VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio #625 – Knowing Your Audience
Voice Coaches Radio. Everything voiceover.
Here we are again. A brand new episode is upon us as we have reached yet another Friday here for Voice Coaches Radio. My name is Marissa and this episode dropping on March 8th which is It's National Proofreading Day. There's been plenty of times I've gotten a piece put in front of me and I'm looking at it like, really?
Like, uh, this is what you've sent me, huh? Yeah. Did anybody look it over at all? Were we not seeing the fact that there is not a bit of punctuation in here at all? Or uh, No? Okay. Let's, yeah, let's just, let's just roll with it. Why not? Uh, you know, the, the smaller I feel like the, the markets, the smaller the business or maybe the smaller the radio station.
It's like, you get some of the most interesting things sometimes. Um, I've got a gentleman who I've mentioned before. I'll be looking at things and I'm just like, Paul, the mall hasn't been called that in 15 years. I'm like, what? Don't worry, I'll rewrite this for you. You know, thank God he trusts me. But, uh, you know, a happy National Proofreading Day to you.
And, uh, since it is a Friday, you might as well go ahead and have a drink to make it easier to proofread just about anything that's put in front of you. Uh, But I hope this is also fighting you dealing with the weather that we've been dealing with lately. I mean, it's been so un New York like, and it makes me such a happy human to be able to feel like spring temperatures right now.
I think in the last couple weeks, we've had one day dip into like the 30 degree mark, and the rest have been kind of like mid 50s, and we've had more sunshine than usual, and maybe the groundhog was right. I don't know. Maybe that little bugger finally Uh, did the right thing for us and and actually had the conversation with mother nature be like, hey Could you just like move the thermostat up a little bit, please?
Um, so i'm totally okay with that Oh, but you know, I had uh something brought up to me in the last a few days that I thought was really worthy of talking about because I don't think we've ever really talked about this on the podcast before and if we have, it's been a really, really long time and I don't know if I was a part of that conversation.
It's been so long, but I want to shout out to my student, Troy, who is an African American male and you know, he was going through the classes with me and he just was like, you know, I understand what we're talking about and I'm just looking at it as My community of people do the same things apply and.
The simple answer is yes, I mean what we're coaching and and getting you to do in so many ways within the voice coaches program is just understanding how to bring yourself to the page, right, because that is such a struggle for so many people to. Take what you're given on a page and not lose yourself completely, you know, not be just a boring dull dud.
So many people we've talked about this, they'll get in front of your co workers and, you know, go to present something or in front of a class or whatever and it's, it's all about getting the words out, right? But nerves kind of take over and the lacking and confidence in it and those kind of things and how do you bring character to life?
back to a piece. Um, so that's really what we love to be able to do. And it's the basics applying to no matter what the piece is going to end up being. But when he asked me that question, I did think about it for a second. And it, it hit me, it dawned on me exactly what he was referring to. And I think, you know, when it comes to different ethnicities, when it comes to different race, when it comes to different demographics all around.
What you're going to see is the stuff, the, those, those bare bones of voiceover, they go for all of it. It's the delivery itself and it's the writing of whatever your script is that is catering to, to that demographic. So. As an example, you know, we'll just, because I am a woman, uh, we'll, we'll use women as the example for the moment.
But if you've got, like, say the demographic is, uh, you know, women, 18 to 34, uh, you know, you're going to have something that's written in a way that relates to the women. And then on top of it, you're Your performance of that piece is going to be in a style that grabs their ear and their attention. So, you know, if you've got women 18 to 34, you know, what do women like?
It might be a ad for makeup. It's a brand new mascara and they're using lingo that would be, you know, heard in social media platforms and hashtags. And, you know, they're doing things that are grabbing that, that skewed age demographic. And that gender, um, you know, for, for Troy. You know, being an African American male, you're gonna hear things that are written for the African American community.
It might be, you know, different verbiage than I would potentially choose to, to utilize as, you know, a, a white, uh, female. Um, but, potentially going to have pieces that are very passionately written. You're gonna have pieces that might be more hyped up depending on what the audience is. You know, they're trying to sell, or the point they're trying to get across.
You, you might hear words that are more, like, slang and, and street lingo, uh, just as you would hear, like, more TikTok y lingo, uh, with, with the previous piece I was referring to. Um, you know, so, again, it's coming back to the writing style, so it's geared towards the right audience. Um, you know, the way I described it to, to Troye in class.
is, is this, um, whenever I've heard a piece that is for, uh, Spanish spoken, you know, it's, it's a Latino audience. Whenever I hear stuff for that, uh, you know, demographic, and it's spoken in that language, you hear things that are More upbeat. You hear things that are a little bit more, maybe quickly spoken.
