Get A Better Broadcast, Podcast and Voice-Over Voice

2023.08.08 – 0950 – The ‘ Gravelly’ Voice   Gravelly voice Symptom: A low, deep voice with little energy, projection or intonation. Prescription: This may be reduced by losing weight which could enhance better posture and increased energy. This will enable easier breath support (listen to episode 833) and projection, with more energy for increased intonation. (A series of episodes from episod...

2023.08.07 – 0949 – The ‘ Gabbling’ Voice Gabbling voice [1] Symptom :  Different situations require different speeds: a brash ‘ pile ‘em high and sell ‘em cheap ’ commercial is likely to be faster than one for luxury lingerie, a late-night presenter on a classical music station likely to have a slower pace than a jock on a city-based Countdown show. Having said that, someone who speaks too f...

2023.08.06 – 0948 – The ‘ Forced Pitch’ Voice Forced pitch voice (also see: unnatural pitch) Symptom: Some people force their voice to produce sound at a different pitch than is normal or comfortable for them. Men and women may artificially lower their pitch in the belief that it gives them more gravitas or presence. (Raising the pitch is less usual.)   This results in an inauthentic delivery...

2023.08.05 – 0947 – Filler Words Filler words (over-use of) Symptom : Verbal ticks in conversation, links and adlibs include words like “ umm ”, “ so ” and “ yeah? ” (and, indeed, “ like ”), or phrases such as “ you know what I mean? ”, “ kinda thing ”. [1] Prescription: ·        Record and listen back to identify the use and regularity of these words. Some...

2023.08.04 – 0946 – The ‘Ending Pattern’ Voice   ‘Ending Pattern’ voice Symptom : A variety of the ‘sing song’ pattern discussed below, this presenter may (annoyingly and predictably) end a phrase or sentence with the same or similar intonation. One beloved of news reporters is to speak naturally for most of the sentence and then pause, before giving the same emphasis to each of the three wor...

2023.08.03 – 0945 – the ‘ Choppy’ Delivery   ‘ Choppy’ delivery Symptom: This is the style of [breath] having to take a breath [breath] after every few words [breath] in a sentence. The scrip is disjointed. Chopped up. Rather than a smooth flow. Short word-groups are said. Rather than a full, phrase. Or a sentence. And so, the script may be hard to understand. (I referenced a famous British n...

2023.08.02 – 0944 – Bunged up voice Bunged up voice (also see ‘nasal voice’) Symptom: This permanent ‘cold-like’ sound is caused by ‘not enough’ sounded air to get to the nasal cavity, where the resonance of sound is changed. The voice sounds ‘thick’ or ‘clotted’ and there’s little resonance where there should be in some sounds (say ‘ mmm ’ and ‘ ng ’ – as in “ sing ” – and pinch your nose, and th...

2023.08.01 – 0943 – Breathy Voice Breathy voice Symptom:  A voice with lots of air, which disperses the sound waves, makes the voice weak, and soon runs out (such as that of Marilyn Munroe [1] ). The cause may be serious, a physical problem in closing your vocal folds during phonation causing extra, unnecessary air to ‘leak’ as you speak. A breathy voice can be affected, put-on for dramatic e...

2023.07.31 – 0942 – Dry Mouth Problems Dry mouth Symptom: Unable to move your tongue around your mouth properly to form words leading to poor articulation and mistakes. Prescription: ·        Learn to breathe in more through your nose, which moistens and filters the air. Although this is usually less possible when actually talking as we tend to take snatches...

2023.07.30 – 0941 – The Boring Voice Boring voice (aka ‘dull’, ‘flat’, ‘monotonous’, ‘uninterested’) Symptom: If you are having trouble being engaging it may be because your voice lacks variety, and so listeners have trouble working out what is vital and what is trivial. Prescription: ·        Maybe your voice is lifeless because that’s almost what your body...

2023.07.29 – 0940 – YOUR ‘GET A BETTER VOICE’ SYMPTOMS AND PRESCRIPTIONS   Although requirements for broadcast, presentation and voice-over work has changed over the years, less ‘announcer’ to more ‘natural’, you do still need a certain amount of vocal strength and a versatile, pleasing voice if you are going to communicate effectively with your intended audience.   Many of the condition...

2023.07.28 – 0939 – Emotional Stress After Vocal Injury   Emotional Stress After Vocal Injury The flip-side of emotion causing changes to the voice, is when vocal damage then affects you psychologically, perhaps because of: ·        Sadness about the injury and how long recovery may take, if at all ·        Stress...

