VO Tips

If someone were to ask me for one tip to drastically improve their voice over career it would be these two words:

READ AHEAD!!

Pay attention, mark my words, some day you will have to pay for my book that talks more about this!

If you can master this technique, you can read through anything once (without even a pre-read!) and have it be the final take*! Sound impossible? It’s not, it works for me.

Your short term memory can hold between 5-7 pieces of information at a time. These pieces of information can and should be words you have already read and said in your head! For example, take the following sentence:

• As you are reading this sentence aloud, you should be reading here, your “head voice” is here, eyes here.

(Starting from the first emphasized “here”, there are seven words left in the sentence.) Read the previous, bulleted sentence to yourself as a way of practicing this technique. Make your mind and eyes become used to reading in this manner.

Talk about multitasking! You need to be able to read, “listen” to the voice inside your head, and repeat what you are hearing inside your head soon after you “hear it”. This takes time to master, but it really will take you to the next level.

One way to practice this is to read aloud A LOT! Volunteer at the library and read aloud to children. If you live in Nashville, the Nashville Public Library has a studio where you can volunteer your time to read aloud for one hour. The live reading is broadcast over a closed circuit system to listening booths in the library for the blind. Or, just read to yourself and try your best not to stop. for anything but a breath. Put emphasis and excitement into the reading just as you would if you were behind the mic recording the audio book. While you’re at it, buy a simple recording device and record your sessions. If needed, play the recording back and read 5-7 words ahead of what is being said to get used to the “two voices speaking” simultaneously.

The audio book project I am working on at the time I am writing this article would consume all of my time if I were not using this technique proficiently. This technique cuts down the time you have to spend editing by almost half. It also causes me to be more efficient behind the mic (I can read almost twice as much once instead of reading the same material twice for accuracy!) The project is done quicker, your client stops biting their nails sooner, and you can double your salary (more money over a shorter time= higher dollar per hour!)

Now time for the *. If what you are reading is extraordinarily complex, or based on a topic with which you are not familiar, it might be a good idea to give the topic a read through first. I just usually will skim as fast as I can through the chapter looking for long words and complicated phrases.

Practicing this technique has somehow allowed me to read TWICE as fast when I read without speaking aloud. Not to mention how much more flexible my short term memory is.

This technique of reading ahead has increased my focus as well. One almost has to be in a clear-minded meditative state to be able to execute this technique without hitch. There will be the occasional slip up when your mind loses focus, but other than that, you’ll never have to read anything twice! How awesome is that?

Get working on this technique and you will soon see great improvements to many aspects of your VO technique.

Dear Readers,

I want to get to know you. As a voice over artist, I always have my audience in mind, but just a general idea, for me, is never enough. So, here’s what we do about it.

Here’s a chance to talk about yourself and your opinions and get rewarded for it.

So there’s nothing like sitting in your chair at your computer for hours on end staring at your computer screen, right? Me, I would rather be behind the mic, but here’s some tips to make your editing a lot easier and your clients a lot more happy.

Continued from the post before last…

Odds are, unless you happen to have oodles of cash lying about, you will not be working in a real studio for your first little while as a new voice over person. You won’t have a director, a producer, and an editor/mixer at your beckon call. That means you get to become quite familiar with the wonderful world of editing audio! How fun!

As a freelance professional VO artist, I would say that I spend about 35% of my time in front of the mic and the rest of the time in front of my computer. Of that 65% of the time I spend staring blankly at my computer screen, about 45% of that time is editing audio. It’s not the most fun thing in the world, but it can separate and elevate you above the rest of the VO people out there.

So if you’re spending a lot of time editing like me, it ought to sound good when you’re finished. Here’s some tips to help your editing.

In my last post I wrote about ways that you can let go of different things that hold you back so you can move forward.

This post, more nuggets of goodness that can help you hurdle hindrances you might come across in your path to VO glory:

This will be a follow up post to one I wrote on March 13th. That title was Take It Slow.

The title of this post is Let it Go (obviously enough). So just exactly what does that mean? About a bazillion things actually.

