2022.10.02 – 0640 – Extracting Distracting Fillers 1 Overcoming Fillers Not all filler words need to be cut out, especially if you’re aiming to sound conversational (although it would be odd in a news bulletin, or if you’re sticking to a timed and signed-off script, to insert umms and errs!). And anyway, removing them all from your authentic speech pattern may get in the way of you genuinely connecting with you audience. Eliminate most of your filler words though and you will instantly sound mor...
Oct 01, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 640
2022.10.01 – 0639 – Why “Umm” May Make You Sound Dumb You may not realise you’re using these words, but they could be really distracting to your listeners and the impression they give is that you’re poorly prepared and lacking confidence. “ Umm ” can make you sound dumb. You can of course, edit out these words and phrases from a pre-recorded show, but it’s a very time-consuming process and it’s very difficult to then have an impression of natural flow, eloquence, and confidence in the recording ...
Sep 30, 2022•1 min•Season 2Ep. 639
2022.09.30 – 0638 – Do You Like “like”? Do you like “like”? Many people find the developing use of this word infuriating. Critics say that it makes speakers sound stupid (“ It’s like, when you’re, like… ”) , and there’s even an app, LikeSo [1] , which listens to your speech and promises it can stop you using the word. “ Like ” tends not to, in comparison to “ umm ” and “ err ”, have an audible silence either side of it and it is used in many different ways, not just as a ‘filler’ [2] , [3] : It ...
Sep 29, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 638
2022.09.29 – 0637 – Umm, Err, Well, Kinda Filler words It’s easy for your ad-libs, conversations and questions to be littered with verbal crutches (properly called ‘disfluencies’): · Sounds - such as “ err ”, “ OK ”, “ umm ” · Words and phrases - “ y’know ”, “ I mean ”, “ you know what I mean ”, “ kind of thing ”, “ actually ”, “ basically ”, “ literally ”, “ right ”, “ sort of ”, “ so ” [1] and the like. And indeed, “ like ”. [2] When Do We Use Filler Words? We use fillers in different situatio...
Sep 28, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 637
2022.09.28 – 0636 – Giving Good ‘Libbing’ Giving Good ‘Libbing’ Be aware of adlibbing minefields. You may find yourself travelling down a conversational cul-de-sac unless you are very sure of your territory. So always engage your brain before putting your mouth into gear – think before you speak . Mostly then our adlibs come from preparation, and what we say just gives the impression of spontaneity. You may look or sound like you are making it up on the fly – but if you really are doing that the...
Sep 27, 2022•9 min•Season 2Ep. 636
2022.09.27 – 0635 – Killing Your Presentation With Bullets Killing It With Bullets Usually what appears to be a spontaneous adlib has actually been prepared to a certain extent, either a moment before we speak or after several hours of research. But the usual and best way to prepare is with a few notes (what some call ‘an invisible script’) – that may be a key word or two of something you just thought of, or a series of thought-out back-up bullet points. Benefits of using bullets: It gives struc...
Sep 26, 2022•6 min•Season 2Ep. 635
2022.09.26 – 0634 – When To Ditch The Studio Script The role of the script A script is great when you need to fit in the accepted role as a broadcaster, maybe on the news bulletins or news programmes. It is expected that you will be confident and assured, fluent and natural. As we have seen, to read a script conversationally is an artificial construct and I’ve shown you how to do it. (What would you prefer to hear – a newsreader stumbling through an unrehearsed bulletin bursting with up-to-the-m...
Sep 25, 2022•6 min•Season 2Ep. 634
2022.09.25 – 0633 – Other Voice Skills: Adlibs, Cold Reading and Talking To Time OTHER SPEAKING SKILLS An alphabetical list of other conversational considerations, from ad-libs to coping with verbal slips, filler words and fluffs… and a few hot takes on cold-reading. Ad-libbing This is what you say off the top of your head without a script, and is another good skill for any broadcaster or podcaster to have – although voice-over actors will of course have little use for it as they are mainly work...
Sep 24, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 633
2022.09.24 - 0632 – Giving Yourself Voice Direction Self-directing If you are a voice actor working from home, an ‘amateur’ podcaster [1] , or broadcaster without an active producer or manager, then you will need to direct yourself and be able to notice what you need to do to improve. The problem you may have to overcome is that, if you don’t have a director, part of you is critically listening to yourself and your performance all of the time, and so you’re not fully immersing yourself in your r...
Sep 23, 2022•5 min•Season 2Ep. 632
2022.09.23 - 0631 – Your Role As A Voice Script ‘Meaning Miner’ Your Role As A ‘Meaning Miner’ Sometimes when direction or a Brief is unclear, you need to do the hard work yourself. Well, you should always do much of this, but occasionally you need to get your hands dirty and unearth the hidden meaning in a script. Mine the text to find the seam of the story arc, pick away to discover the hidden message of what the advertiser wants the listener to do. Find the golden words that will help you to ...
