Jodi Krangle is listed on 50Pros as a top 50 voiceover artist in the world. Based in Toronto, Canada, she shares deep insights, background, and experiences.
Back in 1995-96, I volunteered my time at the CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind). Before that, I had no idea what voice over really was. But I learned a lot from doing that, both on the voicing side and the tech side. While I was interested, after I left that volunteering, it percolated in the back of my mind for a while before I decided to fully pursue it.
I was doing SEO and Internet Marketing before that. But in 2007, when Google became the only search engine worth worrying about, I got REALLY bored. And things happen when I'm bored *winks*! From October 2007, I switched my focus to voice over - and I've never looked back.
Though it did take me about two and a half years before I was actually making enough for it to be considered a "living", I was making as much as I'd been making as an SEO and Internet Marketing professional.
Given that many people who start in this business never make more than a quarter of what that was (I had no idea at the time), that's not half bad. This was definitely a case of "I had no idea how difficult it should be so I just did it."
I've been a singer since I could talk, so I've always wanted to be in a profession that used my voice. It took finding out more about voice overs before I realized it was perfect for me. As an introvert, not wanting to be in front of the camera meant that my acting options were limited. But voice overs opened vistas.
I credit my entire career to a gentleman by the name of Lee Kanne, a veteran actor from Chicago.
We first met on a message board. And I don't think we've ever met in person, actually! But we met when he was critical of an early demo of mine, rightfully so!. When I was done getting over myself, I reached out to him in private messages through the board and asked him what I could do to improve. And what followed was an education of a lifetime. He taught me that I needed to ACT - that I couldn't just read the words on the page, I had to BELIEVE them. I had to put my own unique spin on them too.
He sent me MP3S of him performing scripts and had me perform them back to him with a returning MP3, and some of my early demos included dialogue scripts between us that I used for YEARS after we stopped working together. He did this out of the goodness of his heart. No money ever exchanged hands. And if he hadn't given me the basics, I would definitely not have been able to make a career out of this. I've tried to pay it forward when voice actors who are just starting and have questions. Because I'm so aware of how that first encounter can flavor everything that comes after. I was very lucky to meet him early on.
I'm not sure "balance" is anything that can be attained, honestly. I try to make sure that I'm not only working, that I can take vacations every now and again. That I do other things. Music is a big hobby of mine since I'm a singer and occasionally perform with bands. I have travel gear so I can work if I need to while I'm away, but there are definitely times when I just need a break, like we all do. I'm just doing the best I can to keep sane here - just like everyone else.
From many coaching sessions with many different coaches, and it's been over 16 years after all, I've gleaned that what's needed isn't for me to "put on" a voice - but to be more authentically ME. The words on the page are a starting point. Not that I can necessarily change them or anything, but that they're the idea of what I'm supposed to feel about things, but my own experience and opinions will shape how I sound.
Lean in to what makes you uniquely you and you can never go wrong.
I've mentioned I'm a singer and I do perform with bands on occasion. It's rare, but fun when it happens. I'm also an avid Dungeons and Dragons player. Any kind of role playing game, really, and I've played a TON of them. That definitely keeps my imagination sharp!
The community is really wonderful. I don't think there's anyone in this industry that I wouldn't enjoy having a conversation with. Everything has their own unique perspective and approach to business and craft.
I learn a lot every time I meet my colleagues. It's also tremendously rewarding work. I'm not talking about dollars here, though it certainly can be rewarding that way too. But I really love lending my voice to a company's audio brand, contributing to how they show up in the world in a sonic way.
Audio Branding is definitely a passion for me. I have a podcast about it actually that I've been doing for over four years and has over 230 episodes at this point! And knowing I play some small part in that, thrills me. My work is mostly in the commercial, corporate narration, and brand voice areas though so that's probably why.
I sing a bit beforehand and make sure I drink a lot of water. It's good to be hydrated!
My Sennheiser 416 mic is really essential to what I do.
It works well for my voice in particular since I'm a bit on the warmer, deeper side.
It definitely makes the voice "pop" a bit in a production. My 5x4 sound treated booth definitely helps get me the best sound as well.
It's essential to what I do. I'm there to make sure my client gets what they need. I'll ask for their input, ask for clarification if I need it, make sure I'm pronouncing things correctly, and interpret the direction I receive to make sure they get what they want as quickly as possible.
There's a kind of shorthand in direction that you start to understand the more years you do this. For instance, when someone asks me to be "brighter", they might actually be asking for more of a smile when I perform their script. That kind of thing. I'm there to make them look good.
The beginning of my career was definitely a challenge. There are lots of places out there that prey upon people trying to live out their dreams. People who will take your credit card to produce a demo, for instance, without giving you any training. And if you don't look around enough, you may fall for that.
