What\u2019s the most important voiceover tip in the history of voiceover techniques?\u00a0 It\u2019s actually not a technique at all, and that\u2019s why you will love it.\u00a0 It requires no skill, no practice, no research, no training.\u00a0 That\u2019s right coaches; it seems I\u2019m selling us all short here.\u00a0 But don\u2019t get me wrong, you need all those other layers of understanding.\u00a0 You need training.\u00a0 But this blog is about Permission.\u00a0 Permission to read that voice over script the way you would sing that song in the shower.\u00a0 (er, to some degree\u2026.)\u00a0 What holds so many of you back from booking the voiceover job you absolutely know you are right for?\u00a0 Holding back.\u00a0 Period.\u00a0 Let\u2019s discuss.<\/p>\n
I have many students arrive to me brand new to the entire voiceover industry.\u00a0 Their notion of a \u201cgood\u201d voiceover is one that is read very professionally, very polished, very perfect.\u00a0 Yes those words are all subjective and should be in quotes, but I\u2019m trying to break myself of that habit.\u00a0 I digress.\u00a0 This type of voiceover read is usually in the category of sounding announcery.\u00a0 There are many of you who have been auditioning enough now to know that the trend of sounding like an announcer is pretty much over.\u00a0 Yes there are still exceptions to this such as certain promos, movie trailers, etc\u2026.but nowadays the majority of voiceovers are expected to be conversational, natural, non-announcery, off the cuff, loose.\u00a0 This concept of the \u201cprofessional\u201d voiceover read is certainly the first layer that needs to be shed so that the true YOU in the performance can come through.\u00a0 I liked this backstage article on voiceover secrets<\/a> which referred to the importance of using your personality, which in turn is the permission you are needing to grant yourself.\u00a0 One of my current students began a few of his reads this very way, as an announcer of sorts.\u00a0 But what\u2019s amazing about him, and you can arrive here too, is that the second he was granted some sort of \u201cpermission\u201d from me to let it rip, play with it, and shake things up, he rocked an entirely different kind of performance.\u00a0 More authentic, more compelling, more interesting, more present.\u00a0 The kind that BOOKS THE JOB.\u00a0 To give credit where it\u2019s due, I will say that he was the one to clarify this idea of getting permission.\u00a0 I was the one that clarified that I would ultimately be stealing it and writing about it all over my social media channels.\u00a0 He also does amazingly well at taking technical direction such as raise an inflection, tighten the pauses, hit this word and skate over the others, etc\u2026.but this concept of permission has been one of the biggest game changers.\u00a0 What I love about it from a coach\u2019s perspective is that I don\u2019t have to get specific, I don\u2019t have to over-explain, I don\u2019t have to line-read.\u00a0 I just tell them to stop holding back.\u00a0 Let the magic out.\u00a0 Play.\u00a0 Play some more.\u00a0 REMEMBER THEMSELVES.\u00a0 Remember YOUR self in your brightest, most expressive, most lucid, most confident moments.\u00a0 Bring it forth.\u00a0 No one is asking you to \u201cannounce\u201d anymore in this industry.\u00a0 They\u2019re asking you to BE YOUR BEST SELF.\u00a0 They\u2019re giving you PERMISSION.\u00a0 Take it.<\/p>\n