Sharing your Work through Podcasts

Introduction

I never imagined I’d be adding podcaster to my bio; read on to learn how I found myself become a podcaster, how the project has grown to become a recognised resource for Advance Care Planning and find out about the skills you need to share your work in this increasingly popular medium. You never know, you may one day be adding podcaster to your bio too.

How the journey started

Advance Care Planning has been a passion and interest throughout my career in Palliative and End of Life Care. I observed a universal theme, no matter what setting I worked in, planning ahead was reactive rather than proactive; Advance Care Planning started too late in a patient’s illness journey.

I set out to change this and founded Speak For Me to:

• Improve Professional understanding of Advance Care Planning
• Raise Public Awareness about Advance Care Planning
• Normalise the Important Conversations we all should be having

Through my growing business I have become an advocate, educator and coach for Advance Care Planning delivering education, working with organisations to improve services as well as a Lasting Power of Attorney Consultant. It is exciting to develop a portfolio career and bring together my skills, knowledge and experience of 30 years in palliative and end of life care.

Becoming a podcaster wasn’t part of my business plan, instead it evolved from a serendipitous connection on Twitter (X) with an incredible lady called Clair Fisher. Following diagnosis with stage 4 bowel cancer Clair campaigned for three key areas:

• Early intervention palliative care
• The benefits of working while living with a terminal illness
• Breaking down taboos around death and dying.

Shortly before Clair’s death she Tweeted how hard it was for her voice to be heard, despite meticulous planning ahead. I’d worked previously with Clair so reached out again to ask if she would like to talk publicly about her experience to help others. With incredible generosity Clair agreed and the first episode How to ensure your plans are heard with Clair Fisher was created.

The next 100 episodes

From that initial episode, released in December 2021, the podcast series Conversations About Advance Care Planning has grown and, (at the time of writing in August 2024), stands at one hundred episodes. Guests include international subject experts and bestselling authors alongside healthcare professionals and people with lived experience. The diversity of episodes help to show the many facets of Advance Care Planning.

In May 2024 the podcast was recognised by Hospice UK and featured as a resource for the annual Dying Matters Awareness week.

Podcasting tips and skills

You’ll find a plethora of information on the technical side of podcasting, from choosing you hosting platform to which equipment to buy (I went for Libsyn and a Podtrack P4 for those that like to know technical detail). The skills I share below instead offer practical skills and tips for you to consider when starting out on your own podcasting journey.

1. Choose your style

Podcasts can be solo or a discussion between two or more people. I choose from the outset to focus on a discussion between two people, the guest and me. I have created episodes with multiple guests, but find the technical side of things to be more complex both in terms of the recording and managing the discussion. Preparation is key here as well as understanding the style of your guests; if they know each other well they will be familiar with taking turns to answer and it will flow, for others it may be easier to plan ahead who will answer what question.

For solo episodes, I have to admit I found the concept of talking at a microphone a challenge. I had planned a series of seven solo episodes focusing on “Dying at home, what you need to know and how to be prepared,[i]” but struggled to talk at a microphone without a guest.  The solution I found was to engage the support of Rachel Lankaster, host of the popular podcast the Magnificent Midlife. Rachel acted as a mirror in the podcasts asking questions which enabled me to share the information needed for the series.

2. Value your communication skills

Being a podcaster involves communication. Whilst I have had to learn the technical side of podcasting, the conversation with guests seemed a natural extension of the communication skills I have used throughout my career.

As you consider stepping into podcasting, remember the skills you already have in communication; the ability to listen, reflect and summarise conversations all of which are valuable as a podcaster.

3. Recognise the humility and confidence to learn in pubic

Unlike a blog or paper that can be edited, tweaked and amended, a podcast is a recording of a conversation or your thoughts. This can make you feel vulnerable. There aren’t many people who are naturally comfortable with hearing their voice, and I can guarantee that every time you listen to a recording you will wish you said something a little differently or used a few less “ums…”. I’m here to say that’s OK, remember a podcast is a conversation and conversations will ebb and flow and are not perfect.

You will also be learning a new skill and craft in public, and that takes courage. I have found that good planning helps to create confidence. This means knowing the aim of each episode at the outset and agreeing questions with guests. I meet with most guests before each recording, this is an important step enabling us to build a rapport and agree questions.

4. Enlist help for you to be your best

There are many people who record, edit and produce their own podcasts; I am not one of them. It is perfectly possible to edit independently but I recognised that this would not be a strength of mine and chose to engage an editor, Martin Whiskin, for the podcasts. The value this brings extends far beyond the technical editing with Martin providing valuable feedback and thoughts for the direction of the podcast. I also check in with Martin and we record an episode together every twenty-five episodes; these provide a great summary of how far the podcast has grown.

Episodes with Martin:

Reflecting on Conversations About Advance Care Planning with Martin Whiskin

Conversations that are making a difference with Martin Whiskin

Having fun with Advance Care Planning

Planning not panicking Advance Care Planning with Martin Whiskin

5. Be consistent and patient

Decide on how often you want to produce a podcast and commit to this – consistency matters. When you are building up an audience you need to decide how frequently you can commit to releasing an episode and then be consistent. Your style will influence your frequency, as the pre and post work involved shapes what time will be needed for each episode. It’s OK to take a break, but make sure listeners know when you’ll be returning with new episodes.

You’ll need patience to build up listeners. It really does start with just one person but will grow as you share content consistently. You’ll need to consider which networks and social media are appropriate to target for your content and I share a headliner with each guest for us both to promote the episode.

Call to action

The new season of Conversations About Advance Care Planning begins in September 2024, you can subscribe on all usual podcast platforms and contact me if you have an Advance Care Planning question or experience you would like to see covered.

Contact details

Twitter (X) @ClareFuller17

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[i] Dying at home, what you need to know and how to be prepared – Recognising when someone might be in the last stages of life

Dying at home, what you need to know and how to be prepared – What support is available to help look after a person who is dying at home

Dying at home, what you need to know and how to be prepared – What equipment might be needed to help look after a person who is dying at home

Dying at home, what you need to know and how to be prepared – Symptom control and medication as someone approaches the end of life at home

Dying at home, what you need to know and how to be prepared – What changes are there as someone approaches the end of life?

Dying at home, what you need to know and how to be prepared – What we need to do after a person has died at home

Dying at home, what you need to know and how to be prepared – Changing plans, anticipatory grief and planning ahead