March 4, 2025 • 10 mins
Ever feel like your introversion holds you back from starting a podcast or building your personal brand? In this episode of Introvert on Stage, I sit down with Professor Roger Smith, an expert in communication and faculty advisor for WGMU at George Mason University. Professor Smith shares invaluable insights on making your podcast feel like a one-on-one conversation, storytelling techniques for audio, and how introverts can gain confidence behind the mic. Plus, he reveals the career-changing advice that shaped his journey: Do what you love, and the money will follow. If you’re an introvert with big dreams but hesitation about putting yourself out there, this episode is for you!
🎙️ Connect with me on Instagram: @itsmeolivialee
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Introvert on stage . It's me, Olivia Lee
championing introvertedentrepreneurs and their mission
to build magnetic personalbrands and share their message
with the world. Ready to turnyour quiet strength into your
brand superpower. You are inthe right place. Let's prove
that being introverted is agreatest asset. Thanks for
putting me in your ear andlet's get started. Today I
(00:26):
wanted to welcome a specialguest, professor Roger Smith.
Professor Smith is anundergraduate advising
coordinator for thecommunication department at
George Mason University, andalso a faculty advisor for
WGMU, our campus radio station.
So I know that he will have alot of value to share and
expertise from working in theradio station industry and also
(00:48):
through his role as aneducator. So welcome Professor
Smith .
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
To jump right in, I wanted to hear your stories.
Could you share with us yourjourney into studying
communication arts and whatdrew you into working in the
radio industry
Speaker 2 (01:06):
As a teenager? I think it was like almost like
13 or 14. I would , uh, listento far away radio stations at
night, like WGAR in Cleveland.
Uh, I found it fascinating howthat form of communication
could be considered one-on-one,even though they had thousands
of listeners. And I was part ofa broadcasting group in high
school, and we produced aweekly Saturday morning show at
(01:28):
nine of the clock playing musicand talking about events. Then
my mom took me to JamesMadison, where we met with the
chair of the Department ofCommunication Arts and I
thought, yeah, I feel right athome. So worked at the radio
station , uh, WMRA playingclassical music or bluegrass
music or jazz. Then I worked ata station, Stanton, Virginia,
40 years ago this summer doingtop 40, and that was the best
(01:50):
technology. I worked with, thebest mentors I have, and then I
still have the paper ad fromthe Washington Post advertising
for an adjunct instructor andan advisor of the campus radio
station. Two part-time jobsapplied it and I was able to
get that. So 30 years later,I'm still here. I think what
fascinates me aboutcommunication is the ability to
(02:12):
use a public AirWave, but totalk one-on-one with folks and
personalizing the conversation.
That's what I've always strivedto teach and to emphasize
because this is still aone-on-one medium and that's
what makes it a a great medium.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
You highlighted the importance of calling the
audience as one person insteadof you all who are listening,
and I wanted you to beelaborate for people who didn't
get a chance to hear thatexplanation that I got to hear
in class.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
It's a very unique thing with audio podcasting
because it's a uniqueexperience of how we consume
it, and the three examples Ialways give, how long does it
take to, to get to work? Howlong does it take? You're on
the treadmill at the gym, howlong does it take to walk your
family dog? 20, 25 minutes. Ineach of those cases, that's ,
uh, a good length of ourpodcast and how are we
(03:05):
consuming it? It's just oneperson. You're talking to
thousands, but this is anintimate situation where you
are talking and you have oneperson in addition to whoever
else is in this podcast. Youhave to personalize the
conversation. If somebody'sprivy to a private
conversation, you've gotsomeone interested in listening
(03:27):
and they'll be listening moreintensely. You don't talk to
everybody. Yeah, it iseverybody, but I would rather
you attack this with I'mtalking to one person at a
time.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
How can the host make it so inclusive that the
person listening doesn't justfeel like the fly on the wall?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
That's a great question. If we know our target
member, what would they ask?
What would this 30 5-year-oldfather of three want to know
from this expert aboutparenting? A lot of it's gonna
go into research in a sense.
You are a voice for thelistener and you will be asking
questions basically from theirperspective. And so you are in
(04:06):
a sense bringing in thatlistener who is targeted with
questions that they wantanswers to. If you do your
research not only from thelistener's point of view, plus
the person you're going tointerview, you're going to have
an interesting interviewpodcast, you think about who
that target listener is, whatwould they ask? We do some
research ahead of time. Whatwould you ask if I was gonna
(04:28):
interview this parentingexpert? And then you're gonna
sound like you are an advocatefor the listener, and then
you'll get some good answersfrom that. And then everybody
is gonna be a winner becausethe listener gets some needed
and good information. And yourpodcast sounds good.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Hey, are you enjoying the show as much as I
am? We're going to take a quickbreak, but make sure to stick
around because Professor Smithcontinues to drop value about
storytelling and how to havemore confidence as an introvert
who's trying to start apodcast. All righty , let's go.
