Category Archives: Commercials

Add Negative Emotions to Your Voice Over Performance

Here’s a quick voice over acting tip. When you’re performing a voice over project you are often instructed to be enthusiastic, or upbeat, or friendly, or, my favorite: have a smile in your voice. Well, I want you to sound … Continue reading

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Reading in Voiceover: Improve Your Speed and Accuracy

If you want to turn in faster and better voiceover auditions and jobs then you need to improve your reading skills. If you find yourself halting, stumbling on words, or mis-reading the copy here’s why that happens–and how to fix … Continue reading

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Pickups Hints for Voice Over Editing

You’ve just finished a 4000 word e-learning voice over project and you send it to the client. They love the interpretation but they tell you that the name that you read is not pronounced Smith but Smyth. Oh no, do … Continue reading

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Conversational vs Announcer Voice Over Styles

You only need to read through a handful of audition descriptions before you run into the word “conversational”. Or you may find the direction more negative such as “no disc jockey or announcer”. As voice over styles evolve, there is … Continue reading

Posted in Acting Skills, Auditioning, Commercials, Narration | 2 Comments

Fluent Reading For Better Voice Over

I’ve been teaching voice overs for twenty years and every student begins with the same declaration: “I can talk and I can read, so I can do this”. One of the first things we discover is that half of these … Continue reading

Posted in Animation, Auditioning, Commercials, Narration, Professionalism | 1 Comment

Does Singing Help with Voiceover?

People come to voice over from a variety of different backgrounds. Some come from the broadcasting world. They bring clear enunciation and solid reading skills. Others come out of on-camera or stage acting. They have and edge when it comes … Continue reading

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Create Winning Voice Overs with Your “Non-Verbal Toolkit”

There’s a myth about speech that has been around since the Egyptians invented hieroglyphics. And that myth is that somehow you can take all of speech and condense it down to written words on a piece of paper. Actually I … Continue reading

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Are You Missing These 6 “Musts” for a Pro Voice Over Demo?

Your demo is your calling card in the voice over world. It is used by you, casting services, agents and clients to evaluate and market your skills. With the availability of high quality recording equipment there is a tendency to … Continue reading

Posted in Animation, Animation Demos, Auditioning, Commercial Demo, Commercials, Marketing, Narration, Narration Demo, Professionalism, Voice Over Demos | 1 Comment

Think “I Can’t Afford a Voice Over Demo”? Well, Think Again!

I was talking to one of my students.  He had invested in taking my commercial class and showed good potential.  He had also purchased the bare equipment needed to record at home.  He sent me a MP3 of a test … Continue reading

Posted in Animation Demos, Commercial Demo, Commercials, Marketing, Narration Demo, Professionalism, Voice Over Demos | 1 Comment

Is This Client Nuts? Watch That Word Count!

Ok, you’re signed up with voices.com or voice123.com and a new audition is posted with a budget of $1000.00.  Looks good to me… until you open the project description.  This is someone’s autobiography and it’s 110, 000 words.  Yikes!  That’s … Continue reading

Posted in Auditioning, Commercials, Home Recording, Narration, Professionalism | 1 Comment