No matter what the specs are for a voiceover audition, you should always treat the script as if it is something coming from your own head. This means that even if the script sounds announcer, even if it starts with the word INTRODUCING, does not mean you should “announce” it. Writer’s don’t always know what their intentions are, and even if they think they do, sometimes that can change. Unless that script starts with “In a world…” or “Tonight at 7…” you should approach it with your SELF, and not with panache. You can layer that it in the end. Bake your basic cake first. Nothing fancy or showy.
This is why I like Andy Cooper, voiceover extraordinaire. He’s the guy next door. He, at least at first glance, doesn’t sound like he’s trying to be anything else, and this is how he reels you in. You hear him, and you say subconsciously, I KNOW him. He sounds normal, natural, approachable, and knowledgeable, but not so. . .far away. He’s, in a word, accessible. This is not to say Andy can’t frost a cake. Listen closer, and you hear interesting inflections, points being made succinctly, a wink in the eye. He’s not just speaking nicely, he’s CONNECTING TO YOU.
You can listen to Andy’s voiceover demo and some of his most recent work here: andycooper.tv/
Let’s try to understand the concept a little more first – starting with the natural read, and THEN building on to it. Take this sentence:
“What if the spoon and the lid dripped back into the saucepan?”
First you MUST home in on the point your making. Pyrex is the brand, and they’re asking you to imagine the newest product they’ve made, and how effective it is, how it’s solving one of your messiest kitchen problems. What is it doing that’s helpful? Allowing the sauce not to splatter everywhere, but to drip BACK INTO the saucepan. Don’t highlight dripped, don’t highlight saucepan. Your point is to focus on what’s GOOD. That is goes BACK. That it goes INTO (not all over). That is good. Hit those words. Play down the others. Now you sound real. Just a real person making a real point. Now ice that cake. Try lower your voice to an intimate “for your ears only” confidential sound. Your listener will be intrigued, will want to lean in a bit. Try pausing after “what if” to create suspense. If you’re not ready for this level of spicing your read, return to that real person. Be yourself, only armed with some interesting information. Now don’t say it. Express it.