Speaker 1: 0:26

All right, we are live, we did it. Welcome back to another playful humans podcast and we're going to talk with Chris Miller from the talk to people podcast, which is awesome because we're talking to people and I was on his podcast too.

Speaker 1: 0:43

So if you go, check out, talk to people wherever you're watching or listening to this, you'll find out his podcast and see a episode with me on there, and we're going to talk about podcasting in general. We've been doing this for over a two and a half years here and we haven't really talked about podcasting yet, chris, so I'm excited to do it. It's a playful humans podcast. More information at playfulhumanscom, and you can find Chris at capture connection studioscom as well. All right, here we go. You ready to dance? Let's get it.

Speaker 2: 1:12

There we go. Oh wow, You're actually dance. There we go.

Speaker 1: 1:17

Oh.

Speaker 2: 1:19

I like to pick one of the drums. I like that. This is like Alan D Gennaro All right, one more Now.

Speaker 1: 1:37

As you know, chris, we like to start with the joke of the week here on the playful humans podcast, and the joke of the week this week is brought to you by spell check. If you are a bad wizard or which you might want to check out our new spell check program, all right. Here's the official joke of the week. Why do teenage girls only go to the bathroom in groups of three, five or seven?

Speaker 2: 1:58

Oh, why?

Speaker 1: 2:00

Because they can't even.

Speaker 2: 2:02

Oh, I can't even. That's right, that's a good one.

Speaker 1: 2:06

Do you have one for us?

Speaker 2: 2:07

Yeah, yeah. Have you heard of the new restaurant called Karma?

Speaker 1: 2:11

Oh no.

Speaker 2: 2:13

Well, it's an interesting restaurant. There's no menu. You only get what you deserve.

Speaker 1: 2:19

I like that, there you go, that'll get us started in the right mindset. Thanks for playing along.

Speaker 2: 2:25

Now.

Speaker 1: 2:26

Chris, let's talk about your project first and talk to people podcast. Why did you start this one and tell us a little bit about you know kind of how it's different, what it's all about?

Speaker 2: 2:37

Yeah Well, first off, this is so fun. I love that. I've been on several podcasts and, like you know, we both host a podcast. But the fact that you like set the energy like that is incredible, and I've been trying to think of that with my podcast. Make it more of an experience, right, rather than just of questions. So I'm taking notes from you, sir.

Speaker 2: 2:59

But my podcast, the talk to people podcast, it is about the importance and power of social connection and the whole premise is life is better when you talk to people. With my life, I noticed I was working for this large corporation, big tech company, traveling every week and I noticed I was never around consistent people in community. And I started reading these reports about the loneliness epidemic and the friendship recession and it made me think of how it's a much larger issue than just what I was dealing with. So I've done what like 35 episodes of bringing different people on. You were a really good person to bring on because you talked about the importance and power of play and I think one of the best ways for people to spend time together is to be playful, because it makes life a lot better. So we got to do a little collaboration there. But the reason why I started my podcast and the goal of my podcast is to talk to people about social connection and then to encourage others to connect to themselves around them.

Speaker 1: 4:01

I love that you do it live too. I think it's so easy to just default to Zoom and do a virtual like this, which I have a great time with. I get to interview people from all around the world and stuff, and there's some benefits to that too. But doing it in person is a completely different experience and I know you even invited me into your home, which is another kind of cool experience. You get to see somebody in a completely different way and really get to know them and what they're about. Versus and meet their pets and stuff too. Versus a virtual background that you don't know where they are in the world, right Right.

Speaker 2: 4:41

Yeah, and the communication studies are really interesting. Regarding the fulfillment of, you got texting and phone calls and video calls and then in person and when you're in person it's as rich as you can get. The downside is I have to have people who are proximal or people have to travel to the studio, so but I've been able to get to know my city a little bit and then, yeah, being in the homes, it's more intimate and of course, you have to be wise there, but it creates the scenario. If I'm encouraging others to get out and connect to those around them, then I want to be able to do that Now. I have been wondering after year one if I also open up to virtual guests as well and have like hybrid, because I think that may be a cool way to feature and get conversations with people who aren't around Missouri and Kansas.

