How To Find Your Unique Podcasting Voice
The great thing about podcasting is that your main audience can get to know you, the presenter, personally. Part of this process and the way that they imagine you in their head is through your voice.
Research has often demonstrated that the right voice / style can influence how people interact with what you are saying. The right voice can make you seem more mature, knowledgeable or experienced than people would assume if they saw a photo of you.
However, some industries don’t require a commanding voice. Instead they need a voice that implies empathy and emotion behind it, if this is what the audience expects.
At the same time you need to find a unique voice for you and your podcast. Sounding like every other podcast is only going to get your podcast lost amongst the thousands of others on iTunes and other podcast hosting websites.
Having a unique voice will make you more memorable and help you grow a loyal and regular audience.
But how do you find that unique voice that will differentiate yourself from the pack, yet fit in with others in your niche? Here is our quick guide.
Step One: Listen To Other Podcasts In Your Industry
The first step is to do some research into what other podcast hosts are sounding like on their podcasts. These podcasts should be connected to your industry, if not in the same industry. They will be speaking to the same audience and the more popular they are, the more you can learn from them.
Look at several elements to their voice:
- What words are they using?
- What is their tone?
- What is their tempo?
- How do they propose ideas?
- How do they interact with the audience?
By looking for similarities between three or four different podcast hosts in your industry you can start to generate a picture of what your unique voice should be.
Step Two: Record Your Own Voice
The next step should be to record your own voice and listen back to it. Do you have any of the common trends you noticed in step one? If so, then you are halfway there. If you don’t, consider how you can emulate these to get a closer match to industry standards.
Once you’ve got an idea, consider re-recording your podcast in your new voice and see if it has improved. You might want to do this several times.
Step Three: Add Your Unique Stance
Consider how you are going to differentiate yourself from the other podcast hosts. Are you going to interact with your audience more, ask fewer questions or take less pauses? These are all important aspects that could differentiate your podcast from others.
Once you have decided how to differentiate yourself, re-record your voice and listen back to see how it sounds. Does it hold the same elements but at the same time sound unique?
Step Four: Test
Next take your recorded voice and ask a few colleagues or friends to listen to it. Ask them for their opinion and what they think you could do to improve your voice and the style. At this point it is not about the content or what you are saying, but how you say it. However, the more they can remember of what you say the better your voice is conveyed on your test recording.
Conclusion
Your voice is one of the major aspects of a podcast that will determine the show’s success. You need a unique voice that is also the same style as that of other podcasts in your industry. Consider reverse engineering your voice style from other podcast hosts while finding that special element that will differentiate you.
How did you find your unique voice? What do those in your industry sound like?
Let us know in the comments below.
Take Action:
- Develop your unique voice from the steps above.
This article originally appeared on the PodcastMotor blog.
