Greg Pillar: I figured early on, I mean, again, the goal of this is
to amplify and, and really showcase Gardner-Webb and the experience that
is on campus for students and everyone.
And so that really sort of anchored with me or set with me that.
I need to make sure, I mean, it's not about me, it's about everyone else.
Neil McPhedran: Welcome to Continuing Studies, a podcast for higher education
podcasters to learn and get inspired.
I'm Neil McPhedran, founder of Podium Podcast Company,
Jennifer-Lee: and I'm Jennifer-Lee, founder of JPod Creations.
Podcasting is broadcasting.
We want you to know you're not alone, and in fact, there are many of you
higher ed podcasters out there and we can all learn from each other.
Neil McPhedran: Absolutely.
Jen, I had a really interesting conversation with a friend who works in
psychology and I was telling him about Higher Ed Pods and he was like, oh,
that's cool, so can I go on there and search and see other psychology podcasts?
I'm like, oh yeah, yep.
We sort it that way.
And then he's like, well, what about by a topic?
I'm really interested lately in this certain topic.
Jennifer-Lee: Something nerdy.
Okay.
Neil McPhedran: Research nerdy thing within psychology, which
is not my field of expertise.
So that's this next thing that we're doing with Higher Ed Pods where someone
like him who is not necessarily in higher education but is looking for academic,
in this case, research focused topics, to be able to find podcast episodes.
And he commutes an hour every day.
For him podcasting is such an important part of his learning and everything.
So anyway, this is our next, uh, thing that we are tackling with Higher Ed
Pods, which is functionality to query.
And to be able to find episodes and shows specific to some of these topics, sort
of deeper into research and whatnot.
We've had an intern working for the summer who's a math major in university, and
he's been helping to index a lot of the over 1200 podcasts we have in there now.
So anyways.
I'm excited about that.
Jennifer-Lee: No, and something else that you're working on is gonna be
here before you know it, is of course the round two of Higher Ed PodCon,
coming in July in Cleveland, Ohio, and that's how we met our next guest, Greg.
We're gonna chat with him and he has a lot of nice things to say about the
inaugural Higher Ed PodCon, as well as, I think he's like a secret journalist
because he has some really good questions that he asked during his podcast,
so I can't wait to chat with him.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah.
So we chat with Dr. Gregory Pillar, Greg, and he is the Assistant
Provost for Academic Affairs at Gardner-Webb University.
He launched The Bulldog Mindset, which is their main podcast.
He is the host and was part of the team that founded The
Bulldog Mindset last year.
They had just finished their first season, so they're into their second season
of The Bulldog Mindset, and we jumped into a really interesting conversation
with Greg about podcasting overall in academia, but really his experience in
being part of year one and jumping into year two now of The Bulldog Mindset.
So why don't we just jump into it, Jen?
Jennifer-Lee: Yeah, let's get started.
Neil McPhedran: Hello, Greg.
Thanks for joining us today on the Continuing Studies podcast.
Greg Pillar: Thanks for having me.
Thrilled to be here.
Jennifer-Lee: Yeah.
Greg is another person that we decided to ambush in Chicago when we were
doing the Higher Education PodCon.
Actually, I think Greg was at my table, which I have to say, this whole
networking thing that our Greg, that you've heard on the podcast before,
said everybody sit down at a table.
It was kind of like speed dating, and then I met Greg and a whole
bunch of other people and I was like, come on our podcast.
Greg Pillar: Higher Ed PodCon was fantastic and well beyond
anything I could have expected.
Neil McPhedran: Oh, I love it.
The uh, speed dating thing was super interesting actually.
What did you guys, 'cause the two of you ended up at the same table.
That was an experiment we did.
We had like a slot for networking and Greg took control there and
kind of forced people together.
I thought it was kind of interesting.
What did you two think?
Greg Pillar: I loved it.
I mean, although I'm an ambivert, so not quite extrovert, not really an introvert
though at times perhaps more an introvert.
