As a VO, Never Talk To Strangers…
When I was young, like many others, I was told to never talk to strangers. This was sound advice to keep kids safe as a child, but oddly enough, after working with coaches and honing my skills in voice over for the past few years, it hit me! This is exactly true for those of us providing voice over. Bear with me here. This is like Rule 1 in voice over. Why do we get hired to voice projects in any genre? What are clients expecting and demanding? What will ensure that we remain a talent that clients, collaborators, and companies want to keep doing business with? Easy, we must connect with the script. We must connect with the project and understand what the final product is expected to be, and exactly who the audience is.
Ok. As basic as this seems, this aspect really is perhaps the most important for everyone involved; especially for the voice over artist. This is where not talking to strangers is crucial! As a voiceover, we are now armed with who this audience is we will be connecting with. Now it is time to identify someone we know personally that fits the target audience and deliver the message to them directly. By doing this seemingly easy (not all the time) task, it allows us to really be able to connect with the script and the audience. Why? You got it, because we are not talking to strangers, we are not talking at an audience, we are communicating a message to someone or some people we know.
Collaboration with communication is key:
It’s a fast paced world, and everyone needs everything yesterday, or maybe it is hurry up and wait, then it is needed yesterday. Oh, and it needs to be done right the first time. With that being said, it is specifically this reason that we must fully understand the client needs and expectations up front. It is incumbent on us as voice actors to fully understand the project, and if we have a question then ask! How frustrating it must be for a client to have gone through the creative process, come up with the idea, revise the script multiple times and finally get to putting a voice to the project, to only have it come back with no connection to the targeted audience; to essentially sound like we are talking to strangers. As a voice over we have a responsibility to deliver EXACTLY what we were booked for. If we can’t connect, or we just aren’t “into it”, then we really need to pass on the project. We owe it to ourselves, and more importantly to the clients we look to partner with.
About Bob:
Bob Benjamin is a professional voice over artist based in Orange County, New York with a unique background having worked with creative teams for decades in various capacities. He understands the need for excellence, honesty, and the importance of building strong business relationships based on results. Bob continuously works with professional voiceover coaches to improve his skills and ensure he is able to deliver the highest quality product, on-time and on budget. Recording from his own professional studio, Bob can connect with clients via Source-Connect and ipDTL if live directed sessions are desired.