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Phyllis K. Day, Voice Coaching, Voice Overs, Voice, Voice Acting, Visual Coaching, Finding the X

Transcript of Focusing on Physical Issues to Improve Vocal Performance

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Julie-Ann Dean: Welcome to Voiceover Experts brought to you by Voices.com, the number one voiceover marketplace. Voiceover Experts brings you tips, pearls of wisdom and techniques from top instructors, authors and performers in the field of voiceover. Join us each week to discover tricks of the trade that will help you to develop your craft and prosper as a career voiceover talent. It's never been easier to learn, perform, and succeed from the privacy of your own home and your own pace. This is truly an education you won't find anywhere else.

This week, Voices.com is pleased to present Phyllis K. Day.

Phyllis K. Day: Hi I'm Phyllis K. Day. In my first two podcast for Voices.com I told you how I have an unusual way of hearing sound. I get a picture that changes as you move your head, your neck and so on. And I can usually tell what you're doing in there and how to better use your voice. I call it finding your X when you have some sort of voiceover issue. It's not voice acting. It's about using your voice in it's most natural state without tension, without pushing too hard and other physical things voice actors do that alter their voice.

There still are a lot of voiceover talents that are struggling to get past that announcer sound from back in the day. And then in the first two podcasts, you heard how different they sounded when they made the transition from the old style to their authentic voice. I didn't teach them voice acting, I taught them how to be more aware of what they are doing when they speak. Especially when they get in front of the microphone and suddenly the voice changes. Today though, we're going to highlight the work of two newbies to the voiceover world. (Burgy) and Ed.

(Burgy) and Ed both have other careers and both are over 35. And both have long wanted to be a voice actor. They came to me with pretty much no experience and neither had any emotional blocks or perceptions that might have colored their sound so I could just keep the focus on their physical issues. They both needed and still need voice acting and in fact, they have taken some workshops and attended seminars in addition to working with me.

Ed had just had extensive dental work when we started and he wasn't yet quite comfortable with the way the air went in and out of his mouth. It almost sounded like there was a "shooshing" or almost a whistling sound, and it just felt weird to talk and he wasn't sure about how he sounded either.

(Burgy) on the other hand, had major sinus and tonsil issues and that affected how she sounded as well. We'll have a look at (Burgy) first.

(Burgy) like most newbies, read most of her copy. And I do mean read it as opposed to be it or reach past the page into your ears. She also had a strong tendency to push her words out of her nose and sinuses, plus she had this chronic tonsillitis. At that time, surgery to remove the tonsils was not on the agenda. So we had to deal with what was going on, right then. I racked my brain to try and think of how I could get (Burgy) to talk more toward the back of her throat, open it up some and lessen the stuffing nasal sound.

As some of you know, French is a language that is spoken in the back of the throat for the most part, while English, is in the front of the face. Fortunately, (Burgy) spoke a bit of French. So I made her do her homework in French. We had a few particularly back of the throat French phrases that she'd use just before recording in English to remember to push her sound back and this worked for her. Also, she was going to have finally those troublesome tonsils taken out.

Meanwhile, she also attended a boot camp with Susan Berkley, which gave her a good overview of the business of voiceover, of marketing, experienced in a world-class recording environment and some voice acting. The other issue (Burgy) had was that, she wasn't really talking to her listener. I said, "(Burgy), you're a critical care nurse. When some big goofus patient is giving you a hard time, I bet you have to be quite the actress to get him to behave. I want some of that attitude."

(Burgy) has such a nice smiley voice, but I needed her to get some edge and to really look the listener in the eyes that were to open her mouth and speak. Let it flow out of her mouth and beyond and do give me some, girl. During her times spent at boot camp, Susan Berkley also referred to (Burgy's) name to get more attitude in her voice. I'd remind, "(Burgy), remember what you do when you're in that critical care unit. How you summon up your attitude, how you put on that nurse act and save lives. You focus on your message and making sure the patient hears you. Keep thinking about that."

