I love when my students make mistakes, because I learn so much from them. When they go high instead of low inflection wise, I can hear exactly why it happened. Sometimes it’s because they went up on the word before it, and that made it unnatural for them to go down on the word after it that required a down inflection. Sometimes it is because they paused after a certain word, and that made them reset their gears and do something they shouldn’t have on the word that follows. Whatever it is, my students are often my teachers. This one student of mine over the summer taught me the most zen-like lesson on how he just needed “permission” to express himself authentically and fully. Who knew?! You can read about it here in an article I somehow outrageously decided to title “The #1 tip top best voice over audition technique ever”
I’d like to dedicate this voiceover blog to all the students out there that have taught me something, something that I inevitably passed down to the next person. So rest assure, I am, yes, paying it forward. This blog contains examples of all those little things that have come up during coaching sessions that I am paying forward to as many people as will read this. Enjoy!
Student A:
This wonderful gal keeps “performing.” It is often stiff and serious, as I can hear she is concentrating on “doing a perfect voiceover.” When you do that, your result will be the exact opposite. You will lose your ability to connect with the words. In the vein of my last tweet, the lesson here is to speak to the writing, not the product. When i pointed this out to her she started really connecting with the script. She wasn’t able to just “read” anymore because now she connected to the deeper emotional layer in the message, to what the writer was trying to convey. This forced her to emote, to feel the words and not just speak them. It was her breakthrough moment and it was awesome.
Student B:
We were looking at a script for the first time and I asked him what the point of it was. He said that it was to inform. I explained that almost every single script out there has “information” in it. Yes, if it isn’t obvious, the word inform is in information. So, if every script has information you are missing a whole lot of style choices from the writer if that is the angle you decide to take. So we looked at the script again. I told him he could “inform” us and take that perspective on how to deliver it (DRY) or he could imagine that perhaps he just read this info online somewhere or someone just told it to him and now he’s telling us (the listener). This gives a freshness to the delivery, makes it off the cuff, of the moment. Now he gets to be a little bit excited, as if he just learned something new, it’s neat, it’s interesting, and THAT is why he’s now telling us. This removes the “sell” entirely. It didn’t take more than a second for him to embrace this angle as this guy is full of personality and just needed to see that not only is this allowed in voiceover, it’s BETTER.
Student C:
He has a deep, bass like, resonant, warm, delicious voice. He also has a comfort zone. It sounds like this – slower, more intimate, and more laid back than your average “sound like your taking to a friend” guy. A lot of my voiceover coaching involves assessing someone’s comfort zone and starting to gently push in all directions. There comes a moment where both the student and the teacher know what the boundaries are. This is perfectly ok. There are plenty of people who will say that to survive in the voice over business you need to have a great range. There are plenty of others who will say you need to have a niche. They’re both right. And that’s what part of the training is about – assessing whether you have great range or a specific niche. To be clear, both are “great.” We didn’t fully find out about Student C and rule out his wide range until we pushed a bit harder and delved into a new genre of voiceover. In this case we went from commercial to corporate narration. When given a script that was longer and also less personal, he felt rushed and detached. He also sounded that way. We went back to his “comfort zone” in commercial-land. Here specifically he will excel in styles more geared toward that warm and sincere tone. Perhaps taking to a sick person. Perhaps someone who needs life insurance and wants to trust who they’re giving their money to every month. This is his wheelhouse and he rocks it. Know what YOU rock.
Student D:
She loves those high inflections, but it leaves her sounding like the phony lady offering to spritz perfume on your hand as you pass her in the cosmetics section at the mall. She (and they) mean well, of course, but that high inflection is used for exactly that – trying to sell an idea to a stranger. Although this is exactly what you are doing this is exactly what you want to put a veil over. You want to persuade them by not making them feel they are being persuaded. The fastest route to building that trust is to sound like you are already familiar, like you’re already friends. We talk to our friends in a very comfortable way, most likely or at least most often using our lower inflection. The exception would be something we are super excited about that just happened perhaps. For the most part, however, the high inflection is tiring, and we just don’t live in it. This student knew that on an intellectual level, but given a script, felt the need to be “super duper friendly.” When I pointed out to her that the choice makes her sound false, we worked on her low inflection. We used simple words like “up” and “down.” These one-syllable words made it clear to know exactly where the inflection goes down as there’s only one vowel. We then went on to words with more than one syllable such as “Peter” and “careful”. In this case she made sure the last syllable/vowel strikes a down inflection note so we are left with the final impression of relaxed non-pushed talk. Lastly, we worked on it inside of sentences, focusing on the last word only at times, which usually wants a down inflection to give it finality and resolve. This became her new muscle memory. She now sounds like YOUR FRIEND. Someone who is not trying to push something on you so hard. She sounds so sure of this that with her new down inflection it’s like she’s saying, “This is something great. I’d love for you to enjoy it too…..but take it or leave it. I’m gonna go back to enjoying it myself now.”
Student E:
Student E is putting the cart before the horse in a big way. During his first training session he told me he had set up a studio at home, complete with fancy microphone. And fancy software. And posted his profile on Voices.com. He’s had no training yet until this day with me. This is a common mistake and can innocently happen with either very proactive people and/or those that don’t know the general process for entering this field. There are actually many who believe they can just “do it.” Sorry folks, but Nike wasn’t speaking of the voiceover pursuit. You wouldn’t just walk on stage and at Carnegie Hall and begin playing piano. This is really no different. You might have a natural aptitude for voice acting and great instincts, but there is still work to be done. Even if, and it’s extremely rare, you are told during your very first training session that you already sound authentic and interesting and all that good voiceover stuff you still might want to take it slow when it comes to making your demo, building your home studio, and marketing yourself. And yes, that is the general order to follow after training. I’m not alone here folks. Many in the industry would agree that a big voiceover mistake is jumping in the deep end first. Or too fast.
As in all things taught, the teacher also teaches to learn, and voiceover is no exception. Remember, also, that even on your own, when you recognize something isn’t working, you are already halfway there. In that sense you are the student, and the teacher, too.