VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio #640 – Summer Reading Lists
Voice coaches, radio, everything voiceover. Oh, hey there. Welcome to a brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio. And welcome officially to Summer. I I finally, it took its sweet time to get here, didn't it? And, uh, you know, I, I guess I should be celebrating that, but along with that, it is, it's my birthday weekend.
I hit a big age last year, and I, I just don't even like thinking about it now. But, uh, I wanna celebrate the age I look and not the age I actually am until. Until I go to the local spot where they, um, you know, they do the free wings for your birthday because I'll gladly take all those, it's a lot of wings these, these days.
But, um, anyway, I I hope that you're, you're doing good. Maybe you've got some good plans for the summer. I feel like summer is just a time where a lot more people, they, they like create downtime for themselves or they're utilizing vacation time or whatever. And, and this is also when, you know, again, a lot of people are traveling.
You know, a lot of people are gonna be by the pool or by the beach, or they're vacationing or they just, again, it's just extra, some like me time. And what happens is the summer reading lists, uh, but. These days because of the way, you know, people are consuming books, it's more so some are listening with audio books and that may be how your past has been.
You know, it's like, ah, I got like this list of books that I wanna go and digest and to, you know, good easy way to make it happen is just like flipping on the audio book and boom, there we go. And while you're doing that. It's like, wait, I can do that. Or sometimes what happens is like, oh God, this is, I could do better than this.
You know? And I know this happens all the time. Uh, my fiance, she's been diving into a whole bunch of audio books. Uh, you know, she does it at work. She, she decorates cakes and stuff. She'll, she'll just pop her, you know, uh, earbuds in and then just take a listen. And she listens to a lot of, like, mysteries and thrillers and stuff.
And, uh, because of that. She'll get like sucked into one and now she's listening to it at home, which means I'm listening to it and I just, I listen to some of the things that she says because I just think it's interesting as somebody who's on the outside, like clearly she knows what I do, uh, but it's just like nice to hear some of the things that she notices or dislikes or does enjoy.
So like. At one point she noticed like this almost like casting age issue and you know, in voiceover, what do we say it is? Like age doesn't really matter. It's just like the quality of your voice that allows, you know, the listener to kind of use their imagination. But I. I agreed with her. 'cause when I listened with her, I'm like, yeah, you're right.
This woman does sound older, but the character in the book is supposed to be much younger. And then when we looked her up and saw her face, I'm like, she sounds older than she looks like. It's crazy. Like I, I don't know, but like, you know, sometimes it's like, I don't know, they're chosen for whatever reason.
But it was like making her have a hard time kind of focusing on the book. Uh, but another thing was sometimes it's the accents. Uh, uh, like she was having a hard time understanding the British accent at one point in this one book, so that can be a little bit of a challenge. But the one thing that she was loving in the most recent one, she's like.
Mar listen to the crisp words. They're just like little magic to my ears. And, uh, they were just so crisp. Uh, and, uh, you know, hey, we all have our different styles and, and, you know, uh, ways of sounding, but that's the beautiful part of this industry is like we all come with something unique. That's to us.
Um, you know, and that's, that's our voices, uh, in the way that we, we deliver and the way that we are and the, just who we are and how we we speak. Um, you know, so, you know when you're over there going. I can do that. It's like, yeah, sure you can, but you've got some things that you need now to work on. So maybe your like downtime this summer isn't exactly summer reading, but it's, it's gonna be summer listening and it's gonna be for educational purposes for you to understand how you can be growing your skill and.
You'll actually then be reading as well. So your summer reading is, is a little mixture of both. Um, so this is what I wanna suggest, like if this is something that, like maybe audio books is something you've always wanted to do, but you've been like, oh God, it just seems like a such. Like a big undertaking, uh, because it's like sitting down and doing the book.
You're not gonna do it all at once, most likely, but you know, you might be doing a giant chunk of it at once. Um, so how can I build that stamina? How could I build the skill to allow that to happen? Well, it's pretty simple. You gotta start doing it. Uh, so there are two ways that you should be going about doing this.
