Voice Over Artist | Lindsay Abbott

Posts Tagged ‘voice over’

Vocal Technique

This is an audio version of my Becoming a Voice Over - It’s Easy – ‘innit?! blog post. It is in 3 parts, this is Part 1, focusing on vocal technique:

Tips for aspiring voice over artists

Judging by the number of enquiries I get from would-be voice over artists, it must sound very appealing from the outside! Doesn’t it just involve speaking into a microphone after all, oh we can all do that can’t we? “That sounds like a jolly good wheeze, how do I become one, I’ve often been told I have a good voice?!” I’ve lost count the number of people who have approached me with that line, so I thought it would be worth while writing this blog post to provide some helpful tips…

Voice over technique

There is quite a lot of vocal technique involved in becoming a voice over artist in the first place, which most people are unaware of. Having a lay person tell you that ‘you have a good voice’ is not enough – get an expert to listen to a demo and work from any feedback you get.

Record yourself and listen to it back – what does it really sound like amplified? Once recorded and amplified there is no hiding place for imperfections! When we speak live in real time, people don’t notice these, but it can be a very different matter once recorded! Equally, some people can sound dramatically different on recorded media than they do in real life, which can be a bonus or a disaster!

Learn how to project the voice and develop good listening skills as to what comes out the other end once its amplified. You’ll need to learn how to develop your microphone technique to deal with plosives, popping and the like. How to avoid ‘wet’ noises from too much moisture in the mouth etcetera – these sounds magnify once amplified and are incredibly difficult to edit out as they’re embedded in the sound. Do you have even vocal dynamics when you speak? – do you push certain sounds forward too much, which can be jarring to the listener? Do you have control of your sibilants? Any imperfections become magnified, so you need to learn to rid yourself of as many as possible in order to become a good voice over artist. Even though I’ve been providing voice overs for some time now, I still learn something new everyday, so there are always things to aim for.

Interpreting the client’s brief is important, as is taking direction. You need to be able to read off the page quickly and be able to reproduce it so that it not only sounds like you understand what you are saying/talking about, but that the vocal production is something that people would find engaging to listen to – adding vocal colour, vocal timbre, vocal intonation, phrasing – these are all really important, and there’s an art to be able to do this, which can only be developed with practise and over time.

Concentration, focus, and taking direction…

Voice over work involves a lot of focus and concentration, often being asked to come up with a whole range of different vocal types/qualities/accents on your feet. Plus, if you’re recording at a client’s studio, creatives in the adjacent producer’s booth commenting on everything you say, some of it great, some of it blunt and to the point – ‘that voice was crap – can you do it again, but differently?’ not being unheard of. You’ve got to be able to take direction and adapt well on your feet, not take offence – and just get on with it. All this within a sound-proof room which, after a whole day, with little fresh air, will zap all of your energy, but a job done well can be very satisfying!

How did I become a voice over artist in the first place?

People often ask me how come I was able to get into voice overs? Well, my journey began with a natural affinity with the voice – I then trained as a classical singer, and morphed from that into musical theatre, and latterly jazz and swing . I studied Drama & Theatre Arts at university , did my final dissertation on voice production in the theatre and the actor in performance throughout the past few decades. From there, I trained as an actor , and from that point I started doing voice overs, and there are many actors who are also voice over artists for this reason; they’ve already had some training and experience on how to use their voices. Being an actor , however, does not necessarily make a good voice over artist; all of the above and below tips still apply.

Bring something to the voice over party, including credibility…

Now, you don’t all have to go on my journey in order to become a voice over artist, but what you do need is something to bring to the party, as well as giving you some credibility. Likewise, there are several other successful voice over artists out there whose background is in sound or audio production. Again, they have something to bring to the party which helps them understand how it works and how to produce the right sound. Equally, there are broadcasters /journalists/presenters who learn their trade, and have already developed vocal presentation skills to add voice over artist to their portfolio.

