Dr. Joanna Bauer of ‘Leaders Who Learn’ Podcast: Highlight High Impact Leaders to Attract Binge Listeners
By: Tracy Hazzard
Tags: Podcasting Tips, Podcasting, Podcast, Influencers, Business

Can you tell us a bit of your “personal backstory? What is your background and what eventually brought you to this particular career path?

I was always a bit of rebel, seeking challenge, and seeing where that took me as I worked my way through differing industries and a large variety of jobs. I was Winnie the Pooh, an automotive repair dispatcher, an optician, a substitute teacher and a travel writer. Eventually, I started working in marketing where I facilitated focus groups. I loved it, since I’m fascinated by the psychology of what makes people tick and the root of their motivation.

From this, I moved into other marketing roles before facilitating professional training on communication, culture, teamwork, critical thinking and other leadership topics, and that morphed into teaching and administration work at an academic level. What brought me to Claremont Lincoln University (CLU) was the desire to support the mission of social change. CLU is vested in educating the current and next generation of change-makers and provide them with the relevant and needed skills to lead change societally — in what we term the multiplier effect.

Life-long learning is not just a theme at CLU, it is what drives us individually and as a university. That curiosity and motivation is also what led me to join as co-host of the Leaders Who Learn podcast.

Can you share a story about the most interesting thing that has happened to you since you started podcasting?

We are all operating in an interesting, “un-real” world with COVID-19, and we’ve had to get used to the “new normal” (a term I truly dislike, by the way). Even so, it has been fascinating to hear about this new state of the world from the different perspectives of our podcast guests. Some guests speak about the pandemic as a huge catalyst for change in their lives, while others seem to completely ignore it. It’s a really mixed bag and has surprised me.

Can you share a story about the biggest or funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or takeaways you learned from that?

I am terrible at remembering names. I’m working on it, but one time early on I was entirely embarrassed when I blanked on the name of the guest. I could feel my face going red with a brief moment of panic as I tried to search my mind for it. Fortunately, I was able to flip through my calendar and find the name quickly. Now, I make sure that the guest’s name is front and center on my notes. Another tip is to not assume you know how to pronounce the name of an individual or company, even if it seems obvious. Ask for all pronunciations before the podcast recording is started or in a pre-interview and write the phonetic spelling on the top of your outline.

How long have you been podcasting and how many shows have you aired?

I’ve been podcasting for about a year and, during that time, have interviewed a number of incredible guests from diverse areas of industry. Going through the process over and over, and with such a great behind-the-scenes team, has allowed me to perfect my skills quickly. On the Leaders Who Learn podcast, we have interviewed scores of guests — from the CEO of a Fortune 500 company valued at $12 billion, to an agency health director for a massive county in Southern California, to a former NFL athlete who went bankrupt and reemerged as a successful author and motivational coach. We release approximately three episodes per month, and are excited to have a full schedule of fascinating guests booked into 2021.

What are the main takeaways, lessons or messages that you want your listeners to walk away with after listening to your show?

Now, more than ever, our country needs ethical, strategic and innovative leaders, but to balance those elements, there is also the need for kindness, listening, dialogue and collaboration. Even though they are all very accomplished leaders, the guests on our podcast are not ego-driven. Rather, they understand the importance of engaging and valuing diverse voices and ideas, and they seek to learn from others. They are not simply trying to be on a pedestal talking AT others, but rather engaging in collaborative efforts. If our listeners gain insights and feel connections that inspire then to further their leadership ambitions with these values as a backdrop, then we have achieved our main goal.

In your opinion what makes your podcast binge-listenable? What do you think makes your podcast unique from the others in your category? What do you think is special about you as a host, your guests, or your content?

Well, of course it is how engaging and charming we are. I kid. Our purpose is to shine a light on leaders who are making a difference in a variety of industries and contexts. We want to intentionally focus on leaders who are seeking new and needed ways to lead in our increasingly complex society. In addition, just as in our university programs and curricula, we provide real and useful information that our listeners can apply in daily life. We are interested in a diversity of voices and how our guests are tackling important questions about social change, ethics, social justice, sustainability, and other themes from their unique and varied perspectives.

The leaders who we highlight are impacting audiences and contexts in real, personal and important ways, and tapping into those experiences and techniques provides immediate ideas for our listeners to emulate in their own leadership. Building that connection of hearing from, relating to and being inspired by others will engage listeners.

Doing something on a consistent basis is not easy. Podcasting every workday, or even every week can be monotonous. What would you recommend to others about how to maintain discipline and consistency? What would you recommend to others about how to avoid burnout?

Don’t force it, and don’t just book a guest for the sake of their popularity. Make sure that the topics interest you and mean something to you. If you are not interested in your own themes and guests, then burnout will happen fast. Ask colleagues, friends and listeners what themes and topics they want to hear about. Also, maintain and revisit a list of themes and topics that you’ve covered on the podcast to ensure you’re delivering variety. It takes time to build an audience, so think of podcasting as a marathon, not a sprint.

What resources do you get your inspiration for materials from?

I have the luxury of being able to collaborate with my co-host Lynn Priddy and my producer Joe Sallustio, but for those who may be solo hosts, the best inspiration is talking with others and gaining feedback. What are the burning questions people are asking? What are they reading about? What areas of interest are not getting mentioned in other forms? What is the missing information gap in current conversation?

