Get A Better Broadcast, Podcast and Voice-Over Voice

2022.05.19 – 0504 – A Giveaway That You’re ReadingA Giveaway That You’re ReadingSometimes it’s obvious you’re reading something because it contains too much information that you couldn’t possibly know or remember. As an example, here is something that if read as written will definitely sound as if it is being read:“On Thursday July 7th 2005, three bomb explosions hit London Underground trains…”The reason it sounds as if it’s being read is because few people would remember what day of the week it was, so clearly the information is in front of you. If you want to come across powerfully, you have to engage in a little play-acting and say something like this:“July the 7th 2005 … I remember it was a Thursday …” There’s only one occasion when you should sound as if you’re clearly reading something; and that’s when you are quoting someone, in which case you should say exactly that: ‘…and I quote…’Ironically, reading something flawlessly doesn’t sound impressive when you’re trying to make out you’re adlibbing. It sounds cold and matter-of-fact. If you throw in the occasional hesitation, gentle emphasis and change the pace of your presentation, it’ll sound like you’re thinking about it, as if it’s something honestly important to you. This will have more intellectual and emotional impact, which is what you want, if you want your listener to think you’re smart.

2022.05.18 – 0503 – 20/21 - Suspensions and Stumbles 20 - Suspensions and Stumbles Consider leaving in any genuine slips and trips - so OK, your recording may not be not perfect but it will be more naturalistic.Again, you can’t do this in a news script or voice-over session, but you may be able to in a podcast.21- Focus on The Message – Not Your Voice Or Breath All this will give the impression that these words, in this order are being thought and said for the very first time, right now.

2022.05.17 – 0502 – 19 - Unlock the Full Stops19 - Unlock the Full StopsFree the periods and commas to recreate a natural verbal fluidity. Don't pause where the full stop/period is. Instead, ignore them – and break the flow of the words where it feels more natural to. And that’s not necessarily at the end of a grammatical chunk.And we saw before, sentences are an artificial way to marshal the written word. Conversationally we don’t use them. So you need to break away from the normal structure of sentences when wanting to read ‘naturally’, to give the impression that the words are just occurring to you, that you are delivering spontaneous thoughts. That you are thinking in the moment, not ‘reading’ a pre-prepared script.To help in this artifice, think of how you sound when talking with friends and replicate that style. Either re-mark your script, or adlib it live, so that punctuation is moved or even removed. ·Don’t stop at the full stop – OK you can’t always do this but sometimes you can. After all you don’t want to pause at every single one as that’s not how we speak naturally. You need to find a rhythm and a flow in the story or the script, where a desire for understanding trumps punctuation. ·Merge sentences together.Ask yourself: will the punctuation help you or the listener understand the information – or is it or getting in the way of a connected delivery?