Jodi Krangle

905 836 5444

Jodi@VoiceoversAndVocals.com

Marketing

Interview with Podcast Producer, Kattie Laur – Part 1

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Kattie Laur has a background in broadcast radio so it naturally seemed to follow that she would become interested in podcasts.  She’s putting that passion to good use as a podcast producer and gives us some tips on what makes a great show, why she feels podcasts are an important medium and how they’re the wave of the advertising future.

In this first part of our interview, she talks about:

* her beginnings in studying broadcasting
* her interesting relationship with the CBC
* how she got into podcasting
* how she decided she could produce podcasts for a living
* what kinds of clients she works with
* what fires her up about producing podcasts
* why she feels the concept is way more important than the equipment you use.
* how audio branding plays a role in the production of podcasts

Her website is at: https://www.kattielaur.com

She has some really helpful information in her blogs, too!
She’s written about the 5 key things you need to think about before starting a podcast: https://www.kattielaur.com/blog/how-to-start-a-podcast-5-key-things

And she’s started a blog series that highlights women podcasters and their shows: https://www.kattielaur.com/blog/podcasts-by-women-to-stop-sleeping-on-vol-1

Her ethical travel podcast is called Alpaca My Bags: https://audioboom.com/channels/4984382

(and is in all the major podcast outlets)

And you can find and follow her on Twitter: @podkatt

 

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

Interview with Creative Director, Hannah Strenger

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Show Notes:

Hannah and I talk about what she considers audio branding to be, how it affects the clients at her ad agency, and what she does to help those clients come up with their brand’s consistent sound.  She also reveals how she created an animated short and chose voices and music for that project.

For more information on Hannah, visit:

Hannah’s Instragram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahstrenger/ (lots of pictures of her adorable rabbits here too!)

and Hannah’s Website (she’s also a creativity coach!): hannahstrenger.com

 

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 Voice Actor, Tracy Lindley, Creator of TheLinkedInEdge

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I sit down with Tracy Lindley to talk about her reasons for becoming an entrepreneur, how she got into voice acting, and how she decided to put together an online course about LinkedIn. You can find TheLinkedIn Edge here.  And if you’re interested in learning more about Tracy’s voiceover services, you can visit her website here.  During our discussion, she mentions the book, Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story  And she also gives folks a discount on her course!  Though you’ll have to listen to get the discount code. 🙂

This episode was edited by the extremely talented Humberto Franco.

Your Voice Is A Powerful Tool

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      Your Voice Is A Powerful Tool - Jodi Krangle - voiceoversandvocals.com

In my quest to always be learning more about my own business – and other businesses in general, I’ve started reading a lot more non-fiction.  One of the books that was suggested to me by some very smart business people I trust, is called Never Split The Difference (Negotiating as if your life depended on it) by Chris Voss.  It’s a really interesting study in negotiation from the viewpoint of someone who negotiated hostage situations for the FBI.  Each chapter has a captivating story about a particular negotiation and explains key information on how the negotiation was successfully concluded.

In the second chapter, Mr. Voss says something very insightful (really, the whole book is full of insight) – and as a voice actor, it kind of affirmed what I do every day.  He says, “Smile at someone on the street, and as a reflex, they’ll smile back.  Understanding that reflex and putting it into practice is critical to the success of just about every negotiating skill there is to learn.”

Fascinating.

And it’s even more fascinating when you realize that you can *hear* a smile when someone is speaking.  He continues on to say, “That’s why your most powerful tool in any verbal communication is your voice.  You can use your voice to intentionally reach into someone’s brain and flip an emotional switch.  Distrusting to trusting. Nervous to calm.  In an instant, the switch will flip just like that with the right delivery.”

I’m really liking where this book is going.

To take that to a deeper level as it relates to voice over work, think of what you’re trying to make your listener feel, and use the tone of voice that will be most likely to get them there.   Are you talking about a difficult subject?  A calm, soothing tone of voice will allow the listener to relax a bit and take in the difficult information.  Are you on your listener’s side and telling them about a great new product or service that could help them in their daily life?  A friendly voice – that could almost shade to playful – might be more in order.  Never underestimate the power of a smile.  Your audience can hear it.  And that reflex to return the smile, takes over.

