talent

Being Award Announcer at the WTA Grand Slam of Voice Over

One of the things I love about being a voice over announcer are the places and jobs it takes me vicariously or in person. This October, one of the biggest events in the female tennis world was held in Singapore. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals Gala Evening. And though I wasn’t there myself, I was there in voice… performing the award announcements and spinning the stories behind each player. This high profile gig was uber fun. I worked with the WTA team both in the US and UK.

As it was an event highlighting the best of women in the world, personally I thought it was a great choice to hire a woman to voice the awards. Announcing awards requires a different focus and mindset to most other voice over jobs. It’s a celebration, and we’re all here to have a good time!

Elite Voice Over

If you’re familiar at all with tennis, you know the WTA Finals Gala Evening is the big one. It’s a night filled with the creme de la creme of the women’s tennis world, and people travel from all over the planet to be there. I was proud to be a part of it professionally.

Held in Singapore in October of this year, the international event saw many big names and players in attendance. The one thing all of these players had in common is their stories of overcoming obstacles, of strength of spirit and mind, of determination and focus – this is where I, as their Award announcer came into play. As each award nominee was announced before the winning player made her way to the stage, their stories, achievements, and accolades were told. Whether they won an award that evening or not, this night was special. It may have been the highlight of their careers and lives, being lauded among peers, or one in a string of more to come.

Without heavy namedropping, the WTA gave me the opportunity to announce some extremely high profile names in the industry. And the best part of the whole affair was that the team was so happy with my performance this time around, they’ve pre-booked me for next year’s awards. Needless to say, I’m tickled pink.

Girls Rule… And So Do Our Voices

Happily, female voice overs in award announcements are growing. Once, totally a male dominated slice of the industry, advantages of the female voice at events include (still) standing out and grabbing attention. Elements of a great voice for award announcer include warmth, depth and clarity. The delivery must come across as in-tone with the overall evening, and add grace and dignity to the event.

The step away from male voice in Award announcer, may be a step away from the traditional. But it is a step toward more visibility and more representation. This year Danica Patrick became the first female ever to host the ESPN ESPY Awards. While there have been a handful of female Oscar co-hosts (including Anne Hathaway, Jane Fonda, Goldie Hawn) there have only been two female Oscar hosts: Whoopi Goldberg (4 times) and Elen deGeneres (2 times). Happily, my colleague and friend Randy Thomas has donned heels and strappy black dress numerous times to be the live announcer of the Oscars, the Emmys, and the Tonys, showing a deep, pleasant, stand-out female voice over has the capability to cut through the clutter and calm any possible chaos during an awards show.

This aspect of the voice over industry differs from others. Unlike much of the voice-over work I do, at award shows, the audience is not just one person. The Award Announcer is talking to a crowd of people. This approach requires a different focus and mindset.

As well as sounding more formal than regular speech, one needs to think bigger in order to sound bigger. At the same time, strike that balance between warmth and professionalism. My voice is there to be clear and articulate, but also captivate and hold people’s attention. To calm and relax nerves, but also amp up the excitement appropriately.

A Celebration of Stories

The key to announcing awards is that while it is a formal event, it’s also an exciting event. It’s a celebration. Announcing the awards for the WTA was very much stylized voice over storytelling. Capturing the attention of everyone in the room and bringing them along for the ride to celebrate the most elite female tennis players in the world.

Many of the players become known in the media for loud or strange grunting noises or what they’re wearing on the court. But during an awards event, the voice-over helps to showcase their achievements, struggles and who they are as a person. As a professional female voice over artist, Award announcing holds a special place among the work I do. It’s an honor to be hired to venerate people, corporations and organizations who’ve gone above and beyond.

Awards Announcing is a Workout

Performing as an award announcer requires a lot of energy. These formal, exciting events are quite the workout. It requires vocal care: good hydration, great storytelling technique and excellent diaphragm control to bring authority and charisma without blowing out your vocal chords.

