One of the great gifts in today’s plethora of social media outlets and the handy communication tools built into our mobile devices is the ability to receive instant feedback concerning what you say and how it is said.
After posting “One Mask, Two Mask, Three Masks Yo!”; one glaring issue slapped me right in the face. My overuse of verbal pauses bordered on criminal. Technically, any use of verbal pauses that are not scripted is an overuse.
I have a degree in Broadcasting, have performed in over a dozen theatrical productions, have announced as a side kick or main voice in countless Beaverland MustSki water-ski shows over the last 10 plus years and have conducted safety training for thousands of working people over a 30 year career.
Committing the public speaking sin of copious verbal pauses is unacceptable. This must be fixed.
By now, you have either switched over to my YouTube Channel or found the February 15th post that I’m referring to and counted the total Ah and Um pauses, or are asking yourself; “What is he rambling on about now?!”
My unofficial count of verbal pauses was 67 during an 8 minute and 25 second video. That’s a cringe-worthy 8 vocal pauses per minute. As a result, while setting up to record “There Are Other Viruses Ya’ Know” I made a conscious effort to eliminate the use of ah and um.
How did I do? There were two lapses in concentration adding up to, unofficially, 8 vocal pauses in the 5 minute and 31 second video. That’s 1.5 verbal pauses per minute. Better, but still unacceptable. We WILL fix this.
In case you are wondering, none of my YouTube videos have been scripted. I assemble the content in my mind, start the video rolling and begin to speak until I think that I’m done. I’m not opposed to scripting, but the goal is for the videos to be a conversation, not a performance. However, if the problem persists, we will try scripting and (gawd forbid) rehearsing it before starting the video.
Feel free to set an over/under and bet on it. Help me be a better me. Not just for me, but for all of us!
Ron's Ramblings 
I’m impressed by your by the hip narration!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Been shooting from the hip so long, that scripting might be “awkward”.
LikeLike