free
Chapter 1, 2, and 3
Bookmark and print this information. Better yet, purchase
the Industry Guide-Book as it contains much more!
Chapter 1: Misconceptions
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 biograpahy 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