While the WTA may be one of the highest profile organizations I’ve announced awards for, it’s not the only one. I’ve been the pre-recorded awards voice for educational institutions, non-profit organizations, industry alliances and associations, and everything in between. In every instance, whether it’s red carpet, black ties, sparkles and champagne, or town halls lauding the heroes of the community. I am cognizant of the part I play in bringing it together. Vocally, I represent the brand, the event, and the people behind it – and that’s what I love about working with awards.

If you’re looking for a professional female voice-over artist for your own awards event, please get in touch. I’d love to discuss working together!

Why Voice Over is the Key to a Successful PSA

My Voiceovers, Voiceover Business

Your craft, profession or career, presents opportunities to be of service. To give back. For a voice over artist, performing the VO on public service announcements (better known as PSAs) hits that sweet spot for me. I’m currently sitting in a friend’s living room in LA, here this week nominated for an Award for my narration on a PSA, I’m also struck by the plights they serve. Top of mind now are the horrible wildfires devastating property and lives so close by. PSAs offer solutions. They prompt us to necessary action. The key to a successful PSA is connecting honestly with the cause. When I take on the voice-over for one of these, I feel like I’m helping the world in my own way.

Like any voice-over character I take on, there’s a real art to capturing the tone and meaning of the PSA vocally. Most PSAs tend to revolve around serious and sensitive topics, and so it’s important to come across as believable. If I’m working on a PSA to encourage people to quit smoking – happy, healthy, and excited is not the sound I’m going for. Voice-over acting means embracing the anguish, ordeal, hope and joy of others. It’s something I work on every day in the voice-over game.

PSAs Are Effective

If you’ve ever worked for a not-for-profit or government organization… or you’ve ever watched TV or listened to radio for that matter…PSAs are familiar to you. They’re not a new idea.

In fact, PSAs have been around the United States since World War II. As an article on GovTech.com states, around that time advertising agencies and radio broadcasters put out messages like, “Loose Lips Sink Ships”, and “Keep em Rolling”. This was done to encourage the purchase of war bonds, for which they needed the help of the public. To do that, they needed to capture public attention in one simple message.

Today PSAs are almost a part of TV culture, and we tend to remember the bigger nationwide campaigns for their tagline or character. Remember “Smokey the Bear”, or “A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste”? Both clever examples of public service announcements which, since we still remember them, were quite effective.

The reason this type of promotion is still effective, even generations later, is because they always strike a nerve with the audience. Agencies make PSAs with the audience in mind — and as the audience changes, so does the content of the PSAs. The only things that stay consistent in the mix are the ingredients themselves. A compelling tale told via story telling style by a strong, believable voice over character. Like with much of my voice-over work, the voice-over narration in a PSA is the element that holds the most power. It’s crucial to striking that nerve with the audience. And without it, they are much less effective.

PSAs Are All About Empathy

As someone who works on a lot of PSAs, the main thing I’ve learned in this line of work is that PSAs walk the line between a number of emotions. They’re touching, they’re uplifting, and most of all, they’re hopeful.

The idea has always been to inspire someone to help, or live a better life of their own. We rarely take a negative approach to the matter, and always an honest one. And that’s why it takes experience and character to perform PSA voice-over: it requires digging into empathy and performing the role as if you’re the one affected. The thing is, no matter who we are or where we come from, we all have issues. PSAs are a matter of scratching the surface and getting into what’s underneath. They’re about talking human-to-human to those who may need help or encouragement.

Below I’ve included a couple of examples of PSAs I’ve worked on. Have a listen and you’ll see what I mean about the voice.

Case Study: Easterseals Mission

I suppose the nice thing about working on any PSA is that it’s always for a real cause. In saying that, Easterseals Mission was quite a lovely project, since the company brings such positivity into the conversation. They’re all about “taking on disability together” and helping all those affected by disability to achieve quality of life. The trick to getting the voice-over narration right for this PSA was to convey a happy, positive voice without becoming over-the-top excited and keeping it real.

