How to Connect to Your VO Script
Voice over acting is so much more than reading the copy on a script. When a business is creating a promotion or considering a voice for their phone line, the #1 goal is to connect with their customers. There’s a famous saying, “people buy from people.” The reason voice acting is so powerful is because it takes a product or service and it humanizes it. A perfect example is in the rise of online reviews. Research shows that 91% of people regularly read online reviews, and 84% trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. And they make that decision quickly: 68% form an opinion after reading between one and six online reviews.
A voice actor helps businesses tap into that realm of “personal recommendation”. Depending on the emotion you can convey, a voice actor can be that excited friend, popular kid, truster mentor, peer, fellow parent - anything! But how can you make sure emotion and the copy connect? Let’s break down how you as a voice actor can attach emotion to your copy:
Who? Who is your character? Who is your character speaking to? Close your eyes and think about being the character, feel their feelings. Give them a back story! The more details you can give your character the better.
What? What is your character doing? Are they giving a speech in front of an audience? Are they running with a friend sharing a recent discovery? Or hiking up a mountain? Are they lounging by a pool or sipping tea with a friend? Give your character a place to be.
Where? Where is your character? Are they far away from their audience or whispering close by? This will impact where you place your face near the mic and at what angle. Also how you might play with your voice. Is your character far away? Extend your sentences a little, throwing your voice like you would if you were shouting down the stairs. Try it!
Why? Why is your character sharing this information with their person? What is their motivation? A lot of the time this is also built right into the copy. Many promotions will start with a hook, situation, or problem setting up for the product or service to be the solution. When reading the copy make sure you emphasize the product or service.
When? Is this in the morning? Your voice could be scratchy or groggy! You’ll want to consider when this might be taking place so you can add extra layers to your voice. Won’t that be a delightful difference to other commercials if you add in a little extra to your voice.
Wrapping it up
As a voice actor, one of the best ways to stand out to your clients is to really embrace your projects. Adding in layers of humanization is exactly what businesses are looking for to help connect them to their customers. What other tactics do you use to connect to your projects? Let me know in the comments below!