Yet, in some narrations, that’s exactly what we are doing – setting up what will soon come (visually or otherwise), and subtly commenting on/closing what has come before. In these cases, we may need to use our “introducing…!” delivery, our our “ta-da!” voice.

When I voice the tracks for live announce shows, for instance, this is a clear choice. The intention is to get attention, and set up what comes next. In movies promos, radio imaging, etc. – sure. same thing – though it still must be sincere within those choices.

In narration, it may be a bit more subtle than promo voice, but your voiceover is still the connective tissue between elements before and after your sentences.

Here’s an example of a narration as connective tissue between elements, courtesy of Action Media.

If possible, it does help to know what those segments are – sometimes the client will provide a description, at least, as part of the script. If not, use your imagination to fill in the gaps. Always, if you can, check out the finished product to see how it all married. This helps next time you do a similar project.

If you follow the links to any of the amazing voice talents on the list, you’ll find a wealth of information, for free, in an abundance unlike any other profession I know of. One of my favorite things about this voiceover community is that we help each other, that we share our hard-earned knowledge. Why? Maybe we’re lonely in our home studios, and need to feel that connection. Maybe we become better voice talents by organizing and communicating what we know. Maybe we like seeing our name in print. Maybe we’re just really nice people, who get pleasure from helping others.

In any event, I know I am a much better voice talent and business owner because of every name on this list – and a better person for knowing them! Thanks guys.

You can find some of my VoiceoverXtra articles here:

VoiceoverXtra Articles by Randye

And if you have found my writing helpful, my thanks for saying so! – and, of course, for reading my words in the first place. That’s why we do it. Without a listener, why talk? (hmmm, in fact, a great thing to keep in mind as we voice copy, too…next article….)

Real Life Survival Guide Radio

Recently, I had the chance to visit with Bruce Barber, Duo Dickenson, and three other bright, talented funny guests (including Jaki Valensi-Lauper of Jaki’s Buzz)for my second appearance on the Real Life Survival Guide Radio show.  Bruce is a former “morning radio” guy who has recreated the fun of that atmosphere with this show that addresses, well, real life stuff with different guests each week. Plus, we get to meet in awesome restaurants and chat while solving life’s little problems – or at least laughing about them.

For this hour, I get to return to the relaxation of my own morning radio days  – without having to stop for music! So, you won’t hear my usual careful articulation, etc. You might even hear a hint of my New York roots here. This is improv radio – and boy I really miss that sometimes!

We had a blast. Hope you enjoy listening as we pick apart those little “holiday issues”  this time of year. Plus, we ate awesome pancakes!

Have you heard that? I know I did when I left full-time radio six years ago. Sure, I was a working voice talent before I became an on-air personality. OK, so I began my career as an actress and singer before ever stepping into a whisper room. Still – that was the advice when I left: Hide your years as a radio personality!

back in the days of carts!

Well, I officially disagree. Sorry, but I’ve never been one to follow advice without question (hence my departure from corporate radio, but that’s another story).

So – here are seven things I learned from my years in radio that actually have made me a better voice talent. So there.

1. Cold Reading Skills. When a piece of copy is thrown in front of you, and you must deliver it – live, without a pre-read – with some semblance of understanding and expression, those skills get sharpened fast! Sure, adrenalin helps, but you also develop the ability to read “laterally” with one part of your brain focused on the words you are saying and another part looking ahead to see where it goes. You learn to phrase-as-you-go, on the fly.

2. Variety.  So, you have to read the same script many times,, word-for-word (please don’t even add a “the” without written permission…oh corporate radio, again), you learn to try new approaches within the reality of the copy if only to keep your brain involved.  Great practice for the inevitable VO “Five in a Row”

3. Think Fast. While that song is playing, you may have just a few precious seconds to give away the prize to the caller, edit the phone call down to some good cuts to use on the air, and have it all ready to go by the fade-out.  You learn to trust yourself, and not overthink decisions. These qualities increase confidence in the VO booth.

4. Timing. Most on-air personalities are given very specific timing requirements for newscasts, weather reports, breaks, and of course the commercials they often have to produce after their air shift.  You get to develop an inner clock for a :60, :30 or :15 spot that cannot be even a half-second over time. Very helpful later on, as your ability to change tempo and make it work is called into play for voiceovers.
   

5. Production Skills. Back when voice talents usually left the recording studio waving goodbye to the engineer as we went onto our next job, without an editing care in the world, my experience doing radio production enabled me to make that engineer’s job easier because I had great respect for– and some knowledge of – the job that lay ahead for him/her.  Now, of course, I use many of those skills myself, in my home studio.  The fear factor was greatly reduced by my years in radio, getting cozy with Adobe Audition.

6. Acting is Reacting. My last seven years in radio were spent in the wee hours, as the “second banana” on a morning show.  It reinforced the need for a combination of skills: Preparation plus Improvisation. Technique/Emotion. Intellect/Imagination. Left Brain/Right Brain.  Call it what you will, but you can’t always know in advance how you will feel, even if what you will sayis in print before your eyes. Radio reminded me that I can’t plan everything – that the other person in the “scene” always has an
   

   Radio toVO? Sure!

   effect on the next moment. Yes – even in one-voice narrations, where the “other person” is invisible except in your own imagination. Acting is reacting, after you have started somewhere, with a clear POV (point-of-view).