Since our theme is Leaders Who Learn, there is no lack of content and expertise from which to derive themes, so we focus on variety. We find guests from areas of our own interests, people who stand out as disrupting the status quo, and those who are seeking to be true leaders who model ethical and empathetic leadership. Colleagues, faculty, students, guests and listeners all have curiosities and insights that inspire our content — the key is to ask, and ask frequently.

Is there someone in the podcasting world who you think is a great model for how to run a really fantastic podcast?

Jessica Miller-Merrell, the host of the Workology podcast with over 200 episodes under her belt, does a tremendous job at bringing in listeners and keeping them engaged.

What are the ingredients that make that podcast so successful? If you could break that down into a blueprint, what would that blueprint look like?

Jessica’s podcast stands out because she brings on disruptive leaders and challenges the status quo. In addition, she’s aired several episodes on the most critical workplace topics today, such as DE&I, COVID-19 and working remotely. The podcast is also themed, with episodes grouped together, and includes interviews with experts from different sides of the issue. It’s engaging for listeners to hear diverse voices and perspectives, and leaves them walking away with further food for thought.

Can you share with our readers the five things you need to know to create an extremely successful podcast?

Have a clear purpose. Understand the theme, purpose, or mission of your podcast and support that purpose with the choices you make about guests and themes. Before even thinking about launching your podcast, write down your purpose so you and anyone else involved in the production is clear on it. Think about the intended audience (and your own interests) and theme accordingly. Listen to your own podcasts. Many people say they do not like the sound of their own voices, but if you don’t listen and self-reflect on wins and what could be better, you are missing a huge opportunity to improve — and to ultimately enjoy your own voice! Have useful, applicable content that correlates with the purpose and the audience. For our podcast, we focus on delivering information on specific actions that listeners can apply in their daily lives. Listen to the guest! You are the host, but the guest provides the content and uniqueness to be highlighted and celebrated. You should do some research on the guests, but create a conversational environment that, hopefully, flows to questions and answers that were unexpected. Some scripted questions are a great frame for the conversation, but leave plenty of room for the unexpected side conversations that typically end up being the best and most memorable parts of the interview. There is never a bad guest. Yes, there are some guests who are harder to warm up, may be more guarded or nervous, or that are going to need extra editing (and even a lot of extra editing). However, if there are a few key takeaways or ideas imparted, that is the win.

Dr. Joanna Bauer, Co-host of Leaders Who Learn Podcast, shares the best ways to:

1) Book Great Guests. Book the guests you are interested in talking with and are excited to ask questions. If you are not intrigued by the guest’s narrative, that is going to show. When starting out, the key is to not be afraid to reach out to someone you want as a guest. There will be some who decline or don’t answer at all, but you will likely find the vast majority will be honored and excited. Who doesn’t like to discuss their own story? 2) Increase Listeners. Ask guests to promote it through their networks leading up to the episode, and to share a link when it runs. It can even be helpful to provide them with some promotional verbiage for their Twitter and other social posts. Combine social media with the podcast by asking questions or providing a bit of trivia on one platform and then picking it up on the other. Another useful tip is to time the release of the episode when a relevant event is occurring, especially an event that the guest wants to highlight. 3) Produce in a Professional Way. Production quality is a consideration, but as long as the audio is consistent and the guest can be heard without disruption, the production is not as important as the content. Although terrible production quality will be irritating and remedied as swiftly as possible, if the content is not productive — meaning it doesn’t provide useful and relevant information — than it is much more likely that your audience will stop listening and not return. The basics, though, are to ask guests to be in a quiet location and optimally use a microphone. Also, if you’re doing a live podcast, have them dial in 10 minutes early to ensure there are no technical issues before starting. 4) Encourage Engagement. Be engaging with the guest. Ask open-ended questions and then follow up. Truly LISTEN and respond to the conversation. Be prepared with questions, but don’t draft so many or such detailed questions that the conversation is not organic. Don’t be afraid to follow the thread to a new area that you had not planned for — this is often the gold! 5) Monetize. We look for a different outcome than monetization, which could be anything from building brand awareness to reaching potential customers to marketing a certain message. Our chief goal, for now, is to offer useful advice and bring interesting viewpoints on leadership to our listeners. However, we also hope the show will serve as a channel to help us build relationships and drive interested students and potential faculty to our university’s website.

For someone looking to start their own podcast, which equipment would you recommend that they start with?

The good news with podcasting is that there are many ways to start. Until you are sure that podcasting is for you, don’t invest in too many gadgets. For those who are just beginning, I recommend using the Anchor app that can be downloaded from iTunes. Anchor makes it very easy to start a podcast and includes the ability to edit, add music, record and distribute the RSS feed needed to show up on podcast distribution channels. You will need a microphone and headphones, and make sure to schedule a lot of time to produce the episodes, including the front-end piece of booking and prepping the guests.

If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

For our podcast and our institution, we want to empower and support the leader in everyone by focusing on diversity and equity of voice — what we refer to as Equity in Action. What really matters is the connection with others and, with the increasing remoteness that COVID-19 has created, this is even more poignant. That connection means truly and actively listening while engaging in collaboration.

There is so much noise out there with people wanting to talk more than listen, but that goes against the grain of how connections are made. My hope is that people recognize the need for connection, understanding, empathy and kindness, and that means listening, admitting that they don’t know everything and being a leader who learns.

How can our readers follow you online?

Podcast Website: Leaders Who Learn Podcast

LinkedIn: Joanna Bauer

University Website: www.claremontlincoln.edu