You can either click here and watch it on my youtube page or click below and watch it on the page for the post. Enjoy!

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He posts an ad for Target that he says (and I completely agree) is completely awful, posts the general idea of the copy, and says rewrite and revoice it. So I did.

Here’s the result:
Audio

If you would like to participate in the contest, submissions can be made until the 8th, so you’d better hurry!

Good luck!

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Script Collection

I was writing a script collection until I came across this AWESOME resource on Jeff Kafer’s blog.

There are thousands of scripts in this collection and they all seem really great. DEFINITELY take advantage of this resource for your demos.

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1. Five P’s of Voice Over Success: Practice Going off of the last post, People. If you have...

Sounds a little harsh, but it’s true. If someone finds you on your Myspace, Facebook, personal website (do you have one?), or they contact you by phone, are they going to be impressed with what they see or hear, or will they blow you off because you sound like an amateur?

There’s one way to prevent that: Practice.

I never say practice makes perfect, especially when it comes to voice over work. Practice makes persistence. You can’t always be perfect when it comes to voice over. Perfection lies in the ears of the producer or the client, not with your ears. Something may be perfect to your ears but completely wrong for the listener.

How do you practice using your voice? There’s a lot of great practice methods I use all the time.

Tongue twisters are great for practice. Practice speaking them technically perfect. Focus on the beginnings and end of the words at a slower tempo (like Rodney does in the video) and then speed it up little by little.

I mention tongue twisters first, because they’re a great warmup. After you are nice and warmed up, start working on some real scripts.

You might say, where do I find copy? Think of a product you like or a commercial you like and find it on Youtube. If you hear a commercial on the radio you like, find some way to record it and write it down. Don’t use these commercials in your demos, they are more than likely copyrighted and someone might come after you.

In a few weeks I’ll be coming out with my first collection of royalty free commercial copy. I’ve already started writing a lot of different kinds of commercials. I am quite the writer (as you know if you’ve read any of my posts) so these commercials won’t be the typical royalty free copy you’ll find, they’ll be good. These are different, you CAN use them in your demos and however you want, I don’t care. The collection will be copyrighted, but you are free to use them in your demos. Subscribe to my RSS feed to make sure you don’t miss the premiere.

Also, another great way to practice is to read aloud. Grab a good book from the library and just read it (aloud to yourself, into a recorder, or to someone else). If the person you’re reading to falls asleep, that might be a clue to something. Either pick a new book or spice it up a bit.

Practice really is important. I’m sure you hear that alot (even in this post), but it really is, no kidding. You have to suck it up and practice or you’ll probably never get any better.

If practicing is hard or gets old fast, don’t do it for long and take some breaks.

What some don’t recognize is landing a project and working for a client is practice within itself! It’s great. There’s no better practice than work itself.

Not getting any work? Practice! Market! Network! All these subjects are covered extensively in this blog. Sign up for the RSS feed and get all the latest updates to the blog. Working for yourself as a voiceover artist can be difficult without help. That’s why I’m here, to help you out!

Have fun practicing! Leave some of your favorite practice techniques in the comments.

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If you can read any of these faster and cleaner than him (especially the last one!), send it to me and I’ll post it here. This is AMAZING! Thanks Rodney! Rodney’s website

No related posts.

1) No matter what DO NOT CHANGE COPY! We are not copywriters (although we could write better copy in our sleep sometimes) therefore we should do what we can to make it SPICY.

2) Add inflection. Do not read the sentence in a monotone manner (unless the copy calls for that, of course.) Also, don’t span the gap between the Chipmunks and James Earl Jones. Too much inflection can be a very bad thing. I try to end the sentence on a different “pitch” than where I started. If the sentence is a question, the sentence should raise in pitch at the end. If the sentence is a statement, the pitch usually descends towards the end. There are no absolutes for inflection, in fact, it’s one of the elements that separates amateur from professional in the world of voice over. It often distinguishes a particular voice actor from another. Find your style and make it your own. Have different styles and make your life interesting.

3) Add dynamic phrasing. SLIGHTLY (and I do mean very slowly and gradually) increase or decrease the volume of words you speak. Similar to dynamics in a piece of music, words can be loud or very soft. Sometimes, and I do mean very rarely, a sudden change in volume is quite effective. I chose in one of my demos to include a piece of whispered copy. I think it makes the listener take notice. Some will hate you for making such a drastic change in volume, some will love it. Use your common sense to distinguish when or when not to use dynamic phrasing.

4) Change the speed up. Not only can dynamics and pitch be changed, but the speed of copy can also speed up and slow down. Tempo: the speed at which something is read or played. This requires a LOT of practice and experimentation. Different types of copy require different speeds. Once again, there are no rules set in stone for this idea, it is just something to get you thinking about the different ways you can make your time behind the mic and your listeners a little less miserable when bad copy strikes (and TRUST ME, it will!)

Leave some comments on techniques you use to bring life to dead or dying copy. Feedback is ALWAYS appreciated!

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