Speaking in Character: To Do or Not To Do?

I’ve been playing RPG’s for awhile now.  I like them.  They are a great diversion in my hectic schedule.  But one thing I have never been comfortable doing is speaking in character.

I have always been a player who says things like, “my character crosses the bridge slowly” or “my character rolls thievery to see if they can pick the lock”.   That’s just the way I work.  It’s what make me comfortable in a game.

However… The other night when playing my new gnome character, for the first time, I tried speaking as the character.  It was a bit fun though still felt incredibly awkward to me.  It really didn’t feel natural.

Of course, the other players around the table all noticed.  They were so excited that I was branching out in my gaming.  Our players have a variety of styles they play in.  Some always speak in character while others bounce back and forth and then there’s me who is always speaking about my character but never in her voice.

It was nice to try.  I don’t know if I’ll continue or maybe just throw it in here and there when I feel like stretching myself.

What about all of you?  Do you speak in character: all the time, some of the time or never?  Let me know how your gaming groups like to do it.