While reading “Sound Reporting – The NPR Guide to Audio Journalism and Production” by Jonathan Kern, and “Be Quiet: In Praise of the Pause” by John Biewen there were many listening elements I came across with. The most important one, I thought, was the importance of feeling the words as you say them, in order to emphasize their meaning. In Wheeler’s audio essay, Joshua’s vocal performance approach throughout the recording changes from time to time, also I thought the background music helped his pauses last a little longer. From 2:18 to 2:30 the pauses he makes in each of the descriptions he’s mentioning give it a clear emphasis in what he is saying. The technique I liked the most used in the audio essay was the Fade to black, explained in detailed by John Biewen. Right after the clear emphasis pauses, from 2:31 to 2:40 his use of fade to black makes a transition from one scene to the other. It’s like getting a faded haircut, your barber will start cutting your hair really short at the bottom, but as he transitions to the top of your head, your hair will be much longer. Short of how my hair looks like, a faded Mohawk. Moreover, from the time frame of 5:26 to 6:02, Joshua not only talks abut what happened to his sister, and how him and his mother are going through with it, but also gives us a real feeling of the meaning of the words he is saying. Then follows a pause. Highlighting everything he had previously said in big letters! From 6:44 to 6:48 the dramatic pause makes the essay sound conversational. What I take away from all the essays we have read and heard, as I start planning how bring my essay into audio form, will be to really listen to myself read my essay aloud. Maybe even have a friend be with me to tell me whether or not I sound as the same as if I was casually talking to them.