Why Smart Professionals Sound Weird on Camera
- Mar 30
- 4 min read
Insights from a Voiceover Conference for On Camera Excellence
Cross-pollination. It's not just for horticulturists, bees, and images of springtime.
It works for humans pretty well, too. As in borrowing a technique from one world and discovering it solves a problem in another.
That's what happened this past weekend - well, four days - when I spent four days at VO Atlanta, the largest voiceover conference in the world, with 1000 other voice actors and industry professionals.
Turns out, spending time around people who professionally talk to themselves in padded rooms can teach you a lot about how business leaders should communicate on camera.
Voice actors train relentlessly to sound natural—the exact skill many business leaders lose the moment the camera turns on.
They train to sound natural.
Most professionals, though, have a tendency to do a fair imitation of a human PowerPoint.
The “Human PowerPoint” Problem
"To be an interesting human being - you must be authentic and for you to be authentic you must embrace who you really are, warts and all." — Samford Meisner
You’ve probably seen it.
A smart person with great expertise sits down to record a video or lead a webinar. The camera turns on... and suddenly something changes.
Their shoulders tighten.
Their voice flattens.
Their delivery becomes oddly formal.
Instead of communicating, they start presenting.
The result is what I call Corporate Webinar Voice.
Technically correct.
Emotionally forgettable.
And that’s why so many videos, virtual presentations, and sales calls get polite attention but fail to build trust—or clients.
The issue usually isn’t the content.
It’s the delivery.
The Voice Actor Trick Business Leaders Need
One of the simplest ideas I heard repeatedly at the
conference is also one of the most powerful.
Talk to one person.
Not an audience.
Not “everyone watching.”
One human being.
Voice actors rarely imagine a crowd when they record. They picture a single listener and respond to them.
That small mental shift instantly changes the way communication sounds.
Instead of formal and performative, it becomes conversational.
With training and guidance, you can learn to do the same thing. A useful framework is to ask yourself four questions:
What perspective are you speaking from—coach, colleague, instructor, advisor?
What’s the message you want to deliver?
Who is the one person you’re talking to?
What did they say or do that prompted your response?
Now you’re not presenting information.
You’re responding to someone.
And that’s when audiences start to feel connection.
Why Over-Practicing Backfires
Another insight from the acting world might surprise you.
Over-rehearsal often makes communication worse.
When people try to memorize every word, they become hyper-aware of themselves instead of focusing on the listener.
The delivery becomes polished, but lifeless.
Authenticity isn’t perfect delivery.
It’s human delivery.
As acting teacher Sanford Meisner famously put it, authenticity comes from embracing who you really are, imperfections and all.
Ironically, those small imperfections are exactly what audiences trust most. They distinguish you as REAL. Human. Relatable. And not some AI simulation of the real thing.
Your Physical Energy Changes Your Voice
Here’s another interesting lesson from the performance world.
Your body position and movement directly affect vocal energy.
Actors often think about gesture placement as a way to control intensity. After all, our body language imitates our thoughts, gives away our feelings, and reflects the intensity of what we're saying.
Here's a simple guideline to think about:
Hands below the waist = low-key delivery
Hands at the waist = calm and conversational
Hands above the waist = enthusiastic and engaged
Hands well above the shoulders = full rally-mode energy
When professionals lock their hands rigidly together or stay frozen behind a desk, their voice often flattens too.
And when vocal energy drops, even brilliant ideas can sound dull. Our physicality truly drives our expression.
The Real Skill Behind Camera Confidence
Most people think they need to improve things like:
lighting
equipment
editing
production quality
Those things can help. They ARE important, but on their own, they don't create trust.
What actually builds trust through a lens is presence.
Presence means communicating the way humans naturally do:
conversationally
responsively
with energy and variation
When that happens, audiences stop feeling like they’re watching a presentation. They feel like someone is speaking with them. They feel involved and therefore, more invested in what you're saying.
That’s when communication starts to convert.
Visibility Alone Doesn’t Create Clients
We’re pretty much aware we're all living in an era where content is EVERYWHERE.
LinkedIn videos.
Webinars.
Virtual presentations.
Sales calls on Zoom.
Lions, tigers, and bears - oh my! Make it stop. Please. It's overwhelming.
It's true that visibility for its own sake has never been easier, but being seen isn’t the same as being trusted.
Trust is what turns visibility into clients.
In a world saturated with polished content and AI-generated messaging, the thing audiences respond to most is simple: human communication.
Want to Learn How to Apply This?
I’m incorporating the best lessons from VO Atlanta in a live masterclass this week:
Boring Keeps You BROKE!
How Presence Turns Visibility Into Clients
April 1, 2026
3:30 PM EST / 12:30 PM PST
In this session, I’ll show you how to replace stiff, scripted delivery with communication that feels natural and credible on camera.
You’ll learn how to:
Quiet the self-judgment loop that makes people tense on video
Shift from presenting to conversing so audiences feel connection
Use pauses, vocal variety, and energy shifts to hold attention
These are practical techniques leaders can apply immediately in:
videos
Zoom calls
webinars
virtual presentations
Because when communication feels human, trust builds faster — and opportunities follow.
No cost. Easy registration.
If you’ve ever watched yourself on video and thought, “why do I sound like that?” this session will explain exactly why — and how to fix it.
And you won't even have to lock yourself in a padded room to get there!
Want to learn more? Let's talk!
I'm Laura Doman, a voice & TV/film actor and video communications coach. As an actor, I create memorable characters that tell my client's stories well, from the friendly CEO to your sassy best gal pal dispensing real-world advice. As a coach, I help you become more comfortable and charismatic on camera in videos, presentations, and online appearances.
