Our hosts engage in a lively discussion about the evolution of voice in advertising and storytelling in this episode. They reflect on the past, where a booming voice was synonymous with authority, and contrast it with the modern need for authenticity and emotional connectivity. In an age where artificial intelligence is creeping into voiceover work, they emphasize the irreplaceable human touch that true storytelling requires. As they encourage a return to the basics of reading and storytelling, a poignant reminder emerges: the most effective communication transcends technology, rooting itself in the shared human experience.

Takeaways:

1. We explore the journey of voiceover artists from imitating styles to embracing their unique voice and identity.
2. The conversation emphasizes the importance of vulnerability in storytelling, as it connects us to others and ignites change.
3. Truth and love will always win out in the end, no matter how many AI voices try to take over!
4. From the 'Voice of God' in ads to real human connection, we examine the shift towards authenticity in storytelling.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

1. Ignite Voice, Inc.
2. Kokanee Beer
3. Columbia Brewing Company
4. NBC Sports
5. KBCO 97.3
6. CFOX
7. Griffiths, Gibson, Ramsey
8. Coco
9. Wave
10. Turning Point Recovery
11. Kelty Mental Health Resource Center
12. Canadian Mental Health Association
13. Superbook
14. Bill Gates
15. Microsoft

Your voice is your superpower. Use it. Welcome to Ignite My Voice Becoming unstoppable. Powered by Ignite Voice, Inc. The podcast where voice meets purpose and stories ignite change.

Deep conversations with amazing guests, storytellers, speakers, and change makers.

Well, truth and love will always win out. I believe. I believe that, and I think we have to believe that.

If you joined us for part one with Jim Conrad, you already know this isn't just a conversation about voice. It's about evolution, about identity, and about who you become when the microphone is off.

And in this episode, we go deeper. From the Voice of God era of advertising to storytelling, from announcer to actor, from tone and style to truth and emotion.

Jim talks about how story is being impacted by the technological change. AI is here. Yes, it is. CGI can build worlds. Synthetic voices are impressive, improving every day. So what does that mean for voiceover artists?

Well, we talk about book narration as an art form. A masterpiece that takes dedication.

Jim Kono shares how he imitated other people's styles in the beginning, like so many of us do, and then slowly developed his own voice through practice and

perseverance and the best direction he ever received. Simple, powerful. Be yourself and tell me a story.

We explore how Kono went from voicing kokanee commercials to building something much deeper by being of service.

It's a dive into so many aspects of performing and ultimately being vulnerable enough to tell your own story. This is part two with Conrad Kono, the Tagman.

I actually, I had a. Interesting conversation with my.

One of my agents in New York about AI this was like last year, and because I didn't, you know, I mean, I started hearing about all this stuff, and I go, well, maybe. Maybe I should get ahead of the curve on this. And so I. I called him up and we started talking about it, and he said, yeah, he says it's interesting.

Where they're seeing AI in the voiceover business is primarily in instruction modules for the Internet or for video.

Oh, dear.

Where it's a voiceover instruction manual to how to assemble something.

So he said, in the military, they have, you know, instruction manuals, and it's a huge market, but they don't really need a voice actor to, you know, emote. They just need them to tell the story about how to assemble whatever. And so they're used seeing it in that. But he said, because I got a.

If you can believe it, I got an audition for a medical disclaimer on television. So, you know, may cause your penis

could fall, lots of stuff.

And usually it's sped up and I'm going. Then they wanted me to audition for this, so I didn't. But then I called him and I said, yeah.

I said, wouldn't that be, like, a perfect thing that I would do, just get a bot to read that? Because essentially, it's audio fine print, it's

lawyer stuff,

and for legal purposes only. And he says, well, you'd think so. He says, but the pharmacies, or not the pharmacy, but the pharmaceutical.

Big pharma companies who are advertising, they insist that it be a human and an actor doing even the disclaimer, because they don't want to be.

They want to sound mechanical.

No. And they want it to be human.

Touch.

Yeah. And I. You know what? And I said, are you seeing that in advertising? He went, yeah. He says advertising agencies are.

