5
Voice Acting 101

In This Chapter

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Give Yourself Permission to Play

Acting, at its essence, is defined as “playing the role of another character,” but the reality is that there is much more to it than that. A good actor doesn’t merely “play” the role of another character. A good actor momentarily “becomes” the other character, resulting in a sense of believability and authenticity in the mind of the audience.

But, in order to authentically become the character, an actor must first learn how to get out of their own way and re-discover the child inside that loves to play.

During childhood, most of us are allowed to freely play and be the creative individuals we were born to be. However, over the years we are taught to behave, think and act in a certain way. Eventually, we create a personal belief system of behaviors and habits that sometimes limit our ability to play or be creative. We create a comfort zone, within which we function extremely well. Over time, we simply forget how to play.

Play... Pretend

Self-conscious beliefs and ego are two big stumbling blocks for most people just getting started in voiceover. Although there might be a strong desire to learn a new skill or do something “different,” our minds can create a sense of fear that can stop us dead in our tracks at the mere thought of stepping outside our comfort zone.

Fear can be defined as False Evidence Appearing Real. Another way of looking at this is False Expectations Appearing Real. When working on mic, the fear of looking foolish, making mistakes, sounding silly, not pleasing the client or coach, or any number of things, are all lies that we will often unconsciously accept as being true. There is no valid evidence supporting the false expectation and there is little or no risk involved. But, still, for a variety of reasons, we’ll often buy into it.

When we fear something, its our unconscious mind at work creating a perception of reality, in an effort to protect us from harm or injury, often based on inaccurate information. If there is legitimate danger involved in doing something, we can weigh the risks vs. outcome and make an educated choice.

But our unconscious mind sees only black and white and it can jump to conclusions, or expectations that may not be accurate or realistic. It cannot tell the difference between truth and fiction. Logic and reality take the back seat.

Fear is often presented as self-talk, also known as those “voices in your head” that tell you things like: “You aren’t good enough,” “you can’t do that,” “you’ll look foolish,” “this is too difficult,” and many other untruths. When we listen to those voices, the result is often fear.

When you learn to move past your fears, your comfort zone will expand and you will begin to rekindle your ability to play. But this doesn’t just happen all by itself. You must first learn to recognize your fears and acknowledge their existence.

For some, moving past or through the fear of performing on mic can be daunting, but it’s generally not insurmountable. For others, moving past a fear is simply acknowledging the fear by saying: “Thank you for sharing, I’m going to do this anyway.”

One quick way to begin moving past your fear is to simply give yourself permission to play. Change the way you think about what you are doing. Allow yourself to pretend that what is taking place in the story is true. Let the child inside you come out to play.

Give yourself permission to look silly or foolish. The truth is, nobody else really cares—that fear is just your ego talking. In fact, most people actually admire those who have given themselves permission to play because they aren’t afraid to be vulnerable, and they look like they are having so much fun.

Learning How to Play

Giving yourself permission to play and pretend is a first step, but to play as an actor, there are certain things you must know. Creating a believable and authentic character requires mastering certain performing skills and a working knowledge of techniques and processes that are designed to help the actor step outside their own reality and into that of the character they are playing. In other words, these techniques are here to help you learn how to play in the world of voiceover.

As you begin to master these techniques, you will find your voiceover delivery becoming increasingly effective and that you will be able to handle a wide range of delivery styles, emotions, and attitudes. And, most importantly, you’ll begin to expand your ability to play.

It is important to understand that the techniques you use are not your performance. The techniques you will learn in this and the next few chapters are here to support and assist you in achieving the objectives of your performance. It’s much like building a house: The hammer, saw, nails, and boards are only tools and components that are used to build the house. Acting techniques and processes are the tools and component parts of your performance. They are the tools you use as you play your instrument, much as a violin bow is critical to playing a violin.

Understanding how to use a technique in and of itself is of only limited value. You also need to know how to apply the techniques you use in the broader scope of your performance, and that takes hands-on experience. This chapter covers concepts and performing principles that are basic to theatrical acting, and any or all will be of tremendous value to you as a voiceover performer.

Commit to Your Choices... and Adjust

All acting is based on initial choices and adjustments made to those choices as a performance develops. As you work with a piece of copy, you will be making lots of decisions and choices about dozens of aspects of the story that can affect your performance. It is important to commit to these choices in order to be consistent throughout the recording session.

Of course, as new choices are made, you must commit to these also. In some cases, you may find that the choices you have committed to no longer work as well as you or the director might like. You may find it necessary to completely change or revise some of your choices. That’s OK! Your choices are not engraved in stone. Learn how to explore a variety of choices and be flexible as a performer so you can make adjustments quickly, without thinking. As you discover and commit to the best choices that develop the character and strengthen the delivery or emotional impact of the message, you will be creating realism and believability in your performance.

The process of working through your performance to make valid choices is called wood shedding. This will be covered in detail in Chapter 9, “Wood Shedding and Script Analysis.”

Be in the Moment

This is one of the basic precepts of acting. You must be focused on your performance, or more accurately, what is taking place in the story. You cannot be thinking about what you are doing later that afternoon and expect to give a good performance. You also cannot be in the moment if you are struggling to get the words right or dealing with interpretation or worrying that your client might not like what you are doing. If you are even, in the slightest way, not focused on the copy and your performance, you will sound as though you are reading. To be in the moment, you must become comfortable with the words to the point where they become yours.

