June 11, 2025 • 21 mins
Becoming a great podcast host is a blend of art and science. I discuss how to become a great one with my guest, Mark Iorio.
Mark is the host of Language of Leadership, a seasoned business culture expert, and a passionate advocate for helping organizations align purpose, people, and performance to build thriving, values-driven cultures.
Eight years ago Mark was in the studio shooting an episode of his TV show, “CEO Chat”, and his business partner was one of the co-hosts. As Mark was walking off the set a woman asked him to guest on her podcast and Mark agreed. When Mark arrived to record the show, the CEO of the studio, Keith, came into the lobby asked him who he was there to see. When Mark mentioned the woman that invited him Keith told him she was gone but he would interview Mark.
As the interview progressed, they were discussing marketing. Keith told Mark that he believed Mark would make a good podcast host. Mark blew it off as just another compliment to be nice, but Keith persisted. Mark agreed to be a host and decided to brainstorm topics and names for the potential show. He eventually came up with “Rainmakers’ Roundup” and ran the show for seven and a half years.
What it Takes to Get Started in Podcasting
Just do it, just step into it.
First, you must be genuinely curious. You must focus on the person that you’re interviewing. Mark had 75 episodes of Rainmakers’ Roundup in the studio and he noticed there were dozens of hosts from other podcasts that read from a script. There was no flow to it, there was no real cadence. Just a list of questions. Mark was more improvised. He told me that if you can be curious about your guests’ lives, and be curious about the subject matter, your show will flow very nicely like a conversation over a cup of coffee.
Creating a Successful Structure for a Podcast Conversation
In your head, create and go through a process. Maybe its discussing how your guest got started in their business or career. Maybe it’s learning about why they love what they do. Have a specific cadence and let them answer the question. Make the show about them. If you go in thinking your show is about you because you’re this great podcaster, then you probably shouldn’t do it.
If you’re there to shine a light on them and their career path, their service, what they’ve done for society and so on, then you’re taking the right approach. You’re in the right ballpark.
How to Find Your First Guests
You must have a mission for your podcast. When you understand that mission, look for people that match that mission. As an example, Mark is starting over with his new podcast “The Language of Leadership”. Language of Leadership is all about people in leadership positions that not only use meaningful language, but their behavior is such that people want to follow them. They want to follow their behavioral patterns. Because of his purpose Mark knows he needs to find branding people, HR people that care about their staff, heart-centered leaders and so on.
What does this mean for you? Don’t try to squeeze someone into your podcast just because they’re a warm body. Know your mission and then figure out the types of people that fit your mission. That helps the conversation flow effortlessly and that makes it easier for you to ask the right questions because you know your mission so well.
We also dive into topics including:
More ways to find and connect to the mission for your podcast.
How to develop your marketing message once you decide on the mission for your podcast.
How to create the right mindset to “keep on keepin’ on” in the early stages of your podcast.
Why keeping a cadence is important for your marketing.
The pros and cons of live podcasting vs. prerecorded episodes.
Advice for keeping on track with your podcast once you’re established.
The one thing, above all else, that you need to do to be a great podcast host.
…and more golden nuggets of advice!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Idea Climbing podcast. Today, I'm
discussing how to be a great podcast host
with my guest, Mark Iorio.
Mark is the host of the show Language
of Leadership,
a seasoned business culture expert,
and a passionate advocate for helping organizations
align purpose, people, and performance
to build thriving values driven cultures.
(00:21):
We dive into topics including what it takes
to get started in podcasting,
the structure of a great podcast interview,
how to find and connect with the mission
of your podcast,
the one thing above all else that you
need to do to be a great podcast
host, and more golden nuggets of advice. You're
gonna love this show.
(00:45):
Mark, thank you for making time to be
on the idea climbing podcast. I really appreciate
it, man.
Great to be with you, my man. We're
always a pleasure.
And And we're gonna talk about how to
be a great podcast host. But before we
get into the tips, the tricks, the strategies,
as far as becoming a great podcast host,
what's your story? What was your journey in
(01:06):
podcasting
to get where you are today with being
so experienced?
Yeah. Thanks.
So about eight years ago, I was, I
was at the studio,
just videotaping
a show called CEO chat.
My business partner was one of the cohosts.
And as I'm walking off the set, this
very,
(01:26):
to say, a very attractive
lady came up to me and said,
hey. I'd like to have you on my
show called Hot Topics. Then I'm like, oh,
I'm in. I mean, where's where's the schedule?
I'm coming I'm coming in.
So, you know, I get there and I
it's like three or four weeks after the,
the original taping of CEO chat.
(01:47):
And I get there and the and the,
the CEO of the studio comes into the
lobby and he said,
who are you here to see? And I
said, I'm here to see so and so.
And he said, well,
she's gone.