Speaker 1: 5:35

Yeah, I think that's definitely a possibility and it's not a weakness or like you're giving up on a dream or anything Like I think you could definitely do that and still accomplish your goals and, you know, hopefully you can blow this thing up big enough that you can start traveling to people if you can go meet them in your homes and take your studio and set up or go to conferences and things and talk to more people live.

Speaker 1: 5:55

That would be really cool too. I think that's kind of a dream of mine is to get these big enough that like if I meet a cool guest from the UK, I just go and record in the UK and do that.

Speaker 2: 6:07

Yeah, you pack up. So on YouTube there's some pretty large podcasters and they make a living off that. Right, they have a production crew and then they'll just go and travel and talk to this person or that person and have a big production, or get big enough, like Joe Rogan, that everybody comes to you and you can just go wherever you want and say, if you want to be on the show, you're coming to Austin.

Speaker 2: 6:31

Yeah, that's fascinating. So whenever I met you, I was always wondering why you made your podcast, because you have a career outside of podcasting that you've done quite well in and you spend so much time on this podcast. So it made me wonder. Hmm, I wonder why. So having you on my podcast is really good, but one of the coolest things about podcasting and with the Talk To People podcast is like you bring people in, you talk to them and you get to understand why they do what they do. And I think that with podcasting, more than likely, we're just really curious people and we want to learn more and like talk to people.

Speaker 1: 7:09

So if you it's a free education for me really. I do podcast this one on the how to Succeed podcast for Sandler, and that one's over 600 episodes. So I mean I've interviewed 600 sales and leadership experts over the last eight years. So that's a free education that people would pay, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars to get their master's degree in business and sales and I get to learn from all of everybody, from PhDs to real world entrepreneurs. I've had billionaires on that. There's really cool stuff that I get to learn for free and I get to help and promote and make other people the spotlight of it too. I think that's the really cool part about this medium is you don't have to do the heavy lifting. There are podcasts that are all about you, or, if you do scripted podcasts, you have to write and create and it's a creative endeavor. But I love interview shows specifically because you get to know people, you get to learn from them and you don't have to do the heavy lifting. Every week I can put you on the spot and sit.

Speaker 2: 8:09

Do you have questions that you ask every guest?

Speaker 1: 8:13

A few. I try to go with like an opening question, something in the middle that I wanna know, and then a couple of closing questions, just to make sure that there's some consistency and I know where I'm going if I get lost. But really after the opening question I'm kinda digging, trying to find the gold if I'm trying to find the question, and I heard one earlier when you were talking, so I'm gonna make this about you again. You've already interviewed me for like 90 minutes, chris Go for it.

Speaker 1: 8:38

I'm not letting you flip the script here. You mentioned the friend recession and I feel like it was happening already, and then the pandemic made it way worse and that's one of the reasons I started Playful Humans at the beginning of 2020. Was it needs to be like? We need to get out of the house. We need to stop having these virtual relationships and clicks and likes on Facebook Like. Why don't we go tell somebody we like their shirt or their vacation photos? Why would we click a button to do that? For us and for me, it's a big deal. Tell me about what you've uncovered in this friendship recession and why you think it's a big deal.

Speaker 2: 9:22

Yeah, the Bureau of Labor Studies in the US.

Speaker 2: 9:27

They do a big time survey, so they have tens of thousands of participants and they go out and they send all these different surveys and they look at how much time they spend by themselves, how much time they spend with friends, how much time they spend working.

Speaker 2: 9:40

Originally it started as a way to gauge how much time people are working in certain roles and then from there they could go in and essentially monetize people's times, tell you how much a role should cost and things like that. But one of the cool takeaways from this is that we get to see how much time people are spending by themselves and then how much time people are spending with friends. And statistically, both those things they're inverse. So people are spending less time with friends year over year and more time alone. And what's even more interesting is like you can look at it at a week over week or a year over year thing and you can see like people alone are spending like 40 more hours alone than they typically were, which is like one work week, which is interesting to think about. So people are spending less time alone or less time together, more time alone. And then there are also, you'll probably see, like the loneliness studies, like Cigna, they did a really big study.

Speaker 1: 10:38

It's so dangerous for your health and everything.