Being in the moment means that you understand on an instinctive level, your character, who your character is speaking to, the message in the script, your character’s intentions, and innumerable other details. It also means that you speak the words in the script with a truth and honesty that comes from the heart of the character.

Mastering this skill can take some time, so don’t be discouraged if you find yourself drifting out of character or starting to think about what you are doing. Keep working at it by practicing the techniques in this chapter and it will come. Some actors will spend many years developing this skill.

Your best and most real performance will be achieved when you are truly in the moment of the scene taking place—aware of what you are doing, but not consciously thinking about it.

Be Your Own Director—Mastering Self-Direction

You need to learn how to look at your performance objectively, as if observing from a distance. This director in the front row of your mind will give you the cues to keep your performance on track. Self-direction is not only a valuable skill that you can use constantly—even when there is a director on the other side of the glass—but it is a skill that becomes absolutely essential when you record voice tracks from the comfort of your personal studio.

When you are wearing your “director” hat, you need to be listening for all the little things in your delivery that are, and are not working. Look for the words in the copy that need to receive importance or value. Look for the parts that need to be softened. Look for places to pause—a half-second of silence can make all the difference. Listen for the rhythm, the pace, and the flow of the copy. As the director, you are your own critic. Your goal is to constructively critique your performance to increase your effectiveness in communicating the message.

Self-direction can be a difficult skill to master on your own. The difficulty lies in the fact that thinking about what you are doing as you perform, results in a break in character. Your “director’s” listening process needs to be developed to the point where it happens at an unconscious level, yet you still have a conscious awareness of what you are doing as your character. The best way to learn this is to work with a voice coach or take some classes to learn what directors look (or listen) for and how they work with performers to get the delivery they want. Watch and learn as others are directed. Observe how the director focuses the performer on the particular part of the copy that needs improvement. More importantly, study the process by which the director adjusts the actor’s performance.

Another way to learn self-direction is to record your practice sessions and have a skilled director listen to your recordings to give you suggestions on what you can do on your own. As you gain experience and confidence in your performing abilities, your performance and self-direction become as one, and you will soon instinctively know how to deliver a piece of copy. At an advanced level, you will be able to hear very subtle flaws in your performance and make instantaneous adjustments.

Make It the First Time Every Time

Be spontaneous, every time! Use your imagination and acting skills to keep the copy, and your performance, fresh. You may be on take 24, but your character in the copy needs to be on take 1—for every take. Use your imagination to create a clear visualization of a scene, character, or situation to help make your performance real and believable take after take.

In the preface to the book Scenes for Actors and Voices, Daws Butler is quoted from one of his workshops¹:

Learn how to be consistently spontaneous! This doesn’t necessarily mean that every time you deliver a line of copy it must sound exactly the same—that will depend on your choices, any adjustments you make, and the direction you receive. What this means is that you need to be able to deliver each line of your performance as though it was the first time your character ever thought of those words.

Tell the Story Effectively

Don’t just read the words on the page. You are a storyteller—no matter what the copy is. Search for an emotional hook in the copy— it’s in there someplace—even in a complex technical script. Find a way to close the gap between the performer and the audience. Find a way to connect on an emotional level with that one person who needs to hear what you are saying.

Your emotional connection may be in the softness of your voice. Or it may be in the way you say certain words. It may be in the way you carry your body as you speak your lines. Or it may be in the smile on your face. Make that connection, and you will be in demand.

The late Don LaFontaine (1940–2008) was once asked what he did as he performed. His answer was, “I create visual images with a twist of a word.” It is the little shift of inflection or subtlety in the delivery of a word or phrase that makes the difference between an adequate voiceover performance and an exceptional voice acting performance. Effective storytelling is using the subtleties of performance to reach the audience emotionally and create strong, memorable visual images.

Find the Rhythm in the Copy

All copy has a rhythm, a tempo, and a flow. Rhythm in voiceover copy is much the same as rhythm in music. There are many pieces of music that run the same length of time, but each has a unique rhythm. Many times, the rhythm will change within the composition. Rhythm in voiceover copy is as varied as it is in music. Some copy has a rhythm that is smooth, classy, and mellow. Other copy has a choppiness that is awkward and uncomfortable.

Some of the factors that affect rhythm in voiceover copy are pacing, pauses, breaths, the subtle emphasis of key words, and even diction and intonation. In dialogue, rhythm also includes the timing of the interaction between characters. These are all things you do naturally in your everyday conversations.

You cannot get into a rhythm if you are just reading words off a page. Make the words your own by knowing your character, and you will be on your way to finding the rhythm. You might find it helpful to record yourself in a conversation. Physical energy will also help you discover the rhythm for your character. You may discover that you have a unique rhythm in the way you speak, which is quite different from the rhythm of others in the conversation.

A good way to study conversational rhythm is to listen to people talk. Listen not for what is being said, but instead listen to how it is being said. A conversation has several things going on at once: There is a rhythm to the words, a tempo or pacing, and the interaction between the people having the conversation. Listen for pauses, people overlapping or talking at the same time, the energy of the conversation, and the way in which certain words are emphasized or deemphasized. Observe how they move their bodies, especially when expressing an emotion or feeling. And watch their faces. All these elements, and more, go into creating the rhythm of a conversation.