He said, I'll I'll interview you. I'm like,
well, it's kind of a letdown, but,
actually, no. I I shouldn't say that about
Keith. Keith's a good guy.
(02:09):
But,
so he you know, halfway through the interview,
we were talking about mark and I think
basically, you know, my my old business
branding and and,
and social media because he wasn't in a
big you know, big into social media. And
he said to me, like, halfway through the
podcast or the, interview,
he said, you know, you'd be pretty good
at this.
(02:29):
And I'm like, yeah. Well, that's that's great.
Add that to all the other things that
I'm juggling in my life, you know.
And he said, no. I'm serious. He he
said, you really ought to think about,
you know, hosting a show.
And so I I I went back, started
to think about it, started to throw some
names out there. We didn't have chat GPT,
(02:50):
so I wasn't able to, like, put some,
you know, ideas or prompts into
into the database. It went into this database
right here, you know. And I just started
spitting out names. And, you know, I'm thinking
to myself, what should I call it? Like,
cash to the path or path to the
cash or
you know, then I'm because sales and marketing
(03:11):
kinda go hand in hand, Mark.
So I came up with Rainmakers Roundup, and
I did it for seven and a half
years until the end of, last year. I'm
I'm still doing it, but only,
you know, ad hoc. I I started a
new show in, the beginning of twenty five
on language leadership.
So when it come
(03:32):
for people listening or watching, maybe they at
the most, let's say they have a couple
episodes under their belt or they're dabbling,
or maybe they're think someone said to them
what someone said to you. You know, hey.
I think you should have a podcast. Now
it's rattling around in their brain.
To get started in podcasting, what does it
take to do it the right way? Man,
honestly, buddy, it's it it you you know,
(03:54):
you're a curious guy. You're funny. You're,
outgoing. You're affable.
You gotta be curious. You have to think
about the person that you're interviewing
and
just do it. Just kinda step into it
and
be genuine I'm not gonna use that a
word that everyone uses, authenticity.
But, I mean, it's like but you just
(04:15):
have to be honest with yourself and
and curious about the other person that that's,
you know, across from you or, you know,
as your guest.
And I I would just say, you know,
in the beginning,
we had 75
shows at the studio, Mark.
And there were dozens of
(04:37):
dozens of hosts
that read from a script.
Read from a script. I mean, they literally
had a script in front of them. Some
people would tape it to the base of
the cameras so that you couldn't see you
couldn't see the questions,
but they could see them. And there were
like, it was typed that was, like, 72
type so that they could see the questions.
(04:59):
And it it there was no flow to
it. There was no, you know, real cadence.
You know, if you if you can think
about the next question,
you know, that you're going to ask someone,
like, be curious about their lives, be curious
about
the subject matter, and,
you know, it'll flow very nice. It's like
(05:19):
a conversation for heaven's sakes. And and you
can't I've had people worry about the cameras
and the lights and all that stuff too.
And I tell them, look, I swear to
God, I will make you feel comfortable.
I really will.
So that that was kind of the tip
the tips that I got upfront.
Now that you've done quite a few of
them, as far as get let's keep with
(05:40):
that train of thought. As far as getting
started, what kind of advice would you have
to what you just said I love? I
hate when I can tell they're reading off
of a script. It's like, oh my god.
And then I get it I get excited.
They change direction. It's like, no.
As far as for newer
aspiring or newer podcast host, can you break
down what is the structure of a conversation,
(06:01):
listening, to asking, to talking? What kind of,
advice do you have for creating a successful
structure of a conversation for a podcast?
Oh my god.
So that's a great question. Thank you.
So
take go through a a a process. Right?
In your head, go through a process. Maybe
it's, you know, Mark, how did you get
(06:22):
started? Mark, why did you love what you
do? Or or replace Mark with some other
name. I mean but have a a specific
cadence
and let them answer the question.
Let
let the guest answer the question, please, because
you're asking a question. You're curious about them.
It's about if if you go into it
(06:44):
thinking it's about you because you're this great
podcaster,
then you probably shouldn't do it. You you
you should you should not do that.
But if you're there
to shine a light on them and their
career path,
you know, their product, their service,
what they've done for society or whatever it
(07:05):
might be,
then you're in the right you're in the
right ballpark.
But let them answer the question. I've heard
so many people just
you know, you could see it in their
eyes, Mark.
The host is they can't wait for the
person
to finish.
They're ready to they're ready to ask the
next question. Just let them finish. Let them
(07:26):
talk. And if they go on too long,
maybe there's a hand signal, like, you know,
like this or something that's, you know, very
inconspicuous
that basically says stop talking. I I need
to go to commercial break or something. But,
you know, it's it's
it really is that flow. So,
(07:46):
but curiosity
really is is what is what drives me
anyway.
Well, let's back it up a little bit.
