Well…this came as a bit of a shock!
After a lifetime of hearing things like “Have you ever been on the radio?”, or “Do you work in broadcasting?”, I’ve learned a bit of a startling thing today.
Apparently, my deep, authoritative, and commanding ‘broadcast’ voice is NOT the ‘in’ thing these days. I grew up listening to those booming voices, and often mimicked and replicated them. It’s my bread and butter! My go-to style! From what I am now learning, however, there has been a shift in the voice trend, especially in the commercial arena, which is really something I was gravitating toward. It sees that the consumer mindset these days has shifted: people are less recpetive to being told what to buy, what to wear, where to shop, etc., and are more receptive to a voice that is more conversational, relatable, and guy/girl next door. They want to feel like a friend is telling them about the newest, latest, greatest thing, and that they can make their own decision from there. TELLING them what to do, however, with a commanding voice is no longer the thing to do.
Well, damn. I mean, does this change things for me? Probably not. I guess I am maybe 10 years past the prime of when my voice would have been the in-demand thing. Not to worry, though. From what I see, there are a ton of genres of VO work that still call for my voice style, but if I want to continue to push for work in the commercial world, I may need to train that natural ‘broadcaster’ out of my voice, and become more styled in the ways of ‘conversational’, and ‘relatable’. It shouldn’t be too hard. I just need to come across in the same manner as I speak to my friends, but it is a habit I’ll need to work on, and it may take some effort. There is something about stepping in front of a mic that just sort of naturally brings out the ‘performer’ in you, and then that voice just wants to come out. If I don’t fight that and control it, I’ll always feel like belting it out like this guy below, Pavarotti, which won’t work out very well in the end!
Not much else to share now, but I’m sure I’ll be back soon enough with the latest happenings on my VO journey!
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