CONTENTS - What's Inside

Foreword
Chapter 1: Misconceptions
Chapter 2: Industry Overview
     definition
     styles, types, growth
     major changes
Chapter 3: Pre-Training
     what’s ‘in’
     advancement: obstacles, obtaining skills, time involved
     producers’ expectations
Chapter 4: Training
     foundation
     be natural
     the two delivery components
     composure
     tension free
     basic training
     the four vocal components
     inflection and pitch
     flowing naturally
     variety
     diction
     numbers, web addresses, and more
     emotion, character, tone
     advanced training
     mental and physical preparation
     copy analysis…on your own
     copy analysis…with the creative team
     delivery / character development
     valuing words
     microphone essentials
     mouth noises and breathing techniques
     diction
     flow / smoothness
     timing
     hitting
     smile
     variety
     consistency / valuing words
     punctuation
     keywords
     multi-person scripts
     auditions
     practice tips and scripts
     practice tips
     practice scripts
Chapter 5: Post-Training
     evaluate your potential
     determine your next step
Chapter 6: Demo
     demo overview
     when to produce a demo
     how to produce a demo
Chapter 7: The Business
     getting hired, and by whom
     billing, invoicing, taxes
     union / non-union
     odds and ends: volunteer work, auditions
Chapter 8: Home Studio
     should you?
     how big is your head?
     choose a microphone
     design and build your space
     ISDN
Chapter 9: Marketing
     marketing overview
     appearing professional
     getting out there
     contacts
Chapter 10: Working
     producers’ expectations, unprofessional traits
     recording sessions
     recording studios
     industry dictionary

One person tells you, “Hey great voice! You could make a fortune in radio!”
The next says, “Don’t even bother…they hire the same 3 people over and over!”

Things like this make it confusing for those considering voice over. We will clarify this.

Since voice over is a relatively new industry, and since it’s gone through major transitions in it’s short life, there are many schools of thought. Each “expert” preaches a different theory.

The problem is that many “experts” speak from their own perspective, as opposed to considering all possibilities. This causes them to contradict one another. So anytime someone tells you “This is the way it always is.” they are likely incorrect, as there is a time and place for everything.

The following examples will help clarify numerous misconceptions.

     One voice over book says, “When reading children’s stories, use high energy.” Yet another book says, “When reading children’s stories, use low energy.” The correct way to read is to use the appropriate energy given the intent. For example, if the children’s story is intended to help children fall asleep, low energy is appropriate. If the story is to keep children entertained, high energy is appropriate. If the story is intended to help children learn to read (as in a picture-book), a slower tempo is appropriate. If the story is to help foreign children learn English, a highly articulate delivery is appropriate.

     Many aspiring voice-talent are anxious to “hit the street.” Therefore, many voice over schools take advantage of this and rush you through the training process without ‘complete training’. Bypassing certain steps allows you to get the demo faster. But at what price? Without proper training, there’s a strong likelihood that you’ll receive less work. Do not fall into the ‘get a demo quick and hit the casting directors’ mentality. Instead use a training facility that 1.) will candidly evaluate your talent, 2.) help you determine which genres your voice is most marketable for, 3.) offer time to study those genres, 4.) train you, and 5.) help establish a marketing plan specifically for those genres.

     You may have heard a struggling voice over artist say, “Don’t bother…I’ve been trying this for a year and haven’t gotten any work yet!” We meet these people everyday and immediately know why this is the case. While they believe it's that three people get all the work, we feel otherwise. Most unsuccessful, aspiring voice over artists do a number of things wrong, including marketing only a commercial demo, with an announcer style delivery, and with horrible marketing tactics. Of course they don’t get work. Obviously, if you treat this like a business and train and market correctly, you greatly increase your chance of obtaining work.

     Many voice over schools suggest to “Make a commercial demo.” That is fine. However you should also consider a narration demo since narrations are approximately 92% of the industry (i.e.: audiobook, documentary, training video, website narration, cartoon animation, educational film, telephone system, corporate presentation, etc.).

