Your Mic

Freddy Cruz
  • 5.0 (3)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE

Your Mic is a podcast for new and aspiring podcasters. Hosted by Freddy Cruz, founder of Speke Podcasting, Your Mic offers insights, tactics, and mindset strategies. Each episode features practical advice to help listeners build and grow a top 1% podcast. Join Freddy as he shares his experience and knowledge to guide you through the podcasting journey. Tune in and take your podcast to new heights.

  1. 2H AGO

    Using AI Without Losing Your Soul

    You’re not a factory. You’re a tastemaker. So why are you judging yourself for not being a one‑person production line with a ring light and a nervous system on fire? In this solo episode of Your Mic, we drag your AI guilt into the daylight and beat it with a mic stand. You’ll hear why nobody cares who normalized the waveform, what TV anchors and radio hosts know that podcasters forget, and how to treat AI like an invisible production team instead of a threat to your “purity” as a creator.​ We’ll also talk about the real reason AI makes you uncomfortable: not ethics, not robots, but ego. Because once the busywork excuse disappears, you’re left with one brutal question—do you actually have something to say or not?​ In this episode: Why you’re not a “realer” podcaster for doing everything yourself—and why that belief is burning you out, not building your show.​ The TV and radio reality: anchors and hosts don’t touch half the buttons you’re punishing yourself over. Listeners only care how you make them feel.​ A simple workflow for using AI as your invisible production team to turn one messy recording into show notes, clips, emails, and social content.​ The guilt and ego piece: how “It’s cheating to use AI” is often code for “I’m scared to run out of excuses.” Subscribe to Your Mic on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Shoot Freddy an email: freddy@spekepodcasting.com.

    7 min

  2. 5D AGO

    One Tiny Fish Can Fix Your Entire Podcast Process

    In this solo episode of Your Mic, Freddy goes underwater—literally—to talk about what a tiny Japanese pufferfish can teach you about preparation, obscurity, and playing the long game as a podcast creator. You’ll hear about the white‑spotted pufferfish that spends 7–9 days carving a 6–7-foot geometric “crop circle” in the sand to attract a mate, a ritual divers noticed in 1995 but didn’t attribute to the species until 2013. Then we drag that metaphor kicking and screaming into podcast land: outlines, scripts, obsessive editing, and what it means to keep building your circle when almost nobody’s watching. In this episode: Why a 3–5 inch fish is more committed to craft than most creators. The 18-year gap between “someone is making art” and “we know who the artist is,” and how that mirrors audience growth How to pick one “ridge” in your process to obsess over for the next 7–9 days. For: Podcasters who are sick of “quick hacks” and ready to become the kind of person who builds the damn circle anyway. Subscribe to Your Mic on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Shoot Freddy an email: freddy@spekepodcasting.com.

    8 min

  3. FEB 3

    You Can Do Everything Right and Still Lose

    Today, Freddy goes back to peewee football—four seasons of the Klein Jets dominating regular seasons, only to lose the Super Bowl to the same team, the Spring Raiders, every single year. It becomes a brutal metaphor for podcasting: you can prepare hard, execute well, do “everything right,” and still lose when it matters—because life, timing, and tech don’t care about your effort. Youth coaches talk about how culture and development don’t always equal championships, just like podcasters can build good shows and still get wrecked by cancellations, outages, or bad luck. In this episode: The emotional reality of losing the “Super Bowl” over and over as a kid. Why preparation is about identity, not guarantees. How to name your “Spring Raiders” and build systems that make you harder to beat—even when you still might lose. For: Podcasters who feel like they’re doing everything “right” and still not winning—and need to learn how to keep playing anyway. Subscribe to Your Mic on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Shoot Freddy an email: freddy@spekepodcasting.com.

    10 min

  4. JAN 29

    Your Podcast Is Undefeated...BUT NOBODY CARES

    In this solo episode of Your Mic, Freddy raids Creed for every lesson it has about ego, humility, and getting your ass kicked on the way to greatness. We walk through Adonis Creed’s 15–0 record in Mexico, his humiliating sparring loss to Danny “Stuntman” Wheeler that costs him his Mustang, his back-to-basics training with Rocky Balboa, and his split-decision loss to “Pretty” Ricky Conlan where he still “wins the night” by earning the crowd’s respect. Then we drag all of that into podcasting: big fish/small pond illusions, public failure, stripping your show down to fundamentals, and redefining what winning even means. In this episode: How to know if you’re still “undefeated in Mexico.” Why you need a “lose the Mustang” moment to level up. What it looks like to lose the fight but win the night as a creator. For: Hosts who secretly believe they’re special and need Creed to remind them the universe does not care—until they prove it. Subscribe to Your Mic on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Shoot Freddy an email: freddy@spekepodcasting.com.

