Advertisers and casting
agents tend to pick voiceover artists who can meet all the stylistic demands of
the copy and still sound like they're just talking to one of their best
friends. This ability to "personalize" copy isn't magic, it has
certain musical characteristics. It very important to study the phrasing that
you and other people use during the day. Make notes about different styles of
speech that you are drawn to that connect with you and figure out how to use
those elements.
Think of all the stuff that
we have bought from sales people that we didn’t actually need. They have
connected with us by being personal and not pushy. It sort of triggers
Stockholm’s Syndrome… we start wanting to not disappoint them so we buy what
they are selling. Hah!
When we are talking to people in our "Day
Voice" we naturally use a lot of vocal change ups, "beat
Changes" and deceptive cadences. It's part of the harmonic geography of
how we communicate in daily life. When we read copy these characteristics are
often left out, making the copy sound merely like a person just reading copy.
It's important to study and retain these variations in our best natural speech
and not loose that spontaneous expression when we are doing voiceover work.