In my last post (sorry it was SO LONG AGO, I’ve been very busy), I talked about what to do when your voice isn’t working. This time around, I will talk about what to do when your voice is perfectly find, if your mind would just cooperate!

Let’s just say it: sometimes one is just TIRED. It happens to everyone for various reasons. I would venture to say that fatigue is the main reason for an uncooperative mind. Believe it or not, the best antidote for tiredness is physical activity. It’s hard to initiate, but once you start moving around and being active, your heartbeat increases and your juices start flowing, and soon thereafter your mind is back in gear. Physical activity can be as simple as stretching. You don’t have to run a mile, just move around. It really does help.

Deep breathing also helps, not only with the tired voice, but the tired mind. An oxygen increase in the brain helps with the sharpening of the mind.

Something else that not only helps with the voice as well as the mind is lots of water.. Research has shown that drinking lots of water not only helps decrease fatigue, it also has lots of other health benefits as well. I recommend taking a sip of water or two every other paragraph or so (as long as you’re doing the editing on your own and not on the clock, otherwise, look for angry editors or clients).

If all else fails, take a power nap. I find naps of 15 minutes or so to be most refreshing. If you can, nap for one sleep cycle (1.5 hours) this way you are the most refreshed. Just don’t forget to set an alarm! You might miss a deadline! (Thank goodness this isn’t coming from personal experience!)

What do you do when you get behind the mic and what comes out of your mouth doesn’t sound the way you want?

Believe me, if you do enough voice work, this WILL happen. For example, earlier today, I was working on an audio book for a client,  I got behind the mic and ALL of my energy disappeared. All of the sudden, I wanted to lay down and take a nap. So, I got up from my stool, stopped the recording and did something else for a little bit.

Often, getting your mind off the task at hand is the best way to get things done faster. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but  honestly, if your mind is not focused upon what you have to do, and you still go through with it, you’re making a BIG mistake.

A couple of chapters earlier in the book, I woke up an hour earlier, just so I could get an early start on the book. Big mistake! NEVER use your voice heavily in the morning! You’re setting yourself up for failure later in the day. After lying dormant all evening, your vocal cords are not prepared for constant vibration right away. Give your voice some time to warm up. Drink a warm fluid like coffee or tea. Hum some tunes. Take a shower and breathe in the hot steam from the water. All of these things can and should be done BEFORE a proper warm up. Your voice is just like an instrument, it’s not going to be in tune if you just start playing it. Warm up first!! Always! Not warming up is often one of the reasons my voice “doesn’t happen” later in the day.

If you do all of these things and your voice STILL doesn’t want to cooperate, there are still things that can be done. Find ways of clearing your throat without clearing your throat. Yet again, counterintuitive, but totally necessary. Clearing your throat helps nothing, it only agitates your vocal cords and makes things worse. The remedy that helps me more than anything is deep breathing through the nose and LOTS of water. Swallowing harder than normal has often helped me as well. This is often best accomplished with some water at room temperature. Avoid grease, dairy, and heavy sugar. All of these will dry you out or create a mucus issue.

If your voice still doesn’t work, just stop. Sometimes the best thing for your voice is complete and total rest. Continuing to work through voice trouble only causes more trouble. Sometimes there is no other option. Clients will understand in most cases, but make sure you notify them!  As long as there is not a swiftly approaching deadline or a hint of client dissatisfaction, you should be in the green.

Next time: tips on what to do when your VOICE is working but your brain isn’t! It happens to EVERYONE. My tips for success when your brain becomes a failure.

I often find myself reading things WAY too quickly! Take your time! Slow it down! Slowing down what you read allows you to read further ahead and better prepare for what you are about to say. Not all reads should be like an auctioneer or a canned voice (the voice at the end of car ads that somehow reads faster than one can think). Remember, what you are reading is only read by you, it is heard by everyone else. Give it some time to soak in. A little silence between words won’t kill anyone… that is unless you have to cram the copy in. That happens too. Silences can be edited out a lot easier than sound. If you’re reading ahead (like you always should be) and the words get jumbled up in your head: STOP!! It takes a lot of practice, but it can save you or your editor a LOT of time.