Find out why the tone of voice you use for your podcast has a big impact on your intended audience, for better or worse.
With podcasts, the way you connect with your audience is with sound, which means that your voice comes under the spotlight. What you say and how you say it is impactful and makes the difference between a listener thinking you’re pretty great, or thinking you are a voice to turn off to be thrown in the pile of podcasts to avoid.
So, how do you make sure the tone you use matches your podcast and so, connects to your intended audience? How do you stop your podcast being chucked in the digital write-off pile because your tone is wrong?
Let’s take a closer look:
What’s The Purpose Of Your Podcast?
If the intention of your podcast is clear it is much easier to match your tone to that intention. If the podcast is about grief, the natural empathy and understanding in your voice will come through. If your podcast is about a hobby you are passionate about, the listeners will be able to hear how interested you are in the topic. Know the purpose of the podcast and if you connect with it, the rest will follow naturally.
Stay Authentic
Naturally, we can all pick up tones and inflections we hear other podcast hosts using. This is the way that we learn and develop our own style. However, if you are copying another person your audience will know, and they won’t connect with you. Unless your podcast is an impressions podcast, this inauthentic tone will disrupt your host to user connection really quickly.
Learn How To Openly Converse
Podcast presenting is a mixture of chatting to the listener and providing information to them, which is a really challenging mix. It takes a lot of practise to sound as relaxed as you need to and to.
One way to practise is to try doing it on your own and then listening back to improve on your tone.
As you practise, soften and slow your voice whilst smiling when you speak which can help make things sound more conversational. As time goes on you should also learn how to get the right rhythm to move things along smoothly without rushing, or boring your audience. Practise really does make perfect with this particular element of podcast presenting.
Lower Your Pitch
Science tells us that women with higher voices, and men with lower voices are considered more attractive but when it comes to what we prefer to listen to in both sexes – lower tones win. Whilst you don’t need to suddenly start sounding like you’re 10 feet tall, keeping relaxed and staying in your natural mid range will work well when you speak on your podcast.
As a side note, if you do offer your podcast in multiple languages, try to use a voiceover actor that uses the same tone that you do. Regardless of language, the preference of the tones we hear doesn’t change. So when you select a voice actor from a voice over agency for your multilingual podcast, choose one with a nice, medium to low tone like yours.
Listen To Podcasts Similar To Yours
One great way to get an idea of the tone of your podcast and how listeners might expect you to sound, is to listen to podcasts in the same category as yours. Of course every presenter has a different pitch and tone, but perhaps most presenters are very explanatory, perhaps they are quite jovial and quick – it will differ depending on the area of podcasts you are in. There is nothing wrong with standing out, but if you want your podcast to come off a certain way it can help to know what listeners tend to expect of podcasts like yours.
With The Right Tone Your Podcast Will Connect With Your Audience
The information above is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the tone you use on podcasts. The fact is that it does take practise and knowledge to refine your art. Hopefully, though, with the right tone your podcast will connect with your audience and those listener figures will continue to creep up and up.
