Voice-Overs

A Practical Guide with CD

Bernard Graham Shaw

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781135865412
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medien & darstellende Kunst
• Subtopic: Musiktheorie & Musikverständnis

Voice-Overs is an insider's guide to voicing radio and television commercials. Bernard Graham Shaw draws upon his nearly 20 years of voice-work experience to teach valuable studio skills and offers practical advice on how to build a voice-over career.

1
The World of Voice-overs

There is a well-known saying much beloved of men in bars and changing rooms: ‘It isn’t what you’ve got, it’s what you do with it that counts!’ Having a beautiful voice will not make you a successful voice-over artist any more than having long, slim fingers will make you a world-famous guitarist.

We went out for a meal last night. It was all most enjoyable, his mother came too. When we took her home I gave her a box of chocolates. ‘Chocolates!’ she said. ‘It shows how much you care!’

A ‘voice-over’ is a person who can read this script and, by giving it two completely different interpretations, report on either the success or failure of the evening. Politicians refer to it as putting a ‘spin’ on something. Listen to the first two tracks on the CD and you will hear this script being performed in two entirely different and conflicting ways. In both cases the script is read accurately.

Success in voice-over is not a question of class or accent. It is a question of clarity of thought and diction coupled with the ability to communicate the subtle thoughts and desires normally masked by mere words.

There is an astonishing amount of work available for voice-over artists. Radio and TV commercials, CD roms, computer games, telephone information systems, recorded announcements, instructional videos and tapes, cartoons, talking books and documentary films all need voices.

Many years of research and vast sums of money have been spent on developing the ‘perfect’ speech synthesiser. Yet although it maybe electronically ‘measured’ as being 99.9% accurate humans still hear speech synthesisers as being no better than a cheap child’s toy. The brain/hearing combination in humans is astonishingly sensitive and is capable of understanding more than the superficial information conveyed by words. Unlike a machine, the human voice can both convey and detect attitude (mental and physical), as well as mood and emotion. There is no acceptable substitute for a human voice, and with the proliferation of entertainment and communication media the need for real people with real voices continues to grow.

The Voice Tape

As in all growth industries the sharks are beginning to circle. They sense easy prey and pose a real threat to those dipping a toe in the gentle waters of voice-over. The bait is called a voice tape. The voice tape (often wrongly referred to as a demo tape) is an essential tool for those preparing to seek voice work. Only the famous are invited to do voice-overs without first producing a tape.

The demo tape is a demonstration of what you could do if only you were given a chance; the voice tape contains examples of what you do. It needs to exude the authority and confidence that a demo tape lacks. It’s a matter of attitude and packaging. You only get one chance to make a first impression – so make a good one.

For most people the production of a voice tape seems an almost insurmountable hurdle. How do you get the material, who records it, and who tells you what to do? You may see adverts along the lines of ‘Voice-overs earn £200 per hour – let me record your tape and show you how to get into the lucrative world of voice-overs’. Beware! Listen for the sound of snapping jaws. Be equally sceptical if ‘The country’s leading voice-over’ offers to take you under his or her wing. If they are indeed what they claim to be they would be far too busy to teach, and would not be prepared to sell their time at teaching rates when they could be voicing a commercial for ten times as much money. If you need training it is better to approach a director rather than a performer. There is a Chinese proverb which states that: ‘The puppet does not necessarily know how the strings are pulled’. In the UK, none of the leading voiceover artists teach for money. Some may be very happy to help and advise newcomers, but they will probably do this without making any charge for their services.

There are very reputable companies who specialise in producing voice tapes and offer help, advice and lessons. But they do not use money as a bait to catch you. Good people in this field hardly need to advertise. Avoid anyone who tells you how fabulous your income will be – if only you’ll give them a large sum of money first.

The money involved in voice-overs is a continuing source of fascination for outsiders. One hears fabulous and tall tales of either the sums earned or the fees that just escaped. The reality can be rather different!

Voice-Over as a Career

Tomorrow sees the start of our new summer sale. We’re cutting everything: there’s 50 per cent off beds, 25 per cent off carpets, 30 per cent off curtains, and a whopping 60 per cent off discontinued kitchens. So, if it’s super summer savers you want, slip into Sharpes – just off junction 10 of the M25. Sharpes, we’re so keen, we’ll cut anything.