    12 min

  5. JAN 27

    Podcast Charts Are Lying to You: How to Use Rankings Without Losing Your Soul

    Podcast charts are sexy lies in a tailored suit. This episode pulls the mask off “top 5%” flexes and shows you how to treat rankings like lobby trophies while your real metrics live in revenue, relationships, and pipeline. Key takeaways Charts are vanity that can still buy you a few seconds of attention if you use them right. Rankings do not equal revenue a tiny show can quietly crush six figures. The real dashboard is downloads on one side and email opt-ins, sales calls, and revenue on the other. Use “top X%” as a door opener in intros and pitches, not your entire personality. If charts spike but your bank account doesn’t, you have a conversion problem, not a podcast problem. Subscribe to Your Mic on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Shoot Freddy an email: freddy@spekepodcasting.com.

    6 min

  6. JAN 22

    Resilience Is The Real Podcast Metric

    Suffering is not the tax you pay for podcasting. It is the training camp. Freddy Cruz reframes the sting of low downloads, awkward interviews, and lonely recording sessions as reps, not punishment. Pain and tiny numbers stop being a verdict on your talent and start becoming the weight rack where you build resilience, timing, and a voice that does not crack every time the stats dashboard looks ugly. Every rough episode forces you to confront your bad habits, sharpen your questions, clean up your structure, and figure out who actually cares about what you are making. You bleed off the fair-weather listeners and find the handful of people who replay your work, quote it back to you, and quietly become your real audience. Over time, your tolerance for discomfort turns into an edge. While everyone else quits at episode seven because it “didn’t blow up,” you treat the grind itself as the point, knowing that the version of you who can handle this level of suffering is the only one capable of running a truly great show. Subscribe to Your Mic on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Shoot Freddy an email: freddy@spekepodcasting.com.

    7 min

  7. JAN 20

    You Don’t Need a Weekly Show: The Truth About Podcast Consistency

    Weekly-or-bust bros are not paying your invoices. This episode murders the myth that you “have” to publish every week and helps you pick a cadence you can keep on your worst day without ghosting your feed or your sanity. Key takeaways Weekly is a suggestion, not scripture for most founders, it is a fast track to burnout. Listeners care more about reliable, strong episodes than how often you drop. Choose a cadence you can hit on your busiest week, then protect it fiercely. Banking a handful of episodes gives you an emergency parachute when life explodes. Seasons and honest promises beat sporadic “weekly” chaos and build long-term trust. Subscribe to Your Mic on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Shoot Freddy an email: freddy@spekepodcasting.com.

    4 min

  8. JAN 15

    Stop Clip Spam: How to Repurpose Your Podcast Without Trashing It

    Clip factories are shredding your episodes into context-free dust. This one rips apart the “47 pieces of content” gospel and shows you how a few intentional, lethal clips can out-pull an army of random reels and quote cards. Key takeaways Most “repurposed” clips are contextless crumbs with no hook, narrative, or payoff. A messy episode chopped up just becomes a hundred tiny messes. Plan clip moments in the outline so they can stand alone with a clean story arc. Every clip needs its own hook, one core idea, and a direct call back to the show. Two to four strong clips that actually drive plays and actions beat 47 vanity snippets. Subscribe to Your Mic on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Shoot Freddy an email: freddy@spekepodcasting.com.

    4 min
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5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Your Mic is a podcast for new and aspiring podcasters. Hosted by Freddy Cruz, founder of Speke Podcasting, Your Mic offers insights, tactics, and mindset strategies. Each episode features practical advice to help listeners build and grow a top 1% podcast. Join Freddy as he shares his experience and knowledge to guide you through the podcasting journey. Tune in and take your podcast to new heights.

Information

  • Creator
    Freddy Cruz
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Freddy Cruz
  • Show Website
    Your Mic