In this week's P.O. Box:

It’s been an insane week for So You Think You Can Tout.

Since releasing the auditions episode last week with Pat Mayo, we’ve seen an outpouring of reactions to the applicants, held a live vote at the end of Best Ball Breakfast, pulled a twist on After Dark to stoke the flames of a rivalry, made an impromptu decision to advance an applicant after an impressive showing on the Bash, and finished scripting/recording the big announcement video of who made the cut (dropping Monday!).

But before we dive into the next stage of this competition, I wanted to share a few thoughts on what I’ve learned after closely reviewing submissions from 135 applicants who want to become fantasy football personalities.

H/t Charlie for this idea and summarizing some of his takeaways from the auditions.

Show, don’t tell. There is such a huge difference between the submissions where someone told us who they were vs. showing us who they are. Don’t tell us you are “an electric factory”…show us an example of you being electric. I liked how Max didn’t just tell us he was a college runner, he showed us. I loved Kalkin’s fantasy football cooking show idea, but I desperately wanted to see him cook while pitching it. Anyone can say anything, but we need you to prove it.

What’s your unique selling proposition. I’m not going to lie, after I hit submission 80 or so, the majority of them started to look and feel the same. Nice looking fella talking into his phone about how much he likes fantasy football. In these cases, I got a quick feel for on-camera charisma, but basically nothing else. Understanding what unique thing you bring to the table as a personality or creator is so crucial to stand out. I liked how Tony Squares quickly showed us he’s not afraid to play villain to the best ball bros.

No one cares what you’ve won. If one thing has become crystal clear through this process, it is that no one cares what you’ve won playing fantasy. Sure, that might be a hook to get a viewer in the door, but if you can’t also entertain then it’s irrelevant. There’s definitely an old school mentality within fantasy football that winning is all that matters, but ultimately people gravitate to the best personalities. Do you really think The Fantasy Footballers have 413k YouTube subs solely because they dominate their home leagues? This shouldn’t be an epiphany.

There’s no shortcut for on camera reps. A lot of people who have never done anything on camera submitted to this competition. A few gems can pull this off, but for the most part there is no replacement for reps.

I’ve done thousands and thousands of hours of live streams. Before that, I had done thousands of hours of improv. This stuff does not happen over night. If you are passionate about making content, you need to attack it with volume—even if no one is paying attention.

Being yourself is always your best bet. Trust me, I appreciate a good bit. I love the bits, but for a competition where you only have 90 seconds, I need to learn about who you actually are and why you actually want to participate. Goofy Chicken has one of the most beloved submissions because he’s genuinely himself and honest. Characters are fun and a great edition to the tapestry of a show, but only very skilled performers can pull them off for extended periods of time. Just be yourself.

This is reality TV. By the end of this contest, I’m extremely confident that we will have found a very talented individual who is ready for more opportunities making fantasy football content, but let’s be clear: there is one, singular goal along the way—to entertain. The contestants who understand this mission will do well.

This week’s surprise twist (Trojan Horse?) on After Dark is the exact kind of thing that fans should expect this summer. Buckle up.

You don’t need permission. As we soon let 100+ people know that they will not be advancing to the next round, I want to emphasize that you don’t need permission from me or anyone else to make stuff—something I emphasized in my 10 Lessons From 10 Years Making Content:

I do think this competition will serve as a career accelerant for a handful of the participants who go deep, but I’ve also noticed a sense of defeat from applicants who didn’t make the cut or got panned by Mayo. If one roadblock caused you to throw in the towel, then you aren’t cut out for content. That’s not mean, that’s just the reality. If you really want to do this, you can’t be waiting around for someone else’s approval.

Be consistent. You can’t shortcut reps, but if there’s one easy thing you can do to build a following it is simply to be consistent. Stream every day at the exact same time. Release a video on the exact same days. Send your newsletter every Friday am at 8am ET even if you have been putting it off longer than you should and have to get up way too early on Friday mornings to finish writing it all because 3.5 years ago you stubbornly decided to send one every single week.

Play your own game. This is a good final takeaway for people who are now wanting to start making content. The fantasy football space (and the best ball streaming space, specifically) is heavily saturated. If you aren’t first or you aren’t one of the best, it’s going to be very hard to get noticed. Instead of trying to be better than everyone else at the same game, create your own game where there is no competition.

I am not even close to being the best fantasy analyst (and I will never even try to compete in that sandbox), but I’ll tell you what—I have zero competition when it comes to hosting a fantasy football reality show competition…and that’s the point.

On Monday, we’ll drop Ep. 2—The Cutdown—which will feature the announcement of 26 individuals who have made the cut and will advance in the competition. Make sure you are subscribed here:

🕷 Book #3 for April (50%): Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I’m sorry for how slow I am on this one. I’ve been so swamped that I’m falling asleep after reading only a few pages a night.

I’m loving the communication breakthrough between the spiders and the ants, though.

💀 Book #2 for February (COMPLETED): Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
🧱 Book #1 for January (COMPLETED): The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami.

Got a question for me? Reply to this e-mail and I’ll get back to you…