We all start somewhere, and it can be painful to be a beginner, personal growth can be very (ahem) “character building.”
And I don’t tell you this to scare you. In fact I tell you this to reassure you.
No matter how you feel about where you are right now, if you apply yourself and practice you will improve over time.
Hi, I’m John Lacey and this is Build A Presentation Muscle, the podcast about showcasing your expertise through content creation.
Early beginnings
Josh Liston from Crash Course in Podcasting recently dug into his archives to reflect on his early beginnings and note some things that he frankly did not love about those early episodes.
Be sure to check out his episode which will be linked over at JohnLacey.com, but it felt like a great prompt for me to do a similar thing.
The truth is I didn’t roll out of bed with the ability to talk on a microphone. This has something I have been doing on and off since I was literally a teenager.
And, to my horror, and, hopefully, your amusement these things have been well documented so I can share some of them with you today.
I need to acknowledge that the audio quality of both of these recordings are super bad by modern standards. The first recording comes to you via an audio cassette. And if you’re too young to know what that is, I encourage you to Google it. The second audio recording was actually done via Skype back in the day.
Obviously technology has improved over the years, but I kind of want you to focus on my presenting skills here. Because they’re certainly not what they are today.
First of all some audio from my community radio days. I don’t know exactly when this particular show was created, but it is some of my earlier work.
John (Community radio): You most certainly are listening to Triple U FM. It’s 25 minutes past eight o’clock, and Leanne will be in after nine o’clock. And today, she’s actually interviewing Les about the Shoalhaven Jazz Festival. So if you’re interested in that, be sure to stay tuned. Uh celebrating birthdays today, British actor, Jeremy Irons, he’s turning 55. Uh, model, Twiggy, is 54 today. The country singer Trisha Yearwood is 39. Kostya Tszyu is 34. Today, Jeremy Jordan, whose real name is Don Hensen, is actually celebrating his 30th birthday. This is Triple U FM. You’re with John Lacey on Friday Breakfast. Let’s continue right now with a bit of Savage Garden.
Secondly, the podcast I had around 2009/2010 where I interviewed my YouTube friends.
John (Podcast): Now, today I have a very special treat for you. This is perhaps one of my most sought-after interviews ever. I never thought it was going to actually happen because there’s been so many delays and mishaps, and we might actually get into some of those a little bit later on. But for you today, I have “Karpediem”, Jake Garrison. Welcome to the show, Jake.
Jake: Hey, John, how are you?
John (Podcast): It’s good to finally have you here.
Jake: Yeah, I tell you what, I have been so excited about getting here. And this whole thing has made me feel like one of those very elusive, I mean, I know I’m not, but a celebrity that is hiding in their retirement or something like that. I don’t know.
John (Podcast): You’re famous on the internet, and that’s all that matters.
The answer in the archives
I realise the last thing any of us wants to do is go back into archives and listen to ourselves, but I can almost guarantee that you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the progress you’ve made over time.
But no matter where you are on your journey, be patient and forgiving of yourself, and just keep creating the things that you want to see out in the world.
Your audience would love to watch you grow and grow along side you.
For more information about today’s show, head over to JohnLacey.com.
