So i'm a new DM, and my first game anxiety is making it hard to engage with my players. I think it might get my players "into the game" if I did the infamous DM voices. Problem is, I don't particularly know how to do it, and i'm absolutely terrified of making a fool of myself. Any tips and tricks to engage my players and make the campaign more immersing would be greatly appreciated!

#1, you will not make a fool of yourself. Don't even worry about it. I know that doesn't make the nerves go away, but heck, you're all playing D&D already—nobody's going to call you a nerd for trying a little improv theater!

As for doing voices, try imitating characters with distinctive accents from your favorite movies or TV shows. Seriously, this trick is a lifesaver. Severus Snape, Jon Snow, and Samwise Gamgee all have very unique voices, for example, and it's easier to imitate a voice you know than come up with one from scratch. Even if your impression is bad (as most people's are), that doesn't matter, since the character is your own, and it'll definitely come out distinct!

I'd also add: I don't know how old the OP is, but one thing I've noticed is that all the corny impressions I built up over the years watching old movies?  No one knows who those people are anymore, so they seem like completely original voices to my younger players!  They know when a villain sounds like the Emperor from Star Wars, but Hans Conried?  Vincent Price?  Jack Nicholson?  You can just recycle all of them!

For one thing, anyone who is playing D&D is already out as a giant nerd. So what do you have to worry about? Let it go. I can do two accents “properly:” middle eastern seaboard USA where “wooder” comes outta the tap instead of water (wanna guess where I’m from?), and Triestine Accented Italian. (Wanna guess where my family is from?) I can also generally do most regional American accents that I am familiar with, but Brooklyn and Boston always end up cunfuzzled for some reason. 🤷‍♂️

The rest of the accents I do are horribibble! (My Scottish and Middle Eastern accents bleed together all the time and believe it or not, those are some of the better ones. 🙄) I do them anyway. What the heck have I got to loose? Dignity, self respect, the respect of my peers…. Puh-leaze, I lost the first two in high school and if I ever had the third I never noticed when it disappeared. 🤷‍♂️ My friends have still been my frieds for 10-20 years and keep hanging out with me so I can’t be that bad.

I practice accents and other voices on my commutes to and from work. I turn on my local NPR affiliate station on the radio. They regularly have different hosts, guests, and special reporters from all over the world so there’s no end of samples, I’m all by myself in the car so there’s no one around to hear me suck, and I got a 40-60 minute commute through rush hour gridlock on at least one of those drives, and a minimum of 25-35 minutes either way, so I got plenty of time. I just listen along and try to parrot what I hear. Of course,, my hearing ain’t all that great, which is probably why I struggle. But I can only work with what I got.

PS- When I was still a little nerdling and my mom used to read me bedtime stories, she always “did the voices.” That’s probably why I do them at all.

There's the line from the movie Unforgiven. "A man's got to know his limitations." My apologies if you don't identify as male, that's just the line. It sounds like you do know your limitations. If you're not good at doing voices, then don't. You'll be better off doing well what you do well, than failing to do things you do poorly. And you risk taking your players out of the game if all they can think about is how weird your voices sound.

So, instead of doing voices, describe them. This person has a very nasal voice, like he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and another up each nostril. This person has a thick accent, like she can't be bothered to finish pronouncing the last syllable of any word she speaks. Then just talk in your own voice and let your players' imagination fill in the gaps.

If you decide you want to do voices, then, maybe for practice, one time, you throw one in that's a little different from your own voice. Do it for a one-off NPC (gate guard No. 3 or something), so if you don't like it, you never have to do it again. And keep sneaking in different bit parts until you feel more comfortable and confident. Maybe you get to the point where you throw voices around and its no big deal. Or maybe you realize you aren't going to get there -- you can still be an excellent DM. D&D existed for decades without professional voice actors showing us an option for how people could play the game, but that's not the only or even necessarily the best way to play. You could just say that are not a professional voice actor, and instead worry more about what the NPCs are saying than about how they are saying it.

I'mnot sure if it's easier but instead of doing an accent try a behavior. 

Maybe the NPC squints a lot, rubs their chin, says "hmmmm" before saying anything else, constantly interrupts the PCs when they are trying to talk, speaks slllloooooowwwwlllly like the sloth in Zootopia, only says yes and no, rubs their eye, acts bored, etc.

Quote from Wysperra >>

I'mnot sure if it's easier but instead of doing an accent try a behavior. 

