Sally Clawson 2/26/20
Beginning students usually don’t wear headphones while practicing voice over at the mic. Listening to themselves while reading the copy places them in the external role of audience rather than the internal role of authentic endorser.
Even still, many students insist on putting on mental headphones, and I know they’re doing it because they can’t get through a script without stumbling. The mental headphones are turned up so loud, it disrupts the typical flow of communication and makes the student sound inauthentic.
Here are three steps to stop listening to yourself.
Be Curious About the Product
Every commercial script has a product. Whether it’s an item or a service the company is promoting, ask yourself several questions:
-What is it?
-What does it do?
-In what area of our lives do we use it and how?
-Is it new to the market, or is it established?
-What makes it unique?
Research the product if you need, because your knowledge will connect you mentally and emotionally to the product’s story and purpose. Then you can focus on your newfound expertise and not your sound.
Start at the End
At the end of every commercial script lays the soul of the message. The tagline. It’s the condensed nugget of branding that the client wants banging around in the listener’s head long after the commercial is over. Once you’ve asked and answered questions about the product, go straight to the end, and read it.
This one small phrase will illuminate the company’s personality: funny, serious, humble. It will indicate where the product lives in the market: food, home, auto or elsewhere. And it will reveal how the client wants to impact the listener enough to take action and purchase the product. This is where you, the voice actor, enter the picture.
Armed with your understanding of what the tagline has revealed, you can speak with confidence, personality and a targeted message that will circumvent the need for your mental headphones
Read the Script, Then Make a Decision
You’ve fleshed out a story about the product. You’ve pondered the personality of the company. Now read the copy with these guideposts in mind, and decide, based on the words and your own discoveries, the one feeling you want the listener to experience. Maybe you want them to feel delighted, inspired or astonished. Maybe motivated, prodded or judged. Whatever your goal feeling is, hold onto it, and keep it foremost in your mind as you read.
This intention will stabilize and prevent you from listening to yourself. You will be striving to get your intention across, which is what we do in everyday communication. Focus on how the message is being received, not on how you sound saying it.
Understanding the product, reading the tagline, and deciding on your intention will shut off your mental headphones and allow you to focus on the client’s message. Once you’ve done that, you can put on actual headphones and play back your gorgeous, smart, and intention-soaked performance.
How to Manage your Training and Career During Social Distancing
Look who's coming to Voice One next week!
Join Sally in the morning or evening for an 8-person 2-hour voice over workout!
For the time being, all Voice One classes have been moved online. Here are the confirmed dates.
The schedule for the 2020 Summer Fast Track series is now available for online registration!
If you use a grocery list – rejoice! Sally shares a technique for strengthening your VO with a shopping list.
Voice over industry veterans share their words of wisdom on the video game industry.
Three steps to stop listening to yourself while performing commercial VO
Our February Professional Invitational guest is revealed!
In the voice over industry, you must stand apart from the rest, and in more ways than you might think!
Let’s tackle big, old, ugly fear. Here are five ways to conquer your fear of trying improv, or anything new.
We've created a guide that you can print up and bring with you to your Super Bowl watching party. After the game, upload your answers and compare!
We'll be sending a new-and-improved commercial watching guide for 2020 - check out last year's guide and repsonses, and stay tuned!
Danny spoke with Leapfrog senior producer and fellow voice actor Chuck Wedge to find out why his upcoming "Sense of Play" class has been on his mind for over 10 years.
Sally suggests letting these four words become your mantra for 2020.
Sally toasts to 2020 with a story of a time she felt like she could conquer the world...
Sally ponders what would happen if actors were to give an audition as a gift to their client.
Give the gift of learning this holiday season. Voice One holiday gift ideas for your list or theirs!
Due to popular demand, beginning in 2020, Voice One will now be offering online classes!
Happy Holidays! Our December 2019 newsletter has arrived, and is chock full of exciting announcements and offers!
We had such a great response to our Black Friday sale, we've extended it to Cyber Monday!
