- Author's - Learn How To Turn Your Book Into An Audio Book Starring Your Voice

If you are an author and have always wanted to turn your work into an audio book and don't want someone else to narrate it, come to my masteringvoiceover.com studio. I'll teach you the vocal skills you need and then help you record your audio book. Then you can keep your percentage of sales not just as the author but also the narration percentage fees. On audible.com, this means that you will keep 40% of total sales instead of just 20% of sales. Come to one of the Saturday free Workshop/Seminars or one free voiceover class on Wednesday nights to find out how you can develop your voiceover skills and turn your book into an audio book starring you.

- How To Keep Your Voice Fresh When You Talk All Day

This is one of the most asked questions I get emails, phone calls and DM’s about on Twitter. People who have to talk a lot are often tired from that activity by the end of a long day.

The good news is, if your voice is properly produced you should actually feel fresher on the end of the day FROM talking. No I’m not lyingJ

The key is to have proper breath support. When a persons voice doesn’t have correct breath support the voice is weaker and the air is leaking out to some extent and that can be a very exhausting experience.

Here are some tips that will help and some activities that can help you greatly improve your efficiency of vocal production.

When you are waking up in the morning start humming while you are puttering around. One of the best ways to hum is to gently touch your tongue to your upper lip with your mouth closed and hum either on one note or a favorite simple song.

This will create the natural resonance in the ”mask” and establish backpressure in the windpipe. That’s what support is. Technically it is called sub glottal pressure. That is just a fancy phrase for the natural air pressure that builds up in back of any wind driven vibrator, in the case your vocal folds.

Next you can do the “Dog Pant” exercise. If you do Yoga, the various breathing exercises are the same thing and each version is very helpful. This strengthens the diaphragm and helps you take a breath more efficiently without lifting the shoulders for each breath. Lifting the shoulders to inhale instead of just standing up strait so the air can get into your lungs is called clavicular breathing and is a major reason for exhaustion.

Next you can say the five vowels with MH in front of them. Mheeeee, Mhaaaay,

Mhaaaa, Mho, Mhooooo. These should be said like you’re sighing. Repeat five times. That will get all the parts working. You can also say them very fast so you wake up your articulators and get everything coordinated.

Finally, if you like to sing, you can take singing lessons which will greatly improve your speaking voice. If you are a singer, just sing more often and you’ll be amazed at how much better your speaking voice will be.

Remember to practice everything with a natural common sense and don’t push or over exert ever. You can’t fix everything in one day. Think of all the people who finally start working out and strain themselves because they try to get in shape all in one week.

The last point I’d like to make is this: You can learn a lot about your voice if you record and play back. Listen for a natural full tone that isn’t pushed or affected. It should also not be weak (like a limp handshake). We are always trying to achieve ease of production and naturalness. These simple points can help you improve your vocal stamina and voice quality.

- Don't Give Up - Don't Stop Improving

There are many questions that come in asking how to "make it" when the voiceover field is so competitive. There are lots of stories of people trying and not succeeding.

What is the key? What is the secret? The secret is to never, ever give up and to always keep trying different approaches. It is a mistake to try the same approach or market when it is not producing results. The voiceover industry is not just about talking. Certain voices have traits that work much better in certain voiceovers. None of us can do everything. It takes endless experimentation to find the copy  and the areas where we can do our best work and where people will respond by hiring us.

One has to be a crazy insane scientist to discover one's personal path to success and greater skills. Sometimes people want to just focus on the approach they have always used, perhaps because of moderate success. The reality is the voiceover business is always changing pretty dramatically and we have to change and reinvent with it or be left out. It can be done, you can succeed. It takes imagination, tremendous persistence, and skill. Turn on the media and notice that the good, the bad and the ugly are all working...so why not you:)

Rehearse Before Recording To Reduce # of Takes and Editing Time

People ask me all the time how I can produce so much finished audio in one day. It varies of course depending on how the copy is written. The real secret is to rehearse a lot before you step into the booth. I had done over 50 plays by the time I was in my mid thirties so I had a habit of rehearsal. I treat my recording sessions as if they are readers theater where everything is "live." Everyone is different of course. There is no right way or wrong way. It just depends on how you prefer to work
I like having my approach all worked out so the number of retakes are reduced and consequently the editing time is a lot less.

- Sound Repair iZotope Video Tutorials From Groove3

I get most of my tutorials from Groove3.com There are many place to get good instruction including Lynda.com, but I'm very fond of the Groove3 products. Mike Thornton has great ones on using RX5 advanced that I refer to often. Recently Added Tutorial Videos