VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio #491 – You’re Not Fully Dressed Without a Smile
Voice Coaches Radio. Everything voiceover. And welcome to this week's edition of Voice Coaches Radio. I am Josh Heller. Delighted to have you joining me. And as always, Marissa Lanczak in the booth. Marissa, how are we doing? I'm good. How are you? I'm, I'm doing alright. I see that gigantic coffee over there, so I know that you're feeling fine.
Yeah. So, you know what? And it's an extra charge coffee too, I'm not going to lie to you. Oh! Well, and I, I, I was checking, I was like, I was like, ah, I wanna get a coffee. I was like, I don't need to get a coffee. I can just make my own coffee. And, uh, but then I saw in my, uh, uh, uh, Dunkin Donuts app that I had a free coffee that expired on the 20th of July, which is in four days from day of recording.
And, uh, and that is, uh, that's soon. And I was like, well, I don't wanna lose that. No, you don't. And because it's free, it doesn't matter what size it is. It's all free. Right. It doesn't matter how jittery you get. the medium, right? I usually get a medium. It's fine. It's all I need. Though, can, can we just explain what I said to you last week?
I saw you go back to the coffee machine for like the third time and I'm like, Hey, um, Josh, just out of curiosity, like, are you just highly caffeinated all day? And you're looking at me and you're just like. Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Are you kidding me? Absolutely. Absolutely. I didn't realize that was a question.
Yeah, 100%. But no, but like seriously, like, if the medium is free, and the large is free, why wouldn't I get the large? True. Right? If I was paying for it, then I would get the medium, because I don't need the large. But, uh, but I'm not, so, I mean, you're lucky I didn't get the extra large, and, uh, and, you know, Basically not allow you to talk during this entire session.
Are you trying to tell me that's not an extra large? No, that's just a regular large, apparently. That's gigantic. I think it looks like an extra large, right? But it says large. I asked for a large. It says large on the, uh, on the, the sticker. But then how come the medium is so damn small? I don't know. I'm watching my life.
I'm sorry. I will talk to, uh, to Fred. Please. I don't know Fred. Do you know Fred? No. Fred the Dunkin Donuts guy? No. Oh. Fred, uh, Fred, he used to time to make the donuts. Right. That's what I was in my head. So I just assumed that was Fred. That was, yeah, that was Fred. That's Fred. Ah. Is he still alive? No, he is not.
Aw. May he rest in peace. Yeah. Um, and, uh, I'd love those commercials. And donut heaven. I'd love those commercials. Um, for those of you who, uh, for. A, who aren't, you know, our age or older, and B, who aren't from the Northeast. You have literally no idea what we're talking about and probably have turned us off and understandably so.
Hey, if you don't know Duncan, Google. I mean, true, and Fred was their spokesman. Man. Kind of, yeah. He was, he was, he was just like their silly guy who did all these commercials in the 80s and early 90s. Yeah, he was an adorable old man. He'd be running around making doughnuts. Yeah. With his little mustache.
And he literally walked around and was like, time to make the doughnuts. And just YouTube it, okay, kids? Please do. Good grief. Um, so anyway, on that note, um, Be like Fred. Fred was great. Fred makes me smile. Speaking of smiling. Oh, here we go. Coffee's kicking in. No, that's a segway is what that is. That's a professional segway.
that's a professional segway, but it definitely was a segway. Well, I mean, yeah. Hey, listen. It is what it is. It is what it is. It's a segway and I'm sort of professional sometimes. Um. I always tell people when they finish their demos, I was like, tell people that you're a professional voice actor. And some people are a little, you know, reticent about that before they actually work.
And I'm like, if that's the case, then tell them you are a professionally trained voice actor because you have been trained going through our program, and I am sometimes professional, not often. Not often. It depends on how much coffee's involved. Fact. Fact. I haven't had that much, it was very hot. It was very hot, so I had to take some time.
Anywho, um, so, uh, smiling, right? That we're talking about smiling today. Because it's something that we talk about quite a bit, and I think... I think the first time I heard this was when I had like a, like a sales job on the phone and they were like, if you answer the phone with smiling, you know, your, your, your person listening is going to know that.
