Barb Lyon
Voice Artist

We are always being told to just be ourselves in auditions. The problem with that is that there are these pesky audition specs to meet! And these are usually words we’d never say. In fact we spend all day twisting ourselves into pretzels…excited over here, confident over there, oh and now why not let me hear you as an angry leprechaun.

It's a very badly kept secret that I love motivational speakers and am moderately addicted to business insights. Well, last week I was listening to a Mel Robbins podcast. Her guest was Seth Godin, and part way through I hit pause and immediately signed up for his daily newsletter. I love Simon Sinek and I’ve tried to find my “Why”. But putting a fine point on it is really tough. I do voice work because I’ve always had a fascination with audio.

I enjoy art. Not like a collector or anything, but I do appreciate it. I was one credit away from an art minor in college. Personally, I gravitate to the California Impressionists. They make me think of a time when the country was unspoiled, when you might gaze across a vista and see a herd of elk drinking at a stream. I get lost in those paintings.

“Get in the Hole” my favorite quote from the fabulous Gabrielle Nistico. If you're not familiar, Google her. She’s fantastic. She was talking about actors who worry that if they work too much in one genre, they'll never get booked because they're limiting opportunities. Then she showed a list of actors who work within their type and we all love them for it…and they keep getting booked! Think about pretty much anybody from “The Sopranos.”

I’m working on a personal project and was reminded that motivation is in no way a straight line. I know! It sucks, right! Why can’t every day be filled with jet fuel and unicorns? Picture it: You’re really excited about this amazing career you’ve chosen. It's inspiring to think that you might be coaching learners, or selling a great new gadget. That's the hype.

Let's talk backlinks. It's one of those techy things that feels like the impossible item in your checklist. What the heck are they anyway and what do you do with them? Well, a backlink is just another website linking back to yours. Simple as that. But to Google, every one of those links is a little vote of confidence — "hey, this site is legit, other people trust it too." Enough of those votes, from the right places, and your site starts ranking higher.

You're busy. You're not busy. Your rig is all tweaked out and ready for anything. So why did your iLok stop working? My dad used to call these moments "Character Building Experiences." And honestly? That's exactly what they are. Because everyday life doesn't care about your schedule. It doesn't care that you finally cleared your inbox, or that you were on a roll, or that this was supposed to be the week everything clicked. It just shows up. Usually at the worst possible t

I have two loves. My mic. And dog training. One requires focus, concentration and energy. And the other? Well. Same. Turns out, voice acting and dog training have more in common than you'd think. Voice over can actually make this weird slide into the Obedience and Rally rings.

I want to talk about something I’ve been chewing on for a while now, because I think a lot of folks haven’t connected all the dots yet. A couple years ago, some of the big eLearning authoring tools started building AI voice generation right into their software. Suddenly, free voice over wasn’t an add-on anymore. It was just…there. Included. And once one company did it, the others had to follow, because nobody wants to be the “more expensive” option.

I read an interview with Bob Odenkirk on Knockturnal. Did you know he was broke right before he landed the role of Saul Goodman on Breaking Bad? Think about that. He was at, pretty much, the lowest point a person can be, and life turned around in an instant. Success is funny like that. Sometimes you’re shouting into the void. And then, BANG! Everything changes. It can be tough to keep plodding ahead when you feel like there's no feedback. No validation. But you have to s

I was listening to a Marc Scott podcast and he advised someone going through a VO dry spell to focus on the things they can control, beyond auditioning. It's a good reminder that running a voice over business isn't just about finding auditions. It's also about improving the business assets that support your career. That’s solid advice for all of us. We spend a lot of time tossing our kite in the air hoping it catches wind, so it makes sense.

What do you think will make you happy? Is it lounging on a beach, sipping on an umbrella drink? Is it never ever having to type another email? Maybe it’s a day spent in sweatpants, with a giant mug of coffee and your favorite binge worthy TV? Wrong on all counts. According to research, it’s “Flow State” that’ll make you happy. There have been actual studies, including some from psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

Creative directors, executive producers and instructional designers hire me as a professional voice actor to record their projects. But that's not the value I deliver. It's really the reliability, trust, consistency, collaboration, and problem-solving that drive the booking. Delivering clean, clear audio with fast turnaround and a pleasant voice matters, sure. But those “other” qualities are where you really stand out.

I was at the funeral the other day for my former employer. He was a troubled guy who made regrettable decisions in life. Honestly, when I worked there I swore a hundred times that he was going to die. While emotions ranged from "I can't believe he lasted this long" to "Oh, no! That's a tragedy and what'll happen to the business?" I found a different point to reflect on. Honestly what made the day even weirder is that the deacon gave a sermon on how God puts people in you

I ran across this quote the other day and burst out laughing because yeah, that very thing just happened to me. “You can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood. What mood is that? Last-minute panic.” — Bill Watterson Yah know that feeling when your day’s moving along, everything’s right on track, but there’s this little tickle in the back of your brain telling you you’re forgetting something?

Of all the genres we work in, making technical copy conversational is one of my favorite challenges in voice over. Yeah, I know it's not “glamorous” and that a lot of the time it’s harder to attach to the concepts, but who doesn’t like a challenge!? The trick is that, unless you’re training someone new to the technology, odds are it’s all native to them. The audience doesn’t need you to sound smarter than they are. They need you to guide them clearly through information the

I listened to a Mel Robbins podcast this morning where she interviewed James Clear, author of Atomic Habits. Right out of the gate he starts with “action relieves anxiety.” And there it is. I’m done. That is 100% true! I mean, that might be one of the truest sentences ever written for freelancers. I know it applies to my life! I think a lot of anxiety comes from the time period before we begin.

I’m working on a bunch of new demos right now. It’s exciting… and honestly, a little stressful. Exciting because of the potential. Stressful because of the pressure. What kinds of spots should I feature in my quest to deliver authentic voice over? Can I reuse a spot from my main commercial demo on something more authoritative? How do I create enough variety without sounding forced?

We’ve all heard the line “fake it till you make it.” I prefer the way Simon Sinek phrases it: “Act as if.” When you think of your situation, is your first thought I can't, because… It'll never work, because… I’ll never…? All those thoughts stop you cold. You don’t because “you can’t”. It’ll never work so you don’t even try. You’ll “never get there” so you just don't even think about it. But what if you made decisions as if things were going to work out exactly as you im

Ever feel like everyone else is just so lucky? I mean if we watch their feeds, everyone else’s life is full of rainbows and unicorns. Booked over here. Incredible travel over there. Won a bunch of money playing scratchers and now they’re driving a new car. Well, OK, maybe not that one. No matter how we feel, or how it appears...none of that happened overnight and they're not simply lucky.