I'm more comfortable as a writer than a talker. Over the years, I've gotten more and more comfortable with public speaking, learning not to over-think while I'm actually doing a talk, but this world is not one where we get to sit too long in our comfort zones. There's always something new.
Tonight, I had the pleasure of talking with Scott Monty and Burt Wolder on their I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere podcast, my first time on a podcast, and boy, was that different. It was fun talking with Scott and Burt, but the awareness of being recorded added a couple of new wrinkles that made the experience very different from a normal public speaking one.
Podcasting is quickly becoming our new radio, just as text-messaging became our new telegrams, and the thing that caught me by surprise was my over-sensitivity to the slightest bit of dead air. In regular public speaking, I've learned to slow myself down and even enjoy taking a nice pause in between thoughts. But talking to Scott and Burt for the podcast? Very different.
The podcast was recorded over the internet using Skype, which meant Scott, Burt, and I were all in our separate homes in the middle of Labor Day weekend. Having listened to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere many a time before via the web, having their voices coming over the headphones was a lot like listening to the podcast . . . except this time I was expected to participate. Definitely a little surreal at first. If you've ever listened to the podcast, you know what good, radio-quality voices the hosts of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere have, which adds to the effect.
I found myself over-thinking, just like in my first attempts at public speaking: Should I have stopped talking just there? That wasn't a very descriptive way to say that. What was the name of that one book? I suddenly can't remember the name of Jacquelynn's event . . . or her last name . . . work, damn you, brain, work!
The interview went well enough, as far as I can tell until I actually hear it. Scott did a good job of bringing in the topics, and I got more comfortable as it went on. In order to get truly comfortable with the podcast format, I think I'd need so much time that I'd have to start my own podcast, and that is not really high on my list of ambitions at present.
Like I said, I'm a writer, not a talker. But if you want to hear me talk, look the the next episode of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere.
The ongoing investigation of Sherlock Holmes, reported from the Peoria, Illinois outpost of Baker Street's dirtiest half a dozen.
I might be critical of your forgetting my name and event (A Scintillation of Scions) if I had never made a similar faux pas myself. One BSI weekend a group was interviewing and filming those of us gathered in the lobby of the Algonquin. I was asked which of the Holmes stories was my favorite, and though it is really not my favorite, the only story I could recall out of the 60 was "A Scandal in Bohemia." I blathered my way through explaining why it was allegedly my favorite. Mercifully (for myself and for those who might have viewed it), the project never got off the ground and the footage was never shown.
ReplyDeleteAs for your interview on "I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere," profuse and heartfelt thanks for mentioning my little annual gathering. I can't think of any better publicity than being mentioned on Scott's and Burt's podcast.
You did just fine, Brad. As I said on the show, it felt just like talking with you at a Sherlockian gathering. And we didn't even need a bottle!
ReplyDeleteFor those interested, the show can be found at: http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/09/episode-56-sherlock-peoria.html