Get A Better Broadcast, Podcast and Voice-Over Voice

2022.10.12 – 0650 – Verbal Trips and SlipsTrips and slips‘Things’ happen. Verbal and technical slips and trips. Mouths and machines can stop working. The wrong bit of audio can come out of either of them! [1] At the same time, it is also the case that given how well equipped and familiar news people are with the demands of the job, there really should not be flaws in most news programmes. A high level of professionalism is really the expectation of everyone no matter if they are in front of the camera or behind the scenes. But when things do go wrong, the anchor or newsreader is expected to stay cool and professional. Whatever the ferment beneath the surface, no cracks must appear in the calm exterior. (The coolest recovery on record was probably that of a wartime BBC announcer who pressed on with his script after a bomb fell on Broadcasting House: https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/100-voices/ww2/bh-bombs) The answer is to immediately and completely dismiss the mistake from your mind and focus your total concentration on the rest of the bulletin. [1] In this video montage – *viewer discretion advised* - a collection of presenters have verbal trip-ups resulting in them saying ‘the c-word’: https://twitter.com/jondharvey/status/1534171104629121026 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.10.11 – 0649 – Practicing Talking To Time Practice Talking To TimeAs we saw in episode 427Take some copy which has a required duration indicated on it, and read it aloud like you might in a demo, and with a stopwatch to hand. How many words did you read in 30 seconds? Or how many seconds were you over? Keep practicing until you can sensibly get the copy in the seconds required, several times in a row. Then take another script and repeat the exercise before return to the first script and seeing if the rate and the rhythm are still there. Then go back to the second script. Then take a third one, of a different style and duration and word-count, and try it all again. A further exercise would be to take your 30 second script and elongate it so it when you read it, it lasts 40 seconds, or shorten it to 25: all of these are skills that will come in useful in the recording studio. You are often presented with a script that is just too ‘word-rich’ and yes, every single one is vital. It is up to you to ‘fit the words into the seconds’ in a clear and interesting way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.10.10 – 0648 – Talking To Time Talking to time Developing a sense of time is hugely important for most people speaking ‘on mic’.As a voice artist you may need to record a script to the half-second accuracy. For example, a director may ask you to record a three-word tag-line “just very slightly faster”, or dub an actor’s voice or deliver a commentary over pictures in just the time the corresponding video sequence has available.Music presenters often need to have a sense of time to get to the end of a sentence, just as the vocals starts on a piece of musicA radio or tv show that has opted away from a network, will have presenters who can similarly talk to time until control of their transmitters is taken back by HQ. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.10.09 – 0647 – Why We Hit Script-Reading Speed Bumps Why We Hit Speed Bumps·        Not being prepped-up, to rev-up – if your engine of articulation is not properly warmed up then it could seize up! On TV dance shows, neither the pros or the celebs go straight onto the floor and perform. Athletes don’t just put on shorts and sprint. You have to gear your speaking gear, into gear. See our section on exercises to go through, various humms and glides and your equivalent of a practice lap. Oh, and did I mention to top up with oil? Oh, sorry, water…·        Being unfamiliar with the road ahead – do you think racing car drivers’ first knowledge of the circuit is the first lap? They study it before they arrive, watch performance of other drivers on that course, and take the car for a few spins around so they can feel the bends, chicanes and cambers. Similarly, you need to know the script: take it for a drive through a few times so you know the route it’s taking and the mouth manoeuvres you will have to make at speed. Know the tricky pronunciatory turns, and where the pit stops are where you can take a breath. ·        Being sleepy at the wheel – like any good driver, especially one against the clock, you need to concentrate on what you’re doing. Get in the race zone and focus on the job at hand.·        Punctuation potholes – watch out for these; they could be littered throughout the route ahead. It may be that, even though you are the main driver of the message, you will have to fill them in yourself, so you know where to lift and subdue words, where to pause, alter your tone or even change gear. ·        Not ‘reading the road’ – you need to be scanning ahead so you can drive to the conditions, seeing the upcoming words and phrases that may cause trouble, the ones that may leap out and force you to slow down. If you see them in advance, you can mentally muster your mouth movements, preparing for your pronunciatory prosody. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.10.08 – 0646 – Speed-Reading Speed readingWith commercial reads especially, you have to be able to talk to time, and that may mean talking faster than you may usually do. But this can often lead to getting tongue-tied, and the almost inevitable slips and trips, and the subsequent loss of confidence … and increased time in the studio as you record take after take. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.10.07 – 0645 – Rehearsing Cold ReadingRehearsing Cold ReadingIt is easy to practice this at home or at work – sight-read stories from the newspaper, or print off the national summary and make yourself sight read it, changing the tone for each story as appropriate. Read loads of material aloud, sight unseen so you can get into the habit of adapting your vocal   will build up your vocabulary, not just the meaning of the words, but also their pronunciation and also the context in which they are used. That way you can better predict where a sentence or explanation is headed for, which helps every part of your read: the tone, intonations, speed, and so on, all elements that we have looked at during this podcast/book.As well as the words themselves, the more you read the more you will understand the structure of sentences, story arcs in fiction books and, in non-fiction, debates which may be discussed or positions being posited.A note on audio-books which we will look at in more detail later, by their very nature they are books which have been written to be read ‘by the eye’ and not ‘by the mouth’, that is not to be read aloud, conversationally. That means that the grammar is not necessarily ‘speaker-friendly’, making such books sometimes tricky to navigate sight-unseen. So, the best advice for rehearsing cold-reading? Lots of reading aloud and lots of different formats and styles. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.10.06 – 0644 – Script-Reading and Peripheral VisionPeripheral visionIt also helps to be able to read in your head more than a few words ahead of what you are actually saying out loud. If a story has just flashed on your screen and there is no opportunity to read it through fully off-air before you go to it on air (perhaps there is no audio left to play), then you can allow yourself a second’s pause to scan the script for key words to give yourself a sense of what is to come. Then as you read the item word for word, let your eyes dart through to the end of that sentence and the start of the next (a kind of ‘peripheral vision’), so you are more fully aware of what is coming.That peripheral vision is a bit like a ‘buffer’: your eyes dart through the sentence, the words going into your memory and uttered slower than they are seen. That gives your eyes more time to look further ahead and store more words in your mind, and these are gradually said… and all the while your eyes look to the next phrase or sentence and stores them in your memory buffer too.And sometimes your eyes may dart back at part of the script you’ve already read, perhaps when you want to check that what you said was what was written, or scanning the page much further ahead to check for any potential pronunciation hazards up-coming. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.10.05– 0643 – Warming Up To Cold ReadsWarming up to cold readsSight-reading is what many rolling news presenters have to do: pick up a news script and read it straight off, with the correct pacing and intonation so it makes sense to the listener.One trick is to be able to sense from the first few words of the story what tone you should deliver it in. This can sometimes be tricky: a story which starts “a police officer who saved a woman from a burning house …” could continue, “…has been praised for his heroism” or “…has himself died in hospital”. So, if in doubt, start the story in a ‘standard’ tone, neither light or heavy, so you can move into the correct one when you realise the exact content of the story. