It's in virtually every voice-over audition. The conversational read. It's harder than it sounds. In this video, Gabby gives you some quick tips on how to position yourself to sound more conversational when you're in your booth.
How do I sound more Conversational in my voiceover reads? Well... - 3:52
You wanna know how to make your voiceover read sound more conversational? Awesome. Stick around because I've got the answers.
Hey guys, welcome to another edition of The Gift of Gab. I get asked all the time, what are different things voice actors can do to sound more conversational in their voiceover reads? Obviously, everybody's trying to sound less like an announcer, more like a real person. So today, I want to talk to you about posture and stance, because that really is something that makes a huge difference in this process.
The first thing I want you to do stop posing! Stop posturing! Lots of people step up to the mic and they extend their rib cage and they put their shoulders way back and they put their head up really high and this sounds phony as F*CK because it's not real! Because you don't do that in your every day life. How do you normally stand? It's the difference between standing in line, like to buy something, and standing at attention, like in the military. Right? You're standing in line, standing around, you're leaning a little bit - you're probably looking at your phone, you're doing other stuff, you're looking around, you're not really all that concerned about you and about your physical appearance in that minute. So that's something I want you to bring with you on mic. It makes a huge difference. I talk to people a lot about leaning into a read, literally, physically lean, just kind of slump yourself over, almost talking over the microphone a tad. That can be really effective way to get a more conversational sound out of yourself. While I usually recommend people stand up while they're recording and typically, that is a good idea, but if you're having trouble getting casual, getting conversational, try some different standing, sitting techniques. One of them: take your chair and flip it around backwards. Literally sit on the chair backwards, kind of rest your head on the back of the chair, and see what kind of sound you get. Then... what are you wearing? When you head into the booth most days, if you're wearing khakis and a dress shirt or business casual, go put on your comfy clothes. Seriously! Go for something that's way more comfortable, casual, put on a baseball hat, wear your flip-flops... anything that kind of gets you into that very laid-back mood. Try practicing off mic and unconventional places like laying down on your couch, or on the floor, or even in bed, or on the toilet! I mean, really anywhere that - again - you're used to just being very casual, very normal about things.
We have conversations with other people all the time, from different locations, so use that to your advantage. If you're a guy, take your shirt off. Actually pull a Tiger King and go waist-up naked on the mic, it could yield a very different read. So remember: stop posturing, start posing normally, naturally, slump your shoulders a little bit. Thanks for watching, guys. I hope this helps. Make sure to like and subscribe and while you're at it make sure to check out this video for more tips on things you can do to improve voiceover techniques.
704-674-8294 / GabrielleNistico.com / gabby@voiceovervixen.com
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