What Transferrable Skills are Required for Voice Overs?

[@fiberjazz]

Thanks, Gary! Imagining that we are speaking to just one individual when recording our voice overs can be fun. I often have stuffed animals in my studio, and will sometimes look one of them straight in the eye and speak to it as if the animal is that single customer that I am trying to influence with my commercial recording. And if there is no stuffed animal present, I can pick up my stapler, give it a name, and talk to it. Another fun thing that I do with vocal warm-ups is to sing to my plants when giving them a bit of water - just like Daisy Gamble in "On a Clear Day." If I can use my voice to coax my plants to grow strong and healthy, then I can surely use my voice to coax you to go buy a particular brand of toothpaste or tune into an upcoming television broadcast. 😀

[@GaryTerzza]

Talking to plants, staplers and stuffed animals sounds a great voice over technique!

[@akathesk]

I'm glad I found this channel, I remember hearing you on tv and you always seemed to have a professional easy listening kind of tone to you. I even worked at the BBC briefly at one point and witnessed voice-over recording firsthand for those "coming up next" segments. For anyone curious, they're usually recorded while shows are running, so none of the voiceovers are live as a general rule unless it ABSOLUTELY has to be. I don't consider myself to be a voiceover person, but as time goes on more and more people seem to say they like my voice, which is ironic considering I'm the sort of person who's used to not talking much for personal reasons... Also here's an idea for some content for you since the winter season is coming up and all: your recommendations for remedies for your voice when things like colds and flu hit.

[@GaryTerzza]

Thank you for your kind comments and helpful suggestion 🙏 When I was announcing at Channel 4, continuity was live apart from off peak (typically after midnight) when links would be pre-recorded. I am embarrassingly old enough to have even voiced trailers live at Central ITV back in the early ‘80s. VT or telecine would run in a segment of a programme and the announcer would jump in at the top and tail and trying not to crash the dialogue!

[@jeffpolage7989]

You are a great teacher Gary! Thank you for these videos. I'm sure you get this question a lot; what does your work schedule look like? I've been having a rough time. Probably due to the fact that I have a part time job. Also wondering if I should push the freelance jobs or just go straight to ACX or Google and do a few audio books.

[@GaryTerzza]

That’s very kind of you Jeff! Voice overs are feast or famine - sometimes the work floods in and the next it’a barren desert - it’s the same whether you are a newbie or an established pro. My advice is to go for it… you have nothing to lose.

[@bigapplevoiceover4830]

Become a lector at house if worship

[@GaryTerzza]

Good point. Other useful skills would include presentations at work, reading stories to our children/grandchildren and even recording voicemails on our phones.