At times, when I’m coaching voiceover, I come up against the same conundrum. 

 

Some of the following may be familiar to you.

I’ll be coaching someone whose personality and natural speaking voice has charmed and impressed me.

I’ll send them scripts before our session but when the reading begins, lifting the language ‘off’ the page, that charm and personality disappears.

 

I question it this way

Is it that the text ‘on’ the page is so different from the way they use language, that they can’t get it to sound natural?  Possibly.

The thing is, it needs to sound as though they ‘own the language’, as though they’re just making it up.

Or could it be the difficulty of interpreting words written by another?

Often scripts are quite stylised, and it can be difficult to deliver nuance and meaning and making it sound natural when the script is anything but.

 

Both are possible

But I have a feeling that the main reason could be this.  They’re ‘reading’ at the words, rather than reading through them.

Sure, in the studio, or from your home studio, it’s just you, the mic and the script.

But there’s also that invisible other.  Your unseen audience!   

It may be an audience of one.  Or many.  And they need to hear about, learn from or be convinced by what you’re telling them.

You need to convert those words from ‘written word’ into ‘spoken word’ and make it sound as though you’re talking to someone right in front of you.  Deliver that language as though you’re the expert, making it up as you go along, having new ideas and new thoughts.

So, the most important question you need to ask any script or text that you’re given to read, is ‘who am I talking to’, ‘what do they want or need’ and what ‘key words and phrases’, am I using to convince them?

You also need to know what kind of response you want from that person.

For that to work, you need to know ‘who you are’ in relation to the message you’re delivering

 

You also need a deep understanding of what you’re saying and why

Once you know that, it’s easier to make decisions about your tone or attitude. 

But the techniques for making the language in each script sound authentic is about replicating the genuine conversations we use every day.

In our everyday life, we make adjustments in attitude, mood, rhythms and inflections all the time.

For instance:

• Who are you when you speak to your partner or a close friend about a problem?
• What tone do you adopt when you speak to a family member you need to comfort or offer solutions to?
• Who are you when you speak to your boss, who you may need to impress, or reassure?
• What about when you’re with excited under 10’s, wanting to elicit a sense of fun and optimism?

All these possibilities of who we are in relation to others in our life, also occur in voiceover.

We need to be always thinking about ‘who am I’?  in relation to the audience and the message we’re delivering.

Once you understand this it’ll become easier to analyse the script, work out who you are and what you’re doing and what your attitude to the text is.  Then you’ll be able to deliver that completely naturally whenever you’re doing a voiceover.

 

Here’s an exercise that might help.

One of the best ways to learn the techniques for spoken word and making it sound completely natural is to record ourselves in conversation and listen to how we sound, how we vary pace, energy and volume to create the right meaning for whoever we’re talking to.

Of course, it needs to be candid, so you’re not self-conscious about being recorded.  So set and forget is a good idea.

Or, you could choose to be alone and recording yourself relating a story you recently told someone, something you know quite well.  Don’t worry about being perfect.  This exercise is all about authenticity, not ‘getting it right’.

When you listen back, listen for your rhythms, your pauses, your subtle changes in attitude and emotions.

Develop an ear for the sound of your voice in conversation. You’ll begin to master authentic conversational style for VO in no time.

I hope this helps you make a leap in your voiceover practice.

And if you’d like to refine your voiceover approach, I’d be happy to work with you.  Just click this link to look at my one-on-one Zoom sessions

Happy VoiceOvering !!!