Once, a broadcasting school instructor who hadn't heard my work before was critiquing one of my tapes. He listened without comment and at the end of the tape, offered a critique I hadn't heard before and haven't gotten since.
"There's nothing distinctive about your voice," he said. "Try putting up a photo of someone you know in the studio, and pretend that you're talking to that person."
I was a little put off. I thought I'd been doing a good job of talking to, not at, listeners. Then, I thought about it a little more and remembered that a person's impression of my voice, even when it's positive, is subjective. We all bring our own preferences to the table when critiquing someone's work. This was an album rock DJ listening to my tape, so chances are, his idea of a distinctive voice--especially mine, which sounded most at home in jazz, Classical, and soft rock formats-- differed from mine. Everyone listens to the radio a little bit differently. It's worth remembering that when you're a broadcaster, you won't reach every single listener--and that's OK.
