WEBVTT

00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:15.040

Today, I'm reading my post on client retention strategies. Don't go. That's how you might lose a listener in five seconds or however long. I wasn't counting how many seconds, but that's how you lose a listener.

00:00:15.900 --> 00:00:21.060

Nobody out there is really going to care that your episode started as a blog post.

00:00:21.610 --> 00:00:27.240

They're going to care whether or not the next however many minutes you spend talking are worth

00:00:27.500 --> 00:00:33.980

their time. And that opening that I just used is going to announce to that listener that they're

00:00:34.120 --> 00:00:41.540

about to hear some recycled content that they could have read online. So you want to use a cold

00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:50.160

open instead. And this is going to be the most surprising or maybe counterintuitive sentence or

00:00:50.380 --> 00:00:56.700

something that sums up what they're about to learn from the middle of the content or that overview

00:00:57.040 --> 00:01:04.739

of all of it. So say that thing first before you do an intro. If you're doing an intro before you

00:01:04.780 --> 00:01:13.280

say who you are before anything else happens on that episode. So instead of that cold open of

00:01:13.780 --> 00:01:18.400

today I'm reading my blog post on client retention, you might want to try something like,

00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:23.280

hey, most consultants lose clients for reasons that have nothing to do with their work.

00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:30.400

So now if I said something like that, I have a greater chance at holding the listener's attention.

00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:35.180

Now they want to know what you mean by that or more details about it.

00:01:35.430 --> 00:01:42.920

And that opening line is going to earn you the next 60 seconds or 60 minutes if it's a long episode.

00:01:43.380 --> 00:01:49.820

So lead with that insight because if you don't get them there, it doesn't even matter how good the rest of your episode is.

00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:52.380

I'm Jen DeHaan. This is the Credibility Minute.

00:01:52.510 --> 00:01:59.880

So find more episodes or you can get in touch with me and subscribe to the podcast at StereoForest.com slash minute.