An excellent way to study vocal rhythm is to watch classic black and white movies from the 1940s. Many of these films feature some incredible character actors with interesting voices who use rhythm, tempo, phrasing, and vocal texture in powerful ways.

Getting Away from the Read

When you learned to read, you most likely learned to pronounce individual words and combine those words into meaningful sentences. When reading “silently,” most of us read a linear series of individual words and develop our interpretation of those words as our brain processes the information. When reading “out loud,” the result often sounds like a monotonous series of words spoken with little meaning. This is simply not acceptable in voiceover.

As a voice actor, you will need to learn how to read out loud in a way that sounds like you are just talking to another person in a casual conversation. If you’re like most people just starting in voiceover, learning how to read in a conversational delivery is something that may require a bit of practice. un-learning some bad habits, and learning some new skills.

Understand the Big Picture with Six Ws and an H

In order to get out of the “read” you must have a full and complete understanding of the story you are telling. The more you understand the story, the more internalized it will be, and the less you will need to rely on the words in the script in order to tell the story effectively.

Begin by simply reading the script. This will give you a very superficial understanding of the story. To gain a more in-depth understanding, start from the beginning again and look for the basic dramatic elements of the story. These are the basic journalism five Ws—who, what, when, where, and why; and, of course, the ever popular “how.” As an actor, it’s very helpful to add a sixth W to define the environment in which the story is taking place—the “weather.” The more details you can discover, the more accurately you will be able to portray a believable character.

Here are some examples of what you can ask as you work your way through the six Ws and an H:

• Who is your character?
• Who are the other characters in the story?
• Who is your character speaking to?
• What does your character want or need at this moment in time?
• What is your character responding to?
• What is the plot of the story?
• What is the emotional relationship between the characters?
• What is the conflict?
• What complications or conflicts arise?
• What events brought your character to this situation?
• When does the story take place?
• When does the peak moment happen?
• Where is the story taking place?
• Where, geographically, are other characters or objects in relation to your character?
• Why is your character in the situation he/she is in?
• Why does your character behave the way he/she does?
• How is the conflict resolved, or not resolved?
• How is the message expressed through the resolution or nonresolution of the conflict?
• Weather: Is the environment cold, hot, steamy, dry, wet, dusty, or cozy? Allow yourself to feel the temperature and other conditions of the environment so you can fully express the feelings and emotions of the story.

Ask yourself a lot of questions! By understanding what is taking place, you will discover your role in the story. An emotional connection can be created with any script through a thorough understanding of the 6 W’s and an H.

Ask “What If...”

You will often find that your delivery will be in a style that is very comfortable for you, but which may not be the most effective for your client. As your performance develops, you’ll begin to make choices that will affect the many aspects of your delivery and how the words will be perceived. As your interpretation of the script evolves, you settle on your choices, and that’s how you will perform the script.

But “what if” you slowed down on part of a line that you hadn’t considered before? Or sped up on a different line? Or maybe changed your tempo or rhythm? “What if” you lowered your volume to a point just above a whisper? “What if” you gave one word in each sentence a great deal of value and importance? “What if” you chose a different person to talk to? “What if” your character had a different physical posture or facial expression? “What if” your character wanted a different outcome? “What if...” You get the idea.

Just because you think you’ve got a “killer” delivery for a script doesn’t mean that what you’ve come up with is what the director is looking for—or that it’s the only way to deliver the script. If you get yourself stuck with one delivery, you may be in trouble when the director asks you for something different. By asking “what if...” throughout your wood shedding process, you’ll come up with lots of options which will prepare you for anything the director might throw at you. Ask “what if...”

Speak “As If...”

A variation on “What if...” is to deliver a line “as if.” The possibilities are endless. For example, speak a line:

• as if you were cold
• as if you were hot
• as if it was raining
• as if you were drunk
• as if you were nervous
• as if you were telling a secret
• as if you were very happy
• as if you were depressed

Character Departure

One of the best examples of “what if” is a called a character departure. As you work with each line of a script, deliver the line in completely different ways. There should be absolutely no similarity between your various departures. If your initial choice is to speak a line slowly, run it again very fast and with a different attitude. Then run the line again with a varying tempo with another attitude or emotional subtext. If, through your wood shedding process, you choose a vocal characteristic or character voice for the line, run it again with a completely different voice.

It is only through exploring these departures from your initial choices and the other “what ifs” that you will be able to make the strongest choices for delivering your copy.

Listen and Answer

An actor’s job is to respond. And the best way to have a believable response is to listen. Be aware of what is going on in the copy so you have an understanding of the story and can respond appropriately. Don’t just read words on the page.

• Listen to your audience so your response is appropriate.
• Listen to your character, and to the other performers if you are doing dialogue copy. Interact with what is being said. Be real! Respond to the message emotionally and physically. Remember that acting is reacting.
• Listen to yourself as you deliver the lines and observe your internal response to the words you are saying. Then react or respond accordingly. This technique can give life to an otherwise dull script.
• Listen to the director in your mind to stay on track. Learn to think critically to constantly improve your performance.
• Listen to the producer or director to take your performance where it needs to go. Your performance needs to reach the producer’s vision.
• Listen to your body to find the physical tension and emotional energy needed for a believable delivery. Without physical energy, there is little more than just words.

