Let me do your talking
A great voice isn’t always the right voice.
The right voice understands the story, the audience, and what the script needs to accomplish. Sometimes that means warmth. Sometimes authority. Sometimes it means sounding like a real person having a real conversation.
When you’re choosing a voice for a project, what makes you say, “That’s the one”?
Getting hired for one project is good.
Becoming the person a producer calls again is better.
Talent may get someone through the door, but reliability, communication, and taking direction well are what build a lasting working relationship.
When you hire creative talent, what makes you want to work with that person again?
Awards and recognition can feel good.
But in voice-over—or any business—the real measure of success is earning a client’s trust, delivering what they need, and having them call you again.
A trophy may sit on a shelf collect dust. A satisfied client helps build a career.
What means more to you: recognition from your industry, or repeat business from your clients?
Since it’s Labor Day, I’ve been thinking about something my good friend Pete told me years ago.
I started working with people when I was only 18 or 19, running a trucking company with my brother. Later came the dry-cleaning business and the airlines.
Along the way, I learned to listen, speak plainly, use common sense, and never cut someone off while they’re talking.
But around 2004 or 2005, my friend Pete gave me another lesson. He said, “Bret, you’re working really hard. Remember this: get paid for what you know, not for what you do.”
It took me nearly 30 years to understand that.
I’m sure there’s a lesson you’ve learned over the years.
Let me know in the comments!
When the best training material loses its audience, it’s usually because it sounds flat, rushed, or robotic.
A clear, natural voice doesn’t just deliver information—it helps people understand it, remember it, and stay engaged.
What makes training content easier for you to follow?
A voice does more than deliver information.
A recent study found that trusted voices and thoughtful storytelling can improve recall, credibility, and even a listener’s willingness to take action.
That makes sense to me. Before people respond to a message, they first decide whether they believe the person delivering it.
Besides trustworthiness, what other characteristics do you look for in a voice?
“If your business had a voice, what would you want it to say about you?”
#SmallBusiness #BrandVoice #FirstImpressions #ProfessionalVoiceover #VoiceActor
Some lessons arrive early.
Others take half a lifetime to finally sink in.
And what about the ones we never stop to listen to?
What is one lesson you wish you had learned sooner?
Have you ever reached the end of a very busy day and wondered what you actually accomplished?
You answered the messages.
Returned the calls.
Handled the unexpected problems.
Took care of one “quick thing” after another.
Everything needed attention, and none of it felt unimportant.
But sometimes the things demanding our attention aren’t the things that actually move us forward.
I’ve learned that a productive day may come down to only two or three meaningful things—the decision we’ve been avoiding, the conversation we need to have, or the work that will still matter a week or a month from now.
Being available to everyone can make us feel responsible. But if we aren’t careful, we can spend the entire day reacting instead of progressing. By the end of it, we may realize that all we’ve really been doing is treading water.
How do you separate what’s truly important from what’s simply making the most noise?
There’s a big difference between knowing
how to do the work and knowing how to
build the business.
I started training for voiceover work in the
late 1990s. I learned how to read a script,
take direction, and deliver a performance.
Then COVID came along, and suddenly
people were working from home.
I remember thinking, “Wait a minute—I
can do voiceover from home?”
Then came the questions.
I need a recording booth?
I have to build one?
What microphone do I need?
What about the acoustics, the
software, and all this other equipment?
Are you kidding me?
I had experience behind the microphone,
but I was starting the business side almost
from scratch. So I learned the same way
most people do—one question, one
mistake, and one small victory at a time.
Have you ever discovered that knowing how to do the work and knowing how to build the business were two completely different things?