On Solo Podcasting: Bill Burr, Chris D'Elia, Bert Kreischer

I’m Misbah Haque. And I’m somebody who has been podcasting since 2016. I’m not someone who’s like cute and gets millions of downloads or something.

But I am somebody who loves podcasting and pays very close attention to what’s working, and what’s not.

I love breaking down and paying attention to people who are doing well. And the behind the scenes talk.

So just like writers probably enjoy hearing writing advice or talking about processes, even though they might not implement the advice. It’s just like, what works for you? How do you like to do things? Maybe I might be able to implement something into my process.

And so my favorite thing is when podcasters do this, and there’s a lot of famous authors and people that talk about it on their shows like, “oh, how are you using podcasting? Please help me sell books. And how’s it working out?”

I found the reason those things never actually get clipped out is that most people wouldn’t be maybe interested in that unless you are starting a podcast yourself. 

So I wanted to take the initiative to find all of these different quotes and pieces because they are in my phone, their notes, I’ve taken timestamps I’ve written down different podcasts that are very varied for

Chris D'Elia and Bert Kreischer on Solo Podcasting

Chris D’Elia 

I started my podcast congratulations, like, at eight, five, six weeks ago now. And even from then I feel like Oh, I get it now. Like now I’m now this is who I am. Do you know what I mean? And I’ve used bits from that on stage. And now when I’m on stage, I feel like oh, it’s kind of like, I’m just in my room talking about talking like, I’m on my podcast. So like, I feel like I kind of turned the corner when I started my podcast, but like I feel like those moments come.

Bert Kreischer 

Your podcast is super interesting because it is just a real extension of you. As for your sense of humor.

Chris D’Elia 

I do it solo and I was like, I’ll do it solo for three times. And I’ll probably have to get guests. I was like, I don’t know how I’m gonna do this. Keep talking for an hour. I mean, I know we do it on stage every night, but it’s gonna plan.

Bert Kreischer 

Just a testament to how good your podcast is, it’s really hard to do a solo podcast, just coming up with a couple of subjects and ranting for an hour. Bill Burr when he did him when I started my podcast, I was like, maybe I’ll do it solo. Let’s do it solo. You don’t need guests. And I did a couple of solos. And he goes, they’re not gonna be he was like, let them be bad for like a year, and then they’ll get better, and then they’ll get really good.

And then you won’t even think about it. And then your writing on stage will be so strong. And I was like, I’m just gonna guess. Did I do any real estate or podcasts know I did some solo? 

Chris D’Elia 

Oh, really?

Bert Kreischer 

I did some solo ones. And they were I did a solo one. Chris, this is OG Bearcats, fans know this. I sang a pirate song where I would just get whacked on coffee on a Sunday morning.

And I just come in and do a podcast by myself. And I sang the pirate song of what if I was a pirate, instead of Yo, what I would say? And it was so almost creepy. Like almost like if you watch a video of a serial killer go like when he shaves his head. And he’s like, alright, and people to this day are like, do I remember the pirate song? Because it was just me being weird as fuck in someone’s ear.

And there no and there were no notes. No, and it was so fucked up. But it was fun. And what I liked about it got me weird, it got me out of my comfort zone

The power of solo podcasting

The strategy of using solo podcasting as a way to get better at a craft at a skill. And not just for more downloads. And for a marketing purpose is significant.

I’m very inspired by the fact that he continues to stick to that format because podcasting is audio.

And a lot of times you need to use video to make your show successful. And he does that with a bunch of his other ones.

But with his Monday morning podcast, it’s still audio most of the time, it’s solo, and it’s not super, super funny all the way through.

I think that should be inspiring. That doesn’t have to be like a home run every single time in your world. It might be it is interesting or educational. 

If you look at Dr. Andrew Huberman, a great scientist, and genius researcher. And he’s somebody who’s doing so low, like kind of almost like he’s delivering a lecture through this podcast format. He’s answering questions that are coming in.

So anyway, that’s just something I wanted to share with you if you’ve been skeptical about solo podcasting, you’re like ah, it’s weird. I don’t know if I can do it.

But if you want to look at Bill Burrs’ podcast, listen to it. He started on his phone. It used to be him picking up the phone and recording it through there. And it can be bad but if it connects, if it’s real, if there’s something authentic to it, it just goes to show you that podcasting is worth it to get better at a certain set of skills like listening, speaking, talking, timing, improvisation, whatever or it might be and then all of the other success, the reach the connections, the authority, the trust, the sales, anything that comes from it is all kind of a byproduct.

I wanted to share this with you because it’s been something that’s been toiling on my mind for years. I’ve thought about it forever.

It’s been something I’ve been impacted by, it’s weird to get over the fact that you’re alone in a room talking into a microphone. So you automatically feel like you’ll be robotic, you won’t be kind of your truest self. 

But Bill Burr is a comedian. And he figures out how to kind of talk and make it entertaining and keep talking and coming up with stuff even though he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

How to improve your solo podcast

If you do an hour or 30 minutes or whatever, every single week, twice a week, you will get better at those skills of speaking, listening, figuring out your verbal tics, and all that good stuff.

So podcasting is worth it for you if you set the parameters right.

And what you want to get what skills you want to kind of improve with podcasting and what goals you want it to help you achieve, then it’s a win-win, even if 50 People or 100 people are downloading your stuff.

The solo podcast built a very strong connection. Theo von is another one that I’ll break down another day, but there are a lot of people who are solo pas, not everybody might listen to there are a lot of people who will be like, Ah, I love the guest ones. I hate solo ones.

But the people who do are drawn to the ones that are so heavy, special one-to-one connections that I don’t think can be replaced. Maybe the only thing that’s a little stronger is YouTube because you get this one-on-one feel but even then I think podcasting is a little more real and intimate, not as many cuts and all that stuff. 

So anyway, I hope you found this useful.