I think, uh, you know, one. You do wanna go ahead and also digest a bunch of audio books because I just think it's important for you to understand how other people are doing them and, and kind of picking them apart as well. Just like my fiance was, it's like, what do you like about it? What do you dislike?
You know, it's gonna give you ideas of things that you wanna try to be able to accomplish, and also things that you're gonna wanna maybe stay away from so you can engage your listener, but you also. Need to pick up a book itself and start doing it as well. You know, I always want to say like, when you start, start simple, start basic, and it could just be picking up a book of choice and just read it out loud.
It's not gonna be easy at first. I'm just gonna let you know that 'cause I realize you're over here going. I've been reading for years. Yeah. Cool. Not like this though. Uh, you know, and a lot of us haven't really been reading out loud. We've been reading, but not out loud. So you're gonna be kind of diving into this different world, even though you think it's not all that different.
Um, so you have to build some I to mouth coordination is what I'm really getting at. It's gonna not be the smoothest ride at first, but just like be patient with yourself because that will get easier the more you do it from there. You're gonna start taking little steps forward, and what I mean is start implementing little things that help you start to bring that book to life.
What are those things going to be? Well, I mean, maybe it's just bringing a little bit more you to it. How can you do that? Well, I mean, who are you as a person? Maybe you're a little sarcastic. Maybe it's, uh, you know, the emphasis on some of those words that are gonna help bring that to life. Maybe it's just, you know, being really energetic and a little bit more animated.
If you're building suspense, maybe it's something that's a little bit more mysterious. Maybe you need to just like slow down. You know, a lot of us need to slow down. That is. Something that you're gonna notice now, two ways of practicing. It's not just like, you know, doing this, these things that I'm suggesting right now, but you might wanna choose a partner.
You know, somebody, you can read that book too. So that way as you are doing this. Maybe it's like you take a breather and you just ask for some feedback. You know, what, what was I doing that you enjoyed? What could I change? Um, that would allow you to be able to, you know, follow the story a little bit better?
Or what, what do you think I could do that could bring it to life a little bit more? You know, that feedback is gonna be very, very important, you know, because it's like now you have an audience. And it's not just you, uh, you know, trying to listen to yourself and, and pick yourself apart, but then I do want you to do that too.
You know, it's like if you're just sitting there and you're doing it by yourself, even if it's just on your smartphone, you can put that smartphone right in front of you. Pull up a voice memo app where you can all get those for free. And click record and, and go ahead, do that book. Don't put pressure on yourself though, you know, like, go ahead.
Just do it as you would do it. And, and then take a listen back when you've got that extra second to be able to listen to it as a listener and be like, how do I feel about my performance? You know, am I going too fast? Am I going too slow? Can I understand and follow the story? Am I, am I losing myself as in like.
I'm not, I'm not engaged enough in the story because of how it's performed. You know, what can I change there to allow me to want to, you know, listen and understand what's going on, you know? So it's, there's a lot of things that you can be doing, um, you know, to go ahead and start practicing, but let this summer.
Let this summer be a good start. Maybe this is, you know, you've been doing straightforward information for a while and you've been doing narrative work, but like, this is narrative, but it's different narrative, right? Like, takes a little extra. It's not just, um, you know, delivering, uh, you know, instructional information.
It's, it's telling a story and painting a picture and really bringing this imagination to life. Um, so. This is a great start to go ahead and, you know, really pick something up new this summer and start, you know, potentially being what somebody else is going to be putting on their summer reading slash listening list.
So when they're on the beach and like just kind of enjoying their downtime and some, some, you know, stories, it could be your voice. That they're listening to. How cool would that be? So, you know, if you've got some questions about what I've been talking about here, you can always reach out to me, [email protected], [email protected].
We've got a brand new episode coming at you next week. Already gonna be to the end of June. It's crazy. Uh, but, uh, enjoy your weekend and, uh, I'll, I'll cheers this weekend as I'm celebrating this birthday. I know. Stay safe.
Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.
I hit a big age last year, and I, I just don't even like thinking about it now. But, uh, I wanna celebrate the age I look and not the age I actually am until. Until I go to the local spot where they, um, you know, they do the free wings for your birthday because I'll gladly take all those, it's a lot of wings these, these days.
But, um, anyway, I I hope that you're, you're doing good. Maybe you've got some good plans for the summer. I feel like summer is just a time where a lot more people, they, they like create downtime for themselves or they're utilizing vacation time or whatever. And, and this is also when, you know, again, a lot of people are traveling.
You know, a lot of people are gonna be by the pool or by the beach, or they're vacationing or they just, again, it's just extra, some like me time. And what happens is the summer reading lists, uh, but. These days because of the way, you know, people are consuming books, it's more so some are listening with audio books and that may be how your past has been.
You know, it's like, ah, I got like this list of books that I wanna go and digest and to, you know, good easy way to make it happen is just like flipping on the audio book and boom, there we go. And while you're doing that. It's like, wait, I can do that. Or sometimes what happens is like, oh God, this is, I could do better than this.
You know? And I know this happens all the time. Uh, my fiance, she's been diving into a whole bunch of audio books. Uh, you know, she does it at work. She, she decorates cakes and stuff. She'll, she'll just pop her, you know, uh, earbuds in and then just take a listen. And she listens to a lot of, like, mysteries and thrillers and stuff.
And, uh, because of that. She'll get like sucked into one and now she's listening to it at home, which means I'm listening to it and I just, I listen to some of the things that she says because I just think it's interesting as somebody who's on the outside, like clearly she knows what I do, uh, but it's just like nice to hear some of the things that she notices or dislikes or does enjoy.
So like. At one point she noticed like this almost like casting age issue and you know, in voiceover, what do we say it is? Like age doesn't really matter. It's just like the quality of your voice that allows, you know, the listener to kind of use their imagination. But I. I agreed with her. 'cause when I listened with her, I'm like, yeah, you're right.
This woman does sound older, but the character in the book is supposed to be much younger. And then when we looked her up and saw her face, I'm like, she sounds older than she looks like. It's crazy. Like I, I don't know, but like, you know, sometimes it's like, I don't know, they're chosen for whatever reason.
But it was like making her have a hard time kind of focusing on the book. Uh, but another thing was sometimes it's the accents. Uh, uh, like she was having a hard time understanding the British accent at one point in this one book, so that can be a little bit of a challenge. But the one thing that she was loving in the most recent one, she's like.
Mar listen to the crisp words. They're just like little magic to my ears. And, uh, they were just so crisp. Uh, and, uh, you know, hey, we all have our different styles and, and, you know, uh, ways of sounding, but that's the beautiful part of this industry is like we all come with something unique. That's to us.
Um, you know, and that's, that's our voices, uh, in the way that we, we deliver and the way that we are and the, just who we are and how we we speak. Um, you know, so, you know when you're over there going. I can do that. It's like, yeah, sure you can, but you've got some things that you need now to work on. So maybe your like downtime this summer isn't exactly summer reading, but it's, it's gonna be summer listening and it's gonna be for educational purposes for you to understand how you can be growing your skill and.
You'll actually then be reading as well. So your summer reading is, is a little mixture of both. Um, so this is what I wanna suggest, like if this is something that, like maybe audio books is something you've always wanted to do, but you've been like, oh God, it just seems like a such. Like a big undertaking, uh, because it's like sitting down and doing the book.
You're not gonna do it all at once, most likely, but you know, you might be doing a giant chunk of it at once. Um, so how can I build that stamina? How could I build the skill to allow that to happen? Well, it's pretty simple. You gotta start doing it. Uh, so there are two ways that you should be going about doing this.
I think, uh, you know, one. You do wanna go ahead and also digest a bunch of audio books because I just think it's important for you to understand how other people are doing them and, and kind of picking them apart as well. Just like my fiance was, it's like, what do you like about it? What do you dislike?
