How Was it for You? My First Podcast Interview

I was asked to do a podcast interview for Adviser 3.0, which is a podcast aimed at financial planners, so a relatively small audience. I was concerned that I wouldn’t have much to say of value, which gave me some anxiety about how I might be received by my peers. I don’t run the biggest or most profitable firm, I don’t have ambitions to conquer the UK or have any brilliant new technology to offer. I don’t have a book, podcast or software to promote, I am not the most qualified or revered expert, I have a track record, experience and yet still make mistakes, still face struggles, still fail to have brilliant answers to age old problems. So a sense of vulnerability through exposure provided me with a sense of “I have little of new value to contribute”. The fact that I verbalised this to the team at Adviser 3.0 was met with reassurance, but if I’m honest, didn’t negate the feelings. So I was curious about how things would go.

Imposter Syndrome – But I’m Still A Work In Progress

The interview was OK, it wasn’t designed to be interrogatory, or particularly investigative. I am not good at assessing my own performance, I can assure you that I have no harsher critic than myself, I know what I can be capable of and am often disappointed by the reality.

The experience was a new one for me, held in a proper Shoreditch studio, with a technician, but also being filmed. I quickly appreciated what I knew to be true, (but had not experienced) that this isn’t normal discourse, where ideas and thoughts are exchanged back and forwards across a table, but the requirement for precision, clarity of thought and structure. I’m not media trained.

As topics were raised, I responded in the moment as best I could, but was conscious of lacking a sharpness that is often desired for these things. I moderated my tone and language (or tried to) with the aim of drawing others in rather than being confrontational and abrasive to prompt response (which is my default setting). On reflection, it felt as though each subject was very lightly touched upon, I didn’t make enough of them and I felt that I’d been a bit too lightweight. I didn’t provide enough “a-ha” moments or friction and to be honest, to me everything is connected – money, power, culture, technology, the planet and our own human need to make sense of things. I felt that I wasn’t feisty or provocative enough.

On reflection, (which for me means a disturbed night of little sleep, waking at 4am to ponder getting up to reflect more formally) I found myself wishing that I had made some better choices about what was said, phrased things better, offered up better examples and personalised the challenges rather more. I wish my mind was not so full (or scattered) that I couldn’t readily recall the material that supported my positions, or the anecdotes and metaphors that may have helped add weight and colour.

Controversy Gets Attention

It wasn’t a bad experience, it was “OK enough”. It’s not going to be a hugely successful podcast for them (if they deem it fit to even use it).  I understand why controversy works. Like all skills, I need more practice and unfortunately that means more work, a lot of it, on the way I do these things. My ego will take a few dents and some will attempt to be reassuring and kind. I know I can do better and it’s important to me, because my clients and team are important to me. I want to be clear in communicating; genuinely listening properly, deeply and helping to shape thoughts and hopes whilst acknowledging fears, reality and uncertainty. As I knew would be the case, I reaffirmed that I have much to improve upon.

So this is the start of that. You can view the interview here if you wish, the podcast is not designed for clients, but for advisers, helping us all do a better job for you. Iron sharpening iron and all that. As a result, it’s loaded with assumptions, jargon and sector hot topics that are naturally unhelpful or at least not terribly interesting. So it’s a bit “behind the curtain” with mainly practical issues that challenge those of us in the field.

Video embedded link (provided by Timeline):

References:

Adviser 3.0 Podcast: https://adviser3point0.co/podcast

What do we do: https://www.solomonsifa.co.uk/what-we-do/

Who we work with: https://www.solomonsifa.co.uk/refer-us/