Jodi Krangle

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Jodi@VoiceoversAndVocals.com

Inspiration

Time For A Transition

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      TimeForATransition-BlogAudio-JodiKrangle - Jodi Krangle - voiceoversandvocals.com

Those of you who have been following this blog and accompanying podcast, have seen the direction I’ve been going with this. I know a lot of us are Creatives.  A lot of us need help understanding how not to beat ourselves up in our own heads. And helping people with that (in a distinctly NOT professional capacity!) will never stop being a priority for me.

If you’re still interested in that topic, I’ve created a Facebook Group, just for you. If you’re looking for a place to share your Creativity and get encouragement from fellow Creatives, I invite you to join me there.

HOWEVER, my passion is also sound.

Specifically, voice overs and music.  I use my voice both for my day job and for the pleasure of singing. I’d like to delve deeper into how that works in the greater context of branding – both mine and my clients’.

So while the Silver Linings blogs and podcast episodes will remain out there, and I hope you find them useful, I’ll be transitioning to a new podcast in a month or so.

I’m calling it: Audio Branding: The hidden gem of marketing.  And it really is a “hidden gem”.

In a lot of cases, people forget just how much audio – voice overs, music and sounds in general – influence our behavior on a regular basis.  We’ve gotten used to so many places sounds play a part.

Think about it for a bit.

We expect a car to sound a certain way (and am I the only one who’s freaked out when I’m in a Prius or a Tesla at a stop light??), even if that sound is changing. That’s why our phones still “click” when we take a picture, even if they don’t need to.  Or why that vinyl scratching sound is used in ads all the time to audibly tell us an interruption is happening – even if it’s rare that people listen to records anymore.

The sounds used in advertising, make us automatically familiar with a brand (like McDonalds’ “I’m Lovin’ It” (ba da ba ba ba!), the sound of the Taco Bell bell, the Intel sound logo, or the trill of the NBC logo).  We even recognize that an animated cartoon is The Peanuts (or a parody of it) by the trombone sound that happens when the adults speak.

We could all stand to learn something about audio branding.

Even those of us who make a living in the sphere.  ESPECIALLY those of us who do that. Learn how to leverage your own audio branding – whatever that may be – and you win at marketing.  The shortest bit of sound can be associated with your brand.  It can automatically identify you and bring you to mind.  And really – when it comes to marketing – that kind of instant recognize-ability just can’t be beat!

That’s why a lot of podcasts have musical and voice over intros (And if you need a voice for that sort of thing, that is certainly a service I offer. Feel free to get in touch).  It’s why TV shows have recognizable theme songs.  It’s why there are some pieces of music in a film that are automatically associated with a character – like Darth Vader’s Imperial March.  (And wouldn’t it be cool if we all had theme music?)

I’m certainly not the first one to talk about this …

… but maybe my perspective as a voice actor and a singer will be helpful in digging a little deeper.  And I fully intend to enlist the help of some very knowledgeable friends and colleagues who can also provide some insights.

For now though, I found a blog post on Gary Vaynerchuck‘s website that describes what “audio branding” means, and how he feels it’s the wave of the future.  I couldn’t agree more (and check out his own audio branding.  Pretty cool stuff!)

Here’s a quote from the article:

Over the next decade or two, what your brand sounds like is actually going to be an unbelievably crucial variable of success in a world that will be driven primarily by two things: voice and brand.

The Rise of Audio Branding

My Interview With Clara Lehmann & Jonathan Lacocque of Coat Of Arms Post

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It was a true pleasure to talk with Clara and Jonathan about their creative process, how they work together as a creative couple and find time to figure out their work / life balance.

I’ve spoken about Lullaby Theories in a previous podcast but they’re also working on other projects such as Born In A Ballroom, titles for South by Southwest & videos for WebMD.  More information on what they’ve done in the past and what they’re currently working on can be found on their Coat Of Arms website.

I have no doubt they’ll continue to create stellar video work for both clients and themselves in the future.

I think you’ll find this conversation particularly inspiring if you’re a creative that’s pulled in a lot of different directions. Listening to how the two of them handle their busy lives and keep their critical inner voices from sabotaging them, was definitely helpful to hear.

Thanks for listening!

This episode was very skillfully made to sound beautiful by the talented Humberto Franco.

