Why is it that every time behind the microphone you get so tongue-tied? Why can't you speak like a normal human when recording? Gabby has a secret trick that will help you get over the yips.
Mistakes are FRUSTRATING! Use this technique to help reduce the flubbs.- 5:19
Hey guys, welcome to another edition of The Gift of Gab. Today we are going to talk about why it is so hard to read copy and not make so many damn mistakes. Why? I know you can read, I know you can. We'll talk about it, stick around. You're not alone in this, I promise.
I talk to people about it a lot, I get asked about it a lot from my students. The biggest gripe, complaint, right? I have people who go, 'I can do this, I know I can do this. I can read, damn it. But I make so many mistakes when I read. Why? Why do I make so many mistakes?' The answer is very simple. Your tongue is an... that's the truth. You are a totally literate, educated human who graduated, at the very least, with a diploma from a public education institution somewhere in this great nation of ours. The problem is not you. Most of us do not read aloud, regardless of how much you read for pleasure, regardless of how much reading you do, regardless of how well you read to yourself, your brain knows the words on the page. I know this. You don't have to convince me of that. But you still have to articulate those words properly. It's a coordinated effort—your brain, your eyes, and your tongue—and they have to work together. For most of us, the process stops: eyes to brain, that's it, right? That's what happens. We see it, we compute it, done. We never actually get our tongues involved in the process until the day that you decided you wanted to be a voice actor, and then you were tasked with, 'Here, read this,' and you went, 'Oh my God, what is wrong with me?' Because the words just aren't coming out the way you need and want them to, and you're realizing that you're making all of these fundamental mistakes while you are reading. And this is the problem.
So, how do you fix it? What do you do, Gabby? What do I do? Uh, you read some more. And you read some more. And guess what? You read some more. But there's one major difference: you do it aloud. That's it, aloud. You read aloud all the time, every chance you get, everything you can get your hands on or your eyes on, yeah, you read. You read, you read, you read, you read, you read, and you read aloud. Because you've got to get to the place where the same way right now, it is truly, it's a muscle memory. The way your eyes are able to see and connect and interpret and compute and understand the meaning of things and absorb them as quickly as they can, your tongue has to be able to do that too, just as fast, just as swiftly, just as accurately as your eyeballs can. And the more you do it, the more you practice it, the easier it becomes, and you get better at it, and you make fewer mistakes. And no, it is not there's no trick, there's no trick. There's no fix for this. There's no tip, there's nothing. There's nothing that is going to just solve this, except patience, time, grace. Do it, just do it. This is one of the biggest practice hurdles for new voice actors. And while you're doing this, you know it's twofold. You get to practice articulation, you get to practice, um, you get to add some performance into the mix, right? You get to learn about rhythm and timing and pace, and you get to practice a whole slew of other skills, but accuracy has to be one of your first major concerns, because at the end of the day, you, my friend, if you endeavor to be a voice actor, you are endeavoring to be a professional reader. Okay, remember that. All right, good luck. I wish you well. If you need my help, let me know. Hit me up. You've got a million different ways to do it. I look forward to assisting you on your journey. Thank you so much for watching. Take care.
704-674-8294 / GabrielleNistico.com / gabby@voiceovervixen.com
Gabrielle Nistico, Gabby Nistico, The Voiceover Vixen, The Business First VO Coach, #VoiceoverVixen #VoiceOnFire #BusinessFirstVOCoach Voiceover, Charlotte, North Carolina, Voiceover Demo, Voiceover Coaching Advice, Working Actors, Los Angeles, New York, audio, coaching, mistakes, audio