Getting Over Myself: Cringing at My Own Voice and Other Podcasting Quirks

Pushing past self-doubt, one prayerful recording at a time

Here's the brutal truth: I seriously can't stand the sound of my own voice. Every time I hit playback on one of my test recordings, it's an instant cringe fest. It feels awkward, uncomfortable, and frankly, it makes me question why I'm doing this whole podcasting thing at all.

Yet, here I am, totally geeking out over microphones, mixers, and tweaking audio settings like it's my job. The setup is fun—like Christmas morning for a tech nerd—but the excitement fades the second I remember: eventually, I've got to talk into this thing. My voice, out there, recorded for anyone and everyone to hear. Yikes.

Funny enough, all my practice recordings have been me praying my morning prayers and rosary. It’s become my daily ritual, a strange blend of prayerful devotion and audio-engineering obsession. Talk about quirky, right? I'm pretty sure God gets a kick out of me tweaking the EQ between Hail Marys, but hey—it's working, kind of.

The anxiety is definitely still there, though. It’s not just about the voice—I’ve always had weird quirks that I'm hyper-aware of. Maybe it's the way I pause too long between thoughts or how sometimes my voice cracks just when I’m trying to sound confident. Each recording session ends with me wondering if I really want to put myself even more out there.

But here’s the thing: beneath all that self-consciousness and cringe-induced panic, there's a genuine desire to share something meaningful. Prayer is deeply personal, and recording it is like opening a window into a very private part of my life. It’s terrifying and vulnerable—but maybe that’s why it matters so much.

At some point, I know I have to move past this fear. The quirks, the cringes, the anxiety—they’re all part of the journey. And who knows, maybe someone out there needs to hear my imperfect voice, quirks and all, praying along with them. That thought alone makes it worth hitting record again tomorrow morning.

So, I’ll keep praying, recording, and probably cringing. But I’m learning to embrace it. One awkward prayer recording at a time.

For now, I think my first step might just be reading these blog posts out loud and then reflecting verbally on them afterward. Maybe hearing my own words spoken back to me will help ease the transition from written thoughts to comfortable conversation. We'll see how that goes.

—Jason