I hear this sentence from clients and contractors a lot.
What is the "right voice"?
Is there such a thing or is it just a fancy way to say "the one I like"? How many clients come to a meeting with an open mind, ready to hear and chose instead of having "some idea" of what they want, vaguely sounding like something they once heard, somewhere....
The challenge in our business is to guess what the client wants. Sometimes he says British accent and he chooses an Australian one. Other times he says "deep voice" when he means husky. Most times he wants you to convey an emotion, the way he would convey it.
Voice professionals have their own variety of expressions. I, for example communicate sorrow in a different way than one of my colleagues.
The challenge to overcome, is to be able to bypass all the pre-made expectations the client has, and make him appreciate what YOU have to offer.
You can't infuse in 10 mns the knowledge you accumulated over the years, or patronize him. The man owns a butcher shop and he wants an advert. done, now. He wants Angelina Jolie with Kathleen Turner's voice as the butchered cow on the table.
Customer is king.
So what do we do in those circumstances?
We accept the fact that this client is so set in his ways and stop "selling".
We politely say that "this is my voice, this is how I can express the fun of being slaughtered by a beautiful woman, the sense of adoration and sacrifice to feed the human race, and I'm sorry, I can not do a "British" accent (Australian, really).
I personally avoid such fussy clients, as they do not know the business. My business. They do not realize that they pay me to voice over their vision, but also my years of accumulated experience, my knowledge, my acting skill and the ability to sit down, relax and let someone take charge for 3 seconds.
I understand, specially if money is tight, their need to make sure everything is ok. But this is where trust comes into play. That you hired a voice you like. Good quality. Responsibility. Knowledge.
And that's what you pay for. And you get what you pay for.
You get retakes if I didn't get it right. You don't get retakes if you change the script after the recording. It's common sense. The right voice, is not just a sound. It is an attitude. It is patience, it is understanding, it is psychology, it is professionalism.
But it is also boundaries. Value of time. Respect of ones effort to please you,
Accent, tone, acting, power...language, pace, elocution, pronunciation.
Mixing, editing, filing.
Patience, willing to explain, willing to listen, willing to please, give 100%.
Swiftness, reliability, responsibility.
The right voice is more than just a voice.
It's the person who greets you on the phone and gives a je ne sais quoi to your company.
It is the person who soothes you, or excites you or sells for you.
It is your voice in the business world, the voice that comes in contact with your clients.
It is your energy, your personality, your imprint.
That's what "the right voice is". A perfect fit on all levels.
I remember when I worked for the Eurovision contest, the director asked me to be loud and strong to match the male speaker that was voicing the countries in English. The result was bad, in my opinion. My voice was set too high and sounded unnatural.
I gently suggested if we could also make a take with my own voice, how I would say it, how I pictured it in my head, without trying to match the other speakers tone and energy.
The director agreed that the sound coming out was more pleasant, relaxed and yet ceremonial ( at least I think he saw that this is what I was aiming for). My take was kept in the final mix. He was able to go past his initial idea and appreciate that new "image".
Narrating is a skill, that implies more than just reading a text.
You may not see the subtle details or hear the changes or intonations, but once the feeling you wanted to get across is expressed, you know you found, "the right voice".
What is the "right voice"?
Is there such a thing or is it just a fancy way to say "the one I like"? How many clients come to a meeting with an open mind, ready to hear and chose instead of having "some idea" of what they want, vaguely sounding like something they once heard, somewhere....
The challenge in our business is to guess what the client wants. Sometimes he says British accent and he chooses an Australian one. Other times he says "deep voice" when he means husky. Most times he wants you to convey an emotion, the way he would convey it.
Voice professionals have their own variety of expressions. I, for example communicate sorrow in a different way than one of my colleagues.
The challenge to overcome, is to be able to bypass all the pre-made expectations the client has, and make him appreciate what YOU have to offer.
You can't infuse in 10 mns the knowledge you accumulated over the years, or patronize him. The man owns a butcher shop and he wants an advert. done, now. He wants Angelina Jolie with Kathleen Turner's voice as the butchered cow on the table.
Customer is king.
So what do we do in those circumstances?
We accept the fact that this client is so set in his ways and stop "selling".
We politely say that "this is my voice, this is how I can express the fun of being slaughtered by a beautiful woman, the sense of adoration and sacrifice to feed the human race, and I'm sorry, I can not do a "British" accent (Australian, really).
I personally avoid such fussy clients, as they do not know the business. My business. They do not realize that they pay me to voice over their vision, but also my years of accumulated experience, my knowledge, my acting skill and the ability to sit down, relax and let someone take charge for 3 seconds.
I understand, specially if money is tight, their need to make sure everything is ok. But this is where trust comes into play. That you hired a voice you like. Good quality. Responsibility. Knowledge.
And that's what you pay for. And you get what you pay for.
You get retakes if I didn't get it right. You don't get retakes if you change the script after the recording. It's common sense. The right voice, is not just a sound. It is an attitude. It is patience, it is understanding, it is psychology, it is professionalism.
But it is also boundaries. Value of time. Respect of ones effort to please you,
Accent, tone, acting, power...language, pace, elocution, pronunciation.
Mixing, editing, filing.
Patience, willing to explain, willing to listen, willing to please, give 100%.
Swiftness, reliability, responsibility.
The right voice is more than just a voice.
It's the person who greets you on the phone and gives a je ne sais quoi to your company.
It is the person who soothes you, or excites you or sells for you.
It is your voice in the business world, the voice that comes in contact with your clients.
It is your energy, your personality, your imprint.
That's what "the right voice is". A perfect fit on all levels.
I remember when I worked for the Eurovision contest, the director asked me to be loud and strong to match the male speaker that was voicing the countries in English. The result was bad, in my opinion. My voice was set too high and sounded unnatural.
I gently suggested if we could also make a take with my own voice, how I would say it, how I pictured it in my head, without trying to match the other speakers tone and energy.
The director agreed that the sound coming out was more pleasant, relaxed and yet ceremonial ( at least I think he saw that this is what I was aiming for). My take was kept in the final mix. He was able to go past his initial idea and appreciate that new "image".
Narrating is a skill, that implies more than just reading a text.
You may not see the subtle details or hear the changes or intonations, but once the feeling you wanted to get across is expressed, you know you found, "the right voice".
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