It is only by careful listening that you will be able to respond appropriately and ultimately get out of your own way to create a believable performance.

Make up a Lead-In Line (Pre-Life)

Here’s a trick to fool your brain when searching for the proper inflection of a line of copy. A lead-in line is simply a short statement of a possible back story that will give your character pre-life before the first line of copy. Before delivering your first line, you say something that would be a logical introductory statement, or lead-in. You can say it silently, or out loud. If you say the line out loud, leave a beat of silence copy so that the editor can remove the unwanted lead-in line.

For example, if you are reading copy for a spokesperson commercial, you might want to have a lead-in line that sets up who you are talking to. Let’s say you have determined that your audience is a man or woman in their thirties or forties, self-employed, and financially well-off. You have set your character as someone who is equal to the audience, so you won’t be patronizing; however, you will be conveying some important information. Here’s the copy:

For a lead-in line, you might choose that the person you will be talking to is named John. Rather than starting cold, set a visual image in your mind of a conversation between you and John. Deliver your lines starting with:

Your lead-in line (pre-life) sets up a conversational delivery that helps you to close the gap and communicate your message on an emotional level, like a warm-up for the conversation. This approach works for all types of copy in any situation. The lead-in line can be anything from a few short words to an elaborate story leading into the written copy. Generally, the shorter and more specific, the better.

Make up a Lead-Out Line (After Line)

Your character lives before the first word of the script and continues to live after the last word. Just as a lead-in line will give your character pre-life to help you to find the energy, attitude, and proper manner for responding, a lead-out line, also called a “button” will help you to maintain your character beyond the last word spoken. And, occasionally, a lead-out line can help you determine the appropriate mood, attitude, or emotion for a line.

In a dialogue spot, one actor might respond to a lead-out line with their own lead-in line to enhance the realism of the conversation. These ad-libs may or may not be left in when the spot is edited.

A common problem many beginning voice talent experience is that as they near the end of a script, their delivery begins to fall off, and any character they’ve created loses believability. There can be several reasons for this, but the most common is simply the way our brains work. Most voice talent will be reading about six to eight words ahead of the words being spoken. As the eye reaches the end of the script (or in some cases the end of a line of copy), the brain sees its job as being done, so it relaxes and waits for the mouth to catch up. The result is a fade out in energy and delivery.

A lead-out line gives extra life to your character. The lead-out line needs to be something that is appropriate for the context of the story. It can be used to set the tone and emotional attitude for a line of copy or the end of a script.

Find an interpretation and deliver the following line of copy, first only by itself ...

Now, using each of the following lead-out lines, deliver the same line of copy again. Just hold the after-sentence in your head—don’t verbalize it. Notice how the intention of each lead-out line can completely change your delivery of the copy just by the thought you hold in your mind:

Lead-in and lead-out lines help maintain your character and lock in the attitude and emotional subtext of your delivery.

Billboarding Key Words and Phrases

If a client or product name appears in a script, you may want to do something in your delivery that will help give it some special impact—like putting a marquee of sparkling lights around the word. Giving a word or phrase that extra punch is often referred to as billboarding. Typical methods for billboarding include: a slight pause before or after you speak the words, slowing down, changing body language or facial expression, changing the inflection on the word or phrase, or reducing the volume of your voice. These all have the effect of giving more value and importance to the word or phrase—but only if you have the appropriate thoughts behind the words.

Emphasis is usually what directors will ask for when requesting extra punch on a word. Most people incorrectly interpret the word as meaning “to get louder,” “accent,” or “punctuate” in some way. By definition, the word emphasis means to change the intensity to add importance or value, specifically in terms of adding vocal weight to specific syllables. If you deliver a word or phrase by only making it louder, or “punching” the word, it will sound artificial and unnatural, losing believability and credibility. This is a component of what is referred to as an announcery delivery. There must be a thought in your mind in order for an emphasized word or phrase to have any real meaning. Without the thought, it’s just a louder word and you’re just announcing, not acting.

I’d recommend removing the word “emphasis” from your vocabulary. When a director asks you to emphasize a word, change the way you think to interpret the request as asking for you to give greater importance and value to the word or phrase.

A conversational delivery will often have limited or sometimes no emphasis applied to even important words. The importance of words in a conversational delivery is implied through the thoughts behind the words and in the phrasing of the delivery.

Experiment with different ways to give value and importance to names, places, and phrases in a script. You will soon find one that sounds right. As a guide to help with your delivery, underline words you feel are important. As you work on your delivery, you may discover that underlining only the syllable that should receive value, rather than the entire word, can completely change the meaning or create a regional delivery. For example: Defense could be spoken as defense or defense.

Try this exercise: Deliver the following line several times, giving importance to a different word each time, placing value on a combination of two or more words, and with a flat delivery with minimal or no emphasis. Each variation will give the sentence a unique meaning. The contractions “it’s” and “you’re” can even be uncontracted into “it is” and “you are.” Read the line out loud several different ways to see how the meaning changes.

