[S3E0] My 3 biggest lessons from podcasting in seasons

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All of our favourite TV shows are released in seasons, so how can a podcast follow a similar format? And does it work?

At the very beginning, my podcast producers, Rob Lawrence and Matt Cheney, and I decided that a seasonal podcast would be best for what I wanted to create: a podcast that teaches athletes how to hone their mindset and achieve extraordinary performance.

My podcast began as an experiment and with each season it grows, develops and evolves according to my and my client’s interests, curiosities and topics that we want to explore further with experts, but how to hone your mindset lies at its very core.

Welcome to Season 3 of The Adelaide Podcast

I can’t believe how long it’s taken me to launch Season 3!

As my mentor and Lighting Process practitioner, Helen Harding, has been reminding me for the last 8 years none of us are perfect and sometimes work, training and life have to take precedent, which has unfortunately been the case with Season 3.

However, I’m now back with a shiny new upgraded brand thanks to the marvellous Phil Pallen and Lauren Moore, and with clear direction on where I want to go with mindset coaching!


What can you expect from Season 3 and Season 4

As some of you may know, I’m fascinated by human potential

As a mindset coach and podcaster, I love seeing just how far people can push their limit and how the techniques and strategies they employ help them achieve their potential.

The conversations I’ve had with my guests have helped me develop my own methodology of guiding principles to overcome the seemingly impossible. 

Last year, my podcast won the Shextreme Adventure Podcast competition for my interviews with female adventurers including Megan Hine, Phoebe Smith and Squash Falconer. And I’m super excited to share that episode with you, but I’m afraid for now you’ll have to wait!

However, my podcast's true success can be measured by your successes: one listener will be adventuring in Svalbard in 2020, another has been reducing their race times by 7-8 minutes, and a scientist is now training for the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc.

I just want to thank you guys for continuing to tune in, recommending my podcast and sharing how it has helped you, it provides the greatest motivation to produce each episode and develop the podcast.


My 3 biggest lessons from podcasting in seasons

1. Sound quality

Oh my gosh have I had issues with sound! 

I’ve had to ditch several interviews due to sound in the background disrupting the audio, my Zoom H1 batteries bizarrely dying (it survived on one in Svalbard, but apparently New York was too much to handle) and had to result to my phone, whose audio turned out to be very poor. I now carry A LOT of spare batteries. My MacBook Air no longer being powerful enough and other technicalities that caused my voice to sound like a chipmunk.

[Listen to my podcast on my Svalbard journey here: [S1E13] From Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to cross-country skiing across Svalbard with Adelaide Goodeve]

My editor and podcast extraordinaire, Rob Lawrence has said that he hasn’t known anyone to experience as many audio and podcast challenges! It’s not an achievement, I am particularly proud of, but it has meant that I’m well prepared for the future!

Luckily, from my audio difficulties in New York, I knew the sound quality of my phone was not good when I landed a media position for the Iskar Norseman Xtreme Triathlon in Norway. I wanted to produce Instagram Stories, blogs and a podcast episode of a really high sound quality, so I invested in the Rode VideoMicro Compact Microphone that plugged directly into my Samsung Galaxy S8.The results. Amazing. I can’t wait to share this special Norseman episode with you!

[To find out how I used Instagram Stories to promote the Isklar Norseman Xtreme Triathlon, read my blog: How to use Instagram Stories for your next event]

For the rest of my podcast episodes, I’m now using a Zoom H4 microphone with a audio technical dynamic microphone to bring you the best sound quality I can, so you can hear each conversation with crystal clear clarity!

2. Be present and listen

I remember my very first podcast interview with Sarah Williams like it was yesterday. I felt very prepared, having researched a ton about Sarah and compiled a list of very good questions laid out in the perfect order.

[You can listen to my first episode of The Adelaide Podcast here: [S1E01] How to stop letting fear, overwhelm and/or lack of motivation from achieving your goals with Sarah Williams]

All of my episodes for Season 1 were conducted in this manner and it produced solid interviews. Sarah’s is one of my most downloaded episodes to date. However, I wanted to produce really great episodes.

I turned to Rob Lawrence, who advised me to trust in the process, be present in the conversation and really listen to my guests. Rob told me to ditch my list of questions and just know the outcome I desired for each of my interviews.

I still conducted my research for each guest, often had some questions written out and was more present in my interviews. Although in my head I was often still panicking as the interviewee came to the end of their answer, about how I was going to link their answer to my next question and what would my next question be??

It was just so scary to ditch the questions and trust the process! 

