Podcast Performance Lab

If you try to sound professional by flattening your voice into a "newscaster" tone in your podcasts or videos, you are actually making it harder for people to listen. Science shows that listeners physically mimic the tension in your voice. Basically, if you feel nothing, then they feel nothing. This episode looks at Simulation Theory and Emotional Contagion. I go over how your vocal prosody trigge...

You might remember the red Swingline stapler from the movie Office Space. All these years later. You can apply that principle to your episodes to stop sounding like every other show. This episode explores Dual Coding Theory and Concreteness Fading. This science explains why abstract phrases like "an efficient workflow" are forgettable while concrete details like "fast editing with Stream Deck" sti...

If you feel awkward staring into a camera lens, you are fighting your own biology. Your nervous system interprets the unblinking stare of a lens as a threat or rejection, even if your brain doesn't. This can lead to many things, including causing your facial muscles to go flat and turn into what actors might call "Dead Eyes." In this episode, we use Dr. Stephen Porges' Polyvagal Theory and the Sti...

If you edit out every breath, "um," and awkward pause because you think it makes you sound more professional, you are actually hurting your authority. Psychology shows that being "too perfect" triggers the Uncanny Valley effect and makes listeners distrust you. In this episode, we look at behavioural psychology (specifically the "Beautiful Mess Effect" and the "Pratfall Effect") to understand why...

Solo podcasting often gets a reputation for being "easy" because you don't have to coordinate with guests. But without a guest to bounce ideas off of, many hosts fall into the trap of rambling or becoming monotonous. You need a specific architecture to hold your audience's attention. In this episode, I break down the three primary structures of solo podcasting: The Storyteller, The Teacher, and Th...

Full scripts can make you sound robotic, but winging it often leads to rambling and hours of painful editing. You need a middle ground that provides the safety of a script with the energy of a conversation. In this episode, I break down the system I use at StereoForest Studio to organize solo episodes. We move away from word-for-word reading and towards "extemporaneous speaking." This method uses...

You have written the perfect script. But the moment you press record, your voice goes flat and you sound like you are reading a textbook. News anchors use teleprompters every day and sound natural, so why is it so hard for the rest of us? In this episode, I break down four specific techniques to fix that robotic delivery. We look at the trade-offs between reading word-for-word and improvising, and...

In this episode, I share the system I use at StereoForest to bridge the gap between writing and speaking for your solo podcast. And I‘ll help you understand the "modality mismatch" concept and why it’s important for scripting your episodes. What you learn in this episode: Why traditional writing styles create a disconnect with podcast listeners The science behind "modality mismatch" and how the br...

In this show we take the most effective tools from improv performance and behavioural psychology, and apply them directly to your video and audio content. If you're building a personal brand, B2B show, or a creative new podcast, you know how you say things matters just as much as what you say. What to expect: Psychology of Presence: Why listeners trust some voices and tune out others (and how to f...

Note: This episode was recorded when this show was known as Human Internet Theory. There's a disconnect in the conversation about AI regulation. While gov't focuses on labeling AI-generated output (like deepfakes), creative professionals are concerned about the copyrighted input used to train these models without permission or compensation. You'll learn: the latest AI content labeling laws in Indi...

Note: This episode was recorded when this show was known as Human Internet Theory. A top venture capital firm is funding one company to create thousands of fake AI influencers, after also funding another company that builds tech to detect them. This is the new "synthetic social web," an emerging industry that is targeting the work of human creative professionals. Which is what this channel is abou...

Note: This episode was recorded when this show was known as Human Internet Theory. Maybe you've heard of "power posing" as a quick fix for confidence. The science behind that famous idea has (kind of) been retracted. In this episode of Human Internet Theory, I look into what happened to the power pose, why the simple "life hack" model failed, and what the latest science says now. This episode cove...

Note: This episode was recorded when this show was known as Human Internet Theory. In this episode of Human Internet Theory, I explore the science behind why a human voice connects with listeners in a way an AI voice cannot. Recent brain scan studies show that our brains work harder and remember more when listening to a human speak vs an AI voice. I break down what this means for you as a small bu...

Note: This episode was recorded when this show was known as Human Internet Theory. You might be missing one of the most important parts of storytelling in your videos and podcasts. It is something we use all the time in improv comedy and character development. You have probably heard how important storytelling is for connecting with your audience, but a key part of that process is sharing your own...

Note: This episode was recorded when this show was known as Human Internet Theory. Generative AI video reached a turning point during these past couple weeks when it became free and accessible to everyone through new apps from OpenAI, YouTube, Meta, and Google. These tools are being aimed squarely at social media (for now, anyway), and this will fundamentally change what we see in our feeds and se...

Note: This episode was recorded when this show was known as Human Internet Theory. In this episode, I offer a different approach to "adding more charisma" (that's certainly a loaded phrase...) for your videos and podcasts. Here I'm thinking of personality kinda like a multi-channel audio mixer. The goal is not to turn up the volume on everything (all the channels) at once, or throw it away to crea...

Note: This episode was recorded when this show was known as Human Internet Theory. The internet is quickly filling up with AI-generated content, including marketing that uses realistic AI avatars. Avatars, digital humans, can look and sound realistic and not have bad hair like me. In this episode, I explore the complex psychology of trust in the age of AI which gets into some of the hidden costs i...

Note: This episode was recorded when this show was known as Human Internet Theory. Sometime, somewhere, you probably heard the advice to "just be yourself" when you are presenting or making videos, podcasts, or any other kind of presentation. For many of us this advice can still lead to feeling stiff or fake on camera or behind the microphone. In this episode, I explain why all communication is a...

Note: This episode was recorded when this show was known as Human Internet Theory. If you have ever felt that wave of anxiety when you hit the record button, I want you to know you are not alone. In this episode, I talk about why so many of us are camera shy. I won't tell you to "fake it till you make it" in this one. Because I think it is more helpful to first understand the real reason behind th...

Note: This episode was recorded when this show was known as Human Internet Theory. Welcome to the first episode of the Human Internet Theory. In this episode, I introduce the core idea behind this entire show. I'm responding to something you've probably noticed yourself... which is the huge increase in AI-generated content online. This idea has a name, the "Dead Internet Theory," which suggests th...