It was a great way to just naturally have some conversations and get
to know folks in podcasting.
Although I've been in higher ed, podcasting is sort of a new
thing for me, so that was, met a lot of people through that.
Jennifer-Lee: We're glad you came because like I said, it was our first one and I,
I like the idea of the speed dating in the afternoon because that's the hard part
with any conferences is, uh, everyone gets tired because you're learning so much and
you're socializing and you're networking.
And of course we have many different people.
We have ambiverts, we have extroverts, we have introverts.
And so, I thought it was a really nice touch to be like, actually let's everybody
sit down and just like chat for a bit before we went into more sessions.
So I thought that was a great thing.
Neil McPhedran: Great.
So Greg, The Bulldog Mindset, the main podcast, that is basically your podcast.
You're the host of et cetera.
You've been part of a few other podcasts.
Actually, you recorded something live at PodCon, but let's come back to that.
But I'd love dig into The Bulldog Mindset as you've just, if I have it right, you've
just finished your first season and with this new school year, you're kicking
into your second season for the podcast.
Greg Pillar: Yeah, so I guess a place to start was the spark for the podcast,
The Bullock Mindset, came from our marketing and communication folks.
They had heard that I had been on a podcast, I believe it was an episode
of Accreditation Insights, and they came to me with an idea, or really
just to see if I was interested.
They've been wanting to do, they have a podcast network here at Gardner-Webb,
but they've been looking for one that was sort of focused on the academic culture,
the vibrancy of academics on campus.
They reached out to me saying, Hey, would you be interested?
And I've, fairly new to the institution, arrived here in January of this year.
I'm someone that's always up for a good idea and see where it can take us.
So I was all in and working with them, we developed The Bulldog Mindset with the
focus of trying to capture the voices, the academic experience at Gardner-Webb.
We launched it in March.
We rolled out our 15th episode.
We're in season two.
I think we have about 12 episodes of season one.
We've recorded a few more.
So yeah, things are off to a great start.
The name Bulldog comes from Gardner-Webb, is known as the Running Bulldogs,
and that is our mascot as well.
Bo the Bulldog is our mascot.
And The Bulldog Mindset is one of several podcasts within the network.
Within the episode, we do have a couple of special segments, uh, that we'll do,
and as we've gone into season two we're trying to incorporate more student voices.
season one was dominated by faculty and, and staff, with some students.
And so we have some special segments, like the one I, particularly right
now, is I'm really enthusiastic about is with students.
It's called What's In Your Backpack, where we ask 'em either metaphorically
or physically, what is a go-to item that you have in your backpack?
And I love hearing their perspective and responses to that question.
Neil McPhedran: Greg, who's the audience for The Bulldog Mindset.
Obviously students is part of it, but I would imagine it's got
a bit of a wider aperture beyond just students, is that correct?
Greg Pillar: It does, yeah.
I mean, the audience encompasses, I would say the Gardner-Webb community,
so, and I say that both in terms of faculty, students, staff on campus, but
also some of the early feedback I've received we have folks from Boiling
Springs, North Carolina, about an hour west of Charlotte, North Carolina.
So some folks in the community have picked up on it, which is awesome.
But also it is intended for prospective parents, students who might be considering
Gardner-Webb and come across it.
We try to make the episodes such that, you know, they can definitely, if
they were to listen to any one episode at any one time, where even a little
bit of it, hopefully we can hook them in to listen to the full episode.
But to come away capturing a little bit about what academic life and what just
the experience is like at Gardner-Webb.
Jennifer-Lee: Your questions, I have to say, the fact that you really
wanna connect with the student and say what is in your backpack?
What is your favorite answer that you've had so far?
Greg Pillar: So early in the season, but two favorite answers.
One was metaphorical, one was more physical.
The metaphorical one was, and so it goes, is what the student said as a mindset that
they have just to keep plugging along.
And that came from a student who, although upperclassmen still came across,
much wiser beyond his years in school.