Placing the greatest value on the word “you’re” may not be appropriate if the context of the script is all about searching for exactly the right product. In that case, “looking” would probably be the best word to receive the greatest importance. Experiment by changing the context to find a delivery that sounds best for you.

Personal Pronouns—The Connecting Words

First person personal pronouns—I, me, we, us, our, you, and your—are all words that listeners tune in to. These are connecting words that help the voice actor reach the audience on an emotional level. Use these words to your advantage. Take your time with these words and don’t rush past them. How you deliver these words can make or break your delivery.

In some copy, you will want to give these words a special importance for greater impact. However, most of the time, you will want to underplay the personal pronouns and give extra value to words that are the subject of a sentence.

For example, when you put the importance on “you’re” in the sentence “It’s what you’re looking for,” the focus of the line’s intention was placed directly on the person being referred to.

But, let’s say that in the context of the story, the most important part of the line is the action of “looking,” or perhaps the item being sought (“it’s or “what”). Generally, when you emphasize or “punch” personal pronouns, the meaning shifts from the subject of the sentence to the individual being addressed. The result for the listener is often that the meaning can be unclear, confused, or in some cases just doesn’t make any sense.

There are certainly many situations in which the pronoun is exactly the proper word that needs to receive importance and value. However, this is usually only a valid choice when the individual being addressed is the subject of the intention for that line of copy.

Work the Consonants

Giving importance to words and phrases can achieve similar results on a smaller scale when you work the consonants. Rather than emphasize an entire word, limit the emphasis or value to only the primary consonant in the word. This approach will help a word “pop” giving it a crisper edge in the context of a sentence, but doesn’t have the same effect as emphasizing the entire word. To do this, simply give the consonants a bit crisper articulation. The trick with using this technique is to find the correct amount of emphasis or articulation. If you hit the consonant too soft, the word can become muffled or get lost in the mix. If you hit the consonant too hard, it can sound artificial and over-articulated.

This technique works well with copy that is descriptive, or which must be delivered quickly. For example, in the following line of copy, working the consonants will allow you to speak the words in a way that enables the listener to taste the food.

Working the consonants with a thought in your mind that lets you taste the food, will help the listener taste the food. For fast copy, working the consonants can help your delivery “cut through” the mix when music and sound effects are added. Deliver the following line first in a conversational style, then by giving the consonants just a bit more articulation or emphasis at a faster pace and observe the difference.

Notice how working the consonants almost forces you into a certain delivery style. If your delivery needs to be conversational, this technique may not be appropriate as it can produce a choppiness or insincere sound. Use care when applying this technique. It may not work for every script, but this is definitely a technique worth keeping in your back pocket.

Building Transitions

A transition is a bridge between concepts within a line, between subjects within a script, or between characters, and it can take many forms. It may be a transition of a character’s mood or attitude. Or it may be a transition in the rhythm or pace of delivery. It might be from a question asked to an answer given. It could even be between concepts or products in a list.

These transitions may be indicated by an ellipsis, a comma, a hyphen, a colon, a semicolon, or even no punctuation at all. As an actor, you are at liberty to include transitions wherever they feel appropriate as you perform a script.

Transitions help engage the audience and keep their attention. Look for transitional phrases in the script and decide how you can make them interesting. Change your physical attitude, movement, mental picture, or use some other device to let your audience know that something special has happened, or that you have moved on to a new idea.

Sometimes all that is needed is a slight change in your facial expression or body posture. Sometimes a shift in volume, importance, back story, or who you are talking to will create the transition bridge. And sometimes, a simple pause in your delivery will do the trick. Experiment with different techniques to find out what will work best for the copy you are performing. In time you will develop a style that sets you apart from other voice talent.

Using Conjunctions

The conjunctions “and,” “but,” and “or” are loaded with opportunity for creating transitions and building interest through your performance. “And” is an additive word used to connect two or more things: “We have small and medium and large sizes.” “But” indicates opposites: “Oranges are sweet, but lemons are sour.” And “or” connotes a comparison between two things: “Do you prefer red or blue?” These little words can be stretched, emphasized, sped up, slowed down, charged with emotion, or thrown away.

How you handle these words when they come up will largely depend on your interpretation of the copy, the character you choose, and countless other choices. The challenge with conjunctions is that many voice talent will emphasize the conjunction in a misguided attempt to make whatever follows appear more important. What often happens is that the listener only hears the emphasized conjunction and what follows actually loses value.

There are certainly many occasions when giving value, or emphasis, to the conjunction will enhance the meaning of the phrase. On the other hand, there are just as many, if not more, occasions when it will be more effective to deemphasize the conjunction. The only way you’ll truly know what works best in the context of a script is to test the phrase in different ways.

Dealing with Lists

Lists are common in all types of voiceover work, but the way a list is handled may differ depending on the character, the genre of voiceover work, or the context of the script.

For example, in commercials, a list will most often be delivered with varying inflections that allow each item to stand alone, yet still be tied to the list as a whole. However, a list in a promo will often be delivered with each item given a downward inflection to create a sense of intensity and dramatic impact. In a corporate narration, a list might be delivered either as separate, stand-alone items or with each item leading into the next.

A useful technique when working with lists, is to add conjunctions between items, or separate items with a beat to add impact. Eliminating conjunctions from a scripted list can create a sense of authority and drama.