You're new to podcasting, aspiring podcaster. How do
you
trying to figure out how to ask us
the right way. How do you find the
two,
the few
quality guests? Because I know some podcasters
and maybe this is the answer, but some
(08:07):
podcast is just like, I'll ask anyone that'll
be on the show. What's your take on
what should you be doing, and how do
you find your few guests for, like, the
like, say, like, 10 episodes or something like
that when when you decide to go ahead
and move on with it? Yeah. Another good
one. Another good question.
You know, so you have a mission for
your your podcast. Right? You there's a there's
a mission for what you're doing. And
(08:28):
if if you understand that mission, then try
go out and look for people
that match that mission. Right? So let me
just give you an example for from my
perspective.
My thinking is and and just because I've
done it for seven years, I'm starting over
with language of leadership.
Language of leadership is is really all about
(08:51):
people in leadership positions
that not only use language,
but they they
their behavior
is such that people want to follow them.
They want to follow their behavioral patterns. And
there there are things that they've done in
life. There are,
you know, products and services that they've produced
(09:15):
where people say, I wanna follow that person.
So who do I find? Who do I
look for?
I find branding people.
I find people in HR that,
that care about others. I find leaders of
organizations
that
honestly care about their peep their heart centered
leaders.
(09:35):
How do I find them? By asking friends
and and, you
know, colleagues and family members.
Who would you suggest
I get
to join me on Language of Leadership?
Because I know my mission,
and I know that this person
would fit the mission.
Don't try to squeeze someone into your
(09:58):
podcast just because they're a warm body.
You know, the conversation should flow, and it
should be easy for you to ask the
questions
because you know you know the mission so
well.
I love that you're using the word mission
instead of topic or any other words or
niche or something like that. When it comes
to the mission of a podcast,
(10:18):
could you unpack that a little bit more?
Because I love that terminology.
And then answer, how do you find and
connect to a mission? What is it, and
how do you find and connect to it?
Yeah. So good. I I again, right here.
So this in your soul, there there's gotta
be something that's driving you that that you
want to get out to the world, to
(10:38):
to the universe. And, you know,
not sound corny or anything, but
what is what exactly is driving you to
do what you do at each day? When
you get up out of bed in the
morning, what's that passion all about? And,
frankly, the podcast
should follow that that drive.
(10:59):
It's easy to write a mission when you
know
listen. I wanna give back to people. I
I have one one of the things that
I do is I have a,
a nonprofit where we've we, collect computers by
the by the hundreds
and refurbish them and give them out to
the community.
I could do a podcast on that because
I enjoy,
(11:20):
bridging that digital divide. You know, I see
people that get computers,
and we've given away 4,000 of them. So,
you know, that is a,
you know, that that is a purpose in
my life. Could I could I do a
podcast or a TV show
that's based around,
you know, giving back to the community because
that's a mission of mine. Yeah.
(11:42):
But but make it yours. Make it something
that,
you know,
that causes your heart to flutter, to to
beat fast, to
be excited, to get your adrenaline up.
And and then write it out. Write the
mission out. This is what I want to
do. This is this is who I want
to help.
And, you know, with Rainmakers Roundup, for example,
(12:04):
my mission there, Mark Mhmm. Was to
was to help get leaders who are in
competitive businesses
to share their story
that are they're doing something different and unique.
You were on that program. Mhmm. And what
you're doing with with your life,
what you were doing in the past
(12:25):
is different. It's really different. And you've managed
to change
you pivoted
and you've changed things. Right? And so for
me, my mission for Rainmakers Roundup was to
help get the word out. I have this
gift to be able to say to people,
what do you do for a living? Let's
talk a little bit about you and your
journey. And
(12:46):
and so it was a that's that was
a mission of mine. But it's not that
hard to write it and follow it if
it's coming from here.
That is awesome. And I we're
you decide on a podcast. You write out
your mission.
We talked about getting your few guests.
Yep. In the beginning, unless you're
it's kind of funny, but it's not the
(13:06):
same time. Unless you're a business celebrity, there
is not immediate traction
with the average the normal
person in podcasting.
Oh. When you're getting through the twenty, thirty
some episodes,
what advice do you have for people how
do you keep on keeping on when you're
looking at the numbers going,
they're not there yet? What advice do you
have to just mentally keep on keeping on?
(13:29):
Yeah. Work your ass off. I mean, it's,
you know, keep working hard because, you know,
I I I told you right before we
went on the air that,
Rainmakers, I had a backlog of seven months
of people that were on, you know, that
were in the queue on on the schedule.
Language of leadership, I'm I'm I've got a
couple of gaps in in April already, and
(13:52):
it's next month.
