293: How to Master Multilingual Podcasting

"On this episode of Lights Microphone Podcast, we sit down with Winnie Liao, a multilingual creator navigating the world of podcasting outside the default English-speaking bubble. Winnie brings us inside the reality of building content in a different language, carving out space for cultural identity, and pushing back against the idea that creativity only counts when it fits the dominant market. She shares the story of starting her show in Mandarin in Taiwan, the unexpected demand for bilingual content, and the pivotal lessons learned from her acting and clowning background. If you’ve ever felt like you’re creating from the margins, her story hits hard. Let’s get into it.”

Quick Summary - Show Notes

Winnie Liao, a multilingual creator with a background in children's theatre and tech content, shares her journey of starting a podcast in Taiwan, where the market began its rapid growth around 2020. Her show, which began in Mandarin, quickly evolved due to listener demand, forcing her to adopt a bilingual (Mandarin/English) format to serve an audience eager to learn English. She discusses the challenges of being a content creator in a corporate environment that lacked creative freedom, which ultimately pushed her to start her own successful independent show.

Winnie emphasizes that the podcast market requires consistency and patience, often taking years to build a following, and she notes that working with other podcasts to cross-promote is key. Drawing on her acting and clowning training, her main advice is about authenticity: Don't try too hard to be "cool" or perfect. Be natural and allow yourself to be awkward. This naturalness, combined with her focus on observation-based comedy, is what she is now using her podcast to test and develop, proving that the podcast acts as an essential self-promotion tool and demo reel for external creative work.

Find more about Winnie here: Linkedin Spotify Instagram Portfolio

About Our Guest, Winnie Liao:

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, and now based in Toronto, Winnie Liao is an actor, comedian, and spoken word artist. She produced the top-rated podcast in Taiwan, English, Listen Up! She is also the writer, producer, and performer of her stand-up comedy show, Life Sucks, and authored the poetry book Fire and Wind after moving to Canada. Winnie spent the first 10 years of her career in Taiwan focusing on children's theatre.

Now, she is pursuing her career in TV and film, as well as improv and stand-up comedy in Toronto, after graduating from Seneca College's Acting for Camera and Voice program. She is passionate about her East Asian background and strives to represent Asians positively. Being born in Taiwan and growing up in Canada gives her a unique sense of humor and style. In her free time, she enjoys leading city tours with a comedic twist and documenting the little funny things in Toronto with her camera.

Music Credits:

• Elifas Sonaru - Calm Breeze (artlist.io)

• Kicktracks - Oceanside  (artlist.io)

• Stevie Ross - Trippin - Instrumental version (artlist.io)