Barb Lyon
Voice Artist

Executive producers are often successful precisely because they make complexity look effortless. There’s a lot of invisible labor—especially surrounding the constant compromise that goes into any video production project. Everything starts off hunky-dory. Then the changes start. Legal wants safety. Brand wants consistency. Stakeholders want speed… like yesterday. Budget wants restraint aaaannnnddd the work still has to feel like something.

I get it. The days can be a real slog. You wake, work out, eat, shower, coffee (more coffee) and then begin auditioning. Maybe you get booked. Good for you! It’s your lucky day!  And the next morning? Yeah, it starts all over again. That one booking didn’t change your life, did it. And before you know it, you’re living Groundhog Day. But you keep on trying, because that’s what you’re supposed to do. And maybe you’re content…or complacent.

I got a callback on an audio drama! Now, if you’ve never listened to one you are totally missing out! They started in the 1920’s, and really grew in popularity in the 30’s and 40’s. They reached an apex in the 1950’s and then were taken over by TV. My all time favorite is “Johnny Dollar” who is billed as “America’s fabulous freelance insurance investigator.” There’s tension, gunplay, fight scenes, romance and plenty of humor.

Voice over is about communication, right? The story you’re telling. Or the message you’re sharing. And how you tell it matters. We’ve all seen the comparison: “Let’s eat, Grandma” v. “Let’s eat Grandma.” Okay, it makes you chuckle. But that simple example proves an important point. Every comma, every period, every declaration prompts the listener to do something—or feel something more. Punctuation changes meaning. Intention changes experience. And voice over lives right there

Some days I think it might be fun to be a casting director.Matching a client with the perfect voice for their brand. Having a front-row seat to the magic when it clicks. Watching the final spot air and thinking, Yeah… I had a hand in that. But I’m guessing it’s not all that rosy. Auditions can go off the rails in a bunch of different ways, and as a CD, you have to sort through hundreds of them!

Wouldn’t it be nice if achievement showed up wrapped in confidence? For me, it usually shows up stamped with a  question mark. Where will the next winning audition come from? Could this turn into a regular client? That thing that’s been tugging at you and you finally decided to try…will it work? We’re taught to wait until we feel ready. Until we feel confident. Until the fear goes away. But experience, and science tell us something different: fear doesn't disappear first.

This is for my friends who procrastinate, or just enjoy life on a wire. You've waited as long as you possibly can. It's time to get off your duff and make those 2026 plans! Every January, there’s pressure to reinvent everything. New goals. New systems. New promises to “do more.” But if you’ve been in this business any length of time, you know the truth: what actually works is consistency, clarity, and a plan you can live with.

Most of us came up with heroes. The voices that made us stop what we were doing. The reads we rewound just to hear again. Maybe it was Don LaFontaine and that unmistakable authority. Maybe it was Will Arnett’s effortless confidence and wink-to-the-audience delivery. Maybe it was someone else entirely, like Mel Blanc (Elmer Fudd anyone?) but chances are, there was a voice that made you think, I want to do that.

I should have known it might go sideways. Sometimes, there are little signs at the start of a session. Nothing alarming, just enough to make you take note. Most of the time, everything settles out and you do the work you were hired to do. Still, every now and then, the day turns into an exercise in flexibility and direction. This job was a series of spots for a healthcare provider. Honestly? My sweet spot. The kind of work I genuinely love.

I get teased sometimes because I like outboard gear. Buttons and knobs. See, if my Mac dies, I hook up a new one and I’m off and running. Easy. I’m also a fan of wired connections. I run a cable from my modem/router, through a hole in the media closet floor, across the basement, up through a non-functional cold-air return, and to my Mac.I know it sounds like a lot, but really the hardest part was figuring out how long the cable needed to be! Why go through that?

While I don’t miss the stress of compiling the list, printing the labels, licking the envelopes, and let's not forget paying for the postage, I do in some ways miss the tradition of sending holiday cards. It was a nice way to reflect on the year and recall awesome projects. My Mom loved sewing little embroidered ornaments to stuff inside, and creating the cards on Canva or Vistaprint with my own personalizations was always fun. In a way, the ritual made you slow down.

The year was 2017. I had only recently gone full-time with my voice over business. I was auditioning on Voice123 and Voices.com, working from my home studio, and doing my best to make this dream career a reality. Back then, I didn’t know about the Global Voice Acting Academy (GVAA) or Gravy for the Brain. I had no real guidance on how to quote voice over jobs or what standard voice over rates even looked like.

I’ve been thinking a lot about pricing lately, probably because next weekend I’ll be running a booth at my dog training club's Obedience and Rally Trials for my mom, selling some of her quilting and embroidery. She’s poured hours into those pieces. Every stitch is deliberate, every pattern perfectly balanced. When she finishes one, it’s like holding a bit of her heart in your hands. So how do we price that? And it struck me: this is the exact same conversation that plays o

Auditioning is an adventure to say the very least. Some voice over auditions ask for crazy spec, and when the voice direction is longer than the script itself, I have to wonder what they’re thinking. Maybe it’s a case of “direction by committee.” Sally wants it warm and endearing, but Bob wants it energetic, like a rallying cry. And Jamie, well, he wants something wistful, as though you’re standing on a beach, and like they’re your own thoughts rolling out of your head. By th

I’ve said it before, and I’ll stand by it today - the best thing ever is when a client wants to patch in on a recording session. For newer voice actors, that can sound a little intimidating. But truly, it gives you such a leg up! You don’t have to guess what the client wants — they’ll tell you right there in real time. And that feedback makes you better with every session. From your voice over home studio, there are several great options to make your setup “patchable,” and th

I'm having one of those days right now. I was out doing dog club things late last night, the event was frustrating. I got home late, so my sleep routine that I love was "off", and I woke up this morning thinking, I'd rather contemplate my navel all day than actually record. I even listed to a positive podcast while I showered, punched on my favorite Sirius channel while I finished getting ready (The Struts artist channel) and still my motivation level remains...subterranean.

Linda and I were thrust together because of a casting my former employer did, and just clicked. She is an inspiration and she's a big part of the reason for my voice over career. She's always been sort of a North Star for me. WWLD right? Some of the stories I got her to tell you I've heard before, some are new to me, but Linda's storytelling always bring a smile to my face.

In voiceover, and really, in any creative field, so much of what we do depends on mindset. You can have the training, the skill, the best gear money can buy, but if your head and heart are locked in a tug-of-war, everything tightens up. The read gets stiff. The flow disappears. And suddenly, you’re chasing something that used to come naturally. Doesn’t it seem like when you’re trying, and trying, and trying to do something, the goal gets farther and farther away?

Every voice actor dreams of being that person. The go-to voice. The one clients call again and again without having to be reminded, marketed to, or auditioned for. The relationship where trust has been built, workflows are easy, and communication just clicks. (Full disclosure: I have an actor's crush on Jan. You've known her from Toyota ads since 2012. Jan really is the poster child for rebookability! She’s been showing up for Toyota longer than most of us have kept a car.

Coaching. Everyone says you need it. Why? Is it because many of us grew up playing sports and we’re just used to having a leader to follow? Or is it because gyms have trained us to believe that if we really want to hit our goals, we must have coaching? Why has relying on our own gut instinct become passé? I’ll tell you why: because our gut is locked in time. Probably somewhere in our late teens or early 20’s. That’s when we played team sports, and when we most likely hit the