This really blew me away the first time I heard it. Imagine hearing a podcast where two people are having a conversation about you. Thanks to a new tool created by Google called NotebookLM anyone can create a short podcast about themselves in just a few minutes. It's totally free.
I made this quick how to guide so you can try it out yourself.
Listening to a podcast about myself really hooked me in. Hearing two people talk about me felt like eavesdropping and made me really curious about what they had to say. And because they were talking about me it means that I was very curious about me. It helped me analyze myself from a new perspective and it created a kind of social validation about my strengths that made me feel really proud. And it humanized my weaknesses that made me feel less ashamed and more accepting of myself.
I created Lifemap to help people look inside but sometimes reading a long report can be very dense and the information maybe doesn't connect in an emotional way. This podcast format really changed that for me and it was like learning about my Lifemap profile all over again.
I was really curious about the psychology making me so engaged in this type of conversational podcast format so I asked ChatGPT to explain what's happening:
Hearing two people have a conversation is engaging because it taps into our brain's natural social wiring. Psychologically, we're drawn to conversations because:
Mirror Neurons: These neurons activate when we observe interactions, making us feel as though we’re part of the exchange. This creates empathy and connection.
Storytelling Instinct: Conversations mimic storytelling, which our brains crave for understanding the world.
Eavesdropping Effect: Conversations simulate real-life experiences where we gain insights by listening to others, triggering curiosity.
This mix of connection, curiosity, and storytelling makes conversational formats deeply compelling and memorable.
You can use the guide below to create a podcast about practically anything. In this case I used my Lifemap profile because it already has a very thorough and holistic view of who I am and I was curious how the podcast would turn it into a conversation about me. The result was eerily accurate and simply amazing. I encourage anyone to try it out.
1. Go to notebooklm.google.com
2. Click the Create button
3. Upload your Lifemap Blueprint Report PDF
4. Wait for the upload to finish, then click the Generate button
5. Wait while the podcast is created. Mine took about 5 minutes.
6. Click play and listen to your very own podcast!
Here's the one I made about me using my own Lifemap Blueprint.
Listening to the podcast about myself left me with several thoughts / emotions:
The hosts are programmed to be positive so it's a bit of an echo chamber. I gave it something I'm working on and the result made me feel good about that thing I'm building. I'll take it.
Even though the hosts are AI generated, they sound human and express emotion. So hearing them sound interested in my unique traits really made me empathize with how people who are meeting me for the first time might see me. And it helped me think about what qualities I can highlight to help people get to know me better.
A lot of times I'm embarrassed by my weaknesses and would rather not talk about them, not expose them. I'd rather hide them. But hearing the podcast hosts talk about me so openly left me feeling exposed but also understood. It made me feel like I'm no different than everyone else whose working on improving themselves and who has a journey ahead to work on it. Hearing others talk about me that way and empathize with me made me feel accepted - by them and by me.
A new feature called Interactive Mode even lets you join as a virtual guest on a podcast about you... That is just so meta.
1. Click Interactive Mode
2. Click on the play icon - this will start the recorded podcast you already created
3. Click join and the hosts will stop and ask you to join in with your comment or question.
The hosts will address your question and then segue back to the recorded podcast in a totally natural way. It feels so real.
Let me know what you think in the comments.