And I was like, I don't know if that's true, uh, but it is true. Yeah, it's very true. It makes a difference. If you answer the phone with a smile on your face versus a scowl, as I usually do, then that, that is noticeable. That makes a difference. And that translates. Yeah. Directly into being in the booth. Yeah thousand percent Yeah.
Yeah. Um, I was trying to set you up there and we just, uh, I, I mean, I don't, I Sorry. I thought that you froze over there. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. We're good. We're good. . We're we're good. We did have some technical issues earlier today, but we're, we're, we're, we were cooking with gas now. Um, you know, and, and we, we do, we say it a lot about, uh, you know, eh, try with a bit more smile on your face.
And it's one of those things where like, you know, people are like, okay, how do I talk and smile at the same time? It idiot. It's not like walking and chewing gum. It takes work. It does. It absolutely does. Because, you know, your mouth is not doing exactly what you think it's supposed to be doing at that time.
But it makes an immediate difference. And the thing that I notice, you know, about, you know, Smiling when you're reading something people get a little concerned sometimes if they're like, well, this is not a happy piece I shouldn't be smiling and and the truth is that Just because you're smiling during a piece doesn't mean it's a happy piece And it doesn't mean it makes it sound like a happy piece.
The smile is so, you know, it's underrated It is completely like it can do so much. We don't realize It's everything that comes, all those feelings that come from a smile, you know, even, even a small one, even a small tiny smile does a great job of fitting. what's needed in the piece. Does the piece need to be happy?
It can do that. Does it need to be more positive? It can do that. Does it need to be a bit more inviting? It can do that. Right? And it, it, it does a great job of kind of fitting what it needs to be. It does what it needs to do and you're doing the same thing. You're not changing, you're just smiling as the piece is going on and it allows it to you know, the smile does the work for you.
It really does. You don't have to change how you read something. Smiling will make you do that. Can I give my example from the other day? Yeah, cause like this guy that was doing, I believe it was in a demo, I've had like a lot of things going on in the last week, so a lot of my days have mushed, but I'm pretty sure it was during a demo session.
And he had this medical piece, and He did it this first time and I was like, okay now, here's my only note like I just want you to give me a big smile as you read this and He was just like, I don't know. I just don't I don't think I should smile over this. It's very serious and I stopped him and I was like, well, wait a minute though because I want you to think like this is It's rather educational, uh, you know, so if you're a medical student and you're completely overwhelmed by the ridiculous classes that you have to take, plus all the residency hours or whatever on top of it, like you're very tired and just overworked and overwhelmed and all these things.
things. And you come at this student with such a serious read. I mean, they're probably going to, first of all, fall asleep. Uh, and secondly, not absorb the information, but they're also going to continue to feel intimidated. And like, if you all of a sudden just make it brighter and you put that smile on your face, it's instantly more welcoming and it's more inviting and it is a little bit more comforting.
Yeah. As somebody to absorb that information a lot easier. Yeah, and, and that can be, that can be huge. I mean, depending on the, the piece and the, and the personal nature of the piece. We have to think about when we're doing pieces sometimes, you know, what the, the listener or viewer is going through. Um, and a lot of times, like you mentioned, a, a medical piece, it could be something that affects them directly.
Maybe it's, um, you know, we have a couple of pieces that, that are brought up every now and again in our copy library, like, um. a pregnancy and prenatal care, a piece like a gastric bypass risks or cochlear implant surgery orientation and people who are watching that are going through something and they're scared and you're giving them the information they need.
You don't want to also make them scared. You want to make them feel like you're putting your arm around their shoulder and you're comforting them as you're. And that's the thing, like with those types of pieces, look, the information is the most important thing. Getting the information across the most important thing.
But at the same time, we need to let them know that, hey, it's okay. It's going to be okay. You know, we're going to take care of you. We're, we're there for you. And I think having that kind of being able to walk that line between those two and the smile helps you deftly do that without it being overbearing, without you kind of coming at it with that energy that is just too much.
And that doesn't fit with the piece. It just, it's subtle. It's very subtle, but it's, it's so effective. It's very subtle and it's very small. Like that's all you have to do to Make it feel all the things that we just said. You literally just have to smile. It's not like you have to put in a million pieces of effort, or a million percent of effort.
