna interview this parenting expert? And then you're gonna sound like you are an advocate for the listener, and then you'll get some good answers from that. And then everybody is gonna be a winner because the listener gets some needed and good information. And your podcast sounds good.

Speaker 1 4:44

Hey, are you enjoying the show as much as I am? We're going to take a quick break, but make sure to stick around because Professor Smith continues to drop value about storytelling and how to have more confidence as an introvert who's trying to start a podcast. All righty , let's go. Are you a George Mason Patriot? Ready to make your mark in the world? Join the Department of Communication for Endless Possibilities. Our undergraduate program equips you with the skills that set you apart and the students earning a BA in communication go on to successful careers at the local, national, and international levels. Plus, our network of staff and alumni provides amazing career opportunities and mentorship. Don't just take my word for it. Explore what a major or minor in communication can do for you. Visit com.gmu.edu and begin your journey to impact. And now back to the show. With the rise of video content, let's say on YouTube, they're able to use B rolls . They're able to show the statistics and visuals, whereas podcasting, we don't have the freedom to do that. So how can we better tell a story in an audio , uh, context,

Speaker 2 5:48

Be more descriptive. That's where post production's gonna come in. If you are gonna just transfer something from YouTube to a podcast for audio, you might as well not do it because the audience for your audio podcast is different from your YouTube. Maybe even edit in , we're sorry that you couldn't see this video, but to see more of it go to such and such address for YouTube, when you are thinking about the audience, the audio member, they can't see what you're doing if you have it in an audio situation. So you're gonna have to be more de descriptive in what is happening, right ? But many people just record the YouTube podcast, save the audio, pull it up, but it's just, it is not serving the best interest of the audio podcast person.

Speaker 1 6:31

Spot on . Thank you so much. Mm-hmm <affirmative> . What advice would you give someone who wants to start their own podcast and grow their brand, particularly introverts as , uh, this show is called introvert on stage for introverts with big passions, they want to make a name for themselves and they have big goals. They're just hesitant to put themselves out there. What advice would you have?

Speaker 2 6:52

It , it will come from how well you know the subject or how well you can analyze the subject, right? You're just doing it over a microphone and you're recording it. Think about how you're talking just to one person and it's a , a very good friend and how you would talk about it . Yeah, you may be alone in a room, but think about who you're talking to. Let's say it's a best friend and that will relax you. The more you do something, the more confident you'll be at it to get out of your shell. Just think of it as you're talking to a best friend. Not necessarily one person, but a best friend because in a conversational mode you'll be more excited, you'll be willing to go with more knowledge and other things. Just do some research so that if you opine on something, then it sounds educated and it sounds researched, right ? But I would just try it, just do it. Let other people listen to it and they could give you some advice. 'cause the listeners are eventually the ones who are gonna judge whether or not they download and listen to your podcast.

Speaker 1 7:46

I really like that concept of talking to a best friend. There's a quote that is close to your heart and I wanted you to share that with the listener and maybe elaborate on that quote, please.

Speaker 2 7:56

In 1987, I had been at a job in radio and they demoted me because I wasn't doing very well. So I was struggling to find my , my identity. And there is this book by a psychologist, Marsha Csar , and the name of the book was Do What You Love. The Money will Follow. And to give you a CliffNotes version of the book, it's to be passionate about what you're doing because that's going to show up in your work. And I will have friends who I know very well who say, well, Roger, I still don't have the money and I'm still doing what I love. And I go, you just haven't been at it long enough. But I would rather you spend five sevenths of your life doing something that you're passionate about than dragging yourself by the hair to work being miserable because you're not gonna get those days back and you might as well enjoy what you're doing because not every day is gonna be perfect, but they're gonna be more fun days than there are less. But you're enjoying what you're doing and subliminally you're making a difference. You may not be able to tell immediately, but you're doing very well because you're serving others and in a sense, you're serving yourself because you are doing something that is good for the world, good for a person, whatever. As I tell graduating students, it's gonna take you about five years to get settled in whatever career, and I've been saying that for 30 years. It's not just now because the job market is tight. You do have to impress people with your punctuality, your work ethic and other things to be eligible for raises, for promotions and other things. Hmm . If you spend your life where you cannot wait to get to work, then you have that 'cause your work is gonna prosper and the right people will recognize it. Maybe not right now, but eventually the right people will recognize it.

Speaker 1 9:39

Amen to that. So do what you love. Money will follow. I think that's a wonderful way to wrap up the interview. Thank you so much for your time and for sharing so much value with us today. And thank you so much for being on the show. Professor Smith <laugh> ,

Speaker 2 9:53

It was a privilege. Thank you very much, Olivia.

Speaker 1 9:55

Thank you for tuning in to Introvert on Stage Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please subscribe and leave a five star rating and review to stay up to date with Introvert on stage and get all the behind the scenes content. You can follow me on Instagram at It's me Olivia Lee, and tune in again next week. Bye-bye.