Physical item that someone pointed out in their pack was Aquaphor, sort of like,
uh, cream that some folks use either as moisturizing or instead of Neosporin.
It was unexpected.
I just didn't expect that to be that a go to item.
Neil McPhedran: Just in case something happens.
Yeah.
Jennifer-Lee: All relatable to the target audience that you wanna talk to.
Neil McPhedran: Absolutely.
So Jen and I have been doing this podcast for a little over two years now.
It's just so fascinating to the evolution of podcasting, just even in,
let's just say in the last two to three years, just becoming such an important
communication tool that just, that just, just a little conversation we had about
what's in your backpack is like such a,
Jennifer-Lee: It's a deep conversation.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
That's what I was kind of thinking.
Podcasting affords you the ability to do that.
You can ask that question let's, without getting into the video, but if you stuck
a camera in front of someone, it might be a different kind of experience to
sort of answer some of that stuff, but you can do a little bit more without it.
Sort of curious your thoughts on that, as in sort of maybe other learnings that
are coming outta year one, season one.
Greg Pillar: Yeah.
Well, one of the things that I do in preparation for each episode is depending
upon how well I know the student or staff or faculty member, I have a, I
get some background information about them and I prepare a guest guide.
And so the goal is not, I don't want it to be prescriptive.
I don't want it to be as if like we're reading things back and forth, but I
also don't want them to feel like they're caught off guard or like it's gotcha.
And so surprisingly, even though for the students, the guest guide, I do
mention a couple of the questions that I always wanna make sure I ask.
Like that's sort of the exception.
The way I sort of try to pepper it though into the episode is, you know,
we may be talking about something a bit more light or something like that.
And then, not that it's overly deep by any means, but it is, uh, to your
point, you know, to what both of you have mentioned, it's a little
bit of a deeper kind of question.
And asking that question right after asking something that was a little
bit lighter, it's a combination of where, you know, at a moment they're
put a little bit on the spot, but I think you sort of capture just
what comes right to their mind.
And I've really enjoyed seeing their thought process as they're
thinking about their answer.
And it's clear that although they may have had in their mind what they were going
to answer with, there still was a little bit of possibility that they might shift
or say something, something different.
Another question that I ask near the end of the podcast with them
is, what do they hope to leave the next Bulldog or the next student?
And that too is one that I've had a couple students when I asked that they paused
for a bit and they're like, oh, good one.
As if they had no idea that was coming and recognizing that not, you know, just
like students don't necessarily always read the syllabus, they're not gonna
necessarily read the guest guide before we actually do the record I sort of
point those questions out again to them.
So, it's really been a learning experience going through season one
into early stages of season two that I feel like I'm learning by the minute
as I go through this experience.
Jennifer-Lee: I just want you to touch a little bit more on that question.
Do you have some examples that you can share?
Uh, what they would leave the next Bulldog?
'Cause I think that's just so powerful.
Greg Pillar: Yeah.
So far in most of their answers, I think where they're coming from is, you know,
they're either part of a club, a group.
One student is a pre-med student, so he's part of a group of students
who go through specialized pre-med advising to prepare for applying.
I say pre-med, it's really pre-health 'cause it could be med school, pharmacy
school, vet school and things like that.
And it, it's clear that, you know, whether it's something like that or they're a
residence assistant in the res halls they definitely want to impart on their fellow
students, especially the underclassmen, genuine lessons that they've
learned and what they've taken away.
Whether it's a case of like, you know, don't wait till the last minute to
complete this particular type of an assignment in this class, or do certain
steps like going to the career center.
Like don't wait until your senior year, junior year, start doing that
your freshman year, sophomore year.
What I take away from their answer is that they genuinely want to share something
that they didn't expect to learn or they have learned, and they now want future,
future students to benefit from that.
Jennifer-Lee: Your questions are all powerful, Greg.
Like I've been interviewing people for the last 20 years on radio
and on podcasts, and it's taken me a long time to get there.