7. Good Reads Comes From a Place Of Truth. Yes. You learn to believe that the Saturday morning promotional appearance will be great fun for your listener.  You do a morning radio bit with complete commitment to its value. You read sports stories knowing that the scores matter greatly to your listener, even if you personally don’t know a football from a volleyball.  And – you find that different radio gigs require you to use a different part of your personality. I play a specific “character” (i.e. a facet of me) when I now do fill-in work on a classical music station. Morning radio allowed me to be snarkier than PM Drive did. You learn to find, and invest in, the truth of your situation, and of the copy.

So – former radio person, hold your head high! We have nothing to be ashamed of. If you are in voice-over, then I’ll bet some of those radio skills have come in handier than you admit. And the new skills we’ve had to develop only make us better.

Now I can sleep past 3 AM and still talk for a living, Thank you, radio, for the good years and the great lessons. I think I’ll keep those radio credits on my voice-over resume – um, down near the bottom. Just in case.

after the job...

The first thing I remind them is that they’ve been working all along on the next step: deciding where, and how, to look for the right clients for your brand of voiceover. And that process should have begun long before you receive your completed demo.

Huh? Well, think about it. What goes on your first demo? Copy and reads that represent areas where you could see yourself being cast,within which you are  confident you can deliver what your demo promises.  So – if you have a corporate training cut on that demo, then corporate training is an area in which you and your coach have determined you can perform.  So – have you already been looking for potential clients?  When you’ve chosen your scripts, you’ve begun to define your niches.

But let’s look at the most important goal: not quantity of clients as much as quality. And by that I mean you want these first-time customers to become regular clients.  How do you do that? Remember that you cannot let you skills become rusty. Practice well, and often. Retain your passion for this business. Wow ‘em with your skill and professionalism. Give ‘em the old razzle-dazzle, but it had better be backed with talent and business savvy. Then – that customer may become a beautiful thing called a regular client. And when that happens, your demo won’t matter to that client, nor will an audition (most of the time). Once they know you, and love your work, they may send you work. Just like that.

To be honest,  while I do spend time of cultivating new potential clients (every business owner must), the bulk of my work comes from those delightful entities called “repeat clients.”  So I spend at least as much time – more, actually – making sure they are happy with our business relationship, with the service, courtesy, performance, and human touch that makes us happy together.

So – “what now?” always includes the responsibility to keep building and practicing the skills to do an awesome job.  Like the old Girl Scout song says (yes, I have the sash and some badges…) :

Make new friends, but keep the old.

One is silver and the other’s gold.

Thanks, repeat clients. Love working with you!

Improv Goup, a decade ago - great for VO!

answer, then a class to teach at Connecticut School of Broadcasting. Today, a catch-up day so far. E-mails from VO peeps included a link to Pummelvision, where they find your tagged photos and create a montage. Sure, I’ll bite. It’s free, and I’m curious.

STAR 99.9 past colleagues

The result reminded me that we are all more than just our work, despite the cocktail party question, “So what do you do?” Those of us who act for a living constantly feel this, as everything we do (for work or otherwise) goes into our personalities, and can be used to interpret copy through the filter that is, well, us.

Not to mention, VO people rock, play wel with others, and share! Gor instance, read this post from Doug Turkel, the UNnouncer, re great voiceover resources:

Here’s the result, by the way. This quick view reminds me of the people who honor me with their presence in my life and in my soul – through work, family, acquaintance and friendship. Thanks!  And, looking forward to Faffcon 3, very soon!

Tomorrow night I will teach a marketing tele-class for Edge Studio for beginners on VO and Social Media – and in the past few months have found there’s been so much more to learn! so have signed up for a series of Webinar recordings (well the last one is live today, but I’ll be on the air) from Trish Basanyi, Terry Daniel, Dave Courvoisier – all social media gurus – you can do it too right here http://conta.cc/NewVOsocMediaWebs !

Still, this is a new experience for me. I am narrating this book I love: Ben Behind His Voices: One Family’s Journey from the Chaos of Schizophrenia

audiobook CD version coming 9/15/11

to Hope.  The audio publisher  is Spoken Word Inc., an awesome young company who believes in the book as much as I do, and has hired me to narrate it.

What’s the weird thing? I am also the author of this book.  Yeah, It’s my own words I’m reading, drafted and rewritten a gazillion times. And now, as narrator, I’m having a tough time resisting the urge to rewrite as I read.

Of course, as audiobook narrators know, the words are sacrosanct. The author’s voice is the star, you just enhance it with your read. But turning off my “author brain” is taking some focus. And, at the same time, it’s a relief.  Yes, the book is now in print at last. I have held my own hardcover in my hot little hands. Now, to forget I am the author, step back from the writing desk, and treat this manuscript with the same freshness as I would when written by any other author. Who is not me.

