If you know someone’s work and have never heard them speak, you may be surprised at how they sound. I’ve been moved by David Foster Wallace’s writing, but it was only after he died that I took a friend’s recommendation of the audiobook of him reading his own Brief Interviews With Hideous Men. It was super weird. He did not sound like what I thought he would.
And what does that even mean? I guess I expected his voice to be lower? And I was surprised by his soft and breathy stretching out of his words?
Seth Godin though, I’ve only known by hearing him. I listen to his podcasts and audiobooks, and except for using the writing for reference and notes (and getting his daily blog), I haven’t actually read any of his many books. I’ve probably listened to 100 hours of him talking though, and I know his voice well.
Or so I thought. This week watched a video of him explaining a new seminar, and something felt wrong to me. Why was he talking so slow? The voice was right, and his plain-spoken but well-read demeanor was right. Even his mannerisms were as I’ve come to expect them, but they were overcooked, cartoonish. Why was he talking so slow? Is there a producer motioning to talk slower, or is he stalling waiting for the teleprompter to get unstuck? I began to get annoyed, and finally stopped watching.
It was so weird that it bothered me. I reloaded the page and pressed play. When I found myself looking for the control in the video to change the playback rate and there wasn’t one, I realized I’ve never listened to Seth Godin speak at normal speed.
I have listened to him speaking in podcast and audiobook apps, and I always play those at at least 1.5x or more. Seth I listen to 2x for his blog and 2.5x for his books. “Seth’s” voice that I’ve associated with him is not his voice at all.
It’s closely related, for sure, but perceptually, “my” Seth voice is not how he sounds speaking as he normally would. To the degree that I was irritated listening to him! The longer I watched, the more ponderous and exaggerated his delivery became. Like he was dumbing it down to make sure I understood. Strange like a deepfake feels when you don’t know it’s fake yet, “my” Seth just couldn’t sound like that.
He does of course. Probably a touch faster if I met him, and with a few more disfluencies. (Real life doesn’t have cuts and takes.)
Until I started listening to podcasts and audiobooks, I never would have considered that the voice I hear and associate with a person is not his voice at all, and if it’s not his, it isn’t really anyone’s at all but mine.