Case Study: American Red Cross

It’s funny sometimes how the little things can have such a big impact… and the PSA I worked on for American Red Cross is a great example of this. The PSA itself aims to encourage those with Type O blood to donate. And it does this with minimal words and imagery, and a clear CTA, or call to action. For this voice-over, my aim was to appeal to the heart and to speak in a way that would inspire universal donors to help.

Happily, it seems I succeeded — since the next thing I knew, I was nominated for a 2018 ‘Outstanding Commercial — TV or Web, Best Voiceover Award by the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences! A top accolade in my industry it was an honor to be nominated for such an award.

Casting a Voice-Over for Your Own PSA

Performing for a public service announcement can be challenging for a voice-over artist. But having worked on hundreds (and been nominated for an award), it’s a challenge face confidently. Each PSA requires its own story and character, finding that perfect tone and digging into my empathy to tell the perfect story.

Have you been looking for the perfect voice over talent to announce your own brand’s story to the public? Kim Handysides Voice Over is your gal — I’d be thrilled to help. Get in touch today and tell me more about the project.

Furthermore, did you know I also give away a free voice-over for a charitable event or campaign every six months? If you’ve got a cause to support, enter here for your chance to have me help, pro bono.

How to Shoot Your Voiceover Career in the Foot – VO’s Worst Practices

Voiceover Business

If you ever get a chance to help out in any casting project, take it. Whether you sign up as a reader for a day, get an summer internship at a casting house or even volunteer to answer phones, being on the other side of the proverbial casting couch gives you an unparalleled vantage point and insight into what separates the bookable from the floundering.

As a voice over artist with a long, successful career, I’ve tracked my slow season. January and July are my quietest months. So when a panicked long-term client reached out to me this summer with an unorthodox project, I had time, resources and expertise to help them out. What transpired over the next month was an insightful case study in how other (about 150 other) voice over artists behave in the context of a job. I have cast multiple voice over projects in the past, but they were generally small – one or two mostly, occasionally up to a dozen. But this huge job put me in a unique position on the hiring side of the voiceover proposition. Snuggle up, buttercup, I’m going to share the good, the bad and the fugly in this week’s bloggy wog.

The 4 Second Audition Rule

Multiple esteemed sources in our industry say casting directors only listen to the first few seconds of my audition. Guys? It is so true. I fought against it. I gave the first three or four, ten seconds before clicking to the next. The truth is when faced with over 50 auditions to listen to, unless your engager has no idea what they want or perhaps, they want to hear you come in tight on a :15 or :30, they make their casting decision in the first 4 seconds. If you can’t nail it and grab their attention off the top, you won’t do it for their audience either. Those who delivered in the first 4 seconds, made it to my short list.

Talent is key

There is no replacement for talent. Natural talent is rare. There’s only one Jennifer Lawrence. For the rest of us, there is talent enhancement! If you’re not booking the way you want to, it’s probably because you need to work on your craft. Even the best of us continue to get coaching, do improv, stand-up, scene study, work with dialect coaches, etc. Your lack of care to your craft is obvious when compared to the 50 others in an audition. Find someone more successful than you and ask where they trained, who they coached with, for how long and for how much.

Do Adhere to and Deliver on Instructions

Take the time to read the instructions. Don’t jump into a read too quickly at the expense of not fulfilling a requirement. If they’ve asked for inspirational and you’ve given them conversational, you’ve missed the mark. Unless you do conversational as a Take 2 and give them that for variety to display your range.

Get Your Sound Quality Right

sound waves Kim Handysides voice over professional — Source: Avid Blogs

Shortcuts in your sound quality are glaring in a string of others who’ve spent the time and money to get it right. Listen back to your sound and compare it to the sound of others in the field who book regularly. If you can’t identify what’s wrong, enlist help. Befriend sound engineers and booth gurus. Listen to podcasts. Ask sound equipment suppliers. Play with your room. One piece of equipment I stumbled upon that I heartily endorse is the VOMO portable sound booth. A lightweight construction of sound absorbing material, it gives you an effective room in a pinch.