     CDs or MP3s? Headshot or no headshot? One casting director claims that everyone wants demos on CD with full color headshots. The next claims that everyone prefers MP3 files emailed to them without headshots. The truth is that every casting director prefers something different. Therefore, to get the most work, never assume what a casting director wants and instead ask.

     “Use the strong, announcer, broadcast style voice” says one expert.” But that seems confusing since most voice overs you hear are natural and conversational. The answer? Unless the expert is specifically talking about promos and local/broadcast style commercials, chances are good that they prefer a natural style. This is because most voice overs, other than promos and hard-sell style commercials, use a natural and conversational style vocal delivery. In fact, the announcer style voice is being used less and less every year. It is estimated that 95% of scripts are delivered using a natural style voice...not an 'announcerish' one.

     $2,000 to record one radio commercial is fantastic. And many voice over schools “tempt” you into training with them by reminding you of such numbers. However few newcomers receive enough high-paying jobs to equal their annual income. Therefore we suggest to be realistic… begin part-time and quit your day-job when you have sufficient clientele. Or choose to keep voice over as a supplement to your day-job’s income.

     Here’s a confusing one. One voice over school charges $100 to produce a demo when another charges $800. Plus the cheaper one has lots of experience as they’ve made many demos. Well here are the facts: 1.) cheaper studios have lots of experience ONLY because everyone goes there because they are cheap, 2.) most every casting director will agree that most of these demos are unmarketable and get thrown out, and 3.) since digital recording studios are inexpensive these days, anyone can do it …even those who do not know the voice over industry and/or do not have trained ears. When shopping for a demo-producer, ask to review demos they have produced, learn if they take time with you, and ask if they cover every component of ‘complete training’ (as listed above). If they don’t, instead of saving money, you’ll waste it.

     Some people believe that acting lessons are invaluable when training for voice over. Some believe that they are damaging, and suggest you avoid them. The answer depends upon the style of voice over you are training for and the type of acting lessons you consider. Here are some examples: 1.) Most voice over delivery requires a natural style, and therefore film acting lessons may be helpful as they generally teach a natural style. Conversely, stage acting (where you may be taught to project) may be detrimental. 2.) If you desire character and animation work, consider improv and comedic classes as they generally teach you how to “open up,” be creative, and be loose. If you are considering acting lessons, ask the instructor if they are familiar with the type of voice over you are interested in, and if they believe their class would be beneficial or detrimental. Then be sure that they understand today’s voice over style.

     Contrary to popular belief, commercial and narration scripts are read the same way. The assumption that commercials are fast and narrations are slow is incorrect. For example, some commercials are fast (car dealerships) and some are slow (financial industries, jewelry ads). Some narrations are fast (travelogues, children stories) and some are slow (training films, telephone automation systems). Also, some commercials sell (retail sales) while others inform (public service announcements, etc). Some narrations sell (infomercial, trade-show exhibits, etc) while others inform (how-to-videos, self-help, etc). It is necessary, however, for a voice over artist to have stamina to be able to narrate a narration, as the recordings are typically longer.

Chapter 2: Industry Overview

In this chapter:
     definition
     styles, types, growth
     major changes

definition

Originally from the phrase voice-over-picture, a voice over is a spoken-word recording, also known as a narration. The voice over artist is the person whose voice is heard. A voice over artist is also known as a voice artist, voice over actor, voice actor, voice over performer, voice performer, voice over talent, voice talent, voice over narrator, voice narrator, narrator, announcer, and simply a V.O.

styles, types, growth

styles

     unaffected (natural): The natural delivery is today’s most popular style. It is generally used for most sectors of voice over, except for promos & trailers, broadcast & announcer reads, and character & animation scripts.

* IMPORTANT * Many people mistakenly interpret “natural” to mean “nonchalant.” That is incorrect. Natural simply means unaffected, which means ANY voice used in real life, such as nonchalant, energetic, funny, sad, compassionate, happy, sarcastic, and so on.

     affected (unnatural): An affected delivery is generally used only for promos & trailers, broadcast & announcer reads, and character & animation scripts. This was not the case prior to the 1990s, when many sectors of voice over used affected style delivery.

types

     voice over commercial market: 8% of voice over work is estimated to be commercial work.

