A reader of The Magazine of Santa Clarita wrote in about breaking into voiceover and I promised to lay out the skill-sets that most people in the areas of stage, film and television, singing, instructing, public speaking and on-air talent possess, and show how they apply to voice acting. Last month I addressed public speakers. This month, it’s on-air talent.
Q: I’m a public speaker, and wonder if I could be successful in voiceovers. I speak in front of large and small audiences, I’m behind a microphone and entertain and deliver my subject matter well. My stage-actress wife and my film actor brother-in-law wonder whether they might be good candidates for voiceover work. Any ideas whether we could be successful? —Jack W., Valencia, CA
A: On-air talent: Radio announcers and personalities have skill-sets that many people in the voice-over world don’t appreciate. They’re able to lift words off a page effortlessly, without stumbling over any words. They’re able to speak very quickly and articulately. They have exceptional cold-reading ability and can ad-lib extremely well, giving advertisers a lot of bang for their buck. And they can do these things live, with possibly millions of people listening to them.
Unfortunately, a lot of on-air talents wear headphones while they’re on the air, and have basically fallen in love with the sound of their own voice. Most have been inculcated by their program director to deliver station-written and produced copy in the same style that they talk on the air, because that’s what the advertiser wants and is paying for. And many on-air talents have listened to their predecessors for years, and have consciously or unconsciously emulated their sometimes unctuous, sometimes in your face, sometimes over-the-top style.
If you aren’t in the aforementioned categories, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have a shot at voice acting. But the skills that people in these areas possess can be applied to a potentially successful V-O career.
Cashman Commercials © 2009
Marc Cashman creates and produces copy and music advertising for radio and television. Winner of over 150 advertising awards and named by AudioFile Magazine as “Best Voice of the Year,” he instructs voice acting of all levels through his classes, The Cashman Cache of Voice-Acting Techniques in Los Angeles, and does One-on-One coaching via phone and the Internet.
He can be contacted at cashcomm@earthlink.net or his website, www.cashmancommercials.com .