An unanticipated benefit of doing this podcast is getting the opportunity to analyze my speech when I do the editing (we rotate that responsibility). Even though I find it painful at times, I use the word 'benefit' because it's truly interesting and educational to hear the sound of one's voice.
I have known for some time that my voice is at the pitch of 'background noise' and that my cadence is, let's call it, deliberate. In my professional life I have witnessed on numerous occassions men nodding off during my presentations or while I am talking. I say "men" on purpose, as oddly, this seems only to apply to men. In any case, this is what made me very good at delivering bad news to big institutional customers - I know how to bore an angry mob into submission.
So I'm particularly sensitive about how I come off in this podcast and when I edit, I pay particular attention to how I sound and the way I speak. What I have found is that while 'on tape', my voice appears to be substantially less soporific, I am still terribly paced and deliberate in the way I speak. Worse, I imagined myself as 'thoughtful' and coming out with extended but complete and coherent thoughts, which is not the case. I get lost, go on tangents, restart, "um" and "you know" like everyone else.
So I'm trying to be more responsive, speak more directly and be more succinct. Easier said than done, but that's my commitment to you. And I highly recommend that you record one of your own conversations or an unrehearsed monologue - it's an enlightening experience in self-awareness.
And during the next episode’s edit, I will speed up Seth so he sounds like a chipmunk, were chipmunks inclined to talk in the way that the slanderous media portrays them.
Well remember to adjust for the effects of self-scrutiny; on my last edit I was surprised at how good you and Seth sounded — full sentences, few tangents, etc. I, on the other hand … the horror. So I had made a similar pledge (to myself).