This is the script I’m using for my first audio blog episode.

Hey everyone, I’m Jess Chua and this is my audio blog. I’ve been blogging at JessChua.com — that’s J-E-S-S-C-H-U-A dot com — for a few months and I thought I’d try something new with narrating some of my posts.

If this is your first time tuning in, welcome! I’d like to remind you that a link to the blog post will always be in the notes description of your podcast player in case you’re like me and like to read along with text.

Today’s episode is titled “Audio Blog Intro,” and will serve as a quick introduction to who I am and why I’m doing this.

So, who is Jess?

I’m a content specialist by day and I write on my personal blog in my free time. I’ve always loved reading and writing so those are topics that I frequently cover.

I also like recommending books and media that I’ve really enjoyed. I’ve been itching to do a quick review on Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: Space Odyssey, and I’m looking forward to verbalizing my thoughts about it!

I used to blog quite a bit several years ago. I’ve grown 2-3 separate blogs to over a million views each (two were niche blogs and one was work-related). I’ve paused writing on those two blogs as I didn’t want to be bogged down by SEO writing. I wanted my personal JessChua.com blog to be heavily writing-focused and something fun to do in terms of self-expression.

A fun fact is that I used to work for Optimal Living Daily — a very popular podcast in the personal development field. If you’re into self-help and motivational content, I highly recommend listening to that podcast. It was AWESOME listening to the high-quality audio productions and realising how a person’s voice could convey so much, whether it was through emotion, personality, or something else. It was also fun to work on scripts for episode intros and ads.

Why Audio Blog?

I’m currently using WordPress.com as my blogging platform. I had no idea that there was an option where you could sign up at Anchor.fm and have your WordPress posts automatically translated (I meant to say “narrated”; it was too late to update the audio blog episode). If you knew about it, please tell me because that’s really fascinating and I would have chosen that option if I had no interest in improving my speaking skills.

Mumbling and Speaking Quickly

I’ve always had a tendency to mumble or speak too quickly, especially if I’m nervous or excited about something. Honestly, I don’t even know how I’ve made it through some of my past job interviews…I guess it was mostly a matter of practice in terms of being confident in what I was talking about, and being aware of the type of vibe or personality I wanted to bring across.

Speaking Skills

Speaking well is a really important skill to have both socially and professionally. I have numerous problems with speaking. For example, my speech patterns and jaw movements got a lot lazier after I completed Invisalign (mine was over 24 months, and I had to wear rubber bands for some of those months to correct a misaligned bite). My accent is quite inconsistent because I’ve lived in different places over the course of my life, and I have a tendency to trail off.

I think the latter is a reflection of the way I think…I’ve always felt a bit of a lag between the speed of my thoughts and how long I take to verbalize them. I came across a good article from VoiceAndSpeech.com titled “My Voice Trails Off” that has some good tips if this is something you also struggle with.

Something I’m Comfortable With

While audio blogging is certainly stepping out of my comfort zone, it’s still something that I can see myself trying out.

I considered doing a bit of vlogging through TikTok or Instagram…but I’ve never really been on those platforms much. I haven’t been a social media person for quite some time, so audio blogging felt like a more suitable and realistic choice.

I guess audio blogging also has a degree of freedom and flexibility to it. As I said before, I like blogging in my free time and keeping it a fun, low-stress activity. I have little interest in monetizing it or having an extremely fixed content publishing schedule at the moment. My creative side is happiest when it’s free to decide when to be active and when to take a break.

Time, Life, and Joy

Earlier this year, I realised I wasn’t spending enough time on my hobbies.

I mean, I had to-do lists and I wanted to read on an almost daily basis. But it was easy to forget or let it fall to the wayside if other demands came up.

As a creative person, I’ve had my ups and downs over the years. I also have a strong practical side to me, so I do appreciate things like having a career and sustainable income. It works for me that way because my creative side feels a lot more happy and free when I’ve got my basic needs covered (like food, housing, income, etc.). It was grueling when I tried to make a living from creative writing and other pursuits long ago in my early twenties. I made a lot of mistakes and also learned a lot about myself in the process.

There are still a couple of short story collections I’d like to complete before I die. Creative writing and blogging are refreshing, energizing activities that my mind and spirit can’t live without.

I hope you’ll enjoy my audio blogging escapades and seeing my (hopeful) improvement with speaking out loud over time. I’ve started a draft blog post on 2001: Space Odyssey and I also have a draft on Pam & Tommy, which you can find on Hulu. They’re very different productions but hey, variety is the spice of life.

I look forward to publishing those and narrating them to you in the near future!

Thank you for listening, and remember to check out the show notes for article links and a direct link to my blog, JessChua.com.