The Instructor Podcast with Terry Cook talking with leaders, innovators, experts and game changers about what drives them.

Welcome to the Instructor Podcast.

This is a show that helps you become an even more awesome driving instructor.

And as always, I am your host, Terry Cook.

Now, those of you that are using effective observations will have noticed that the title for this show is Time to Hit Reset.

And that's because I have chosen to completely overhaul the instructor podcast in the format, the structure and everything around it.

A lot of stuff's getting dropped, a lot of stuff's getting moved, but it's basically getting overhauled.

And I'm going to tell you about what we're doing, but before we get into that, let me just tell you a little bit as to why.

Because I first released this podcast back in 2021, and there was a few goals around it which I have spoken about before, but those goals were that I wanted to provide information and inspiration to driving instructors.

I also wanted to provide a platform to people that I believed in, because at the time, it was really difficult to find anyone that wasn't shouting about standards check and part three.

Now, don't get me wrong, there were things available.

It's just they were really well hidden.

And part of what I wanted to do was give a platform to that.

And when I look back, the likes of that first season of Chris Benstead and Rob Cooling and Mick Knowles, who just launched his podcast at the time.

Now, these guys weren't just talking about the standard check, they were talking about other stuff.

And I wanted to give a platform to them, but also people outside the industry that we can bring in, people like Dino Tartaglia, Dr.

Liz Box, and even later down the line, people like Sharon Huddleston.

And that was the big goal.

And when that podcast came out, there was really, at the time, only one.

One other podcast out there, which was Dipod.

Now, Mick released his at the same time, but there was only one prominent podcast at the time, which was Dipod.

Well, if we fast forward to now, there's loads.

And not just podcasts, but there's podcasts and YouTube channels and Facebook lives and TikTok channels and webinars and all kinds of amazing stuff.

And don't get me wrong, I think it's brilliant that there is this much stuff and this much variety out there, but it does bring some problems.

You know, on the recent episode of the Green Room recorded, I mentioned this to Bob.

I asked the question, and it was a question out of genuine curiosity, which was, are we running the risk of there being too much.

And Bob's response was that if you go in a pub and there's loads of beers, do you complain about it?

And for me, personally, I might not complain, but it does make it harder.

You know, if I go in a pub and there's 10 craft ales on display, I'm struggling to choose which one.

How do I know which one's good?

Even if a friend recommends one to me, well, that might be a great craft ale for them, but it might be crap for me.

So the more choice there is, the harder it can be sometimes.

So if I go in a pub when there's free craft ales, brilliant.

Let's just say there's one good craft ale.

Well, I've got a 1 in 3 chance of getting it, where if there's one good craft ale in 10, I've got a 1 in 10 chance.

So I do think the volume and the amount of noise and the amount of choice that is available is a really good thing.

But like I say, it does bring about that set of problems.

And I think the other problem it's brought about is people hopping from one thing to the next.

So there's people out there that will listen to a podcast episode, not put anything into action, then go and watch it next YouTube video, not put anything into action, jump on an online course, not put anything into action, go on a workshop, not apply anything for the things I've learned, and then listen to a podcast on the way home and still not apply anything.

And I think that's my concern, that there's a lot of noise and not a lot of action.

And then the other thing is that that idea of that standards check and the part three stuff, because as I mentioned earlier, it was really, really prominent back in 2021, but throughout 2022 and 2023, the focus shifted.

I think there were more people that realized, hold on, I don't have to just talk about the standards check to get people to come on my course.

I can do all these other weird and wonderful courses or YouTube videos or podcasts, and it flourished.

But 2023, 2024, and now it feels like it's really come back around again and that entire focus is back on part three and standards check, which, again, just to clarify, is important.

It's got a place, it should be there, but it's not the be all and end all, and it's underselling so much of what's available.

And I think that as a PDI that comes into industry, or even a new adi, that's going to be the focus because you're going to have people talking about the test that you need to pass and that's going to be the focus because then you miss all this other stuff that's out there.

So I think that these are just the concerns that have been running around my brain over the past year, really, when I've been reflecting back on this podcast.

Because if we look at it, I'm part of the noise.

I put a lot of stuff out, I shout about it a lot on social media and I've done a lot of reflecting and I think it's, it's time for a change.

Because if I'm being honest, the other aspect of this is it's not as much fun.

And I think for all the reasons I've just discussed, it's not as much fun.