They're very wary of the whole AI thing. Now, once again, show me the money.

If there's some hack producer who can make more money by not having to pay a voice actor to voice the copy, then they'll probably try it.

But that matches what I see. I mean, where do I hear AI voices the most? It's on the garbage YouTube videos that just. That just get piled out. Yep.

And it's about getting eyes on it. It's not about actually connecting or selling a product or anything. Right.

And they're boring and they're driving cheap

things that nobody likes. Yeah.

And so, you know, I can see a backlash. I mean, my millennial focus group, which are my three kids who are on their 30s now, I bounce stuff off them all the time. And.

And their attitude and what they're telling me is, yeah, it's not like they're going to go be the Luddites. Right. But they're going back and finding, Reading. Reading books. They're saying no to certain things, certain technologies and whatnot. Yeah.

So it'll be interesting to see if there will be not so much a backlash, but maybe a pushback, as there always is with new technologies and going

back to what's fundamental and grounds you and feels good. Reading a book feels so good.

Yes. Well, I get the. People ask me all the time, well, do you do audiobooks? And I went, well, no, I've been asked a couple of times.

And then I did the research. And to do an audiobook, you get paid for, I think, what's called usable hours.

So if the book is actually 10 hours long, that's what you get paid for, not the 30 or 40 or 60 hours it took you to read the book.

That's Hard work.

And yeah. And I went, do I really want to sit now, certain books I would love to read Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.

I would love to read that as an audio book. But yeah, I know I don't want to do audiobooks and, and maybe that's where AI will come into play. If in fact they, you know, they want.

But you know, the, the people that do audiobooks, some of them are just wonderful and, and they do incredible job because you. They do voice characterizations and then now audio audible. Right.

The company, they are producing full on sound design characters, different characters, different actors.

Oh, it's back to radio plays.

Back to radio plays. Back to the original theater of the mind, the eyelid movie.

I love that. And that's, that's kind of before television, you know.

Oh, yeah.

I mean, people used to sit around the radio.

Sitting around the radio and listening to a radio play. Yeah. I mean, or some.

Better.

Better than any CGI is your imagination. Yeah. Right. And yeah, so I think that's kind of a cool thing that's happening.

Of course, the other side of those underpaid voiceover artists is that's the contracts we've accepted for now. Yeah, we don't have to accept that. I'll be paid 10 hours for 30 hours work. We could change that model.

Someone will do it, though. That's the problem.

Ye. And some, I mean, like, some actors, I mean, I think they're worth it. I mean, Tom Hanks reading is, you know, wonderful.

I listened to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the original text read by Derek Jacoby, the famous Shakespearean actor, and it was literally a master class. Wow. Voiceover and narration and storytelling and characterization and it was just amazing and just, it was wonderful. I loved it.

Now, I mean, I don't listen to a lot of audiobooks because, well, when I read a book, I narrate to me and I'm the best guy I know. So we almost had a spit take over here.

In all seriousness, thank you for that. When you, your best guy reads it, it is interactive in your mind. Right. And you can't substitute that.

Oh, I sometimes, you know, in bed at night when I'm reading, I sometimes read aloud just because I like the sound.

Because you love your own voice. It's good practice, as you know. That's a good V. One of the

reasons for my success, I think, is the fact that I have a passion and that passion is for the sound of my own voice. Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.

I knew you before I met you. And there was always this larger than life in the building. Kona was here. Oh, he's arrived. I'm like, where?

Who is he?

Where is he?

I want to meet this guy.

And then you saw me and was

like, oh, oh, that's him.

Oh, really? Yeah, that guy.

Well, yeah, you worked. I remember when I first met you, oh, so long ago, we both worked at LG Fox, and you would go into the studio for a million hours.

Yeah.

You would just go in and play and practice. And I thought you were kind of weird.

Yeah.

But you loved it, right? You put the time in.

Well, the. No, it wasn't Malcolm Gladwell, but it was another author who talked about the 10,000 hours.

10,000 hours, where all of these supposed overnight successes were. They had put the time in. An example was Bill Gates. Bill Gates.

Before everybody heard about Bill Gates when he was in his twenties being the founder of Microsoft.

