Podcasting

...In the month following the Very Bad Men premiere things started to pick up on the media side of JoAnnSpeaksOut. Some directly related to the tweets and Facebook messages my ever helpful boyfriend Steve sent out in promoting the show for me. He has worked on his podcast for almost 5 years and a lot of the other LA comics have their own podcasts that Steve was familiar with and a few he had on his show. He asked if being a guest on one would be something I would be interested in and I jumped at the potential opportunity so he started reaching out to them. 

My first would be 'Paul Gilmartin's Mental Illness Happy Hour'. Paul's motto is "You Are Not Alone" and his weekly online podcast interviews with comedians, artists, friends and the occasional doctor all exploring mental illness, trauma, addiction and negative thinking. He was diagnosed with clinical depression and the podcast was born out of that. He gave me some information to prepare for the show and I arrived that day very nervous. Although I had told my story many times before it was in the traditional speaker setting and the interviews I conducted were for filming. The radio format was unfamiliar to me and I didn't know what to expect. Paul an experienced podcaster and excellent interviewer brought me through my story letting me speak the majority of the time but interjecting with questions that he knew would provide answers to what his listeners expected. The show lasted about an hour and a half and by the end I was really enjoying myself. Because I was being interviewed by a comedian there was just the right element of laughter to it. Afterward he said I did great so I was happy to have contributed well to his show. My interview has just been posted although a year later since he organizes guests in a particular order but with all the support I've received since originally recording it now has a far greater reach to my Followers & Friends.

Next I would be introduced to Rosie Tran and invited to speak on her 'Out of The Box' podcast. Rosie interviews a motley crew of her friends, colleagues and contemporaries in an interview and conversational style. She had me on to share my story as she also had a previous personal experience with sexual assault. In this interview we also discussed what my message is and moving forward after a date rape or sexual assault. Because we had this unfortunate experience in common we were able to have a more personal discussion during the interview. After this podcast aired I had received much support and my very first direct social media criticism from a "troller". I had written about this in a earlier post and as do these comments usually go they are written by someone who usually doesn't take the time to either listen to the entire interview or read the entire story before making their uneducated, uninformed, ignorant comments. So they are taken with a "consider the source" attitude.

Then I was invited by Jeannette Rizzi to be on her 'Blindsided' podcast. Jeannette opens her mike to experts in the field of suicide prevention, callers, as well as stories from her own personal journey. Although her podcast, one woman show and documentary center around the subject of suicide she tries to find the funny in the dark side of life. Also part of the show are Family Therapist Jeffrey Munn and Comedian Carlos Escobar and it's a light-hearted atmosphere. This one was different than the others because it airs live over the radio which brings another element to it. I also liked have several other people present and part of the show. Jeannette and the others asked me questions after telling my story and we also discussed rape jokes which have become more controversial of late so I weighed in on my opinion about how they shouldn't be told carelessly and just for the sake of throwing another joke into a comic's act. It was a fun hour that included a lot of laughter. Jeannette has since updated her format and invited me back a few months ago.

I am thankful and grateful to Paul, Rosie and Jeannette for all taking a chance on me as I was inexperienced in this particular medium although experienced in public speaking. With each podcast I was able to reach another audience in which I would not have had the opportunity to before. As I always say my goal is to speak out, get a conversation going and hopefully help a victim out there gain the strength to speak out themselves and get the help and support they need and deserve.

You can hear my podcast interviews on the media links tab of my website JoAnnSpeaksOut.com and I urge you to support and listen to Paul, Rosie and Jeannette's podcasts as they are doing very noble selfless work.

If you would like to listen to:

Paul Gilmartin's Mental Illness Happy Hour

Rosie Tran's Out of the Box Podcast

Jeannette Rizzi's Blindsided Podcast