As I listened to Joshua Wheelers, “Ugly Pew” I could not help but doze off. His voice is unlike Vowell’s audio essay. He resembles Lovell’s tone; dull and slow paced. Because of this I did not think he would be able to captivate me further or that I would even bother listening. But as the music follows his speech I found myself listening even more. I would say that Wheeler is effective in making his audience listen closer to his words because of the pauses he takes. Each pause notes either the end of what he means to explain or that he is moving on to the next scene of his story. It pulls the reader in to listen more carefully both figuratively and literally. Due to his soft spoken and calm voice it makes what he has to say sound more intimate as if he were speaking to one person in particular versus a crowd of people listening.
An example Wheeler uses Kern’s strategy of speaking conversationally when he asks his listeners questions like “what age do we lose the ability to see magic in waste” (3:04-3:09) and “at what age does rattling become so terrifying”(7:03-7:05) and even discusses death “No one will believe that sometimes people just get the urge to die” (8:30-8:35). The way Wheeler paces himself though these lines slowly, enunciating his words shows that he is being very careful when choosing his words. With each syllable he is emphasizing his emotions and the importance of behind his words. The topic of suicide is a difficult one. He understands this and accepts his sister’s death but to make sure his audience does too, he goes through it slowly.
Every pause he makes is deliberate. He wants his audience to follow his story. He wants his audience to understand the seriousness(?) behind his story. It is not just about retelling a story it is about the emotional reaction to his sister’s suicide. His mother’s, the townspeople and his own reaction towards acknowledging his sister’s suicide. The pace of Wheeler’s audio essay fits perfectly. If it was faster paced, the tale would just be something we heard once and missed or perhaps forgotten about. But because he takes his time and enunciates every scene, his listeners can pause with him, catch up and re-live his memory. It is easy to overlook details in audio essays and miss the true story but Wheeler’s pace helps develop his story and makes it easier to analyze rather than a speedy upbeat essay.
Taking Wheeler’s audio essay into account, I think I will focus on my pace a lot more and switch to a calmer tone. I think by doing this, my piece will impact more with listeners. Since I have a tendency to read too quickly, stutter and ramble I think reciting my words slower and enunciating will be more effective in recording my voice. I also need to create a strategy like Wheeler does to evoke more emotion in my essay. I want to emphasize with my readers instead of just spouting out life stories and events.I want something that stays in their minds for a while that can be further analyzed and create an aha moment.