Well, Bill Gates had been coding since he was 14 years old because he went to a private school in Seattle that had access to the University of Washington mainframe. And so they would go in on weekends whenever they could get time on the big computer. And he and his nerdy buddies would code.

Good old Mel Cooper and the Gang. And first of all, I had some great mentors. Barry Bowman and Barry Kennard and Dave Glover. Bob Glover. And I sat in a studio.

I worked weekends on the air, and then for three days a week, I sat in a studio production studio voicing commercials, and then dubbing all the commercials from Vancouver with great voices like Chet Miller and Franz Russell and Jim Holt, David Houle. And so I heard what they were doing, plus, I. So I was just mimicking.

And then when I would voice commercials for cfax, I would try to imitate what they were doing. And I did that for two and a half years, just constantly doing spots.

And you found your style and.

Well, I mean, I was. I was imitating other people's style, but I'm not that great of an impressionist, so it just. Just turned into just my style. So then.

Then I got into radio at Seafox, and. And I thought, oh, this will be great. You know, rock and roll, you know, DJ and everything. And.

And then that went by the wayside for a number of reasons. And then I was literally unemployed, filling out the UIC form. Yes, yes. Yes. No. Yes, hand that in. And then you get a check from the government.

But that was running out. So, literally, I was ready to pack it up and go back to Medicine Hat where I was born and raised.

I got a phone call out of the blue, and I'm literally unemployed, you know, no money. And Dave calls me, says, have you got a demo? And I went, yeah, okay, I got a demo.

So I met Alex, and about a week and a half later, I got my first freelance gig. To show you how long ago it was, it was for bctel Phone Mart. Wow, That's a long time ago. And so, you know, I'm kind of nervous.

I'm walking into the studio and of course it's a. It's an advertising. It's a tv, you know, radio buy.

So there's the art director and there's this guy, you know, there's like 10 people in the room and they're all looking at me. Okay, yeah, so what can you do, buddy? And so who's this new guy? And so.

But it's funny, when I go into the studio and I get in of front, front of the copy and I get the headphones on and I get in front of the microphone, hey, I've done this before. Yeah, I can do this. And all of a sudden, everything goes away. Everything goes away. And now it's just what I do. So I did what I did.

And they all went, that's great. And that was it. And so I signed my little thing and went on my merry way. And then I got another gig and then another gig.

And best marketing in the world is, do a good job and they'll call you again.

Well, it's about building relationships too, isn't it?

Well, and the fact that, yeah, I mean, I met so many great, great people in. Not only in radio, but in the advertising business and the production business.

The three principals at Griffiths, Gibson, Ramsey, Miles Ramsey, Brian Griffiths, Hugh Gibson, Michael Koran and Wayne Kozak at Coco. Alex Downey, John and Colin at Wave.

Wow.

And they. And the great thing was in, you know, Vancouver's a big city, but in this particular, you know, advertising and production, it's a small town.

Small.

So there's only a few people that you sort of need to know. And then once you get on the roster, then. I didn't audition. They would just call me Kona. Can you come in and do a tag?

That's how I got the nickname Tagman. Kokanee Beer from the Columbia Brewing Company, Brewed right in the Kootenays Cha Ching paid my first mortgage.

Yeah, you did.

Pretty memorized that.

That turned into something.

Yeah. I mean, it was so much fun. And then also just being. Just being able to enjoy myself, understand how it works.

And I mean, when people ask me, okay, I want to get into the voiceover business, what do I need to know? Well, I said, you need to know how you sound in front of one of these very expensive German microphones. Maybe. Wait a minute, North Korea.

I didn't know they. So you need to know how your voice sounds. Like a singer, like an actor.

You know, you need to, you know, look at your character or hear your character, hear your voice and then understand what it can do. And I kind of came at it from a different angle. Now, if anybody asks me, how do I. How you get into the voiceovers?

I say, take acting lessons, become an actor, and then from that, then you can work out into not only being on camera, but also getting in front of a microphone and doing, you know, emotional. Conveying an emotion, telling a story. And I came from being an announcer to becoming an actor.

