00:00
Okay, so you have, I hope, listened to episodes one through four. You're still here and I assume you might be interested. So as promised, I want to share with you as many of the details as I can about this thing, the actual offer, the work we'll be doing together, what it would look like, what it could look like for you. If you're anything like I am, you may have some questions. So I have included 10 frequently asked questions at the end of this episode. So if that's on your mind, you may want to

00:28
fast forward ahead, but if you want to learn more about the process and what it looks like for our clients and would look like for you, keep listening. So at this point from the episodes you've listened to, you have an overview of what this is about, who this is for and not for. I shared with you some of the problems many of us are facing. You heard a conversation with Elizabeth and you learned a little bit more about me.

00:54
Now in the next and final episode, I go over the next steps, which includes a form I will send you to fill out if you're interested. I'll get more into that, of course, in episode six. But that form will give me some important information and help me guide us together in this process to get this thing done and done really, really well. So once I have that information, I'll look it over and if you are a good fit to work with us, we'll set up a time to talk.

01:24
Of course, I'll go over the timing of things, preparation, how we record and all of that stuff. We'll keep it as simple and straightforward as we can. And it's pretty straightforward. Even if you're not into the whole tech thing, and I get that, we'll make it work. Once we get together, I will be asking you some questions, questions that probably won't make the final edited version, but will give me a good starting point of where to begin the conversation. Things you just may not want to talk about.

01:53
and some important things you do want to talk about. Remember, this is not live, it will be edited. So we don't have a lot of pressure to get things perfect. Now that conversation can go for quite a while. It might only be 40 minutes, 60 minutes, but it could go longer. Typically, 60 minutes is the maximum for the final edited version. And once we're done with our conversation, I will send you that unedited raw.

02:22
audio file. And I do that for a couple of reasons. One, well, it's just good to have. You can use it in any way you want to. But also I want you to listen to it so that you can let me know what you do not want me to include. You may say, hey, go for it. Include whatever you want. I trust you. But of course I want to give you that option. Our main goal is to create something that you feel good about and you can share with those people in your life that you want to.

02:52
share it in a way where in places they like to hear it. Let me break that down a little bit. After I'm done editing, I will have a version for you, a cleaned up version of our conversation with you. Now you will have already had the unedited version. I'll send you the edited version as well. And you can share that with whomever you'd like. You have probably...

03:17
listen to audio files on your computer or your phone. And this is the same kind of thing. You can send that audio file. They're usually a little too large to send by email, but you can use a service like Dropbox or Google Drive or Send Through WeTransfer. There's a host of other ones out there. Those are some of the more popular ones and I've used all of them and they work. In fact, that's exactly how I will be sharing your audio files with you. You send that to whomever you want.

03:45
They can usually open it up right there on their phone, laptop, elsewhere. And chances are they have a default player in which they can listen. However, this is not necessarily the most secure way in which to share information. It's also not particularly good for those who are listening and want to save this information and organize this information or these audio files. So that's why we provide some other options. So let me talk about those.

04:13
Before I do, if this is making your head spin a little bit, if technology is really not your thing, don't worry about it. There's other ways I can communicate this with you, particularly if you should work with me. We talk about this among other things when we connect for our conversation. But here are your options. One option is what we call a micro website. It is essentially a website, but it is just designed for you and anyone who is listening to very easily.

04:42
access this information. In fact, I will include a link in the show notes for you to see an example. And once we're done, I send you a link and anybody who has that link can listen. It is that simple. Now for the second two options, I want to talk a little bit about podcasts. I've mentioned the Suicide Noted podcast. That is a public podcast. You probably listen to podcasts yourself. And those are the kinds of podcasts where you can search

05:09
in a place like Apple or Spotify or another podcast platform. And depending on what you put in that search, podcasts will come up. A whole lot of podcasts will come up. These two options are both private podcasts. What that means is those are not searchable in the podcast directories, but they act like a podcast. So whoever you want to share with can actually listen to you, your stories, what we create together on a podcast platform of their choice. Now, one

05:38
podcast platform that's not available. And I can't tell you exactly why it's just their rules is Spotify. And I know that's a pretty popular platform but it would be available on Apple podcasts and a host of other podcast platforms. So these are some really cool and interesting options. The first one is what we're calling a standard private podcast. And what that means is like the website, I will send you a link. Now that link doesn't open a website because this is not a website, it is a private podcast. And anybody you share that

06:08
link with can easily access your podcast on those platforms. It is that simple and is really rather user friendly. Now I should say for both the website and a private podcast, anybody who has those links can access it. So don't share it with people who you don't want to hear it, but you don't have control over who shares it with other people, right? So let's say for example, you share it with your brother.

