We all start somewhere, and it can be painful to be a beginner, personal growth can be very (ahem) "character building."

And I don't tell you this to scare you. In fact I tell you this to reassure you.

No matter how you feel about where you are right now, if you apply yourself and practice you will improve over time.

Hi, I'm John Lacey and this is Build A Presentation Muscle, the podcast about showcasing your expertise through content creation.

https://johnlacey.com/build-a-presentation-muscle/we-all-start-somewhere/

I see a lot of people refer to the idea of “vanity metrics.” And while it’s true that some statistics may be more meaningful than others, I think —especially for beginner content creators— we need to acknowledge all the wins and not just the impressive sounding ones.

Hi, I’m John Lacey, and this is Build A Presentation Muscle, the podcast about showcasing your expertise through content creation.

For more information about today’s show, head over to JohnLacey.com

This one's going to be a bit of a car crash, so please fasten your seatbelt securely. 

Hi, I'm John Lacey and this is Build A Presentation Muscle, the podcast about showcasing your    expertise through content creation. 

I think outsiders and beginners might assume the hardest part of content creation is the content creation itself. But the truth is you can relatively easily create the things you want to share, whether they're videos, livestreams, podcasts, articles or graphics.

For more information about today's show, head over to JohnLacey.com 

I saw a tweet during the week where someone was lamenting feeling like they should be on video, but not having "the skin" to do it yet. So I wanted to talk about that. 

Hi, I'm John Lacey, and this is Build A Presentation Muscle, the podcast about showcasing your expertise through content creation. 

Do you, as a content creator generally or an audio podcaster specifically, need to be on video? 

You might've heard me say this before, but unless you've signed a contract or have a boss or a sponsor telling you that you have to do something, you can (mostly) do what you like. 

Follow laws and platform terms and conditions, and the rest is pretty much up to you. 

But I think a lot of anxiety about this comes from a sense that what we're doing isn't reaching enough people, and, maybe, just maybe, video might actually help. 

And, frankly, it might. But it might not. Opportunities are everywhere, but opportunity cost is real. No one can guarantee your results. 

If you're not interested in doing video, you don't have to do video. You have my blessing. Don't feel bad. Work on what you want to work on. 

But here's the thing... 

I want you to be ready to take opportunities when they present themselves. 

Some of those opportunities might require you to be in front of a camera. 

I don't want you to turn down a huge opportunity because you don't have enough camera experience to not feel nervous. 

I have a prescription for you. Try it and let me know how you get on. 

For more information about today's show, head over to JohnLacey.com 

When you first realise you want to showcase your expertise through content creation, you may wonder, “What should I talk about?”

And it might seem like a daunting challenge at first, but I want to explore some starting points here today.

For more information about today’s show, head over to JohnLacey.com

Content creators can be really self-conscious about repeating themselves. 

They'll say things like, "But I told people about this back in February 2018. I can't post it again." 

You can —and should— repeat yourself. 

But even more than that, you need to work smarter. And part of that involves creating a content library. 

Hi, I'm John Lacey and this is Build A Presentation Muscle, the podcast about demonstrating your expertise through content creation. 

I'd love to hear more about your content creation workflows. If you would like to tell me about them, head over to JohnLacey.com and leave me a message via SpeakPipe or follow the social media links. 

Keep on creating! 

Back in episode 12, I spoke about how your message transcends any one medium or format. 

And I still think this is true. I don't want you silo yourself away in one medium or channel when your audience could be larger. 

But there's another truth I think we need to unpack here too: People experience your expertise through your content, and content has specific formats. 

To create content consistently, you really need to think about a workflow that will support you. Constraints can help. 

I'm really interested in hearing more about your workflows. If you'd like to tell me about it, head over to JohnLacey.com and follow the social links or send me a voice message via SpeakPipe. 

Generative AI is gross to me.

I have a visceral reaction to it. It makes my skin crawl. It causes my blood pressure to rise.

Some days I wish I could “agree to disagree” about it, but, honestly, it feels like a real moral challenge of our age.

I don’t necessarily see AI becoming sentient and taking over. What I do see is a lot of people using it for deeply cynical purposes.

You can head over to JohnLacey.com for more information about today’s show.