But you're so new at this and how are you drawing inspiration
for these great questions?
Are they just coming to your mind?
Do you have a secret background as a journalist?
Greg Pillar: One of the things that I've done is listen to a lot of podcasts
and I think it only amplified after I started this podcast because now
I had a little bit more of a focus and intent, like, okay, not only am
I listening for the guest, but I'm trying to tune into the host and how
they're approaching asking questions and how they respond to the answers
and what I can pull away from that.
So, I mean, some of these questions, although they're not like verbatim
like that, but I've picked up bits and pieces from, you know, other folks
out there, actually one that I'll give credit to, Joe Sallustio, the, you
know, from the Ed Up Experience, on.
I believe at the end of many of his podcasts, they'll give the
mic to the guests, you know, any final words, final thoughts?
You know, anything we didn't get to or something along those lines.
And so equally with faculty and staff I have on the podcast, but also
with students, I'll ask a version of that question as the very last one.
And sometimes there can be some great things that come from there that maybe I
missed and they really wanted to say, in one case, it even led to a student, I have
one student who's been on twice already.
A comment she made at the end of one led to definitely being like,
oh, we need to have her on again.
Neil McPhedran: I like that.
So you don't work on this by yourself, obviously.
We all know working in podcasting, it takes a team to do a podcast.
So are you working with the central communications team
from Gardner-Webb University?
Is that who's basically sort of helping to execute and doing
all the behind the scenes?
Greg Pillar: Yeah, so huge shout out to my colleague, Noel Manning,
who is our associate Vice President for marketing communications.
He does have a little bit of background in both podcasting and radio and, and
film, and he does all the producing, editing, everything like that.
So that makes my role even easier when I just need to, I do the prep
and I quote, unquote book the guests.
We show up, we record.
He does all the editing and all the backend stuff, and we go from there.
So that really helps in considering the fact that I have
a day job, that really helps.
Neil McPhedran: That's great.
And so the original mission for the podcast is, you know, came from that
team and they had identified, you know, they wanted to have this voice that's now
been created with The Bulldog Mindset.
And so is there any sort of insights in there, just our audience
being so focused on podcasting in the higher education space.
I know that there's probably some folks out there listening that would be sort
of in a similar, well, thinking about it or just sort of starting their journey.
Greg Pillar: Yeah, the person that came to me with the thought or idea about
it was our previous Vice President for marketing and community relations.
Although he didn't go into great detail with what the impetus was for bringing
up the idea, just that they've been wanting to have an academic podcast for
a while and just not the right person to sort of champion it and take it forth.
It was something, looking at the podcast network that we have.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah.
Greg Pillar: Other than like the Coaches Corner, which is something that during
football season and basketball season is they have on a very consistent kind of
rotation after games and things like that.
The other podcast they had on there were ones that they didn't
necessarily have a set rotation.
They would sort of, you know, as an idea came up or a opportunity
came up, they would record it.
And so the one thing that has definitely been part of a goal or hope of theirs is
that I would say this is the first podcast they've had in a while that definitely has
a regular consistent release of episodes.
So we have about two a month or one every other week.
And it's been that way since March and we went through the summer.
Even though, you know, the school is typically out in the summer.
Our goal, with the exception of maybe some particular holidays, our goal is to keep
being consistent and going through, and I'm along for the ride for as long as it's
achieving the goal or just really wasn't what they were hoping for, looking for.
They'd say, thanks, Greg, appreciate it.
Focus on your day job.
But yeah, no, it's been a consistent drumbeat.
Slowly but surely, I think we are building an audience and I've actually now had a
couple people actually reach out with an idea for an episode, and so I love it.
So even if they're not necessarily listening, they're
definitely aware of the podcast.
Jennifer-Lee: Well, Neil and I talked to a lot of universities and colleges and a
lot of the podcasts you'd be surprised.
They start off and then they go on for a long time and they continue to grow.
And when the people leave the institute, they continue to grow with new people.