Speaker 2: 10:40

Yeah, yeah, really dangerous. Because health and life insurance companies wanna learn about loneliness because it like goes into the risk of insurance policies and they did a huge study. Then American perspective survey did another big study. And then, 2023, the US Surgeon General you know the highest elected official for health care he Made social connection his priority of 2023 and he said that the health humane society is going to dedicate like all their efforts To trying to figure out a way that the United States as a whole can address social connection. So there's a lot of intention attention going towards it.

Speaker 2: 11:23

Some of the things we know about loneliness. People are like what is loneliness? Well, loneliness is a subjective feeling that you lack the social connections you need and it's going to be different for everybody. That's why there's no silver bullet for a cure for loneliness. Like you and I baby Extroverted, so we may have a higher need for social connection compared to somebody else.

Speaker 2: 11:44

And then in loneliness, you have like the intimate loneliness, which is you are craving Intimate, close, mutual bond, affection. This could be a romantic partner or confidant. You got your social loneliness, which is like social support from friends or that companionship, and then a collective loneliness. So you want to be a part of a network that shares a sense of interest or belonging. So all of this goes to show how much social connection we actually need, and it also explains why there may be someone who's in a happy marriage that they still feel lonely because they lack the friendship or maybe they lack being a part of a bigger thing. So the more we look at it, the more like layered it becomes and we recognize social connect, or loneliness is no different than like thirst or hunger. It's just a message to our body that we need something. So yeah, yeah, when you feel lonely, you need social connection. We can't really get rid of loneliness. We're always going to have moments where we feel it, but it's like, okay, well then how can we become more socially connected?

Speaker 1: 12:49

I think that was. One of the big discoveries for me was that I can do these podcasts, I can have virtual interviews, I can be doing Presentations in front of thousands of people all day long and then still end the day lonely because really I'm in a room by myself all day and that there are those different levels of of connections, and so Sometimes I'll just feel like I need to get out of the house and do something with friends.

Speaker 1: 13:15

I need to see other people and even if I'm having really deep, you know engaging conversations and stuff, I Need to go like see a stranger. I need a smile, I need to know that I'm like not crazy, get out of my own head. And there's other times where you need that like physical touch too. I just need like a hug.

Speaker 1: 13:34

Yeah, I need to see some people and and shake some hands or engage in like real energy, because I'm not filling that bucket and I appreciate you sharing that, because I don't think people Realize that. I think they think well, I'm in a marriage and I have kids, so I have people all around, I'm not lonely, but yeah there's different types of fulfillment that comes from different types of relationships.

Speaker 2: 13:56

Yeah, there is, and a lot of people equate loneliness with social isolation. There's relationships there, like social isolation is a risk factor for loneliness. If people are constantly Away from others, then there's a higher likelihood that they will feel feelings of loneliness. But these big studies that they go out and they look at all these people, there's like multiple points. So it'll be how, how often do you feel lonely? And it'll be like never, sometimes always, or like often always. You know, and it's not concerning if people are like sometimes I feel lonely. It's like, yeah, it's like sometimes you feel hungry. You know like you're going to feel lonely, like if you lose a loved one, you should feel lonely. That indicates that you had a connection there, right. But it's concerning whenever people like I'm always lonely, or there are some studies that pop up where people report that they don't have anyone that they trust and that's like Okay, like that's not a good sign. But with social isolation, one of the interesting things that I've been reading about, which is kind of cool, is there's like solitude, which is voluntary social isolation and being by yourself in moments is actually good for you because it allows for self-reflection, emotional clarity, and there are moments where being by yourself can actually help with loneliness Because you get to understand kind of what, who you are and what you're going through and get a greater understanding of yourself. So then you can relate to others better Because you know who you are.

Speaker 2: 15:32

But then you, if you go to New York City, there's thou I don't know how many people, millions of people in New York City, right and Everywhere all around you. You could go to sleep, and there's people to the left, above, behind, wherever, all around you. Yet you still feel incredibly lonely. So it's not the presence of people or the lack of people, and really it's not even the number of friendships or how many times you see people. All of it kind of blows down to the quality.

Speaker 2: 16:01

Which is why you'll have the people with two really great friends, maybe a romantic partner and a family, and they're happy. You know, and that's the goal is to find where you're happy and then to go to your boundary To help others around you, because we all have like With your podcast you're getting all these people on and like you have the battery to do that, you have the energy. So you would be remiss if you didn't go full capacity While others around you they don't have as big of a social battery. You know they got other stuff going, so we're all, and hopefully we all contribute. So then none of us really feel as if we're left behind.