Client Communication

Keep your introduction brief. In my huge casting project, faced with so many voice over talents from which to choose (over 100), my eyes flashed over the accompanying letter that came with audition submission like lightning. My primary interest was being able to communicate with them off site (yes, I went through a couple of pay to play for some talents) to be able to go back and forth easier, quicker.

After being hired, despite my request to communicate via email, (and the fact that this particular site had no qualms about leaving it once initial contact was made) many talents kept communicating through the site. This left me wasting time sifting through endless threads (with other people attached to the same thread. I found that frustrating and made me not want to hire those people again. Follow instructions.

Be polite. On this particular job, the budget was low. I knew that going in. I mentioned it in the specs. It was an unusual job – not for broadcast – with a better rate than audiobook, but not much else. So, I found it annoying when people told me what I already knew. Don’t waste my time arguing.

A Related Voice Demo

Although it was for pretty much always only about 4-6 seconds, I did listen to related voice demos that talents sent me, as well as the audition. I wanted to hear what else they could do. And I noticed two incidents where I would have done it differently. Some people sent a second take as their related generic demo. That was a waste of time. Unless otherwise specified, second takes go on the submitted demo.

Invoicing/Payment Issues

Invoice me right away if you like. Then it’s off your list and on to mine. But understand if your client needs to clear some other things off their desk before they get to you. Two talents in this great big job asked for payment up front – as in, before they sent the files. That’s your prerogative – I do this with clients from certain countries – I’ve only never been paid twice in 30 years. One was some guy in the Ukraine. One was a Union gig, and my stewards gave up after 3 years with no luck. But know that for people in North America asking to be paid before you do the work risks you not getting hired again. Many clients (including me in the mega-project) are only getting paid after the job has been produced/integrated/approved/and the client’s check has cleared/at the end of the job. So if you ask to be paid up front, I have to bank roll you out of pocket. It’s all about cash flow.

Voiceover Company Name Problems

Want to make it difficult for me to find you again or to pay you for the job? Name your company something other than your own name. Your face is your brand. Your name is your brand. Period. End. It makes it so difficult for your client if your company name is Fairy Dust Voice Talent and your name is Joe Guy. Especially if you don’t indicate the connection in your communications somehow. Be found. Use your name. Keep it simple, sweetheart.

My biggest lesson learned? I will not go seeking work as a casting agent. That shizzle is tough! Casting pro’s, production co-ordinators, agents…they work hard for their percentage. Thank heavens we’re not all the same. I’ll stick to performance, thank you very much.

A Voice Actor’s Guide: How to Make your Voice Sound Better

Voiceover Coaching

Amber speaks too quickly. Her words slam and stumble into each other and she comes across as alternately nervous or excited or uncomfortable in the situation or space she is in. Rose’s voice is thin, brittle and cracks. She sounds much older than she is. From her mid-twenties, strangers on the phone have mistaken her for a senior. Derek is too loud. People are always telling him to shush or backing away a foot or two from him. Kevin sounds nasally. He is very self-conscious about it and it makes him limit his social interactions.

bird singing Kim Handysides Voiceover — Credit: Ryk Naves

As a voice actor I am often asked if there is any advice I can give to help friends, family (or others) improve their voices. Some vocal problems are physical. Some are psychological. Not all vocal problems can be addressed by tips from a voice actor. But since voice is my profession and art, the answer follows:

The best way to improve your voice is to become conscious of it and take lessons. Depending on what your goals are, this may involve sessions with a speech therapist, coaching with a voice artist or singing teacher or signing up for toastmaster workshops. Bottom line: The more you become aware of your voice and the more you work with it, the better it will become.