But coaching is definitely the first thing any new voice talent should look into. That coach will tell them when they're ready to make a demo. And you want to wait until you're ready because those demos are EXPENSIVE. When I got my first demo done, it was with an outfit that basically took my credit card, made a nice-sounding demo for me that did NOTHING for my career and then sent me out into the wild.
Because I had no training, had no idea what the business was like, and they told me nothing else, I was really unprepared for the reality of what a voice over career really is. That's when I went to the message board for feedback. And if I was someone who wasn't serious about this, I would have been VERY discouraged by that feedback. Instead, I decided to make it motivate me.
There are several, but I'll mention just a couple. One was doing the TV Narration for a show called Buying & Selling, which was a spinoff of the Property Brothers on HGTV. I only narrated for them for about a year and a half, but I loved it. And the show was really popular for a lot of years. I believe the brothers started doing their own narration, so that's why I was no longer their narrator.
And the second is the work I continue to do for MITRE. I'm SO impressed with the work they do, the technology they develop to make the world a better place. And lending my voice to some of their work has been hugely rewarding. I also love the work I do in the healthcare industry and the travel & tourism industry, though it would be hard to pinpoint just one.
I make sure I'm well hydrated and my voice is warmed up. I also make sure not to schedule too many things back to back. I never want to get into a session already tired!
It plays a very big role. But it's not just networking with other voice talent - though I love doing that too. I enjoy talking with my podcasting colleagues and participating in events that are podcast-related.
I also go to some general business conferences to meet people who can inspire me. That has an added plus of possibly meeting people who hire voice talent for various projects. And when I have inspirational people on my podcast who talk about the power of sound, I always learn a ton.
That networking has led to my becoming a juror for the International Sound Awards.
Get coaching first. There are many wonderful coaches out there, but a great list along with articles they may have written or seminars they've had, is at voiceoverxtra.com. So I'd suggest any new voiceover person check out that website and have a good, thorough look around.
Well certainly, AI is a much bigger thing than it was when I first got into the industry.
Social media is a huge part of it now too, and that wasn't the case when I started.
You remember I mentioned a message board? That was around because social media really wasn't a thing yet. I think there are many more ways for people to get involved in voice over these days - there are lots more things that need voice over - but there's also a lot more people competing for the same jobs. It's definitely an interesting time to be here!
I do foresee AI becoming a much bigger thing in the future. What that will mean is that voice actors need to lean into the ACTING part. It'll be hard for a computer to act. The more human we can be, the less replaceable we'll be.
I do believe that the easier we can make it for companies who want to work with us, the more of a white glove service we can provide, the less likely those people will be to just go and program out a voice on their computer, which can sometimes take hours to get to sound the way they want it to when they can get what they want from an actual human in 20 minutes!
And when people hear a synthetic voice right now, it makes a brand sound cheap. I talk about audio branding for a reason. It's important for companies that care about their brand, to pay attention to how they sound, not just how they look. If you SOUND cheap, you won't inspire people to engage.
A human that can act, that can provide a helpful service and that can be a partner in the company's brand, will always have an advantage over a synthetic voice.
Like many industries, it takes a great deal of training, investment in demos & equipment and more training to be as good as you can be. It's not just "talking into a mic".
And we're usually paid based on how many people will be hearing the project rather than by the time it takes to do the voiceover, kind of similar to how you might license a photograph or a piece of music for advertising. If we were only paid by how long it took, we'd be penalized for being better at what we do, and therefore faster!
And maybe it's obvious, but we care about your project as much as you do.
I went online to a website and signed up for an account so that I could get auditions sent to me. I did many auditions in a day. I made a really good website and made sure I paid attention to SEO so that people would find me on the Internet just through searches.
And I did some outreach myself to companies I thought might be able to use my services.
A lot more of my work comes to me through referrals since I now have many regular clients who use my services again and again.
I'm no longer on the major directories to search for work but I still do some outreach.
And I have my podcast where I talk about the power of sound. That brings some people to me as well and allows me to form relationships with people who work in industries that hire voice talent.
I'm always taking coaching to improve my skills or learn more about a particular genre of voice over that I'm interested in.
I attend conferences - in voice over, podcasting and business - to meet people and get perspectives from many different people.
I interview people on my podcast who can give me more information about that perspective as well.
My podcast, Audio Branding: The Hidden Gem of Marketing is over 4 years old with over 230 episodes. Keeping a consistent sound in how you present your company really is the "hidden gem" of marketing. But audio or sonic branding influences us in many different ways and in many different places within our lives. Education is key! I explore that, both with my own observations and by interviewing knowledgeable professionals in the field of advertising, marketing, music and science. If you know of someone who works in the area of sound on behalf of clients, please do get in touch and let me know about them! I'd love to talk with them on the podcast.
There's always more to learn! You can find more information at audiobrandingpodcast.com.
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