Occasionally, I’ll write some quick little articles about audiobooks and narration. This is one of those times.
Recently, someone asked me how I stay consistent with my narrator voice. They felt confident with their character voices, but the narration in-between the dialogue was making them feel self-conscious.
My quick and easy answer to this is…consider your Narration Voice as a Character Voice. The narrator IS a character. Whoever is telling this story is telling it for a reason. This is why genres have different tones because it’s a different character telling the story. You wouldn’t tell about a string of murders happening with the same excitement you tell about your upcoming trip to Hawaii, would you? Or if you would, then perhaps you are psychopathic.
I’m joking of course. If you were psychopathic, you probably wouldn’t be excited about Hawaii.
Longform narration requires settling in: to your booth, your body, the story, the experience.
You can also try an entry sentence. Memorize some kind of sentence that helps you slip into your narrator self. Then every time you enter the booth, say that sentence to enter into the groove of storytelling. You can match your levels to make sure you’re on track.
You’ll find that once you establish a routine for daily narration, your body will remember what you’ve been doing it. You’ll be in the groove of it. Like cross country skiing develops a groove in the snow, you’ll develop a groove with your voice and performance.
Consistency takes time and practice, but it’s easily achievable. Relax. Find your narrator character. Have fun. Tell the story. That’s it. That’s all you have to do.
Have any other questions? Let me know!
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Tanya Eby is an award-winning audiobook narrator, casting director and producer. She’s also a writer. Like her work? Share it with others, become a subscriber or leave her a tip on Venmo at Tanya-Eby.
This is SO great to have someone to ask. Terrific guidance! So do you have a main omniscient character voice and just vary from that in attitude for genre or reason for telling the story? The obvious answer of course would be, yes, so I guess I’m really asking if you think it’s a mistake early on to get too comfortable leaning into one main voice? Or better?.. (I guess like a baseline voice / normal voice.) Thank you for guiding us here. So appreciated and helpful! ♥️♥️🧘🏻♂️🍀🙏
Haha! Your images are always great, but Rocky... spot on! 🤣🤣👍