Get A Better Broadcast, Podcast and Voice-Over Voice

2022.09.17 - 0625 – Line-Reading For Voice Training VOICE BOX Line reading A 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...

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. Ma...

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 w...

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 you...

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...

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 ex...

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 ma...

2022.09.10 - 0618 – How To Return After A Verbal Slip Turning 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...

2022.09.09 - 0617 – How To Make A Sound Engineer Your Friend How 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. ·    &nbs...

2022.09.08 - 0616 – The Voice-Over Studio Workflow Let’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...

2022.09.07 - 0615 – Voice Director Skills The 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...

2022.09.06 - 0614 – Talking About Studio Talkbacks Talk-back mics The 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 head...

2022.09.05 - 0613 – How ‘Control Room Characters’ May Shape Your Voice The 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 creativ...

2022.09.04 - 0612 – Taking Voice Production Notes Always 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 t...

2022.09.03 - 0611 – What To Take Into A Voice Recording Session Performance Ok 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 types Comfort and confidence Health Water – in a spill-proof bottle To top up your hydration To give you something to...

2022.09.02 - 0610 – Top ‘Studio Day’ Tips On 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...

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 r...

2022.08.31 - 0608 – Your Voice Mixed With Music Music 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...

2022.08.30– 0607 – Your Voice Over Role What 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 inte...

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...

2022.08.28– 0605 – What’s In Your Briefs What’s in your briefs Who 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...

2022.08.27– 0604 – The Brief For A Voice-Over Recording The brief for a script recording A 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...

2022.08.26– 0603 – Pre-Prep To Keep In Step For 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...

2022.08.25– 0602 – On The Day Prep To Get A Better Voice Prepping 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 w...

2022.08.24– 0601 – How The Way We Sound Shapes Our Identities How The Way We Sound Shapes Our Identities Our 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 relations...