So
it takes time. It takes an effort
to get those people
booked
and on the show, and
and then you've gotta prepare for that as
well. Don't you know, we'll talk about that
in a minute. But, you know, it's it's
really about
not giving up, and and you said it,
(14:12):
keep on keeping on. I say work your
ass off because if you don't do that,
you're gonna end up with an inconsistent
schedule.
There's gonna be no cadence. You're gonna do
it one week, and then and then you're
gonna forget about it. And then,
you know, boom, there goes the mission.
We gotta work your butt off. Why is
(14:32):
cadence this is I think this is important
because I know when I started out, it
was sporadic because it was just like a
hobby or something.
Why is cadence important? Can you explain that?
Because I think potential podcasters and newer podcasters
really need to understand you can't just throw
it up whenever you want to. Why is
cadence important?
Because because people if if you're gonna try
to get some sort of a following, not
(14:54):
just a following and an an audience following
like you have,
but a following of of guests,
a following of people commenting on your your
your, your program, your show, your podcast.
You know, if you don't have that consistency
I mean, think about it. You know, it's
it's like an engine of a car. Just
keep it's missing. It's missing. It keeps you
(15:16):
know, one of the cylinders isn't running, and
the car is gonna run really rough. Your
podcasting
is gonna run really rough. You're not gonna
have
a flow. And, you know, even
honestly, this still happens to me after eight
years.
When I get a cancellation
and I cannot fill the gap
(15:36):
on a Wednesday morning,
I feel like I'm missing something. So, like,
I a chunk of me has has left.
I feel horrible. It's like working out and
you miss a workout or two.
You have the feeling of, you know, Sunday
night I get up. You know, Sunday night
I go to bed. You know what I
think about for Wednesday? Who's gonna be my
(15:57):
guest?
So that's important to keep that going,
you know, on a consistent basis. Otherwise,
you know, it's it's like any other habit.
You know, it takes it takes an effort.
It takes an ongoing effort.
You know, whether diet, exercise, podcasting, whatever it
is, it's gotta be consistent.
(16:18):
What's your take on live podcasting versus always
doing prerecorded podcast? Where do you where do
you lie on that spectrum, and what advice
do you have?
Oh, god.
Listen. We try to do it's it was
a little different with us because we had
a TV studio, and there were 75
shows. But four or five, maybe five and
a half years ago, we tried to do
(16:38):
live broad live broadcast or live podcast.
And it was a cluster mess. We'll just
keep it clean. We'll keep it you know,
that f word is in there. But but
we'll keep it clean.
It was a cluster mess because
you go over by a minute and there's
a show behind you, they're they're behind and
(16:59):
and then it goes on and on and
on and everybody's all messed up. When you
do it live, like like, we're if we
were doing live right now,
a lot of times people get very,
like, anxious
about the fact that this is going out
live.
I like prerecorded.
I I do because it gets people to
(17:21):
relax.
Don't worry about it. I I get this
question almost every time. What happens if I
mess up? What happens if you if I
say a bad word?
Like, don't worry about it. Don't just please
don't worry about it. We'll fix it. You
know? Re when it's when it's recorded when
it's recorded live,
it's like,
(17:42):
it's out there, man. You can't fix it.
It's
it's it's it's gone. So
I I just prefer
only because I had a really crappy experience
with with the live versions for so long.
We can never get our act together at
the studio.
I don't like live, man. I I prefer
recorded.
(18:03):
Me too.
And how about one now that we're at
the point where it'd be once you get
up and running, you're however many you're established,
you're starting to get downloads, listens, views, however
you rank it.
What do you what advice do you have
to stay on track? Because at there's like
it could it could be. You know, the
excitement and it's new, but once you get,
let's see, let's say, like, thirty, forty, 50
(18:23):
episodes in, what advice do you have for
keeping on track once you're established?
Oh, yeah. So,
good. Nice. Another great question by Mark j
Carter. I love it.
Listen, man. If you cannot follow-up and get,
you know, it posted
on social media or
(18:44):
on YouTube or
Vimeo or wherever you're putting it, Rumble,
hire someone to do it for you so
that there is that level of consistency
out there. And then you're not gonna have
to worry about,
you know,
it getting old.
You produce the content and let someone else
(19:05):
handle the, you know, the mechanical side of
it, getting it out in the in the,
you know, in the social media realm. Because,
you know, the worst the worst thing you
could do is I mean, to for me,
buddy, I've done this
a bunch of times.
I've been on shows,
and they're like, yeah. We're not we're not
gonna post this for another four months.
(19:27):
And you forget about it. That's like,
why did I even buy? I mean, I
I hate to say that, but, like, why
did I even bother?
So I try,
like, Wednesday last Wednesday,
I I did an interview,
with Charles Dense.
Yesterday, I posted it.
Yesterday.
So it was
(19:48):
five, six days, right, before between
me doing it and and the post. If
you can't do it, just hire someone else.
