Episode Summary
In this episode you get an opportunity to meet Joe Ferraro an impressive high school English teacher Founder of Damn Good Conversations and the host of The One Percent Better Podcast
Considering Joe has a lot on his plate what do all of these roles have in common and how do they help him have good conversations To cite Joe Its a combination of curiosity and energy
Joe has been a fan of conversations ever since he was ten years old He listened to the local journalists asking questions after games and loved the work the reporters were doing These jobs inspired him to embrace podcasting become one percent better at it bring his dream guests on the show and sometimes leave his comfort zone
What actually fuels a damn good conversation and helps create a great podcast episode
Joe believes that a well-defined intent and purpose are prerequisites for a good podcast As Americas Podcasting Coach Joe advises his clients to ask themselves what they want to accomplish with a podcast and who its ultimately trying to help
Tune in to uncover how Joe crafts conversations with prominent guests like Seth Godin how he avoids small talk and why high velocity questions are a great way to start a podcast
Guest Profile
Name: Joe Ferraro
What he does: Joe is the host of The One Percent Better Podcast the Founder and Consultant at Damn Good Conversations and Americas podcasting coach
Company: Damn Good Conversations
Noteworthy: A little-known fact about Joe is that he started podcasting as a co-host for a baseball podcast He hosted with his friend and interviewed coaches managers and players
Key Insights
- You dont have to figure out your cosmic purpose to start a podcast According to Joe A good podcast gets close to the purpose Your intent is crucial That said future hosts dont have to overthink their purpose and question themselves but create a podcast according to what they want to achieve and why It would be really helpful to ask ourselves What do we want to accomplish Whos it for And then we can start having conversations about the format length etc I think it can be incredibly helpful to get that vision executed
- High-velocity questions are a good fit for a podcast Joe defines high-velocity questions and provides examples of them in a conversation The opposite of a high-velocity question is what most hosts ask and your listeners will recognize it Often the first question of a podcast will be Hey before we get started just tell the listeners a little bit about your story Joe prefers high-velocity questions to small talk since they allow listeners to meet the guest right away
- Is the job of a podcast host to ask a question and get out of the way It sounds to me like youre giving all the power to the guests It sounds great in theory – Im the host Im going to give them all the power but you dont let your guests come and just run through your house explains Joe
Episode Highlights
Eye contact is important but its also overrated
My two-time guest named Tim Pollard wrote a book called Mastering the Moment and hes gotta be one of the premier public speaking teachers in the world He told me that eye contact was overrated when it comes to delivering a speech Thats stuck in my brain because we are growing up programmed to think you stare at someone you look in their soul and thats what people want
If you go back to look at Oprah Winfrey Joe Rogan or some of the great interviewers theyre looking up like this When they ask their question they come back and then theyre looking down Theres unconventional wisdom that these conversations are able to unearth
Zero question vs six question method
In a recent Twitter conversation Joe and Tristan discussed the process for interviewing Some folks like to show up with zero questions And others like to be prepared Its impossible for me to define what zero questions would mean Because if I ran into Phil Hellmuth in the grocery store I might give him his privacy But Im going to have some questions for him
Joe also mentioned how hes open to experimentation and pointed out how some podcasters have a different strategy I was lucky enough to be a guest on a recent podcast where they asked the guests the same six questions every day That was his formula I was prepared for the six questions Its not the show I want to run but I was honored to be on it So if someone wants to ask me six questions Ill shake their hand
Being comfortable with the title of Americas podcasting coach
I am not comfortable enough with that title yet Marketing is a reality and I do have some clients Im coaching and theyre paying me to do so And its working But if I told my high school friends that Im considering myself Americas Podcasting Coach they would make fun of me with expletives
Get outside your comfort zone whether you like it or not as long as you can be authentic claim it and say Hey Im doing the very best I can to help people And thats where we are with Americas Podcasting Coach
High-velocity questions vs the tell me more about yourself approach
Often the first question of a podcast will be Hey before we get started just tell the listeners a little bit about your story Ive done enough podcasts I know the scope of how long we have If Im a pro I can reel that in I could theoretically give you a 35-minute answer to that question And now weve started with awkwardness because the host cant get in
That first question is not the only time hosts use a high-velocity question but I think its the best time You asked about connecting my life to teaching which people will notice immediately Now people know Im a podcast host and a teacher two things you wanted to highlight today
Conversations are heightened forms of relationships we have with our friends and family
Im 43 my dads 73 and hes the best man at my wedding He and I are very close but we dont have damn good conversations all the time in real life And when I gave him the microphone and sat kneecap to kneecap I saw it firsthand That was my dad People that listened to that show have been like I want to meet your dad Your dad seems like such a great guy And he is And I believe that And the reason you think that is because you heard that conversation which was a heightened form of our relationship
You put all these beautiful ingredients in a boiling pot and the impurities come up and all the weak flavors go away A good way to think about it is as a rich thick balsamic vinegar The viscosity is so great at the end Thats what Im trying to do in these conversations Were going to leave something on the cutting room floor but all thats left is the real good consumable juice And I think thats what you heard in that episode
