This is Part 5 of a series about my transition from being an invisible voice over and blogger, to becoming a visible social media personality.

If you’ve just read Part 4, you’ve seen the (not so secret or special) formula I apply to practically every video I record. What I didn’t tell you yet, is what I do to make these videos look more uniform and recognizable as mine. Again, these are simple things anyone can do without any technical knowledge or experience.

In other words: if I can do it, YOU can do it.

Number 1: I use a modern-vintage looking microphone that plugs straight into my iPhone which is my recording device. It’s the Elgato Wave Neo USB Condenser microphone. (yes, this is an affiliate link) It’s a consistent visual element people will recognize and remember. Besides, using a “real” microphone that is close to your mouth will make your content more intelligible. You’d be surprised how many content creators don’t care about sound quality. They sound like they’re recording in an echoey bathroom, or with an airco blasting in the background using a 5-dollar lavalier microphone from the TikTok shop.

Sidenote: I record in the same space that has been my dedicated voice over studio, so the double insulated walls are treated with acoustic foam to create a nice quiet and dry sound.

Number 2: I record my vids on the TikTok app, and I often use stickers to highlight the topic of the day or to add some spark. For instance, when I talk about KLM, the Dutch national airline, I have an animated sticker of a KLM plane on the screen. And whenever I do a Dutch segment, I will always feature a sticker of a Dutch flag which is usually placed on my microphone. This becomes important later on in this series.

Number 3: I will frequently wear orange clothing. Apart from orange being the new black, it also happens to be the Dutch national color.

Number 4: if it’s relevant to the topic, I will bring props. Example: when talking about stroopwafels, I brought a box of…. When I told my viewers that doughnuts were introduced by the Dutch settlers, I was eating a… You get the idea.

When you’re on camera you’ve got to make things visually appealing, especially when doing talking head videos in a studio, which tend to be static and can get boring quickly.

If you’re a voice over interested in doing on-camera work, you have to stop thinking as a voice over. Start thinking in pictures instead of in sounds.

Number 5: Using a green screen allows me to choose changing backgrounds to illustrate what I’m talking about. So, when I talk about celebs with a Dutch connection, I’ll put their photos up on the screen behind me. If I tell a story about a Dutch city, I’ll show some pictures of that city. The green screen is just one of the many free filters you can find on TikTok.

Number 6: Studies tell us that on platforms like Facebook, around 85% of videos are viewed without sound. That’s why I always add subtitles so people can read along. It is a proven way to increase views. Adding captions is another free feature you can find on TikTok. When you add subtitles, make sure you double-check the AI that generates these captions. It’s smart, but not always correct, especially with bilingual content. Now, those who choose to watch my vids without sound will miss another feature that makes my videos different…

Number 7: my Dutch accent. As a voice actor I was known for my neutral, north-European accent. Clients also hired me because I could fake a decent British accent. But guess what? Talking about the Netherlands I wasn’t going to sound neutral. I am purposely tapping into my Dutch roots. Granted, my Dutch accent isn’t very strong (as in the way Dutch film director Paul Verhoeven speaks), but you can definitely tell I’m not from Kansas, if you know what I mean.

Number 8: You want to make sure you look good in your videos, as your face is what people will focus on most. That’s where proper lighting comes in. There are two windows in front of my recording position, so I get a lot of natural light which is always the best. However, I also have a dimmable ring light to my left to take away the harshness of the sun. More recently I’ve added a 4-color photography spotlight that can project interesting patterns on the background and ceiling. Again, this is just to add some visual appeal.

Wearing glasses turned out to be challenging. I haven’t figured out how to curb all the reflections you can see in my glasses, especially because I move a lot on camera. I would probably need to hang light boxes from the ceiling to get rid of the reflections, but I’m not popular enough to invest in a setup like that. Remember: I don’t make a penny from these videos.

Number 9: This one’s a bit controversial: I will often use a free facial TikTok filter called “flawless skin.” It’s like photoshopping your face to make it look younger, and -dare I say- more attractive. I call it the male version of putting some makeup on to look your best. Is it fake? Hell, yes! But you should see my face without a filter. No one wants to look at that, so I’m doing you a service. Don’t forget that anyone on television or in the movies is wearing layers of makeup. We don’t call them out and say: “You guys are so fake!”

And for the men out there, the flawless skin filter will hide the fact that you haven’t shaved in days.

Number 10: You may wonder if I ever use music in my videos, if only in the background. I once recorded a segment about the only Dutch pope in history, Adrian VI, and I added a choir singing religious chants for some extra atmosphere. It didn’t take long for some viewers to reach out and ask if I could remove that distracting singing.

I don’t like it either when some political commentator decides to add some sleepy Chopin Nocturne to his rant. It’s distracting. The times I did add music was to highlight a Dutch pop group or talk about the national anthem of the Netherlands. But I made sure not to talk over the music.

One last word about my production process.

Like I said, I record all my videos in the TikTok app because it has so many free features and it has a short learning curve. Once it’s done, the video is automatically exported to Apple photos on my iPhone, and this allows me to distribute the video to other platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Skylight. I will usually add a short description, a few critical keywords/hashtags, and a location. I know there are apps that will distribute these vids for you, but I like to retain a bit of control and save money.

After this look behind the scenes, what’s next?

Well, I guess it’s time to tell you about the fruits of all this labor. Is my niche content catching on, or am I wasting my time? How did people respond? Did I manage to build a following?

There’s more to come, I promise!

Click here for part 6.