And the best direction I ever got was from Paul Smith, who was a corporate video producer, but he did more than just corporate videos. He was. He was actually quite a. Quite an artist.

And he created these amazing, amazing shows for Intrawest, selling all of their properties up in Whistler and all over the world. And he would. He would get original music composed. And he was a marvelous writer and a great storyteller.

And so I came into a session with him one day, first time that I'd ever worked with him. And so, you know, I was reading, you know, the copy kind of, you know, and doing sort of the corporate thing. And he went, yeah. He says, jim, that's.

That's great, but here, do it again. But just be yourself and tell me a story. And I went, really? And he went, yeah, yeah, just be yourself and tell me a story.

So I did that, and that was the best direction I ever got from because.

So simple.

Yeah. And because the environment had changed as well in advertising, where you could get away with being the voice of God.

And I still do that when required, but for the most part, I was getting a lot of, we don't want an announcer. We don't want a storyteller.

What's that shift from announcer to storyteller? What do you think that is?

Well, I mean, announcer's more. Announcer is more of a tone and more of a style where a storyteller is really understanding what the story is and then feeding off the emotion of

that story, a feeling, sharing it.

The funny thing about being directed to be the voice of God, you know, Jim, we need the big voice on this, you know, to sell everything from potato chips to cars to beer. And then one day I got a call from Jamie Levitt, my agent here in Vancouver, and she goes, well, Jamie, they're casting a biblical cartoon.

It's called Superbook. And they actually. They need the actual voice of God. I went, really? I went, great. Do you want to audition? I went, absolutely.

I'll be God.

Yeah. So I auditioned and I got it. Surprise. So on a number of episodes of Superbook, you can find it on YouTube. I play God, Jim's resurrection.

Love that. So you can now tell that to your children. I am God.

Two things about that. One is that when I got the gig and I looked at the specs on it and, you know, and I went. So I called my agent, I said, wait a minute, Jamie.

I said, you mean to tell me God is working for union scale? No, we gotta.

It's gotta be a little more.

Pop that up there. God's deserving worthy.

But, yeah, it's. It's. And of course, you know, once you have God on your IMDb credits, where do you go? I was gonna say, where do you go?

Everything's down.

That was only Jim.

I like where the conversation's gone, though, that. We started off just thinking story, and when Jim took us in so many different directions.

Right.

But here we are at the end. We're coming back to story again, Right?

Yeah. Well, I got a story about going to New York, and I was doing a lot of stuff for NBC, for NBC Sports. And of course, I have a recording studio at home.

And we connect digitally, too. And I connect with Toronto and New York and LA and all over the place. So that's where I usually do most of my work.

But one time I was actually in New York. My daughter was going to Circle in the Square Theater School, and my young son was just graduating from high school.

So we went and saw a client in Boulder, Colorado, KBCO 97.3, which I still do, as a matter of fact. And we went and saw Rush at Red Rocks.

Wow.

Which was transcendental. And then we went to New York, and so I'm in New York, and then I got a call from my agent.

New York agent says, oh, yeah, NBC wants to book you for Sunday Night Football. Football night in America, which I'd been doing, and are you available? I went, yeah. I said, but I'm actually here in New York. Oh, great.

Well, why don't you go up to NBC? Go to NBC Sports and do it. And I went, perfect. Let me know. So.

So I hop in the town car outside the hotel and I pull up to 30 Rock and there's the velvet ropes and red carpet. You know, the rainbow room sign up there, that's where the guy drops me off. And there's people sort of gathered around.

Wow, they really prepped for me, didn't they?

Unbeknownst to me, they were still there. They were shooting the Tonight show and they start taping at five. So around 3:30 or 4:00 clock was when I arrived.

All the people that are booked on this night show start showing up. So people are hanging out, trying to catch a glimpse of somebody.

So I get out of the car and all of a sudden signing autographs, people are taking pictures and I'm looking around and then they're looking at me going, okay, you know, who's, who's that?

Somebody important.

And then I went, I'm nobody. I'm nobody. I'm just going upstairs to do a voiceover. So I get in, I show my good security thing. I still have a little security tag they gave me.