Now of course, this is really basic information and doesn’t take into account the skill of connecting with what you’re reading (which is where the acting comes in), nor does it really get down to the nitty gritty of understanding what the writer of that copy intended.  Again, that’s a skill that comes with time and experience. (And perhaps the aid of a voice acting coach.) But at its basic, lizard brain level, we humans are actually pretty predictable.

In many cases, negotiation has more to do with getting past our own biases, and understanding those of the person we’re negotiating with.  We can often get overwhelmed by our own thought processes – and negotiating from a point of strength means quieting those inner voices – and helping the person you’re negotiating with, to quiet theirs.  It’s a game of feeling and emotion – no matter how much we want to deny it.

I found this highly educational and entertaining TED Talk with Mr. Voss on YouTube (from March of this year) – and I really enjoyed it. (And the ending actually moved me to tears.)  Negotiation techniques can make people around you feel heard.  And that’s an important skill to have as a fellow human being.

Creativity for Fun & Profit

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      CreativityForFun&Profit-JodiKrangleSpoken - Jodi Krangle - voiceoversandvocals.com

Being creative can be both a blessing and a curse.  Sometimes that means “conforming” is really hard.  It often mean blazing your own trail.  And that too, can be really hard.  Traditional jobs – working 9-5 in an office – doesn’t really work for us.  Or if it does, it only does for very limited amounts of time before we feel like we’re going to lose our minds.  I know plenty of people who work in regular jobs who then spend all their free time being creative.  And if that’s you, that’s great!  You’ve at least found a way to keep yourself sane by having an outlet.

What do you do though, if the idea of a 9-5 job working for someone else, puts a pit of dread in your stomach?  If you hate where you find yourself right now and wish that you could find something to do that would actually make you money – and be creatively rewarding for you at the same time?

Often, creative people feel like they have to do one or the other.  You can either be creative and be a “starving artist”, or you can work a regular job and make money … but not have time to do the creative work you feel called to do.

That’s where Lisa Robbin Young comes in.  She gives you a clear strategy to take your creative idea for a business and turn it into a reality.  First off, I love that she’s a fellow musician.  But secondly, she seems to have the near mystical ability to drill down into the essential parts of your creative personality, and help you focus on how you can take your business to the next level.  By that, I mean – make your creative business into something that’s sustainable and that will actually make you living – so that you don’t have to take a soul crushing 9-5, and can do the work you feel you’ve been put on this earth to do.

How does she do this?  Well, to start with, she asks you to take her Creative Freedom Quiz – which will fill you in on some personality traits of yours that will help guide you in figuring out how to put together your creative endeavor.  After all, why start a business in a way that doesn’t fit your personality?  If you’re constantly fighting yourself to get things done, you’re just not going to be successful.  Once you know your creative “type”, it’ll be much easier to craft your business in a way that suits your personality.  Or as Lisa herself put it, “By uncovering your Creative Entrepreneur Type, you shine a light on your blind spots, so you can finally build your Noble Empire and live an inspired life – without selling your soul.”

It’s a brilliant strategy.  And for those of us trying to find our way as creative entrepreneurs, it can give us clear direction when we haven’t had any before.

There are a lot of ways you can learn from Lisa.  First off, she has a book called Creative Freedom: How To Own Your Dreams Without Selling Your Soul. She also has a membership called A Club – which has a lot of resemblance to the Mastermind groups I’ve mentioned before.  This kind of arrangement can work really well because it puts you in touch with other creatives who are struggling, just like you, and holds you all accountable to each other.  That’s a fantastic way to make sure you reach your goals!

And lastly, she also has a YouTube channel.  I’ve linked to her latest video about Branding for Creative Entrepreneurs.  And I don’t know about you, but branding for creatives has always been a particularly fascinating subject for me.  Have a look and see if she can help you!  There are a ton of free resources here that Lisa has very generously put together – so no, you don’t have to spend money.  But if you’re wanting to actually make money from your creative idea? You might want to consider joining her A Club.  (And no, I’m not getting a kickback here.)

Thanks for all you do, Lisa!