Contrast and Comparison

A common writing technique is to present a comparison between two or more items, or to contrast the positive versus negative or other aspects of a topic. In almost all cases, a contrast and comparison will be followed by a benefit as to why one or the other is better. When you see a contrast or comparison in a script, your job is to make the difference very clear to the listener. Here’s an example:

This script contains both a contrast and comparison. The contrast is between expensive, hard-to-find batteries and solar (light) power. The comparison is between regular digital cameras that require batteries and the new solar camera. The benefit is stated in the last line.

Contrast and comparison are best delivered by understanding the meaning of all aspects of the story and the ultimate benefit being discussed. When you understand the benefit you can create an emotional connection to that benefit, and an appropriate thought that corresponds to that feeling. Use the feeling and thought as you speak the words for both parts of the contrast and comparison to create a believable delivery. If you don’t truly understand the comparison or why the contrast is important, your delivery of the copy will be flat and emotionless.

A good way to get to the heart of the contrast or comparison quickly is to remove the unessential parts of the script.

Once you’ve got the essence of the contrast or comparison, it’s a simple matter to experiment with a variety of delivery options.

Ad-Lib to Create Realism

One of the cardinal rules in voiceover is to never alter the copy when you are performing. This is true and absolutely must be adhered to when delivering audio books, most eLearning scripts, certain animation characters, legal disclaimers, and any commercial or narration copy that has been run through a company’s legal department for approval. Lawyers are paid a lot of money to make sure the words in an advertisement are exactly correct—whether they actually make sense or not.

But rules are often made to be broken, so there may be some opportunities to improvise even with copy that is “locked-in”. When you come across a corporate script that is obviously written for the eye and not the ear, it might be worth asking your director if they are open to you making some minor adjustments to help make your delivery more conversational. But, unless your client has specifically given you permission to adjust the copy, it must be read “as written.”

Advertising, however, is a different story. Most radio and television commercials are intended for an audience of real people and these scripts need to be delivered in a conversational and approachable manner. If the words sound like they are being read out loud, the advertising message will be completely lost.

Unfortunately, most voice talent are concerned that if they, even slightly, alter the copy, the script police will come knocking on their door or the client will be upset because the copy was changed. The reality is that most clients will welcome the help to bring the words of their script to life.

An excellent way to add realism to your performance is to slightly embellish the script by adding natural, and appropriate, humanisms as you speak. At appropriate places, you can add human sounds or “crutch words” like “um,” “uh,” or “uh-huh.” Sometimes a vocalized sigh, breath, vocalized exhale or grunt can add a sense of realism. Or, you might add natural, personal responses like “ya know,” “like,” “okay,” and “so,” among others. For some scripts, you might want to add or remove a word or two to help the copy make more sense or to be more conversational. Obviously, you can’t change the context of the copy. But you can often take some liberties of embellishment to breathe some life into the script. For example, the following script makes sense as written, but it can be made more conversational with a few simple adjustments:

To make this script more conversational, a few carefully chosen adjustments can be made that will bring the script to life. The words in parenthesis would normally be adlibbed.

The idea with ad-libbing is to help bring the words to life by making the delivery more genuine. This can work brilliantly when the embellishments are consistent with the character and attitude of your performance. But it can also backfire, sounding phony and artificial, if overdone or not done correctly.

Don’t worry about modifying the copy with minor ad-libs. You’re not changing the context of the message. You are not re-writing the script. You are simply making the words more real by making them more conversational. In this example, the one minor re-write is that the words “you can” are adlibbed out in order to strengthen the call to action.

Marc Cashman (cashmancommercials.com), a voice actor, producer, audio book narrator, performance coach and author of “V-Oh!”, describes ad-libbing in voiceover to be like adding seasoning to a meal to bring out the taste. All it might take is a little salt or pepper to bring out the flavor. You aren’t changing the food, you’re just enhancing it a bit to make it more interesting.

Ad-libs and embellishments are discussed further in Chapter 10, “Character in the Copy,” as a concept I refer to as Character has Precedence Over Copy.

The Tell

The biggest challenge with voiceover copy is to create a sense of authenticity, truth, reality, and knowledge through the performance. Without this, you stand a good chance of losing credibility with the listener and all your well-intended efforts will be for naught.

If you’ve ever played a game of poker, you know that a player can reveal their position through a simple unconscious gesture or facial expression. Another player who can read this tell, and knows what it means, may be able to maneuver the game to his advantage.

Voiceover has its tells as well, and many of them are discussed in this book. Anything that directly affects the believability of the character and credibility of the message can be a VO Tell. The critical tell in fast-paced commercials and long-form narration is a catch-breath, or short, audible breath between phrases. These breaks in the continuity of the delivery are a clear indication to the listener of a lack of confidence, expertise, or knowledge in the presenter. This tell is understood on a subconscious level and can result in an instantaneous loss of credibility, frequently resulting in a performance that shifts from a believable communication to one that sounds like the performer is reading or simply doesn’t care.

The best way to avoid this tell is, first, to be aware that you are doing it, and second, to master breath control and the ability to create a character and performance style that does not allow for this tell to take place. You don’t do this in real life. Why should you do it when performing? Training, practice, and study with a competent voiceover coach or director are the best ways to eliminate all tells from your performance.

