Tips from the Voiceover Engineer/Voice Actor

Voiceover tips from the perspective of a voice actor who’s also a sound engineer are a true gem.  Following are the thoughts on what makes a great voice over performance, as told by Marc Rose of MJR Sound Design, one of Portland, Oregons’ premier voiceover demo production facilities (among other services):

To me, there are several factors that collaborate to create a great VO.  Some of these elements may even seem contradictory but like the laws of physics, actually work in concert with one another.  The primary quality, at least to me, is connection to the copy. 

Which leads into my favorite area in any performance based work, intention. 

Understanding the intention of the copy/character is key in delivering the message.  Placing yourself in the skin of the subject is the most effective way of not only accessing your best performance but also conveying a message that is accepted by your audience. We’ve heard dozens of examples of decent reads but somehow hollow in performance.  Many times the message wasn’t believed by the presenter and so in turn,  not accepted by the audience either, or at the least, became just so much noise.

We can use that same idea in demos as well.  My personal belief on demo production is to make sure the material and the reader are bonded at the “intention hub”. Choose only those examples that truly sing for the reader,  that make a genuine connection and not just because we need “something in your low range”.  Folks who audition these demos, myself included, will be far more impressed by the connectedness of the reader to the copy than the octaves in their voice range.

The other aspect in the production process is to not make it about the demo audio production but to make it about the person’s voice.  We want to hear you – not be buried in the mix or be “upstaged” by the snazzy new FX library. It’s about the VOICE.