🤒”Red Light Fever” Remedies🚨

19 Apr 🤒”Red Light Fever” Remedies🚨

👋Hey there Podcaster!

Springtime is blooming and so are all of my podcasting ideas! Some of my colleagues have complained of springtime illnesses though, so I hope you’re doing well! Speaking of illnesses, did you know there is a condition afflicting podcasters specifically? 😉  Check it out below and stock up on these remedies so your podcast isn’t affected!

 🤒Red Light Fever Remedies🚨

It goes around from time to time! An illness specifically that can affect anybody in front of a camera or microphone (including you, podcasters!). It’s called “Red Light Fever”! It’s when you see the red recording light on and you suddenly panic. This hinders your ability to record at all and may affect the quality of your podcast.

Red Light Fever Symptoms:

• Freezing in front of a camera or microphone like a deer in the headlights
• Anxiety 
• Discomfort
• Sweaty palms
• Racing heart
• Difficulty speaking
• Can’t remember what to say
• Feeling self-conscious

We had a great discussion about this when Ashley asked the question in last Friday’s Clubhouse room. Listen here!

Now let’s get into the cure, a summary of what we discussed as a group, and hopefully it can help you as well! Remember each podcaster is unique and not one cure can work for every podcaster, so try out several of these to see what fits for you!

Red Light Fever Remedies:

• Nick Nalbach says this often happens out of nowhere and if he pushes through he will often fumble his words a lot. Nick says the best remedy for him is to step away and take a break from recording for a part of the day and focus on other things for a while. Sometimes it can take a whole day to get back to recording. Nick also says not to let it eat you up, because nobody is making you record today. Yes, today is weird, but tomorrow could be awesome. He also compared it to throwing pitches in baseball, where he had the same phenomena happen. He was unable to throw normally easy pitches, and Nick calls that the “yips”. He took his own advice, stepped away for a bit, and came back and let muscle memory take over. Nick realizes we often over-analyze and over-stress ourselves and that’s how we get Red Light Fever.
• Dominic Lawson says sometimes even if you have a scheduled interview, and you don’t feel it, and you have a deadline too, you still gotta cancel. Some of Dominic’s podcast content centers around traumatic stories, which can cause him mental trauma to conduct and produce, so it is extremely sensitive and personal to be sure he can handle the content. Sometimes it’s not worth it to push through and to protect yourself for your mental health, otherwise it can be like quicksand to further issues. They will understand also if you explain and will reschedule for a better time.
• John Wiley says that news anchors and radio hosts must hit that record button daily, regardless of feelings, and have to show up for the job and go through the motions. John says to think of the audience and show up for them.
• Cynthia Carver feels Red Light Fever sometimes and just hits record any way and knows the first few minutes won’t be great, but she eventually gets into the rhythm. You can always delete the first part later. 

Really strong tips and strategies!

Nip that “yip” in the bud, like Nick. Don’t feel pressured to hit “record” that day, especially if you know the normal energy of your show will suffer for it. Come back to it later, and your podcasting muscles will take over! 

And if you have to hit record and you know the scheduled interview is coming up, hack your brain! 

• Hit play and turn up the volume of your favorite upbeat song like you’re trying to ramp up while exercising. I put my favorite song on three times and it does cause a shift. While the complete funk doesn’t completely go away, it helps immensely.
• Meditate for a few minutes before you get started.
• Take a moment to remind yourself of your podcast’s purpose and why you started it. Reconnect with those feelings. Your content’s value to your audience is your “why”.
• State into the recording device why you are having trouble recording, it may help to “get it out there”. Get out the awkwardness and let yourself get into the rhythm. The more you do it, the less awkward it becomes.

Most importantly, having Red Light Fever is a good sign! Why? Because it means you care about what you’re doing. That is something worth continuing. So don’t let Red Light Fever stop you from podcasting!

Do you have Red Light Fever sometimes and how do you usually get past it? Hit reply and let me know!

🗞️Buzzsprout Now Has Mid-Roll Dynamic Content

Buzzsprout has allowed dynamic pre-roll (before episode) and post-roll (end of episode) content, and now you can also do mid-roll (middle of episode) dynamic content. Dynamic content is available in every plan of Buzzsprout for no additional fee and can be added to all episodes in your back catalog. Since it’s dynamic, content can be changed often and easily without affecting your podcast episodes. Now you can sell your ads for a specific time-period across your whole catalog and forget about those baked-in ads that last forever, even after the sponsorship money has dried up!

What’s the best way to handle mid-roll ads? Advertisers often don’t like hosts to indicate a mid-roll ad is coming up by saying it and/or playing music, because it may increase the chance that a listener skips through the content. I have a few suggestions you could try instead and see what works best for your show:

• Do nothing, just put the ad in the middle
• Add some silence, a slight pause of a few seconds in the middle of your audio.
• Use a quick sound effect like a bell or a “whoosh”.

Buzzsprout will automatically select a great spot for your mid-roll ad. However, it allows you to select the transition such as their template voiceover or upload an audio file of your own. 

You can also use dynamic content for your own announcements such as:

• Thanking a sponsor or supporter
• Reading a great listener review
• Send a timely holiday greeting
• Promote a timed giveaway
• Social media information
• Cross-promote other podcasts 
• Announce upcoming relevant events like a workshop
• Promote podcast merch, your business, affiliates, or freebies

Dynamic content is a game-changer to have more control over how your audience engages with your podcast. Learn more about it here. Are you using dynamic content?

✍️ChatGPT Writes Your Authentic Show Notes!

Check out my Reel where I share the prompts to guide ChatGPT to authentically generate your podcast’s show notes the way you normally write them. No more random formats and context. 

I take you step-by-step to get the results you always wanted! It’s important to set up chatGPT with the proper context. Has this prompt helped out your podcasting workflow? Hit reply and let me know! 

Don’t give up if a prompt is not working for you. Let us help you in our NextGen Podcaster Community, come join us!

↗️NextGen Podcaster Membership

Our NextGen Podcaster Membership website is live! There is free blog content and more information about the membership. Go check it out: https://nextgenpodcaster.com/ 

👉There is still time to join the membership if you feel like you are missing out! It now includes a 30-day trial membership!

I’m so grateful to be connected with you and a part of your podcast journey. 

All My Best,

👋Marc Ronick

P.S. Are you looking for podcasting comradery, resources, and support? We have free resources for you! Please come introduce yourself, join in on the conversation, and ask any podcasting questions for free support!

• Come to our free Clubhouse Empowered Podcasting Morning Chats live 7-8 am EST or listen to the replays.
• Join our free Facebook group.