You know, eventually, if you were to leave one day and the podcast was still going,
what would you wanna leave the next person that was gonna take over the podcast?
Greg Pillar: I'd wanna leave them a, a platform and a avenue that was
pretty much set for them to be able to get started, but not so set that
they couldn't then bring in their own voice, their own angle to it.
It wasn't an obstacle for me.
I, I think the fact that we already had a podcast network, it wasn't like we were
trying to do this completely from scratch.
Neil McPhedran: Right.
Greg Pillar: And so, you know, it's not like I've reduced that bar that,
you know, that could give folks pause before they would want to take on
the endeavor, but it'd be something attractive enough that someone would
definitely wanna be like, oh, I wanna pick up, you know, where you've left off.
But then also for them to realize though they're not trying to force
themselves into Greg's podcast, that, that they have the ability
to make it into, into their own.
And I don't know, I'm really excited to see where this continues to evolve,
whether it's, you know, there's a couple other folks on campus who I
would think, I would love to help grow the Gardner-Webb podcast network.
There's a couple other areas where I think they, they really should have their own
podcast, and I've been told we, we have a, a separate podcast studio in our library
that students can use, and not only does it have the podcasting equipment,
it has computer there with software to do all the editing, everything.
The library staff or the dean of the library is now looking to try
to find a space for a second one because of how popular that space is.
Jennifer-Lee: That's such a great resource for students because even something
that Neil and I talk a lot about on the podcast, and actually it was brought
up at Higher Ed PodCon, is that because the job markets are getting so hard to
get into, no matter your experience, or even if you're entry level, a lot
of people are using podcasts, even if they're limited series to get a job.
It is just a way to build relationships with the people
that you want to be hired by.
Greg Pillar: Yeah.
Well, it, it's a great way to really cultivate your own skills.
I mean, I've been in higher ed for 20 plus years.
First as a faculty member and then more recently as an administrator.
And so, you know, speaking in front of groups, public speaking is something that
over time I continue to learn, continue to get better at doing it, podcasting and
being a host, a whole different ballgame.
And it, it's funny, when I listened to the first couple of episodes, Noel's been
very patient and supportive, I cringe at hearing myself as I'm talking with
the number of ums and ahs and stuff like that, and I've been determined and slowly
but surely I do feel I'm improving.
And these are skills, you know, sort of spontaneous speaking.
Being able to speak in this kind of format is absolutely a skill that
would serve me well as I continue on in higher ed or go elsewhere.
And so I think that's another benefit for students.
Or even other faculty and staff alike, if they were to go into the podcasting, it
can really help with skill development.
Jennifer-Lee: Well, and you hit it right on the head.
It's a valuable skill no matter if you go further on.
And regardless of where AI takes us, communication is still something you're
gonna need to know how to do, even if you're communicating with the AI.
And that is a skill that we're learning.
So I always tell people, crack on mic, even if you never air
it, it just helps you get better.
Greg Pillar: Absolutely.
Neil McPhedran: I think there's so much to, you know, Greg, you gave a couple
of really good examples, but there's so much in podcasting beyond, I'm
just gonna have a career in media, for students to tackle and to be part of.
Just even that process you go through of preparation where you're learning about
the person you're going to interview and you're ready to have a conversation
with them is applicable in life.
Greg Pillar: And being agile and adaptable.
I mean, the thing I've seen as being the most difficult part of
this has been how I respond to the answers that I get from the guests.
And I don't know ahead of time what they're gonna say.
There have been a couple episodes early on where I realized the whole episode
seemed like me peppering them with questions, you know, question, answer,
question, answer, and realizing that, no, I want this to be more of a conversation.
I want this to be more engaging for the audience, even though
they're not, like, it's not live, they're not physically there.
So working on that skill of, you know, on the moment, okay, this is what their
answer was, what's a good follow up?
Or how do I, you know, move the conversation from that point.
Been very invigorating.
I love it.
Neil McPhedran: That's great.
