The Power of Being You
Our goal as voice actors is to take the words, thoughts, and intentions of someone else’s script and make them sound like our own. Sometimes we can get lost in how we think a script should sound, instead of what …
What Lies Beneath
Years ago, my very first acting coach observed me deliver lines in the most excruciatingly disconnected way. He then presented me with the following pearls of wisdom, which I still meditate on to this day, “Nancy, the words don’t matter.” …
Adding Energy to Your Commercial Reads
Energy is contagious. When you speak with good energy and work to uplift the script that you’re reading, the listener can hear it and feel it. You want your voice to be the superhero that carries the brand into the …
Avoiding Monotone
Why is it important to avoid a monotone voice? When we speak in one tone, it doesn’t keep the audience engaged – it makes it easier for your voice to drown out in the background. It also makes it harder …
Three Tips for Authentic Character Work
While often used interchangeably, there is a difference between a voice-over talent and a voice actor. It’s sort of like, “a square is always a rectangle but a rectangle isn’t always a square” – a voice actor is always a …
Working With Difficult Directors
Whenever people gather together to create something, conflicts are guaranteed to happen. It doesn’t matter whether you are painting a house, shooting a film, or recording a commercial. Everyone dreads conflict, yet the clashing of creative ideas is inevitable because …
Strategies for Authentic Performance
Whether you’re doing character work, narrating an audiobook, or announcing for a commercial, our job as voice actors is to give an authentic performance. Some of these roles may lend themselves to our personalities right from the start. Commercials may …
Authenticity and Direction
A Zen master once said, “We are exactly the opposite of what we appear to be.” Are you authentically you? Many of us think we are at first glance. We may describe ourselves as straight-shooters, assertive, or not caring what …
Mouth Noise: Friend or Foe?
As voice-over artists, it’s easy to think of mouth noise as an enemy. A challenge to be vanquished before we deliver brilliant performances behind the microphone. But what if–stay with me–we saw mouth noise as a friend, rather than a …
The Long Road to Authenticity
“I am out with lanterns looking for myself.” – Emily Dickinson This week I had another one of those breakthrough moments with a demo student that was so exciting, I literally had to jump up and down because his vocal performance …
How to Befriend Sibilance
So sassy. Am I right? The nerve of sibilance, drowning out an otherwise perfect read. It can be really frustrating, I know. Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt, “Sibilance Sucks!” from the local tourist shop. When I first started …
You Are Not a Robot
What to do with Breaths Ah, the age-old question—at least as old as voice-over—of what to do with breaths in your recording. In the new era of human and AI voices, our breath is one of the main things that …