Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to listen to yourself. I know that a
Speaker 1: lot of people find listening to audio recordings or watching
Speaker 1: video recordings of themselves to be painful, but it doesn't
Speaker 1: have to be, and it can be a great way
Speaker 1: to become more effective at communication. So Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: celebrating its fifth anniversary right around now. Since launching this
Speaker 1: show in March of twenty nineteen, I have recorded well
Speaker 1: over thirteen hundred episodes. My process involves recording and then
Speaker 1: listening to the recording to double for my producer if
Speaker 1: there are any required sound edits. I do not love
Speaker 1: the sound of my voice, but at this point I
Speaker 1: have gotten used to it. I also listen to interviews
Speaker 1: I have done on other people's podcasts. Doing so has
Speaker 1: brought me face to face, or perhaps ear to ear,
Speaker 1: with some of my more annoying vocal tics. I have
Speaker 1: not gotten rid of all of them by any means,
Speaker 1: but at least being aware of them has helped me
Speaker 1: do them a little less. So. I know not everyone
Speaker 1: is into podcasting, but many people do have to address
Speaker 1: other people at some point. Maybe you lead meetings, maybe
Speaker 1: you occasionally give interviews about a topic. Maybe you sometimes
Speaker 1: need to give speeches. Listening to and watching yourself is
Speaker 1: one of the easiest ways to get feedback on your performance.
Speaker 1: I'd like to think that I am not burying my
Speaker 1: head in the score when I am singing with my choir,
Speaker 1: But I have watched videos and you can see the
Speaker 1: top of my head more often than i'd like, So
Speaker 1: note to self. Look up. If you watch a video
Speaker 1: of yourself leading a meeting, you can instantly see if
Speaker 1: you are doing something with your hands that is distracting.
Speaker 1: Many people are surprised to hear how fast they speak
Speaker 1: when they are reading something out loud. What feels like
Speaker 1: a lengthy pause might not actually be noticeable. Maybe you
Speaker 1: are using filler words like um or like frequently. There
Speaker 1: is no need to give yourself a complim about this,
Speaker 1: but for formal interviews you might try practicing answers to
Speaker 1: the usual questions so you don't need to resort to
Speaker 1: these fillers. For instance, if I have just written a
Speaker 1: book and I am doing podcast interviews about the book,
Speaker 1: everyone is going to ask me what led me to
Speaker 1: write the book. There is no need for any ums
Speaker 1: in an answer. I think the key with all of
Speaker 1: this is approaching a recording from the perspective that feedback
Speaker 1: is almost universally helpful. No one is perfect. I am
Speaker 1: not sure any normal person loves the sound of his
Speaker 1: or her own voice. We hear our voices differently in
Speaker 1: our heads than other people hear us, and that difference
Speaker 1: can be bothersome. But it's not like the difference doesn't
Speaker 1: exist just because we don't like it. So if you
Speaker 1: need to communicate for something high stakes, try recording yourself first.
Speaker 1: If you are interviewing for jobs, have a friend to
Speaker 1: ask you some common questions and record your responses. You
Speaker 1: will likely be able to pick up on what sounds
Speaker 1: strong and competent and what doesn't good to know. If
Speaker 1: you will be giving a toast or a speech, videotape
Speaker 1: or run through, you will see times when the pacing
Speaker 1: is off or anything you are doing physically that you
Speaker 1: are not aware of. Other people listen to us all
Speaker 1: the time, but we don't necessarily listen to ourselves. Doing
Speaker 1: so means we experience ourselves as others would. Knowing what
Speaker 1: others are experiencing makes for better communication, so it's worth
Speaker 1: giving it a shot. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our times. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've
Speaker 1: got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at
Speaker 1: Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.