The other thing I'd like to sort of go back on and touch what you said a few
minutes ago, which is there's a couple of ways into these podcasts, isn't there?
You know, we've talked to different folks across the university academia
spectrum, so in some ways in, you know, in some instances it is about the host.
It is a subject matter that is squarely in their wheelhouse and it's their podcast.
But the beauty of podcasting is, and you presented the other way to look at this,
is you're building The Bulldog Mindset.
You didn't blink when Jen asked you the question, what happens if, you
know, when you move on kind of a thing.
Like that's obviously something you've, at least I gleaned from your
answer, something you've thought about.
And I think what, essentially, what you are building with the team there
is the voice, as you've said, but a channel that whether or not you are
the host of it or not, it can carry on.
And I love how you're bringing in, you said that you wanna bring in
student voices as well, so it's just an interesting lens that I sort of wanted to
lean into a bit that you had mentioned.
Greg Pillar: Yeah.
Well, and like I said from the start, they gave me wide creative
control, which has been great.
I'm sure if I went down certain roads or channels that were off
the road, they might be like, no, we need to steer you back.
But I figured early on, I mean, again, the goal of this is to amplify and,
and really showcase Gardner-Webb and the experience that is on
campus for students and everyone.
And so that really sort of anchored with me or set with me that I need
to make sure, I mean, it's not about me, it's about everyone else.
And you know, the one part that's a little bit difficult is I'm someone
that sometimes in conversations with people, especially in some cases, if
they're, you know, this is the first time I'm really sitting down with
them is, is I try to relate, is to give like, oh, that's a great point.
I have the similar example that I can relate to that point, but realizing
that every time I do that, I'm sort of shifting that attention away from them.
And so the goal really is to bring my own kind of humor and approach to it.
But if I do the job well, especially as I continue to learn and get better at this,
before I pass this along to anyone else, it truly is something that I may have been
the facilitator, I'm not the main thing that people are remembering about it.
It's the guess.
It's how it makes them feel.
It's the campus.
Jennifer-Lee: True.
It's never about you really.
In many things in life.
It's never about you.
I think that's a good life lesson that we should always take.
Always about serving others.
I would love to have Greg back on and see how he's doing in a year and where it's
heading, because I didn't realize you are such a newbie, but you feel like a pro.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah, I know.
Greg Pillar: It's amazing how, I probably listen to more podcasts
than I do watching TV easily.
And so I'm a sponge.
I try to learn what I can and you know, I, I have listened to your podcast.
I've listened to so many on the Ed Up Experience, and I've listened
to a lot other ones out there, and some not even just in higher ed, I
mean outside of higher ed, but yeah.
Neil McPhedran: It's such a great medium, especially in the
higher education academic world.
It's this direct voice from each of the campuses essentially, and the
schools within the campuses and the individual professors within those
schools, it's an opportunity to have that direct voice from those folks.
And it's not about how big the audience is necessarily, but it's the audience
that sort of matches what the topic is.
Jennifer-Lee: Podcasting is a tool beyond the listens.
Greg, you, you've said that pretty much throughout this whole interview,
but before we go, Neil touched upon something at the beginning.
You said you were doing some live shows at the Higher Ed PodCon?
Greg Pillar: Yeah, no, as I mentioned, before I started The Bulldog Mindset,
um, I had the opportunity to be a guest co-host on a couple episodes of
the Ed Up Experience, and I've also had a chance to connect with Lori
Sanderson, who is one of the hosts for Ed Up Accreditation Insights.
One of the areas of expertise I have in higher ed is accreditation.
First having been a guest on their podcast a couple times, she's invited me back to
be a co-host with her on several of them.
And so yeah, at Higher Ed PodCon, that was the first time I got to meet
her in person, which was phenomenal.
But then since they had podcasting set up, we decided to jump on and
we recorded a short 15, 20 minute episode of Accreditation Insights.
So that was true Improv podcasting right there.
Neil McPhedran: That was great.