This is a typical script for a furniture and furnishings store advert. It lasts 20 seconds and should be delivered in an energetic manner. It represents the everyday ‘bread and butter’ advertising work. It is badly written, too wordy and unimaginative.

If you, as a voice artist, were booked to go into a local radio station to record this 20-second wonder you might earn £9.00 ($15). In a larger radio station serving a city this could increase to £15.00 ($24). If the script were to be broadcast nationally you would earn about £400.00 ($650). If you did the same thing for an advertising agency with a representative of the agency present, you would receive the same level of fees but an additional £125.00 ($200) per hour whilst recording it. If it was used in a national television commercial you would earn £125 per hour plus a fee of £5,000.00 ($8,000). These figures are approximate but show the huge range of fees payable for doing exactly the same job in differing locations and for different mediums. The script and the difficulty of reading it well in 20 seconds do not change. It remains as 62 words which occupy 20 seconds and can earn you anything from £9.00 ($15) to £5,125.00 ($8,200)! Were you to be famous you would command a much higher fee, but you would be wise to save your voice-over virginity for a much more interesting and financially rewarding suitor.

It can be a mistake to assume that there is a career ladder in the voice-over world and that, if there is one, the place to start is on the lowest rung. Showbusiness has changed. There are no more apprenticeships – by the time you have served one, the world will have turned and whatever it was that made you an attractive proposition will be out of fashion. Unknowns come from nowhere, rule their particular part of the world for five minutes, and then at the age of 22 disappear back into the oblivion from whence they came. If you put yourself on the bottom rung of the voice-over ladder there is a danger that it will be seen as your rightful place in the scheme of things. Subsequent advancement may prove impossible as the higher rungs will be crowded with unknowns who flew in from nowhere. Being ‘good’ is not necessarily enough or even desirable. Being ‘good at marketing’ is what really counts! However, if you are good at doing the job you stand a better chance of hanging on to your particular rung for a lot longer than most. Equally, you stand a much better chance of having a longer career if your voice is not a ‘fashion statement’; fashions change but quality lasts for ever.

In theory, anyone can become a voice-over artist. The male voiceover cliché is the deep, silky voice selling an exotic fragrance. The female cliché is the sexy-voiced temptress consuming an ice-cream or chocolate bar. Clichés come into being because they work, but they are not the only options. In the voice-over world there are potential openings for all types of voices. Some are considered to be more commercial or more ‘useful’ than others and so will be given a disproportionate share of the work. Regional accents are no longer frowned upon – it is not necessary to speak perfect the RP (received pronunciation) which used to be known as ‘Oxford English’. There is at least as much work for mature voices as for young, enthusiastic ones. There are more people in their 50s and 60s than there have ever been, and most of them want to deal with someone they consider to be of a similar age. A mature voice used to advertise a nursing home is likely to get a better response than the nasal tones of a ‘bright young thing’.

It is popularly assumed that the route to success is in finding a voice agent then sitting back and waiting for both work and money to come rolling in. Yet most voice-overs are performed by specialists running their own one-man business. They may have an agent and a manager but they do not make the mistake of giving them power over their professional lives. The relationship between artist and agent should be one of employment: the artist employs both the agent and the manager, not the other way round. The artist finds work and pays the agent commission to handle the negotiations and paperwork. The agent may well find work for the artist and may even earn a slightly higher commission for this work, but the hungry artist cannot afford to wait for this to happen.

The true route to success in the voice-over world is to apply directly to the source of work, thereby cutting out all middlemen, The best sources of work to apply to are the ones that pay the most. Why chase a £9 radio commercial when you can go for a £5,125 TV commercial? The effort required is exactly the same in both cases. You make a tape, you make a phone call, you write a letter sending the tape, you do an audition, and … you get rejected. Well, maybe not rejected, but certainly not chosen. There is a popular rule of thumb in voice-over circles which says that you have to go through this process at least 20 times before getting a job. The competition for the £9 jobs is no less fierce than the competition for the better paid ones. If you are going to get one job in 20 it makes sense to try for the ones that pay the most!

As you will see in chapter 9, advertising agencies are always eager to find new voices. Yet voice agents are keen to protect the livelihoods of their existing clients and their initial reaction to a non-famous newcomer will be to get them off the phone as quickly as possible. Standard rejections are:

• our books are closed for six months
• we’ve just had our new CD done so we can’t take anyone else on
• we’ve already got someone who sounds just like you
• we don’t take on beginners
• we only handle famous voices.

