Voice Over Essentials - Good Voice, Great Delivery!!!

Voice over is a type of officious or off-camera dialogue. Although the intended audience can hear this dialogue, the individual doing the voice over is usually not seen in a production. Mostly heard and not seen, professional voiceover actors play an important role in selling products and helping animated characters come alive in movies and television shows.

Voice work requires a high degree of vocal versatility as well as attention to detail. Voiceover artists might contribute their talent to audio books, cartoons, commercials or video games and also on the radio as a disc jockey or talk show host. While radio and television provide many opportunities for voice-over work, actors are also needed to voice instructional DVDs for a wide range of products. 

As prime concern,  voiceover artists for new channel must have a good voice. However, they should also be able to read and speak well. Usually, this means that they need to read whatever script that's put in front of them with the right attitude and tone. Based on the project type, a voice-over artist might be called upon to read scripts several different ways. 

For instance a voice-over artist working on a public service message, on the other hand, may be asked to convey a message in such a way that it creates an emotional impact on its listeners.

While there is no standard educational background for voice actors, many actors seeking voice work have training in stage acting. Different recordings will also require various voice personalities. Thus, you need to work with someone who possesses a range of voice qualities, from energetic and casual, to smooth and formal, depending on the requirement of the project.

A good voice is evidently one of the most important things to consider when a voice-over career is your voice, so in order to start this type of career, your voice should obviously be one of your best assets. There are certain measures to be taken in order to maintain a good voice for a successful voice over career. Let’s start with the apparent one: a great voice over artist needs a great voice and the talent to use it. 

That’s true, and you need to learn and practice how to use your voice. Authorize your gear so that instead of worrying about room-hum, clicks and echo, you can focus instead on the creative — the ability to express even dull subjects in a way that catches the interest of listeners. 

Next the point comes is, you might have a great voice and strong technical skills, but without the ability to listen, you may have trouble finding projects and the ones who have the skills are usually known for the clear quality and flexibility of their respective voices. Enunciation is the manner of pronouncing words correctly and clearly. This is very crucial as it can make or break the entire recording project. 

A clear voice can only be able to pronounce all of the words correctly and to enunciate them in a clear and confident manner. Also, successful voiceover artists are skilled at managing their time to maximize their productivity.

So, you have a great voice, perfect enunciation and pacing, and are flexible enough to take direction and deliver exactly what the director needs. However, unless you harness those talents to turn in great work on a schedule, again and again, you’ll have a hard time establishing a reputation as someone directors want to work with. T

he quirk of the most successful voice over artists might seem like high hurdles to jump, but it boils down to this: a successful voice over artist is committed to using their talent to give video creators what they need, when they need it. If you can do that, time-after-time, you’re golden. 

Voice Over Essentials - Take good care of your throat!!

As a startup with voiceover career, you need to spend many hours waking through the pavement and looking for work, auditioning, making connections, creating new material and so on. The basic thing what you need to do is stay in good shape and on your toes. People deem on appearances whether you like it or not people will judge your company or product based on the quality of the video and voice over. A professional voice has the ability to persuade. When you’re looking for professional voice talent in you, you must be someone who can be on the platform for long term. 

It is a true fact that good voice is god gifted and comes naturally but it can be trained, and natured to become fit for voiceover. Nobody is a born singer or narrator or voice artist, yes you may have a sweet, melodious voice by birth but still your voice needs to be trained enough to modulate, diverged and able to perform professionally for required time. Most importantly you need to take care of your throat and not over look any problem related to it. Sore, scratchy or dry throat and hoarseness are common problems, which creates a bad impression on the prestige of voiceover artists for hire. 

Building a strong immune system and taking appropriate care of your throat can significantly reduce menace of throat disorders. Here is what you should do to keep your throat in good health.

·         You should maintain the normal hydration level of the throat that helps in providing relief from throat discomfort and washes away irritants from the throat. Water helps in lubricating your vocal cords and throat tissues, which helps in maintaining the optimal health of the throat.

·         Salt is a natural antiseptic. You should always gargle with warm salt water at least once a day, especially during the cold and flu season, helps in destroying the pathogens present in the throat, thereby reducing risk of throat infections.

·         Exercise regularly and keep a healthy diet full of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, which contain vitamins that keep the mucus membranes that line your throat healthy.

·         One of the leading causes of chronic throat disorders and hoarseness is smoking. Even secondhand smoking damages the throat. Hence, quit smoking and avoid secondhand smoking to diminish risk of severe throat disorders.

·         Talking too much or too loudly irritates the delicate throat tissues and damages the vocal cord. Therefore, to avert throat disorders, avoid screaming and rest your throat and practice good breathing techniques by supporting your voice from your chest—not through your throat.

