[COPY] Three Quick Narration / VO Tips

Tips to help with performance and mindset

I’m in the booth narrating this week and under a tight deadline, all while dealing with a dog who is paying for eating gross things, a broken oven, and concerns about the well being of the entire world. Ugh. So…I haven’t had the focus to write much the last few days.

Here is an encore article with Three Quick Narration Tips, in case you didn’t read it before, or the reminder is helpful.

I’ll have new posts next week. If there’s anything specific you want to read about, please let me know!

Cheers,
Tanya

Last week, I attended the That’s Voiceover conference in LA as a panelist for Audible/ACX and discussed audiobook narration approaches with Kat Jackson, Hillary Huber, and Vikas Adam while Emily Curran hosted the panel. I loved it.

One thing I enjoy about being on panels and/or teaching is that sometimes questions make you zero in on something you’ve instinctually felt but never put into words.

Here, then, are three quick takeaways the panel helped me to put into words:

QUICK TIP #1

How To Make Your Audition Stand Out

There’s one simple thing you can do to make your audition stand out: OWN IT.

It seems ridiculously simple but it is a powerful mindset. This one thought “I OWN THIS BOOK” or “I OWN THIS PERFORMANCE” can trigger subconscious actions:

• You will be rooted in your performance

• You will center yourself

• You will have confidence/authority

• You will be connected to the text

• You will inhabit the characters

• You will make informed choices, and

• You will present the piece as if it is your story, because you feel in your gut it is.

On your next audition, try it. How do you change when you OWN the material? Does your approach change? Your breathing? Your anxiety? How do you feel when you’ve recorded something that you own?

QUICK TIP #2

How To Quickly Stay Consistent With A Character’s Voice

A quick trick to stay consistent with your character voices: Give them a facial expression. This will help you slip into the performance as a Character and not just a Voice.

Again, this sounds weirdly easy. That’s because it is. How do you sound when you speak from the side of your mouth instead of using your full mouth/lips?

What happens when you raise your eyebrows and open your eyes wide? How does that affect how you voice the character?

What happens if you give a character a slight Tom Cruise kind of smirk?

What happens if you scrunch your body so it’s taking up the least amount of space?

What happens when you use your body to take up all the space and air in the room?

How does changing your body change how you sound?

Try it! Use the physicality of a character (a micro expression) to easily slip into your character’s voice.

QUICK TIP #3

How To Do Something You Don’t Want To Do

I am, as usual, struggling with my weight. It’s more that I’m struggling with working in walking or yoga into my workday. Something else always takes precedence. By the end of the day, I’m exhausted and don’t want to do it. I know that working out will help me feel better, help with stress, and make me a better narrator.

My husband had the wild idea of trying to flip my thinking from “Ugh. I have to work out now” to “Yay! I Get to work out now!”

Another thing that seems small, and maybe stupid, but this quick flip in thinking is already making me excited to work out today.

Can you apply this to something you don’t want to do?

• Yay! I get to answer emails now and get that task off my plate.

• Yay! I get to clean my house, so things feel peaceful and organized.

• Yay! I get to pay taxes, and I won’t have to think about it again for another few months.

See if a flip in thinking can turn you to flipping an action. (Or if it doesn’t work, you can flip off an action. That’ll probably feel good too.)

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TANYA EBY is a writer, narrator, and casting director and is recovering from all the socializg she did in LA. Look for future articles on dealing with tricky clients (thanks for the suggestion, Isabella!), how to find an accountability group, and what Tanya experienced when her dad (whom she hadn’t seen in a few decades reached out to her and attended her wedding.) Like her writing? TELL A FRIEND!!! And, maybe, you know, become a subscriber, or buy and review one of her books.