Maintain Your Character's Vocal Range

Every character has a vocal range in which their voice will sound genuine and authentic. This vocal, or tonal, range traverses from a comfortable low note, often heard in a relaxed tone of voice, to a pleasant, higher note usually heard when the character expresses joy or excitement, often accompanied by a big smile or open facial expressions. The musical range of the voice between these two comfortable spots is the character’s overall vocal range. The primary vocal range will be the average tonal pitch variations for which most words are spoken, usually in the center of the low and high note extremes.

The strength of your voiceover delivery will always lie in your primary vocal range. When the voice goes outside of this primary range—either too low or too high pitched, the effectiveness and believability of the delivery will often suffer.

One common occurrence of breaking out of the primary vocal range happens at the end of a sentence. Instead of concluding a thought, the voice actor will sometimes take the delivery to a higher pitch, often with an upward inflection. The result is that the thought behind the phrase is “thrown away,” or discarded. At an unconscious level, this can have the affect of the message being diluted, or worse, lost entirely.

In order to maintain your primary vocal range, you first need to know what it is for a given character, and to have the awareness to hear when you step outside of that range. Working with a qualified voiceover coach is usually the best way to learn how to maintain your character’s vocal range.

Upspeak and Downspeak

Most commercial and corporate voiceover work require that the voice talent present their delivery with a sense of authority, knowledge, understanding, or confidence. Downspeak, or a downward inflection at the end of a line, will create a perceived sense of authority in the mind of the listener. A downward inflection implies a statement of fact that is understood by the listener on an unconscious level.

On the other hand, Upspeak, or an upward inflection at the end of a line, implies insecurity, fear, and a lack of confidence. Incorrectly used, upspeak can literally destroy the intention of a scripted message leaving the listener confused or uncertain about what they should think of what they just heard.

In most cases, upspeak should be avoided at all cost. However, there are situations in which a degree of upspeak can be used very effectively to link two thoughts or sentences together, especially when the first part of the phrase is asking a question or the next line begins with a conjunction.

Using a slight upspeak on “future” not only implies the question, but if “future” is followed by a beat, it also provides a set-up for the next line.

Another appropriate use of upspeak might be when delivering a list of items when you want to lead from one item to the next.

If every item in the list is delivered with upspeak, the list becomes boring and monotonous. But if selected words, like “apple,” and “pears,” are spoken with a minor upspeak followed by a short pause, the effect is to create a hanging phrase that can ultimately give more strength to the next item—especially when the last item in the list is delivered with a definitive downspeak.

Diphthongs

An element of vocal musicality is known as the diphthong. This is a sound that is formed when two vowels are combined in a single syllable, like “coin,” “loud,” “bay,” “wait,” or “side”. In normal use, the diphthong is spoken casually and quickly, and the word sounds like we would expect it to sound.

However, the diphthong gives us an opportunity to play with the sound of a word. For example, Daws Butler delivered the voice of Yogi Bear (Hanna Barbara Studios) with very musical diphthongs. Yogi would begin a word at a low pitch, and the diphthong would ramp to a higher pitch, or vice-versa. The same idea would be applied to entire lines, not just single words. This gave the character an interesting personality and unique speaking style.

Elongating the diphthong, or slowing down that part of a word, can create an interesting interpretation that can be very useful for character voice work. However, for corporate and commercial copy, diphthongs would probably best be spoken in the normal context of the words.

Faster and Flatter

If there is one concept that will do more to take you out of the read and get you into a conversational delivery, this is it: Speak faster and flatten your delivery. It’s really that simple!

This is a trick used by many film directors for their on-camera talent, and it works like a charm for voiceover. When you speak faster and flatter, you don’t have time to think about the words or what you are doing as you speak. Your pacing and inflections will be more natural and your overall phrasing will be more conversational.

People in real conversations speak quickly and don’t focus on the words as they speak. Conversational delivery is often more like a verbalized stream of thought.

Speaking faster is not complicated. Simply speed up your tempo to create a more believable sense of reality. Flattening your delivery, however, may be a bit trickier, but it’s not difficult. When, reading out loud, most people tend to “work the words,” often making their delivery slightly over-articulated, overly dramatic, or containing too much musicality as they speak. Flattening the delivery simply means to just speak the words the way you would if you were talking to someone. Don’t focus on how you think the words are supposed to sound. Just speak the words.

As long as you understand what you are saying, speaking faster and flatter can give your conversation a more natural musicality and phrasing.

Feel the Tension

All human emotions and feelings can be communicated vocally by simply changing physical tension. Often, the words in a script will describe a specific emotion or attitude. When you see that, find a place in your body where you can feel the tension of that emotion or attitude—and hold it there. Holding tension in your body contributes to the realism and believability of your character. Focus on centering your voice at the location of the tension in your body and speak from that center. This helps give your voice a sense of authenticity.

A tense face and body will communicate as anger, frustration, or hostility. A relaxed face and body result in a softer, kinder delivery. Try reading some light copy with a tense body or clenched fists; you will find it very difficult to make the copy believable. You can make your delivery friendlier and more personable simply by delivering your lines with a smile on your face. Tilting your head to the side and wrinkling your forehead will help convey an attitude of puzzlement. Wide-open eyes will help create an attitude of surprise, excitement, or joy. Practice reading with different physical attitudes and you will be amazed at the changes you hear.

