Simple Voiceover Tip – Just Smile

So many voice over tips to go around and many of them are quite sophisticated.  There are nuances to the voice over performance that any good coach will explain to their student and ultimately see the shock on their faces, or the confusion.  These techniques are complex and essential, things that no one has thought about doing in their ordinary every day conversation. But this voice over tip is quite simple.  So simple that it too manages to surprise the student by its simplicity.  It’s a smile.  Shocking right?  Well, what is even more shocking is how often the beginning voice over artist forgets that most basic act.  And most crucial.

          Now, there is a fine line with smiling that needs to be explained.  Too little smile and you are in danger of sounding serious, unfriendly, or worse – like you are reading words off a piece of paper.  Too much smile and you can sound like you are “selling”, trying too hard to convince us of something.  Too much smile can also irritate the ears!  (it’s an inflection thing…..)  But more often than not the beginner can use a little more.  The reason is that the beginner takes this work very seriously, this act of reading.  They are concentrating with all their might on those words, and saying them perfectly.  Well, that’s gonna sound phoney too isn’t it?  That’s what we call “announcery.”  There is still a call for that style of performance, but more often than not these days the trend is conversational.  Reminding yourself to smile takes some of the focus off making those words “perfect” and adding back the “you” to the read.  The smile, just a bit of it, humanizes the read.  Super simple, almost like breathing, but amazing how oft forgotten.  For an example of how the smile transforms the read to make it sound more relaxed and confident, click on the commercial voiceover demo on the website of voice over pro Jessica Wachsman.