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.10.04– 0642 – Sight-Reading Scripts TipsCold-Reading (or ‘sight-reading’ or ‘off-the-page’) This is when you read a script aloud previously sight-unseen. You’ve not had a chance to proof read it, spot any awkward words or phrases and may not even know what it’s about. You won’t have read it aloud before, for example, breaking news, a fast-turn around commercial session or if you are a ‘Voice of God’ at an event. If you are reading an audio-book, you’ll have to read pretty cold too: it simply isn’t time/cost-effective to read an entire book through once, marking it up and rehearsing. The same goes for some longer e-learning reads. You need to be able to read such scripts ‘off the page’ and be able to understand pretty fast what the text is saying, the key message and overall tone.For commercial reads it may be that the director sees a benefit in recording your very first ‘cold   raw, relatable and real about it, rather than Take 27 that is likely to be more polished… or stale! Such a read may not be perfect (and it won’t be expected to be), but there may be an “I see!” moment of authentic awareness that you bring to the script.It’s unlikely that a director will use your first take (but they may do!) and will be likely to record more, but it’s often good to get your genuine emotion on Take One – perhaps as a touch point - before your understanding is possibly cluttered with additional ‘advice’ from a control room of, err control freaks. After all, you will never be able to give a cold read to that script ever again, so let’s get it on tape… just in case there’s a valuable vocal nugget. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.10.03– 0641 – Extracting Distracting Fillers 2 ·        Increase your confidence and reduce your nerves – again, we have looked at this topic together in the past, but this will include factors such as knowing the material, the audience, the studio, the kit, the colleagues; vocal and muscular exercises; vocal health and so on·        Slow down – It may be that your mouth is working faster than your brain and you are running out of words to say and so filling in the gaps with meaningless ones. Slowing down will relax you and get your mind and mouth back in sync. And speaking more slowly help you clear out the filler words, as instead of racing, you have time to think through your thoughts and give yourself time to think of a phrase or an answer to a question.·        The power of the pause - The best medicine for a vocal virus is, nothing. Yes, simply replace the offending word with a pause. VOICE BOXThe Power Of The Pause·        Gives you time to breathe·        Can create drama before a reveal at the end of the … sentence·        To give your listeners time to process the information you’ve just delivered them.·        To startle or surprise the listener – and wake them up! In fact, creating silence is a double-whammy result: you stop the annoying utterance and replace it with a technique to engage the listener instead. You turn from appearing to be hesitant and ill-prepared, to being cool, confident and in-control. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.10.02 – 0640 – Extracting Distracting Fillers 1 Overcoming FillersNot all filler words need to be cut out, especially if you’re aiming to sound conversational (although it would be odd in a news bulletin, or if you’re sticking to a timed and signed-off script, to insert umms and errs!). And anyway, removing them all from your authentic speech pattern may get in the way of you genuinely connecting with you audience.  Eliminate most of your filler words though and you will instantly sound more intelligent and professional and will be less distracting to your audience. If you want to reduce or eliminate fillers, then:·        Become more aware of what you say and when - The first way to eliminate these disfluencies is to look or listen back to your recordings, or recordings of your lives (this is often called an ‘air-check’ or ‘ROT’: ‘recording of/off transmission’). Note the filler words, where they are and when you tend to use them. It may be in a particular situation or certain part of a sentence – or between them. Only you will know what was happening at the time, both in the studio and in your head, and whatever it was may be the cause of your distraction: possibly a technical hitch that distracted you, or a lost page of notes that you were looking for·        Commit to eliminating them - When you know the word, or words, that you fall back on too often, make a conscious effort to take them out. Better still ask family or friends to pick you up whenever you say it. A bit like Pavlov’s dog experiment, you could have your producer click the ‘talkback’ studio intercom every time you say the word on air. It may be annoying but it’s a good way to get you to notice yourself repeating the old habit that you want to break.·        Increase your prep and knowledge of your topic - Being better prepared is also an answer: know more about the topic you’re talking about; making better notes and using them; not being distracted in the studio and so on. I have given lots of tips about all of these issues so far. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.10.01 – 0639 – Why “Umm” May Make You Sound DumbYou may not realise you’re using these words, but they could be really distracting to your listeners and the impression they give is that you’re poorly prepared and lacking confidence. “Umm” can make you sound dumb.You can of course, edit out these words and phrases from a pre-recorded show, but it’s a very time-consuming process and it’s very difficult to then have an impression of natural flow, eloquence, and confidence in the recording you end up with. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.30 – 0638 – Do You Like “like”?Do you like “like”?Many people find the developing use of this word infuriating. Critics say that it makes speakers sound stupid (“It’s like, when you’re, like…”), and there’s even an app, LikeSo[1], which listens to your speech and promises it can stop you using the word. “Like” tends not to, in comparison to “umm” and “err”, have an audible silence either side of it and it is used in many different ways, not just as a ‘filler’[2],[3]:It is used as a verb: “I like the smell of what’s cooking”As a preposition: “This tastes like (“as though”) it was made in a restaurant”. As a quote: “I said, like, that’s delicious”As a discourse marker, to start and to end conversations, or to start new topics or change topics. “What did I do last night? Like, had dinner, hung out” and the related use in the Geordie tradition of finishing sentences with a “like”: “He cooked dinner for me, like”As an adverb to mean approximately, “It was super quick to cook, like 30 minutes”As a noun in reference to social media “I gave it a like on Facebook” “If you say, “He was like, seething about the pasta sauce”, you are quoting someone’s reaction, but at the same time highlighting you are approximating their response, while pausing to highlight that you are thinking meaningfully about this reaction in real time. That one word is doing all those jobs.Sam Wolfson, The Observer, May 2022[4] The number of ways the word is used is actually quite skilfully included in a conversation. After all, the English language is an evolving one and there’s no one ‘right way’ to use it to convey your thoughts and feelings, so the person you are talking with understands you. [1] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/likeso/id1074943747 [2] In 2017, contestants on the UK dating series ‘Love Island’ used the word “like” 76 times in a five-minute conversation – that’s once every four seconds. Hear the exchange here: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/4060212/love-island-2017-girls-say-like/ [3] Adapted from: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/may/15/why-do-people-like-say-like-so-much-in-praise-of-an-underappreciated-word [4] In https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/may/15/why-do-people-like-say-like-so-much-in-praise-of-an-underappreciated-word Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.29 – 0637 – Umm, Err, Well, Kinda Filler wordsIt’s easy for your ad-libs, conversations and questions to be littered with verbal crutches (properly called ‘disfluencies’):·        Sounds - such as “err”, “OK”, “umm”·        Words and phrases - “y’know”, “I mean”, “you know what I mean”, “kind of thing”, “actually”, “basically”, “literally”, “right”, “sort of”, “so”[1] and the like. And indeed, “like”. [2] When Do We Use Filler Words?We use fillers in different situations:·        “I’m looking for the right word or phrase” – you’re thinking as you are speaking and so searching for just the right word to use. ·        “I’m being careful to explain this thought so I don’t offend” – and have several words to choose from and are weighing up the best one to use·        “I’m still holding this conversation; I’m not finished yet” [3]  - a nervous speaker giving the impression of fluency, wanting to fill every silence with sound, any sound, perhaps when they are poorly prepared and trying desperately to think of what to say.