While the smaller portion of voice over, few jobs pay as well as a national television commercial. However most professional talent earn the majority of their income from narration work, as there is simply much more of it.

     radio: commercial

     television: commercial

     PSA: public service announcement

     promo: promotional advertisement for television show

     trailer: promotional advertisement for movie

     voice over narration market: 92% of voice over work is estimated to be narration work.

Many voice over artists (as well as voice over recording studios) specialize in one or more types of narration voice over. For marketing purposes, their demos demonstrate their specialty, e.g.: an audiobook demo. And likewise, they market themselves to audiobook recording studios, audiobook casting professionals, and audiobook producers.

As you read through the technique portions of this guidebook, begin thinking about the sectors of voice over that are the most marketable for you.

     announcement: airports, stadiums, train stations, etc.

     audiobook: adult, children, self-help, best seller, classic, etc.

Audiobooks are approximately a $1 billion per year industry, which is approximately 13% of the publishing industry. Amazingly, audiobooks reported a 5% growth in the industry last year, with similar growth projected for this year. Most bookstores now sell audiobooks, and most libraries rent them. Today there are even narrated weekly magazines and narrated daily newspapers.

Self-help, teen, and non-fiction are some of the faster growing styles. Other popular styles include fiction, science fiction, romance, contemporary classic, children, and mystery.

     biography: celebrity, politician, etc.

When most people think of biographies, they think only of the biography channel on cable television. However biography voice over narrations are also popular for non-fiction audiobooks, educational films, and self guided museum tours.

     character & animation: talking toys, cartoons, children’s books, multimedia educational videos, video games, etc.

* IMPORTANT * Many people mistakenly confuse the terms Character and Animation. A Character voice is representative of someone else, such as an accent, dialect, impersonation, and cliché voice (such as a New York cab driver). An Animation voice is one that is created to represent a being that does not naturally speak, such as a cartoon character, an animated movie, a talking toy, and so on.

     corporate (industrial): sales video, trade show exhibit, promotional material, new hire video, training tutorial, compliance video, etc.

     documentary: wildlife, country and people, natural disaster, children’s, etc.

     education & training: learning program, training film, CDroms, children’s films, etc.

In a society which promotes learning, self-help programs, on-line tutorials, Internet college classes, narrated textbooks, children’s education films, adult continuing education training programs, are increasingly popular.

     film dubbing, ADR, looping: television, movie, international corporate training material, etc.

     Internet: website presentation, museum self-guided tour, banner ad, interactive tour, on-line tutorial, etc.

Internet voice over appears to be the largest and fastest growing sector of voice over. In fact, many voice over artists and production companies estimate that Internet audio totals one-quarter to one-half of their business.

Types range from narrated banner ads, on-line tutorials, flash presentations, ‘Welcome To Our Company’ presentations, interactive self-guided tours of college campuses, museums, and parks, etc.

     inspiration & exercise: self help, exercise video, meditation, etc.

     medical: training, procedural film, pharmaceutical, trade-show, display, etc.

     telephony: menu prompt, IVR, information on hold, auto attendant, etc.

Telephony is any type of recorded voice over used for telephones. It is great because companies often re-hire the same voice over artist to update their system on a regular basis. The most popular styles or telephony are:

“Menu Prompt” systems prompt the user through a menu of choices, such as, “Please press 1 for sales, 2 for repair, 3 to…”

IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems allow the user to speak with the pre-recorded voice. For example, an IVR recording may say, “Please say operator, sales associate, or customer service.” or, “Please speak the last four digits of your social security number.” or, “Hmmmm… I’m sorry, I didn’t understand. Please say…” IVR systems are replacing many menu-prompt systems, and is quickly gaining widespread popularity.

Voice Mail systems (also known as Auto Attendant systems) are used in most businesses to act as an assistant for the employee when they do not take the call, want a message recorded, or want a call transferred.

