Barb Lyon
Voice Artist

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 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.

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 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’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.

Is it just me, or does it feel like advertising has slowed in recent weeks? Auditions aren’t gone…they’ve just gotten a bit…light. At first I did what we all do. I made it about me.Maybe I bumped my mic settings and they sound off. Did I forget how to do this? I probably suck. And then I zoomed out a bit. We’re in a moment where people are talking about nuclear threats again. Supply chains are still a mess. Long-standing alliances are shifting in ways that’ve sounded far-

I write about motivation a lot. And honestly, that’s because we need it. You might think that it’s because I’m surrounded by these amazing sources of it. And, I mean, I guess I am…if you look close enough. But the truth is that keeping yourself going every day is just tough.If you worked in an office you’d at least have teammates to celebrate wins with…or the flip side, those Debbie Downers that drag us all into the pit of despair. So maybe that’s not worth the risk.

So I recently redid my website. I’m relatively happy with the result… but I never fully trust myself. It does look good. And I have gotten some real (not spam) leads from it, which is always encouraging. Still, with the way people search changing, it feels smart to take one more pass. Afterall SEO has totally changed the way we search!

This freelance voice over feast or famine cycle is something no one really prepares you for.One week, you’re buried in work. Emails, files, deadlines, pickups—you’re moving fast, feeling good, maybe even thinking, “Okay… this is it. This is the new normal.” And then… Nothing. No emails.No audition feedback.No messages “just checking your availability”. Just a whole lot of quiet. And then your brain is flooded with answers.

How many times have you made a decision to do something…and how many of those somethings have you actually accomplished? (oh, no.) If you’ve ever struggled with overcoming procrastination, you know exactly how this goes. And, yeah, I’m guilty of it too. “I’m going to clean out the basement so I could exercise down there.” (The actual exercising, is a whole other ball of wax.)

If you haven’t had a chance yet, it’s a great time to check out NAVA’s State of Voiceover in 2026 Survey. I know that many of us filled it out. But, if you didn’t, it’s worth it to go through and answer the questions now and see where you fit in the industry. Some revelations I think we knew in our hearts. In a traditional job, more hours tends to correlate (at least loosely) with more pay. In voiceover…not so much.

As voice over pros, life can be a bit solitary at times. You need to do it all. From recording, editing, and engineering, to accounting… and voice over marketing. It can be tough to keep your chin up through all that. You barely have time to breathe because there’s always another item on the to-do list, but you’re supposed to keep a smile on your face and look forward to another bright, shining day… even when you’d rather cocoon on the couch and binge your favorite show.

It’s National Grammar Day! Which may not sound exciting… unless you work in audio. Then it’s basically job security. Here’s something most people don’t think about: Grammar isn’t just about correctness. It’s about interpretation. Take this sentence: “Employees who complete training quickly advance.” Great motivation. Now imagine that line read flat. No inflection. No awareness of structure. No human deciding what matters. That’s where things get… unintentionally awkw

So the last few weeks were…a lot. Like a lot, a lot. And it taught me things about myself. But let me set the stage a bit. See, last fall, I talked with an immersive audiobook company. I’ve done plenty of narration work before, but immersive audiobook narration is a different animal. It sounded interesting, so I went ahead and cut sample audio which they accepted. And then it got quiet. I figured I may never hear from them. Oh well. Easy come easy go. And then it happened.

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.