You know, find someone who you trust.
And we have covered a lot of ground
in a short period of time.
As far as being a great podcaster, any
step along their journey that may be reinforcing
(20:08):
something we mentioned or maybe something we haven't
touched on yet. If someone listening or watching
is thinking, I love this. There's a lot
of good stuff here. If you were to
say, if you wanna be a great podcaster,
above all else, at least do this one
thing, at least do this, what would you
tell people to do?
Be yourself. Just be be you. Be you.
(20:28):
I I am again, I'm not gonna use
that word authenticity, but be yourself.
You you, as I said, you're a funny
guy. You're smart. You're affable. You've got, you
know, a level of curiosity,
and you you're you're genuinely
interested in the other person.
If that's your personality,
it comes through, Mark. Yours comes through.
(20:51):
So I would say that you just be
you. You know? Be you.
And if people wanna find you online, where's
the best place or places to go?
I'm all I'm all over LinkedIn.
You can also get me at,
mark,mark.iorioisiorio@getbcat.com.
(21:12):
So it's g e t b c a
t dot com.
And, yeah, just check me out on LinkedIn,
man. I'm all over the place.
Thank you so much. I appreciate you. This
has been awesome. Brother, thank you, man. I
appreciate it.
Scene.
(21:33):
Thank you for joining us today. I hope
you enjoyed the episode. I also hope that
you'll subscribe to the Idea Climbing podcast and
rate us on iTunes.
Visit ideaclimbing.com
to learn more about Idea Climbing and hear
more episodes about mentoring,
marketing, and big ideas.
Welcome to the Idea Climbing podcast. Today, I'm
discussing how to be a great podcast host
with my guest, Mark Iorio.
Mark is the host of the show Language
of Leadership,
a seasoned business culture expert,
and a passionate advocate for helping organizations
align purpose, people, and performance
to build thriving values driven cultures.
(00:21):
We dive into topics including what it takes
to get started in podcasting,
the structure of a great podcast interview,
how to find and connect with the mission
of your podcast,
the one thing above all else that you
need to do to be a great podcast
host, and more golden nuggets of advice. You're
gonna love this show.
(00:45):
Mark, thank you for making time to be
on the idea climbing podcast. I really appreciate
it, man.
Great to be with you, my man. We're
always a pleasure.
And And we're gonna talk about how to
be a great podcast host. But before we
get into the tips, the tricks, the strategies,
as far as becoming a great podcast host,
what's your story? What was your journey in
(01:06):
podcasting
to get where you are today with being
so experienced?
Yeah. Thanks.
So about eight years ago, I was, I
was at the studio,
just videotaping
a show called CEO chat.
My business partner was one of the cohosts.
And as I'm walking off the set, this
very,
(01:26):
to say, a very attractive
lady came up to me and said,
hey. I'd like to have you on my
show called Hot Topics. Then I'm like, oh,
I'm in. I mean, where's where's the schedule?
I'm coming I'm coming in.
So, you know, I get there and I
it's like three or four weeks after the,
the original taping of CEO chat.
(01:47):
And I get there and the and the,
the CEO of the studio comes into the
lobby and he said,
who are you here to see? And I
said, I'm here to see so and so.
And he said, well,
she's gone.
He said, I'll I'll interview you. I'm like,
well, it's kind of a letdown, but,
actually, no. I I shouldn't say that about
Keith. Keith's a good guy.
(02:09):
But,
so he you know, halfway through the interview,
we were talking about mark and I think
basically, you know, my my old business
branding and and,
and social media because he wasn't in a
big you know, big into social media. And
he said to me, like, halfway through the
podcast or the, interview,
he said, you know, you'd be pretty good
at this.
(02:29):
And I'm like, yeah. Well, that's that's great.
Add that to all the other things that
I'm juggling in my life, you know.
And he said, no. I'm serious. He he
said, you really ought to think about,
you know, hosting a show.
And so I I I went back, started
to think about it, started to throw some
names out there. We didn't have chat GPT,
(02:50):
so I wasn't able to, like, put some,
you know, ideas or prompts into
into the database. It went into this database
right here, you know. And I just started
spitting out names. And, you know, I'm thinking
to myself, what should I call it? Like,
cash to the path or path to the
cash or
you know, then I'm because sales and marketing
(03:11):
kinda go hand in hand, Mark.
So I came up with Rainmakers Roundup, and
I did it for seven and a half
years until the end of, last year. I'm
I'm still doing it, but only,
you know, ad hoc. I I started a
new show in, the beginning of twenty five
on language leadership.
So when it come
(03:32):
for people listening or watching, maybe they at
the most, let's say they have a couple
episodes under their belt or they're dabbling,
or maybe they're think someone said to them
what someone said to you. You know, hey.
I think you should have a podcast. Now
it's rattling around in their brain.