Here's a look at what's coming to Voice One between now and the end of the year. End the year with a strong finish as you continue to hone your craft!
An article from our upcoming Professional Invitational guest, John Kovacevich
We are excited to announce our special guest for the final Professional Invitational class of 2019!
Take a look at our ten brand new classes coming to Voice One in 2020!
Now through Monday 11/4 at 5pm, take advantage of our discounted pricing for these classes
See what Voice One has in store for 2020, including some exciting new classes!
Join us this Sunday to meet the "VO-mad" as he speaks about his career as a world traveler
From Robin Williams to Tina Fey, here are 25 reasons why improv not only make you a better actor, but change your life!
The Voice One Training Vocal Booth is available to rent in San Francisco! Here's how you can use it...
What is the meaning of this mantra? Take "Script Analysis" with Sally and find out!
Sally muses on a recent article from Second City's Kim Greene Hiller on how improv builds resiliency, listening, team-building, and creativity.
Another VO for Kids (ages 10-17) is just around the corner. Help spread the word to any youngsters you know who are itching to get behind the mic!
Find out why Copy Intensive is some students' favorite class at Voice One
Be understood no matter the circumstance using clear diction
The latest bookings, signings, and other news from your peers!
Sally reflects after her recent showing of Hamilton
We've got some great classes headed your way next week and there are a handful of spaces available in each of them! Take a look...
Guess who's back?! That's right! Lil' Dino has returned to usher in the fall with a Labor Day Weekend Flash Sale!
Actors with an interest in Corporate Narration should not miss this workshop!
Inspired by the three-week intensive some of our students recently completed, Danny spoke with Voice One Vocal Health instructor Julia Norton who has over 25 years of experience teaching people how to have a free and healthy voice.
It started on July 20th. 23 days and 138 hours later, our Summer Fast Track is complete. I watched these students grow and flourish over these three weeks, and here’s what I came away with:
Wanna know a great way to end your kids' summer vacation? With Voice Over, of course!
Danny spoke with Voice One Founder Elaine Clark, who has over 30 years experience as a casting director in video games, anime, toys, corporate narration, documentaries, and commercials, about what it means to be a casting director.
We know you're going to like this announcement...
Courage to what? Speak, fight back, be heard, perform voice over, recite poetry, sing, rap, record, and amplify your authority.
An Interview with Top Dialect Coach Doug Honorof
Sally shares a bit of wisdom she heard from a former coach that has helped boost her confidence during auditions.
An upcoming class to practice "inhabiting an audition"
Having the backing of talent agents can be critical to our success!
Sally reflects on her early resistance to the union in her prior work, and how important the actors' union is to her.
Please join us for an upcoming event featuring our local SAG-AFTRA union rep!
Sally takes us back to her early days of voice acting and the origins of her cleverly crafted persona, Actor Girl.
Why every voice actor needs personal branding and self-promotion.
The importance of those "additional skills" - A little more about our Business & Marketing, Advanced Marketing, and Home Recording classes
We are thrilled that the incredible Amanda Rose Smith will be here at Voice One for a three-hour audio editing workshop.
The Daytime Conservatory takes you and a small group of peers on a ten-week tour of the core, expanding your range by immersing you in scripts from across the VO-spectrum.
Sally recounts a pivotal moment in her voice over training
We sent out a Super Bowl scavenger hunt to aide you in watching the year's biggest commercials with a critical eye. Many of you sent us your answers, and we wanted to share some of our biggest take-aways.
Voice One offers a beginning improv class that takes you through the the basic rules of improv (believe it or not, there are rules!) through games and scenes. Laura Derry creates a fun and safe space for you to succeed and fail and you'll laugh and learn a lot!
A guide for watching the Super Bowl commercials with the critical eye of a professional voice over actor.
We are premiering a new class called Storytelling in VO. The class takes place over two Thursdays: January 31st and February 7th from 6:30pm-9:30pm taught by Sally. The class will cover the short story format, with scripts from commercials, corporate narration, literature, and children’s books.
Sally tells her own voice over story - how she went from dancer to voice actor.