The last point is a new one and may well be the way voice agencies work in the 21st century. They will be applying the same principle as you should be: if you only get one job in 20, make sure it earns good money. Famous people command higher fees, and 15 per cent commission on higher fees is better than 15 per cent of an unknown’s fee. In the very near future voice agencies may well decide not to represent the unknowns.

2
Voices

It is important to know who, in voice terms, you are. Potential employers will be more interested in your ‘Naturals’ voice than your impressive range of accents and regional dialects. If you listen to commercials and commentaries you will realise that they fall into a few main categories.

Commercials

The Hard Sell

Fast talking, hard hitting, usually selling furniture or carpets and nearly always with a ‘buy before the end of the month’ special offer.

The Soft Sell

The seductive voice purring sexily about fragrances, chocolates, and all things put in or on the body.

The ‘Real’ Person

The ‘real’ person sells hair care products, pet foods, financial services, insurance, and female ‘unmentionables’.

The Character

The wacky, larger-than-life sort of person you would cross the street to avoid. Sells soft drinks, domestic cleaning products (especially for toilets and carpets), and children’s toys and games.

The Announcer

The announcer only ever speaks in the third person and tells us what a fine job a company is doing. Used by large corporations and utility companies providing gas, water, and electricity. The announcer always tries to sound ‘official’. Government departments use announcers!

The Spokesperson

Used on behalf of a company and usually locked into the first person plural: we do this, we do that, etc. Home improvement companies selling windows, doors, floors and heating employ spokespersons.

The Gossip

The gossip is usually downmarket and is overheard talking to her friend about the product in question. She is a well-known actress pretending to be a real person. Because she is talking to her friend and not us she is able to say things which we might not otherwise believe. She is stating her opinions, not facts.

Commentaries

Commentaries are the scripts which accompany films, documentaries and audio programmes dealing with history, wildlife, politics, travel, medicine, teaching, finance, and so on. The list is endless.

Financial

Voices for financial subjects fall into two main types. If the film is a company report to shareholders or potential investors, the voice is expected to be very confident with a touch of arrogance. ‘We are the best’ as opposed to ‘We are the best’. If the film is selling a financial product such as a pension scheme, insurance policy or investment opportunity, a very soothing, reassuring voice is called for.

Investigative

Consumer affairs programmes dealing with matters of public concern like to use a voice with an edge of sarcasm. One effective BBC technique is to give the script to two voices:

Voice 1 We said …

Voice 2 Is it normal for the wheels to fall off your buses?

Voice 1 And they said …

Voice 2 Well, we wouldn’t say it was normal exactly …

Voice 1 So we said …

Voice 2 But you’re not surprised that a wheel came off?

Voice 1 And they put the phone down and wouldn’t talk to us!

This works very well because the actors are able to inflect the words in a way that tells us whether or not we are dealing with dishonest people, without actually saying anything actionable in a court of law.

Wildlife

The wildlife voice has to fool the listener or viewer into thinking that the script was recorded at the same time as the film was being shot. The effect is easily achieved: talk in a tone of voice that would not frighten the animals away if you really were that close to them – quietly, close to the mic, and very soothing.

Teaching

This voice has to be very calm and reassuring. It must make everything it says sound so simple that you could not possibly get it wrong. However, if you do get it wrong we will just go over it again as many times as you wish. We have infinite patience. We never get cross.

Medical

People usually only access medical information when they, or someone close to them, has something to be concerned about. Patients do not like their doctors to be too young. They like them educated, well modulated, approachable, with plenty of time to talk things through. Medical matters are best dealt with by mature voices.

Technical

When explaining something technical the voice has to ‘see’ everything it is talking about. This work is best suited to voices with highly developed visualisation skills and good body language.

Travel

The traveller ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• 1 The World of Voice-Overs
• 2 Voices
• 3 Voice Meets Script
• 4 Commercial Scripts
• 5 Narration and Corporate Scripts
• 6 Other Scripts
• 7 The Studio
• 8 Making Your Own Tape
• 9 Finding Work
• 10 Radio Acting
• 11 The Wrap
• 12 Glossary of Terms
• 13 The CD
• 14 Useful Contacts, Books, Websites
• Index