"I still sound like I'm reading!"
I've heard that sentiment from a number of people trying to get better at eLearning Narration... Then I realized something.
All of these people (possibly even you!) are missing one key ingredient when it comes to improving their eLearning Narration and sounding like a professional voice talent — not someone sitting in an office and reading a script or an even worse version of Amazon Polly.
That key thing is something you're very familiar with. In fact, when you hear it on this episode, it's going to hit you like a flyswatter on a hot August afternoon.
Take a second and think about your typical approach to narration. You only fire up your mic once it becomes time to lay down some dulcet tones on that fancy eLearning module you just built in Articulate.
Or maybe for today's forty-second Zoom Meeting.
And right there is your problem!
The Problem
People only worry about being a great eLearning narrator when they have to do the voiceover for an eLearning Module.
You don't get better at something by only doing it once a month or even once a week. You need to do things much more often. There's a word for this... hmm... What do we call it when we repeatedly perform a task with the aim of getting better?
PRACTICE!
When I was first getting into voice over I would fit learning about the business and practicing the craft into as many spaces of my life as I could. I'd listen to podcasts on my drives and dog walks, read about it at night before bed, and practice, practice, practice on my microphone every. single. day.
I was submitting hundreds of auditions. Early on, I didn't lie to myself about getting hired for the job, but I knew that every script I read and every hour I spent with my DAW got me a step closer to getting good enough that I'd be able to do the work of a voice talent as a full-time career.
And now voice over is what I've done full-time, more comfortably than I was as software developer or a corporate trainer, for nearly three years now.
But don't worry about getting 10,000 hours on the microphone. That's not necessary, you just need more focused practice time than you're currently getting. Which can't be hard. More than zero isn't much!
How to effectively Practice eLearning Narration
Take a listen to the episode for my tips on how to effectively practice your eLearning narration skills. You don't need to spend hours a day recording yourself. But it'll help if you have some guidelines and a good benchmark to work towards.
In this episode you'll learn:
* 3 specific things you need to do make sure you're practicing effectively
* A simple way to create a benchmark to strive for (what good is practice without a goal?)
* How often you'll need to practice
* How to avoid practicing the wrong things and ingraining bad habits
* Why the CDC Hand Washing article can be an effective practice script
Related Episodes
Here are some episodes you can check out to help you practice more effectively:
* Bad and Incomplete Advice
* Who's it For? Part 1
* Who's it For? Part 1
* Control Your Breath
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