2023.07.27 – 0938 – How Emotions And Trauma Affect How You Sound Tears and crying They may be tears of joy, sadness, relief or something else, but tears can create vocal problems: ·        Crying affects your vocal folds ·        Snotty sinuses swell ·        Long sobs (from a pa...

2023.07.26 – 0937 – Studio ‘Corpsing’ Corpsing This is when you collapse in uncontrollable fits of laughter, perhaps from a perfectly innocuous remark by a colleague, and you can’t get over your ‘fit of the giggles’.   The BBC Radio Four newsreader Charlotte Green tells a great story on the website of the Guardian newspaper:- “The most memorable occasion was during an eight o'clock news bulle...

2023.07.25 – 0936 – Breaking News Breaking News Stories News readers need to be cool under pressure. There are occasions when a story breaks just before, or while you are on air and it has to be covered immediately.  In such circumstances, a news presenter has to tread a difficult line between making the story sound urgent and important - without making it sound overly dramatic and possibly u...

2023.07.24 – 0935 – Stopping Silly Script-reading Slip-ups Other mistakes Don’t let yourself get in your own way! Knowing some of these will help you avoid them in the first place. ·        Slow down if you can, and you’re likely to make fewer mistakes ·        Consider that you may be going fast because you are thinki...

2023.07.23 – 0934 – If It *Does* Go Wrong IF IT DOES GO WRONG The Number One Rule Never swear anywhere near a studio. By keeping to this, the chances of you swearing on air are greatly minimised. It is not just main studios that have microphones and the ability to ‘go live’ - many production booths where producers answer phones can also be put to air, so do not let down your guard.   Live-rea...

2023.07.22 – 0933 – Confidence Vs. Cockiness   Confidence is being pleased that you have been hired for the gig, proud that someone wants you to be the voice of their product, and certain that you can perform well. It’s the difference between someone who sees the red light go on and thinks “ I know, if I concentrate, and with good direction, I’m prepared and communicate this message ”, and th...

2023.07.21 – 0932 – Beta Blockers To Help Studio Nerves Beta-blockers Perhaps one of the last resorts to cope with mic fright is the use of drugs. [1] That could be drink, tobacco, (il)legal drugs such as cannabis, or some doctors prescribe beta blockers , which are usually for conditions like high blood pressure, arrhythmia and angina, but these, and tranquillizers, may help reduce your anxiety....

2023.07.20 – 0931 – Look After Each Other     VOICE BOX Look after each other If you see a colleague going through an anxious moment, support them by being positive. Helpful phrases are ones such as: “ I want to help you... ” “ How can I support you?”   Less helpful phrases are: “ Don’t worry…” “ You’ll be fine…”   Worse are: “ Are you nervous? ”   Pointless feedback inclu...

2023.07.19 – 0930 – Earn Your ‘On Air’ Miles Earn your ‘on-air’ miles Of course, overcoming a fear of failure comes from experience: your miles at the mic.   When I was still at university, I’d spend hours on hospital radio and then my local station, sometimes just sitting in a studio, seeing the layout, playing songs and jingles, seeing what happened and why. I became comfortable at the cont...

2023.07.18 – 0929 – Gobble Up The Feedback Feedback A constructive debrief is part of the ‘Plan and Prepare, Execute and Reflect and Evaluate’ feedback loop. (More on this in episode #629.) Such a ‘post performance review’ (never use the term ‘post-mortem’ as it has so many negative connotations) is most practically held just after the show or session, but be aware that it could therefore be emoti...

2023.07.17 – 0928 – Warming Down   After The Studio Session Warm Down Exercises Hear episodes from #804 for specific exercises but doing these are part of the process to build confidence for next time. After all, if you don’t warm down and then end up hurt, it won’t inspire you to speak on mic at the next opportunity. They’re really easy to do surreptitiously in the studio when the mic’s gone...

2023.07.16 – 0927 – What To Do In The Moment When The Nerves Feel Real   VOICE BOX What to do in-the-moment when the nerves feel very real? STOPP:   S – Slow down Pause and look and take it in.   T – Take a breath And then in the event, calming breaths, relax your mouth with lip trills and blows, be grounded on your feet. Connect with the ground and wiggle your toes   O – Obser...

2023.07.15 – 0926 – ‘Park’ Perfection Think about: ·        Your single listener across the room: it will help you focus your attention on reassuring realities rather than lurking fears ·        The fact that the audience can’t harm you. They have turned on to hear what you have to say, to get your opinion and expertis...