Exciting Update, An Opportunity for You, and Looking Ahead

Chris Miller: Okay.
Chris Miller: That means that, uh, I am live.
Chris Miller: I am doing a solo episode, the first of, uh ever since I'd started all the conversations. And I've wanted to do a solo episode for a while now. I want to reflect with all of, um, you. I want to share about the pod cast. Some exciting news for all of us. I'd encourage you to stick around. I'm going to share some surprises and also a cool opportunity. So it's going to be shorter than the typical episodes we have, and I'm.
Chris Miller: Going to approach it in three parts.
Chris Miller: Reflection, opportunity, and future.
Chris Miller: So I'm going to start first with reflection. Um, um as I've been getting a.
Chris Miller: Little more familiar with the podcasting world, I've been reading this book called Make.
Chris Miller: Noise a Creator's Guide to Podcasting by Eric Newsom. If you're interested in podcasting at all.
Chris Miller: Or storytelling, I'd encourage you to check it out.
Chris Miller: A big part of the book that's been impactful to me is to be intentional about your creative pursuit.
Chris Miller: And he suggests using this four point system.
Chris Miller: You who, what and why.
Chris Miller: And I've been thinking about these. I wanted to share my thoughts with.
Chris Miller: All of you so that it gives insight to the podcast we're creating here. So the first point is the creator. Who am I? For those of you who don't know.
Chris Miller: Me, my name is Chris Miller. Ever since I was a little kid, I've always loved asking questions. I was a little unsure of myself.
Chris Miller: In middle school and high school, like I think most people are. But thankfully, I found a great group of friends before graduating, and they helped.
Chris Miller: Me gain that self confidence to notice something about myself.
Chris Miller: And that was that I had an.
Chris Miller: Affinity for asking people questions. When I go to the university, I.
Chris Miller: Decide to study communication. Then I go to graduate school, and.
Chris Miller: I keep studying communication. While I'm there, I am meeting some.
Chris Miller: Really cool people, studying intriguing books, and then I start teaching people public speaking. So I graduate.
Chris Miller: I worked for some different companies, big.
Chris Miller: And small, and I'm learning how to.
Chris Miller: Communicate with clients and stakeholders. And throughout this whole process, I noticed.
Chris Miller: That I really enjoy talking to people and that I think most people do as well.
Chris Miller: But there wasn't much out there discussing this. So that leads me to who and that's everybody listening. And when I think of anybody listening.
Chris Miller: I think of people who are interested in learning how to connect with people better and to really value people. Imagine someone who loves a book. They know that that book is more than just sheets of paper. It's adventures, it's stories, it's lore that can touch emotion. It goes beyond logic, and it builds memory and communities. Those people really respect and value books.
Chris Miller: And my listeners do the same, but.
Chris Miller: They do it with people in conversation. So what is this podcast about? Each episode is a new conversation with a different guest. These guests will vary. Some may be people you've heard of, some not. Some may resound with you, some not.
Chris Miller: But the commonality between every conversation I.
Chris Miller: Have is going to be voicing curiosity of myself and the guest and then connecting with another human being.
Chris Miller: And lastly, why?
Chris Miller: What's the point? Great question.
Chris Miller: The point is that life is better.
Chris Miller: When we talk to people.
Chris Miller: I want everyone to feel welcome to.
Chris Miller: Listen to the show. I want you to feel like I'm speaking directly to you. I want to help you move along a journey to a better version of yourself, who's more plugged in, who's better connected to live a more healthy life with more healthy people.
Chris Miller: So the goal of this podcast, the.
Chris Miller: Why, is to connect with people because people are worth connecting with. And I say that a lot. And I don't want to become an echo, but this is a public health priority. There's an article that I'm going to read, a small excerpt from, written by Kirsten Rear, published in 2018 in the American Psychologist Journal. This is what she says It's not an exaggeration to say that lack of social connections can be deadly. Strong social relationships increases the likelihood of survival by 50%, regardless of age, sex or health status. Also found was that social disconnection is at least as harmful to people as obesity, physical inactivity, and smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. And lack of social companionship is a widespread problem in the US. 20% to 43% of adults over age 60 experience frequent and intense loneliness. And I would wager if we go look at the studies, it goes well beyond the age of 60. For instance, 40, 50, 30. In addition, some 30% of US. Married couples report severely discordant relationships, and the size of the average American's social network, their friends has declined on average by a third since 1985. So our friend groups are shrinking. The people that we socialize with are shrinking. The last point, she says, is still loneliness and social isolation are rarely featured in public health campaigns, psychologists say. I don't think there's a widespread acknowledgment of this as an important health issue, either by major health organizations or by the general public. So with all that being said, believe me when I say life is better when you talk to people and you live life in conversation. So let's do that. Encourage others to do it as well. Share this podcast as an example of conversations being had and an inspiration to join, I've already recorded what? Eleven episodes, and every episode I record is going to resound with different people. So keep that in mind as you share. If you know someone who's interested in something, then match that with the episode they share. So let's encourage others to converse, develop relationships, and live fuller lives.
Chris Miller: Part Two opportunity.
Chris Miller: Um, I've been working on this for some time now, and I'm ready to share it. And that's the Talk to People podcast.