Are you a George Mason Patriot?
Ready to make your mark in theworld? Join the Department of
Communication for EndlessPossibilities. Our
(05:04):
undergraduate program equipsyou with the skills that set
you apart and the studentsearning a BA in communication
go on to successful careers atthe local, national, and
international levels. Plus, ournetwork of staff and alumni
provides amazing careeropportunities and mentorship.
Don't just take my word for it.
Explore what a major or minorin communication can do for
you. Visit com.gmu.edu andbegin your journey to impact.
(05:28):
And now back to the show. Withthe rise of video content,
let's say on YouTube, they'reable to use B rolls . They're
able to show the statistics andvisuals, whereas podcasting, we
don't have the freedom to dothat. So how can we better tell
a story in an audio , uh,context,
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Be more descriptive.
That's where post production'sgonna come in. If you are gonna
just transfer something fromYouTube to a podcast for audio,
you might as well not do itbecause the audience for your
audio podcast is different fromyour YouTube. Maybe even edit
in , we're sorry that youcouldn't see this video, but to
see more of it go to such andsuch address for YouTube, when
(06:10):
you are thinking about theaudience, the audio member,
they can't see what you'redoing if you have it in an
audio situation. So you'regonna have to be more de
descriptive in what ishappening, right ? But many
people just record the YouTubepodcast, save the audio, pull
it up, but it's just, it is notserving the best interest of
the audio podcast person.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Spot on . Thank you so much. Mm-hmm .
What advice would you givesomeone who wants to start
their own podcast and growtheir brand, particularly
introverts as , uh, this showis called introvert on stage
for introverts with bigpassions, they want to make a
name for themselves and theyhave big goals. They're just
hesitant to put themselves outthere. What advice would you
(06:51):
have?
Speaker 2 (06:52):
It , it will come from how well you know the
subject or how well you cananalyze the subject, right?
You're just doing it over amicrophone and you're recording
it. Think about how you'retalking just to one person and
it's a , a very good friend andhow you would talk about it .
Yeah, you may be alone in aroom, but think about who
you're talking to. Let's sayit's a best friend and that
(07:14):
will relax you. The more you dosomething, the more confident
you'll be at it to get out ofyour shell. Just think of it as
you're talking to a bestfriend. Not necessarily one
person, but a best friendbecause in a conversational
mode you'll be more excited,you'll be willing to go with
more knowledge and otherthings. Just do some research
so that if you opine onsomething, then it sounds
(07:34):
educated and it soundsresearched, right ? But I would
just try it, just do it. Letother people listen to it and
they could give you someadvice. 'cause the listeners
are eventually the ones who aregonna judge whether or not they
download and listen to yourpodcast.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I really like that concept of talking to a best
friend. There's a quote that isclose to your heart and I
wanted you to share that withthe listener and maybe
elaborate on that quote,please.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
In 1987, I had been at a job in radio and they
demoted me because I wasn'tdoing very well. So I was
struggling to find my , myidentity. And there is this
book by a psychologist, MarshaCsar , and the name of the book
was Do What You Love. The Moneywill Follow. And to give you a
CliffNotes version of the book,it's to be passionate about
(08:17):
what you're doing becausethat's going to show up in your
work. And I will have friendswho I know very well who say,
well, Roger, I still don't havethe money and I'm still doing
what I love. And I go, you justhaven't been at it long enough.
But I would rather you spendfive sevenths of your life
doing something that you'repassionate about than dragging
(08:41):
yourself by the hair to workbeing miserable because you're
not gonna get those days backand you might as well enjoy
what you're doing because notevery day is gonna be perfect,
but they're gonna be more fundays than there are less. But
you're enjoying what you'redoing and subliminally you're
making a difference. You maynot be able to tell
immediately, but you're doingvery well because you're
(09:01):
serving others and in a sense,you're serving yourself because
you are doing something that isgood for the world, good for a
person, whatever. As I tellgraduating students, it's gonna
take you about five years toget settled in whatever career,
and I've been saying that for30 years. It's not just now
because the job market istight. You do have to impress
people with your punctuality,your work ethic and other
(09:23):
things to be eligible forraises, for promotions and
other things. Hmm . If youspend your life where you
cannot wait to get to work,then you have that 'cause your
work is gonna prosper and theright people will recognize it.
Maybe not right now, buteventually the right people
will recognize it.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Amen to that. So do what you love. Money will
follow. I think that's awonderful way to wrap up the
interview. Thank you so muchfor your time and for sharing
so much value with us today.
And thank you so much for beingon the show. Professor Smith
,
Speaker 2 (09:53):
It was a privilege.