Information On Hold is the ubiquitous type of telephony where the user hears information while they wait for the party to answer their call. For example, “Thanks for your patience. While you’re on hold, we’d like to tell you about exciting offers. Be sure to ask your representative for more details. Thanks again for holding, we’ll be right with you.”

growth

The voice over industry is growing quickly. Very quickly.

Commercial voice over work grows as quickly as new television and radio stations are developed.

Narration work continues to grow as businesses continue finding new ways for voice over to strengthen their brand, enhance their image, promote their products, and increase revenue, such as automated services, self-guided tours, recorded manuals, talking toys, self-help educational guides, audiobooks, online training films, narrated banner ads, talking birthday cards, and many, many more.

In fact, just about every sector of the industry is growing rapidly. Following are four of the fastest growing sectors of voice over:

     audiobook

     Internet audio

     IVR (Interactive Voice Response)

     educational

major changes

While its roots go back to the early days of radio (early 1900s), voice over has only been a mainstream profession since the 1980s, and it’s only been a common household name since approximately the year 2000.

During its short life, there have been many transitions. And not everyone who speaks about voice over is up-to-date. Therefore many people speak about the voice over industry “the way it was” as opposed to “the way it really is.”

Which makes it important to verify that any coach/voice over school that helps you is up-to-date. If they are not, any coaching, advice, and resources they offer, such as marketing questions and voice delivery technique, may not be beneficial. If trained by them, you may obtain less work and eventually require seeking additional guidance and training from someone who is up-to-date.

As with anything, feel comfortable to whom you look for advice. Confirm they are immersed in the industry; understand current trends, styles, and resources; and can offer useful guidance.

During its short life, there have been many transitions. Here are some major changes:

     vocal style: has gone from dominantly announcer style to natural style

details: In the early days of voice over, microphones were not as sophisticated as they are today, and did not pick up high frequencies, such as low volumes and female voices. Therefore male voices — especially deep, strong ones — were preferred.

This strong announcer style delivery was also appropriate because groups of people would gather around a single radio to listen to a radio program together. Therefore, from the voice over artist’s perspective, a stronger tone was appropriate since he was projecting to a large group of people.

Then between the 1960s and 1980s, three things changed that caused the voice over producer to typically request a conversational vocal delivery. First, as technology advanced, microphones were developed that could pick up natural voices. Second, more people listened to radio and television programs by themselves, making a natural, more intimate delivery preferred. In other words, the public generally prefers to be ‘spoken to’, as opposed to ‘announced at’. Third, narration work became more and more popular, and since this was not “selling,” a natural style vocal delivery was used.

     type of work: has gone from dominantly commercial work to narration work

details: Originally, radio commercials were the brunt of the work. Then came along television commercials. Then came along a new type of voice over: narration. This style included educational and informational narrations. While the number of voice over commercials continue to increase every year, narrations now total approximately 92% of the industry.

     recording medium: has gone from analog recording to digital recording

details: Practically every engineering function has changed with the advent of digital technology. Productions are now completed significantly faster while simultaneously significantly more precise. With digital editing, voice talent can simply re-record a sentence, phrase, or even single word when they make a mistake, and the engineer can digitally ‘edit’ it into the recording in place of the mistake. (This eliminates the necessity to re-record an entire passage.) Clients can request that engineers give them options, as engineers can easily offer multiple versions of a production, each with different music, sound effects, and/or mix. Recording studios are now inexpensive, portable, and higher in quality. Yet by far, most engineers will confirm that the greatest benefit of digital technology is the ‘undo’ button.

     gender: has gone from dominantly male work to half female/half male work.

details: As mentioned above, since early microphones did not pick up high frequencies, female voices were not used much. Plus since the feminist movement had not yet occurred in the early days of voice over, female voices were not used much.

As microphone technology advanced, and as women began doing more professions that were considered “male work,” women began narrating more voice over work.

Today, women narrate about half of the voice over jobs. Female voices are considered to be more believable than male voices. Male voices are considered more authoritative than female voices.