BIOS:

Clara Lehmann:
Clara wrote the award-winning documentary, A Perfect Soldier and co-directed and wrote the short-animated film, Death Loves Life. She’s directing & producing Lullaby Theories, an animated series that teaches kids about scientific theories and a feature length documentary called Born In A Ballroom. Clara works with clients like Google, Fox, Nickelodeon, The Onion and WebMD. She has three Excellence in Title Design nominations at South by Southwest, a gold and a silver Cannes Lion, and a Webby Nomination.

Jonathan Lacocque:
Jonathan has past experience at post studios, agencies, and broadcasting companies. His clients include PBS, Verizon, Jaguar Land Rover, Marriott, and Warner Brother Records. He produced & edited the award-winning film, A Perfect Soldier and continues to balance his commercial work with documentary and narrative filmmaking. He’s produced and edited multiple feature films and shorts / and continues to explore his passion for original stories with Coat of Arms’ Lullaby Theories series, and the documentary film, Born in a Ballroom. Past awards include an Emmy for editing, several Tellys, and multiple film festival awards.

Curiouser and Curiouser

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      Curioser and Curioser - Jodi Krangle - voiceoversandvocals.com

How do you experience the world?  Do you forget what it was like to experience new things?  To actually NOT know something?  To want to discover more about this thing you know nothing (or very little) about?

When I was a kid, the Internet didn’t exist.  At least, not the way it is now. I couldn’t just go online and look up stuff whenever I wanted to.  I had to go to the library and … you know … read a book.   I’m not looking down on the way things are done today. Quite the contrary.  Information is at our fingertips – whether it’s online or on our phones or tablets.  We just type a term into a search engine (who are we kidding.  Usually it’s Google), and away we go.  Information received!

But because information is so readily available, it’s really important now to check our sources.  To be aware of our own biases from the start so that we don’t just find information that feeds our own beliefs – we find information that’s TRUE. And that’s also where curiosity comes in again.

So how do you find (and CHECK) your information?  What sources do you use?  And how do you keep your curiosity about the world around you?  (I’d love to know your thoughts on this!  Feel free to email me or join me in my Facebook community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/jodisilverlinings/ to start a discussion.)

Along these sames lines, I think you all know by now, that I love what I do.  With voice overs, I’m able to help bring videos to life, audibly.  And a lot of the mastery and magic that goes into animating these videos, fascinates me.

A company I’ve worked with in the past that does wonderful work for their clients, also creates art on their own terms. And I’ve been so very impressed by what I’ve seen from them so far.  I’m talking about Coat Of Arms Post, run by husband and wife team, Jonathan Lacocque and Clara Lehmann.  They’ve started to put together wonderful, bite-sized animated videos explaining science, with commentary from their 4 year old twin daughters – and it’s adorable, funny and very informative, all at the same time.

If you have small children and you want to help satisfy their curiosity about the world around them, these are wonderful videos to show them.  If you don’t have small children, but you’re curious about the world yourself?  These videos are still a fun treat. I love not only how matter-of-fact they are (Clara does a fabulous job both writing the scripts and doing the voice overs and Jonathan’s unique style of animation underpins it all), but also how lovely it is to listen to the girls as they discover and enjoy what their mom is talking about.

Have you forgotten what it’s like to be curios about the world around you?  If you have, watching these videos might well cure you.  Enjoy! (The website for Lullaby Theories is here – so you can watch more of them if you’d like!)

My Interview with Artist & D&D Enthusiast, Joe Nittoly

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I had the pleasure of talking with my friend Joe Nittoly about his art, his enthusiasm for D&D (and how the two merge), along with how he overcomes those nasty critical inner voices many of us Creatives deal with. I think lots of people will relate to this very frank discussion.

If you’d like to learn more about Joe and his art (and how you can purchase some for your very own!), you can visit his main website at https://joe.nittoly.ca . But you can also find his Etsy store at https://gaminggeekshop.etsy.com and you can connect with him on Social Media via Twitter (https://twitter.com/pasiphilo) and Instagram (https://instagram.com/pasiphilo).

This episode was very skillfully made to sound beautiful by the talented Humberto Franco (http://www.humbertofranco.com/).