To get started in podcasting, what does it
take to do it the right way? Man,
honestly, buddy, it's it it you you know,
(03:54):
you're a curious guy. You're funny. You're,
outgoing. You're affable.
You gotta be curious. You have to think
about the person that you're interviewing
and
just do it. Just kinda step into it
and
be genuine I'm not gonna use that a
word that everyone uses, authenticity.
But, I mean, it's like but you just
(04:15):
have to be honest with yourself and
and curious about the other person that that's,
you know, across from you or, you know,
as your guest.
And I I would just say, you know,
in the beginning,
we had 75
shows at the studio, Mark.
And there were dozens of
(04:37):
dozens of hosts
that read from a script.
Read from a script. I mean, they literally
had a script in front of them. Some
people would tape it to the base of
the cameras so that you couldn't see you
couldn't see the questions,
but they could see them. And there were
like, it was typed that was, like, 72
type so that they could see the questions.
(04:59):
And it it there was no flow to
it. There was no, you know, real cadence.
You know, if you if you can think
about the next question,
you know, that you're going to ask someone,
like, be curious about their lives, be curious
about
the subject matter, and,
you know, it'll flow very nice. It's like
(05:19):
a conversation for heaven's sakes. And and you
can't I've had people worry about the cameras
and the lights and all that stuff too.
And I tell them, look, I swear to
God, I will make you feel comfortable.
I really will.
So that that was kind of the tip
the tips that I got upfront.
Now that you've done quite a few of
them, as far as get let's keep with
(05:40):
that train of thought. As far as getting
started, what kind of advice would you have
to what you just said I love? I
hate when I can tell they're reading off
of a script. It's like, oh my god.
And then I get it I get excited.
They change direction. It's like, no.
As far as for newer
aspiring or newer podcast host, can you break
down what is the structure of a conversation,
(06:01):
listening, to asking, to talking? What kind of,
advice do you have for creating a successful
structure of a conversation for a podcast?
Oh my god.
So that's a great question. Thank you.
So
take go through a a a process. Right?
In your head, go through a process. Maybe
it's, you know, Mark, how did you get
(06:22):
started? Mark, why did you love what you
do? Or or replace Mark with some other
name. I mean but have a a specific
cadence
and let them answer the question.
Let
let the guest answer the question, please, because
you're asking a question. You're curious about them.
It's about if if you go into it
(06:44):
thinking it's about you because you're this great
podcaster,
then you probably shouldn't do it. You you
you should you should not do that.
But if you're there
to shine a light on them and their
career path,
you know, their product, their service,
what they've done for society or whatever it
(07:05):
might be,
then you're in the right you're in the
right ballpark.
But let them answer the question. I've heard
so many people just
you know, you could see it in their
eyes, Mark.
The host is they can't wait for the
person
to finish.
They're ready to they're ready to ask the
next question. Just let them finish. Let them
(07:26):
talk. And if they go on too long,
maybe there's a hand signal, like, you know,
like this or something that's, you know, very
inconspicuous
that basically says stop talking. I I need
to go to commercial break or something. But,
you know, it's it's
it really is that flow. So,
(07:46):
but curiosity
really is is what is what drives me
anyway.
Well, let's back it up a little bit.
You're new to podcasting, aspiring podcaster. How do
you
trying to figure out how to ask us
the right way. How do you find the
two,
the few
quality guests? Because I know some podcasters
and maybe this is the answer, but some
(08:07):
podcast is just like, I'll ask anyone that'll
be on the show. What's your take on
what should you be doing, and how do
you find your few guests for, like, the
like, say, like, 10 episodes or something like
that when when you decide to go ahead
and move on with it? Yeah. Another good
one. Another good question.
You know, so you have a mission for
your your podcast. Right? You there's a there's
a mission for what you're doing. And
(08:28):
if if you understand that mission, then try
go out and look for people
that match that mission. Right? So let me
just give you an example for from my
perspective.
My thinking is and and just because I've
done it for seven years, I'm starting over
with language of leadership.
Language of leadership is is really all about
(08:51):
people in leadership positions
that not only use language,
but they they
their behavior
is such that people want to follow them.
They want to follow their behavioral patterns. And
there there are things that they've done in
life. There are,
you know, products and services that they've produced
(09:15):
where people say, I wanna follow that person.
So who do I find? Who do I
look for?
I find branding people.
I find people in HR that,
that care about others. I find leaders of
organizations
that
honestly care about their peep their heart centered
leaders.
(09:35):
How do I find them? By asking friends
and and, you
know, colleagues and family members.
Who would you suggest
I get
to join me on Language of Leadership?
Because I know my mission,
and I know that this person
would fit the mission.
Don't try to squeeze someone into your
(09:58):
podcast just because they're a warm body.