Um, you hear things that are more animated. Even if it's a more serious piece. Like, to me That's taking away some of the elements that, that, you know, we'll go ahead and teach based on, you know, the tone of pieces. But that's, that's the ethnicity. That's the demographic there that drives. Uh, the, the performance, you know, you want to be relatable and to be relatable to that community.
That is the kind of stuff that's done. And, uh, that is one thing that I've always really picked up on because, you know, we want people to typically be a little bit, you know, like, Average pace, maybe a little bit slower, so things are easy to grab onto, but I've always noticed that Spanish spoken things tend to be, because that's how that group of people tend to be, is a little bit more on the quick side.
You know, they can grasp that. You know, that's what their community can go ahead and hold onto. But that's what's making it relatable in performance. to that specific audience and that group of people. So, you know, while, while you're going and you're, you're doing these projects, that is always one thing that you want to keep in mind.
It's like, well, who is your audience? You know, you always want to know that anyway. While, while in general, it's like you always want to be yourself. Self and you want to like narrow it down to just one human so it can be that more natural conversational speak You have to have that right human in mind and that is why you know that goes right back to the basics You know, you want to know who that audience is Narrow it down and speak and deliver properly.
Um, so Do you change any of these things in, in the way of delivery? No, we're always going to be ourselves at the end of the day. We want to be conversational and we want to use those basics, but we always have to keep the audience in mind. Um, you know, and sometimes it is just the writing of it all that, That creates that distinction, but your performance is key in, in that delivery.
So, uh, big thank you to Troy for having that, uh, you know, brought to my attention. Cause I do think that is something that's talked about, but not specifics. Um, so I'm glad that we could hit on that today. So if you've got anything that you want us to discuss, Marissa at voice coaches. com, Marissa at voice coaches.
com. A brand new episode is hitting you next Friday at five Eastern right here with voice coaches radio. Be safe, everybody.
Visit voicecoaches. com for more voiceover news and information.
Here we are again. A brand new episode is upon us as we have reached yet another Friday here for Voice Coaches Radio. My name is Marissa and this episode dropping on March 8th which is It's National Proofreading Day. There's been plenty of times I've gotten a piece put in front of me and I'm looking at it like, really?
Like, uh, this is what you've sent me, huh? Yeah. Did anybody look it over at all? Were we not seeing the fact that there is not a bit of punctuation in here at all? Or uh, No? Okay. Let's, yeah, let's just, let's just roll with it. Why not? Uh, you know, the, the smaller I feel like the, the markets, the smaller the business or maybe the smaller the radio station.
It's like, you get some of the most interesting things sometimes. Um, I've got a gentleman who I've mentioned before. I'll be looking at things and I'm just like, Paul, the mall hasn't been called that in 15 years. I'm like, what? Don't worry, I'll rewrite this for you. You know, thank God he trusts me. But, uh, you know, a happy National Proofreading Day to you.
And, uh, since it is a Friday, you might as well go ahead and have a drink to make it easier to proofread just about anything that's put in front of you. Uh, But I hope this is also fighting you dealing with the weather that we've been dealing with lately. I mean, it's been so un New York like, and it makes me such a happy human to be able to feel like spring temperatures right now.
I think in the last couple weeks, we've had one day dip into like the 30 degree mark, and the rest have been kind of like mid 50s, and we've had more sunshine than usual, and maybe the groundhog was right. I don't know. Maybe that little bugger finally Uh, did the right thing for us and and actually had the conversation with mother nature be like, hey Could you just like move the thermostat up a little bit, please?
Um, so i'm totally okay with that Oh, but you know, I had uh something brought up to me in the last a few days that I thought was really worthy of talking about because I don't think we've ever really talked about this on the podcast before and if we have, it's been a really, really long time and I don't know if I was a part of that conversation.
It's been so long, but I want to shout out to my student, Troy, who is an African American male and you know, he was going through the classes with me and he just was like, you know, I understand what we're talking about and I'm just looking at it as My community of people do the same things apply and.
The simple answer is yes, I mean what we're coaching and and getting you to do in so many ways within the voice coaches program is just understanding how to bring yourself to the page, right, because that is such a struggle for so many people to. Take what you're given on a page and not lose yourself completely, you know, not be just a boring dull dud.
