Voice Acting Tips: Getting Used to the Sound of Your Own Voice

Why Your "Best Voice" Is Probably a Lie.

Every voice actor starts out hating the sound of their own voice. But there is a secret technique that guarantees you'll get over it quickly.

Learn the secret of how to desensitize yourself to the sound of your own voice. -6:12

Hey guys! Thanks for joining me for another edition of The Gift of Gab. Today, we’re diving into something that every voice actor will deal with at some point in their career:

Getting used to the sound of your own voice—and more importantly, how to desensitize yourself to it.

So stick around. This one’s important.

“There Was a Mile of Crap Between Me and My Mic”

The other day, my friend, fellow coach, and colleague Anthony Pica said something that I absolutely loved. I told him I was going to borrow it—so hey Anthony 👋.

He said:

“When I first started in this business, there was a mile of crap between myself and my mic.”

I LOVED that. So much so, I wanted to make it the topic of this episode.

Because what we were really talking about was the amount of posturing, posing, and sometimes even pretentiousness we bring to the mic—especially when we’re new.

Why Your "Best Voice" Is Probably a Lie

It’s super common. When you’re just starting out, you probably have an idea of what your “best voice” is.

But here’s the truth: Your “best” voice? It’s usually a farce. It’s not real.

What you think sounds good in your head is often a little phony. It might be overacted, a bit too polished, or just plain forced. We all do it when we’re starting out.

And the main reason is simple:

You’re not used to hearing yourself on a recording.

That’s it.

It takes time—sometimes a long time—to get used to hearing your own voice without reacting to it, without critiquing it, without getting in your own head about it.

The Key to Natural Voiceover Delivery: Desensitization

Once you finally desensitize yourself to your own sound, everything changes.

Your reads become more natural, more believable, more realistic—just more everyday.

And that’s what clients want. They don’t want the “radio voice.”

You know the one I’m talking about, right? That super polished, ultra proper, almost robotic delivery.

Sure, maybe it sounds “good” in a traditional sense.

But it’s not what most voice acting clients are looking for.

They want something real. Something flawed. Something human.

And it takes time—and a lot of practice—to get to that place.

How Do You Get There?

Record the Crap Out of Yourself.

Seriously.

Record yourself constantly.

Force yourself to listen to it.

Play it in the background while you’re living your life.

Even if you’re not planning on doing audiobooks, I highly recommend you record a book—and make it a long one. The longer, the better.

Why? Because:

You need to practice maintaining a performance over time.

You need to get used to listening to yourself.

Back when I started—working in radio—I was forced to listen to myself constantly. Commercials, promos, on-air segments... all day long.

That’s not the case for everyone, so if that’s not your situation, you have to replicate it.

How?

Record something long.

Then play it quietly in the background while you’re doing dishes, cleaning, driving, whatever.

Just hear yourself. Constantly. Until you stop noticing.

Because the more you do that, the more your inner critic quiets down. And the better your voiceover performances become.

When You’re Sick of Your Own Voice… You’re Probably Getting Good

It sounds weird, but it’s true.

Actors go through this too—on-screen actors especially. Many of them don’t even watch their own movies anymore. They’ve become so desensitized to seeing and hearing themselves, they’ve stopped caring.

And that’s not a bad thing.

Sometimes I’ll be out living my life, and I’ll hear myself in a commercial—and it actually takes a second before I go,

“Oh... wait, that’s me.”

It’s wild.

But that’s the goal.

When you’re no longer obsessing over how you sound—when you’re over yourself—your reads become relaxed, authentic, real.

And that’s where the magic is.

Final Thoughts

I’m not trying to take the joy out of voice acting, I promise. I’m just trying to help you get to a place where your performances are honest and effortless.

So I hope this helped.

If you want more voice acting tips, performance advice, or coaching opportunities, check out the rest of my channel—there’s loads of information to help you level up your voiceover and presentation skills.

And of course, check out my classes—that’s always the fastest way for us to make serious progress together.

Thanks so much for being here.

Talk to you soon!

704-674-8294 / GabrielleNistico.com / gabby@voiceovervixen.com

Gabrielle Nistico, Gabby Nistico, The Voiceover Vixen, The Business First VO Coach, #VoiceoverVixen #VoiceOnFire #BusinessFirstVOCoach Voiceover, Charlotte, North Carolina, the sound of your own voice, getting over the sound of your own voice, voice, tone