You know, when I put an episode out on a Sunday and it's talking about, you know, how to get your posture correct in the car so you don't have back troubles later in life.

Or it's with Dr.

Liz Box talking about the goals for driver education or, you know, these things that I will consider often, not always, but often far more important than a standard check or a part three.

And I put that out and on the same day I scroll Facebook and I'm seeing all this content being shouted about about the standard check.

And part three.

It's, I don't know, I find it real demoralizing, especially when people aren't taking action on the thing.

And that was another goal of mine when I started.

I always wanted to have fun.

I always wanted to enjoy it.

I never wanted it to be too poor faced.

Yes, there's been serious topics discussed in a serious manner, but I've always attempted to be light hearted with it.

So some of the criticism I get sometimes is that I might be too jovial or whatever.

That's never going to change.

That's me and that's me bringing the light heartedness to these episodes.

But it stopped being as much fun.

So I decided to make a change and that change is a complete overhaul.

So I had planned out the next season of the podcast I'd mapped out and it was going to be a health and wellbeing show and I've arranged for some guests to come on.

Well, that's all getting scrapped.

There will no longer be seasons of the instructor podcast.

There will no longer be 60 plus episodes a year.

It's getting stripped back.

So here's what's coming.

We're focusing around two main points Two main areas, if you like, and they're going to be what I'm referring to as specials.

An example of what they might be.

I'm currently working on a documentary style project around what it takes to become a good trainer.

What are the qualities on becoming a good trainer?

And that's taken a lot of work and that's going to be out further down the line.

But that's an example of a special.

Another one would be the In Conversation with series.

Now, if you're not familiar with that, last year myself and Laura recorded for about 10 hours and created, I think it was six episodes off the back of that.

And I called it In Conversation with Laura Morris.

And that was great.

And I love that.

That felt quite different, it felt quite special.

And I've got the next one of those penciled in.

And also things like the Meganar, which is back in July, by the way.

So make sure you are subscribed to instructor podcast email to get all the updates on that when that returns in July.

But we are going to continue with those specials, but they're not going to be every month because I can't produce that level of quality on a.

On a weekly or monthly basis.

So they're going to be a bit sporadic when I can.

But the second area we're going to focus on is a monthly show and that show is going to go out on the last day of every month.

Now, again, those of you that are using effective observations will be aware that the Green Room currently goes out on the last day of every month.

Well, the Green Room is going away.

At least kind of going away, because if you've listened to the show regularly the last six months, we often start off by saying there's not a lot of news.

So it's something that myself and Chris have spoken about a little bit.

And the choice here is we're going to record the Green Room when either there is some news that we want to talk about that isn't just around driving test waiting times and stuff like that, because let's face it, we've done that to death.

And there's only so much more context you can add to it without just becoming two grumpy old men, which I believe I actually was a title for an episode because that's what it felt like.

And then we'll also bring it back if there's just a key topic we want to discuss.

So the Green Room isn't going away altogether, but it's going to come in when there's something we want to talk About.

But there will be that end of month.

Sure.

Which will have a different feel to it.

And the first one will be on the 31st of May, and we've already got that lined up.

And I'm really looking forward to this one and that.

So they're the two main areas of focus.

We're going to have the monthly show and we're going to have these specials.

Now, the other thing I'm doing is, and this started off in the Instructor Premium membership, which is where a lot of my ideas start.

I like to trial stuff out in there and sometimes roll out into the public, is that with each episode that we release, you will get a mini workbook.

Now, I started doing this several weeks ago back in the Instructor Podcast Premium, and it's evolved already.

So initially it was just like a bit of a breakdown of the episode, but now it's evolved into what I'm calling these mini workbooks.

So there's a detailed breakdown of the episode, there's key takeaways, there'll be some quotes from it, there's reflective questions, there's action points.

The things that you go and do next, with the idea being that you can listen to an episode, print off this mini workbook or save it to your phone or whatever, and then go and put it into action.

That's the whole premise around why I've restructured this.

The less noise, more action.

I want people listening to these podcasts to take action.

And that's why I brought it in in the membership.

Because over there, people do take action.

That's.

That's why they're paying for that membership, because they will listen to or watch or read that's been created over there and take something from it and apply it.

Now, that's not every single thing I do.

You know, there'll be some episodes that people just listen to and enjoy.

There'll be other episodes where people listen and disagree.