[4] [1] To hear more about the use of the word “so”, especially in starting a sentence, listen to this podcast: Spectacular Vernacular - Lexicon Valley #7: https://recastthis.com/source/335/  [2] Closely related to the ‘fillers’ are the ‘safe standby phrases’ which on the radio may be the same way you come out of an ad-sequence or the news, or the same way the travel news is introduced or a guest is thanked. Brainstorm a way to creatively re-work those verbal crutches and have them as part of your repertoire, even if they are on a written list that you work down day by day to always sound fresh and authentic.  [3] It’s also been suggested by some linguists that what comes after an “umm” is a more complex thought or sentence-structure than what comes after an “err”.[4] https://twitter.com/LBC/status/1519023928425037828 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.28 – 0636 – Giving Good ‘Libbing’Giving Good ‘Libbing’Be aware of adlibbing minefields. You may find yourself travelling down a conversational cul-de-sac unless you are very sure of your territory. So always engage your brain before putting your mouth into gear – think before you speak. Mostly then our adlibs come from preparation, and what we say just gives the impression of spontaneity. You may look or sound like you are making it up on the fly – but if you really are doing that then you may not so much fly, as fail.On-scene Ad-libsWorking without an autocue without ramblingMentally ‘bullet-point’ your key factsIdentify three or four items you can see that you can ‘attach’ a fact to that will help explain the storyFocus in from the general view to the macro view when describing a scene Being outside on an OB say, can attract a lot of attention, and may make you feel nervous, with people watching you and what they may do or say. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.27 – 0635 – Killing Your Presentation With BulletsKilling It With BulletsUsually what appears to be a spontaneous adlib has actually been prepared to a certain extent, either a moment before we speak or after several hours of research. But the usual and best way to prepare is with a few notes (what some call ‘an invisible script’) – that may be a key word or two of something you just thought of, or a series of thought-out back-up bullet points. Benefits of using bullets:It gives structure to your podcast or broadcastHave bullets and sub bullets if necessaryInclude things like the welcome, the topic introduction (why they should listen, what will be the benefit, the sponsor credit, the guest intro, the ‘show close’ (thanks, review request, where to find you, call to action)It makes sure you have covered everything you want to… and everything flows in the right order. – don’t force the listener to rewind or remember.It shows you are cool and confident.It cuts down on editing! Notes may be trigger words, or a list of phrases (‘topic-starters’ and key points), or as I often do, a tree-diagram of conversational branches. I find these diagrams useful as they are easier for me to hold in my mind: I can picture what topics and sub-topics feed off each other, and at a glance can move from one area to another rather than look down a list of notes to see a new question-area to probe. Making such lists clear, maybe with key words in bold, will help you keep engagement with your co-host or guest, and to react more flexibly and naturally as you’ll take a glance at your notes rather than read them word-for-word. And that’ll mean you listen more, and react more rather than simply ask them ‘the next question on the list’… and so make for a more authentic listen. And a more confident presentation, and remember what confidence does to your voice? Yeah it makes you sound better, shows people your personality rather than your ability to read words off a page and reinforces that you are speaking from the heart. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.26 – 0634 – When To Ditch The Studio ScriptThe role of the scriptA script is great when you need to fit in the accepted role as a broadcaster, maybe on the news bulletins or news programmes. It is expected that you will be confident and assured, fluent and natural. As we have seen, to read a script conversationally is an artificial construct and I’ve shown you how to do it. (What would you prefer to hear – a newsreader stumbling through an unrehearsed bulletin bursting with up-to-the-minute stories and failing to make sense of it, or a smoothly polished delivery of material that may be as much as 10 minutes old but makes complete sense?) When to ditch the script!So why can’t broadcasters/podcasters usually work from a script? Well, news people tend to of course as what they say has to be fluent, accurate legally and informationally, explanatory and fit to a set time. But for everyone else, a script:·        Is really time-consuming to prepare·        Not everyone can pass off a script as sounding off-the-cuff. Writing to be read and writing to be heard are different things. So, what’s on your blog and what’s on your pod really need to be different.·        That means that although you may feel ‘safer’ with a script, you are putting a distance between you and the listener. You reading words prepared in advance rather than feeling them in the moment. But when you are presenting livestreams or YouTube videos or recording a podcast, you can sound more natural by not reading. In these situations, you’ll be more likely to be talking to one person at a time, (whereas live broadcasters are literally broad-casting, speaking to an entire nation at once). Presenters recording for social media video and audio will have their content consumed separately by individuals, and not from across the room, but from a foot or two away on a smartphone, or directly into their ears via headphones. So going ‘scriptless’, and not reading word for word, you will benefit from having a much more personal and authentic, even less-polished delivery, and therefore a better connection with your listener or viewer.·        If you present with a co-host both of you may end up, heads down and reading words on a page rather than interacting with each other naturally, and so losing the authenticity that comes from looking into one another’s eyes. And you’ll always be waiting to read your next line, rather than having a genuine conversation.·        The ‘better connection’ will also come from your knowledge of the material. It stands to reason doesn’t it, that if you’re doing a social video or audio post you are probably super-interested about your topic (in a way that you won’t know everything about the news story you are reading for a radio station). What you are doing is a ‘passion project’ and you may even be working from a book or blog post you’ve written. Turning that blog post into a bullet point list (or creating bullets on a topic from scratch) will give you a structure from which you can extemporise. You know this stuff inside out already, so all you need is a route map to get you from here to there so it’s clear for your listeners to follow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.25 – 0633 – Other Voice Skills: Adlibs, Cold Reading and Talking To Time OTHER SPEAKING SKILLSAn alphabetical list of other conversational considerations, from ad-libs to coping with verbal slips, filler words and fluffs… and a few hot takes on cold-reading. Ad-libbingThis is what you say off the top of your head without a script, and is another good skill for any broadcaster or podcaster to have – although voice-over actors will of course have little use for it as they are mainly working from a script. Ad-libbing doesn’t mean that you record ‘naked’, just riffing and adlibbing until a coherent thought happens to leave your lips (as I once described as “talking until you’ve something interesting to say”!), you prepare first so you know you have something to say and know the best way to say it. Obviously, you can only ad-lib around a topic if you know a bit about it in the first place. Not the detail necessarily but the context, for example why are you covering it in the show or podcast to start with? What is its relevance? Who will it effect and why and how? If you understand its significance, you’ll be able to communicate the story more easily and be able to ad lib around it should you need to.