Unfiltered Thoughts

2023.01.15 – 0745 – Your Vocal, Physical and Emotional Health: an introduction ‘The first thing to be considered is what sort of voice we have and next, how we use it. The natural power of the voice is judged by its quantity and quality. The good qualities of the voice are improved by attention and deteriorated by neglect.’Quintilian, first century AD, a leading instructor in eloquence at the school of oratory in Rome
Let’s take a look at some changes that can affect your voice almost overnight (which include, ironically, a good night’s sleep!). They are almost ‘quick fix techniques’ to help your voice become more resonant, resilient and relaxed and, along with breathing (the ‘key thing’!) at the very core of getting good vocally, and on which we can build those other ‘reading’ skills.
This Part is divided into three sections, looking at the broad areas of Vocal, Physical, Emotional & Mental health to help you get a better broadcast, podcast and voice-over voice. However, despite this division, it’s important to realise that these three topics are intrinsically interwoven: emotional stress can lead to physical tension which can affect how you sound; taking medication to treat a physical ailment can dry out your vocal cords; a long studio session may not only tire you vocally, but also mentally. Is someone who speaks in a monotone, subconsciously hiding their emotions? Perhaps a ‘mumbler’ lacks the clarity that comes from opening their mouth wider because they’re embarrassed (or have been embarrassed) about their teeth or braces… If you have a vocal injury, could it affect you psychologically and have you wondering, “will it happen again?”, “will I be able to recover?”, “how will I pay the bills?”, and so make you more nervous.
Vocal, physiological and psychological changes all contribute to how we sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.01.14 – 0744 – Telephony VoiceoversTelephony voice over – (‘voicemail’, ‘Message On-Hold’, ‘MOH’, ‘Integrated Voice Response’ or ‘IVR’ “for sales press 1, for help press 3…”)
These voices have to represent the brand and what they stand for and might sound like and who they’re speaking to. The voice is the representative of the company and so a more mature, experienced voice might be most appropriate. Doctors’ and dentists’ callers probably don’t want to hear a teenager, they want someone who perhaps sounds more like ‘mum’ or the dentist themselves.
Very often it’s just the staffer who’s available who gets to record these messages, especially a few months after the original professional recording has been done and there’s a change to some of the details that need to be included.
With these recordings, it is usual to keep the tone polite and conversational, natural, friendly, welcoming, real and connected. Confident but not too earnest. And you might need to speak slightly slower because of the information and instructions. There might be opening hours, a website address or instructions on what buttons to press.
(Integrated Voice Response refers to the automated phone system which routes calls or gives information depending on the caller’s interaction by voice or keypad selection, such as those used by cinemas for screenings and bookings and large companies.)
The read has to be appropriate for the business, so you wouldn’t read a commercial (or therefore an on-hold message) the same way for a cancer hospital as for a car dealership or a cattery. Remember the end user, the person calling in.
If you become the voice of the brand, it could mean lots of repeat work as well as updates when parts of the company change – such as a restructuring or renaming of departments - which will mean the ‘telephone tree’ layout will change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.01.13 – 0743 – Voiceover Cut-ThroughsA voice-over might hope that with a commercial read they may be asked to record another ad for the same brand, but it’s not a given. That job may be a one-off. But with trails and promo voices, once chosen you are likely to be on contract for months, seasons or years. You may be on a retainer, and have to voice any number of items with a quick turnaround every single week. (Oh, and you may be paid a premium for ‘market exclusivity’ to stop your voice from being heard on any other station, or on commercials on that station, and so on.)
For a lot of voice-over work such as promos and commercials (less so for audiobooks, e-learning of narration work – where people have already chosen to listen to you and your content, and so an engaging voice is important), your voice has really got to cut through. People are doing other things while they listen, concentrating while driving, being distracted while cooking a meal in a busy family kitchen and so on. They have their attention divided and you need to reach out and grab it. Just because what you say is coming out of a speaker, they won’t automatically hang on every syllable.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.01.12 – 0742 – Station Imaging Voiceovers Station imagingThese are the branded voices that are used on promotional trailers for radio and TV stations. So not on the commercials advertising other brands (such as a car showroom or a breakfast cereal), but introduce or promote an individual show (or shows) on that station (“The News At Ten – with Kylie Johnson … Joe Smithson on sports and meteorologist, Troy Masters”, “Tuesday night is DIY night … on K-DIY Channel 9”), or on radio stations announcing specific features (“The Sunday Roast, with Chicken Man and Devlin”, “BBC England … weather”) and so on.
Your voice will be chosen to fit with the style, format and demographic of the station, perhaps its attitude and the music that’s played. For example, a classic rock radio station may be targeted to an older, mainly male audience so a young female voice on its trails may sound incongruous (having said that, it may be the ‘alternative’ juxtaposition the station is after). Other stations’ target demographics (the kind of people they are targeting with their programmes, so they have a well-defined audience that they can sell to advertisers) will change with their output niche: country, news, ‘family’ or ‘listen at work’ stations and so on. It’s the same for TV channels: a food, sport or DIY network for example. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.01.11 – 0741 – Voicing Public Service AnnouncementsPSAsIn times of disaster, be it natural or human, a Public Service (or Safety) Message may be the best way to get information out fast and elicit help.