Sep 22, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 631
2022.09.22 - 0630 – Voice-Over Studio Direction Taking direction Pay attention, listen, ask questions, take advice and understand the process. Some directors don’t know how to explain things very well and it can be a challenge to interpret what they mean. Some directions may be straightforward. “ A bit brighter ” will suggest a lightness in tone and a slightly quicker read. But try and remember, or make notes, of what you did on different takes of the recording, so you can better interpret direc...
Sep 21, 2022•5 min•Season 2Ep. 630
2022.09.21 - 0629 – Getting Feedback On Your Voice VOICE BOX Giving and Receiving Notes Directors: · Only have you give the feedback not everyone in the control room. · Realise that everyone has different expectations about feedback or Notes: o For some it’s “tell me what to do” o “Share with me what you think I should do” o “This is what I’m doing, is it OK or not?” · Don’t give too much information back to them in the first couple of reads. · Then, don’t give feedback all in one go, but ‘layer...
Sep 20, 2022•7 min•Season 2Ep. 629
2022.09.20 - 0628 – Voice-Over Guide Tracks G uide Track In some circumstances, a ‘dummy track’ of someone else reading the voice-over script may already have been recorded before you go into a studio. This is usually done on fast and tightly-edited video productions (think movie trails or promo videos) but may also be on audio creatives, again where there are lots of elements. It’s done so the editors can help shape the item in pre-production, sequencing the different clips together, with a cle...
Sep 19, 2022•6 min•Season 2Ep. 628
2022.09.19 - 0627 – How Voice Directors Can Help You Feel Part Of The Production Team VOICE BOX Directors – make your talent feel part of the team: · Introduce them to those in the gallery · Include them in conversations from inside their booth · Explain what’s happening · Try not to turn your back on them when discussing the recording with the client Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 18, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 627
2022.09.18 - 0626 – The Limits Of Line-Reading Second, in asking you to “ sound like this ” it’s likely they will be putting other elements into their read that they may not realise. And you as a professional will be copying not just their tone, but their speed, pauses, intonation, phrasing and so on. Which they may not have intended. And, think about it: you’ll end up doing an impression of them, doing an impression of you reading the script! That way no-one knows what’s going on and what’s act...
Sep 17, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 626
2022.09.17 - 0625 – Line-Reading For Voice Training VOICE BOX Line reading A director may read your script to you, in the style they want you to emulate: a line-reading. This is slightly different from a line-by-line read mentioned above, as it’s when a director speaks a phrase or sentence exactly how they want it (regarding intonation, accent, pace and so on) and they record you repeating it back them exactly. Professional voice-over artists (or VT- voice talent) should rarely need this directi...
Sep 16, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 625
2022.09.16 - 0624 – What’s Really Happening in a 1-by-1 Voice Over Read · “I must be rubbish. They’re asking me to record every line one-by-one!” – this isn’t that unusual. It may be down to the timing or the exact intonation that’s needed. Perhaps your sentence, or just a phrase, has to fit with those of other people as part of a poem or montage. Maybe it’s got to fit with the beat of music or pictures. Or it may be that the director is not just thinking of the overall Takes they like, but the ...
Sep 15, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 624
2022.09.15 - 0623 – Don’t Nix The Mix · “Is this going to be mixed with music?” – as we saw before, when you talk with music underneath you, it affects your read. Music elevates a voice and having it behind makes it more impactful, doing a lot of the ‘emotional lifting’ of the recording. You adapt your style (notably usually the pace and rhythm) to work in harmony with the track. If you can hear now, the bed that will be mixed with your vocals later, then you will be better able to match its sty...
Sep 14, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 623
2022.09.14 - 0622 – Take Your Time and Sound (More Than) Fine · “ This is taking ages…” Every job will have its challenges and it’ll all take as long as it takes. Work with the director/producer/sound engineer as they try and get the best out of you. Instead: understand that they may be trying out various styles of read to see what you can do with your ‘voice personality’ in case between you all, you discover something new that they hadn’t thought of. Sometimes this ‘off-the-wall’ approach may b...
Sep 13, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 622
2022.09.13 - 0621 – What To Do If Your Script Has Alarming Timings · “There’s no way I can fit all of this script into just 30 seconds” – there are too many words for the time allowed and you’re tempted to gabble to fit it all in. Instead: maybe the script has just been ‘over-written’ and there are a few words that can be lost or phrases that can be re-written. Obviously, this is down to the producer, not you – although you may perhaps make a polite suggestion if asked. If you have to talk fast,...