Chris Miller: Patreon community.
Chris Miller: If you don't know how Patreon works, let me say that it's a platform to raise financial support for creative pursuit. People all around the world use this for a variety of things. And when someone wants to support, they can become a member and choose a membership plan. Now, I've created a patreon. You can find it on my website, Talk to Peoplepodcast.com. It's going to be on the homepage. The link's going to be there. And I've tried to make a plan for everyone and anyone. For example, the first tier, it costs less than one dinner a month. I promise it'll fill you up more than that dinner would. The second tier is going to be less than one dinner a month at a restaurant. And again, I promise you'll have more fun supporting the Talk to People podcast than you would have eating that meal. And that means a lot coming from me because, one, I love food. And two, I'm, um, a really big experienced guy. There are a few exclusive things that supporters will receive. I've laid out all of this on the page, so go look at that page. But one I'd like to mention is a compilation of communication takeaways from the podcast. I'm going to regularly update this in intervals based off a certain number of guests, but it's going to be a list of things that I'm learning. And I hope this will genuinely add value to your conversations so that you can also stand on my shoulders and impress what I've been learning to everybody else. And lastly, kind of like, what's this money going towards for? This is it sunny's dog food. It's not going to be anything like that. Not yet at least. All the money that comes in is going to be reinvested into the podcast. And I'm talking video equipment to visually record the podcast and post for all those visual learners out there. Higher grade audio equipment to grab a more crisp and clean sound software licenses, digital material, hosting costs for the website and the podcast. Travel funds to get to guests that are near, but would be great to have on the show, marketing efforts and then moving into an official studio. It's a big goal, but I think it's attainable little by little, a studio that I won't have to remove from the dining room each time we have guests over. I really want this podcast to grow, and I think it's incredibly important. I think for a lot of the reasons I've mentioned, it's a great opportunity for us to improve. And with all of that being said, I want to say this podcast is free. It always will be free. You listening and supporting the podcast means more than anything. And I know a lot of people are feeling pinched right now when it comes to money. So I want to say thank you for being here and that's it. But to those who are able and willing, if this show has added any value to your life, please consider joining the Talk to People podcast Patreon community. You can go to patreon.com talktpeoplepodcast or go to talktepoplepodcast.com, and I'll have that link on my home page. All right. The last thing m m when I launched this podcast, I knew a few people would listen to it, but I would have never expected the level of support it's gotten. There are listeners from all around the world who are listening, sharing, and giving me feedback about the podcast. I know numbers, for the most part, are just a vanity metric, but it's cool to see that people are choosing to listen to the show. Shortly after I launched the podcast, a local organization, the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence, they reached out to me. They had just recently built a new teen center, and they wanted to offer a podcasting program out of it. So we had a few meetings and we agreed that it's important for the teens in Lawrence, Kansas, to have the opportunity to learn how to podcast and have a safe space to do it. Self expression is so important, especially when you're figuring out life as a teenager. So later this month in March, we'll be starting a podcasting program there. So shout out to the Boys and Girls Club nationally and specifically here in Lawrence. And, uh, another part of this is I don't want to spoil anything, but the next podcast I release, like this upcoming Monday, was actually recorded in the new Boys and Girls Club studio. And the guest is an inspiration, a friend, and just a force to be reckoned with. Super excited for that. A good friend of mine has a band, and that band is doing quite well. So I'm going to essentially join the media tour for him. We've done a podcast where we talk about his creative vision, what it's like growing up, how he grew his band, what touring is like, what it feels like when other people are singing the song lyrics that you wrote, and how to hit the algorithm on a streaming platform like Spotify. This is a great friend, a great entertainer. A few other things that I want to tell you. I borrowed a camera and for the first time, I was able to film a podcast. My goal is to one day bring you video for every podcast I record. I was washing dishes the other day and listening to a podcast, and I looked it up on YouTube and the video was there, and it really improved my experience. A lot of communication is nonverbal, so while you can hear my tone, you can hear my pace, which I'm trying to go quite quickly. I should probably slow down, but you can also hear my volume. You can't see my nonverbal expressions. And I want you to be able to, because that means so much, so I hope to be getting video pretty soon. It's another part of the patreon, and I'm not going to put a timeline on this, but another thing that I want to do is aim to be releasing two podcasts a week. So that's one every Monday. You'll always have a new Talk to People podcast episode every Monday at 07:00 a.m.. But I hope one day to release a new one every Thursday. I'm investing a lot of time into this podcast.
Chris Miller: I really wanted to grow.
Chris Miller: I've met incredible people through this. Tomorrow alone, I have five meetings scheduled to meet more people, prep for a podcast, or learn something that I think is going to help me. And if you have any feedback for me on this journey, you can email me at uh, Talk to peoplepodcast@gmail.com. You can find me on social media at uh. Talk to Peoplepodcast. But this baby is growing, so as I leave you, rate the show wherever you listen. This is a simple thing. Apple podcast spotify, Google, share it with everyone from the east to the west, to the north, to the south, and then have a great day. I'm going to keep creating as long as you continue to talk to those around you. I think we may be on to something. All right, as always, I'll see you next time, folks. You one, two, one.