Speaker 1: 16:44

I love that way you're explaining it with the hunger analogy, because I think there is sometimes that like you won't starve if you just Eat bread every day and drink water, but you will get malnourished it at.

Speaker 2: 16:57

Yeah, right and like all right, that's a good point.

Speaker 1: 17:00

I feel like a steak today, or I feel like a pizza, or I just need some ice cream because I feel bad, and I think it's a really great analogy for relationships too. You're like, oh, I need something. I need to have to like deep conversation here with an, I need to connect with another soul, versus like I need a whole bunch of candy. I just need to laugh, go out and have fun and, you know, not talk about anything serious. I've been working on serious stuff all day. I need to go play and have some fun, and there are those different Buckets, and I love what you said too, that people have different preferences in that. So you know, if you like the vegetables of relationships more than you, you like the, the carbs, that's okay, you can do that and that's for you and what you need.

Speaker 2: 17:43

Yeah that, and that's a good point, because Typically when it goes awry, when something goes wrong, is whenever people have Shit expectations that are different. So like I want to meet with Mike because I want to talk about my family and then you're like, oh, I just want to hang out with Chris to laugh and like hang out, which is fun, and Then you leave the hang out and you're like, dang, I don't feel like that really didn't do it for me.

Speaker 1: 18:10

Your spot, hit the spot for you.

Speaker 2: 18:11

And it's like well, you guys have different expectations, right. So Navigating, that is really good.

Speaker 1: 18:16

One of the things I want to highlight one other thing, which is that Cygna study that you mentioned.

Speaker 1: 18:21

Yeah, I say that loneliness is as hazardous to your health as like smoking a pack a day, like it literally will Make you sick, and so I think people need to go out there and they need to talk to people. That's the name of your podcast and they need to go out and they play, they need to find connections and ways to engage and and be playful with other people and recharge those batteries, because you mentioned that too that your battery just gets emptier. You get trained and you get this hunger for stuff and Doing all of the other surface level things are like. To me, it's Like looking at pictures of food instead of eating it. Right. Going on Facebook is like oh look, there's a picture of a cheesecake that sounds good and then not ever having the cheesecake. We're getting out and playing and enjoying it and then sharing a cheesecake with another human being is a completely different Experience and it'll leave you a lot more filled than looking at the pictures of it and liking it on Facebook.

Speaker 2: 19:17

Right, well said.

Speaker 1: 19:19

So I wanted to ask you about podcasting here and change things up a little bit, because on this show we like to talk to people who play for a living, and you've done this. You're fully capable, you know you you graduated with degrees and things of getting a full-time job and working for somebody else, but you have chosen not to. Why did you make that?

Speaker 2: 19:39

decision? Oh, oh man? Yeah, I'm asking myself that question too. I think that I Was working for, like, like I said, like a large corporation on a federal contract, flying every week, the suit and tie. I had the corporate phone, the corporate laptop, that life and it's cool being a part of like a big company.

Speaker 2: 20:03

And I grew up in a family that didn't have the most resources and it was all like trades.

Speaker 2: 20:09

So I was the first person in my family to go get a graduate degree and to leave town, and so part of me needed to check that box off of being that like the George Clooney in the movies, right being that guy with the who sits in first class and who has the leather briefcase. But once I was there I was like, oh man, this is not fun For my personal makeup, like my social wiring, who I am. That wasn't it, and it took me a little while to Recognize that. But I always have loved the idea of podcasting, and the reason why is because it's conversations and Not not only do you get to have the conversation, but you get to take that conversation, all of the footage, and then edit it and publish it in a way that you present it to the world, which is really cool for me to think about. What's even cooler than for me to think about is when you get several of them and you begin to create a library and yeah, it's like a whole story evergreen content.

Speaker 2: 21:07

Evergreen content, right, and it's there, and it's there and these people go on to do and like we have one of the guys that I had in my podcast. I met up with him last week and he was telling me about the stuff he's doing out like, oh my gosh, like that's so cool and it's cool that we get to capture and document those moments. And I had a podcast that I recorded with somebody who I was like I was really excited about. They have a podcast with him. And Then I went to go produce a podcast for somebody else and I formatted my SD card without thinking about it and I wiped everything off and it made me reflect on, like dang, I just lost that conversation, that moment. So it made me reflect on the 35 that I have put up like I'm so grateful that I have those moments. So I'd always wanted to do podcasting.