It was really neat to see that mic set up used a few times during the day.
We weren't sure what was gonna happen with it leading into the day.
We had talked about setting something up and just having it there.
Definitely will be part of year two and I think folks seeing it there may
sort of come a little bit more prepped.
I know, you're totally right.
It was spontaneous and you guys took advantage of it,
which I thought was great.
We'll include that next year.
Greg Pillar: No, I, it's funny, my background's environmental
chemistry and I've been to countless academic conferences in my career.
And I will say, and this, so this is outside my discipline, but you know,
in, in an area that I have passion for and an interest in growing.
I definitely came away from that, from Higher Ed PodCon, far more connections,
far more knowledge, far more action items than any other conference I'd
been to probably in my academic career.
And it's one of those things that I, although I have the podcast right now
for Gardner-Webb, you know, it's one of these things where these other podcasts
I get a chance to do, whether it's as a guest like on yours or as a guest cohost.
Someday I could see it when that time does come for me to move on to The
Bulldog Mindset, I definitely have interest in having my own podcast.
Right now, still probably in, about higher ed, but having something separate and
this has given me that foundation I need to be confident enough and knowledgeable
enough to be able to do that.
Jennifer-Lee: It's like you're already ahead.
Neil McPhedran: There you go.
Well, Greg, thank you so much for joining us today and for
sharing about your experience.
That was great.
That was wonderful to chat with you again and to get some more
insights into The Bulldog Mindset.
Greg Pillar: Yeah.
No, both of you, Jennifer, Neil, thank you so much for this opportunity.
I really appreciate it.
Jennifer-Lee: Yeah, thank you.
Neil McPhedran: Jen.
That was great.
That was a good conversation we had with Greg.
As we talked about, we both met him in Chicago at PodCon and cool to
hear him say so many positive things about PodCon, but more so just to
sort of dig into The Bulldog Mindset.
Jennifer-Lee: I just love his question.
Curious to know like what is in your proverbial backpack, Neil, as a podcaster?
Neil McPhedran: I've got extra cords in my backpack usually that
I carry around just in case I have to plug my computer into something.
Jennifer-Lee: I would say prep would be in my proverbial podcaster backpack because
Neil McPhedran: That was a better answer.
Jennifer-Lee: I know.
Sorry.
I thought of that on the fly.
Because what we learned from Greg is like, doesn't matter who you are
at the beginning of your stage or later in your podcast and career,
prepping no matter what, for your podcast, for your interview, if
you're getting a job, prep is very important to anything you're doing.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah, that's a good point Jen.
And it was interesting.
He is, since he started the podcast and to this day, he talked about
how that prep was important.
Even though along the way he's changed his style a little bit.
As he mentioned, he's gone from sort of being question, answer, question,
answer, more sort of straightforward and, but he's tried to really be cognizant,
he was mentioning, about introducing more conversational style into that.
That didn't mean less prep, that didn't mean, oh, let's just sort
of see where the conversation goes.
He still has a very focused plan to prep and to be prepared to the guest
and has some key questions that he likes to ask for each episode, even
though he's sort of tried to evolve into more of it being more conversational.
So, back to things we've talked about.
You know, even if you're trying to make your podcast sound less formulaic
and more sort of conversational, you still need to be prepared.
Jennifer-Lee: I like that he talked about listening to other podcasts.
Neil McPhedran: Oh yeah.
Jennifer-Lee: And I can't stress enough is listening to podcast.
I know a lot of people don't like to hear their own voice and he even mentioned it.
But listen to your podcast, especially if you're new.
That's only how I got better on radio.
And then eventually podcast is by listening.
Because if you don't know what you're doing, how do you know to correct?
So I thought Greg was like leaps and bounds ahead of everybody, which.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah.
Yeah, you're right.
He even mentioned he listened back to a first couple of the episodes of his own
podcast and what he took away from that.
Jennifer-Lee: We don't like doing it, but you should listen
to yourself all the time.
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