Thank you very much, Olivia.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Thank you for tuning in to Introvert on Stage
Podcast. If you enjoyed thisepisode and you'd like to help
support the podcast, pleasesubscribe and leave a five star
rating and review to stay up todate with Introvert on stage
and get all the behind thescenes content. You can follow
me on Instagram at It's meOlivia Lee, and tune in again
next week. Bye-bye.
Welcome to Introvert on stage . It's me, Olivia Lee
championing introvertedentrepreneurs and their mission
to build magnetic personalbrands and share their message
with the world. Ready to turnyour quiet strength into your
brand superpower. You are inthe right place. Let's prove
that being introverted is agreatest asset. Thanks for
putting me in your ear andlet's get started. Today I
(00:26):
wanted to welcome a specialguest, professor Roger Smith.
Professor Smith is anundergraduate advising
coordinator for thecommunication department at
George Mason University, andalso a faculty advisor for
WGMU, our campus radio station.
So I know that he will have alot of value to share and
expertise from working in theradio station industry and also
(00:48):
through his role as aneducator. So welcome Professor
Smith
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
To jump right in, I wanted to hear your stories.
Could you share with us yourjourney into studying
communication arts and whatdrew you into working in the
radio industry
Speaker 2 (01:06):
As a teenager? I think it was like almost like
13 or 14. I would , uh, listento far away radio stations at
night, like WGAR in Cleveland.
Uh, I found it fascinating howthat form of communication
could be considered one-on-one,even though they had thousands
of listeners. And I was part ofa broadcasting group in high
school, and we produced aweekly Saturday morning show at
(01:28):
nine of the clock playing musicand talking about events. Then
my mom took me to JamesMadison, where we met with the
chair of the Department ofCommunication Arts and I
thought, yeah, I feel right athome. So worked at the radio
station , uh, WMRA playingclassical music or bluegrass
music or jazz. Then I worked ata station, Stanton, Virginia,
40 years ago this summer doingtop 40, and that was the best
(01:50):
technology. I worked with, thebest mentors I have, and then I
still have the paper ad fromthe Washington Post advertising
for an adjunct instructor andan advisor of the campus radio
station. Two part-time jobsapplied it and I was able to
get that. So 30 years later,I'm still here. I think what
fascinates me aboutcommunication is the ability to
(02:12):
use a public AirWave, but totalk one-on-one with folks and
personalizing the conversation.
That's what I've always strivedto teach and to emphasize
because this is still aone-on-one medium and that's
what makes it a a great medium.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
You highlighted the importance of calling the
audience as one person insteadof you all who are listening,
and I wanted you to beelaborate for people who didn't
get a chance to hear thatexplanation that I got to hear
in class.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
It's a very unique thing with audio podcasting
because it's a uniqueexperience of how we consume
it, and the three examples Ialways give, how long does it
take to, to get to work? Howlong does it take? You're on
the treadmill at the gym, howlong does it take to walk your
family dog? 20, 25 minutes. Ineach of those cases, that's ,
uh, a good length of ourpodcast and how are we
(03:05):
consuming it? It's just oneperson. You're talking to
thousands, but this is anintimate situation where you
are talking and you have oneperson in addition to whoever
else is in this podcast. Youhave to personalize the
conversation. If somebody'sprivy to a private
conversation, you've gotsomeone interested in listening
(03:27):
and they'll be listening moreintensely. You don't talk to
everybody. Yeah, it iseverybody, but I would rather
you attack this with I'mtalking to one person at a
time.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
How can the host make it so inclusive that the
person listening doesn't justfeel like the fly on the wall?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
That's a great question. If we know our target
member, what would they ask?
What would this 30 5-year-oldfather of three want to know
from this expert aboutparenting? A lot of it's gonna
go into research in a sense.
You are a voice for thelistener and you will be asking
questions basically from theirperspective. And so you are in
(04:06):
a sense bringing in thatlistener who is targeted with
questions that they wantanswers to. If you do your
research not only from thelistener's point of view, plus
the person you're going tointerview, you're going to have
an interesting interviewpodcast, you think about who
that target listener is, whatwould they ask? We do some
research ahead of time. Whatwould you ask if I was gonna
(04:28):
interview this parentingexpert? And then you're gonna
sound like you are an advocatefor the listener, and then
you'll get some good answersfrom that. And then everybody
is gonna be a winner becausethe listener gets some needed
and good information. And yourpodcast sounds good.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Hey, are you enjoying the show as much as I
am? We're going to take a quickbreak, but make sure to stick
around because Professor Smithcontinues to drop value about
storytelling and how to havemore confidence as an introvert
who's trying to start apodcast. All righty , let's go.
Are you a George Mason Patriot?
