Roll the Playback

When I started as a radio host back in college, my professor required us to play recordings of our live on-air shows in front of the whole class. It was pretty painful, hearing every time you said “um,” every single deafening second of dead-air, that jittery fade-in, the levels that were blown out, or too low - every single error, in front of every single person in your class.

At first, I dreaded this; it was excruciating to hear myself on the air, especially in front of my peers. I didn't enjoy listening to them either; the whole thing was just a bowl full of awkwardness.

After the 4th or 5th time, something strange happened. I was walking to class, and I realized I was actually looking forward to playing clips of this week’s past show in front of my class. Something bizarre was taking place; I was becoming more confident and yet, at the same time, more vulnerable. I felt safe to share my recording as I realized that every feedback piece was constructive and for my benefit. I was also eager to provide my classmates with my suggestions; I wanted to see them improve too. Our comradery during these sessions bonded us; we all trusted each other. I came to understand that these sessions were a gift. I both received and provided direct, candid feedback that most people would never tell me after catching my live show. I started to crave the feedback, excited about how I could apply it to the next show. I saw myself getting better and improving yet still humbly ready for further suggestions.

I have often drawn on the memory of this experience as I trained others in both radio and sales. Listening to my sales calls and asking trusted mentors and colleagues to lend an ear has been vital to my career and instrumental to my success both as an individual sales professional and as a sales coach, mentor, and manager. To this day, I listen to myself at least once a week and make notes on areas for improvement. Yes, it’s still a little uncomfortable, yet every bit as necessary as it was back in my college days. If you seek continuous improvement, you never grow out of it. In fact, I would venture to guess that any salesperson who doesn’t think they need to hear their playback, for any reason, probably is the first person who needs to pop in some AirPods and grab a pen.

After all, if you can’t stand listening to yourself, how do you think your prospects feel?