06:35
and you say, hey brother, this is only for you and for whatever reason, and this probably wouldn't happen, but it could happen. He decides to share with someone else, that person could listen. So we have another option, another kind of private podcast. And this option is ideal for enhanced security. And that is a enhanced private podcast. And the enhanced part here means that anybody who you wanna share it with, they get their own individual.

07:04
So even if they try to share it with somebody else, it wouldn't work. In fact, what you're listening to right now is an example of this kind of enhanced private podcast. If you choose the enhanced private podcast, you can also, and this is just an option, add a password and you would share that password with whoever you want access to it and they would have to put the password in and it would work. The way people get access to this enhanced private podcast is through email.

07:32
and that email invitation can be sent from either you or me. Now, of course, I don't use that email for any other reason, but if that doesn't sit well with you, and I understand that, I really, really do, then you have those other options. I should add that at some point, hopefully sooner than later, we will have our own app. And the reason we wanna develop something like that is it will be the highest level of both user-friendly access as well as security.

08:01
It's possible that you're listening to this on an app. It's not mine, it's called Hero. It's the platform I use for my own enhanced private podcast. And that's a perfect example of the kind of thing we hope to have for ourselves in the next few months. And of course, we'll keep you posted. I also wanna offer, in case the people you wanna share it with just don't like audio, we can create for you an unlisted YouTube video. So quite simply, you would.

08:29
hear everything the same, but people could watch it on YouTube. And typically what they would be seeing is something like an audiogram, or we could put your photo there. We can get as creative as we like. I should say we are primarily about audio. So we're offering the YouTube as a sort of plan B just in case the people in your life who you want to share your story with can't hear it anywhere else. So what's this going to look like? We talk at length. I send you the recording.

08:59
I ask that you let me know what you don't want me to include. Within a couple of weeks, I will send you everything else. I will send you the edited version and I will send you whatever else you need to share it easily with your people. Now depending on how you got access to this, I probably asked for your email. If you decide this is not for you, please don't worry. I'm not going to bombard you with email.

09:26
I'll reach out from time to time. And I assume if you're interested and want to work with me, you'll reach out as well. I may want to share with you some things that have changed, things that might impact your decision to ultimately work with us. And should we offer new things? I want to let you know about that as well. And of course you can always and rather easily unsubscribe from those emails whenever you want.

09:49
Alright, now things you may be thinking, things that sometimes other people are thinking when they are considering working with us. One, I don't have anything to say. If that's you, we're probably not a good fit. We work with people who have a good idea of what they want to say, they just might not know how to say it. They might need help in saying it. They might want the space to say it. But if you have no idea what you want to talk about.

10:18
this probably is not a good fit for you. Two, I don't think anybody wants to hear it. In that case also, and look, I'm not trying to dissuade you, you can reach out to us if you wanna have a conversation and not share it with anybody, we can work together, but this is really designed for you to share it with at least one other person. So sure, you can record it with us so we can do everything for you on our end and then maybe you hold onto it and share it with somebody at a later date, that's great.

10:47
Now, if you have an idea of a person or people who you want to share it with, but you're thinking they might not want to listen to it, or maybe they just don't care, chances are they do care. It's important that I say, of course, that's not definitive. They probably do want to hear you, your voice, your story. But if you absolutely know, I would never want to share this with anybody, we are probably not the best fit for you. Three. I can never do.

11:16
anything like this. Well, I don't know you and I can't say for sure, but we've had other people who felt somewhat similarly. Not so much that they could never do it, but they were scared. I would ask if you're thinking about it, if you're curious, if you're interested, but you're just not sure if I'm the right guy or this is the right fit or your fear is kicking up in high gear, reach out, ask me some questions. I'm happy to answer them.

