What sort of surprised me was hearing pg talk in some video. I'd been reading his stuff for years, and the voice is completely unlike what I'd imagined.
Yeah, he sounds normal doesn't he? Previously, all my contacts with "business gurus" have been hyper-agitated, super-excited sales guys, motivational speakers and the like; think Jack Welch.
I hope he won't take offense at my dissecting it, but he sounds more ... hrm, I'm not sure what the accent is... it reminds me a bit of Dave Sifry, actually. You could really hear it when he said "so" in this video, which tended to be a bit drawn out: "seeeewwww". I expected something a little bit more clipped and neutral.
Perhaps the difference is that he spends a lot of time getting his essays 'just right' whereas speaking is a bit more of an off-the-cuff affair.