Voice Issues May be Rooted in Childhood

Because yes, like our physical traits and talents (or lack thereof), our voices are judged by others. Occasionally vocal problems are entrenched in childhood issues. Maybe you were told to be quiet or not to say things. Perhaps in school you felt judged by an accent or speech pattern that was different than others. Cruel, excessive or inappropriate judgment can breed vocal shortcomings.

A child habitually told to keep quiet may end up believing that what they have to say is not important. They may grow up speaking too fast to try to get a word in edgewise or get out what they have to say before they are told to shut it. They may speak too softly, out of range of critics. They may be reluctant to speak at all. Someone who thinks their accent or speaking style is unacceptable, may alter their breathing adequately for clear speech. Fault finding of how you speak can lead to holding tension in your jaw, throat or shoulders.

Key to a Great Voice is to Relax

Morgan Freeman yawning Kim Handysides Voiceover — Source: Tyvark

The root of many physical voice problems have to do with tightness in your jaw and/or throat. Morgan Freeman, arguably one of the smoothest richest voices in popular culture often talks about how he yawns to help open and relax his throat before any storytelling or voice acting gig.

Advice for Amber? Relax. Think about taking your time. Luxuriate in the words as you tell them. Plan pauses by focusing on breathing more fully through your conversations…Forgive me fellows, but manspread your speech, Amber. What you have to say is important. Let your words linger on the air.

Rose? Watch your posture. Shoulders back and chest lifted will give you more air in your lungs. Also a thin reedy voice means the cave of your mouth/throat is not open wide enough. Open the back of your throat by imagining a large egg or kiwi or something round that keeps that soft palate up and open. Again, like Morgan says, yawning helps you find that space.

Derek. The first way to lower your volume is to become conscious of it and then vary it. Imagine a volume control dial and play with it up and down. Focus on one word per phrase that you get to turn the volume up on. Listen more. Listen to the volume of others and emulate it.

Kevin? Unless you have a cold (or always sound like your do, so specialist required), a nasally voice usually means you sound like you’re talking through your nose which often comes from a tight throat or clenched jaw muscles. Invoking Morgan yet again, relax your throat & jaw. Imagine you have a plum (or something) in your back teeth (or back of your throat) and talk like that. It will bring that sound down into the space in which it needs to be.

Practice and Play with Your Voice

hearts on blurred background KimHandysides Voiceover — Source: Freestocks.org

Vocal technique and faithful exercise can foster a better relationship with your own voice. It will create confidence and help overcome the pressures that can make speaking difficult. Learning to control your voice, owning it and falling in love with it is magical. You will want to talk more and people will want to listen to you. Enhancing your voice is like regaining what should always have been yours to love.

An Award winning successful voice actor for longer than millennials have roamed Earth, Kim Handysides records commercials, narrations and crazy characters daily from her professional studio and delivers them to yours.

Voice Over Rates: How to Find the Razor Sharp Edge of Pricing your Professional

Voiceover Business

After sorting out how to find the right voice with top notch audio quality and a quick turnaround time, the big question for producers hiring voiceover professional is rates. How much does it cost to hire a voice actor to narrate your material?

The simple answer:

Voice over Rates — Credit: Election Academy

Union

First let’s sneak a peek at the Union vs non-Union rates. If it’s a Union (Sag-AFTRA-ACTRA) gig, the minimum or “scale” rates are set and negotiated between representatives on behalf of the actors and the producers who are signatory to the union. The actor then may agree to do the job for scale, or ask for “scale and a half,” “double scale,” etc. This is more common for experienced or in-demand actors.

Rates are a hot topic among artists who make their living with their vocal chords. Sometimes a contentious one. Whether those artists are union, non-union or both (i.e. Fi-core, for financial core – SAG AFTRA members who pay their union dues, but rescind voting rights to be able to work both sides of the lot).

