How do you brand your voice as a Voice Over Talent? What is branding? Branding is something that you can clearly identify, like the McDonald’s golden arches or the taste of Coca-Cola. You know exactly what those golden arches look like and what Coca-Cola tastes like.
The same concept can be applied to your voice. By creating a brand for your voice you are putting forth your essence, something that people can clearly identify. And by doing so, you are distinguishing yourself from other Voice Over Artists who sound like you in pitch, tone, delivery and vocal age range.
Take, for example, one of my star students, Issa Deas. He’s a guy with a deep, ‘Voice of God’. He sounds like a young James Earl Jones, so his voice has authority and gravitas. But at the same time, he’s super funny.
So after walking him through a series of branding exercises, we came up with the following branding statement:
“If James Earl Jones and Will Smith had a baby.”
With this statement, you get a clear idea of what his voice sounds like — deep, with authority, and a sense of his character, hip and funny.
This branding statement becomes the basis for all his marketing and communications. So everything from his Voice Over Demos, his emails, to his website and business cards are brand-centric. I’m not a graphic designer, but I also helped him conceptualize his logo, and even helped choose a color for his website that reflects his brand. You can check out his website at www.issadeas.com.
And by the way, kudos to Issa on recently booking a promo for Afropunk, an annual punk music festival!
If you’d like to learn more about how to market your voice for Voice Over Success, come join my workshop “Power Marketing For The Voice Over Actor” on Thursday, April 23rd at Actors Connection! Please go to the following link to register: http://www.actorsconnection.com/classes/10377
For more great Voice Over tips, info on Voice Over Coaching, Bilingual Voice Over production and Songwriting, please visit the Berne Media Enterprises page. May ‘The Voice’ Be With You, and thanks for spreading the word!