The Paradox of High-Level Podcasting

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in the middle of a live broadcast or interview, had something go wrong, and listeners/participants never knew what I was doing behind the scenes to fix it.

Boards go down. The monitor mix comes in too low. I realize I’m missing a page of prep after I’m on stage in front of a live audience.

That’s the part most people never see. The best people in media make it look effortless, so the audience assumes it is.

Listeners and viewers don’t feel the chaos, the clock screaming in your ear, the physical sprint, or the mental flip from host, to tech support, to engineer, then back to host in real time.

When it’s done right, there is no chaos … at least to everybody else. And that’s the paradox of working at a high level—the harder the job, the less anyone notices.

Laura Rutledge is a great example of this in action. She finished her sideline interviews at the Sugar Bowl, hustled across the entire field, and was live hosting the halftime show within 45 seconds.