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.24 - 0632 – Giving Yourself Voice DirectionSelf-directingIf you are a voice actor working from home, an ‘amateur’ podcaster[1], or broadcaster without an active producer or manager, then you will need to direct yourself and be able to notice what you need to do to improve. The problem you may have to overcome is that, if you don’t have a director, part of you is critically listening to yourself and your performance all of the time, and so you’re not fully immersing yourself in your role: you are always partly ‘the voice-actor’.Therefore, it may be down to you alone to decide elements of what the recording needs: the style and tone, what the message really is, the pace and projection, the purpose, the key message, the intonation… and all the other factors that we have looked at in depth already. At the very least, ask yourself those questions, look at the product’s website and see the style and personality of the brand and then get back to the producer of the item and clarify what they want. Try not to second-guess too much.It will be additional time if you have mis-interpreted a line and the agency asks for a ‘pick-up’, a line or two recorded in isolation that they will edit in. A day or more later it will be difficult for you to have exactly the same room and voice sound, or to have that single line or paragraph read with the same personality as you used before.So even if you are recording at home, it’s often easier, as I have done, to have a director listening in live to your session. This is easily done via Zoom-type calls or professional down-the-line services such as Riverside https://riverside.fm/ or Source Connect (https://www.source-elements.com/products/source-connect/) – or even just down the phone. Then they can clarify and confirm that what you’re doing is what they had in mind. And ear.Having said that, some clients will want no part of the process, possibly because they don’t really understand it. They have sent you a script, they want you to record it and send it back “how difficult can that be?!” Well, as we know, it can be very difficult! [1] ‘Amateur’ podcaster: I am not using this word offensively. It is a fact that most podcasters are experts and enthusiasts producing brilliantly professional content from home in their own time. Therefore, they are unlikely to have the advantage of ‘another pair of ears’ or direction from a producer, to give them anything from coaching or a gentle reminder in some techniques in, as far as this podcast/book is concerned, voice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.23 - 0631 – Your Role As A Voice Script ‘Meaning Miner’Your Role As A ‘Meaning Miner’Sometimes when direction or a Brief is unclear, you need to do the hard work yourself. Well, you should always do much of this, but occasionally you need to get your hands dirty and unearth the hidden meaning in a script.Mine the text to find the seam of the story arc, pick away to discover the hidden message of what the advertiser wants the listener to do. Find the golden words that will help you to convince them to do just that… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.22 - 0630 – Voice-Over Studio DirectionTaking directionPay attention, listen, ask questions, take advice and understand the process. Some directors don’t know how to explain things very well and it can be a challenge to interpret what they mean. Some directions may be straightforward. “A bit brighter” will suggest a lightness in tone and a slightly quicker read. But try and remember, or make notes, of what you did on different takes of the recording, so you can better interpret directions like “we want some of the energy of Take 5, but with the sensitivity from Take 9”  You may be told to sound “taller” for example (!) and it will be down to you to work out what is meant by that. Perhaps it means to read with more authority or more power in the voice for example. Or maybe “sound more ‘purple’”, which may mean speak with more warmth, compassion, softer or deeper. But go with it: “oh yeah, ok that might work!” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.21 - 0629 – Getting Feedback On Your Voice VOICE BOXGiving and Receiving Notes Directors:·        Only have you give the feedback not everyone in the control room. ·        Realise that everyone has different expectations about feedback or Notes:o  For some it’s “tell me what to do”o  “Share with me what you think I should do”o  “This is what I’m doing, is it OK or not?”·        Don’t give too much information back to them in the first couple of reads. ·        Then, don’t give feedback all in one go, but ‘layer up’ your notes. ·        And be specific·        At first, gently remind the reader who they are talking to and their role·        Subsequent suggestions might be around the speed and pauses·        Then, say, tweaks to tone and intonation·        And make the notes clear and specific so they are easily understood, so your actor knows why they are doing the read again·        Keep everything upbeat and low-pressure. There’s no point keep referring to the time left on the studio session or getting exasperated that the actor “doesn’t get it”. ·        If it’s still not going right, then ‘re-wire’ your approach. Consider de-pressuring the situation:o  Move on and coming back to that part latero  Take a break – for a ‘tea and wee’ and a chat about something completely unrelated to the script o  Make a joke out of the situation o  Re-calibrate the read - read the part in an over-the-top giant style, then as a mouse, before returning to the actual read. Play around to break inhibitions and maybe find gold by happy accident.·        Be careful about your use of language, especially around someone’s accent or dialect which are particularly personal.  Voice-artists:·        Politely check early on who of several people in the control room, is directing you: “so just so’s I know who I’m taking direction from, is that you, Maggie?”. This saves studio duration, contradictory information and general confusion.·        Actively listen to what the director says. That is, don’t just ‘hear’ their suggestions but concentrate and understand them·        Consider repeating what they have said back to them, so you both know that you have understood (or not): “so a little bit slower on that tag line, and to slightly lift the brand name, yeah? No problem…”·        Write down the direction, marking your script up as required to help you remember and act on what you have been asked to do Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.20 - 0628 – Voice-Over Guide TracksGuide Track  In some circumstances, a ‘dummy track’ of someone else reading the voice-over script may already have been recorded before you go into a studio. This is usually done on fast and tightly-edited video productions (think movie trails or promo videos) but may also be on audio creatives, again where there are lots of elements. It’s done so the editors can help shape the item in pre-production, sequencing the different clips together, with a clear idea of the overall pace, flow and timings after the final voice-over has been added.  It’s also an audio guide for you alongside the visuals, so you can understand the intention behind the edit, and better know what you say and when:·        Where you start reading…·        and where you stop·        The time you have for each phrase…[1]·        before you need to hit a ‘post’[2]·        What is happening on the screen at that moment so you can match the energy·        What your voice is reacting to or leading to·        The overall pace and tone of the production…  all of which will inform your read.  As with talking over music, which we looked at before, your presentation style will be affected by the script, the visuals and the music or other audio elements. [1] Often with such productions, the script is simply a single sentence, or a collection of phrases, that’s broken up with the audio: “Alone / in the middle of the ocean / where even the sharks are afraid / a row boat, with a man / a tiger / and trouble on the horizon”. If you have, say, 4 seconds in which to deliver 2 seconds of script, the director will advise whether they want you a) slow down and fill that entire duration b) speak in the middle 2 seconds c) start immediately and leave 2 seconds’ gap at the end d) start after 2 seconds and talk to the start of the audio clip.[2] Post: a stab of music, a change in musical tone, possibly even a drum beat or the start of vocals; any other audio punctuation such as a cry, gunshot, statement, exclamation.