You know, the conversation should flow, and it
should be easy for you to ask the
questions
because you know you know the mission so
well.
I love that you're using the word mission
instead of topic or any other words or
niche or something like that. When it comes
to the mission of a podcast,
(10:18):
could you unpack that a little bit more?
Because I love that terminology.
And then answer, how do you find and
connect to a mission? What is it, and
how do you find and connect to it?
Yeah. So good. I I again, right here.
So this in your soul, there there's gotta
be something that's driving you that that you
want to get out to the world, to
(10:38):
to the universe. And, you know,
not sound corny or anything, but
what is what exactly is driving you to
do what you do at each day? When
you get up out of bed in the
morning, what's that passion all about? And,
frankly, the podcast
should follow that that drive.
(10:59):
It's easy to write a mission when you
know
listen. I wanna give back to people. I
I have one one of the things that
I do is I have a,
a nonprofit where we've we, collect computers by
the by the hundreds
and refurbish them and give them out to
the community.
I could do a podcast on that because
I enjoy,
(11:20):
bridging that digital divide. You know, I see
people that get computers,
and we've given away 4,000 of them. So,
you know, that is a,
you know, that that is a purpose in
my life. Could I could I do a
podcast or a TV show
that's based around,
you know, giving back to the community because
that's a mission of mine. Yeah.
(11:42):
But but make it yours. Make it something
that,
you know,
that causes your heart to flutter, to to
beat fast, to
be excited, to get your adrenaline up.
And and then write it out. Write the
mission out. This is what I want to
do. This is this is who I want
to help.
And, you know, with Rainmakers Roundup, for example,
(12:04):
my mission there, Mark Mhmm. Was to
was to help get leaders who are in
competitive businesses
to share their story
that are they're doing something different and unique.
You were on that program. Mhmm. And what
you're doing with with your life,
what you were doing in the past
(12:25):
is different. It's really different. And you've managed
to change
you pivoted
and you've changed things. Right? And so for
me, my mission for Rainmakers Roundup was to
help get the word out. I have this
gift to be able to say to people,
what do you do for a living? Let's
talk a little bit about you and your
journey. And
(12:46):
and so it was a that's that was
a mission of mine. But it's not that
hard to write it and follow it if
it's coming from here.
That is awesome. And I we're
you decide on a podcast. You write out
your mission.
We talked about getting your few guests.
Yep. In the beginning, unless you're
it's kind of funny, but it's not the
(13:06):
same time. Unless you're a business celebrity, there
is not immediate traction
with the average the normal
person in podcasting.
Oh. When you're getting through the twenty, thirty
some episodes,
what advice do you have for people how
do you keep on keeping on when you're
looking at the numbers going,
they're not there yet? What advice do you
have to just mentally keep on keeping on?
(13:29):
Yeah. Work your ass off. I mean, it's,
you know, keep working hard because, you know,
I I I told you right before we
went on the air that,
Rainmakers, I had a backlog of seven months
of people that were on, you know, that
were in the queue on on the schedule.
Language of leadership, I'm I'm I've got a
couple of gaps in in April already, and
(13:52):
it's next month.
So
it takes time. It takes an effort
to get those people
booked
and on the show, and
and then you've gotta prepare for that as
well. Don't you know, we'll talk about that
in a minute. But, you know, it's it's
really about
not giving up, and and you said it,
(14:12):
keep on keeping on. I say work your
ass off because if you don't do that,
you're gonna end up with an inconsistent
schedule.
There's gonna be no cadence. You're gonna do
it one week, and then and then you're
gonna forget about it. And then,
you know, boom, there goes the mission.
We gotta work your butt off. Why is
(14:32):
cadence this is I think this is important
because I know when I started out, it
was sporadic because it was just like a
hobby or something.
Why is cadence important? Can you explain that?
Because I think potential podcasters and newer podcasters
really need to understand you can't just throw
it up whenever you want to. Why is
cadence important?
Because because people if if you're gonna try
to get some sort of a following, not
(14:54):
just a following and an an audience following
like you have,
but a following of of guests,
a following of people commenting on your your
your, your program, your show, your podcast.
You know, if you don't have that consistency
I mean, think about it. You know, it's
it's like an engine of a car. Just
keep it's missing. It's missing. It keeps you
(15:16):
know, one of the cylinders isn't running, and
the car is gonna run really rough. Your
podcasting
is gonna run really rough. You're not gonna
have
a flow. And, you know, even
honestly, this still happens to me after eight
years.
When I get a cancellation
and I cannot fill the gap
(15:36):
on a Wednesday morning,
I feel like I'm missing something. So, like,
I a chunk of me has has left.
I feel horrible. It's like working out and
you miss a workout or two.
You have the feeling of, you know, Sunday
night I get up. You know, Sunday night
I go to bed. You know what I
think about for Wednesday? Who's gonna be my
(15:57):
guest?
