Create a Powerful Voice Over Talent Brand Online

Are you taking advantage of the online opportunities to get hired?  As a voice-over talent, it is critical that you are strategic.  You want to be sure that you are visible in searches and that once they find you, they can see your portfolio of audio/video work.  Here are some digital strategies to help increase your visibility and book more jobs.

Google My Business

Google is the largest search engine out there that reaches millions of people daily.  In 2019, it was estimated that 97% of searches online were to find a business.  Are you taking advantage of that?

Google my business is free and helps you appear on google search and maps.  It is the perfect way to get your information out there, whether you are a seasoned voice-over talent or new to the industry.  It makes it easier for customers to find you.  Google Business dramatically increases your search visibility.  For example, if someone types in “voice over talent in Nashville, Tennessee”, businesses matching that will pop up. Hey, including mine!

Not only does it help with customers finding you physically, but it improves your digital search visibility in Google.  When a prospective customer is looking for local businesses, they are ready to hire.

Google Business lets you post useful information and makes it easier for customers to leave reviews.  Add information like your name, what you do, location (if you don’t want your home studio to appear, a city is fine), phone number, website, and pictures.  You can capture their interest in your listing.

Social Media Presence

Be consistent with your brand and imagery.  Keep your content interesting, informative, and fun, followers want to be entertained.  Include your website information on your social media and cross-promote your social media channels with one another to increase your brand’s visibility. 

• Instagram – Showcase your voice in videos, behind the scenes of a job you are working on or a training that you are doing. Think of Instagram as a portfolio of photos and videos of your studio, equipment, events, trainings, and clients.
• LinkedIn – LinkedIn is mainly a professional networking platform. Your content should be focused on potential clients. It is the perfect place to link to your demos, your resume, and completed projects. Your aim should be showcasing your professional personality.
• YouTube – Set up your YouTube channel to stream your demos and voiceover recordings.

No matter what social media channels you post on, you want to plan a schedule relatable content consistently. Consistency is major. Also, be aware of trending hashtags and ones that include your location. People follow hashtags and if you include one, they will find you easier.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

You should already have a website, if not that is the first step.  Once your website is live, you will want to make sure that your voice over talent website appears in Google searches.  That is what SEO is all about! It's about making sure that your website has the correct keywords in the content.  For example, you can look at the common search result suggestion of people when they type in the word “voice acting”.  From there, you can study the pattern on what keywords are mostly used for researching voice over talent and be sure that your content has them built-in.  This way, Google will find your site and potential jobs will be for your consideration. These days Google search engines seem to be more sensitive to images and video as well as keywords and content.

Tracking Your Results

You can make use of google analytics to track the engagement of your website and your social media.  This way you can see what is working best for you and ways to improve your online presence.  Your efforts will help get your voiceover talent brand more visibility.  More visibility will give you more opportunities for potential jobs to come your way.

Warm-Ups Are a Must for a Voice Over Actor

Athletes, singers, and other professionals warm up before they perform. Why wouldn’t a voice-over actor?  Being a voice-over actor involves strain on your vocal cords, so warming up is a must.  Warm-ups will help get your voice into perfect condition for a great day at the studio.

Why Is It Important?

The more you tone your vocal cords, the more versatile you will be while reducing your chances of injury.  Most seasoned voice-over actors will perform warm-ups after they wake up in the morning and then again before a recording.  Sessions can be demanding for a voice-over actor and a warmup will keep you in top performance shape.

Relaxation Begins with Breathing

Breathing releases tension that can interfere with effective voice production.  If you are holding on to tension, it radiates to the voice box muscles.  Start with relaxing your shoulders and chest, take a regular breath in and then exhale.  The next breath-hold an “s” sound like in a hiss when you exhale.  You want the focus of your breath to come from your abdomen and not your chest and shoulders.  Place your hand on your abdomen as a reminder.  Repeat a few times.

Stretches for the Body

A limber body means a more relaxed voice.  Start with side stretches, they are great for expanding your rib cage and making your lungs feel like they are full of air.  Raise your arms up to the sky and exhale and lean to the right, lengthening your body.  Gently hold it there for a few seconds and then back to center and then to your left.

Gentle neck rolls will help warm up your neck and throat muscles.  Gently rotate your head clockwise and counter-clockwise.

Humming, Lip Trills, and Tongue Trills

A loose, gentle modulating hum is a way to ease your facial muscles and create space for resonant sound.  It gets your resonators warm which helps restore your vocal tone quality.

Lip trills and flutters are also a good way to loosen facial muscles and get your vocal cords warmed up.  To roll your lips, close your mouth and create a constant “b” sound.  This will vibrate your lips, creating a trilling sound effect.

Tongue trills relax the tongue and engage breathing and voice.  Place your tongue behind your upper teeth.  Exhale and trill your tongue with an “r” sound.  Hold the sound steady and keep the breath connected.  Try to vary the pitch up and down the scale while trilling.

Tongue Twisters

Articulation is one of the most important aspects of your job.  If you don’t articulate and enunciate clearly, then no one is going to understand what you are saying, and that means you will not be hired for the job.  Tongue twister exercises are a great tool.

• She sells seashells by the seashore.
• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
• A big black bug hit a big black bear.
• How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
• These are ideal phrases... but they are tough for me too!

Yawning

Yawning naturally drops your jaw and regulates oxygen while extending your soft palate.  It relaxes your throat muscles and vocal cords, and as soon as they relax, the tone drops.  There are many actors that swear by this technique.

Warm-ups in the Shower

The humidity will help as the moisture will coat and protect your throat, vocal cords, and more.  Plus, the acoustics will be an added bonus.  Wherever in the morning, your warm-up in the shower or in your bedroom or kitchen.  Just remember voice-over actors are like athletes, they need to warm up and train to keep their voice in top condition.