Ready to make your mark in theworld? Join the Department of
Communication for EndlessPossibilities. Our
(05:04):
undergraduate program equipsyou with the skills that set
you apart and the studentsearning a BA in communication
go on to successful careers atthe local, national, and
international levels. Plus, ournetwork of staff and alumni
provides amazing careeropportunities and mentorship.
Don't just take my word for it.
Explore what a major or minorin communication can do for
you. Visit com.gmu.edu andbegin your journey to impact.
(05:28):
And now back to the show. Withthe rise of video content,
let's say on YouTube, they'reable to use B rolls . They're
able to show the statistics andvisuals, whereas podcasting, we
don't have the freedom to dothat. So how can we better tell
a story in an audio , uh,context,
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Be more descriptive.
That's where post production'sgonna come in. If you are gonna
just transfer something fromYouTube to a podcast for audio,
you might as well not do itbecause the audience for your
audio podcast is different fromyour YouTube. Maybe even edit
in , we're sorry that youcouldn't see this video, but to
see more of it go to such andsuch address for YouTube, when
(06:10):
you are thinking about theaudience, the audio member,
they can't see what you'redoing if you have it in an
audio situation. So you'regonna have to be more de
descriptive in what ishappening, right ? But many
people just record the YouTubepodcast, save the audio, pull
it up, but it's just, it is notserving the best interest of
the audio podcast person.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Spot on . Thank you so much. Mm-hmm
What advice would you givesomeone who wants to start
their own podcast and growtheir brand, particularly
introverts as , uh, this showis called introvert on stage
for introverts with bigpassions, they want to make a
name for themselves and theyhave big goals. They're just
hesitant to put themselves outthere. What advice would you
(06:51):
have?
Speaker 2 (06:52):
It , it will come from how well you know the
subject or how well you cananalyze the subject, right?
You're just doing it over amicrophone and you're recording
it. Think about how you'retalking just to one person and
it's a , a very good friend andhow you would talk about it .
Yeah, you may be alone in aroom, but think about who
you're talking to. Let's sayit's a best friend and that
(07:14):
will relax you. The more you dosomething, the more confident
you'll be at it to get out ofyour shell. Just think of it as
you're talking to a bestfriend. Not necessarily one
person, but a best friendbecause in a conversational
mode you'll be more excited,you'll be willing to go with
more knowledge and otherthings. Just do some research
so that if you opine onsomething, then it sounds
(07:34):
educated and it soundsresearched, right ? But I would
just try it, just do it. Letother people listen to it and
they could give you someadvice. 'cause the listeners
are eventually the ones who aregonna judge whether or not they
download and listen to yourpodcast.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I really like that concept of talking to a best
friend. There's a quote that isclose to your heart and I
wanted you to share that withthe listener and maybe
elaborate on that quote,please.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
In 1987, I had been at a job in radio and they
demoted me because I wasn'tdoing very well. So I was
struggling to find my , myidentity. And there is this
book by a psychologist, MarshaCsar , and the name of the book
was Do What You Love. The Moneywill Follow. And to give you a
CliffNotes version of the book,it's to be passionate about
(08:17):
what you're doing becausethat's going to show up in your
work. And I will have friendswho I know very well who say,
well, Roger, I still don't havethe money and I'm still doing
what I love. And I go, you justhaven't been at it long enough.
But I would rather you spendfive sevenths of your life
doing something that you'repassionate about than dragging
(08:41):
yourself by the hair to workbeing miserable because you're
not gonna get those days backand you might as well enjoy
what you're doing because notevery day is gonna be perfect,
but they're gonna be more fundays than there are less. But
you're enjoying what you'redoing and subliminally you're
making a difference. You maynot be able to tell
immediately, but you're doingvery well because you're
(09:01):
serving others and in a sense,you're serving yourself because
you are doing something that isgood for the world, good for a
person, whatever. As I tellgraduating students, it's gonna
take you about five years toget settled in whatever career,
and I've been saying that for30 years. It's not just now
because the job market istight. You do have to impress
people with your punctuality,your work ethic and other
(09:23):
things to be eligible forraises, for promotions and
other things. Hmm . If youspend your life where you
cannot wait to get to work,then you have that 'cause your
work is gonna prosper and theright people will recognize it.
Maybe not right now, buteventually the right people
will recognize it.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Amen to that. So do what you love. Money will
follow. I think that's awonderful way to wrap up the
interview. Thank you so muchfor your time and for sharing
so much value with us today.
And thank you so much for beingon the show. Professor Smith
Speaker 2 (09:53):
It was a privilege.
Thank you very much, Olivia.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Thank you for tuning in to Introvert on Stage
Podcast. If you enjoyed thisepisode and you'd like to help
support the podcast, pleasesubscribe and leave a five star
rating and review to stay up todate with Introvert on stage
and get all the behind thescenes content. You can follow
me on Instagram at It's meOlivia Lee, and tune in again
next week. Bye-bye.
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