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.19 - 0627 – How Voice Directors Can Help You Feel Part Of The Production TeamVOICE BOXDirectors – make your talent feel part of the team:·        Introduce them to those in the gallery·        Include them in conversations from inside their booth·        Explain what’s happening·        Try not to turn your back on them when discussing the recording with the client Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.18 - 0626 – The Limits Of Line-ReadingSecond, in asking you to “sound like this” it’s likely they will be putting other elements into their read that they may not realise. And you as a professional will be copying not just their tone, but their speed, pauses, intonation, phrasing and so on. Which they may not have intended.And, think about it: you’ll end up doing an impression of them, doing an impression of you reading the script! That way no-one knows what’s going on and what’s actually you, and what’s them, and what’s them trying to be you or you trying to copy them being you, being them… At best line-reads are a quick fix. Instead of having the director say what you are doing ‘wrong’ and what they want you to do ‘right’, it may be better to have them explain the concept of what they want to achieve, have them build the voice characterisation from the ground up, with proper structure.Penny was a well-known national newspaper journalist who’d been following a long-running story over several years. One of the BBC’s flagship TV news programmes commissioned Penny to help them make a documentary on the same subject.She was great at the interviews as you might expect, and in helping the editors piece together the filmed clips for the final show. But inevitably, the schedule slipped and the day before transmission I got a panicked phone call from the producers: they were in the studio where Penny was recording the voiceover links and she was simply not up to the job. It just wasn’t her forte. So, could I go down and help them meet their fast-approaching deadline?I would have loved to have spent time with Penny training and explaining coaching and coaxing, guiding and advising on the nuances of intonation, but there simply wasn’t time. Instead there was a crash course, and then a series of ‘line reads’: I read a line and she repeated it back parrot-fashion. For hours. We finished at about 2am on the day of the transmission… Penny sounded great but parroting a script is not the same as having an understanding of it. And it won’t help you the next time you are in a studio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.17 - 0625 – Line-Reading For Voice TrainingVOICE BOXLine readingA director may read your script to you, in the style they want you to emulate: a line-reading. This is slightly different from a line-by-line read mentioned above, as it’s when a director speaks a phrase or sentence exactly how they want it (regarding intonation, accent, pace and so on) and they record you repeating it back them exactly. Professional voice-over artists (or VT- voice talent) should rarely need this direction, certainly not for an entire script, but very often ‘celebrities’ who’ve been booked to lend their name and voice to a project, often do.[1]Don’t take it personally as an affront to your skills. It may be that they are not explaining very well the style or tone that they want – they may not have the terminology or you may not understand the nuance that they need - and it’s easier to show you ‘with their voice’. So why may it be that you don’t understand what they want? Well, because we are all different. The subtlety of a word they are using, may be different from your understanding of that word, perhaps because of each of your ages, backgrounds, cultures and so on. But a good director should have more in their exclamational arsenal before they resort to a lazy line-reading: they can use images to explain the sound and feel that they want “OK, imagine you’re alone in your house and you hear a weird noise outside…”), synonyms (“let’s try a read with a voice that sounds easy, simple, effortless, straightforward “), similes (“I want you to sound as cool as a cucumber…”, “like you are oozing sweet and sticky honey…” ), adjectives (“imagine biting into a crisp, sweet, juicy, red apple…”), adverbs (“it’d be great if you can attack that line a little more greedily…”)But if a line reading is suggested, just go with it: you need to be malleable and affable. Oh and directors: if you’re doing this, tread carefully around a voice-actor’s ego, and apologise for using this last-ditch technique!And it certainly is a last resort. The actor is a professional, not a parrot. And a professional voice-reader, not a robot. That’s because first, someone telling you the actor how to read a line (just to copy them), doesn’t help you connect with the character and the reason or the thinking behind the line. It can make you sound false, as it affects the fluency, the storytelling and the conversationality. [1] Sometimes it may be that the reader may ask for a line read, if for example, they have trouble following perhaps not very clear help from the director. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.16 - 0624 – What’s Really Happening in a 1-by-1 Voice Over Read·        “I must be rubbish. They’re asking me to record every line one-by-one!” – this isn’t that unusual. It may be down to the timing or the exact intonation that’s needed. Perhaps your sentence, or just a phrase, has to fit with those of other people as part of a poem or montage. Maybe it’s got to fit with the beat of music or pictures. Or it may be that the director is not just thinking of the overall Takes they like, but the lines they like from each Take, and get you to do individual lines, phrases or sentences separately to give them options when they are editing together. For example: “I’ll take line 1 from Take 4, and line 2 from Take 2… and even though they nearly hit each of the last two lines in Take 4 and 8, those two lines really gelled together in Take 11…” Instead: don’t worry that you’re not doing it all right. Politely ask why this is happening, do as you are asked and learn. Maybe ask to hear back the whole script when it’s been edited together so you can hear the overall effect and why this way of recording was necessary. Or if they say that the line is not quite right, ask to hear it in a rough mix with the other lines so you can hear for yourself what the problem is. Recording individual lines in isolation isn’t always easy as you have nothing lead in from. You have to ‘start cold’ on the context of that line and also with your pace and projection, and everything else.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.15 - 0623 – Don’t Nix The Mix ·        “Is this going to be mixed with music?” – as we saw before, when you talk with music underneath you, it affects your read. Music elevates a voice and having it behind makes it more impactful, doing a lot of the ‘emotional lifting’ of the recording. You adapt your style (notably usually the pace and rhythm) to work in harmony with the track. If you can hear now, the bed that will be mixed with your vocals later, then you will be better able to match its style so the two together will sound more in sync in tone and mood. Help the music work with the words. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.14 - 0622 – Take Your Time and Sound (More Than) Fine·        “This is taking ages…” Every job will have its challenges and it’ll all take as long as it takes. Work with the director/producer/sound engineer as they try and get the best out of you. Instead: understand that they may be trying out various styles of read to see what you can do with your ‘voice personality’ in case between you all, you discover something new that they hadn’t thought of. Sometimes this ‘off-the-wall’ approach may be done to fill time at the end of a session, just to test everyone’s creativity and see what happens with a bit of flexibility, spontaneity and creativity. Magic may come from the mayhem … or they may end up going with Take 3 after all! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.13 - 0621 – What To Do If Your Script Has Alarming Timings·        “There’s no way I can fit all of this script into just 30 seconds” – there are too many words for the time allowed and you’re tempted to gabble to fit it all in. Instead: maybe the script has just been ‘over-written’ and there are a few words that can be lost or phrases that can be re-written. Obviously, this is down to the producer, not you – although you may perhaps make a polite suggestion if asked. If you have to talk fast, dropping your projection will, by default, also drop your energy and you’ll sound less rushed. Weird, but it works. You may also have to take a longer pause between sentences, so you can take a bigger breath which’ll allow you to take fewer of them and so save time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.12 - 0620 – Don’t Introduce An Excuse For Your Poor Voice Performance·        “Yeah, I’m rubbish today because the cat was sick, I had a row with my daughter and I the bus was late” – Everyone has a similar story, and they don’t need to hear about yours. Winding yourself up will only make you nervous. Instead: Breathe, relax, de-stress with the exercises we’ve already gone through. Listen to the direction, and to how you follow it in your read. Be positive and collaborative.