If you edit out every breath, "um," and awkward pause because you think it makes you sound more professional, you are actually hurting your authority. Psychology shows that being "too perfect" triggers the Uncanny Valley effect and makes listeners distrust you.

In this episode, we look at behavioural psychology (specifically the "Beautiful Mess Effect" and the "Pratfall Effect") to understand why humans who show vulnerability (with that voice you "hate"!) win more trust than those who polish everything. We explore the "pratfall" effect and how it applies to both improv and podcasting.

You'll get the psychological facts about how audiences perceive mistakes and understand the importance of failure acceptance in creative fields. I give you an exercise you can try today to practice speaking, using your voice, for your next episode (and it also works great for webinars too).

Get some podcasting tips, a useful exercise, and improve your content.

Key Takeaways:

1. How podcast editing generally handles errors, versus the spontaneous nature of improv.
2. Why we view our own mistakes as weaknesses but view others' mistakes as courage (The Beautiful Mess Effect).
3. How to use the "Pratfall Effect" to increase your likability as an expert.
4. Why filler words like "um" are actually neurological signals that help your audience process complex ideas.
5. My "Recovery Drill" to train your brain to speak continuously without stopping for mistakes.

Research on the Beautiful Mess Effect (Anna Bruk, University of Mannheim):

https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/beautiful-mess-effect https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326743464_Beautiful_mess_effect_Self-other_differences_in_evaluation_of_showing_vulnerability

Research on The Pratfall Effect:

https://ofdblog.wordpress.ncsu.edu/2022/08/22/re-engage-with-your-students-by-being-more-authentic-and-showing-your-humanity/ (see references) https://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=8970932&fileOId=8970933

Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages:

https://juliacameronlive.com/

On Filler Words as Signals:

https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/um-so-how-filler-words-can-be-effective-communication

Episode on Improv and Failing (as fun!):

https://youtu.be/RTN5KfE7GZ4

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