Voice technique, in the end, does all boil down to your “acting” performance and whether it was believable or not. There is absolutely a fine line between the techniques you can execute to “sound” more believable and basic intuitive acting itself, but again, in the end – were you authentic? That is the bottom line. There has long been a debate as to whether students of voice over should train only with a voiceover coach or also include some acting classes in there. I am of the latter mindset. Mind you, I don’t teach formal acting classes, but “acting” is inevitably taught when I teach voice acting. Nevertheless, I know without a doubt that most of the best voice actors out there ARE actors! There’s the proof. Voice over training is one thing, but an acting foundation is so helpful. So check out some of the big schools for introductory voiceover classes to test out the waters, or do a search locally. Every teacher has some gems to share.
NYC – Juilliard School
LA –CalArts
To get back to the practical application of the concept of voice ACTING, we can turn to a simple phrase: Don’t speak it, ACT it.
If you “speak” your voiceover copy you will remain forever in the sound of “reading.” If you “act” it, you now put yourself in the position of FEELING what you are saying – emotionally connecting to the words. When you pay attention to what you are actually saying, you can and will connect better on an emotional level to the concept of the script and all its smaller messages. You will then sound not like you are reading but as if you are discovering, experiencing, reacting, and feeling. You will sound real.
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