11:44
I hope at this point I've shared enough with you for you to feel comfortable in moving forward if it's something you want to do or feel the need to do. I promise you, you can do it. Number four, I'm not sure what will people think. Of course, I don't know who you plan to share it with or what they might think. In fact, I can't guarantee nor can you that they'll even listen to it. But I would hope that they do.

12:10
It might be difficult to hear what they have to say after listening. That's just part of what this is. But chances are, if you're listening to this, you're at the point where you feel the need to get these ideas in order to share them with some people or maybe just one person. And hey, of course you probably have ideas of what they might think or how they might feel. That's out of your control to some degree or maybe entirely. But I don't want too much more time in your life to go without you sharing.

12:38
what you feel you need to share with the people you feel you need to share them with. Number five, I've already done something like this. Chances are you haven't because there's not really anything out there quite like this. If there is, I'd love for you to let me know. I also probably didn't do a very good job in explaining exactly what this is, so maybe I need to address or go back and fill things in and make them a little clearer. Number six, I don't have time. Find the time. It doesn't take that long.

13:07
We usually ask that you block out two hours. It may not take that long, of course. So if you can find the time and we do have a somewhat flexible schedule to work with you, I certainly hope that you can do that. Now, if you want to do it over two different meetings, that's something we can arrange as well. Number seven, I'm not sure I can trust you with this kind of thing. If that's the case, I get it. I would certainly not be so quick to trust somebody else with this kind of thing. But I have shared.

13:37
basically all I think I can share with you about what this is and who I am and what I've done. And of course if for whatever reason you're just not feeling it. If there's something about me that you're not connecting with, I wish there was something I can do, but there's probably not. So I understand. And of course, I'll leave it up to you and I'm going to include a couple of other resources in the show notes. I have absolutely no affiliation with them, but they may be a little bit more

14:06
your speed so check them out. Number eight, I'm not much into the tech stuff. I'm gonna get confused. I admittedly am not super super techy either. And one of the reasons I like how the technology is moving it's getting easier and easier to use. So we will do everything on our end to make it super easy. The conversation part is really quite straightforward. Of course we walk you through that, make sure that you have everything you need from a tech point of view and there's not much.

14:35
And these days, it's pretty easy to share it with people. But again, we will also walk you through that. Number nine, I am concerned that someone who I don't wanna hear it might hear it. So I will say this, you have some control over who hears it because you are the only person who has that link and you choose who gets the link, regardless of which option or options you ultimately choose. But we can't prevent somebody who's listening to your private podcast, for example, on Apple.

15:04
They could take their phone and walk over to someone and say, hey, listen to this. But of course, we do what we can on our end to give you as much control over this as possible. So should you ever want us to take that website down or disable your private podcast? Of course, we'll do that. That said, to state the obvious, share it with only people who you want to share it with and let them know this is not for other people. Number 10. Are you a therapist?

15:32
The answer is no, I'm not a therapist and I'm not a counselor. I actually was a crisis tech science counselor for quite a while, but I am not a therapist and this is not therapy. I know there is perhaps some overlap with what happens in therapy in that we're having honest and sometimes hard conversations, but our goal is not to fix you. Our goal is not to diagnose you.

16:00
Our goal is only to create a space and facilitate these kinds of conversations. And as I've shared, I've done it for many years with the Suicide Noted podcast in conversations I have in helping people craft stories. And of course, this work. But by no means are we a replacement for therapy. Please know that. Let me ask again the same questions I asked at the end of episode four. What is it that you want to talk about?

16:28
How do you want to talk about it? And of course we help you with that. And who do you want to share it with? If you're interested, go on to episode number six. Really simple, short, straightforward. It's essentially what we charge for this service and a link to that form I mentioned. You fill it out, we continue the conversation, we schedule a meeting and we take it from there. Regardless of what you choose, thanks very much.

16:56
listening and whether our paths cross now or sometime in the future or maybe never, I really appreciate your time. And I wish you well.