The missing C and the 3Ps: The Story of my Podcast

Some creative projects are quick and fun. Like writing a LinkedIn post.

Some are detailed, time-consuming and require a ton of prior work - like launching an online course.

But some projects possess you. Consume you. They take you through a roller-coaster ride of hope, anticipation, unrealistic expectations, disappointment, worry, fear … and then back to cautiously optimistic hope…

The ‘Story Rules Podcast’ has been one such project.

A project which completes the missing C in my intellectual life.

Let’s dive in.

The Missing C

I’ve written before about The 5Cs of Thought Leadership. In order to be a thought leader, you need to: Consume - Cerebrate - Confer - Create - Coach.

I wouldn’t be too much of a ‘Storytelling expert’ if I didn’t do these 5Cs myself. So let’s look at how I stack up on each of these:

• Consume: I actually have an over-consumption problem. Between the Kindle, the podcast app, LinkedIn/Twitter and Whatsapp, I over-saturate my mind with a ton of stuff. Need to be a bit smarter here.
• Cerebrate: This was an issue earlier. But after my realisation about the power of reflection, I try to carve out at least some time every day for this critical activity. It’s become a bit tougher recently, with the arrival of the little one, but the schedule will hopefully come back on track soon.
• Confer: I work mostly alone now. But for the first 13-odd years of my career, I’ve been in companies/startups and always worked with colleagues. And so, it’s a strange bittersweet feeling now of being completely free and completely lonely at the same time. Sure, I speak with clients, collaborators and most importantly, folks at home. But the piece that I really miss is having detailed, interesting conversations with (and learning from) other storytelling experts…
• Create: Since I started my blog in 2017, I’m reasonably happy with my creation engine. Apart from creating my course content, there’s this newsletter/the blog and the posts on LinkedIn and Twitter. (Showoff!)
• Coach: This is the activity that actually pays the bills for all of the above! Been teaching storytelling to managers and leaders for the last 5+ years now.

So, the missing C for me? Confer.

Which is why, I needed to - I wanted to - start the Story Rules Podcast.

That sounds so convincing, right?

Except, all this ‘missing C’ business is left-brain rationalisation that I came up with months after having made my decision.

I. Just. Wanted. To. Start. A. Podcast. Period.

The trouble was - I had to manage some really high expectations of an irritating and highly-opinionated person.

My own podcast-listening self.

A tale of high expectations and painfully slow progress

I started listening to podcasts sometime in 2014/15, as a way to ‘temptation-bundle’ my way to do a daily walk. While those walks now rarely happen, the podcast habit has stayed.

Podcasts have helped me navigate long drives, enjoy boring housework (during the peak lockdown) and the occasional commute. I’ve laughed, cried or been left awestruck listening to a Revisionist History, Cautionary Tales or Radiolab episode. I’ve marvelled at how hosts like Guy Raz know just the right questions to ask, the right pauses to make and how to use music in an unobtrusive yet sure way, adding just the right layer of emotion to the conversation.

In short, podcasts have been my favourite content medium (after the big screen of course).

And so, when it came to creating my own show, there was a battle brewing in my brain between two personalities - the Experienced Podcast Listener and the Wannabe Creator:

Experienced Listener: “You got this buddy. All you need to do is to figure out the format, have great guests, research their work, prepare and ask thought-provoking questions, coax out insightful answers, listen and let them talk, record well… then create a transcript, read the entire conversation, edit it smartly, add intros and outros, get a great audio editor, throw in some good music, add a hook, write engaging show notes, list time-stamps, create striking cover art, choose the right distribution platform, and then of course market the podcast to a large audience… Easy peasy”

Wannabe Creator: (gulp)

Experienced Listener: “Oh don’t worry - what’s the worst that could happen? People may not listen to it at all? Or maybe those who listen to it respond that it is either too long, too boring, not professional enough, too detailed, too slow and oh, did I mention too long?

Naah, nothing to worry about”

Wannabe Creator: “Wait, why am I doing this again?”

And so that’s been my journey over the past eight-odd months.

Yes, that’s how long it’s been since I started work on this project. I actually recorded my first conversation - with a great guest (keeping it a surprise!) - way back in August-2020. But since then many things intervened - two cohorts of my first online data-storytelling course for instance - and progress was painfully slow.

Some progress…

Then in January-21, I went through a guided annual planning exercise. It was okayish useful, but one clear takeaway for me was to pick the Podcast project as the most important one to focus on in the near term. And so I set myself a goal - to launch the podcast by the first quarter - before 31st March.

So I recorded three more episodes (making it four in all). Then Sanket (my trusted Ops and Tech Manager) painfully did a word-for-word transcript of the first episode. I baulked at editing it, but then finally came around to going through the 20,000-word file. Made edits. Re-recorded some portions. Added an intro and a summary. Recorded them.

Found a great audio editor (Kartik Rajan, highly recommended!) and sent him the files along with detailed edit instructions.

Found someone great at visual design (Kanchan Hans, who actually reached out on her own, at the right time… again highly recommended!) and got the cover-art done.

Then I wrote and recorded a 3-min intro to the podcast series.

And so, I was all set to announce and launch the podcast … on 27th March...

Ah, that’s where we get to the twist in the tale.

…and a twist in the tale

For podcasts, most folks choose to host it on a free platform called Anchor. Now there’s conflicting information on this, but I wasn’t so sure of hosting it on a Spotify-owned platform. It just seemed risky from a content-ownership and distribution point of view. (if anyone has some good writing on this, please share!).