The other tip I can give you is to find out your strengths and play to them. Are you particularly good at character voices and/or storytelling? Or are you better at straight reads, rubric, or announcements? Are you better at a hard sell or a soft sell piece? What are your particular vocal qualities? Warm, authoritative, young, mature, funky, quirky etcetera?

Having grasped your technique and discovered more about the sound of your own voice once amplified, then you need a good demo . There are lots of studios who specialise in this.

OK, I’ve got my demo – is that it now? World, come and get me!

Voice over work involves not only learning your craft, juggling several clients at once, admin, but perhaps most importantly of all, marketing your voice over business.

Marketing my voice over business?

Once I’ve set myself up, doesn’t the phone just start ringing then? Isn’t it a question of just doing the voice overs?? Don’t I just get an agent to do all this for me I hear you cry? Well, you could, but getting onto the books of a top voice over agency takes time – the good ones are oversubscribed and places are usually taken by very well established voice over artists, and/or celebrity voices, such as the brilliant Stephen Fry. It’s great to be on their books, but don’t rely on them, otherwise you’ll literally be sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring!

You have to get good at self-promotion, go out there and market yourself, particularly online in this day and age. Make use of social media, such as Twitter , Facebook , LinkedIn , and any other relevant listings sites you know of.

You’re essentially running your own voice over business

You’ll need some business skills to start and run your own business. There’s plenty of free advice out there – Business Link is one of them.

Rewards

Voice over work can be feast or famine, just like any business and it can be a great life doing what you love and getting paid for it. Like any business, if you work hard enough at it, you will succeed…however, if you just hang around waiting for the phone to ring to book you for your next voice over job, you might be waiting along time!

An insight into the world of the working voice over artist!

Ever wondered what we voice over artist peeps actually do? What does it involve? I’ve often been asked this by a whole range of people, including professionals in the corporate and creative worlds, but also friends and other people I meet on a daily basis. I think people think that we just wait for the phone to ring, someone picks us up in a taxi and off we speed to the studio to speak a few words and then whoosh! We’re whisked away again, and get paid a fortune….yeah right…:>) Well, I thought I would give you an insight into one of my weeks recently…

I voiced a complete array of projects:

The Commercial voice over

Provided the voice over for a commercial which needed to be voiced, edited and returned to the client within hours.

Audio book character voice over

I already had an Audio Book project booked in to record that week, a really interesting and fun project, and I always enjoy doing Audio Books . This involved devising 2 female character voices for a fully dialogued audio book, one young girl, and a middle aged Queen with a post-nasal drip – lovely, I get all the glamorous jobs!

Educational voice over

I then had some short phrases/passages to record for a long term ongoing educational media project.

Online web video voice over

I voiced an online web infomercial , on a client’s product range, involving mapping/editing my voice to their Web Video – not as easy as it sounds! In between projects when I had a moment, I voiced short web videos on a large scale, promoting client properties – exhausting!

Radio Advert voice over

There was one radio advert in my inbox, asking me to be the voice over for a short advert. Now, with radio ads, you need to be on the ball, and be able to turn these around fast.

Corporate / technical voice over

What often happens is that you get last minute requests (Fridays seem to be popular), such as voicing a Corporate DVD / Web Video – a very technical read, full of awkward jargon, names and places, and requiring accurate pronunciation skills, and a reasonable level of intelligence to understand it and assimilate the information as quickly as poss! Technical reads invariably take slightly longer because of this. Sometimes they film the video and then decide they need a voice over – but yesterday – in steps moi!

That lovely, glamorous voice over studio booking!

Wah hey, here we go, that lovely studio booking I mentioned at the start of this post,when you imagine we get booked just like that, whisked off in a taxi, have everyone tell us how wonderful we are, give us coffee and buns, then say just a few words into the microphone and get paid a fortune? Having got the booking we get ourselves to the studio and even get a coffee and biscuits but then it’s a full day of focus and concentration. We do get lunch and plenty of breaks, which is always welcome – and necessary to keep the energy and concentration going!