But there'll be some way you can find something.

You can find a nugget of gold or.

Or several ideas that you can go and apply.

And that's what I want.

That's what I want going forward.

So there'll be less noise, more action, and these workbooks will go alongside it in the idea to actually get you taking action.

Now, that doesn't stop you listening to all the stuff.

It doesn't stop you attending workshops.

It's just taking action on the thing that you're doing.

And that's what I want to change.

Now, the other thing I want to mention here is the fun aspect because I kind of mentioned that before that I wanted to enjoy it and I've always enjoyed the random episodes.

So you can expect lots of fun little random stuff as well.

You know, earlier this year I released my Zoom links so people go and book 15 minute recording sessions on on the topic of their choice and I really enjoyed that.

I think I call them mini casts.

I'm going to do some more of them.

You know, they're just going to be fun little episodes that go out and things like the 6 for 60 as well.

Stuff that's fun and enjoyable and people can learn from but maybe more light hearted than the normal stuff.

So the days are gone when I'm going to be producing 60 plus episodes a year as well as everything else I do aside from the podcast.

The focus is going to be less noise, more action.

The other point I want to make here is around sponsorship because the last few seasons have been sponsored bright coaching have sponsored two seasons, my drive time sponsored the last season on technology.

And I feel like at this point I want to say that I am ridiculously grateful for both of those.

I think they were both tremendous sponsors and I also want to take a moment to thank everyone else that has offered to sponsor this show.

It means a lot that such established organizations are happy to come along and want to be associated with instructor podcast.

So you know, I really appreciate that.

However, this is a really bad financial decision I'm making but this show will no longer be sponsored.

Having the show sponsor takes some of the fun out of it.

For me.

It feels a little bit like I am beholden to someone and I'm really not.

I recently joined the ADI njc.

I recently started up a new driving school with support driving school.

And a stipulation for both of those things were the instructor podcast cannot be affected.

It still needs to be its own thing.

It needs to be my thing.

That's how much I love this podcast.

That's how much I, I like having that free reign.

And as, as bright coaching on my drive time were tremendous sponsors.

I enjoyed working with them.

But I do feel a little bit beholden to someone.

So I'm making a very, very poor financial decision.

And just to clarify, I have turned sponsorship down and very poor financial decision.

Much like changing this podcast is potentially a really bad decision for the podcast because let's be honest, it's a really successful podcast.

I do great numbers.

But that's not just the metric I use.

The impact the podcast has, the people that come up to me and say they've done this, or they say they've discovered CPD on the back of the podcast.

That's the metric for me, despite the fact that I do genuinely awesome numbers, that's the metric.

And, you know, changing this could have negative consequences to that.

But if I lose some listeners, but I achieve my goal of less noise and more action, I'll be happy.

I think the last thing I want to mention here is around the Instructor Premium membership, because that's not changing, that's not having an overhaul, because that continues to evolve from day one.

That's evolved.

It's very different now to what it was.

And it evolves based on what I think, and it evolves based on the feedback I get from my members.

And I think that the people that are coming along and paying for that membership are actually taking more action.

So that's going to continue to evolve.

It's this podcast that I feel like I need to overhaul because again, one of the things I get said a lot, people don't know where to start when they come along.

There's so much they can't keep up with the content that I create.

So let's create less and let's let people take action.

So thank you for listening to this.

If you're listening and you're thinking, wow, this is awesome, I can't wait for that episode at the end of May and to see what that's like and to see what these mini workbooks like.

Thank you.

You're exactly the person I want on board.

If you're the opposite and you want to unsubscribe, that's fine as well.

You know, if this isn't for you, that's fine.

But I would still encourage you to go and take some action.

And if you're in between, if you're curious, I think that's where I am as well.

Because if I'm being completely honest, I will understand why for most of you, this doesn't feel like a big deal.

It feels like someone just saying they're doing less work.

But for me, I've.

This has been four years of my life, and it's all been set a certain way and structured a certain way.

And it feels big for me to change something, and I considered just dropping it altogether, but I don't think that's the right thing to do because I do enjoy it and I do want to create more, but I needed to change something to keep myself sane and to feel like I'm contributing more positively towards the industry and not just creating more and potentially too much noise.

So thank you guys for listening, and let's just keep raising standards.

The instructor podcast with Terry Cook, talking with leaders, innovators, experts and game changers about what drives them.