An appropriate tone might be:·        Calm and reassuring, clear and uncompromising, with a touch of urgency – for an informational read to those caught up in events·        Inspiring, caring and authentically empathetic and optimistic - to engage hearts and minds and encourage help, money or donations  During the Covid 19 pandemic, adverts ran on broadcast and digital media explaining, educating and updating, introducing new policies and procedures such as handwashing, mask-wearing and isolation. The delivery was direct but friendly and calm rather than aggressive.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.01.10 – 0740 – The Tonal Scale on Political VoiceoversWith negative ads, you are unlikely to be shouting and screaming in fury, instead, your style will be more measured and composed although still somewhere on the scale of:·        Bewilderment·        Disappointment ·        Concern·        Incredulity·        Sarcasm and snark ·        Dark sincerity·        Righteous contempt ·        Quiet aggression·        Disgust·        Anger
Negativity is not necessarily ‘shouting’. You don’t need projection and volume, you need to have mood and feeling. An attitude. And although unlikely on every line, if mentioning the candidate from ‘the other side’ you may want a tone of disgust or disbelief, when you mention ‘your guy’ you say their name with a lightness, a sense of hope and aspiration.
So instead of projection, you can use elongation to highlight words and phrases: stretch out key words to mark your ‘disgust’, making them longer rather than louder. It’s what Maria Pendolino (of https://www.bluewavevoiceover.com/ ) calls “like pulling mozzarella”:·        “…spent millions on failed personal projects…”·        “… his entire career”
And you’ll find it easier to get the appropriate attitude or ‘strength of snark’ if you use body language along with the scripted language: a shake of the head, a squint of the eye, pupil-rolling, eyebrow-lifting, and lip-snarling: “really?!”.
Positive ads are a little softer, to heighten sympathy and bring reassurance to engage the voter. Again, there will be a range within this tone: from positive, to more positive, to hopeful and heartbreaking.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.01.09 – 0739 – Political Ad Voiceover Styles
Like most advertising where the style of such campaigns was once very ‘announcery’, both of these content styles are now much more conversational, contemporary and authentic, inspiring and upbeat or authoritative and direct. And your accent is likely to be from the community (say Maine or rural Mississippi) and the demographic (Floridian Spanish, 18–24-year-olds, stay-home mums, over 75s), to whom the ad is targeted. In some ads, such as introducing the candidate to the electorate, the voice should usually reflect the tone and attitude of that candidate: smooth and experienced for an older and more knowledgeable nominee, a more youthful sound to reflect the youth of someone else standing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.01.08 – 0738 – Finding The Key Points in Political Voiceover ScriptsAs a voice-over you have to immediately identify:·        Is this ad actively promoting the candidate, or doing so by knocking their opposition?·        Who is it targeting? Undecideds, grass root supporters, soccer moms, small business owners…·        What is the key message?·        What and where is the story arc? (Often, it’s along the lines of ‘this person is bad because of a, b and c … and our candidate is good because of x, y and z’)·        The music and visuals alongside the script.
Understanding these, as well as having an ongoing knowledge of the main issues, will help you get the right tone, intonation and overall cadence of reads such as these.
I said “immediately identify”, that’s because although at the start of a campaign some scripts and visuals may be ‘in the can’, as it progresses there is a fast production turnaround on them as campaign managers react to the news, events, focus groups and reacting to what ‘the other side’ is saying and claiming. TV ad slots may be booked weeks or months in advance, and if you are ‘the voice’ of the campaign, usually for both positive and negative ads for a candidate, you need to be available asap.[1]  
[1] Of course, although you could in theory voice ads for say the Republicans and the Democrats, it will be reassuring for both parties and agencies (and arguably ethical for you) that your voice is only heard supporting one side or the other, especially in each geographical area.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.01.07 – 0737 – Political Voiceovers: Lead Ins and Pay OffsAds of either style often start with a question, another rhetorical device that gets the listener to ‘fill the vacuum’ with an answer:·        “Would you trust Tracey Garcia with your money?” ·        “We gave this man the keys to the Governor’s House … do you know what he gave us in return?”·        “Just why should you trust Camila Haufman…?”
As we saw before, using a lead-in sentence may help you get into the right ‘tone zone’. That’s a short phrase that you say to yourself or aloud, before you start recording the script, that the first line can ‘react to’:·        You think: “You want to know how truthful I think they are? Well, let me ask you…”o  Then you record: “Would you trust Tracey Garcia wi th your money?” ·        You think: “Some people are going to give him a second term…”o  Then you record: ““We gave this man the keys to the Governor’s House … do you know what he gave us in return?”·        You think: “People say all politicians are the same, and that’s a very good point…”o  Then you record: ““Just why should you trust Camila Haufman…?”
And the style of these ads often dictates that they end with a pay-off tag-line:·        “Vote for Zippy Verlezza”·        “The man you can trust”·        “The strong voice for our state”You really need to land these strong statements to give the ad a sense of finality, with a downward intonation to give certainty, rather than doubtful questioning.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.01.06 – 0736 – Key Words to Highlight in Political Ads All styles usually have a script that is clean, clear and sharp, one which has a point of view to catch the attention and emotion of its target audience.  Common rhetorical devices will be used such as comparative balances (“the wealthy profited, and we paid”, “while they only care about their family, we care about yours”, “keep your tax dollars in Delaware, not in DC”), alliteration or rhyme (“problem solver, job creator”, “honesty and integrity”) and groups of three: “it’s the backbone of our community, our state and our economy”,  “irresponsible, reckless, corrupt”, “our future depends on jobs, jobs and more jobs”). So, look out for these and highlight them as directed.
Key words crop up regularly too, such as “business”, “jobs”, “truth”, and other references to money and accountability, which you will also need to draw attention to.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.