What should your Talkshow be about? The obvious answer is that your Talkshow should be about something that you care about. For example, I am interested in what makes people tick. By that, I mean how people become successful in their fields, make an impact, or contribute to positive change.
Interview people who do quality work from any profession or walk of life. They certainly do not have to be famous at all, just the people you meet in daily life that you enjoy, admire, are curious about, or wish to understand better. How do they think and learn? How did they develop their values or that positive, optimistic attitude? How did they get into that field of endeavor and how do they make lemonade from lemons that life has given them?
Be curious. That’s the best advice I can give you and there is something to learn from just about anybody. That means you don’t have to go far to look for people to talk to or interview.
In this world of ”nisch” marketing, you can virtually choose any topic whatsoever and find enough people that are also curious about it. We just got a puppy, so I have started interviewing dog owners. I interview teachers who go against the system and have fresh ideas simply because I am extremely frustrated by our educational systems. I interview behavior scientists because that is my field of endeavor.
My life theme and life purpose are to empower people to empower themselves. That then is the overarching theme of The Empowerment Talkshow, with the goal of each guest learning a little bit more about themselves and their path forward.
Maybe you already have started a podcast, videocast, or your version of a Talkshow, so you know your topic and content. If not, do the following:
1. Write the names of five people that pique your curiosity. Chose people that are within the realm of reality to invite and meet. It’s probably pretty hard to book a national politician. Still, you’d be surprised how often local politicians and local personalities would be willing to come on to your show, live or via Zoom or similar services. What do these people have in common? Seeing that will get you closer to your theme and the main topic of your Talkshow.
2. Write down three to five goal groups for your Talkshow, such as Cat owners, Rock collectors, Social activists, Nutrition experts, and Finance – things you are interested in yourself. Is there a connection between point one above and point two?
3. Write down three ”I have to learn XXX” sentences, three things you need and want to find out about.
4. Write down three examples of things that you know a lot about. What could you talk about all on your own without a guest?
5. Looking at what you have written, now choose a theme. Play with various alternatives, some that are on a high meta level like mine, The Empowerment Talkshow, a theme that can encompass a lot of variation. Or, the Puppy Poop and Pop Show, certainly a specific niche topic geared to puppy owners would want to know about (by Pop, I mean harnessing a puppy’s enormous bursts of energy). You can go either way – macro (general) or micro (specific). Many say that going micro is the only way to go these days. Sorry, I am a Macro kind of guy, and in the end, you have to do it your way, not just the way the market seems to work at the moment. Micro means finding a nisch by hunting a small but curious or ambitious goal group. As you will see in this course, it is a wise idea to combine the Macro with the Micro.
6. Choose a name. Sounds easy, but, nope, you need to put a lot of time and effort into this and test it with many people. Is it easy to remember? Does it get people curious? Will they immediately understand the purpose? From there, you need a blog, homepage with your URL, or other places where you can place your recordings if you choose to save past episodes – which, of course, you should.
7. Finding your theme will come easy to some people. Others will struggle. I’ve struggled because my interests are so broad. These days most marketing gurus say to choose a nisch, focus on a unique goal group and dig deep. I find that hard, so I have decided to stay broad but link myself to a larger so-called meta-level: people who want to make Talkshows. The topics can vary, but the overall process is what I’ve chosen to help you think through.
Photo by Motunrayo Babatunde on Unsplash
Let your guests bloom