So that's important to keep that going,
you know, on a consistent basis. Otherwise,
you know, it's it's like any other habit.
You know, it takes it takes an effort.
It takes an ongoing effort.
You know, whether diet, exercise, podcasting, whatever it
is, it's gotta be consistent.
(16:18):
What's your take on live podcasting versus always
doing prerecorded podcast? Where do you where do
you lie on that spectrum, and what advice
do you have?
Oh, god.
Listen. We try to do it's it was
a little different with us because we had
a TV studio, and there were 75
shows. But four or five, maybe five and
a half years ago, we tried to do
(16:38):
live broad live broadcast or live podcast.
And it was a cluster mess. We'll just
keep it clean. We'll keep it you know,
that f word is in there. But but
we'll keep it clean.
It was a cluster mess because
you go over by a minute and there's
a show behind you, they're they're behind and
(16:59):
and then it goes on and on and
on and everybody's all messed up. When you
do it live, like like, we're if we
were doing live right now,
a lot of times people get very,
like, anxious
about the fact that this is going out
live.
I like prerecorded.
I I do because it gets people to
(17:21):
relax.
Don't worry about it. I I get this
question almost every time. What happens if I
mess up? What happens if you if I
say a bad word?
Like, don't worry about it. Don't just please
don't worry about it. We'll fix it. You
know? Re when it's when it's recorded when
it's recorded live,
it's like,
(17:42):
it's out there, man. You can't fix it.
It's
it's it's it's gone. So
I I just prefer
only because I had a really crappy experience
with with the live versions for so long.
We can never get our act together at
the studio.
I don't like live, man. I I prefer
recorded.
(18:03):
Me too.
And how about one now that we're at
the point where it'd be once you get
up and running, you're however many you're established,
you're starting to get downloads, listens, views, however
you rank it.
What do you what advice do you have
to stay on track? Because at there's like
it could it could be. You know, the
excitement and it's new, but once you get,
let's see, let's say, like, thirty, forty, 50
(18:23):
episodes in, what advice do you have for
keeping on track once you're established?
Oh, yeah. So,
good. Nice. Another great question by Mark j
Carter. I love it.
Listen, man. If you cannot follow-up and get,
you know, it posted
on social media or
(18:44):
on YouTube or
Vimeo or wherever you're putting it, Rumble,
hire someone to do it for you so
that there is that level of consistency
out there. And then you're not gonna have
to worry about,
you know,
it getting old.
You produce the content and let someone else
(19:05):
handle the, you know, the mechanical side of
it, getting it out in the in the,
you know, in the social media realm. Because,
you know, the worst the worst thing you
could do is I mean, to for me,
buddy, I've done this
a bunch of times.
I've been on shows,
and they're like, yeah. We're not we're not
gonna post this for another four months.
(19:27):
And you forget about it. That's like,
why did I even buy? I mean, I
I hate to say that, but, like, why
did I even bother?
So I try,
like, Wednesday last Wednesday,
I I did an interview,
with Charles Dense.
Yesterday, I posted it.
Yesterday.
So it was
(19:48):
five, six days, right, before between
me doing it and and the post. If
you can't do it, just hire someone else.
You know, find someone who you trust.
And we have covered a lot of ground
in a short period of time.
As far as being a great podcaster, any
step along their journey that may be reinforcing
(20:08):
something we mentioned or maybe something we haven't
touched on yet. If someone listening or watching
is thinking, I love this. There's a lot
of good stuff here. If you were to
say, if you wanna be a great podcaster,
above all else, at least do this one
thing, at least do this, what would you
tell people to do?
Be yourself. Just be be you. Be you.
(20:28):
I I am again, I'm not gonna use
that word authenticity, but be yourself.
You you, as I said, you're a funny
guy. You're smart. You're affable. You've got, you
know, a level of curiosity,
and you you're you're genuinely
interested in the other person.
If that's your personality,
it comes through, Mark. Yours comes through.
(20:51):
So I would say that you just be
you. You know? Be you.
And if people wanna find you online, where's
the best place or places to go?
I'm all I'm all over LinkedIn.
You can also get me at,
mark,mark.iorioisiorio@getbcat.com.
(21:12):
So it's g e t b c a
t dot com.
And, yeah, just check me out on LinkedIn,
man. I'm all over the place.
Thank you so much. I appreciate you. This
has been awesome. Brother, thank you, man. I
appreciate it.
Scene.
(21:33):
Thank you for joining us today. I hope
you enjoyed the episode. I also hope that
you'll subscribe to the Idea Climbing podcast and
rate us on iTunes.
Visit ideaclimbing.com
to learn more about Idea Climbing and hear
more episodes about mentoring,
marketing, and big ideas.
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