Real Talk with Kelly Wilson

Be honest, have you ever been emailing or texting someone back and forth and you are more confused then when you started? So you pick up the phone and you say, “hey, I am trying to say X, can we do Y. Oh yeah, let’s do that. Done.” 

This is how I feel about a voice over directed session. Some projects just move faster if they are directed by you. Now this episode is NOT for advertising agencies or voice over agents or anyone who knows all about directed sessions. This episode is for corporations, small businesses, or videographers who don’t often partake in directed sessions. 

So what is a voice over directed session? A set time where the voice actor, the director, audio engineer, and sometimes other people, like…copywriter, client, producer, mother in-law, and others…all get together, either in one room OR one conference line and live direct the voice actor through the script or scripts. 

There are MANY ways to connect online with a voice actor: phone, Skype, Zoom, WebEX, and also Source Connect. Source Connect, which isn’t the only option like this, but is the only option that will connect you into the voice actor’s studio and it will sound like you are actually in the voice over’s studio with them. 

I am a big fan of Source Connect. There is a paid version and a free version. The free version is Source Connect Now, and you must download Google Chrome to use it. Also, make sure you have the voice actor record a back up of the audio on their end, just in case. 

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"Please use your confident librarian voice." Honestly, the first thing that pops into my head is Van Halen, but I get it…instantly. When I am working on a voice over, I will ask my client, WHO am I here? WHat’s happening? So last week, I heard, “you are playing a confident librarian.”

I’m transported there, to the library. What is this confident librarian wearing? How is she sitting? What is her specialty? What fires her up? Who is she talking to?

If she’s talking to a student, she might slow down her speech, point when she talks, write it down or draw a diagram for the student? If she’s talking to a coworker, she’ll probably still be a bit quiet (because we’re in a library here), but she’ll be less formal, more laid back. Is that same confident librarian presenting to her department? Is she now in power suit mode?

So once I know WHO the character is, I like to next find out WHAT am I doing? WHO am I talking to?

At this point, I am pulling from all my past experiences in my life. Movies I’ve watched, books I’ve read, actual meetings I have been in, actual conversations with confident librarians I have had, actual power suit moments. All the things. 

It’s like I am accessing all my memories in my brain or data base…like Neo in the Matrix or something, I’m putting all the pieces together, taking only what I want to access and use, then boom, it comes out of my voice.

This is why I am a HUGE fan of having past jobs in corporate, in higher education, (I was even a TSA agent for awhile) so I can pull actual real life situations to translate them into real voice overs, so they sound real. (How many times did I write the word "real"?)

That is why I always want to know who I am playing when I get a part or an audition. Or if I am hiring another voice actor, I give them a brief about the project so they can deliver. 

Please do me a huge favor and share this podcast with a friend or a colleague who wants to know more about what it’s like to hire and work with a voice actor. Leave a review and rate!

Join my email community and never miss out on an episode of Real Talk with Kelly Wilson - Visit https://www.kellywilsonvo.com/subscribe . When you join my email community you will receive my gift of five fantastic voice actors to add to your roster, including myself.

Auditions are like dating and LinkedIn is like Tinder.

In this strange example, I’m on LinkedIn and say I post a voice over project that I worked on recently. Now instead of swiping right (or is it left, I’ve never been on Tinder) you send me a direct message, we start a conversation, then you have me audition your project.

At this point, you think I sound good, there’s an attraction, but am I crazy…are you crazy? That’s why we go on our coffee date or audition.

During the audition you are trying to figure out if my voice will fit your project, but I also have a feeling you are trying to see:

SO that’s what you are trying to figure out about me.

Here’s what I’m trying to decide:

Sure an audition is about seeing if I can pull off the job, but it’s also a laid back way to see if we both work well together and want to continue to work together.

That is why auditions are like a coffee date…on that note I’m so glad I’m married, because real dating sucks!

Please do me a huge favor and share this podcast with a friend or a colleague who wants to know more about what it’s like to hire and work with a voice actor. Leave a review and rate!

Join my email community and never miss out on an episode of Real Talk with Kelly Wilson - Visit https://www.kellywilsonvo.com/subscribe . When you join my email community you will receive my gift of five fantastic voice actors to add to your roster, including myself.

When you need to be someone’s internal monologue...Ya know those voice overs when you need to sound like the internal monologue inside someone’s head, but inside THIER HEAD, NOT your head?

The fun part about voice over is I get to play other people and sometimes multiple people at once and get inside their heads.

Luckily, I am an introvert and naturally live here…in my own head….every…second…of my life.

You see I’m a natural observer of life, people, social situations. At times I feel like an alien from another planet, watching how others interact only to assimilate and parrot the human race to fit in…when honestly, I’m just weird…but now it's my voice over super power.

NERD!

Anyway, have you ever stopped to listen to the inside of your mind? It’s a crazy house in there, mine at least. So there are all these forces at play…internal monologue, childhood memories, memories from five seconds ago when you were slighted by the candy machine in the break room, that “talk” you need to have with your boss, and on and on.

So knowing we all have these racing thoughts in our heads…most of the time, allows me to know that when I am asked to play the part of someone’s internal monologue, I am doing a couple of things simultaneously.

So I pull up the script and any notes about the script, the product, service, company, direction, anything of note. OK, I’ve established the context of the ad, video, whatever the project is.

Next, who is talking…or thinking in this case? Where are they now? What just happened to them? What has happened to them? Where is their head at?

OK, now who’s my audience, what are they thinking, feeling, doing when they watch this video? How will the audience react to what my character is thinking?

Then I put it all together and do the voice.

Honestly, I was challenged to break down my process and it sounds like a lot, but it happens so quickly so automatically now, but that is why I ask for context, I ask for voice direction, I look at who the company is, what the product or service is.

Perks of being an introvert. Use what you’ve got.

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Later!

No matter who I work with. No matter what I work on. I ask these two question: What do you want them to do? How do you want them to feel?

Concrete Action First

I start with what do you want them to do first, because if you’re selling something, it’s usually easier to say the result you want. Just is. It’s the concrete thing that will help you achieve your goal (which needs to be the solution to your customer’s goal too.)

Abstract Thoughts Second

Then, I ask how the customer or listener or viewer or end user wants to feel. This is the branding, the tone, the mood, the big picture, the customer service part. Now, just because I ask this part second does NOT make it any less important, it’s just less concrete and sometimes more difficult to emote.

So, for example, in this article...

How do I want you to feel? That I am an expert in my field.

What do I want you to do? Subscribe to my email community (and score five fantastic voice actors you should add to your roster…including yours truly).

Click here to subscribe.

Bonus

For each answer to those two questions, you should ONLY have one answer per question. In a perfect situation, just focus on one thing. One thing they should feel. One thing they should do.

Stay well,

Kelly

Voice Actor, Mom, Mismatch Sock Wearer

www.KellyWilsonVO.com