Like, it's literally that one little thing changes everything. And you can say that about life. Yeah. It's that one little, just put that smile on your face. Start, start your day with a smile. Start your day with a smile. And you're burning calories. And caffeine. And caffeine. Oh yeah, caffeine makes me smile.
Caffeine makes me smile. Um, but don't drink coffee when you're recording.
Caffeine is a diuretic, and we'll dry you out a little bit. But what they do say is that, and this is true, the more caffeine you drink, the more caffeine you consume, rather, the less of that diuretic effect it has because your body normalizes to it. So that's why I just consume copious amounts of it. All the time.
Copious amounts. And let's be honest, most of my recording... When I was recording, my audio book was done between the hours of nine and midnight after my son went to sleep. So I need some caffeine. I'm, I'm, I'm. I know you're a sleepy dude. Otherwise. Yeah, I am. I'm a guy. So there are some people that and in my life, it's one of them.
There's some people that I can get by with like five, six hours of sleep at night. Not me. No, I'm not that person. 10 to 12. Like legit. Yes, please. Like it's, it's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. And honestly, I don't have time. I don't have time for all the sleep that I want to have. And that's unfortunate for me.
You just, you prioritize, Josh. I know. I need to, right? I need to. But like, I have to do things like go to work and do a podcast. Oh, come on. I mean, it's tough. It's tough. But I suck it up. I make it happen. It's true. Uh, anyway, if you're not smiling, I wish you were, um, and hopefully, hopefully you do when you listen to this program.
You're gonna smile with us, won't you? Yes. Thank you so much for listening to this program with us. Have a nice, delightful weekend. And, and the truth is, and, and, and you kind of mentioned this earlier, it, it might feel a little weird when you start, but it doesn't sound that way. It doesn't sound that way, and you'll get used to it the more you do it.
I smile all the time. I always tell students that because now that we're on zoom doing classes I'm like you probably notice I smile all the time when I speak that's just because radio is trickling in I actually tell them I'm like I might be like mad at the world. You're never gonna know Sports radio was not like that Sports radio is more scowling.
That's what I do. I get a scowl. It's a little different animal. Even if I am smiling, you can barely see my mouth. With the beard that's happening now. You wouldn't even know. You wouldn't even know. You could hear it, but you wouldn't see it. So yeah, so I think in summation, what we're trying to say is be more like the Joker.
No, that's creepy. I'm okay with it. Don't be creepy. So, so smile. Use the smile. Practice talking while using that smile. See how it changes pieces. Record yourself not smiling during a piece and smiling during a piece. I guarantee you're going to hear that difference. Immediately. Absolutely. And it may feel a little strange at first.
It will feel a little strange at first. That's okay. You will get used to that the more you practice it. And that's what we need to do because it is such an effect. And I think you and I both agree on this. It's probably one of the things we tell people to do more than anything else. The most vital thing.
Yeah. Smile. I need you to smile. Well, first it's slow down. Then it's smile. Slow down number one. Slow down because people are too fast. And by people I mean me. Yeah. Um, slow down one, smile two. And those are my two pieces of sagely advice for you when you're in the booth. Slow down and smile. There you go.
Other than that, everything else is cake. Everything else is cake. If you have a topic you'd like us to talk about to make you smile, let us know. Josh at voicecoaches. com is the easiest way to get in touch with us here at the show. Josh at voicecoaches. com. Uh, you can also, uh, you can also call the studio as well if you'd like, uh, and, uh, and let us know if there's something you want to discuss, you want us to talk about, guests you want us to get.
Uh, we're certainly happy to do that because remember, it's not just our show. So anyway, uh, hopefully you're starting out, uh, your weekend with a smile and, um, hopefully your weekend makes you smile all day. Marissa, I always smile when I see you. Oh, stop, silly. You're just, ugh, gonna make me blush. That's what I do.
That's what I do. Alright, Marissa, thanks so much. We will be back next week, as we often are. Same bad time, same bad channel. That seemed fitting, talking about the Joker. Uh, and, uh, at which point we will, uh, we will see you all then. So until then, so long, everyone. Visit voicecoaches. com for more voiceover news and information.