Voice over enquiries and quotes

In between all of this there is answering enquiries, providing quotes, one being for a TV commercial on Channel 4 (TV Commercials are great jobs to bag!), plus the ongoing self-promotion that we have to do as a one person business: that’s marketing, including your website/blog , and networking activities – both online and face-to-face, getting out there face-to-face meeting people.

Admin admin admin!

Every time you do a job of course, you need to invoice the client and chase payments. For this, you need to have good admin and organisational skills to keep on top of it.

Managing/working the voice over recording facilities!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I also have my own recording and editing facilities, and there are always new things to learn on the editingfront. Having some teccie/sound production skills is a bonus here!

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There, I hope this has given you an insight into a voice over artist’s world. There can be a lot of variety and many interesting voice over projects to become involved with, and it can be a great life.

And one last thing, don’t think that things always run as smoothly as that particular week; sometimes it can be like the Marie-Celeste – is there anybody there??! When the only ringing sound you’ll hear in your ears is definitely not the phone – it’s that old actors adage ‘my agent thinks I’m dead’!

Only recently, I was speaking to someone in business, and they made an assumption that using a voice over artist is an expensive matter. This perception had never crossed my mind before, so I thought it worth setting the record straight, as it may be more cost-effective than you think!

Of course, if you’re a celebrity voice, or one of those well-known voices you’ve heard before but rarely see (such as Peter Dickson aka The X-Factor), then you’ll be paying a lot more!

Back to reality… The rest of us usually charge an hourly rate which is generally based on our expertise and experience. As an Equity member I do use their rates as a guideline but I tailor it to suit the type of service (and its intended usage) I’m asked to provide.

Cost-benefit in time saving and added credibility!

Cost is usually dependent upon the number of words, and how much time it is likely to record and edit the piece. The more experienced we are, the less time the voice over is likely to take, so there is great cost-benefit to be had by using a good voice over artist who is experienced in providing voice overs for companies.

As an aside, on more than one occasion I’ve been asked to step in and record a professional voice over following an attempt on behalf of the company concerned to do it ‘in house’. In those instances, by not using a professional they have wasted valuable time, possibly lost some business and, worse, credibility if the product or service has gone ‘live’.

Example: Costs for web video voice overs

For example, voicing a short web video on behalf of a company, whether a sole trader, SME , or large blue-chip corporate can be done at relatively low cost, from as little as £40 to about £250. My corporate showreel will give you some examples of voice overs I have provided in this area. These are all extracts from real voice overs I have done, not made up!

Own studio reduces client cost still further

With the benefit of having my own studio facilities, rather than using a separate studio, this can help to reduce client costs still further. As voice overs, we liaise directly with your video service provider.

How to improve voice production in your company’s internet video

This article is designed for business owners who are looking to use online or corporate video as part of their online marketing campaign  or any corporate video strategy, but is also a useful tool for anyone who wishes to improve their voice and the way they sound!

So, you’ve decided that you want to use that great tool that is now the online video  for your company, corporate or business website, as you’ve realised that it has great marketing and relationship-building potential, and you’ve also found out that Google loves online video in helping to boost your rankings.  Then you need to decide whether you want to have your company expert or MD/CEO to narrate it, or to use a professional voice-over . Let’s say you’re going to use someone from your company to narrate it.  Here’s a few tips that may just help!: 

1. To start with the basics of course, you need a great, relevant company or corporate video

55% of how we learn is by seeing – the visual aspects of the video, of course. I know of several video production companies   who could help you if you get stuck, just use my contact form…

2. It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it! 

It is generally known that impact of communication is greater from the sound and tone  of your voice– 38% , compared to only 7% by the words used. You can spend ages writing a great script, using your best corporate lines, but if the vocal quality and tone of your voice are terrible, the piece is doomed, as people will switch off and, more importantly, they won’t be impressed by your company!  Read on to find out how you can turn this around…