You know, it's gonna give you ideas of things that you wanna try to be able to accomplish, and also things that you're gonna wanna maybe stay away from so you can engage your listener, but you also. Need to pick up a book itself and start doing it as well. You know, I always want to say like, when you start, start simple, start basic, and it could just be picking up a book of choice and just read it out loud.
It's not gonna be easy at first. I'm just gonna let you know that 'cause I realize you're over here going. I've been reading for years. Yeah. Cool. Not like this though. Uh, you know, and a lot of us haven't really been reading out loud. We've been reading, but not out loud. So you're gonna be kind of diving into this different world, even though you think it's not all that different.
Um, so you have to build some I to mouth coordination is what I'm really getting at. It's gonna not be the smoothest ride at first, but just like be patient with yourself because that will get easier the more you do it from there. You're gonna start taking little steps forward, and what I mean is start implementing little things that help you start to bring that book to life.
What are those things going to be? Well, I mean, maybe it's just bringing a little bit more you to it. How can you do that? Well, I mean, who are you as a person? Maybe you're a little sarcastic. Maybe it's, uh, you know, the emphasis on some of those words that are gonna help bring that to life. Maybe it's just, you know, being really energetic and a little bit more animated.
If you're building suspense, maybe it's something that's a little bit more mysterious. Maybe you need to just like slow down. You know, a lot of us need to slow down. That is. Something that you're gonna notice now, two ways of practicing. It's not just like, you know, doing this, these things that I'm suggesting right now, but you might wanna choose a partner.
You know, somebody, you can read that book too. So that way as you are doing this. Maybe it's like you take a breather and you just ask for some feedback. You know, what, what was I doing that you enjoyed? What could I change? Um, that would allow you to be able to, you know, follow the story a little bit better?
Or what, what do you think I could do that could bring it to life a little bit more? You know, that feedback is gonna be very, very important, you know, because it's like now you have an audience. And it's not just you, uh, you know, trying to listen to yourself and, and pick yourself apart, but then I do want you to do that too.
You know, it's like if you're just sitting there and you're doing it by yourself, even if it's just on your smartphone, you can put that smartphone right in front of you. Pull up a voice memo app where you can all get those for free. And click record and, and go ahead, do that book. Don't put pressure on yourself though, you know, like, go ahead.
Just do it as you would do it. And, and then take a listen back when you've got that extra second to be able to listen to it as a listener and be like, how do I feel about my performance? You know, am I going too fast? Am I going too slow? Can I understand and follow the story? Am I, am I losing myself as in like.
I'm not, I'm not engaged enough in the story because of how it's performed. You know, what can I change there to allow me to want to, you know, listen and understand what's going on, you know? So it's, there's a lot of things that you can be doing, um, you know, to go ahead and start practicing, but let this summer.
Let this summer be a good start. Maybe this is, you know, you've been doing straightforward information for a while and you've been doing narrative work, but like, this is narrative, but it's different narrative, right? Like, takes a little extra. It's not just, um, you know, delivering, uh, you know, instructional information.
It's, it's telling a story and painting a picture and really bringing this imagination to life. Um, so. This is a great start to go ahead and, you know, really pick something up new this summer and start, you know, potentially being what somebody else is going to be putting on their summer reading slash listening list.
So when they're on the beach and like just kind of enjoying their downtime and some, some, you know, stories, it could be your voice. That they're listening to. How cool would that be? So, you know, if you've got some questions about what I've been talking about here, you can always reach out to me, [email protected], [email protected].
We've got a brand new episode coming at you next week. Already gonna be to the end of June. It's crazy. Uh, but, uh, enjoy your weekend and, uh, I'll, I'll cheers this weekend as I'm celebrating this birthday. I know. Stay safe.
Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.
This week on Voice Coaches Radio, while some are prepping for their summer reading lists, yours may look a little different. Marissa jumps into the world of audiobooks and chats about how many get into VO with the want of audiobooks, but it’s a little more complicated than we give it credit for. So where should we start?
