Judy Rodman - All Things Vocal Blog

Training & insights for stage and studio singers, speakers, vocal coaches and producers from professional vocal coach and author of "Power, Path & Performance" vocal training method. Download All Things Vocal podcast on your fav app!

Saturday, November 9, 2013

9 Tips for Better Voice-Over and Teleseminar Speaking



When doing voice-over work or hosting teleseminars, you generally don't have the person you need to be speaking to in front of your face. But you have to imagine interacting with them, or your speaking voice will sound dull, bored, thin and/or fake - definitely not the kind of voice that invites listening. Here are some tips to make your next recorded script or phone presentation much more effective, and much less vocally fatiguing:

  1. First: don't bore the listener with too much extrapolation and meandering... you can freestyle it somewhat but it is indeed best to work from a script. 
  2. Mentally set the stage. Really picture a specific person to whom you will talk. This will help you not sound numb or artificially passionate in your delivery.
  3. Now mentally picture the person's face reacting so that you know you got through. Ask yourself what kind of vocal sound - tone, inflection, pace, volume, articulation - you need to use to get that response. Use that! 
  4. Watch your speed of delivery. Don't neglect the natural pauses and moment of silence needed by the listener to digest what you say. Give yourself permission to breathe.
  5. To keep an open throat and ribcage for good resonance and breath, do not slump or stiffen your spine. Park your head over your tailbone.
  6. USE YOUR EYES and HANDS when you're speaking, as you would if the object of your message was in your gaze. This can make a HUGE difference. Try an experiment... quote some passage with dead eyes and still hands, then speak it again with active eyes, brows and hands. You'll be a believer.
  7. Don't fake it. Use tone colors that are authentic to the meaning of the words coming out of your face! 
  8. Use good breath technique... 'Pull' your speaking voice as well as you do your singing voice to balance breath support and control. Power your voice from your pelvic floor.
  9. If you are responsible for the final recording, edit your file with software such as Audacity to get superfluous er, eh, sputter, false starts out.
  10. Picture your audience naked. No, actually DON'T, that doesn't help at all (who starts these things? :)
UPDATE:
Since writing this post, I've done another... this time an interview with world-renown VO talent Linda Bruno. There is a podcast audio file included. Click on the link to view, or copy/paste this url into your browser: 
http://blog.judyrodman.com/2016/03/making-career-in-voiceover-interview.html

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posted by Judy Rodman @ 6:51 PM  

6 Comments :

  • At July 4, 2015 at 11:48 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

    the demand for multiple language vox services has surpassed its simply trending standing and is additional possible to remain permanently. this can be rather more applicable for vox services. voice over service

     

  • At October 13, 2016 at 8:48 PM , Anonymous craig williams said...

    Excellent advice. I am new to voice over and still struggling to visualize the person I should be speaking to. I guess I just have to keep practicing.
    Http://www.craigsvoicetalent.com

     

  • At October 14, 2016 at 11:47 AM , Anonymous AndrewCharlton said...

    Some useful advice, thank you! Another thing I would add is to specify your requests in a contract to avoid the studio or another provider from changing voices you have approved at the last minute.

     

  • At October 15, 2016 at 9:51 AM , Blogger Judy Rodman said...

    Thanks, Andrew... I'm assuming you're speaking from the buyer's viewpoint. That's something I never thought about! I can well imagine a buyer of talent services being very disappointed at a substitution.

     

  • At October 15, 2016 at 10:21 AM , Blogger Judy Rodman said...

    Craig... you might try the Lee Strasberg sensory approach to getting 'real' with being virtually present with the heart you're talking to. Thanks for the comment, and my best wishes on your career in VO!

     

  • At October 15, 2016 at 10:24 AM , Blogger Judy Rodman said...

    Another blogpost I've done on VO subsequent to this one is an interview with Linda Bruno, a world-class VO professional based in NY. Check it out here http://blog.judyrodman.com/2016/03/making-career-in-voiceover-interview.htm

     

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