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.11 - 0619 – When It Hits That the Script Is Sh*t·        “This script is really bad. It’s so poorly written, it makes no sense and ungrammatical” – don’t complain about the copy, it may’ve been written by the studio producer or the client themselves. Instead: The grammar may not look right, but it will probably sound right, and it’s your job to make it work. If you still think the words works better on the page than in your mouth (maybe too formal, awkward, or with a difficult rhythm), then consider politely asking “does this sound right to you?” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.10 - 0618 – How To Return After A Verbal SlipTurning Voice-Over Worries Into ‘Wonderful’·        “Sorry, I slipped on that. Sorry. I gotta concentrate. That was stupid…” – trips, slips and stumbled are natural with a new script. Instead: Slow down, take a breath and concentrate and remember it’ll take a few reads to get the rhythm and the writer’s intended meaning. Ask a producer if they’d prefer you to carry on after any slip, or go back and do that sentence again, or the whole paragraph. Remember: You’re not booked because you’re perfect at doing the greatest read straight off the page. You’re booked because your voice is right for the brand and the message. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.09 - 0617 – How To Make A Sound Engineer Your FriendHow To Make A Sound Engineer Your Friend·        Turning up on time and being ready microphone-ready·        Be confident and competent in sight-reading. OK the odd slip or trip, but be able to see it and say it pretty quickly.·        Be able to interpret what the message is and who it’s for·        Be comfortable not only in reading to time, but being able to shave off or add a few seconds to the duration of the read·        The ability to polish a fast-turnaround dull piece of copy into a diamond – just don’t say it’s dull! Make it work, whatever.·        Being able to listen to, understand and follow direction·        Offering help “I can stay on for a few more minutes to nail this”, and “let me know if you want any more quick turn-around retakes, no problem”…  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.08 - 0616 – The Voice-Over Studio WorkflowLet’s just take a quick look at what happens when you go into a voiceover studio.·        Read the Brief and the script·        Assist the studio engineer in setting the mic position and levels, the level of your headphones and talkback and the position of any script stand·        Have a first run-through of the script and get any questions answered about style or speed, timing and tone, projection, pronunciation and contractions (can you say “they’ll” rather than “they will”, for example?), and so on. Work out[1]:o  who you are ‘talking to’ in the script o  how old they areo  where they are listeningo  what your role iso  the name of the product, brand or serviceo  the overall message and the key words and phrases that help communicate that message. Have you understood the script correctly? “Also, at the food and drink fair, more famous wines…” Is that additional wines that are also famous (“more, famous wines”), or wines that are much more well-known (“more-famous wines”)?o  the mood and tone of the script and how your voice personality can convey it.    In a commercial read, your director should be able to tell you exactly who the script is aimed at, and the ‘part’ that you are playing. This vital information will help you choose an ‘emotional state’ for the read, and an appropriate style and tone.For example, advertising a car, the copy and the placement of the production (the script and where the commercial will be seen, or alongside which TV programmes), may be directed at a general consumer, parents (perhaps the copy highlights safety features and accessibility), corporate users (mentioning the miles per gallon or comfort), or the ‘petrol heads’ (with technical specifications being highlighted). You can see that each of these scripts would place the production in a different place. And what part are you playing? Are you the caring mum? Are you the reassuring expert, or maybe the ‘boffin’? Are you an educator, a neighbour? What kind of neighbour: the annoying one from two-doors down who everyone avoids, the one that’s always organising cakes sales and car shares, or the one-next-door who you share babysitting with? Having the director give you the role and the audience will mean you have something to creatively respond to, to help you find your character voice and then the style of the read as well as other elements such as the pace and projection, tone and pitch. ·        Mark up your script with any changes,·        Go for a ‘take’ (sometimes called a ‘first pass’ take) and get more notes.·        More takes and minor adjustments. Possible feedback regarding doing one phrase “like in Take 3” and another “like you did in Take 8” and so on as well as doing it all completely differently, just “because”. [1] We looked at a lot of these key questions and the reason behind asking them earlier in the series  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.07 - 0615 – Voice Director SkillsThe skills of a director[1]·        They are a bridge between the actor and client. They are likely to work with voice artists more often than the script writer or the sharp-suited client, so they can explain what’s going on, know what language to use, how to get the best out of you and how to get the written word to be an effective spoken word. They understand that voice work is an art and not a science. Oh, and that sharp-suited client? They may also be sharp-tongued as well, giving brash and unhelpful criticism of your performance. A director will be a mediator, interpreting and communicating that a bit more helpfully. ·        A director or producer is a ‘second pair of ears’, giving objectivity and suggestions: “try it this way”, “why not alter your pitch”, “perhaps if you slowed down a bit…”. After all a script is not necessarily black and white but fifty shades of grey (no, not like that), there are interpretations and someone else may help you see them. They coax and explain, to bring out your best performance, giving collaboratory ‘notes’ rather than ‘feedback’.·        They may be your ‘point of contact’ in the session, introducing you to others who may be in the production area, the client, writer, editor, runner and so on; show you into the studio and adjust your mic stand and headphone level, ask if you want to stand or sit, provide water and possibly even give you time and ‘permission’ to prepare with warm-up exercises such as shoulder rolls, neck stretches and lip trills.·        They have the creative overview of the whole piece, how your character fits in and interacts with other ones, the brand voice, and the overall marketing strategy. They know the character you are playing, the purpose of the project, the tone that’s needed, the target audience, the visuals your voice is part of and so on. Especially in animation and gaming, where the lines are often recorded separately, the director gives you the context for your part so there’s a better overall listen and experience for the player or viewer: what you’re reacting to, what’s happening around you, your part in a conversation or story arc. They may provide lead-in lines for you to bounce off from, and so give a more authentic response.·        They know about sound, so will press buttons and fade-up, err, faders, to make the very best of your unique voice. Although you are being given direction and of course the people who are paying you have the final decision, what happens in the studio should be a collaborative process. Get to know, like and trust studio directors:·        They may support you and your interpretation of the script if there’s a disagreement in the control room·        You may get to meet them in the future on another job·        Heck, they may recommend you for another job. [1] Again, I am using the term ‘director’, but actual job titles and responsibilities will vary from different studios and stations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.06 - 0614 – Talking About Studio TalkbacksTalk-back micsThe gallery production area will have mics which are used to ‘talk back’ to you in the studio. Sometimes these may be left on (or ‘open’) as you record, either by mistake or deliberately, which means you will hear the coughs, comments, conversations and script suggestions from the producers, directors and clients, live, in your headphones as you read. This can be quite off-putting, so request that their mics can be muted so you can focus on your performance.After each or a few takes, those in the production area will discuss what they’ve just heard and this will likely happen with the talkback mic off so you won’t hear their conversation. It can be a bit disconcerting to know that they’re talking about you, there may be glances in your direction, and you may also see their facial expressions. Try not to look. You don’t know what they’re saying and the only feedback that’s important is that distilled from the discussion and given to you by the director.Having said that, it may not come from the ‘director’, it may be from a ‘producer’, ‘sound engineer’ or someone with a quite different title from the agency or the company being advertised, the thing is that any thoughts on what you are doing and changes that have to be made should be discussed and distilled before they are given to you as direction. (For the purposes of brevity, I will call the person who directs you, the director. Cos that kinda makes sense!)And don’t forget this person is essentially giving you free feedback, which is virtually training. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.05 - 0613 – How ‘Control Room Characters’ May Shape Your VoiceThe Control Room (AKA: ‘gallery’, ‘production area’, ‘ops’ [operations area], or simply ‘studio’!)While you are alone in the studio, other people will be in the area just outside, where the recording actually happens.There could be several people in here, even eight or ten people in an agency studio situation. Maybe a creative director, a creative writer or two, clients, an account manager, a rep from the marketing department, an engineer or two, maybe the scriptwriter. Someone else because “it sounds like fun”, a trainee perhaps. There should be someone who is in control of the recording and co-ordinates feedback to give you, so you are not party to lots of different ‘direction suggestions’ from everyone. Imagine the mayhem if they all pitch in with their thoughts: too many people telling you too many things.Keep a note of who you are introduced to, their name and position. Then you can talk to them by name, and is more friendly and builds a relationship (“So, Brian, is that the kind of tone you had in mind…?”) Lots of suggestions from several stakeholders can be quite a challenge to cope with. To be clear, it shouldn’t be a problem with the requests changing over the course of the recording (“Can you try it a bit slower now, please?” or “I know we said we wanted that line ‘thrown away’ but can we just try it, with more of a punch?”) as they explore options and you become a sounding board for their ideas. But what you don’t want is constant disagreement between various people… of what they want right now. Set some polite parameters at the start “So I think we’ve put aside an hour for this haven’t we? Do you think that’s OK…?” . I wouldn’t refuse to utter a single word when the 60 minutes is up, but be careful your goodwill (“just one more take…”) or voice are not taken advantage of. If there’s going to be another 20- or 30-minutes work and you can fit it in, that’s probably fine (on the same or higher rate), but you should be able to take a 15minute voice-break first. Think that might come over as a bit ‘precious’? Then “So I think we’ve put aside an hour for this haven’t we? Do you think that’s OK…? I can stay for a bit longer if you need me to, but with all this water, I’ll probably need a bathroom break at about X o’clock…”  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.04 - 0612 – Taking Voice Production NotesAlways keep a record of the takes that you do in a session, the number and the direction requested of you for it. That’s because in some recordings you may have upwards of 50 takes, with notes on each one. If you keep a written track of ‘what you did when’ then it will be easier to not only go back and reproduce a read in a certain way (“yeah, I think Take 23 was the kind of brighter sound we wanted…”), but also gives you a ‘roadmap’ of where you have been and where you are going with the performance.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.03 - 0611 – What To Take Into A Voice Recording SessionPerformanceOk here we go. All that training and preparing comes to the moment the red light goes on! But we’re not there yet. Not quite. What to take into a recording session:Headphones – closed-back or in-ear typesComfort and confidenceHealth Water – in a spill-proof bottleTo top up your hydrationTo give you something to do as the director and colleagues discuss the next takeTo give something to do when you need a break – to fill it upThe script – either on paper or maybe on a tabletPaper won’t run out of a battery but it can rustleA pad might break if dropped, and it’s less easy to mark up a scriptPencil with an eraser on the end – so you can mark up the script, and alter changes as necessary A pad of paper - for your ‘take notes’ or a ‘take slate’Tea bag – yes maybe this if you know that your particular brand of, say, honey and lemon infusion is calming and soothing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.02 - 0610 – Top ‘Studio Day’ TipsOn the day of a recording or live ‘mic moment’·        Eat early - Don’t take a growling bear into the studio with you: the mic will hear it as it will gurgles. Fizzy drinks will make you burp. Spicy food may cause acid reflux. ·        Lots of water – to top-up your systemic hydration·        Exercise and fresh air – to be mentally and physically alert in the often small, windowless studio where you may be for hours at a time·        Morning shower and exercises – to freshen up your body and warm up your voice for the studio session ahead.·        Arrive in good time - to reduce stress. Again, stress will be heard in your voice and overall performanceToilet exercises – eh? Not how to go to the loo! But exercises you can do in a cubicle: lip trills, tongue twisters and stretching exercises that you can do immediately before, or in a break from, a session.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.01 - 0609 – What Is Not In Your Briefs·        Context is important for the style of the read. Words on a page describing a family of tigers, their lifestyle and diet could be read one way if the visuals are of them all playing on the savannah, but another way if the shot is of the dominant male stalking prey.Context may also refer to whether the recording is part of a series, either under the same title, or by the same producer or the same production house. It may be that what’s wanted is a commentary that fits with their ‘sound style’ or ‘audio branding’, and if so this should be made clear to you, probably with edits of previous shows where such a sound is evident.Guide tracks (or ‘scratch track’) may also be provided. This is when a non-professional voice artist has provided a recording of the script so that the visual edits could be created and pronunciations given. In this situation, your job is to replace their dialogue with yours. ·        And the Brief may also say what is not wanted! o  The style is “conversational and informative but not preachy and stuffy” – you can see how ‘conversational’ could be ‘preachy’ but that’s not what’s wanted, and ‘informative’ could otherwise be interpreted as reading in a bit of ‘stuffy’ style o  “Thrilling and suspenseful and not casual and conversational” – this balance is a bit different as what is wanted and what is not are quite different. Here the director is making quite sure you understand exactly the requirements, not by pointing out the nuances of the words (as above) but by deliberately pointing out their virtual opposites.Adjectives useful when writing a Brief:Warm, friendly, concerned, emotionless, comic, serious, quirky, hip, sassy, trustworthy, calm, slapstick, cool, booming, sassy, movie-trailer, compassionate, soothing, confident, light-hearted, concerned, dry, emotionless, authoritative, straight-forward, sultry, not sultry, quirky, believable, engaging, clear, bright, mature, young, classy, excited. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.08.31 - 0608 – Your Voice Mixed With MusicMusic and rough cuts – commercials, commentaries, documentaries and so on, often have the voiceover second-tracked together to play over the top of a music score. The choice of music for a documentary, commercial or whatever sets the ‘emotional attitude’ of the whole piece: hope, fear, confidence, desire or optimism for example. So as a reader, it’s useful to know what that music is. That way you can adapt your style, attitude and pace to fit with its tone, and help the editor by hitting certain musical posts if that is needed.