Voice Over Training – Will Elocution Lessons Or Voice Coaching Classes Help With Voice Over Work?

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It is one of the enduring debts in the voice over industry; should you undertake voice coaching to improve your performance?

A clear crisp voice sounds the most desirable of assets when it comes to doing a voice over. However this is not necessarily the case. Broadcasters in the UK have for some years been experimenting with a more relaxed delivery. This is especially the case with radio and TV channels aimed at a younger audience.

I bet you have listened to an announcer or voice over artist and thought to yourself "that is a sloppy way of speaking" or "I could do better myself!"; of course you probably could, but the point is the client (ie the person paying the voice over artist good money) might want a more relaxed, conversational style.

That said there is still a role for 'proper' sounding voices where the words are mined with precision and clarity. This is often the case with corporate videos, audio-book narration and on hold phone messaging or IVR (interactive voice recording) as it is sometimes known.

In this case even the best of us might want to brush up on our spoken words. A couple of hours with a good voice coach can add sparkle, definition and confidence to your voice. Learning tricks and techniques for forming vowels and consonants in the mouth can work wonders and this will surely make a good voice sound even better.

There are a lot of misconceptions about the role of elution and voice coaching. It is not to change the way you sound per se, but to enhance what you already have. The idea that you will speak with a 'plum in your mouth' is old fashioned and not what good voice coaching is about. These days elution is concerned with improving the way you sound by keeping the essence of you, but subtly altering facets of your word formation and delivery.

In other words a professional voice coach will bring out the best in your voice.

True, you may want to soften a strong regional or national accent, but you should not remove it altogether; it is an important part of who you are. Your aim is to sound clear and confident, but not over-bearing or like the people in 1930s movies.

The most important aspect about voice coaching and elocation is that it will increase your confidence when it comes to reading out loud and that is an essential ingredient for recording your demo or showreel.

So the choice is yours: if you feel confident enough to go into the studio and record your voice reel, then go for it. If, however, you are certain what may come out of your mouth, then sometimes it is time to seek the services of a professional voice coach or elocution expert.

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Source by Gary Terzza