Optimizing your practice time on voiceover technique has several advantages. While you want to avoid rushing through your voiceover scripts, being more efficient at how you practice will make you a better voiceover artist – faster. As you become more proficient at breaking down copy, consistently using the basics, and coaching yourself as you go along, your turn-around time for producing a high-quality product for paying clients will shorten.

Follow these 4 voice-over practice techniques to get more bang for your buck (or time) on each voiceover script:

1. Practice in front of a mirror. You will probably feel silly and self-conscious the first few times you do this, but looking into a mirror while practicing voiceover scripts will help you improve in more ways than one.

First of all, go ahead a try it! Find a mirror and try reading anything – the back of your shampoo bottle, for example. Did you smile? Were your head and body gestures natural, or did your body freeze up? If so, you will be able to hear all of that in your voice. When you’re just getting started as a voiceover artist – and maybe even after you are a pro, it can be hard to remember to smile all the way through your read. If you practice in front of a mirror, you can see exactly what you sound like.

2. Memorize the first line of the script. Sometimes, even if you practice a voiceover script that appeals to you, you will have trouble delivering the lines naturally. When this happens (and trust me, it will happen!), memorize the first line and then put down the script. Walk over to a friend and say the line as conversationally as possible. Pretend that the line you are having trouble with is something you say all the time. Depending on what the copy is, you may want a “Hey, did you know X” tone, or a “Can you believe what a great deal X is?” Your friend might give you the hairy eyebrow, but capture your more casual tone of voice and carry it through the rest of the script!

3. Emulate commercials you like. Be careful with this one! I am not suggesting that you get in the habit of always mimicking other voice over artists. While you are practicing voiceover scripts and technique, mimicking a successful voiceover talent will help you get into his or her head and understand why the artist chose to read the spot that way.

Start by picking a commercial that sticks with you, either because the copy was witty, the voiceover artist has a memorable voice, or the product interests you. Notice what emotions you hear in your own voice when you imitate the voiceover artist. Ask yourself what the voiceover artist accomplished by the tone, inflection, pace, and energy.

4. Record yourself! That’s right – record yourself practicing your voiceover scripts and play them back. I used to cringe when I had to record my voicemail message, play it back and accept or re-record it. “That’s not what I sound like!” Believe it or not, your phone, answering machine, and tape recorder are not lying to you! Eventually I learned to get over my shyness, and now my recorder is my best friend. For me, listening to my playbacks helps me identify where to neutralize my faint Southern accent, and it’s invaluable for listening for awkward breathing places and rushed sentences. Plus, if I can’t “sell it” to myself, there is no way the client will “buy it” either.

Source

And you know what? That’s a great reason to want to be a voice actor. In fact, it’s the best reason. Unlike almost every other job on the planet, your primary responsibility as a voice actor is to go crazy – and have fun. Now this doesn’t mean there’s no method behind the madness; you’ve got to have the fundamentals of script analysis etched in your brain: who am I…who am I talking to…what’s my connection to the script (I could go on forever, but that’s for another day) – but if you aren’t having fun, no amount of prep will help you land, or keep, that voice gig.

You might be saying, “But isn’t having fun automatic?” You would think so, yet sometimes, when you land that awesome audition, or book that coveted role, fun flies out the window and worry sets in.  “I wonder what kind of read they’re looking for.” “Am I doing it right?” “Gosh, if I land this gig it could be my ticket to the big time,”  et cetera, et cetera. This  negative inner dialogue is so common and so dangerous that acting coaches and casting directors devote entire articles to the subject in trade magazines like Backstage! When you’re stressing over what “they” are looking for….you aren’t having fun!

Why is fun so important? Because fun is the key that unlocks your imagination!

Imagination is what brings the voice actor’s performance to life!  We use our imaginations to:

• Make our character real and interesting.
• Craft a meaningful and historical relationship with the imaginary person we are speaking to.
• Build a vivid location and relatable circumstance in our minds for the story contained in the script.

You’ll be amazed at how compelling and believable these steps can make your commercial performance!

It’s like Robin Williams said, “The more personal and specific you are, the more your audience will relate to you.”

You are going to be nervous at auditions – no doubt about it. But you can still have fun. Here’s how:

• Arrive at your audition/booking at least a half hour early and ask if you can get your script ahead of time.
• Go somewhere where you can prepare and make your choices in privacy (this is extremely important. Remember: the other actors there are not your friends. Don’t get caught up in trivial conversations or checking your phone. Your time is precious!)
• Once you’ve made your specific choices, practice some relaxation techniques, clear your mind, stretch and listen to soothing music. By doing these things you will be releasing useless, negative thoughts and making room for your imagination to run wild!
• Did I mention do not check your cell phone? There is probably no other invention today that does more to zap an actor’s creativity than the cell phone. This is because when you are looking down at that phone you are not observing the world  around you. As actors, it is our responsibility to be “students of life.”
• Practice living in the present moment. When you are present, you perceive emotions and nuances that are “gifts” for your performance.

Each one of us were experts at having fun – until we reached the age when recess stopped!  As children, play-acting was second-nature; we didn’t think about it, we just did it.

Our goal is to look at the recording booth as our playground. So…go have fun, and get paid doing it!

Nancy Wilson is a busy voice-over actor in Los Angeles and is currently training with the legendary comedy group ‘The Groundlings’. She just booked the role of “mom” in SAG/AFTRA’s Old Time Radio show, Father Knows Best. You can find her on Facebook and on her website: www.nancywilsonvo.com.

Source