3. If you think that you’re stuck with the way you speak, you’re wrong!

Most people do not know how to utilise their voices to their fullest extent and think that they are stuck with what they have; when in fact, with a little help, the majority can improve considerably. The tools are there, you just need to bring them out and dust them off, as some of them may never have been used before!  In the same way (I’m also a singer), so many people tell me that they can’t sing.  However, whilst this is true for a minority, the rest have just been conditioned to believe that they can’t, which can be attributed to background, upbringing, and geographical origin, as well as confidence. These were my findings when I wrote my final degree dissertation on the voice years ago. I need to go find it and when I do I will add more reference points to this article…it must have been OK, as I graduated with my 2:1 honours degree!

4. ‘Centre’ your voice

What I come across most of all is where people speak from their  throat rather than their  diaphragm. This tends to result in a rather thin sound, which is unstable as it’s not supported from what I call the ‘centre’, ‘root’ or diaphragm. This, in turn, can make people sound as if they lack confidence, or straining their voices. So, how do you obtain that ‘centred’ sound?

So, we’re going to learn to centre your voice.  Remember, this sound should come from the very deepest part of you, and you can get to it by utilising your diaphragm. 

• Stand up straight, feet slightly apart, hands by your sides.
• Make sure your feet are firmly on the ground.
• Take a deep breath in and use an exclamation that you tend to use when you’re angry – it’s usually something like ‘Huh!’.  Using anger is brilliant, as it is a base emotion and instinctively we are better able to produce a more gutteral sound.  Notice that, when you do this correctly, you can feel your diaphragm working, and that ‘Huh!’ resonating through your body right from your feet upwards.  If you’re feeling that resonance, you’ve got it – well done!  This effect is what we call using a ‘centred’ voice. Your vocal tone will sound more definite, meaningful, confident and you should find that people are more likely to take you seriously when you’re speaking. Again, it’s not the content of what you are saying, it’s how you sound which will determine the message you are trying to convey.

5. Listen to the sound of your own voice!

Most of us wince at hearing the sound of our own voice, but you need to do this if you want to improve. Or better still, record it and ask a good colleauge or friend for some constructive feedback using the suggestions that follow.  Try recording a piece of text and play it back.  At this stage, I would suggest that you keep it to an audio recording and not a video, as you will end up also picking up visual signals which will detract from what you are trying to do.  Listen to your own voice carefully when you play the audio recording back and make notes.  We often think that we sound better than we do in reality.  Does it have any or all of the following qualities?  If it does, you don’t need these tips at all!:

6. Modulate your tone of voice

Does your voice modulate nicely?  Or does it sound more monotone /monotonous? - in other words, the same tone all the way through, which you dont want!  Sometimes, partcicularly when we are nervous and presenting something, our voices can tend to become even more monotone than usual, so it’s even more important to think about varying the tone of your voice.  If you’ve started to use your diaphragm and are centering your voice, in other words, you’ve now got more control over it, it should make it easier to moderate your tone of voice. 

7. Make your voice sound more authoritative

It may well be that you already have a great authoritative speaking voice and, if so, skip this one!  If not, try listening to people that you admire for being able to get their messages across well and who exude confidence.  If you think that you fall into a type of voice that currently lacks authority, I would suggest that you try to deepen it.  Does your voice have enough depth to it? Is it deep enough?  We tend to take notice of people more when they use a deeper, more resonant voice  than those who have a lighter, quieter, or whiney type of voice.  Those with those deeper, more resonant vocal tones are those that you are more likely to listen to and believe.  This is because they have learnt to centre their voice.  They may have been lucky and been born with it, but more likely it stems from confidence, background, geographical location and/or upbringing.