·        Talking of which, the script may be written to hit specific points depending on what is happening on screen at that time, or to fit between on-tape sounds or dialogue. Therefore, even though a required duration for your link is good, having the actual video to ‘record to’ is better: it means you are likely to ‘feel’ the recording more, you will be more accurate, and you will save editing in the final mix. Failing that, a storyboard (a chronological series of images, with accompanying notes, of how a 'story' will play out, scene by scene, communicating the creative's vision), so you can better visualise what the concept is.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.08.30– 0607 – Your Voice Over RoleWhat is your role? – You are never ‘the voiceover’. Depending on the script, the situation, the story, the audience and so on, you may be a frazzled dad coping with the kids, a corporate CEO, a first-time DIYer, a reassuring uncle. And that relationship is important: your attitude will change if you are giving advice to that frazzled dad as a friend, or interfering neighbour, or parenting expert… in the same way as, for say a corporate e-learning project (say, a training on a new computer program) you are part of the company talking to a colleague, or as a rep from the computer program company, or maybe neither and are an ‘outside trainer’ character. What is your sound? – Just a few words should be provided, say “calm and trustworthy” or “upbeat and quirky”, “big and boomy, like the voice on the XXX ad”. Seek clarity if the Brief describes attributes which don’t sit well together: “authoritative and sultry” or “concerned and light-hearted” may be tricky to pull off.The duration – see elsewhere for the speed of a read, but ‘less’ is often more effective than ‘more’. A script will often have better impact if there’s room for it to develop at the correct pace, rather than for you to be reciting it like an auctioneer at a cattle market.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.08.29– 0606 – Who Will Hear Your Voice?Where will this recording be played? – Again, it can change your tone as a voice actor if you know that it’s for TV or radio or cinema, or to be played in an airport lounge. It could be a corporate script for a video that every staff member will see, alone at their desk and through headphones… or played on the big screen at the annual staff announcement event.For example: a voiceover for the ‘blood donation service’ may at first sound quite serious, but it may be targeted at first timers, say those in their teens or twenties, and so as an introduction the tone might be quite light. But it may be a script to be heard over animated characters with a cartoon Dracula… or maybe a graphic real-life scene of a car crash. It could be purely informational, or to have a shock factor, or to instil pride and patriotism amongst potential volunteers. It may be shown early evening on TV between soaps, or before an 18-certificate film in the cinema. All of these factors would cause a slight change in the voice: its tone, pace, projection, formality, indeed everything we have seen over the course of this podcast and book. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.08.28– 0605 – What’s In Your BriefsWhat’s in your briefsWho is this for? - In other words, who is your target audience, the listener you want to hear this message and act upon it. That should usually be much narrower than “everyone”, so it could be a grandmother in her 70s, or a young businesswoman in her twenties, or new parents. Every different audience will lead you to have a different tone, or attitude, when you read the script. You can usually have a guess by looking at the script and what it’s about and how it’s written, but only the Brief will explain exactly who that ‘ideal listener’ is.What do you want them to do or feel? – Or “why am I talking to them about this, now?” What is the script aiming to make them do or feel?: buy a certain item, donate money, change their behaviour (perhaps by learning new ‘health and safety rules’), be better informed (say, in eLearning), or to feel something. This last one can be a very strong communication tool: causing someone to feel nostalgic, patriotic, angry, inspired, or happy can create a strong bond with the target listener. And if this direction is on a brief, it can cause you to change your whole presentation style from a lighter tone, to a more serious and slower one, or a quirky twist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.08.27– 0604 – The Brief For A Voice-Over RecordingThe brief for a script recordingA written brief, a short but clear sheet of directions, will help everyone involved in a recording session in several ways:You, the ‘voice’, will have set targets for issues such as the tone and pace, the target audience, the characterisation, giving you time to prepare.Similarly, the director, producer and client all know the same information, so they are all approaching the recording with the same idea and expectation, avoiding mixed messages and hold ups for things like re-bookings, edits and rewrites.The wrong voice, or the right voice wrongly briefed or directed, can make or break a project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.08.26– 0603 – Pre-Prep To Keep In StepFor radio and podcast presenters specifically, your preparation may include:·        Planned spontaneity - Have a rough idea of what to say, maybe not every single word, but blocks of topics and bullet points within them of the points you want to make and how to transition from one block to another. A road map if you will, and one that you can veer off if you want to improvise and extemporise in the moment.Pre-read and rewrite if allowed, to suit your reading style. As a commercial voice actor, you should read what you are given. OK you may suggest a slight change if there’s a mouthful of a phrase that’s not been spotted before, and then only alter it with full signed-off permission. But you are not employed to be a scriptwriter, proof reader, editor or advisor.Don’t ‘over-read’, that is don’t interrogate the script for intonational nuances, marking up the script with a slew of symbols, or you run the possibility of getting into a ‘reading rut’ reducing the possibility of some in-studio creativity, or just being able to easily respond to the director’s requests. ·        How to recover if you’re thrown - For live radio presenters especially, think what you will say if something goes wrong, an item doesn’t play or if there’s breaking news. What will do if you need to fill for thirty seconds? Do you have material to hand? How will you deal with a mistake made by you? (On the day of writing this, my computer screen froze, midway through a news bulletin, and so I had to hand back to the main presentation studio unexpectedly…) ·        A consideration of your listener’s time - Less is more. As well as talking in a clear voice, your content has to be compelling too: the world is awash in information so be memorably brief, with fewer, more powerful words. Eliminate the unnecessary and focus on substance. If you are clear in what you want to say, then your mind will be less muddled and you will appear less nervous. As I’ve said before, confidence has a domino-effect, reducing tension in your skeleton and your sound, making you sound more authentic and trustworthy. For voice-over presenters there is some specific advice on their voice prep work because of how they work with others, and to a tight, pre-approved script. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.08.25– 0602 – On The Day Prep To Get A Better VoicePrepping promotes polished performances. ‘With-the-script’ and ‘on-the-day’ Preparation.For anyone talking on mic, your preparation will include:·        Hydration – yep, that again! Hydration preparation! It will take 24 hours for water you have drunk to properly benefit you systemically. Sipping water on the day is great, but that’s only a ‘top up’, to ease a tickle, to clean your mouth or to use a few seconds while you look at the next line or item.Exercises - yep, that again! It’s good to do some warm-up exercises on the day, and you will have seen many of them outlined here, but some need to be done regularly in advance to best benefit your breathing, relaxation, range, volume, diction … well, everything really! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.08.24– 0601 – How The Way We Sound Shapes Our IdentitiesHow The Way We Sound Shapes Our IdentitiesOur voices convey so much more than just information. They can tell other people something essential about who we are: our age and gender and personality (our feelings, our temperament, our identity).On this episode of the Hidden Brain podcast (link below), the presenters look at the relationship between our voices and our identities, how advances in technology might help people with vocal impairments, and the ethical issues around creating personalized, customized voices.https://www.npr.org/2019/07/15/741827437/finding-your-voice-how-the-way-we-sound-shapes-our-identities Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.