Clear your throat 9th January 2009
It’s a situation which I encountered at least once every week. Being highly irritating with the same effects of watching someone yawn, it often causes me some discomfort. Let me elaborate, close you eyes for a minute…
Change of plan, open your eyes, otherwise you don’t be able to read this — Imagine a person having and ordinary conversation with you, it’s intriguing and you lean forward to express your interest, you start to nod your head with points you agree on while making a subtle yet sharp “mm” just to let your neighbor know you’re actually awake. Now the atmosphere is established.
All of a sudden, the speaker’s audibility diminishes as a lump of phlegm or some un-swallowed saliva gets lodged at the back of his/her throat (sorry guys, this speaker’s gender is a tad murky). You think at any moment they’re going to stop and clear their throat, but no! Like a train heading for a concentration camp, he/she does not stop speaking. Soon enough beads of sweat start to form on the end of your nose, as well as a replicated lump of phlem/saliva forms at the back of your mouth.
You start to take matters into your own hands. You start to at first slowly clear your throat by swallowing, but when you find that fails, you start to cough subtly, before breaking out in a raging coughing fit.
And that is the situation explained. In fact, I just experienced it recently while watching this video, and felt it must be documented in this secret diary of mine (which it is in it’s own right, as no one else reads these few pages). So speakers, clear your throat when your voice starts to disintegrate, and in-turn, maintain audience concentration.
