Meet Michael Wall

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michael Wall. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with michael below.

Michael, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

I have always been an introvert. I was a shy boy growing up and never wanted the attention to be on me. As an adult this caused me issues in my career as a call center manager. I was very good communicating with equals or direct reports but was hindered by my nervousness dealing with upper management.

When my son Brett approached me about doing a podcast, I was worried that my nerves would prevent me from being successful. My first step to overcoming this was to over prepare. I knew my initial interviewees inside and out. I became an expert on my guests and this helped me to be confident talking about their work. I followed this up with repetition. I interviewed at least 4 people a week for months. Finally I really worked on my listening skills so that I could keep the focus on my guests without losing track of what I wanted to cover.

Eventually I became so used to interviewing that I was comfortable even if I had not prepped at all. My opening and closing are the same for every episode. This allowed me to start off and finish with confidence. The middle was filled in by listening and having a conversation. Although I prefer prepping, after 1100 episodes I know that I can interview cold and still be successful.

One last thing that prepping helps me with. I want to have my questions and responses ready so that I am flexible but also do not really need notes to stay on track. I list out my bullet points just in case I get stuck and need to glance down but I do not take massive notes. I think I would just read them if i did and that would not be very engaging.

When the podcast took off, I was able to retire from call centers and do this full time. I have gained so much confidence talking with people that it helped me with my regular job until I retired and with life in general.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

The Too Opinionated Podcast is a Pop Culture podcast specializing in conversations across the entertainment landscape. We have completed 1100 interviews with actors, musicians, artists, and authors and are an IMDB Top 100 Podcast.

Too Opinionated was started in January 2019 as part of Meisterkhan Entertainment. Meisterkhan began as a social media presence on June 4th 2013.

This journey has allowed me to moderate in front of thousands for William Shatner, act with Ed Asner, interview acting and musical icons, judge film festivals, provide guests for pop culture conventions and make dozens of friends in the entertainment space.

Podcasting has been life changing for me.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Whatever you decide to podcast about, chose something that you are familiar with and then work to become an expert. It is so much easier to talk with someone when you understand where they are coming from and can speak intelligently to help foster the conversation.

Once you have the knowledge down, listening and practicing how to expand on a conversation is essential. Practice on redirecting and keeping a conversation moving is important as well. Find someone you are comfortable with and practice interviewing. The goal should be to enhance a conversation but let your guest carry it.

We are known for providing a safe space for our guests. This is especially true for first time guests. We often get asked to interview a new actor/artist because they know we will provide a positive experience.

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

This is an interesting question. I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease about a year and a half ago after I started having trouble with my leg dragging as I ran. Soon after my face tightened to the point that it was making speaking difficult.

Although I am confident that I will be here 10 years from now, there is no guarantee that even with medicine the disease does not progress to the point that I will not be able to podcast any longer.

I decided very early on that I was not going to try to hide it. I have been open about my struggles on the podcast and I am trying to use our platform to help others who are struggling. If I have limited time to do what I love, I want to use that time to bring positivity into the world, provide a platform for other Parkinson sufferers, and to inspire others to keep going in the face of adversity.

Bucket list wise I am hoping to work directly with Michael J Fox and other actors with Parkinson’s. I would love to host a show with Jennifer Garner raising funds for research. Jennifer is from our home area.

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