A reader of The Magazine of Santa Clarita recently asked what skills are necessary for audiobook narration. I explained three of 10 different skills needed. Here’s her question again, and the fourth skill explained.
Q: I’m a professional commercial voice actor, but I’d love to get into narrating audiobooks, and don’t know what specialized skills it takes to do it professionally. Are there any guidelines I should know about before attempting to jump into this arena? Thanks in advance for your info. –Selina H., Westlake Village, CA
A: Narrating an audiobook takes myriad skills. Master 10 crucial skills for audiobook narration and you’ll successfully accomplish a performance that most audiobook listeners take for granted. Here’s one of the fundamental skills you must have:
Number Four: Eye-Brain-Mouth Control. This skill involves reading the script accurately; not omitting, adding or changing words/phrases. Narrators have to mitigate the amount of mistakes/corrections in their delivery. Scanning ahead is crucial, because the more mistakes you make, the longer it will take you to narrate the book and the less money you’ll make per finished hour. The ability to lift words off the pages effortlessly is a skill that takes a lot of practice. You can strengthen your E-B-M control by cold-reading something for 30 minutes every day. It doesn’t matter what you read: the newspaper, a magazine article, the back of a cereal box. Another great way to practice is to read to your kids, if you have any. They’re a great captive audience, and it’ll help them with their reading abilities as well. It’s a great way to get better at voiceover and more confident.
Over the next few months, I’ll lay out the rest of the skills necessary for professional audiobook narration. Stay tuned!
Cashman Commercials © 2011
Marc Cashman creates and produces copy and music advertising for radio and television, was named one of the “Best Voices of the Year” by AudioFile Magazine, and was the Keynote Speaker and Master Class instructor at the international voiceover conventions VOICE 2008 and 2010 in Los Angeles. Winner of over 150 advertising awards, and a working voice actor as well, he teaches voiceover technique at California Institute of the Arts and instructs voice acting of all levels through his classes, The Cashman Cache of Voice-Acting Techniques in Los Angeles.
Marc can be contacted at cashcomm@earthlink.net or his website, www.cashmancommercials.com.