Many people who are actors ask me “Why does an actor need to take voice over classes to work in VO”? Acting skills certainly give a person an ability to deliver lines, so what’s the difference? There really are many differences and demands. Lets say there is a need for additional skills. The art of Voiceover or voice acting requires: a knowledge of voiceover styles, the ability to change cadence, tone of voice, range, and the rise and fall of your voice on demand in order to deliver what the client wants. To make a long story short you have to have control over your voice so you don’t get fired because you can’t take direction. For example, the direction in a voiceover session usually consists of requests to slightly change the tone of voice here, go faster there, take the pitch down on the end of that sentence, speak in a lighter tone on that next phrase, highlight this word a bit more... etc etc. In acting they are rarely scrubbing every line read for you. It can be a bit of a shock at first.
Another difference is there is no scenery, no lighting, no costumes/makeup, and no other actors to play off of for inspiration. Voiceover classes teach the art of creating an imaginary world in your minds eye where you see all the things the voiceover is talking about .
We are always trying to comply with the request to avoid any hard sell, to make it more conversational. Yet as people back off, the energy drops and the read sounds un-convincing. Very real is often simply very dull. The reads must be completely natural and yet maintain enthusiasm. This requires vocal skill. Those skills are taught in voiceover classes. Voiceover classes provide the workshop where a person becomes aware of the harmonic geography of their own voice, their “Day Voice” and how to best use the voice to sell different kinds of products. There is a whole world of style to learn and learning it can make you a fortune.
Certain narrations are always done in an intimate voice; other narrations are quick and lively. The booth director or the client expects a voiceover artist to know these things. No one in a voiceover session wants to run a training school. They are too busy trying to meet deadlines.
Another reason to take voiceover classes is that it will greatly improve an actor’s cold reading skills for auditions. When we are speaking, whether we are in an acting scene or on a voiceover job, everything must sound “idea driven”. It must never sound like you’re reading just the words. Voiceover is another great way to practice the art of sounding like you’re present, sounding like you mean what you’re saying.
There are many good schools and different approaches to teaching the art of voiceover and voice acting. It’s a great idea to explore as many of them as possible. Each approach has something to offer so it’s a matter of finding what works for you.
Whether we are actors, voiceover artists or in any other profession, the human voice is a wonderful musical instrument. We rely on it to transmit the symphony of our ideas and feelings. Our voices provide the point of first contact with people. The more we train our voices the more we can clearly express our ideas both on the job and off.
We all want to be able to communicate effectively as voiceover artists, and actors, with people in our professional and personal lives. We all want to do it better and more successfully. Becoming aware of the techniques of speaking, and mastering them, hands us the keys to effective and successful communication which can take our careers to a whole new level of success.