My Interview with Creative Coach, Christine McAlister

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Christine McAlister (http://www.lifewithpassion.com), is an entrepreneur, business coach and the author of The Income Replacement Formula: 7 Simple Steps To Doing What You Love And Making Six Figures From Anywhere (you can read a free chapter of her book at http://lifewithpassion.com/freechapter). We had a wonderfully fun interview about how Creatives can get out of a funk, give themselves permission to have fun, and be kinder to themselves.

These are all subjects near and dear to my heart (and probably yours, if you’re listening to this!).

If you’re looking for a speaker who knows a lot about what it takes to overcome fear and push through to a fulfilling life, Christine would make an excellent one for your podcast or conference.  And if you’re interested in working with her one-on-one, here’s some more information on how to do that: http://lifewithpassion.com/6-month .

I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did!

This episode was very skillfully made to sound beautiful by the talented Humberto Franco.

How To Calm Your Mind in a Mad World

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      How To Calm Your Mind In A Mad World - Jodi Krangle - voiceoversandvocals.com

The mind is a powerful thing. What we tell ourselves about ourselves has the power to help or harm us. Starting your day with some affirmations and soothing music, may well mean the difference between a positive or negative outcome. There are a lot of ways to train your mind to be kinder.  To those around you, sure.  But also, to YOU.

Before I speak more on this, I’m aware that life isn’t fair. That a lot of “spiritualism” can sound like it has nothing to do with reality.  Or at least, YOUR reality.   We each will deal with problems that seem insurmountable, no matter what we tell ourselves.

But as much as that’s true, I’d rather deal with things from a positive than a negative mindset.  The biggest reason for this, is that I prefer to be kind to my fellow humans.  Now maybe I was raised to be a people pleaser.  I think a lot of us have been.  But when I come at things from a sunnier side, it makes me feel better too.  No matter what the world is throwing at me.

It’s not putting my head in the sand and ignoring that there’s bad in the world.  Or that bad won’t happen to me.  It’s just choosing how I deal with it, by feeling what I need to feel myself, living it, and then letting the bad stuff go.  That’s a uniquely personal thing.  How long it takes for us to dig ourselves out, is unique to each and every one of us.  And of course, there are outside influences on that.  But so much of what forms our reality, lies in our own minds.  Why not try to make it better?

If you’re trying to dig yourself out of negativity, it can be hard to find the right words.  That’s where affirmations come in – and they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.  Some can be musical, some can be spoken, some can use both, and some could just be a visual you have posted up somewhere you frequently look during your day.  I know a lot of voice actors, for instance, who post affirmations in their booths. I’ll include a few that I’ve found that resonate with me, in this blog.  But it wouldn’t take much for you to search for ones that resonate with you.

I’m probably pretty late to this party, but I know there are a lot of YouTube channels for this sort of thing.  One of my colleagues, Amanda Sellers, has come up with a really lovely morning affirmation video that will only take you about 11 minutes out of your morning to listen to.  And I love the warmth of the messages she speaks over the background of soothing music.  It’s very meditative in nature.  So if you like to be soothed in the morning, this one might be for you.

She’s not the only one that puts these sorts of affirmation videos together.  Another friend, Bob Baker, has a YouTube channel devoted to helping people achieve their goals and do good in the world.  And really, the world could use a lot more good.  If you’re interested, you could check out some of his affirmations and meditations, here. But I’ll also link to one of the ones that particularly spoke to me (and it’s only 5 minutes!).

It can be really hard to be positive. I get it. It’s not like our lives are perfect. And they probably never will be. But a lot of what happens in your day, and a lot of how you deal with it, can be helped by a good attitude.  It’s all in how we see it.

5 Minutes Before You Fall Asleep – Positive Affirmations, is really, a wonderful 6 minutes of affirmation – or rather, explanation of why we need to think positive thoughts, especially before bed – by Dr. Wayne Dyer.  And while he mentions a higher power, that higher power could be any that you happen to believe in, or simply a spiritual awareness. It’s a search for your higher self.  Isn’t that a much better way to end the day?

I suppose I’m kind of making a playlist for myself. But guess what?  You’re along for the ride.  So you gain the benefits.

Are there any particular affirmation or meditation videos that you like to watch?  If so, I’d love to hear about them!  Feel free to email me and let me know what’s helped you.

Thanks for reading.  And remember – don’t just be kind to others.  Be kind to YOURSELF too. You DO deserve it.