Yeah. So, you know what? And it's an extra charge coffee too, I'm not going to lie to you. Oh! Well, and I, I, I was checking, I was like, I was like, ah, I wanna get a coffee. I was like, I don't need to get a coffee. I can just make my own coffee. And, uh, but then I saw in my, uh, uh, uh, Dunkin Donuts app that I had a free coffee that expired on the 20th of July, which is in four days from day of recording.
And, uh, and that is, uh, that's soon. And I was like, well, I don't wanna lose that. No, you don't. And because it's free, it doesn't matter what size it is. It's all free. Right. It doesn't matter how jittery you get. the medium, right? I usually get a medium. It's fine. It's all I need. Though, can, can we just explain what I said to you last week?
I saw you go back to the coffee machine for like the third time and I'm like, Hey, um, Josh, just out of curiosity, like, are you just highly caffeinated all day? And you're looking at me and you're just like. Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Are you kidding me? Absolutely. Absolutely. I didn't realize that was a question.
Yeah, 100%. But no, but like seriously, like, if the medium is free, and the large is free, why wouldn't I get the large? True. Right? If I was paying for it, then I would get the medium, because I don't need the large. But, uh, but I'm not, so, I mean, you're lucky I didn't get the extra large, and, uh, and, you know, Basically not allow you to talk during this entire session.
Are you trying to tell me that's not an extra large? No, that's just a regular large, apparently. That's gigantic. I think it looks like an extra large, right? But it says large. I asked for a large. It says large on the, uh, on the, the sticker. But then how come the medium is so damn small? I don't know. I'm watching my life.
I'm sorry. I will talk to, uh, to Fred. Please. I don't know Fred. Do you know Fred? No. Fred the Dunkin Donuts guy? No. Oh. Fred, uh, Fred, he used to time to make the donuts. Right. That's what I was in my head. So I just assumed that was Fred. That was, yeah, that was Fred. That's Fred. Ah. Is he still alive? No, he is not.
Aw. May he rest in peace. Yeah. Um, and, uh, I'd love those commercials. And donut heaven. I'd love those commercials. Um, for those of you who, uh, for. A, who aren't, you know, our age or older, and B, who aren't from the Northeast. You have literally no idea what we're talking about and probably have turned us off and understandably so.
Hey, if you don't know Duncan, Google. I mean, true, and Fred was their spokesman. Man. Kind of, yeah. He was, he was, he was just like their silly guy who did all these commercials in the 80s and early 90s. Yeah, he was an adorable old man. He'd be running around making doughnuts. Yeah. With his little mustache.
And he literally walked around and was like, time to make the doughnuts. And just YouTube it, okay, kids? Please do. Good grief. Um, so anyway, on that note, um, Be like Fred. Fred was great. Fred makes me smile. Speaking of smiling. Oh, here we go. Coffee's kicking in. No, that's a segway is what that is. That's a professional segway.
that's a professional segway, but it definitely was a segway. Well, I mean, yeah. Hey, listen. It is what it is. It is what it is. It's a segway and I'm sort of professional sometimes. Um. I always tell people when they finish their demos, I was like, tell people that you're a professional voice actor. And some people are a little, you know, reticent about that before they actually work.
And I'm like, if that's the case, then tell them you are a professionally trained voice actor because you have been trained going through our program, and I am sometimes professional, not often. Not often. It depends on how much coffee's involved. Fact. Fact. I haven't had that much, it was very hot. It was very hot, so I had to take some time.
Anywho, um, so, uh, smiling, right? That we're talking about smiling today. Because it's something that we talk about quite a bit, and I think... I think the first time I heard this was when I had like a, like a sales job on the phone and they were like, if you answer the phone with smiling, you know, your, your, your person listening is going to know that.
And I was like, I don't know if that's true, uh, but it is true. Yeah, it's very true. It makes a difference. If you answer the phone with a smile on your face versus a scowl, as I usually do, then that, that is noticeable. That makes a difference. And that translates. Yeah. Directly into being in the booth. Yeah thousand percent Yeah.