And so she did. Here is her before and after. But first, keep in mind, (Burgy) hadn't had the advantage that those of us in radio for decades had when it comes to being able to quickly harness our throats. She was working from scratch. What you'll hear first is an average Jane talking, trying to be a voiceover artist. And then in her after clip, you'll hear her voice take on a clearer, more defined and personal sound as she begins to find her boot straps and paw. Because she's so new at using her voice this way, you won't hear as big a change as we did for the voiceover actors in the previous podcasts.

Keep in mind though when you listen to the after that she was still recovering from the tonsillectomy and there was swelling at the back of her throat and on the back of her tongue, but she was ready to go back to work. So here we have it.

(Burgy): Someone to clean my house, and expert to help me manage my money. I want to make hay while the sun shines.

She is fun, fresh, exhilarating! She is vivacious!

Phyllis K. Day: Listening to her before and after. You can hear how she's more open, even with the post-surgical swelling affecting her throat. She's found her attitude and yet she's still friendly and appealing.

Next is Ed. Ed had had some exposure to radio about 20 years ago, but a lot has happened since then. Plus he had some real, reading issues not to mention just being comfortable with his mouth. Ed was in such a rut. He had a nice, friendly voice like (Burgy's), but he read everything and read everything with the same style. It was so calm, slow and unemotional. I wanted him to break out, to shout, to get excited. His voice was just aching delayed all down to be emotional to get in your face, I could see it. But getting Ed to realize this was very hard to do.

Fortunately, Bob Bergen was coming to Ed's part of the world. So Ed decided to register for one of Bob Bergen's workshops. And if you know anything about those workshops, Mr. Bergen does not let anyone phone it in. Bergen apparently also knew that Ed could do more, a lot more. And in a high energy session, Bergen coached Ed in the voicing the part of a very convincing character, a fish mobster. And Ed finally realized that he could indeed do just what I've been asking him to do. Get out of the box and bring it. And now I could ask Ed to use his fish mobster voice on homework just to practice, you know, this is what I want from you that you don't have to use the fish voice, but I want that kind of energy and a straight human voice spot.

Finally, I started to see it. It was very exciting for Ed and for me. So here is his before and after and again like (Burgy's), you're not going to here a huge change, he's new to the business and he's still working on getting everything cleared up and it's just as there's so much to learn. Ed, he's doing great. Again, here's his before and after.

Ed: So you picked up some vacation time. A week or two to yourself and maybe your loved one. You think, let's go somewhere. I want to float on some water. Find out who those offenders are and shut him down for good. Do you realize how much money you could be saving every month?

The biggest change is that Ed goes from being a guy reading copy to getting in your face and making you think about what he's saying. The comforting, yet intelligent and caring sound in his voice is now made more obvious. And like (Burgy), Ed becomes a real person talking to you.

Are you a newbie? That if your e-mails wondering if I work with newbies and yes, I do. Feel free to contact me at voicecoach@phyllisk.com. I'm always glad to do a free evaluation of where you are now and where you can go from here.

Thank you for your time today. I'm Phyllis K. Day.

Julie-Ann Dean: Thank you for joining us. To learn more about the special guest featured in this Voices.com podcast, visit the Voiceover Experts show notes at Podcasts.Voices.com/VoiceoverExperts. Remember to stay subscribed.

If you're a first time listener, you can subscribe for free to this podcast in the Apple iTunes Podcast Directory or by visiting Podcasts.Voices.com. To start your voiceover career online, go to Voices.com and register for a voice talent membership today.

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Links from today's show:

Phyllis K. Day
Phyllis K. Day on Voices.com

Your Instructor this week:

Voice Over Expert Phyllis K. Day

Phyllis is a freelance technical writer and voice professional with over thirty years experience. A Broadcast Journalism graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, Phyllis became an anchor a few months later on the North Carolina News Network. She has also anchored on Business Radio Network and American Forum Radio Network in Colorado. Her voice has been heard nation-wide and she was also the narrator for a show heard daily on NPR and Armed Forces Radio in the 1990s. Phyllis was part of a mentoring program for several years at North Carolina State University for the students in NC State's radio program. She currently runs personalized coaching workshops, in addition to narrations for e-learning and business presentations.

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