Speaker 2: 21:59

Whenever I left my job, I told my wife like, hey, I'd like to start a podcast and I had 15 interviews with different companies and All of them went awry. Somehow. I Very few of them where they actually like hey, you're not qualified. A Lot of it was just like hey, we can't do this at this time. So I begin to take Like. I had some clients reach out to me who said hey, I saw your podcast, could you come teach us how to build a podcast? And that actually created some revenue. And then I lately have been thinking like well, let's build an actual company that does that.

Speaker 1: 22:37

So just recently, tell us about the capture connection studio.

Speaker 2: 22:40

Yes, so capture connection studios. The whole idea is to capture your, the audience capture, create connection with your audience capture and the people that are doing that especially have a mission and a message and a vision for what they're doing and they also are really good at sharing that message. But one of one way to improve communication is to add an additional medium. So what podcasts do is they give them another way to connect with their audience and it also is a great way to feature sponsors on the podcast and get additional sponsors. So my studio doesn't charge the nonprofits anything out of their operational budget.

Speaker 2: 23:22

I don't want them to have to take away from the mission or cause they're actually doing, but instead it helps them get new corporate sponsorships and then that covers all the production costs. So it's a way for me to give to them and then also create something that they can connect with their audience, feature their staff and illustrate their own narrative. Because I'm in Lawrence, Kansas I'm not too far away from you. But there are some kind of like pressing issues that people have different sides on and regardless of what the nonprofits do, there's going to be a publication or press that's written about them. That may not be the most glowing, so nonprofits. They get the ability to illustrate their own narrative, and podcasts is a great human way to do that.

Speaker 1: 24:10

Well, I think there's a bunch of cool stuff to unpack there. One is just having people tell the stories. That's what podcasting does best. So if you're a nonprofit and you're helping people tell those people's stories, so more people see that impact and more people want to help that cause and when they realize you're making a difference, they jump on board. I also like what you said about corporations and sponsors want to tell that story too. They want an opportunity to say that they're helping this cause and that they're a part of it. And then the last thing for me and I guess maybe one of the last questions for you here too, is podcasting is also something that's a bit of a taste that I really love. The behind the microphone live in the present moment. You know a conversation with you. I don't love organizing, publishing, promoting, sharing, editing, forever getting transcripts.

Speaker 1: 25:02

You know, AI and then proofreading and doing grammar, checking on the transcripts and all of that other stuff that is not doing the podcast. So having somebody that can do that for you is a huge benefit. But also, I think everybody has different levels of technological expertise too, so sometimes cameras and lighting can be weird, or microphones and stuff, and it's like, well, just skip all that, call Chris, let him figure it out. And you worry about what story you want to tell and what type of show you want to make. Right, Right.

Speaker 2: 25:36

So let's do the concept development together. Let's figure out your goal, who you want to reach, who you want to be on the podcast Because, just like you and I, we could be podcast hosts. Huge question, right? Or you have so many different angles, I have so many different angles that we could speak from, so let's nail that down.

Speaker 2: 25:53

Concept development in itself is so overwhelming and that prevents, I don't know, the majority of people who consider podcasting from actually doing it. Like, what am I going to podcast about? So I'd love to help people through that and all that other stuff. Yes, it's a headache. There are so many things that you miss. And then you go back and you're like, oh man, I miss it, I miss it. We were talking about this.

Speaker 2: 26:18

But like publishing deadlines, like you record so many, you have some on ice and some go up. Since mine is in person, sometimes it's hard for me to stock up a whole bunch on my personal podcast. So a lot of the times, like I'm recording week of and I'm publishing the next week and so I have to edit all that and do all of that. But it's given me a lot of practice. So hopefully it's kind of like I'm earning while I'm learning, because whenever I'm doing this for other organizations, I'm going to try and make their content better. So then, with my personal content, like my dream is to one day be like what you're talking about, to like to travel and talk to people and create conversations that could help others around the whole world. Like that's what I feel called to. So it's like how can I get there? And one of the ways to get there is to get better, but also to make money.

