In The Clubhouse: Improve your Speaking Voice with Dan Friedman - Part 2

“You set the tone for your podcast by how you sound and how you interact with the audience. So there are a lot of elements to it, you know, obviously preparation and planning and practice, all those things." -- Dan Friedman   This week continues our Clubhouse discussion as voiceover artist and sound engineer Dan Friedman answers questions about voice training, keeping listeners engaged, and overcoming stage fright. As always, if you have any questions for my guest, you’re welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes.  If you have questions for me, just visit http://www.audiobrandingpodcast.com/ (www.audiobrandingpodcast.com) where you’ll find all sorts of ways to get in touch. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter (on the http://www.audiobrandingpodcast.com/ (www.audiobrandingpodcast.com) webpage) will let you know when the new podcasts are available.   An Audio-Driven World We continue the Clubhouse chat by talking about how subtle changes to pitch and tone can change a listener’s impression of your voice, and the challenges and successes that artists coming from different audio industries, such as radio and lecturing, can find in voiceover work. “Because we are in such an audio-driven world now,” Dan says, “it is really important that if, especially if you're running a podcast and you want more listeners, or you want listeners to stick with you, you have to be compelling enough that they are going to want to continue to listen and to tune in every week.”   Getting Out of a Rut Dan warns us about some of the traps of voice rehearsal, how easy it can be to get stuck in a loop of negative self-criticism when listening to your own voice, and some creative ways to break out of that vicious circle. "One of the most fun and extreme things to just really get out of your rut," he suggests, "if you realize you're in a rut, is to do your script as a cartoon character." He explains that once you've done so and then immediately switch back to your regular voice, you'll probably find th