Sep 12, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 621
2022.09.12 - 0620 – Don’t Introduce An Excuse For Your Poor Voice Performance · “ Yeah, I’m rubbish today because the cat was sick, I had a row with my daughter and I the bus was late ” – Everyone has a similar story, and they don’t need to hear about yours. Winding yourself up will only make you nervous. Instead: Breathe, relax, de-stress with the exercises we’ve already gone through. Listen to the direction, and to how you follow it in your read. Be positive and collaborative. Hosted on Acast....
Sep 11, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 620
2022.09.11 - 0619 – When It Hits That the Script Is Sh*t · “ This script is really bad. It’s so poorly written, it makes no sense and ungrammatical ” – don’t complain about the copy, it may’ve been written by the studio producer or the client themselves. Instead: The grammar may not look right, but it will probably sound right, and it’s your job to make it work. If you still think the words works better on the page than in your mouth (maybe too formal, awkward, or with a difficult rhythm), then ...
Sep 10, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 619
2022.09.10 - 0618 – How To Return After A Verbal Slip Turning Voice-Over Worries Into ‘Wonderful’ · “ Sorry, I slipped on that. Sorry. I gotta concentrate. That was stupid…” – trips, slips and stumbled are natural with a new script. Instead: Slow down, take a breath and concentrate and remember it’ll take a few reads to get the rhythm and the writer’s intended meaning. Ask a producer if they’d prefer you to carry on after any slip, or go back and do that sentence again, or the whole paragraph. R...
Sep 09, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 618
2022.09.09 - 0617 – How To Make A Sound Engineer Your Friend How To Make A Sound Engineer Your Friend · Turning up on time and being ready microphone-ready · Be confident and competent in sight-reading. OK the odd slip or trip, but be able to see it and say it pretty quickly. · Be able to interpret what the message is and who it’s for · Be comfortable not only in reading to time, but being able to shave off or add a few seconds to the duration of the read · The ability to polish a fast-turnaroun...
Sep 08, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 617
2022.09.08 - 0616 – The Voice-Over Studio Workflow Let’s just take a quick look at what happens when you go into a voiceover studio. · Read the Brief and the script · Assist the studio engineer in setting the mic position and levels, the level of your headphones and talkback and the position of any script stand · Have a first run-through of the script and get any questions answered about style or speed, timing and tone, projection, pronunciation and contractions (can you say “ they’ll ” rather t...
Sep 07, 2022•6 min•Season 2Ep. 616
2022.09.07 - 0615 – Voice Director Skills The skills of a director [1] · They are a bridge between the actor and client. They are likely to work with voice artists more often than the script writer or the sharp-suited client, so they can explain what’s going on, know what language to use, how to get the best out of you and how to get the written word to be an effective spoken word. They understand that voice work is an art and not a science. Oh, and that sharp-suited client? They may also be sha...
Sep 06, 2022•5 min•Season 2Ep. 615
2022.09.06 - 0614 – Talking About Studio Talkbacks Talk-back mics The gallery production area will have mics which are used to ‘talk back’ to you in the studio. Sometimes these may be left on (or ‘open’) as you record, either by mistake or deliberately, which means you will hear the coughs, comments, conversations and script suggestions from the producers, directors and clients, live, in your headphones as you read. This can be quite off-putting, so request that their mics can be muted so you ca...
Sep 05, 2022•5 min•Season 2Ep. 614
2022.09.05 - 0613 – How ‘Control Room Characters’ May Shape Your Voice The Control Room (AKA: ‘gallery’, ‘production area’, ‘ops’ [operations area], or simply ‘studio’!) While you are alone in the studio, other people will be in the area just outside, where the recording actually happens. There could be several people in here, even eight or ten people in an agency studio situation. Maybe a creative director, a creative writer or two, clients, an account manager, a rep from the marketing departme...
Sep 04, 2022•6 min•Season 2Ep. 613
2022.09.04 - 0612 – Taking Voice Production Notes Always keep a record of the takes that you do in a session, the number and the direction requested of you for it. That’s because in some recordings you may have upwards of 50 takes, with notes on each one. If you keep a written track of ‘what you did when’ then it will be easier to not only go back and reproduce a read in a certain way (“ yeah, I think Take 23 was the kind of brighter sound we wanted…” ), but also gives you a ‘roadmap’ of where y...
Sep 03, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 612
2022.09.03 - 0611 – What To Take Into A Voice Recording Session Performance Ok here we go. All that training and preparing comes to the moment the red light goes on! But we’re not there yet. Not quite. What to take into a recording session: Headphones – closed-back or in-ear types Comfort and confidence Health Water – in a spill-proof bottle To top up your hydration To give you something to do as the director and colleagues discuss the next take To give something to do when you need a break – to...
Sep 02, 2022•7 min•Season 2Ep. 611