So late night on Thursday (25-Mar), I was looking at something called LibSyn (which had been recommended by a podcasting expert on her course). LibSyn turned out to be a terrible and buggy website with even my credit card payment not going through.

So at around 11 in the night, I try Anchor. Turns out their servers were down and I’m not even able to register my email (if that’s not a sign, then I don’t know what is).

Finally, I just searched in desperation - podcast hosting services - and went with the first hit on Google.

A platform called Buzzsprout.

Simple interface, clear plans, ability to start with a free plan - it ticked a lot of boxes. So I went about adding all the podcast details.

And that’s when the bombshell hit.

Ideally, we should have looked at the procedure for launching a new podcast. I somehow assumed it would be similar to starting a new blog. Write, hit publish, and voila - anyone on the internet can read your stuff.

Doesn’t work like that for a podcast. A podcast is almost like publishing an app. The overlords at Apple and Google (and other podcasting ‘directories’) need to give you their ok.

Anyway, I submitted it for approval, expecting it to take 10-15 days...

And finally...!

The first to approve was Apple Podcasts - I got the ok within a day! Soon all the other directories also approved it, and voila - my podcast was up and running!

Now, before you go off listening to the first episode, here are a few thoughts on my objective and approach for the podcast.

My objective: Learn from the best

I’m launching this podcast with a very selfish motive - I want to learn from the best (non-fiction) storytellers in the world.

I admire good storytelling wherever I see it… whether it’s someone who creates start-up pitch decks that raise millions of dollars, or someone who simplifies complex financial news into daily stories that are consumed by several hundred thousand readers, or those who craft investment theses that form the basis for billion-dollar investment portfolios, or folks who write non-fiction in a simple yet arresting manner… (all of these are upcoming guests!)

I feel that all of us can learn from these storytelling experts, and so I decided to pick their brains and unearth their secrets.

My approach: 3Ps - The Personal, The Philosophical and The Practical

A few words about the format of this podcast. In today’s age of dwindling attention spans, content creators are usually given one piece of advice: Keep things short, snappy and quick.

I decided to do the opposite.

I felt privileged - greedy even - to have gotten the time from such accomplished storytellers. And so, I wanted to find out everything - everything that made them the storytellers they are.

In fact, in order to find my ‘podcast voice’, I went ahead and recorded four episodes - all with diverse and accomplished storytellers. In each episode I gave full-throttle to my curiosity - i.e. we stopped only when I had run out of interesting questions; not because there was an artificial time deadline.

And so, when I looked back at these four long, deep and meaningful conversations, I realised that my line of questions straddles three broad areas. Let’s call them the 3Ps: The Personal, The Philosophical and the Practical.

• In the Personal Story, I get the guests to open up about their life stories… their upbringing, the early influences, the inciting incidents, the disappointments, the highs, the reflective periods … We will essentially go on a journey with the storyteller to really find their story.
• At the Philosophical level, we will explore their approach to storytelling. The ideas that make them tick. The big influences on their thinking and writing. The core beliefs which guide their work. This section is to spark new insights in your mind about the possibilities of this craft.
• In the Practical section, we will get super-tactical and dive into some of the specific techniques, rituals, practices and tools that these storytellers use to tell such great stories… This part would be all about getting actionable insights that you can apply right away to your work.

A simpler way to describe the three sections are - we get to know the Who, the Why and the How of these expert storytellers!

Of course, extracting these insights will not be easy - often folks don’t know how they do what they do. I guess that’s up to my skill as an interviewer to gently coax out the insights from their beautiful minds.

Wish me luck!

And here’s wishing you some great listening. Let’s dive right in. Here's where you can catch the podcast:

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podcast Addict | Pocket Casts | Browser

Here’s a peek into what you’ll find in the first episode!

Episode 1: The Guy who Builds Multi-Million $ Decks

In the middle of an engagement, the CEO of Instamojo says: “You know Mohit, we have been running this business for seven, eight years, but it's only now we have understood what we really do”

Mohit Bansal is the Founder of Deck Rooster, a Chandigarh based company that conceptualises and creates startup pitch decks.

Decks that get high praise from clients:

“Don't waste two per cent on a Banker, these folks at Deck Rooster rock!” - Ravish Naresh, CEO, KhataBook.

"Deck Rooster guys not only helped bring our story to life with visuals, but were an equal thought-partner in helping me articulate the story. Strongly recommend.”- Vikram Chopra, Co-founder and CEO, Cars24

Deck Rooster’s clients include startups funded by investors you may have heard of: Goldman Sachs, Accel Partners, Khosla Ventures, Sequoia, IDG, Blume VC, Y Combinator and other top VCs.

As the Founder and chief Storyteller at Deck Rooster, Mohit has had a fascinating journey - from being fired as an intern and being terrified of public speaking… to now confidently creating decks that raise millions of dollars in funding.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Mohit’s unique honesty and how that helps him at work
• How he uses an ‘army of referrers’ to spread the word about Deck Rooster
• His unique visual approach to crafting the pitch story
• Why it’s critical for him to find the “anchor” of the story first
• Some specific tools that he prefers to create his decks (including one by Microsoft that will surprise you!)

Once again, here's where you can catch the podcast:

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podcast Addict | Pocket Casts | Browser

Happy listening!

Needless to add, this labour of love could do with your support. Please share this with all folks who would find it useful.

Also, please do rate and review the podcast on your favourite platform. :)

Excited!

Ravi

PS: Episode 2 - with a very exciting guest - is launching on Saturday, 17-Apr!

Image credit: Photo by Jonathan Velasquez on Unsplash