Medical Narration Voice Over

Medical Narration is its own animal. It's a VO genre that presents unique challenges, but also offers great rewards.

One of the greatest rewards in Medical Narration is repeat business. Once a client finds a talent who can confidently and competently rise to the challenge, he usually comes back time and time again. It's not easy for clients to find someone who can do medical narration well. In fact, I've noticed that even many seasoned voice actors and actresses--not to mention some prominent voice coaches who have decades of experience--do not do a very good job with medical narration!

Why? Perhaps because they focus too much on pronouncing difficult terminology correctly-- as if that were the only challenge of medical narration. It's not. Sure, pronunciation can literally be a mouthful, but that's easy to remedy. Find out how to say the words and practice saying them until they roll off your tongue like a fluent language.

The real challenge in medical narration is telling the story. And for good reason. In many medical narrations the terminology is so difficult, and the subject matter so foreign, that even the narrator can't see the story! How can a voice actor tell a story you don't know? Yet if the words are spoken in such a manner that the story is not told, the voice actor loses the credibility in the eyes of the most important listener, the audience for whom the script was written. Whether it be doctors learning about a disease, students exploring biological processes, or patients being instructed on how to use a medical device, presumably, the audience will understand what is being said--even if the voice actor doesn't! And to that audience the voice actor is supposed to be the expert! He or she is the one teaching the information!

So, how can you know the story? There are a number of techniques you can practice. But for starters, don't let the words get in the way. Don't get so wrapped up in the medical mumbo that you can't see past it to the underlying message--the story.

Written by Julie2
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Directing Voice Talent II

Director prep: First, you need to understand the script and what you want the voice talent to accomplish. A way of clarifying this for yourself is to listen to a performance from a commercial, film, video or TV show that you'd like your actors to emulate in feel, tone and attitude. That gives you a target to aim at. Determine in advance how you'll direct them to achieve that. This will vary depending on your actors' skill, experience and your relationship with them.

Secondly, make sure the voice talent understands what needs to be accomplished. Let your actors in on those little secrets: who is the audience? Are they eavesdropping on a conversation? Listening to a voicemail message? Are they being spoken to directly? How do we want the listener to feel?

Don't ask the actor to produce a feeling or you'll get something forced. Tell them what you'd expect the listener's reaction to be - to cry, to laugh, to reminisce, to be energized, etc.

What thought do we want to leave the listener with? What action do we want them to take? What's the underlying attitude and agenda of the person speaking? Often it's in contrast to spoken words and can add great interest to the spot.

Describe the character(s) physically, psycho graphically and sociologically. Give your voice actors information, so they can understand where each character is coming from.

If you're directing dialogue, explain the "back story" - the relationship and history to the participants. Are they coming into this scene after a fight, or after making love? After a life-threatening experience or a spiritually uplifting one? Have the voice talent emotionally experience the moments before we enter the scene, either by imagining themselves there, or by pulling the appropriate emotions from their own experience, so they're in character from their first breath. Have them ad lib or "read into" the scene. Even the tag reader should hear what's gone before to understand how to read the tag.

If the final commercial will be produced with sounds in the background, often it's helpful to play those sounds over their headsets while they record. If they hear the traffic, or the sounds of a mountain stream, or the fireworks, or the loud music at the club, it will help put the voice talents "on location" so they'll speak with the appropriate volume, projection or intimacy.

Remember that you're doing radio. The audience will only see the characters your actors are creating in their mind's eye. Try doing the same thing. Close your eyes and listen to your talents' delivery. That way you won't base your direction on the way they look, their facial expressions or physical movements. It's kind of like listening to... the radio.

Written by Jeffrey1
Listen to Jeffrey1's Demo
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New Building

Directing Voice Talent

Whether you're a writer, producer, actor, or director, developing directing skills will make a world of difference in your commercials.

Directing is...inspiring, coaching, encouraging, cheerleading, getting inside the psyche of a voice actor and planting seeds so that that voice actor will bring to life words on a page. Good directing not only improves the final production, but it improves the skills of the voice talent being directed.

