Evo Terra:
Podcasting has always been more or less welcoming of
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less-than-radio-perfect voices.
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But with more pros launching great podcasts, is there still room
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for normal voices in podcasting?
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Luckily, yes!
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Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
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I want to listen to you.
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The real you.
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When you voice your podcast, I want it to sound like the real
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you and so do your listeners.
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The word "authentic voice," I guess those are words, is very overused.
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But when it comes to the voice you use on your podcast, your authentic voice
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is absolutely the right terminology.
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Now, before I get too far down this road, a quick caveat.
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I recognize that not everyone's authentic voice matches their authentic self.
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So if that's you, this is in no way meant to tell you to get over yourself
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and just deal with what you were given.
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No, I'm not saying that at all.
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For those select few, please see a coach, see a speech therapist, whatever you need
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to get your authentic voice that comes out of your face, matching the authentic
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voice that is inside of your head.
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Please pursue that.
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I am not suggesting anything else and just do what you need to do for you.
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But for everyone else out there, who's just minorly annoyed at their voice from
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time to time, I remind you that podcasting isn't looking for the perfect radio voice.
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Hell, radio isn't looking for the perfect radio voice anymore, if they ever did.
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It's okay.
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People need to sound like other humans.
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Do you have a heavy accent?
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Well, okay.
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Is that heavy accent part of your charm?
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Would you be different if you didn't have that?
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Does the accent reflect who you are and where you came from and all of that helps
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bring to life the person you are today?
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If so, then lean into that.
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Just go for it.
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Live with the accent that you actually have.
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I promise you that anyone who can't get over your accent is not
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a listener you really want anyhow.
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Do you have quirks and mannerisms about your voice that are
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also just a part of you?
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And I'm not talking about the ums and the ahs and little imperfections
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when you are struggling for a word that could be edited out.
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Sometimes those can get annoying when you're freaking out on the microphone,
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but just naturally, are there things that you do, little catch phrases and sayings,
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mannerisms that are kind of weird?
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You know, I once knew a guy who had a podcast.
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He had this weird way of blending the words "and" and "um" together to
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become "aim" when he paused for things.
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And sometimes leaving in ums and ahs are okay, but this guy blended
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and and um - it was so strange.
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But then again, it was his way.
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Not having that or trying to swap out and make him suddenly
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say um when he's searching for a word or the next thing to do?
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It would be wrong.
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Just wouldn't work.
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Do you talk too fast?
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Hi.
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Or maybe too slow?
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Well, who the hell set the speed limit for the rate at which a voice
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should come into someone's ears?
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There's no one who has set that out there.
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There may be some norms, but that's just statistical averages.
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Who cares?
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By the way, also, listeners, they have speed control devices or
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their devices they listen to your podcast on have speed control.
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I listen to most things at one and a half speed.
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But there are some speakers who are rapid, even for me, and I talk really fast.
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So I drop those back down to one.
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I've even dropped down to half speed if I need to.
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You can do that.
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It's up to that listener.
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You talk like you.
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Now, make sure, however, that this embracing of all of your natural
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flaws, if you will, the natural voice that you have, make sure when doing
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so you are not accepting fixable flaws in your recording environment.
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Those hardwood floors and very sound reflective surfaces that you are
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recording in right now, that's not the kind of authenticity listeners want.
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You can improve upon that.
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That's not your voice, that's the noise of the room.
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Also, placing a microphone in the middle of a big room so that all of
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your buddies can shout into it is not the authenticity listeners want.
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The noise from your overworked refrigerator or your heating and
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cooling system, or maybe your air purifiers, those noises are not
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the authenticity listeners want.
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So be authentic, but please clean up your voice tracks, your narration tracks.
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I highly recommend investing in a tool called Izotope RX.
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It is a plugin and it's also a standalone app.
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And learning how to use Izotope RX - yes, there will be a link
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in the episode details - your listeners will appreciate it.
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I will appreciate it.
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If you get rid of all of those fixable bits so that we can really
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enjoy your true and authentic voice.
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Here's what I want you to do today.
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Like, as soon as you're done listening to this.
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Think about the podcasters that you've listened to who have authentic voices, who
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are, you know, less than radio perfect.
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And I want you to send that person a note of appreciation
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for their voice specifically.
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Tell them you appreciate the authentic nature of their
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not-necessarily-radio-perfect, whatever the hell that means, voice.
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Don't send this to pro announcers.
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People who have great voices you admire.
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That's not what I'm talking about.
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I'm talking to the people who have their normal voices out there.
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And yeah, send a link to this episode along with that and ask them to also
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forward that along to someone else.
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Let's keep this chain going where we appreciate the voices people give
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to us because they are their voices and we want to love them for that.
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Do you love this idea?
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Great.
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Please go to buymeacoffee.com/evoterra and well, you know, do that.
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Buy me a virtual coffee to show your appreciation for the content.
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That's it.
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Enjoy the rest of your week.
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It's almost over.
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Enjoy your weekend.
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Because I shall be back on Monday with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
