the imaging voice

Written by Justin Coombes-Pearce

Developing your Voice

As a voice talent your ability will continue to grow with consistent practice. I would highly recommend you take classes in acting and even singing to develop your most valuable instrument… your voice.

As most of us have gone through our lives letting our speech take its natural course it is understandable we have picked up bad habits along the way. The first thing you will need to do is identify those habits then break them. It is said that it takes two hundred repetitions to break a habit so I would high recommend you go over the target as many times as possible. Here is a habit I developed but was not aware of for many years. When I would say the word put in everyday conversation I would change the word to poot. I have no explanation to why I did this nor had any knowledge I was actually doing it until it was pointed out to me. I made a conscious note to check and correct anytime I used the word, whether it was in a scripts or in everyday conversation. I managed to correct the habit through repetition but still to this day check that I have used the correct pronunciation.

This brings us to perfect speech. There is very little leeway for the ability of a voice talent to deliver perfect speech. The best voice talents in the business and I am talking about the people who are at the pinnacle of their field are void of accent. These voices are voices that can be heard worldwide without the any thought to where they are from entering the minds of the listener. Don Lafontaine the king of movie trailers is one of those voices. Don is an American with a booming, piercing, commanding and wonderful voice that I like many just adore, but the fact that he is American never really stands out. It’s the voice not the accent we listen to. When you mention the Australian accent to many overseas these days they automatically think of the Crocodile Hunter, the late Steve Irwin with his over the top, g’day mate aussie accent. Rarely will they think of Nick Tate an Australian actor who has become one of the top 5 movie trailer voices in the world. If you get the chance listen to the trailer for Jurassic Park, this is what leaped him to stardom in the voice business.

Ok, so here are some self evaluations you should start with;

1. How thick is your accent?

2. Do you have lazy speech? In other words do you have slang words in you vocabulary?

3. Do you cut off the end of words? Such as comin’ goin’ blowin’ showin’?

Now the latter two can be corrected with identification and repetition of the correct pronunciation. And as far as your accent, if yours is very thick and regional it may be wise to undergo some accent reduction study.

Now remember that this guide is only an introduction to the world of voice over, there is a lot more you will need to identify, correct and learn throughout your journey.

Next Page (Vocal Warm Ups & Training) 

Back to table of contents