Speaker - January/February 2009

O3On my 16th birthday, my folks gave me an aquamarine Emerson^®transistor radio. As the eldest of nine children, I could tune in to my favorite radio station, KFWB, and tune out all my siblings. Now millions of people are tuning out the world and listening to their favorite music, as well as podcasts, on their iPods^® or other MP3 players.

Thanks to enhanced technology and the Internet, a media revolution is taking place. Unfortunately, many of us are victims of TCD; that is, Technology Challenged Disease. We appreciate the value of technology, but don’t always understand the nuts and bolts of it. I’m not a techie by any stretch of the imagination, but I’ve long since replaced my transistor radio with a 160-gigabyte iPod^® and the latest Bose Acoustic Noise Cancelling^® headphones.

In 2007, I explored the world of New Media by attending two major conferences: The Podcast and New Media Expo and the Blog World and New Media Expo. The podcast was a major focus of these expos. For those who suffer from a severe case of TCD, a podcast is an audio program con-

verted to a MP3 file, which is easily down-loaded over the Internet via i Tunes^® or other delivery systems, for playback in an iPod^® or similar MP3 device.

In October 2004, only 24 podcasts were listed on Google. Today, tens of millions of podcasts are available. Why this amazing increase? Because podcasts are all about shifting time and place. We listen to a podcast when we want and where we want. It is the perfect medium for multi-tasking. We can tune in while commuting, walking the dog or exercising.

Key Elements for Success So, as a professional speaker, how do you tap into the power of podcasting? I remember watching I Love Lucy, our family’s favorite television program. This popular program was the brainchild of the highly talented Lucille Ball, and her husband, Desi Arnaz, who produced the show and devised the innovative three-camera shoot, a live audience, and filming the programs for posterity. Today, a half-century later, millions of people around the world are still watching I Love Lucy reruns.