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March 2014

Some ins and outs of voice-over

By David Scully

© Copyright. David Scully. 2016. 2017.

After being lucky enough to make a living performing and teaching voice over for ten plus years, I’ve come the realization that some of the more confusing aspects of voice over need to be broken down and explained.

This is a result of the numerous questions I’ve received from the voice over students and the curious, who’ve dreaming about making a living in voice-over but don’t understand that surviving in the V/O world requires more than just reading out loud, and requires more restraint than the demands of acting for the stage, or screen.

So here’s my attempt to break down some ins and outs of voice over:

It’s reading but it isn’t

Voice over is a fine balance of reading and injecting emotion, when appropriate. I had a few students lift their eyes from the page when they get caught up in the “moment” and then loose their place in the text. I’ve also had a few students who’ve meticulously kept their eyes on the page, while reading verbatim but without interjecting any feeling or meaning.  A delicate balance of both is what’s optimal. The most adept V/O talent are pros at reading ahead, knowing which words to stress, but also knowing when to pause and pace themselves.

 Your emotions are involved, but never get in the way of the message

When I’ve directed students to interject more emotion into their performance, a common response is: “How do you know if I’m doing too much or too little?” A good way to practice is to record yourself talking on the telephone—with the other caller’s permission, of course. And then, and I know this is painful, listen to the recording of your voice. Listen to the different colors and nuances in your voice as you speak-especially when you’re trying to “convince” the other person. The other person isn’t looking at your face, unless it’s a Skype call. So how do you convey happiness, love, frustration, and anger, with your voice as the only tool at your disposal?

Then the next step is to be able to adjust as you speak. Recording yourself is a great way to start, but you need to graduate to speaking, and adjusting, simultaneously. This means speaking, listening at the same time, and quickly adjusting as you go. Easy read than done.

It’s not what you read it’s how you read it

Is the client’s message important? Of course it is. Even if you’re reading a “how-to” resource guide, while it may seem dry to you, it’ll certainly appeal to a certain crowd. That said/written, you should know what you’re talking about, or at least sound like you do. So it’s almost more important how you’re reading the copy in combination with what you may be reading.

For instance, I was setting up for a voice class in a small studio and overheard the recording session that was ahead of me. The talent was being patched in from the Midwest, so all I heard was her voice. The timber, and gentleness in her tone made me stop and listen; it was only after 30 seconds that I realized she was reading narration copy for a petroleum manufacturer. The copy was technical, dull, and dry, but her read wasn’t.

The engineer who was recording the session caught me eavesdropping, put on the mute button and said with a smile, “Isn’t she great? She even makes petroleum sound interesting.” I later found out that the client had been using this skilled voice talent as their spokesperson for years, and it was obvious why. She hit just the right balance of being able to enunciate the technical jargon as well as inject a little emotion into her read.

And that’s the key to surviving in the voice over kingdom: if you can make what you’re reading just as important as how you’re reading it, you too could be a company spokesperson. You may not be reading endless copy about petroleum, but who knows what fate may bring your way.

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OCTOBER 17th:

Just finished a campaign for a national company, but I’m sworn to secrecy. Wish I could talk about, but I’m not supposed to. I shouldn’t even be writing about it. Heck, you shouldn’t even be reading about it. Let’s both stop now before I get us-meaning you- in trouble.

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MAY 10th

Everyone’s a voice actor when they talk on the telephone:

“Check’s in the mail”

“I’m just running a little late. I’ll be there soon.”

“You know how I feel about you.”

Maybe that’s why texting is so popular. You can’t tell when someone’s lying.

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APRIL 30th

Voice over is a technical business, true. It’s also an emotional craft. The listener picks up on the intention and feeling of the voice talent, no mater WHAT they’re reading. The trick is to convey warmth, and a casual quality to the voice, whether you LIKE the script of not. That’s where the work comes in.