Yeah. Um, I was trying to set you up there and we just, uh, I, I mean, I don't, I Sorry. I thought that you froze over there. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. We're good. We're good. . We're we're good. We did have some technical issues earlier today, but we're, we're, we're, we were cooking with gas now. Um, you know, and, and we, we do, we say it a lot about, uh, you know, eh, try with a bit more smile on your face.
And it's one of those things where like, you know, people are like, okay, how do I talk and smile at the same time? It idiot. It's not like walking and chewing gum. It takes work. It does. It absolutely does. Because, you know, your mouth is not doing exactly what you think it's supposed to be doing at that time.
But it makes an immediate difference. And the thing that I notice, you know, about, you know, Smiling when you're reading something people get a little concerned sometimes if they're like, well, this is not a happy piece I shouldn't be smiling and and the truth is that Just because you're smiling during a piece doesn't mean it's a happy piece And it doesn't mean it makes it sound like a happy piece.
The smile is so, you know, it's underrated It is completely like it can do so much. We don't realize It's everything that comes, all those feelings that come from a smile, you know, even, even a small one, even a small tiny smile does a great job of fitting. what's needed in the piece. Does the piece need to be happy?
It can do that. Does it need to be more positive? It can do that. Does it need to be a bit more inviting? It can do that. Right? And it, it, it does a great job of kind of fitting what it needs to be. It does what it needs to do and you're doing the same thing. You're not changing, you're just smiling as the piece is going on and it allows it to you know, the smile does the work for you.
It really does. You don't have to change how you read something. Smiling will make you do that. Can I give my example from the other day? Yeah, cause like this guy that was doing, I believe it was in a demo, I've had like a lot of things going on in the last week, so a lot of my days have mushed, but I'm pretty sure it was during a demo session.
And he had this medical piece, and He did it this first time and I was like, okay now, here's my only note like I just want you to give me a big smile as you read this and He was just like, I don't know. I just don't I don't think I should smile over this. It's very serious and I stopped him and I was like, well, wait a minute though because I want you to think like this is It's rather educational, uh, you know, so if you're a medical student and you're completely overwhelmed by the ridiculous classes that you have to take, plus all the residency hours or whatever on top of it, like you're very tired and just overworked and overwhelmed and all these things.
things. And you come at this student with such a serious read. I mean, they're probably going to, first of all, fall asleep. Uh, and secondly, not absorb the information, but they're also going to continue to feel intimidated. And like, if you all of a sudden just make it brighter and you put that smile on your face, it's instantly more welcoming and it's more inviting and it is a little bit more comforting.
Yeah. As somebody to absorb that information a lot easier. Yeah, and, and that can be, that can be huge. I mean, depending on the, the piece and the, and the personal nature of the piece. We have to think about when we're doing pieces sometimes, you know, what the, the listener or viewer is going through. Um, and a lot of times, like you mentioned, a, a medical piece, it could be something that affects them directly.
Maybe it's, um, you know, we have a couple of pieces that, that are brought up every now and again in our copy library, like, um. a pregnancy and prenatal care, a piece like a gastric bypass risks or cochlear implant surgery orientation and people who are watching that are going through something and they're scared and you're giving them the information they need.
You don't want to also make them scared. You want to make them feel like you're putting your arm around their shoulder and you're comforting them as you're. And that's the thing, like with those types of pieces, look, the information is the most important thing. Getting the information across the most important thing.
But at the same time, we need to let them know that, hey, it's okay. It's going to be okay. You know, we're going to take care of you. We're, we're there for you. And I think having that kind of being able to walk that line between those two and the smile helps you deftly do that without it being overbearing, without you kind of coming at it with that energy that is just too much.
And that doesn't fit with the piece. It just, it's subtle. It's very subtle, but it's, it's so effective. It's very subtle and it's very small. Like that's all you have to do to Make it feel all the things that we just said. You literally just have to smile. It's not like you have to put in a million pieces of effort, or a million percent of effort.
Like, it's literally that one little thing changes everything. And you can say that about life. Yeah. It's that one little, just put that smile on your face. Start, start your day with a smile. Start your day with a smile. And you're burning calories. And caffeine. And caffeine. Oh yeah, caffeine makes me smile.
