For over ten years, I’ve trained and coached actors in voiceover technique and VO demo preparation and coached and directed commercial voiceover. When I’m training a new group, one of the first exercises I do is to help the actor know his or her “vocal type.” I don’t do this to pigeonhole or corner them into one type of character. In fact, I do it for the opposite reason: Most people, actors included, don’t know what their voice sounds like or how their voice “reads” to other people, especially on the microphone.
Years ago, I created an exercise to help solve this problem. We begin by finding their “normal,” everyday voice and the kind of character that fits it so we can then make changes towards a different character. Without an idea of what your neutral voice is, it can be very hard to know what to adjust.
Since creating and discovering a variety of voices is essential for the voiceover actor, this type of exercise is crucial. That said, your vocal “type” may have absolutely nothing to do with who you actually are. Sure, it may be similar, but it’s important to approach this realm of discovery with a sense of humor and know that the point is to make
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