Chapter 3: Pre-Training

In this chapter:
     what’s ‘in’
     advancement: obstacles, obtaining skills, time involved
     producers’ expectations

what’s ‘in’

1. natural is ‘in’

As stated earlier, today’s voice over producers generally prefer voice talent to use a “natural” and “conversational” vocal delivery.

Therefore when a producer directs you to be ‘natural’ and ‘conversational’, they want you to be you. Keep in mind, however, that we have many natural deliveries. We can be sad, happy, funny, sarcastic, and so on, in natural conversation. Usually, it is one of your natural voices that the producer desires.

* IMPORTANT * If the producer does not tell you which tone of voice to use, ask them. They will not be surprised that you ask, and may likely say, “Oh sorry, I forgot to tell you what tone of voice we want.”

2. what if you can create unnatural sounds?

Can you do accents? Dialects? Sound like the “other guy”? In most cases, these will not get you work. This is because producers generally prefer to hire voice-talent who naturally have the voice type they require, as artificial dialects and accents rarely sound real. For example, if a producer needs to hire an elderly, British, female voice, they will hire an elderly, British, female woman. If the elderly, British, female voice over artist is not available, often, the script will be emailed to England where she is available, and the recording will be completed via phone-patch/ISDN.

The exception to this would be a casting director who lives in a remote area (where there is not a large population of voice-talent) and needs to hire a specific voice-talent that is not local for a lower budget job. In this case, the producer will request a voice-talent to affect their voice.

* IMPORTANT * Showcase your natural voice(s) on your demo, as opposed to ‘wasting demo space’ showcasing dialects, accents, and other voices that rarely will get you work (unless you are extraordinary at them).

3. why is natural ‘in’?

Producers desire natural deliveries because they are credible, and therefore the public responds better to them than they do affected ones.

This is why we estimate that 95% of voice overs use a natural delivery. Just 20 years ago, this was not the case. This is because the ubiquitous announcer style, which saw its demise in the late 1980s, was an affected, pushed, and projected style delivery.

4. if natural is 95% of the industry, why don’t people notice it?

Since natural voice overs are natural, they blend in and go by unnoticed. For example, most people never notice the voice over on a documentary (even though they hear the words). Nor do most people notice the voice over on national television commercials, training films at work, educational videos at school, and so forth.

5. why do people think of voice over as hard-sell style?

Most people only notice the 5% of voice overs which are affected, as these ‘stand out’. Therefore when people think of voice over, they only recall hearing the affected hard-sell style and they assume that is what voice over is.

6. why do people think of voice over as commercial even though 92% is narration?

Most affected voice overs occur in the commercial sector. And since people generally only notice the affected style deliveries, commercial is what they think of when they think of voice over. Conversely, people rarely notice the naturally delivered voice overs which occur in commercial AND narration sectors of voice over.

To confirm this, ask someone to mimic a voice over. Chances are that they’ll do a hard-sell style radio commercial even though this style is one of the least popular styles.

7. why is affected still heard?

The affected, unnatural style delivery is still heard, albeit not too often, for a number of reasons. This style works well for promos, hard-sell commercials, and character/animation work.

Sometimes affected voices are also heard because untrained voice-talent are used, such as the owner of a company narrating a commercial, a secretary narrating a company’s telephone system, a local actor narrating a friend’s documentary, and so on.

* IMPORTANT * Unless trained, most aspiring voice talent tend to use an affected style delivery…even though it is not the type of voice-talent that most casting professionals hire.

advancement:
obstacles, obtaining skills, time involved

1. can anyone do voice over?

No.

As previously mentioned, voice over is about speaking naturally. And even though we use our natural voices all day, there is much more to voice over work than just talking. Some obstacles follow.

2. obstacles, remedies

When one reads, several factors can make it difficult to sound natural. For example:

     Since we grew up noticing affected deliveries (and not noticing natural deliveries), we gravitate towards using it. To prevent this from happening, begin by listening carefully to natural voice overs, such as most national commercials, documentaries, telephone systems, training videos, and so on. Take note of how natural the voice is.