Caffeine makes me smile. Um, but don't drink coffee when you're recording.
Caffeine is a diuretic, and we'll dry you out a little bit. But what they do say is that, and this is true, the more caffeine you drink, the more caffeine you consume, rather, the less of that diuretic effect it has because your body normalizes to it. So that's why I just consume copious amounts of it. All the time.
Copious amounts. And let's be honest, most of my recording... When I was recording, my audio book was done between the hours of nine and midnight after my son went to sleep. So I need some caffeine. I'm, I'm, I'm. I know you're a sleepy dude. Otherwise. Yeah, I am. I'm a guy. So there are some people that and in my life, it's one of them.
There's some people that I can get by with like five, six hours of sleep at night. Not me. No, I'm not that person. 10 to 12. Like legit. Yes, please. Like it's, it's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. And honestly, I don't have time. I don't have time for all the sleep that I want to have. And that's unfortunate for me.
You just, you prioritize, Josh. I know. I need to, right? I need to. But like, I have to do things like go to work and do a podcast. Oh, come on. I mean, it's tough. It's tough. But I suck it up. I make it happen. It's true. Uh, anyway, if you're not smiling, I wish you were, um, and hopefully, hopefully you do when you listen to this program.
You're gonna smile with us, won't you? Yes. Thank you so much for listening to this program with us. Have a nice, delightful weekend. And, and the truth is, and, and, and you kind of mentioned this earlier, it, it might feel a little weird when you start, but it doesn't sound that way. It doesn't sound that way, and you'll get used to it the more you do it.
I smile all the time. I always tell students that because now that we're on zoom doing classes I'm like you probably notice I smile all the time when I speak that's just because radio is trickling in I actually tell them I'm like I might be like mad at the world. You're never gonna know Sports radio was not like that Sports radio is more scowling.
That's what I do. I get a scowl. It's a little different animal. Even if I am smiling, you can barely see my mouth. With the beard that's happening now. You wouldn't even know. You wouldn't even know. You could hear it, but you wouldn't see it. So yeah, so I think in summation, what we're trying to say is be more like the Joker.
No, that's creepy. I'm okay with it. Don't be creepy. So, so smile. Use the smile. Practice talking while using that smile. See how it changes pieces. Record yourself not smiling during a piece and smiling during a piece. I guarantee you're going to hear that difference. Immediately. Absolutely. And it may feel a little strange at first.
It will feel a little strange at first. That's okay. You will get used to that the more you practice it. And that's what we need to do because it is such an effect. And I think you and I both agree on this. It's probably one of the things we tell people to do more than anything else. The most vital thing.
Yeah. Smile. I need you to smile. Well, first it's slow down. Then it's smile. Slow down number one. Slow down because people are too fast. And by people I mean me. Yeah. Um, slow down one, smile two. And those are my two pieces of sagely advice for you when you're in the booth. Slow down and smile. There you go.
Other than that, everything else is cake. Everything else is cake. If you have a topic you'd like us to talk about to make you smile, let us know. Josh at voicecoaches. com is the easiest way to get in touch with us here at the show. Josh at voicecoaches. com. Uh, you can also, uh, you can also call the studio as well if you'd like, uh, and, uh, and let us know if there's something you want to discuss, you want us to talk about, guests you want us to get.
Uh, we're certainly happy to do that because remember, it's not just our show. So anyway, uh, hopefully you're starting out, uh, your weekend with a smile and, um, hopefully your weekend makes you smile all day. Marissa, I always smile when I see you. Oh, stop, silly. You're just, ugh, gonna make me blush. That's what I do.
That's what I do. Alright, Marissa, thanks so much. We will be back next week, as we often are. Same bad time, same bad channel. That seemed fitting, talking about the Joker. Uh, and, uh, at which point we will, uh, we will see you all then. So until then, so long, everyone. Visit voicecoaches. com for more voiceover news and information.
This week, Josh and Marissa discuss the simple yet powerful tool that is the smile. While it may sometimes feel silly or awkward, smiling while reading can help take your copy to the next level.
