Jodi Krangle

905 836 5444

Jodi@VoiceoversAndVocals.com

Marketing

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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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!

Stop the Elevator Speeches – Have a Discussion

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So apparently, I’ve been living under a rock.  Recently, my friend Jerad Spencer alerted me to a podcast that featured Sam Horn at Intrigue.  Now, she’s been around for a while, so my missing her rise in popularity is entirely my fault.  That said, what she teaches – and how she teaches it – definitely raised my brows.  (And when you watch this TED Talk, you’ll see what I mean by that.)

She raises some very important points.  A typical elevator speech isn’t really a discussion.  It’s just a bunch of informative words that actually shut down discussion.  If you want people to remember you?  You need to relate what you do specifically to them, and engage in an actual conversation.  Otherwise, you’ll get lost in all the other elevator speeches.

How does Sam suggest we do this?  She says we should ask a three part question.  She talks about this specifically at around the 12:30 mark of her video – but it’s well worth watching the entire thing to get the full picture.  There’s also a small portion in that video that deals with introverts and overcoming the fears that keep them from reaching out.  Since I AM one, that spoke very deeply to me.  That particular story broke my heart – especially knowing that I could have seen myself in that exact situation (not selling a novel, but maybe something similar).

When I was done watching this video, I ordered one of her books to learn more.  (Got Your Attention?)

Maybe it’ll inspire you too.

Finding Your Niche (or not) With Andrew and Pete

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      FindingYourNicheWithAndrewAndPete-Spoken-JodiKrangle - Jodi Krangle - voiceoversandvocals.com

These guys are so much fun that it probably wouldn’t matter what they were talking about.  I’d still love watching their informative videos. (Full disclosure, I’ve been an Atomic member in the past.)  As it happens though, they tend to pick really timely and interesting business-related topics – mostly having to do with creating content, increasing your reach online and improving your conversions.   They just do it in such a fun way that I find it somewhat … mesmerizing.

Their latest video is about whether or not you need to choose a niche.  If you’re just starting out with your business, the idea of that can be pretty daunting.  But their advice is to not sweat it.  They would prefer that you choose two things to start with: your differentiator and a clear focus on how you’re going to grow your business.  These two things, they suggest, are enough without choosing a niche.  The niche can come later.  Does having one make things a lot easier?  It definitely does.  But they rightly point out that the quest for a niche can paralyze people and keep them from getting on with things.  All in all, it’s a wonderfully encouraging video and is really entertaining to watch – just like ALL their videos.

I’ve linked to their latest one here, but if you’d like to see more, they have an outstanding YouTube channel that you can check out, and a website of their own, where they help small businesses and entrepreneurs grow.  I adore these guys.  And if you give them a chance, I think you will too.

 

Advertising At Cannes? You Bet!

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      AdvertisingAtCannes-Spoken-JodiKrangle - Jodi Krangle - voiceoversandvocals.com

Catching the attention of an increasingly distracted audience, is … well… really hard.  We’re being inundated with advertising from all sides.  Interspersing them in online videos, the obvious television and radio commercials, and of course, product placement in our movies and television shows, are all methods that have been done in the past.  They continue to be used, though to varying degrees of effect.  Stunts are rare, and sometimes backfire.  But when they work?  That is advertising gold.

Edelman is particularly good at cutting through the noise.  This isn’t a surprise or anything.  They’ve been in business since 1952, after all.  And as a global communications firm that partners with some of the biggest businesses out there, they’ve learned a thing or two.

Their campaign to introduce Taco Bell in the UK, is being featured in the Cannes Film Festival this week – and I can definitely see why.  This is clever advertising at its finest.  But not only is it good advertising – it creatively uses the environment where it’s being presented – namely, the fact that Big Ben is silent for a while.  So who else can provide a worthy bell?  I’ll give you three guesses – and the first two don’t count.

Here’s the video (and though I don’t know the voice actor that was used, he does a stellar job!):