This year 50% of the population has listened to a podcast and around three quarters know about podcasts and may plan to give them a go in the future. Of course, despite the amount of interest in this growing medium, listeners and success are not a guarantee. You have to offer a niche subject or angle that hasn’t been done before, or otherwise stand out enough as an entertainer or educator to gain the attention of listeners.
Regardless of your podcast subject or style, there’s one way that you can boost the success of your podcast and that’s with your vocal skills. With the right vocal improvements, you could find you get a lot more listeners who don’t just try your podcast out, but who also subscribe and want more.
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Let’s take a closer look:
Why Is Voice Important For Podcasts?
The voice is a given on a podcast, which in reality means it’s an often overlooked asset. When it’s used correctly it can help you to truly connect with your listeners. People will listen to your podcast because of the information you share, the guests and the overall editing and presentation – but they will keep coming back time and time again because they connect with you, which is why voice is so important for podcasts.
How To Hone Your Voice For A Podcast
Even if you’re a natural storyteller and you know how to communicate well – there are always various skills you can learn to improve your voice, thus improving your podcast.
Physical Voice Skills
The voice is a tool and so learning some physical skills can be a really great thing to do when it comes to honing your voice skills. Here are some important physical skills to improve how you sound, and how you’re able to use your voice:
- Warm up your voice to avoid throat clearing, hoarseness and a deeper sound that comes from recording cold.
- Watch what you consume before a recording to avoid throat clearing or other issues. In general, avoiding dairy is a good idea and instead choosing orange segments or soothing teas is helpful.
- Work on your posture to boost your breathing abilities and projection.
- Work on vocal exercises that help you to have better range, vocal control and power.
- Work on your pronunciation – a good grasp of the English language can help you convey the desired emotions to your listeners.
- Learn from voice over agency experts and learn microphone control.
Extra Voice Skills For A Better Podcast
There are many extra voice skills you can master for a better podcast including:
- Storytelling
- Emotional delivery
- Learning to avoid filler noises
These extra skills will help you to use your tool (voice) in a much more powerful and deliberate way. You use the physical skills above to strengthen the voice itself, and skills like storytelling and emotional delivery to drive your messaging and information through in your podcast even more effectively.
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” – Benjamin Franklin
The very fact that you’re here suggests you are already working on improving your podcast skills, which is a great start. The more you work on your vocal skills, the better your podcast will be. It’s always going to be a work in progress, but with lots of effort and growth, the chances are that it will continue to improve and you’ll be growing that subscriber list in no time.