·         Getting enough sleep is important enough when you’re perfectly healthy. When you do come down with something, the best thing you can do for your body and your throat is rest. Sleep will allow your body to repair itself, but it is also important to rest your voice.

Throat health is always important measure to be taken in a voice over career. Neglecting these problems may put your career at stake, so you should always take proper care of your voice. One of most inspiring voiceover Artist now in India is Prateek Sharma who has enriched his voice in Indian market impressively. He is a voiceover artist… Public speaker… Narrator… Storyteller… with over 10 years of rich experience in running radio shows, public speaking and theatre. Prateek Sharma also conducts voiceover training in Pune. 

To more more about him and his services please visit his website:
http://www.thisisprateek.com/

Different types of Voice Overs

Different types of Voiceover Style Voice over is a fabrication proficiency where a voice is used in a radio, television, production, filmmaking, theatre or other presentations. The voiceover is read from a script and may be spoken by someone who appears elsewhere in the production or by a specialized dubbing and voiceover artist. The Voiceover Industry is global and there are lots of opportunities to do many different types of voice over work. In fact most freelance voiceover artists do many different types of voice over work in any given time. This is what makes the work of voice over artist so exhilarating. Nowadays there is more rooms for much wider variety of styles than even before in the history of voiceover industry. With the emergence of the internet and easy to use audio editing software, new markets are continuously being created and inflated upon. The following are some genres of voiceover styles to be aware of when seeking for a dubbing and voiceover artist for your project.

• Corporate: Voiceover artists for corporate videos work in the corporate world. “Explainer” or promotional videos that appear on a companies or person’s website, explaining a product or service have the voices of dubbing and voiceover artist in training videos, promotional materials and human resource videos. They also work for trade shows as announcers. They can work for airports, stadiums, train stations, malls and other large public places.
• Films and Promos: Voice artists can have a large and small part in films or voiceover artists for news channel. Trailers of course are promotional pieces for films. Promos are essentially commercials for TV shows as they appear in between shows to promote what’s coming up. This is an extremely competitive genre. Comparatively few spots for newbie’s, as most people who have those jobs, keep those jobs. Super lucrative as it tends to be ongoing work. You have to have a voice that “cuts through” as they say – meaning a strong voice that will be heard over music and sound effects.
• ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement): The voices you hear in the background of movies or dialogue that needs to be replaced on a film. For background work, you have to be very well-versed in a wide variety of subjects to be able to successfully pull off talking realistically about whatever people would be talking about This is a pretty difficult one to get into as well, as most people work in a loop group or team of people and the same teams are hired over and over again. This pays very well but you’d really have to have a knack for this kind of thing and a lot of focused direction to get into a successful working group.
• Games and Animation: Character and animation work is fun for many voice artists. Video games are a hugely growing industry. They speak like a child to make toys or cartoons come alive. A sturdy instrument is a must, as there is usually a lot of screaming and dying to do. Toys are a niche industry that encompasses talking dolls and games for youngsters. This is the most competitive, smallest niche of the voiceover world. Many animation people are also writers and or comedians. It helps to be really quick witted, to be able to ad-lib and be funny while staying real. Everyone wants these jobs. If this is your heart’s desire, go for it.

The clear, appropriate and creative delivery of audio or visual message helps to hook the attention of listeners and viewers from beginning to end. If you are in search of a professional voiceover talent in India, then work with Prateek Sharma. His one-to-one voiceover training conducted by Freelance Voiceover artist Prateek Sharma an experienced professional in his field will help to fine tune your voice and provide you with a competitive edge.

Getting started as a Voice Over artist

The value of human voice remains significant despite rapidly arising digital world. Human voice remains the most effective tool for spreading a message. Being a voice actor is considerably different, nevertheless, many actors whose first goal was to be on stage or in front of a camera, they too choose to pursue a career in voice over.

Everybody starts somewhere and the best way to begin your career with when exploring your voice acting abilities and discovering more about your unique voiceprint is from knowing about the voice acting and why you are interested in voice acting because to proceed with something as a career one should be sure about their own desires. As a as Freelance Voiceover Artist one is responsible for providing narration and dialog for everything from television commercials to customer service telephone lines.

