If you are tuned into the voice acting world, you know it’s changing rapidly.
Well-known screen actors are discovering commercials, documentaries, and audiobooks as a new way of expressing their artistry and getting income. Likewise, advertising agencies are creating commercials that look more like mini-movies than ads.
What does this mean for you, the aspiring voice actor? First, there will always be enough work for everyone, but we must modify our game plan, take the focus off the voice, and put it on you.
The industry expects more than a voice: they want real people reflecting real life. Ad executives know that selling doesn’t work anymore. Relatability and storytelling are where commercials are headed.
It can be confusing because, in many cases, having a great voice and wanting to use it drew us to voice-acting in the first place!
Not THAT kind of casting!
Don’t get me wrong, having a voice people want to listen to is a huge bonus, but how we make the audience feel is what matters. This is where acting techniques come in.
Our competitors – on-screen and theatrical actors – have been honing their relatability skills for years. Through training, technique, and experience, they can bring their genuine truth to the character they are portraying, in the given circumstances of the scene. This is called personalization of the copy.
You do not need a degree in acting to learn how to personalize a script.
Personalization of the script is the opposite of reading it; it’s making the words your own. The feel of the actor who has successfully personalized a script is as if the person is speaking extemporaneously and living a truthful moment.
The stories underneath the words make it possible for you to stop reading and start living. Try looking at a script in many different ways. Challenge yourself to come up with different scenarios and storylines. Only jump into a script having developed a story beneath the words.
We want to create an atmosphere for ourselves when doing a script, where the unexpected can happen. This means allowing your emotions to run the show instead of your brain.
Work on cultivating the same spontaneity and creativity you had as a child. Read imaginative books and visit museums. Start painting or writing poetry. Get out in nature and ponder the universe. It will be invaluable to you as a voice actor in creating stories or subtexts in a script.
There should be a palpable feeling of risk when we are living a script instead of reading it. Just like in real life, unpredictable moments can and do happen. When you’re a voice actor these can be job-getting moments.
Don’t worry about punctuation. It can be a trap that leads to a stiff, ready performance that robs you of your unique ways of phrasing.
We certainly don’t want to change the words in a script, but there’s a lot that can happen in a truthful moment that has nothing to do with words. Don’t suppress natural sounds like a gasp, a sigh, or even a chuckle. These moments can make you stand out from the rest.
Perhaps most importantly, silence your inner critic as you perform a script. Don’t worry that you may make a mistake. The goal is to live the moment as you live your life, not judging how you say every word, but instead thinking about what is actually happening in the scene.
We all need to remind ourselves that casting is not looking for perfection, they want a real human being that will move the audience. So cultivate your humanity and bring that to your work, and success will follow.
Check out our free PDF with pro tips from real working voice-over actors here!
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