Voice over Rates How to Find — Credit: Nick Maillet

Union folk walk the tight line between anxiously guarding hard-fought for rates and keeping rates competitive in the rising tide of non-union work. Being organized, they are also the loudest complainant that rates for the most strenuous types of voice work are the often the lowest. And, it’s true. Genres, like gaming, audiobook work and dubbing are all low-men on the totem pole. Long-form audiobook narration is a rewarding, but slogging marathon and dubbing while exhilarating, requires tight precision in timing and delivery. Gaming demands intense energy and characterization of life and death situations, where the stakes are always high and the pace to perform is wickedly fast. (At a studio where I often direct commercials, narration & demos, I was invited to audition as a gaming director. I was told my direction was spot on, excellent even, but the time I took to get the actor to deliver the performance was just too long for the gaming world.)

Non-Union

If you have not signed an agreement with the actor’s union(s), or your project is being produced virtually (with input from various contributors around the globe), then your project is non-union. Rates for non-union jobs generally depend on two variables: the project and the actor. More specifically, the length, use and intended/projected audience of your project, and the quality of the voice actor (and occasionally both how busy that actor is and the depth of your relationship).

Professional voice actors who work non-union jobs most often charge prices in line with union gigs. Most producers who are not Union signatory, still want great talent, they just don’t want to either be locked in to residuals and buy-outs on every production or have the flexibility to pick up both union and nonunion work themselves.

Use, Population & Time

How a voice performance is used is the most important identifier in determining price. Commercial advertising (broadcast, theatrical, web, etc.) commands the highest fee structure and is also based on population. How many eyes/ears will see/hear it? The sliding scale works from local, regional to national ads. And there are differences in price for different countries. A national ad in the USA has 5 times the potential viewership of a national ad in the UK and 10 times that of Canada. The prices reflect that. When you take international ads and audiences into account, international economies also come into play. The average weekly salary in Jamaica is 1/3 of an average American weekly wage, and people in India make less than 1/10 of what those in the US make. Commercial rates may be negotiated as a lump sum or follow the Union model and be broken down into a rate for the session (the time during which the ad is recorded), the use (where it will be seen), population (by how many) and for how long (for 13 weeks, generally called “one cycle” or longer, up to a full buy-out – all uses for all perpetuity, in which case, you are looking at a big-ticket item).

There is also quite a difference between commercial and narration rates. Typically, we think of narration as corporate or business videos, and training or eLearning programs. Narration rates are often set in either 10 minute increments (which follows the format of the union rates) or by number of cents per word. For example, the lion’s share of voice artists will say any narration up to the first 10 minutes will be around $300 US (give or take $100) or approximately 0.20 per word (give or take 0.10). Rates for subsequent increments of 10 minutes are generally lower on a sliding scale to a fixed rate (eg. no lower than $100 per 10 mins).

Until you get the hang of it, it can be confusing. Whether you are a producer or a voice over artist. In fact, on our side of the negotiating table, the majority of vetted professional voice over artists discuss our rates amongst each other to keep our prices within what is fair to us, to producers and to respect what the market will bear.

The best way to sort out pricing is have an open discussion with the voice talent you want to hire. Just as you often have a budget range, in most cases, they will have a rate range. The ideal is when your budget range and their rate range find common ground.

If you’re looking for a female voice over artist and want to discuss rates for a project you’re casting, contact me. If I can be of any assistance, I’d love to help.

Voice Over Insider’s View: Pt 3 Direct Yourself Like an Expert

Voiceover Coach

21st Century voice over means knowing how direct yourself in your own booth. Expertly. If the task seems daunting and you’re a bit shaky on how to deftly turn the tables to be both actor and director, these tips may help steady you on.

When you get a piece of text…

Orient Yourself Grasshopper

Who – are you: The boss? A peer, a dad, an ice princess? Your read for Nok, the sewer troll will be very different from the BFF over coffee.

Who – are you talking to: Again, answering this anchors your character and helps you settle on a tone and delivery.

Why open your mouth? (also dovetails into ‘what’ – which is the actual message or script) – what do you want to get out of the interchange? Are you helping a loved one deal with cancer, or directing an auditorium full of IT peeps to their seats for an Awards ceremony? Why is what you have to say important? And why should your audience care?

