Sound Judgment Podcast: The Art Of Storytelling & Public Speaking

When people are asked about their greatest fears in life, invariably, public speaking is close to the top of the list. People routinely have nightmares about the prospect of speaking in front of an audience. Like climbing Mount Everest, public speaking has such a high degree of difficulty that there is a non-profit educational organization -- Toastmasters International -- dedicated to this endeavor with more than 280,000 members.

For non-joiners, there is the Sound Judgment podcast, which goes behind the scenes with today's great hosts to learn how they make their audio storytelling magic. The podcast explores their creative choices by pulling apart one episode at a time, together.

The podcast producers tell us that "The term 'sound judgment' connotes wise decisions, common sense, and clear thinking. All of which we intend — in the context of making wise creative choices about sound. I’m obsessively curious about the ingredients and methods — the creative choices — that make audio storytelling magic."

 The podcast is produced via Podcast Allies, which develops and produces compelling, relevant podcasts for mission-driven clients who believe in the power of storytelling and who are dedicated to quality. The host is Elaine Appleton Grant, who embodies the gift that she dubs "hostiness," which is the skills needed to be a good podcast host.

On the January 26th episode of Sound Judgment,  Grant welcomed Jay Baer, who has his own bingeworthy podcast, Standing Ovation. Baer's podcast does for public speakers what Sound Judgment does for podcast hosts.  On every episode, Baer, a member of the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame, and another famous speaker unpack a story from a guest’s keynote speech. The goal: To learn exactly what makes that story work.

 On the episode, Grant and Baer dissect an episode of Standing Ovation, specifically a hilarious piece told by top speaker David Horsager. During the episode, listeners learn: How to stand out in an increasingly crowded field: How tiny shifts in craft and performance make the difference between a hit — or a miss: When and why you should tell personal stories to business listeners — and when you shouldn’t: Why your story, speech or podcast could be worth millions: Why, as a podcast host or podcast producer, it’s vital to continue studying your craft no matter how successful you get. 

Baer proclaims that: "Like the typical podcast host, the typical speaker—no matter how successful— doesn’t know why their material is good. They’re just operating on instinct. Which also means you don’t know how to improve your work."

As Baer explains, "a good keynote speaker tells the same story many, many different times a year, often for several years. As he says, that means their signature story could be worth millions and millions of dollars. He’s dumbfounded by the lack of insight most speakers have about these extraordinarily valuable stories."

“To not know how or why it’s good, or how it’s gotten better over time, is amazing,” Baer concludes.

Finally, Baer says, "if you’re asking someone to invest their very precious time listening to your show, you darn well better both entertain them and improve them in some way. That’s especially true for business, personal development, and educational shows of all kinds."

Baer also launched into an explanation of why podcasters should name their listeners.

Baer asserts that it’s a great way to create a community. Glynn Washington, for example, calls Snap Judgment listeners Snappers; Baer calls his Standing Ovation listeners Clappers.

From that episode, Grant ran a campaign to name her Sound Judgment listeners, and she has offered congratulations to winners Carolyn Kiel and Áine Pennello, who both suggested the prize-winning entry: “storytellers.”  

My idea: Sounding Boards. 

Anyway, it's a terrific idea for podcasts. Joe Rogan listeners could be called "Rogues." 99% Invisible listeners could be called "Mars-tians" after host Roman Mars. Dan Bognino listeners could be called "people who should not be so pissed off about everything," and The Daily podcast listeners could be called Barbarians after co-host Michael Barbaro.

For my Ear Worthy publication, I was thinking of names for my readers. Earwaxers? Too disgusting. Earworms? Been done before? Earreamers? Ewww!  Help!

Sound Judgment Creator & Host Elaine Appleton Grant