So many people we've talked about this, they'll get in front of your co workers and, you know, go to present something or in front of a class or whatever and it's, it's all about getting the words out, right? But nerves kind of take over and the lacking and confidence in it and those kind of things and how do you bring character to life?
back to a piece. Um, so that's really what we love to be able to do. And it's the basics applying to no matter what the piece is going to end up being. But when he asked me that question, I did think about it for a second. And it, it hit me, it dawned on me exactly what he was referring to. And I think, you know, when it comes to different ethnicities, when it comes to different race, when it comes to different demographics all around.
What you're going to see is the stuff, the, those, those bare bones of voiceover, they go for all of it. It's the delivery itself and it's the writing of whatever your script is that is catering to, to that demographic. So. As an example, you know, we'll just, because I am a woman, uh, we'll, we'll use women as the example for the moment.
But if you've got, like, say the demographic is, uh, you know, women, 18 to 34, uh, you know, you're going to have something that's written in a way that relates to the women. And then on top of it, you're Your performance of that piece is going to be in a style that grabs their ear and their attention. So, you know, if you've got women 18 to 34, you know, what do women like?
It might be a ad for makeup. It's a brand new mascara and they're using lingo that would be, you know, heard in social media platforms and hashtags. And, you know, they're doing things that are grabbing that, that skewed age demographic. And that gender, um, you know, for, for Troy. You know, being an African American male, you're gonna hear things that are written for the African American community.
It might be, you know, different verbiage than I would potentially choose to, to utilize as, you know, a, a white, uh, female. Um, but, potentially going to have pieces that are very passionately written. You're gonna have pieces that might be more hyped up depending on what the audience is. You know, they're trying to sell, or the point they're trying to get across.
You, you might hear words that are more, like, slang and, and street lingo, uh, just as you would hear, like, more TikTok y lingo, uh, with, with the previous piece I was referring to. Um, you know, so, again, it's coming back to the writing style, so it's geared towards the right audience. Um, you know, the way I described it to, to Troye in class.
is, is this, um, whenever I've heard a piece that is for, uh, Spanish spoken, you know, it's, it's a Latino audience. Whenever I hear stuff for that, uh, you know, demographic, and it's spoken in that language, you hear things that are More upbeat. You hear things that are a little bit more, maybe quickly spoken.
Um, you hear things that are more animated. Even if it's a more serious piece. Like, to me That's taking away some of the elements that, that, you know, we'll go ahead and teach based on, you know, the tone of pieces. But that's, that's the ethnicity. That's the demographic there that drives. Uh, the, the performance, you know, you want to be relatable and to be relatable to that community.
That is the kind of stuff that's done. And, uh, that is one thing that I've always really picked up on because, you know, we want people to typically be a little bit, you know, like, Average pace, maybe a little bit slower, so things are easy to grab onto, but I've always noticed that Spanish spoken things tend to be, because that's how that group of people tend to be, is a little bit more on the quick side.
You know, they can grasp that. You know, that's what their community can go ahead and hold onto. But that's what's making it relatable in performance. to that specific audience and that group of people. So, you know, while, while you're going and you're, you're doing these projects, that is always one thing that you want to keep in mind.
It's like, well, who is your audience? You know, you always want to know that anyway. While, while in general, it's like you always want to be yourself. Self and you want to like narrow it down to just one human so it can be that more natural conversational speak You have to have that right human in mind and that is why you know that goes right back to the basics You know, you want to know who that audience is Narrow it down and speak and deliver properly.
Um, so Do you change any of these things in, in the way of delivery? No, we're always going to be ourselves at the end of the day. We want to be conversational and we want to use those basics, but we always have to keep the audience in mind. Um, you know, and sometimes it is just the writing of it all that, That creates that distinction, but your performance is key in, in that delivery.
So, uh, big thank you to Troy for having that, uh, you know, brought to my attention. Cause I do think that is something that's talked about, but not specifics. Um, so I'm glad that we could hit on that today. So if you've got anything that you want us to discuss, Marissa at voice coaches. com, Marissa at voice coaches.
com. A brand new episode is hitting you next Friday at five Eastern right here with voice coaches radio. Be safe, everybody.
Visit voicecoaches. com for more voiceover news and information.
This week on Voice Coaches Radio, Marissa had a question come from Troy who, as an African American male was curious, “do the basics still apply, regardless of race and ethnicity?”
