What Do You Really Want To Say?

Believing that anybody is going to care is essential to giving yourself permission to say what you want to say. Whether your passion is potato chips or alpacas, feeling that there's going to be any level of interest from others about you sharing your message is the first step to acknowledging and accepting what you really want to say.

When thinking about what needs to be broadcast, it is easy to be very serious-minded—placing the focus on social causes and standing up against injustice, for instance—and then looking at what your specific gifts are that will help you to raise up your voice and fight the good fight.

Making Space To Play

Taking the opposite approach, which is letting yourself be silly and playful in a space that has genuine meaning to you, can allow you to be far more creative and also help you to keep your message real and relevant. The incredible popularity of videos and podcasts on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Spotify and iTunes is definitely due to the successful blending of creativity and play.

Let’s pretend for a minute that you have decided to create a podcast. Coming up with a frivolous title for your podcast can be a great way to break through the barrier of saying what you want to say, rather than what you think you should say.

“My Cat’s Better Than Your Cat”

“The Voiceless Ringmaster”

“Cosmic Exile”

“Blowing The Hollow Tuba”

“A Hop, A Skip, And A Chump”

Creating a title that engages and intrigues your listeners can get people interested in coming into your room. Even if you decide not to go with a frivolous title, just allowing yourself the space to explore and play with what the possibilities are opens up a new way of thinking about how you can frame your thoughts and ideas.

Let’s go a step further and say that you create a podcast that talks about women's rights and frame it in the context of being a single mom in Texas with an alpaca farm. Your message will be delivered because there are 7.8 billion people out there—which means you can be confident that there will be a good handful of those people who are going to think that what you bring forth with your message is completely fascinating and worth listening to.

Exercise – Breakfast With Doughnuts

Think about the podcasts that you would likely attend—Dr. Smith Talks About Kidney Disease or Don't Eat Yellow Snow? Which one would you choose to listen to? The theme of each podcast could still cut hard through all the same topics.

With this in mind, pick the silliest, most unlikely title that you can think of for a podcast that you're creating. Let's say that you’re all about climate change. And you name your podcast Breakfast With Doughnuts. You still can incorporate climate change into that podcast. However, Breakfast With Doughnuts might be more interesting as a title than Dr. Jones Speaks On Climate Change.

Breakfast With Doughnuts is likely to have an instant listenership. And if you, inside of that, choose to have people on your podcast who speak about climate change and other social issues, because that is the heart of your message, then you can do so. The point of choosing a silly title is to show that the authenticity and context are much more important than the title.

The only prerequisite is that your message comes from the essence of who you are, rather than from your identity. But if it's authentic, there's no question that there will be a lot of people who are truly interested and genuinely eager to hear what you have to say. The listener will also see an opportunity to embrace their own authenticity through being present to yours.

The other part of the reality about those 7.8 billion people is that every single one of them is unique. Each of us has had our own experiences. Even if you're an identical twin, there will always be a difference in perspective from your point of view and from where your twin stands. This means that when you are speaking from your authentic self, you're always going to be bringing something that no one else can bring. When you are truly authentic, you can't do anything else. Because, after all, nobody else is you!