And as I'm going up the elevator, you know, I kind of looked around and I'm going, you know, for a kid from Medicine Hat, this is pretty cool to be going up to the 26th floor of 30 Rock to NBC Sports to voice a promo. So it was cool.

You never know where your story is going.

You never know where the story will take you. Exactly. My life is just full of stories.

Where does your story go next?

Yeah, the story next is I like to give back. I think that's important to be of service. So I've been on a number of nonprofit boards.

I was on the board of the Kelty foundation, which was Ginny and Carrie Dennehy started for youth mental health, started the Kelty Mental Health Resource center at BC Children's. So I was on their board. Then I was on the board of Canadian Mental Health Association North Shore for a number of years.

And now I'm on the board of Turning Point Recovery, which is a recovery society providing sober living for men and women.

Wonderful.

And also sheltering women who are escaping abusive relationships. So very worthwhile. And I'm trying to help them not only raise money, but get better at what they do.

So I think it's at this point in my life and I'm still working. I worked this morning, still got some clients in Dallas, Texas. I Do a sports Talk station in Dallas. 967 and 13 10.

The Ticket sports and all that implies,

even with the accents.

Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys. Well, it's just a little bit of a little drawer. It's more of a style. It's more of a cadence you get into. And Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys.

As well as a station in Pittsburgh and Boulder, Colorado. I've still got some stations back east in the Maritimes, but, yeah, I'm still working and still doing stuff.

And then, of course, my podcast plug again. Kono Vision. My nickname is Kono. And, you know, there are. I'm trying to.

At some point in time, I will tell the story of how I got that nickname if I can.

I was gonna ask.

Well, I think the late, great Kerry Marshall gave me that moniker, I believe, because I was the assistant music director, which means I was in the music library. And so Conrad turned into. At the time, it was Conan the Barbarian, so I was Conrad the librarian. And then it turned into Kono.

I think the other story is Dave Pratt was on stage with the Seafox Electric Lunch Orchestra, and I think he saw me in the crowd when they were up on stage, and Dave may have done a little bit too much show prep, and he went to say Conrad, and it came out Kono, I think. So there's different stories, but it somehow stuck. And so Kono has been my nickname

for a long time.

For a long time. So now it's Kono Vision, the spirit of storytelling.

And spirit is, as we started out at the beginning of our conversation, the essence of storytelling, because it's a mystery, and I embrace the mystery.

Well, we should get together and give back, because a big part of our company and our podcast is to join our movement to change the world.

Yes.

To use story positive in the. To do that to a great extent.

Yes. I think the more we share stories, the more we can allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to tell our story and share our story.

I am involved quite a bit in the recovery culture movement in Vancouver and elsewhere. And so recovering from. From alcohol and drug addiction is a big, big step forward for all of us.

And then in a general sense, to enlighten ourselves, to be more conscious of where we come from, what motivates us, what is part of us, and then telling our story so that others can join in.

You got it. Ignite my voice so that we all have voices, and together we overpower the bullies or the house of cards that isn't supporting us. Right.

Well, truth will always win. Truth and love will always win. Out.

Wow. What a cool shift, huh? From being the voice to being a storyteller. That's a big transition. It's identity work.

The environment changed, the industry changed, and Kono leaned into humanity. The real takeaway AI May impact voiceover. Technology will evolve, but storytelling, emotion, service? That's human.

He talked about going up that elevator at 30 Rock, thinking, this is pretty cool. And it is. But what's even cooler is realizing you never know where your path will take you if you keep growing.

From kokiny tags, paying the mortgage to giving back through nonprofit boards, from announcer to actor, from performance to purpose.

And I think the heart of it is this. Be vulnerable enough to tell your story, whether that's through a microphone, in recovery, culture, in service, or in your everyday life.

Know your voice. Know what it can do. Take lessons. Do the practice. Persevere.

Mm.

It's your turn to shine. Find your voice. Hone your charisma. And, hey, maybe work with one of our talent development or coaches.

Sign up@ignitemyvoice.com ignite my voice. Becoming unstoppable. Your voice is your superpower.

Use it.