Joe Ferraro and Brian Levenson Host vs. Guest--Whose Responsibility is it Anyway?

Typically, I don’t like to have guests back on the podcast for a 2^nd time. But today is a little different. Joe and I decided to create a podcast that is interesting, unique, and something that I got a ton of excitement out of. We get into the weeds of if being a guest on a podcast is different than being a host on a podcast, which led to further conversations about being a host vs. being a guest in life, since there are so many facets of society in which we play host and in which we play guest.

 

As a little bit about Joe if you don’t remember from our past conversation, Joe Ferraro is currently entering his 23rd year as an educator, teaching 12^th grade English. Joe also teaches public speaking and creative writing. In addition to his work in the classroom, he is the founder of damngoodconversations.com. Damn Good Conversations is a company whose mission it is to teach you repeatable ways to have the best conversations in your life and work. His flagship service is a weekly personal growth podcast, which is called “One Percent Better.”

 

If this episode resonates with you, let me know. And if it doesn’t, I would love to hear your thoughts on why you felt that way as well.

 

Joe and I had a number of insights during our conversation. Some of them include:

“I usually use the word workshop. Because if you feel like you’re listening to a keynote, regardless of if you’re 1 person or 1 of 30, the idea is that you’re going to sit there and you’re going to listen the entire time. That’s not how I do [talks]. I do experiences” (8:20).

“I don’t want to talk at people, I want to talk with people” (8:40).

“Whenever you’re having a planned meaningful conversation or a meeting, agendas are so valuable” (10:35).

“I don’t want host and guest to bleed over into status roles” (14:10).

“Everything in this podcast arena, with a microphone, is all the same to me because this is where I want to be” (16:50).

“My preparation as a host far exceeds my preparation as a guest” (20:30).

“I very rarely go into a conversation without, baseline, 5-10 questions” (22:20).

“I could be more intentional as a guest” (22:30).

“Anytime someone is paying me to help them figure some stuff out, I need to honor that. That is a big deal. When you put stuff out on a microphone into the real world, that is a big deal” (23:00).

“If you are only going to be the one asking questions and you’re never going to share yourself and be vulnerable in any conversation, I’m not so sure that that is leading, I’m not so sure that that is how you build a great relationship. It’s a one-way street and I think great conversations are two ways” (25:20).

“Great leaders listen. Great leaders ask great questions. That is true. And, great leaders offer great insight and need to be able to share with conviction what they believe” (27:00).

“A couple episodes ago, I threw out this idea of a reverse mentor. Which is someone who’s less experienced, usually younger, but certainly and vitally less experienced than me, who I intentionally sought out to learn from” (29:00).

“I’m against shooting the breeze and seeing where things go. Once the relationship has been established where there’s mutual respect and expertise on at least one side, if not both, now I’m diving in with two feet” (30:10).

“Reverse mentor: someone with less experience who can give me fresh eyes” (30:15).

“We both believe there are different forms of preparation, but it has to exist” (32:00).

“Your attention and your focus are incredible commodities” (33:15).

“Being a good host does not guarantee you will be a good guest, and being a good guest does not guarantee you will be a good host” (36:30).

“When I watch a panel and someone knows how to do it, I sit back in awe, because it’s so hard to ask questions that are interesting and unique and can unlock someone’s potential and how they think” (41:45).

“Would you rather be interviewed by Tim Ferris, or would you rather interview Tim Ferris?” (42:40)

“Saying nothing is different than saying something and bringing a different shine to it” (48:00).

“Those who are interesting are interested” (49:05).

“We are constantly playing host and guest with people we’re talking with, there just may not be a blinking light or a microphone” (49:40).

“I think it’s okay to treat different opportunities differently” (50:50).

“’Not everybody thinks that way’ is a really powerful framing mechanism” (51:50).

 

You can check out the website for Damn Good Conversations here. Also, I highly recommend following Joe on Twitter @FerraroOnAir.

Thank you so much to Joe for coming back on the podcast!

I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.