Hi Rob,
Usually I can't hear retrievees well. They frequently seem to mumble and also 'loop' or repeat their thoughts. I attribute their usual vagueness to (besides my hearing problem) shyness, gruffness with strangers, not having spoken to anyone for a long time, traumatization if they'd died violently, evasiveness due to the nature of what some did to get themselves stuck, etc.
This fellow wasn't loud, even seemed to be holding back abit. He was forthright, knew what he wanted to say, usually answered in complete well-formed sentences. He was eager to communicate.
When I taught art, teachers had some mini-psych workshops (I bet the pros hate to hear that!
) on what to watch for in our students' speech and manner, relative to whatever dangerous activity was prevalent at the time. Maybe I apply some of that to listening to these stuck souls.
Relative to most of my retrievees, James had been there a shorter time, and that might have made him clearer, but now that I've been thinking about this in response to your question, I think it has alot to do with who they were in life.
Each one is different.
When I tried writing fiction for awhile, my characters sounded too much alike. Not so with these souls.
Bets