The result is a more believable commercial. The audience, the client and the station will are the beneficiaries.

Listen to how people speak. The pitch changes that occur when they're happy or depressed, the audible tension when they're under stress, the sound of an angry person speaking with a tight jaw, are all reference points for a good director to have. As your voice talent moves through the commercial, keep asking yourself, "Is this how a person in this situation would sound?" That's the mark you should be aiming for and nudging your voice talent toward.

A common mistake is to ask the voice talent or voice actor to emphasize too many words. This can make it should too much like a pitch or announcer voice and not like a conversation. Sometimes just a small rise in the pitch of a word will make it stand out. Remember, your listener is participating in the conversation. Involve their imagination by not having the voice actor give it all away in the delivery.

Believability starts with the casting. Find the best voice actors you can afford. This will make your job much easier. Instead of telling them how to read the script, tell them why you wrote it the way you did. Let them bring their experience to it. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Be confidant of the performance you're anticipating, so you don't confuse and frustrate your talent by changing direction after each take. However, you may also get interpretations you hadn't planned for. Be open to changing your preconceptions and going with the new direction if it works better than what you had in mind.

Try to make the session fun and keep your voice talent relaxed, even if you and the client may not be.

Written by Jeffrey1
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ESPN College GameDay Comes to Utah

ESPN's "College Football GameDay" is coming to Salt Lake City this week and fans are encouraged to attend all of its shows in Rice-Eccles Stadium.

On Friday, Nov. 5, the ESPN "GameDay" crew of Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Erin Andrews will broadcast segments for "SportsCenter," "College Football Live" and other ESPN shows from the set in Rice-Eccles Stadium from 10 a.m. until around noon.

On Saturday, "College Football GameDay" will begin airing before a live crowd a 7 a.m. The show last for three hours (until 10 a.m. MT), with the first hour on ESPNU and the remaining two hours on ESPN.

Written by Robert Jackson
For full article visit www.DeseretNews.com

Halloween Voice Over

Voiceover Audition Success

The real work in voiceover is crafting a flawless audition. I spend a lot of time on my auditions, which, these days are more numerous than ever. While you'll never known for sure what the client has in his/her mind for "the voice", you can certainly improve your chances in landing the voice over gig and try to synch up with the client's vision by preparing each audition carefully. This is not about script breakdown, which is another fundamental aspect of the voice over audition and delivery process. This article is about freeing the vocal instrument to achieve a successful performance.

I've been frequently doing a workout routine each day to improve my voiceover delivery. The routine includes breathing and relaxation techniques, body and neck stretches, yawns, lip and tongue trills, resonance and articulator drills. Of course each day when I wake up, I read the newspaper, and select several stories to read aloud, in order to get my brain to mouth engagement into motion early on way before I head into the booth. Coffee helps me in the wake up process.

1. In any performance situation, the voice actor must have poise and confidence. This is a challenge, especially to the voice actor who auditions alone in the confines of his/her home studio. Remember that confidence grows with every rehearsal and script preparation, whether or not you book the job. I look at each audition as a chance to keep "my chops well-oiled".
2. The successful performer is one who is able to control tension so it will not interfere with performance.
3. Relaxation is paramount! Keep practicing warm-ups. When you are warmed up, thoroughly prepared and relaxed, you'll gain self-confidence.
   
4. Psych yourself up for the audition performance and use breathing exercises, or use some type of physical or vocal release.
   
5. The more experience you gain through recording auditions and listening to and critiquing your playback, the easier it is to lose your apprehension over the process. Think of "owning" the delivery.
   

Whether it is the audition, or a booked session, a successful performer prepares, concentrates intently and executes swiftly with creativity and professional distinction.

The primary tool of the voice actor is the voice that is free of tension and anxiety, and one that is freely expressive. Think of your warm-ups as a massage to your resonators and articulators. A voice that is tuned up and warmed up through regular workouts and vocal exercises that will help you explore your range accurately and creatively. The more you relax, the more natural the delivery and that just might book you the job!

Written by Bobbin
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