Exploring Voice Notes

Turning thoughts into seedlings. Some grow, some don't, and it's win-win anyway!

I’ve left you a voice note!

Either listen to the impromptu one-take, or read my longer piece below. Or see how both turn out and compare them!

I’m doing this because

Penny Harrison

wrote a love letter to voice notes yesterday. If you haven’t read it, please do.

Please also come back to read more of this when you’re done. [*crosses fingers in hope*] Here you go:

A love letter to the voice note

Voice notes to others are great. I’m always happy to chat via audio, though I understand that some people are firmly rooted in the text.

I don’t judge, even though I do squeal with delight when I find someone else who likes to leave messages that I can listen to.

The squeals don’t make it onto my replies…usually…

(Voice)Note to self

But what about voice notes from yourself to yourself?

Penny mentioned that personal voice notes are more difficult, as they seize up when recording.

I remember those dark times. My ability to delight and entertain everyone else (don’t argue, I’m happy to stay delusional about this) was fine, but I sounded stilted and strained to myself.

Thankfully:

1. It went away;

2. Consistency in sending them made the process easier and more natural;

3. You could get used to hearing your own voice. Maybe.

Let inspiration begin!

Voice notes are fun because you don't know where they'll take you. You simply talk about the inspiration that’s just hit you. This is your chance to wax lyrical so an idea becomes planted as a seedling.

If you don't know how to start, just say you were inspired and give the subject. This way, you won't have to face a void of empty audio space.

And don’t worry about gaps for thinking. None of this audio is supposed to be public. It’s simply a way to document the brilliant idea you’ve just had. Speak quickly or slowly or a mixture of both, the voice note is listening and won’t judge you. Voice notes don’t have the capability of judgement. Yet. I mean, so long as you don’t let the audio near to AI, I guess!

My voice note for you was also for me. It serves as an example, and it’s the inspiration that grew into this article.

I speak for a couple of minutes, then an article is born. That’s a result.

Okay, my initial inspiration was through Penny’s post! But my voice note allowed this article as a whole.

Writing this more formal (more rambling? more determined to make funny comments?) version wouldn’t have been so easy and flowing if I was starting from scratch. In other words, it’s all possible, but the outcome is different.

[As an aside, that means I don’t rely on writing everything off the back of voice notes, because I want different styles, different moods, different structures, and have various methods to act accordingly.]

So while my voice notes to self are usually private, I’ve got a practical reason to make this one available. I still tried to say what I wanted, how I wanted. But there is a slight performative aspect to it. Rest assured, I do still sound that excited a lot of the time. 😆

The main downside about voice notes is that I can’t make them in the middle of the night when I wake up with sudden inspiration from an epic dream. That’s probably for the best, for two reasons:

1. The majority of my amazing ideas at night turn out to be weird and disjointed and unrelated to anything that makes much sense in the waking world;

2. My family would not be happy with me waking them up to loudly make voice notes (and they already have to suffer me enough at the best of times…).

Regardless, voice notes help uncover more of your ideas and inspirations. This article took an hour from voice note to this text. Without the voice note, I’m sure it would’ve taken double the time, or longer.

If your thoughts aren’t captured, they might be lost into the ether. But if you make a voice note, at least you can remember the idea, expand upon it a bit, and do something with it later. The seed is planted, ready for growth.

Or for the delete button if the idea doesn’t land, or turns out to be less inspirational than you thought.

That’s the joy of a personal, spoken note to self. You’re doing it for you. It’s not polished, it’s not performed, it’s not perfect. But you’re giving it a chance to shine.

Nobody else needs to hear those initial seedlings. But I look forward to seeing the fruits that come from those seeds one day. Where will your curiosity take you?

My voice note inspired me. I hope it inspires you to inspire yourself.

Go make some noise!