Maybe the NPC squints a lot, rubs their chin, says "hmmmm" before saying anything else, constantly interrupts the PCs when they are trying to talk, speaks slllloooooowwwwlllly like the sloth in Zootopia, only says yes and no, rubs their eye, acts bored, etc.

 This ☝️. Behaviors, speech patterns, and other voice changes are much easy for me to do than actual accents. I can do a ready old man, a squeaky little kid, a droll and condescending Elf, a honey-voiced smooth talker, or any one of dozens of other “voices” for my NPCs with much less struggle than most accents.

My Welsh accent inevitable turns to Indian. I have no idea why.

I think the advice to imitate characters from movies is wise, as it also gives you an easy reference if you have to reintroduce a character several sessions later - a note saying "accent - Muldoon from Jurassic Park" is a lot easier to re-imitate than "Accent - talks quietly but harshly, mutters to self a lot, intense staring".

There are YouTube tutorials and wiki-how articles you can look up on how to do certain accents-- that's how I learned to do a German accent for a play in college and I've gotten a lot of RP mileage out of that-- so if that's something you're into doing then that's how I usually go about it.

HOWEVER I would be remiss if I didn't bring this up: remember that "doing the voice" does not automatically make good roleplay. There are plenty of good DM's who don't do voices, and some don't even talk in character. Matt Coville brings this up a lot in his videos (as a result I can't remember exactly which one he covers it in but I think this one https://youtu.be/NwJxM1ABLJM and this one https://youtu.be/7YCVHnItKuY mostly).

Jordan Callarman of Saving Throw (he runs Savage Worlds not D&D) doesn't generally do voices and only occasionally does accents (usually a southern one, since the show I watch, ETU, is set in Texas). What he does instead is, as several people have said, mannerisms.  Slow, hesitant talking... fast, rapid talking. And behaviors. And a little bit with props. He has three incredibly memorable NPCs in the first 2 seasons (all I have watched so far) of Saving Thrown, none of them doing accents.

There is Barret, quite possibly the best NPC portrayal I have ever seen in my life. He puts on mirror sun glasses, and just has Barret act like a goof-ball. Barret is one of the player characters' "annoying roommate" hindrances so he has to be annoying.

Then there is Laura-Lee, the roommate of another PC. She starts dating a third PC (i.e., dating her roommate's friend) and drives him absolutely nuts with her hot and cold behavior. He does nothing voice-wise to portray her as "female" but you can always tell when he is doing her because of her non-sequiturs. In the middle of their last argument of season 1, when the PC said some pretty rough things to her, she just suddenly said, "I think I love you." Callarman's wife, who is one of the players, lost it laughing, and then said sotto voce (she sits right next to him at the table), "You have spent WAY too much time with my family." Because apparently she has a cousin who acts just like this. Again, no voices.

Then there is Coach, who in 2nd season invited one of the PCs, the athletic one who knows kickboxing, as a walk-on to the football team. Callarman uses a very loud, fast talking pattern, constantly urging the PC to put forth his best effort, try harder, "Let's see some hustle! More hustle than that! More! More! More! Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about! Everyone see what Stevens is doing? I wanna see that from the TEAM!" Etc, etc. One of the players (Gurav) even said, again under his breath but the mic picked it up, "I think this is the best NPC Jordan's ever made."

Again, no accents. No "voices." Just speaking pattern and, dare I say it, flat out RP. These are not just 3 memorable NPCs on that show, in all my years of RPing and watching other shows (yes, even CR for 60 or so episodes of season 2, Chain of Acheron for 8 or 9 episodes, etc), these are the 3 most memorable NPCs I have ever seen. Again, all done without voices and accents.

If you have any theater groups or improv classes in your local area, you may want to look into trying those out as well.  They may or may not help you with voices (it depends on both the program and the individual) but it can help with getting in the headspace of a character and with building confidence, at least by my experience.

Don't do voices. Just say. The bartender speaks in a deep raspy voice. Guys you know how (insert well know character name) speaks well joe the barkeep speaks in that voice.

You can make NPCs distinct without having to do voices, or direct speech, if you use descriptors instead.

Zipperon Disney has a good video about that, the 'meat' of the content starts at 3:33

I agree with a lot written above.  But this comes down to your comfort level.  You shouldn't feel like you MUST do them, especially if have anxiety.  While some people enjoy performing that way, others don't.  The game doesn't need it, and if  you aren't having fun doing it, don't worry about it.