Another physical gesture that can make a big difference in your delivery is something commonly referred to as air quotes. When a word or phrase needs to be set apart from the rest of the copy, simply raise both hands and use your index and middle fingers to simulate making quotation marks in the air surrounding the words as you speak. The mere gesture almost forces you to say the words differently by separating them from the rest of the sentence with a distinctive shift of attitude. Air quotes are best used in moderation and must be part of the fluid physicality of your performance. Excessive use of air quotes can result in a delivery that sounds choppy and artificial. If you do nothing more than this single gesture, you will hear a difference, but when you use air quotes in combination with other physical movement, the effect can be profound.

No Judgments Allowed

Many people are self-conscious when just starting in this business, and that’s normal. However, when you are in the booth, you really need to leave any judgments you may have about your performance outside. Those self-judgments are nothing more than your internal expression of fears created by your unconscious mind. You can learn to control these.

If you are concerned about what the people in the control room think about you personally, rather than what they think about how you are delivering the copy, you will not be able to do your best work. It comes down to developing an attitude of self-respect and knowing that you are doing the best job you can do.

When you’re on mic, you cannot afford to allow yourself to be affected by any judgments that might arise, either from yourself or from your client. Self-judgment is a trap that is easy to fall into. It’s also very easy to let criticism from your director impact your performance. To do your best work, you need to learn how to quiet your “voices” and not take any comments personally.

Professionalism in voiceover is partly about how you think of yourself as a skilled and qualified voice actor. You must show that you care deeply about your craft, doing the best job you can, and making the character in the copy real and believable.

But you cannot afford to care or be concerned about what others think of you and what you are doing as you perform to the best of your abilities.

If getting to your best performance means that moving your entire body and waving your arms wildly are appropriate for your character, that’s what you need to do. You can’t afford to worry that the people in the control room might think you are crazy. The engineer and producer certainly don’t care! They are only interested in recording your best performance as quickly as possible, and I guarantee they’ve seen some pretty strange things.

It is rare that a director will judge your performance while you are in session, but I have seen it happen. If it happens to you, just take those comments as constructive feedback, process the direction as best you can and continue, knowing that the session will soon be over.

The Magic of Your Mind: If You Believe It, They Will!

One of the objectives of voice acting is to lead the listener to action. The most effective way to do that is to create believability through a suspension of disbelief. You suspend disbelief whenever you allow yourself to be drawn into a story while watching a movie or play or when you read a book. You are fully aware that what is taking place in the story really isn’t real. However, as you experience it, you suspend your disbelief and momentarily accept the appearance of the reality of what is happening in the story.

It’s a lot like pretending, but while pretending is a conscious choice, suspension of disbelief happens at an unconscious level.

Suspension of disbelief in voiceover is essential for creating a sense of believability. The audience must believe you, and for that to happen, you must believe in what you are saying.

Use your imagination to create a believable visual image in your mind for the message you are delivering. The more visual you can make it, the more believable it will be for you and for your audience. On a subconscious level, your mind does not know the difference between illusion and reality. Just as your physical attitude affects the sound of your voice, if you create a strong enough visual illusion in your mind, your words will be believable.

Creating a visual illusion is a technique used by most great actors and virtually all magicians. For a magician to make the audience believe that a person is really floating in the air, he must momentarily believe it himself. The performer’s belief in what is taking place contributes to establishing the suspension of disbelief in the audience. If a magician is focused on the mechanics of his illusion, he will not be convincing.

If you are focused on the technical aspects of your performance, you cannot possibly create a believable character. The technical aspects and techniques of your voiceover work must become completely automatic to the point where you are not even aware of them. The words on that script in front of you must come from within you—from the character you create. Only then will you be able to successfully suspend disbelief. This is what’s meant by the phrases “making the words your own” and “getting off the page.”

The time-worn analogy for this is “it’s like riding a bicycle.” When you first learn to ride a bicycle, every bit of your energy is focused on keeping your balance and moving forward without falling down. As you become more skilled at riding, you soon discover how to keep your balance and forward momentum. Before long you simply hop on the bike and start riding. As your self-confidence develops, you may soon find yourself doing tricks or even venturing into extreme sports. OK... maybe that’s going a bit too far, but you get the idea.

Performing for voiceover is exactly like learning how to ride a bike. You begin by learning the basic techniques and as your skills develop, those techniques eventually become automatic to the point where you don’t even think about them.

And one of those techniques to master is the ability to create a strong suspension of disbelief through visualization.

Visual imagery is a powerful way to create a compelling delivery for any type of copy. Read your script a few times to understand the story and what you are saying. Then, set your visual image and let your character come in and be the storyteller, the expert, the spokesperson, the salesperson, the inquisitive customer, the kooky boss, the eccentric neighbor, and so on. By allowing your character to take over, your focus will automatically shift from the technical aspects of reading the copy to the creative aspects of telling the story.

A visual image helps give life to your character, a reason for its existence, an environment for it to live in, and motivation for its words. Visualization helps make your character believable to you. If the character is believable to you, its words become true, and the message becomes believable to the audience. To put it another way: If you believe it, your audience will.