Where – will this be heard? This helps determine the adjustment you need to make. A radio voiceover is different from a documentary read is different from a gaming character is different from an audiobook narration. Like the adjustments between theater and stand-up comedy or between television and film, being aware of where your job will be heard, helps you find the right delivery.

Sift through your Script (Analyze This)

Commercial copy is different from a script for a game or an explainer. Each of these comes with its own standards of nuance. Let’s take ads for instance. People listening are only half listening at best. The ad is in between them and the content they want. So, make it content they DO want to hear. What in the copy is going to make a difference for them? Can you help them save money? Stay safe? Get ahead? Have more time with their family? The product is the conduit for them to do this. You help them realize this. If you do your best work, they will come away with a couple words and a feeling. i.e. McDonalds + lovin’. Apple + different.

A longer text is more of the same, but less urgent. And with more words. So, if you’re reading an eLearning text about compliance, in each line and paragraph look for the goodie. The key phrase that will make a difference for the sender and receiver of your message.

I hesitate to give a recipe on how to break-down your script. That’d be like cake. (chocolate, vanilla, pineapple upside down) Your read recipe is going to be different from mine. I tend to send more love to my verbs. Other people like to polish up the adjectives. More critical is to make sure you understand what is important to get across and then, keep it real, in an entertaining way.

Unleash the Creative – Dismiss the Judge.

Ever worked in a studio on a commercial? The client, the account exec and a minion or two are never (or extremely rarely) in the studio at the same time the talent is. The director does this on purpose. Too many cooks. Plus they don’t know how to ask for what they want. And actors are delicate creatures.

Same here. In your solitary two-hatted state, you need to separate your creative from your inner critic.

I don’t know about you, but my creative inner feels like a red licorice-loving five-year-old, who cartwheels over to the mic mugging, “Let me at the script!!”

To keep her from diving off the deep end without checking whether there’s water in the pool, (a.k.a. spend too much time on takes or go too far in freeing that freaky self) approach “takes” with the wisdom of Pat Fraley’s Series of Three. Let your first take be your primary interpretation of the script. For your second take, go in a different direction. Do a third take as a mix of two.

What I really like about this, other than it came from the GREAT PF (whom I love) is the #2. Going in that different direction is a licence for you to get out of your comfort zone. Ham or cheese it up. Go dark. Thay it with a lithp. Go out on a limb and then, come part way back.

Where should you go for read number two?

Again, I lean on my studio experience. I channel my inner Martin, Andrew or Kate. All great ad directors I’ve worked with in the past, who know how to nudge me where I need to go. Who are some of your fav directors? What would they say to get you to try it differently?

Another fav of mine is Mary Lynn Wissner and her amazing voiceover app. A wonderful LA casting director, Mary Lynn devised an app you can take in your booth to help you make strong choices. Her approach is broken down in 5 different kinds of reads and then she has a survey of emotions and triggers you select from to layer or flavor your performance with. This is especially good for auditioning. Using her app has helped me become a better self-director.

After you’ve got a few takes laid down, cage your creative creature and it’s bruisable ego and listen with your director’s ears.

Cosset the Critic

Once you’ve done all you can creatively, bring that inner judge back in your court. Separate yourself from what you’ve done. If you were a writer this would be the time you’d refer to Stephen King’s quote, “kill your darlings.” Listen with the ears of your client. Or better, your client’s audience.

And never with a capital N, ever go for “good enough.” Good enough doesn’t get you re-hired. Or hired in the first place.

This post is the third in a three part series on directing voice actors. The first reveals the different hats the voice director must wear in the sound studio. The second outlines what directors need to know to get the best performances from their talent. I’ve been doing VO and coaching since Blockbuster was still relevant. Contact me if you’d like to work together.

514-803-2296

kim@kimhandysidesvoiceover.com