A nervous return to podcasting?

Good afternoon 👋

Last Sunday, I filmed my first podcast episode in five years, which is a bit crazy, if I’m honest. While it was a slightly scary thing to do at first, we’re going to take a look at how it all went and how I prepared for it in today’s blog.

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For a couple of hours before the podcast filming, I was getting a bit nervous. I’ve always had a decent amount of patience; however, when it comes to just sitting around waiting to do one particular thing, I can get a bit fidgety from time to time.

The last time I did a podcast was back in November 2020, during the second UK lockdown – a time that really impacted my stutter 😅

I haven’t actually spoken too much about what caused my stutter to be impacted such a lot by the lockdowns, how I got through it and the lessons learnt along the way yet as it goes – it kught be something I should revisit here on the page some time soon. Something like a “Lessons from Lockdown” kind of series, from an introspective lens a few years on – leave that idea with me to mull over.

Back to the topic at hand for today, the podcast itself went really well back in 2020, even if my fluency wasn’t quite where it could have been.

While my speech has improved monumentally in the last few years, part of me still worried I’d join the call and not be able to get my words out. It’s a common feeling among people who stutter – one that, on the whole, I am very good at managing; however, it can spring up when you least expect it 😶

So, what did I do? I focused on the variables I could control:

💭 I went over my rough thoughts about 90 minutes before joining

🪥 I cleaned my teeth, got ready, and read for a bit, just to switch off (Does anyone else have weird virtual-call routines, or is that just me? 😂)

🧘‍♂️ Before logging on, I took a few minutes to breathe, centre myself, and reset ahead of joining the call. It may only seem like a small couple of things to do, but boy, do they make a difference in calming you down and preparing you for whatever is going to happen next

The host was brilliant, and that quick chat we had before recording helped me feel more relaxed and in control, too. Looking back, I’d say my speech flowed really well overall – which was a fantastic thing to be able to see happen in real time. I’ve been wanting to get back into doing things like podcasts for a while, maybe this was the little push start that I needed 🙌

It just goes to show: when you control what you can, and let go of what you can’t, great things can happen.

I’ll share more about the podcast itself once it’s published 👀

That’s all for today’s blog. What do you think? What’s one opportunity you’ve pursued lately that you’re proud of? How’s your week been, and what’s been your highlight of it so far?

I’d love to hear your thoughts ⤵️

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a lovely day!

James