     In natural conversation, we produce complete thoughts before speaking them, and therefore our words flow together naturally. However when reading scripts, we tend to read words one at a time, and that lends itself to sounding stilted, choppy, and unnatural. To fix this, ‘look ahead’ when reading – in other words, always know what’s coming up next. This way you are prepared for it.

     When we’re in the spotlight (in front of the microphone), it is instinctive to be over-dramatic and theatrical. This is simple to remedy: pretend you are talking to one person.

     Since the voice over artist knows that millions of people may hear the recording, there is a tendency to project. To sound natural, remember that you are talking to one person… as if they are right near you. (Remember that listening to voice over is generally a solitary activity - i.e.: you listen to radio commercials, documentaries, audiobooks, etc. by yourself.)

     The fear of the microphone not ‘picking up’ our voice makes us speak louder. Yet like when you make a telephone call across the world, there is no reason to yell. Let the electronics do their job.

     The unnatural environment of wearing headphones in a soundproof room promotes the use of a projected voice. This simply takes time to get used to.

     Scripts are typically written differently than we speak. They are written in someone else’s words and in the ‘third person.’ Yet in natural conversation, we speak in our own words in the ‘first person.’ Becoming a better reader compensates for this.

     A recording session can create nervousness, which creates an unnatural sound. Practice and confidence will correct this.

3. required skills

Being a capable reader is just the beginning. To succeed, the following skills are necessary:

     One needs a marketable voice. A marketable voice is one that is suitable for voice over work — it does not necessarily mean that the voice is beautiful, sexy, or powerful. Today, most voices are marketable. Interestingly, the more mainstream the voice is, the more work there is available.

     Being adaptable and directable allows you to follow the producer’s directions accurately.

     Listening carefully allows efficient and effective communication with the producer.

     Being creative helps the production come to life.

     An ability to remain calm during recording sessions, even when numerous confused producers give contradictory commands, is essential for getting the job done.

     Appearing professional signals experience and confidence.

     Patience and dedication is a must, as your voice is not ‘right’ for every part and it takes a while to gain numerous clientele. Success does not usually happen overnight.

     And finally, being diligent and professional is key — from marketing to work.

4. obtaining the skills

Professional skills are generally best acquired with professional tools, including:

     professional guidebooks and workshops: it’s practically impossible to train yourself

     private coaching sessions: the best way to harness your personal strengths

     listening to and learning from professionals: both good or bad

     experience

* TIP * Every recording studio has a microphone and therefore has the potential to teach voice over and produce voice over demos. But unless they have a producer who truly understands the voice over industry, it’s unlikely that they can train you to sound like your professional competitors.

5. time required to reach your goals

Face it: A voice over career doesn’t happen overnight. (If it were that easy, everyone would do it.) Instead, one must practice, market, and be patient. Remember that the professionals, who make it sound simple, do exactly this. Learn from them.

Numerous variables will dictate the time involved in reaching your goals:

     experience: Unnatural voice experience, such as radio broadcasting, stage acting, and some public speaking, etc., may require one to need additional time training. This is because skills will need to be unlearned before learning voice over.

Conversely, some experience may make it easier to break in, such as reading for the blind, reading for children, counseling, singing, and on-camera acting.

     inhibition: One needs to be loose and carefree in front of the microphone. Inhibitions can be detrimental, as they can produce a stiff and unnatural sound.

     natural aptitude: Some people are naturals, some are not.

     diligence: Practicing is a key to breaking in. Therefore, the more you practice, the sooner you can enter the field.

     goals: Choosing to specialize in one genre of the voice over industry usually will require less schooling, as there are fewer styles to learn.
producers’ expectations

Overall, producers expect three main qualities in a voice over artist:

     professional business practices (promptness, courtesy, organized, etc.)

     proficient (vocal technique, aural awareness, creativity, etc.)

     an ability to sound as good as their demo (if you can not duplicate the quality of your demo, you are misrepresenting yourself when marketing your demo)

Various sections of this guidebook will focus on these items.