Voiceover Technique: Tools for Intrigue

1.       Your hook.  This is usually your first line.  In some cases it might be two lines.  You will be able to determine if a second line connects so intrinsically to the first that it becomes a part of the hook.  Example:  “Your life has more than one dimension.  So should your beer.”  It makes absolute sense to include the 2^nd sentence as it almost seems like there could have been an “and” in between the two, as opposed to a period.  Your hook is critical.  I cannot tell you how many times I had writers or producers in my office listening back to the casting and how often, after hearing only the first line, they would wave their hand and say “next.”  They don’t have the time nor the interest to keep on listening to something that isn’t reeling them in, as unfair as that sounds.  You must hook them in.  Understand the sentence, and the point of it.  Underline the  words that are most crucial to the sentence and play them up.  Now isolate this sentence from the script and try it a few times in a row.  Experiment with where you put your emphasis on these words.  Experiment with where your inflections are placed.  Experiment with places you might add a pause for drama.  Experiment and play.

2.       During the whole script, but especially your hook, is it appropriate to say it in a more hushed voice – as if this is secret information for certain ears only?  Then do so.  Scoot up a bit closer to the mic and become more intimate with your listener.  You must judge the “mood” of the script properly to do this.  Or perhaps there’s a hidden joking tone in there?  Try speaking with a bit of that “side of your mouth” sound.  Easiest way to “wry.”  Judge the style, and recall how you or others you know convey that style in real life, and play with it.

3.       Act as if you have just heard this information and you were so excited about it that you had to immediately share it with people because it was so compelling.  If you are interested, then we will be too.