An Emmy Winner on How to Be an Expert

Sometimes the best way to present your own skills is to get help in the process.

Many years ago, I worked for a Dean of an Engineering School with an unusual take on areas of weakness: essentially, he thought many self-improvement campaigns should be derailed. He was a strong believer in developing your natural strengths--and in finding experts in your area of weakness to help you manage areas where you have a skill deficit.

I enjoy music and love hearing the spoken word. I am also relatively tech savvy. But when I decided to test out a podcast and turned on the user friendly Garage Band application through my iMac, I quickly decided it was more than I could quickly learn and use. (Did I mention that I scored very low on a "pitch test" of my musical hearing ability?)

I decided to seek the help of an expert. Enter Rob Blatt of Blattcave Productions. Rob is an audio engineer extraordinaire. He shares three Emmys, an Academy Award, and a Peabody Award with former colleagues. Rob and I sat down for two hours, and I walked away with a podcast episode that sounded better than I could have done in two years. (Thanks, Rob!)

In a very short time, Rob taught me some of the essential elements of great podcasting: Speak slower than usual. Use short sentences for emphasis. And--my personal favorite--it is okay to talk with your hands while you record, especially since movement allows personality to come through in your voice.

Rob not only enjoys podcast production; he also teaches people how to use social media through programs including New York's recent LaidOffCamp. Given that Rob's area of expertise spans both production and content management, I asked him to share advice for job seekers who want to establish themselves as an expert. Given his background, it's not surprising that his first piece of advice is:

1. Start a Podcast that Shows Your Interest and Expertise

Talk about topics you know and have a passion for discussing about it. "When you share your knowledge and passion, your voice will give away your enthusiasm. That's an audience draw."

2. Don't Just Talk About It, Write About It

"Any proper podcast needs to be associated with a blog," Rob explains. "Between episodes of your podcast, you should share content related to your show...and advertise your podcast on your blog."

3. Don't Just Talk About Your Ideas: Share

Rob is a big believer in promoting other people; he says being magnanimous has side benefits.

Sharing ideas of others allows you to show that you are comfortable with your area of expertise.

It shows that you are an expert and know how to cultivate knowledge sharing and that you are not afraid to show that other people have knowledge as well. You need to build trust with your audience.

A special shout-out to Rob for sharing his expertise with us. Do you have any additional "expert tips" or  questions for Rob?