They should be able to reach audiences as small as one or two people and as large as hundreds of millions of viewers. Nearly every industry is represented in this field, with many voice artists choosing to focus on one or two specific fields. All you need is a good business ethic, a drive for success and some quality resource to teach the pro’s and con’s of voice acting. To be an inspiring actor, one needs to have a closer look on some of the basic needs for pursuing good voice acting career. Some are stated below:

• Taking voice over classes: Voiceover training are widely available in major cities for the ones struggling for voice trainings. If not able to join those classes one can opt for online trainings too. Needless to say, if being a voice actor is your long-term career goal, continue improving yourself and your voice in any way possible. Inclusive of these classes, you can take general voice lessons where you’ll be taught proper breathing, warm-ups, voice control, elocution and tons of other methods that will improve your voice over skills.
• Taking acting classes: One should definitely go for regular acting classes. You will be able to gain access over many great skills like acting skills, speaking skills which are among the essential needs for voice acting career. Another interesting fact about acting classes is that it prepares you for how to get into the character, become present, breakdown analyze scripts and ultimately sell yourself as a character. All of these techniques from regular acting classes can be applied to your voice over work.
• Joining voice over community: Being a voice actor can get lonesome, since you’ll do a lot of the work by yourself, either at your home studio, or at casting directors’ studios, or on the job. Becoming a part of a community of people who share the same goals can keep you grounded and focused.
• Personal branding: Marketing is the key to a successful business so that you are never out of work. You need to think of your voice is your business. Personal branding can be difficult but it’s definitely worth it. You can market yourself in many different ways but the best way is to build a website that will help to promote you and your work. Write about yourself, show off your portfolio, anything that helps to promote your business is what you need here.
• Perfect quality recordings: High quality recording are a must in this industry and this is where you can stand out from the others and become successful. If you are able to you should invest in a professional studio demo rather than paid for recording apps, agents and directors will be able to tell the difference.
• Health Care: When just starting out, you’ll spend many hours pounding the pavement and looking for work, auditioning, making connections, creating new material and so on. You need to stay in good shape, stay hydrated and on your toes. Never underestimate the power of your mind, too. Voice acting is by no means easy. There are emotions that you need to deliver without “cheating” with body language, so you need stay connected to your body and mind to deliver what casting directors want to hear.

Well as you can see becoming a voice over actor is a great career and if you dream of becoming one then just go for it, it’s fun, exciting, and the rewards are great. Becoming a voice over takes time, there’s no doubt about it, though your voice may be amazing it doesn’t mean you can be a voice over actor. You will need discipline, skills, the right attitude, and a lot of ambition to be renowned in this field.

www.thisisprateek.com

https://www.facebook.com/Voiceoverprateek/

Voice acting - A simple science but a difficult art to master

Before I even start with, let me clarify that this article is not at all about how to be a voice actor? or What does it take to have a great voice? etc.

I am here to share with you all my amusement about one thing that exists everywhere in this universe.. right from the smallest particle like atom to the largest bodies outside the observable universe, and that is SOUND. What astonishes me more is the result you get when you give this sound a pattern, a frequency a tempo, which we call VOICE !!! Even more amusing is the result, when you hold the reins of this Voice and modulate it , throw it at right points.This is called VOICE ACTING!!

I think no art can beat the experience you get from the "Theater of the mind", which happens with some great voice acting. So who all need to learn this skill? Is this only for those who want to be great RJs, Voice actors, dubbing stars?

My experience in the domain of voice acting/narration/public speaking says something different. Voice acting is a skill that should be learnt by everyone. It's one crucial thing that can make a difference in the game. Voice acting is inherent to us. Right from the time we were born, we knew how to act through our voice. We learnt fast that the more we voice-act the better the results are, hence the famous saying "Only crying baby gets the milk"

But with passing times, we started taking this art for granted. Slowly, we tend to loose rhythm, we tend to loose focus, we tend to ignore the power of Voice acting in our daily lives.If you really want to be successful in your life .. be it at your workplace, in your friends circle etc, just know that you need to master the art of Voice Acting.

You've got to know, how, when, what to speak. You need to understand what tempo and with what throw should something be spoken. You need to know what words and what tone should be used to express the feelings behind those words. You need to understand the audience, you need to read the script which is not otherwise visible. You need to LISTEN, you need to read the message, decrypt it, unfold it, understand it, encrypt your replies in the best possible fashion and deliver. This is voice acting.

A simple science but a difficult art to master. Over many years doing voice acting/dubbing, I learnt one thing, that there are thousand ways to say something and all of them have a certain meaning, a texture attached to that meaning, nothing is void here. It takes a lot of practice to act just through your voice, but when once done right it makes an everlasting impact.

Trust me, you cannot learn in a day, and mind it, not every presenter,public speaker is a good voice actor. You can call yourself a good voice actor only when the listener is in unison with you, when you become one with the audience, when they start understanding you even before you have presented the facts.Remember, anyone can present facts and play with the perceptions of the audience, the real fun is in not presenting the facts, yet taking everyone in your confidence. This can be achieved only by Voice acting.

Voice overs / dubbing /hosting shows for so many years has taught me a lot, I would love to share with you my experiences, my mistakes that you should not do which can make you a better voice actor.. all this and more .. in the next blog.

Meanwhile do share with us what do you think is THE most important thing to be a great voice actor??

Voiceover by Prateek Sharma - Explainer video

Latest Voiceover for an insurance Brand