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Quick Voiceover Tip: It’s Not About Your Voice. I know that seems counterintuitive. We are talking about voice over. Where the only thing being presented is…well, your voice. No good looks. No fancy camera tricks. Just your voice and a microphone.
Remember the old-school announcers. “We’ll be back after these commercial messages”. We haven’t heard that line in a couple of decades. Back then it was about the voice. The pipes. How DEEP was your voice?
If you come from broadcast, radio or TV, you may be one of these golden-throated deep voiced ANNOUNCERS. Depending on how you use that voice, that may not be a good thing. So many folks come to the VO industry after being a radio personality, or a television host. Both of those industries do not teach real communication. They teach robotic, phony, hype. And after you’ve been immersed in either of those places for a time, you’ve got a huge problem. Because the real voice actors out there will dance circles around you. The agencies looking for “real” , “conversational”, “authentic”, “natural” and especially “NON-ANNOUNCERY” will quickly pass over you in search of the actors who know how to do it. Did you ever wonder why most national ads use real actors? Casting directors and producers can peg a radio background within the first ten words you speak.
It’s not about the voice. It’s never about the voice. It’s about what you can do with your voice. How good of an actor are you? Voice coaching can pull you away from the announcery delivery, that is, if you are willing to change. In addition to general voiceover coaching, it really comes down to acting training, and removing the throat mechanics that broadcast talent impose on themselves. (One of our specialties – as former broadcasters who were forced to adapt and lose the “radio read” – is helping new voice actors lose that “broadcast sound”, in order to get more work.
Listen to the national ads and find a way to get your talents to that level. You might love your voice, but our industry demands better. Are you willing to critically listen, and change?
Give us a call. We can help with voice mechanics, acting and performance through in-person (Houston area), and virtual voiceover coaching. When you are ready, we then can produce a highly effective voiceover demo to get you moving in the right direction in your VO career.
Quick Voiceover Tip: It’s Not About Your Voice
#vo #voiceover #votips #voiceovertips #coaching
M. Bruce Abbott is the Creative Director/Partner at Radio Lounge. Bruce has over 30 years experience as a voice actor, casting and production director, as well as extensive advertising, marketing, and podcasting experience.