Season 2 was all about improving and finessing my interview technique and I believe as a result, my interviews are of a much higher quality. Squash Falconer even said it was one of the best interviews she’s ever had! This made me very happy. 

[Tune into Squash’s episode here: [S2E04] How to stop thinking 'I can't do that' and achieve the impossible with Squash Falconer]
Season 3 has come around and I am a much more confident interviewer. I still like to conduct some research about my guest, but I just have themes written out on a notepad that I want to cover. This has meant we have segwayed into other areas that were fascinating and it’s a much more natural conversation.

My aim with each interview is for you to feel like you’re having a coffee with us at your favourite cafe while we chat.

Rich Roll is the podcaster that I look up to and with Season 3 I hope I am edging closer to his incredible interview quality.

3. Outside the microphone

What I love about my editors Rob Lawrence and Matt Cheney is that I’m really able to push the boundaries of podcasting: 

  • I’ve recored a mini-episode in an igloo in the heart of Switzerland, and again used sounds from snowshoeing across a mountain. Listen here: [S2E17] How to be a weekend warrior with Adelaide

  • In Season 3, we’ve ripped the sounds from over 40 Instagram Stories together and vlogs to create the Isklar Norseman Xtreme Triathlon Special Episode. I’m really excited about this episode!

  • We’ve stitched together audio snippets and music from all of my female adventurer guests to create the ultimate women in adventure podcast episode for the She Xtreme Podcast Competition, which as I mentioned won the competition! This is coming soon.

  • We’ve mashed up snippets of quotes from my interviewees to create the intro for my podcast which grabs your attention and gets you feeling excited!

  • So what’s next? I’m not sure, but I would like to experiment more with sound to create a deeper experience and really immerse you in the story. If you have any ideas do send me a message to adelaide@adelaidegoodeve.com!

Why it’s no longer called The Wild Show

If you’ve been with me from the very beginning, you’ll know that it used to be called The Lilly Wild Show.

When I was really sick with severe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Lilly Wild was my adventurous alter ego, she had no limits. Whereas I was limited by the severe lack of energy and confined to either my house or bed most days. 

[You can listen to my story here: [S1E13] From Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to cross-country skiing across Svalbard with Adelaide Goodeve]

The Lilly Wild Show was an obvious name for my podcast when I started, as it symbolised that I was living my life to the fullest, breaking the limits my body and mind once placed on me and turning the impossible to the possible.

I decided to change the name for Season 2 to just The Wild Show. This is because I felt I had now fully shed my alter ego. I was strong and living the life I wanted to live. I also kept being called Lilly Wild, which isn’t helpful when building a person brand! 

I kept Wild in my podcast’s name, not because of the connotations with adventure, nor because I was living a wild life. But because I wanted to recognise Frank Wild: The unforgotten polar explorer, who has spent more time in the polar regions than Scott and Shackleton. 

[You can listen to Frank Wild’s story from his autobiographer here: [S1E09] Uncovering the story of one of the Greatest Polar Explorers: Frank Wild with Angie Butler]

All those years ago, Wild inspired and motivated me to fully recover when I was sick, but more than that, his mindset was resilient, strong and enabled him to weather many a storm. 

Shackleton described Wild being icy calm as they stepped off the boat having survived the perilous journey to Elephant Island in the Antarctic. The majority of their comrades were mad and delirious, but Shackleton said Wild looked as if he could be walking through Green Park in London. 

I have now changed my podcast’s name from The Wild Show to The Adelaide Podcast, because many heard Wild and assumed it was an adventure podcast. I’ve interviewed many adventurers, from Kiko Matthews and Sophie Radcliffe to Ian Finch, but the adventure simply provided a vehicle to dive into their incredible mindset.

Now my focus is on the athlete’s mindset and helping athletes, whether they’re world champions, record holders, daredevils, first-timers and amateurs, to achieve extraordinary performance. 

However, my guests have a eclectic background because I believe the mindset techniques a entrepreneur, CEO or adventure practices to enhance their mental fitness can be just as valuable to an athlete and vice versa. 

In Summary…

I’m really excited about Season 3, some of my guests are truly epic, including the CEO of Jaybird Jamie Parker and CEO of Norrøna, Jørgen Jørgensen, I also have the 2018 King and Queen of Norseman talking about triathlon and mindset, and many more awesome guests!

I’d love to hear your thoughts, podcast ideas, if there are any topics you’d like me to cover or your guest recommendations! Just send me an email to adelaide@adelaidegoodeve.com

I really hope you enjoy Season 3 as much as I’ve enjoyed having these conversations!

You might also enjoy: How to push through your limits in sport and business with Jamie Parker