Speaker 1: 27:10

Well, I love that. I tell everybody when they ask for my podcasting advice is it's to start doing it. The only way to have a good podcast is to have a bad podcast first. And so like you got to, you got to start, you got to do it and 600 episodes later it adds up and you know the numbers look really good and you can tell that you have 3 million downloads and all kinds of stuff.

Speaker 1: 27:32

But not at the beginning. Not at the beginning, awkward interviews that 10 people listen to and stuff, and then figure it out along the way, and there are ways to help. But I think you know, talking to experts, doing it as much as you can, and then finding your audience, your format and other stuff all happens from doing it. So I love that for you too, that by helping others, you get to collect and curate all of that knowledge. And so and when you work with a company like Chris and capture Connection Studios is that they're learning lessons from everybody else. So if somebody else finds a cool AI tool that'll edit shorts for social media, chris is going to hear about it first and then he can apply that to yours. If you do it on your own, you have to learn all those lessons on your own, which means it's a lot more work, a lot more.

Speaker 2: 28:19

Yeah, and like I'm seeing your content when it pops up, right, I'm looking at your joke. I'm like, okay, and we're connected and there's more podcasters that we're like in this network of, so we get to see that stuff and be like, okay, okay, you know, you know, see what's going on there, Right, and then it influences what we create, and then what we create influences what other people create. So having someone who's in this space and who's actually doing it is very helpful. And it's not like a good thing right now is I don't have a huge team, right, like every now and then I'll have people help me out for certain things, but I don't have a huge team, so I get to be the one who works directly with people and it doesn't drown out. But, yeah, thanks, thanks for your support and for like talking about it. I see you 600 episodes. Man, you've killed it with podcasting and I'm really grateful to be here on the show because man it's a cool establishment.

Speaker 1: 29:21

I feel like we could talk to each other forever, and we already have for a couple of hours, so I think it's time to play a game. But before we do that, don't forget to check out the talk to people podcast and I have an episode over there and capture connection. Studioscom is the website. If you want help podcasting. Chris, are you ready to play a game?

Speaker 2: 29:42

Yeah, I am, I love games. There you go.

Speaker 1: 29:45

That survey says today we surveyed 100 people. The top answers are on the card. If you get two out of three, if you get one of the answers on the card for two out of three questions, you win. Okay, and is name an expression that starts with the word high. So fill in the word or phrase high, blank.

Speaker 2: 30:04

Okay, hi, how are you?

Speaker 1: 30:08

Oh, not up there, no oh man. Or high roller, high five, high blood pressure, oh yeah, high heels. Or high hope.

Speaker 2: 30:17

I thought of HI Got there.

Speaker 1: 30:20

Question number two name something associated with London, london Bridge. The London Bridge is number two, big Ben number one. Queen Fog and England also on the top answers. All right, it all comes down to this, chris, my question you get this, you win. If not, we're all going to laugh at you. No, we're going to just chime in in the comments with better answers. Name something people do in their cars when they're stopped at a red light.

Speaker 2: 30:51

Check themselves out in the mirror.

Speaker 1: 30:53

There you go, you got it. Mirror number four adjust the radio. Number one check their cell phone or make a call. Sing number three look around, eat or apply makeup. So, congratulations, you did it. You got two out of three, which means you win a three 30 seconds commercial for yourself. Here Any answer gives for the audience Anything we can do to help you or you can do to help us.

Speaker 2: 31:17

Well, the first thing to help us is to continue supporting playful humans. I love this podcast. Shout out to Mike Monahue. Everything you can find for me is talktocrismillercom. You can find the Talk to People podcast. You can find the newsletter I write all about social connection and my production studio. But lastly, my message is life is better when you talk to people. So prioritize relationships and get out there and you will live a happier, more full and more healthy life whenever it's full of relationships.

Speaker 1: 31:47

Love it. Chris Miller, talk to People, podcast and capture connection studios. And for more information on playful humans, go to playfulhumanscom. We have a playfulness quiz there. You can discover your playful personality and reach out to me. I want to talk to you as well. So, mike at playfulhumanscom, send me an email. If you're listening to this episode and you made it all the way to the end, you are an awesome person and I appreciate it. I want to know who you are, mike at playfulhumanscom, and, as always, if you can't be good, be good at it. That's what I always say. We'll see you next time.