But if you do it, I would start out with only doing it with important NPCs or the BBG.  Doing EVERYONE can be exhausting, and you can get frustrated if you can't do it right (in your head, there is no right here).

You might start out with focusing on the story, and the dialog, not the voices and accent itself. Improv is hard, and sometimes having key speeches or dialog written ahead of time, just so you can have them handy can help.

It really depends on what the players want, they might be entertained and engaged by a Hobgoblin bartender who sounds like Moe Syzlsak from The Simpsons, or a  Ranger NPC who sounds like Bear Grills, Though they may be less than amused at more annoying voices, I once had some soldiers who sounded like the buzzards from The Jungle Book, and it drove my players up the wall.

There are a lot of great ideas here!  The one thing I would add, if you want to do voices, is to think about volume.  For example, one of my more important NPCs is a priestess of Helm with a very deep, very loud voice.  When I’m playing her, I project my voice as loud as it will go without screaming; since I have a naturally loud voice, and I grew up as a theatre kid, projecting comes very easily to me.  Projecting is the art of using your diaphragm (mid-torso muscle) to propel your voice instead of your larynx (throat).  It takes a little practice, but it’s extremely useful in many situations (such as when you need to shout over your players to call them to order!).

The loud voice helps flesh out the idea that the priestess is used to being the ultimate authority on everything.  Projecting is a very easy way to portray her self-assurance without having her dominate the PCs or do a difficult accent.  

Social anxiety makes things a million times harder.  Have you talked to your players about it?  If you don’t want to do it in person, you could use Discord, or text, or email; I find that it’s easier to have uncomfortable conversations if you don’t have to do it face-to-face.  It might also help if you talk to your players individually, instead of as a group.  

Voices aren't necessary, really.

Affecting your speech can do just as much, and can be easier to replicate if it is a returning NPC. By that, I mean including notes on Grug, half-orc shopkeep, like "Speaks slow and low, and thinks any small-sized humanoid is a child so uses sing-song kid-voice to talk with them". Gillid, old dwarf adventurer, has the notes, "Speaks breathily, but with weight to her words; enjoys jokes and tricks, so she smiles a lot". Byron, divination wizard, "speaks manically, kind of like a street magician who is trying to convince everyone they can do anything".

Stuff like that will help a lot to keep those NPCs consistent. Meanwhile, if I try to do a Canadian accent to signify someone is speaking there is no guarantee it sounds Canadian the next time that NPC shows up. Despite my best efforts, it will just come out Australian or something, and my PCs will have to ask if it is the same person they met last session.

If you're really nervous about trying these things, let your group know! If they aren't supportive then you have some jerks in your group. If it is still too much for you to try, then just do what makes you comfortable. "He speaks with a gruff tone" but then you use your normal voice. All of these are acceptable -- don't let anyone tell you that the DM needs to do the voices. If they do, tell them that they can try to DM, then.

Approaching this from a different angle, in 20 years of DMing I have never done an NPCs accent or voice, you might think from watching YouTube it is a necessity but there are loads of streams where voices are described but not actually attempted .

If you are brand new to roleplaying, by all means give it a go, but don’t let it impact all the other, to my mind more important aspects of learning to DM you will have to contend with such as learning the rules, balancing encounters, remembering all the stuff your NPCs do and don’t know. 

My advice start off not worrying about it, then as you get comfortable start trying it as something extra, but don’t worry about looking silly. We are all sat around a table rolling dice fighting imaginary monsters, as my wife tells me lovingly, we are as silly as they come. 

Approaching this from a different angle, in 20 years of DMing I have never done an NPCs accent or voice, you might think from watching YouTube it is a necessity but there are loads of streams where voices are described but not actually attempted .

Yup. Same thing... I have only ever done voices for BBEGs in my Champions game once, and that was a Russian accent for a Soviet villain back in the cold war era, and I am OK (not great, but OK) at Russian accents. And never done voices for D&D bad guys. I'm a human - I can't sound like a goblin (partly because I'm not a goblin, and partly because nobody actually knows what goblins sound like in the first place, since they don't exist).

Whatever accent you do is right. Even if your accent is terrible. If you're trying to do Scottish and it sounds nothing like it, well done, you've made a unique accent that is exclusively for that character.

Your Arnie impersonation for your Barbarian may sound wrong, but it works. In your NPC notes, just put the name of the person you are imitating to remind you what they sound like when your party comes back to talk to them. Even if it sounds nothing like them, your attempt at the impersonation is a voice and your party will appreciate the effort.