Get A Better Broadcast, Podcast and Voice-Over Voice

2022.10.12 – 0650 – Verbal Trips and Slips Trips 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....

2022.10.11 – 0649 – Practicing Talking To Time   Practice Talking To Time As we saw in episode 427 Take 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 r...

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 th...

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...

2022.10.08 – 0646 – Speed-Reading Speed reading With 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.c...

2022.10.07 – 0645 – Rehearsing Cold Reading Rehearsing Cold Reading It 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 v...

2022.10.06 – 0644 – Script-Reading and Peripheral Vision Peripheral vision It 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...

2022.10.05– 0643 – Warming Up To Cold Reads Warming up to cold reads Sight-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 w...

2022.10.04– 0642 – Sight-Reading Scripts Tips Cold-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...

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 ·   &...

2022.10.02 – 0640 – Extracting Distracting Fillers 1   Overcoming Fillers Not 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 genuinel...

2022.10.01 – 0639 – Why “Umm” May Make You Sound Dumb You 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 ve...

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...

2022.09.29 – 0637 – Umm, Err, Well, Kinda Filler words It’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...

 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 spontane...

2022.09.27 – 0635 – Killing Your Presentation With Bullets Killing It With Bullets Usually 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 tho...

2022.09.26 – 0634 – When To Ditch The Studio Script The role of the script A 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 y...

2022.09.25 – 0633 – Other Voice Skills: Adlibs, Cold Reading and Talking To Time   OTHER SPEAKING SKILLS An 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-libbing This is what you say off the top of your head without a script, and is another good skill for any broadcast...

2022.09.24 - 0632 – Giving Yourself Voice Direction Self-directing If 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...

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 m...

2022.09.22 - 0630 – Voice-Over Studio Direction Taking direction Pay 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 a...

2022.09.21 - 0629 – Getting Feedback On Your Voice VOICE BOX Giving 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  “...

2022.09.20 - 0628 – Voice-Over Guide Tracks G uide 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. &nbsp...

2022.09.19 - 0627 – How Voice Directors Can Help You Feel Part Of The Production Team VOICE BOX Directors – 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...

2022.09.18 - 0626 – The Limits Of Line-Reading Second, 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,...