Challenge! This is why we have such a passion for what we do as voice actors.  Will keep you posted.

Edge Studio Team

Tomorrow night I teach another session for Edge Studio called “Investigate Voice Over.” We call it the “IVO” – and it’s taught frequently in our New York main studio, our CT and DC studios, in Los Angeles, and also via teleclass.

If you’ve ever wondered about the true path to VoiceOver success, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Got the Voiceover dream? Get the truth! And have fun finding out if this business – and make no mistake, it most certainly is a business -is for you, and if you are ready for it.

Every dream can always live if you never pursue it, but if you want to change it from a nice dream to an attainable goal then you must take the first step to see what it takes. The first step is to find out the facts.  I’ve taught this class for Edge probably about a gazillion times – that’s accurate, right? – and a shorter version of it as a one-night continuing education intro (no recording in the booth, no evaluation, but still a ton of realistic info). I always congratulate my curious students on taking that first step: finding out the truth.

What is the truth? Here are few thoughts:

• There are tons of opportunities. It’s not all about national commercials, though that sure is nice.
• A nice voice is nice, but not enough (see my article, The Five Layers of Voiceover).
• This business is fun, lucrative, creative, and filled with the best colleagues ever.
• There will be training involved, from a little (you are already a  TV/fim actor, perhaps?) to a lot (you still read out loud like you’re reading about “Dick and Jane” in second grade)
• There will be marketing involved. You will have to find clients who want your services, and treat them with good customer service
• No one is going to discover you. You will have to let them know you’re here! And don’t let them know until you are good, and ready to deliver what’s on your demo. If the engineer made your demo sound good – and not you – then you are not ready yet!

When you take an IVO, you may decide that you don’t want to do all that work. So, OK. Now you know. But if it dashes your dream by giving it a jolt of reality, that’s a good thing. Because now there is room for the dreams you really are willing to work at.

Plus – learning about the voice, and about communication, can only help in other areas. Knowledge is never a waste of time!

So come get you questions answered, find out the facts, learn the truth, give it a shot. You never know – you may leave the IVO more inspired than ever to join the voiceover ranks – and we will welcome you with open arms.

Edge Studio Coaches

When I teach “Investigate Voice-Over” classes for Edge Studio – either in the CT or NYC studio, on a telecall/webinar, in Continuing Education sessions or at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting – I usually begin by asking students what brought them to the class.

If I had, say, a dollar for every answer that began, “Everyone says I have such a good voice…” I would at least be able to buy that ipad I’ve got my eye on.  And, yes, I’m thrilled to see anyone who takes steps to satisfy their curiosity.  Taking that first step takes courage, because sometimes a dream (“I could make it in voice-over someday if I want to”) is easier to handle than a goal (“Let me find out the reality of voice-over and then decide if I want to do what it takes”).

If you do take that first step -finding out the facts – I applaud you! Maybe you’ll

a moment of focus!

decide it’s a lot harder than you thought, and it’s not really for you. Or maybe you’ll love it so much that you can’t wait to start investing your time and – let’s face it – money into starting a voice-over business. Either way, you’re ahead whenever you learn something.

So – what does it take? Five layers!

1- A voice. Um, yeah. So -  maybe it’s pleasant, or unique, or makes people smile. Your “voice adjectives” will provide the first ideas as to where you might fit in this business. But voice is also about control of accents/speech defects/regionalisms. It’s about vocal care, and knowing how to breathe properly. This may take work – singing lessons, speech therapy, learning about the care of your instrument.

2- Reading Skills – You must be able to read fluently, fluidly, and with comprehension.  So many of my newbie students simply don’t know how to read well. Part of your brain has to think ahead, part must stay in the moment. It’s called lateral reading. And – if you don’t understand what you’re reading, and the purpose for every phrase, the listener definitely won’t either.

3-Acting skills – who are you? who are you talking to? why are you saying these words? Actors call it “motivation.” You’d better know how to communicatethe words to your listener. It’s not called “Voice Reading” -  it’s called “Voice Acting.” What can help? Acting and/or improvisation classes.

improv class

4- Technique – Acting uses a lot of the “right brain” – where imagination and the “big picture” reign. But it’s also about technique, and the compartmentalized skills (“left brain”) that mean you can control tempo, pitch, volume, articulation, microphone placement, etc.  Clients will expect this professionalism. The answer? Training, then focused practice until technique is so second-nature you don’t have to overthink it anymore – think driving range in golf.

5 - Business savvy and willingness – This is a business, people. If you don’t want to run one, read to your kids instead.  You can get a lot of joy out bringing words to life off the page – you just won’t get paid for it without treating voice-over like the business it is.

Want to know more? edgestudio.com career center, socialmediavo.com, youtube, google – there’s a ton of info out there! Set up a couple of sessions with a voice-0ver coach, or take a class. At the very least, you’ll have a good time, learn a little, and take home some skills that help in any kind of communication.

Good luck!

Randye