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You probably can't tell from Twitter that I used to lisp. If you've heard me on @wtop, you've no doubt thought, 'What's up with that guy's voice?' If you'd be so kind, allow me to share the saga: "What Does Cole Slaw Have To Do With Being A Radio Reporter?"
Hard to believe, I didn't realize I had a lisp until I was 40 years old. Nobody ever told me. When I was a kid, and pretended to be a DJ, spinning records and recording it on my cassette recorder, I knew I didn't sound like Dan Ingram or Harry Harrison, on top 40 WABC...
I thought "Oh, your voice isn't deep enough. Just talk lower." That didn't make a difference -- everything just sounded mushy. In college, the guys on our carrier-current station @AmericanU included "real broadcasters" like @MikeOMearaShow Goldy @640amWFNC and @TonyPerkinsFMTV.
But I loved the excitement of radio, so I got a job as a board op, for talk radio greats including Joel A. Spivak and @MarkDavis. And, I was a producer for Morton Downey, Jr.
When Mort fired me -- long story :) -- I got my first job in radio news, as a producer at United Press International. They were on their last legs, but that gave me a chance to do a bit of everything. Going out in the field to cover stories, covered the White House for a bit...
...Helen Thomas took my calls, and I learned about radio news -- before the internet was invented! I can't even imagine how we did that, but obviously we did.
Anyway, it was exciting to gather the news, and prepare it for other pros to deliver -- people with real radio voices, including UPI's Pye Chamberlayne, Tom Gauger, Howard Dicus, Carol Van Dam. And, while I've always been glad to write/edit stuff for others to read...
...it was easier for me to do it myself, since I didn't have to explain 'my vision.' So, I'd voice stuff. But it still didn't sound 'right.' More than one boss suggested I stick to producing, and that I "don't have the voice." Bummer. But I didn't disagree.
I did get hired to work part-time at WTOP as a reporter. News Director Michelle Komes Dolge @m_dolge finally gave in to my nagging, and I think she had a reporter shift to fill, Easter 1997. So, here I was, on the all-news station, in the nation's capital. I remember...
..sitting in the office of @JFarleyNEWS, when he said they wanted to hire me full-time, but first they wanted me to go to a well-known voice coach @AnnUtterback. She was the first person who ever told me I had a lisp. I was 40 years old, and she wasn't sure I'd be able to fix it.
She sent me to speech pathologist @Speechette who patiently listened, and told me I wasn't saying S or L correctly. The problem was, I wasn't curving my tongue into a V and forcing the air through my front teeth, so it sounded like "ehhsth" Try it.
And, on my Ls, I didn't lift my tongue to the top of my mouth. Say the letter L without lifting your tongue -- that's what Tom Brokaw ( and I) did. So, Cathy Runnels gave me lots of exercises to do. My favorite exercise to practice Ls was saying the name of my coworker....
Judlyne Lilly @secondst. And, the word "cole slaw" because it required I transition from my troublesome L to my troublesome S. I'm trying to say that transition as I type now. What a mess! Lemme show you.....
What the S and L transition sounds like....
@Speechette taught me to break the combination into two separate parts. So, "cole slaw" becomes "cole suh-law." And if you do those two separate sounds one after the other, it sounds normal. Fast forward from 1999 to 2020, I've been honored to keep telling stories @wtop, and ...
...never get tired of people saying my "Neal Augenstein, WTOP news" lockout back to me. In the past 20 years, the radio industry has changed so the "Ted Baxter voice," has gone out of favor. And, having an "identifiable" voice has always counted for something in...
...letting listeners know what station they're listening to. So, there's a tale of who knows what <shrug>. For me, I've always been thankful my bosses @wtop invested in my future. And, I get to keep telling stories, on 103.5FM, http://wtop.com , and here on Twitter...
...in large part, thanks to your willingness to listen. Thankthhhh. I mean, thanks :)