8. Enunciate clearly, and slow down

This one could also be part of 7. Authoritative, as those speakers we tend to listen to and take notice of as being authoritative, usually pace their phrasing really well, and speak slightly more slowly than others.  The same is also true of those who physically take the space they are occupying, and their bodies move in a more measured, slow, regal, style.  You don’t see the Queen of England scurrying about her duties do you?!  Actually, her voice pitch is slightly higher, but because both her speaking and bodily movements and posture are slow and measured, she gets away with it – plus her status speaks for itself!

9. Not convinced? Try this experiment – it works!

If you’re preparing to voice your video but have in the past had concerns about being taken seriously when you present yourself, try to implement the above suggestions. I know that, if you’re not used to producing a richer, deeper sound, you’ll probably feel a bit silly at first.  The other thing is, if you are in this category, you may be thinking ‘I’m not sure that going through all this effort is really going to make a difference’, then try this experiment – it works every time. Call someone who doesn’t know you and make a request for something, or to persuade them to take a particular action.  I don’t mean make a weird phone call to a stranger, but it could be your utility supplier to check on a bill payment that you have in your in-tray, or any other company for example that you may have a query with but haven’t yet called.  When you get on the phone, speak using your deeper, richer, centred voice at all times. If you do this correctly, and listen to the response of the person at the other end of the phone, I think that you will find you will a) get your message across better and b) you will get better results from your request or query - and faster.  Don’t forget to modulate the tone of your voice to keep it friendly, warm and polite, as you’re even less likely to achieve your aim!  Notice how both a) and b) are exactly what you want to achieve in your online video? 

10. Finally…

Alternatively, you could use a specialist voice-over artist for your online video, instead of doing it yourself.  The sample audio track below contains clips from recent corporate voice over work: 

If you’d like to read more articles like this, and be kept up to date with my work, then please sign up here!:

Blog update: Many thanks to Philbegnett.com for being my top referrer!

I am currently working in collaboration with Phil Begnett of WTV Media for Voice-Over services on a range of online videos and information supplements.

Sometimes it works better for the business owner/employees to present themselves on camera and/or voice their own internet video, depending upon the product or service they offer, and the aim of the piece in question. However, many people have never done this kind of thing before and are unsure as to how to present themselves both physically and vocally.

Utilise your voice to its fullest potential

This is where we can help to provide one-to-one coaching to bring out the best in them, and offer tips to improve their vocal tone and quality as necessary. Most people do not know how to utilise their voices to their fullest extent and think that they are stuck with what they have; when in fact, with a little help, the majority can improve considerably. The tools are there, we just need to bring them out and dust them off, as some of them may never have been used before! In the same way, so many people tell me that they can’t sing. However, whilst this is true for a minority, the rest have just been conditioned to believe that they can’t, which can be attributed to background and upbringing, and geographical origin, as well as confidence.

‘Centre’ your voice

What I come across most of all is where people speak from their throat rather than their diaphragm. This tends to result in a rather thin sound, which is unstable as it’s not supported from what I call the ‘centre’, ‘root’ or diaphragm. This, in turn, can make people sound as if they lack confidence, or straining their voices. So, how do you obtain that ‘centred’ sound? Stand up straight, feet slightly apart, hands by your sides. Make sure your feet are firmly on the ground. Take a deep breath in and use an exclamation that you tend to use when you’re angry – it’s usually something like ‘Huh!’ Using anger is brilliant, as it is a base emotion and we instinctively are better able to use a more gutteral sound. Notice that, when you do this, you are more likely to be using your diaphragm, and you should actually feel that ‘Huh!’ resonating through your body right from your feet upwards. This effect is what we call using a ‘centred’ voice. Your vocal tone will sound more definite and meaningful, and you should find that people are more likely to take you seriously. It’s not the content of what you are saying, it’s how you sound which will determine the message you are trying to convey.

Watch this space as I report back on the exciting projects that we’ll be collaborating together on…