In audio, I abide by a Golden Rule: Get them to the end. When you click play, my one goal is to ensure you don’t hit stop. But then I consume most business shows, and they frontload the worst parts of their episodes … for some reason. They forget the Golden Rule. Instead of hooking you right away, convincing you that this will be worth your time, they meander through housekeeping, guest bios, lengthy explanations of their shows, or even calls-to-action intended to take you away from the show itself. It’s like their entire job was done the moment you hit stop. In reality, our work as show creators is just getting started the moment anybody decides to click play.

In this early and experimental episode of Showtime, I deconstruct the intro of Unthinkable‘s most-downloaded episode, a story called “The Man Bun.” It features some hilarious and moving and challenging moments, both for you as a listener to hear and for me as a creator to discuss.

NOTE: Showtime is labeled “Project Showtime” for a reason. It’s a work-in-progress — a pilot episode. It’s an early version of a show that I need YOUR help creating. That’s right! It’s housed in The Maker Channel, which is our show incubator here at Unthinkable Media. We use this feed to test new ideas and to launch new standalone shows too. If you have any thoughts Project Showtime, email me (jay@unthinkablemedia.com) or tweet me (@jayacunzo) with the good, bad, and ugly. Over time, if people enjoy this type of episode, we’ll continue to produce Project Showtime for The Maker Channel, running it as a monthly series.

For now, I hope you both enjoy and learn from this initial episode!

Listen below or subscribe to The Maker Channel on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you listen.