If you’re reading this blog, then idea of working in voiceover has probably been rattling around in your mind for some time.   Or you’ve been doing some voiceover work but know you need to know more.

 

This is you.

• You have a love of words and language
• You like the idea of doing Commercials or working in the Non-Commercial area
• You have a passion for character voices and see yourself in Animation or Games
• You love the idea of Audiobook Narration.

Or perhaps someone has said to you,

‘Wow you have a great voice. You should be doing something with that!’

But here’s the thing

I work with a lot of humans who have interesting, engaging voices in real life.  But the litmus test for whether they could find success in voiceover is this.

Sounding authentic!

And to sound authentic, there’s one skill you need to be familiar with.  It’s called ‘transparency’.

And that means that the words you speak, sound as though they’re your own, like you just…made them up.

And as the audience, we believe, that you believe what you’re talking about.

This gives your work a fresh spontaneity and that’s what producers and engineers are looking for.

It’s always been this way.

But in the age of AI voices, it’s even more crucial that you sound like a genuinely authentic human.

And sounding authentic is only possible once you understand how to convert someone else’s ‘written language’, into great ‘spoken word’ language.

This is what I teach.  How to look at the words on the page and understand their purpose.

You need to know:

• What you’re talking about
• Who you’re talking to, and
• Have excellent story-telling skills

Let’s take a deeper look at these three elements.

 

Know what you’re talking about

In the commercial and non-commercial worlds, you must understand what it is that the advertiser or client is actually saying?

What’s the reason or purpose for the message.

All the clues will be in the script.

You look into the language deeply to find the key words or phrases that sum up what you’re talking about, what problem you’re solving, or what it is that you want to get the listening audience to do.  And you give those words and phrases focus.

But you need to know that you’re not just reading words on a page.

You’re working through the words to create a strong connection to the audience.

You need to be proficient and comfortable with every aspect of spoken word, so that when you read…anything…you sound completely connected and engaging.

 

Know who you’re talking to

Often, it’s obvious in the script who your ‘target audience’ is, but I know you get a better result if you choose one person only from that audience and imagine that you’re delivering the message or story to that one person.

There are two reasons for this.

One, when we talk to just one person, our volume is quite low.  It’s more intimate.

Remember, the digital medium doesn’t like loud voices.  If your volume is recorded too loud, your voice won’t sound connected to the message.

Less is definitely more in terms of voiceover volume!

And two, it takes a lot of energy to talk at volume. 

So, if you imagine that you’re just speaking to an ‘ear’, it’ll be easier to access emotion and feeling, such as genuine warmth, genuine excitement and genuine connection, and it will simply sound more authentic.

 

Have excellent story-telling skills

Whether you’re a voiceover artist or a voice actor who’s working with dialogue in a commercial script, a scene in an animation, or narrating an audiobook, you need to make choices about the character’s environment and how that colours the attitudes and emotional status of the character. 

Techniques such as pausing for effect, changing pace or energy, and of course emphasising a certain phrase or phrases, or just single words, are what creates authentic and believable performances.

Story-telling scripts and texts require you to imagine that you’re inhabiting an environment, whether it’s a physical or emotional one.  Notice what’s there and adjust your performance so the listener believes you ‘are’ there.

This is especially important in animation and crucial in audiobook when you’re voicing characters who are in a scene.

Remember, in audiobook, the narrator is talking directly to the listening audience and the characters are talking to each other, in an environment.

In my Discover Voiceover Technique, ‘one day live workshop’, always held in Melbourne on a Saturday, I give you the techniques for lifting the words off the page – in every area of voiceover and narration – so you know how to deliver them as though they’re your own, thereby creating authenticity.

Once you have the skills for doing this, your words will always sound genuine and spontaneous.

And you’ll become known as a voiceover actor who ‘sounds authentic’.

Happy Voiceovering!