Vocal Change Ups and Deceptive Cadences Will Help You Get Voiceover Work

I hear a lot of reads that are very well spoken that really don't sound convincing. They don't really sound conversational at all. They are articulate but not "idea driven". I've heard casting agents on large project auditions describe it like this. "Nice voice, but doesn't mean it"

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

Learning How To Be Yourself

Well here’s the task for all mankind let alone a voiceover artist. Whether in a person’s business life or personal life we spend a lifetime asking our selves who we are. Learning how to be your self requires that we know who that person is, to some degree at least. The advice I give people all the time is to simply say:

“Your best chance of getting work is to be your self.” It doesn’t matter whether it’s a voiceover job you’re trying to get, or going to the next job interview, be yourself”

 

It’s a useful “bumper sticker” slogan, but I’d like to talk a bit about the process of the discovery and how to relax into that, and how to trust it. …and what it means and what it doesn’t mean. 

 

When we get to a place in our heads where we can “be our selves” the advantages are huge. Life isn’t nearly as stressful. We stop being angry. We stop taking things personally and start viewing things as feedback that allows us to make corrections and move on. When we learn how to be our selves and accept our selves, we stop criticizing everyone else. The stress of NOT being our selves or knowing our selves is exhausting and frustrating. It can create a lot of stress and we can find our selves acting out on people because of it. So in learning to be our selves we are UN cluttering our minds and freeing the hard drive space between our ears to engage in the process of success.

 

When we are comfortable in our own skins people will enjoy being around us. And of course that is very helpful in getting jobs, voiceover jobs, or any job. In these times that is becoming more and more important. This is important to remember. It is not merely about being the most talented voiceover artist, plumber, teacher, sales person, lawyer or dentist. 

A lot of people could do the actual work, but people hire people that they like the best. The best plan in the world is to like your self and be your self.