The comment deserves some context, for sure, and Wolfson’s remarks are designed for the female voice actors having an issue with relaxing the voice…letting go of the tension, and luxuriating into the emotive words present in the copy.  Remember last week, we addressed the same issue with the guys in HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE.

When you watch these videos, it’s so easy as the observer to think:  “I totally get what she’s saying…I could do that…lemmee up there!”  –or–  “Why can’t Xxxxx get that?…it’s so easy!”

Just remember, the subjects in these videos are ON THE STAGE with the awesome Nancy Wolfson, and standing in front of a roomful of peers all ostensibly better than you.  Most voice-actors would HATE that setting.  In this case, the subject is VO Talent Mo Holland, and she totally nails the copy in the final take.  Just watch:

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can also watch this video from the site: http://www.braintracksaudio.com/soundreal/10.html

OK, now back to the context from whence the Wolfson remark came:  “let your words glide”.  I’m no Vince Lombardi of voice coaches like Wolfson, but I AM a graduate of her World-Cup Series Olympic-Scale VO Obstacle Course, and I’m sure she’d say the answer to your questions about delivering ANY copy come from the words themselves.

TV or Radio copy?  That’s the first consideration.  Then:  are the words evocative?…telling?…descriptive?  In this case yes YES YES.  So use them to your advantage. (Holland made it happen in the final).

We’re in the last few weeks of this 13-part series, but the fun doesn’t have to end.  Wolfson is making available the entire 127-tip motherlode video for a price that is far below its worth in my estimation.  Check out the site:  HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE  for the details.

Next week: Support the End of Your Sentence.

CourVO

This is one of the longest of the 13 video tips in the series: HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE. What I like about this and all of the Wolfson mini-video lessons is her ability to improvise on-the-spot to get the read she wants out of the unsuspecting VO volunteer.

Watch her as she brings out the best read…even if it means getting “down” to basics.

Here’s the video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Honestly, you may not even have the space in your whisper room to do as Wolfson suggests for your audition, but to find that voice you need, it could be a useful technique.  You’ve probably heard the phrase:  “…if you keep doing the same thing, and getting the same result…then try something different…”  Using that admonition within reason, you’ll find that Wolfson constantly challenges you to be smart in your approach to acting for advertising, but to also think outside the box when other techniques are not bringing desired results.

You could watch all 13 of these video vignettes and come out a much wiser voice-actor…or you could purchase the whole kit ‘n’ kaboodle, and be the Flash Gordon of voice actors.  Your choice, but given the ridiculously inexpensive price-point for the 127 tips you get in Wolfson’s video, there are few things that meet the value you’re being offered here (well  maybe a giant box of Junior Mints…but that’s another blog).

Give a look at the site:  SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE for the complete offer.

Next week with Wolfson: Women: How to Relax Your Voice for Auditions.

CourVO

There are so many things fundamentally wrong with that approach to VO that it’s beyond the scope of this blog, but in Nancy Wolfson’s 8th tip in our mini-video series: HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE, you’ll find that some of the powerful voice techniques you brought to those radio spots might actually have a place in your voice portfolio.

In “Make Room for Volume in Radio”, Wolfson’s admonitions are short ‘n’ sweet.

Just watch:

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can also watch from this link: http://www.braintracksaudio.com/soundreal/8.html

Now…I’m not going to draw this out to be more than it is, but Wolfson has the sublime talent of making a profound observation sound obvious without making YOU feel stoopid.  In Wolfson’s approach to acting for advertising (totally different than acting for stage, screen, TV, or even HS musicals), you’d better get used to deciding in the first 3 seconds whether you’ve got a sheet of radio copy vs. TV copy in your hands.  Once you’re decided on that…THEN you can move on to the 126 analytical tools she’ll be providing you in HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE.

You could make the argument that today’s tip is pretty obvious, and then assume you aren’t getting much from the entire Wolfson video offering, but you’d be wrong Bosco.  Nancy Wolfson may not be the only VO coach in Rome, but in this arena, no one has trained the Gladiators better.  I can’t imagine a better value for your dollar other than engaging Wolfson for her personal training.  Get details on the whole video here:  HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE.

Next week: Men: How to Relax Your Voice for an Audition

CourVO

Today’s Nancy Wolfson mini video lesson about lying struck me almost as hard as the one where she asks you to cuss (in your mind) to reach a certain attitude.  [Being an on-air talent, I purged swear words from my daily life as protection from getting fired...and here is my trusted coach telling me to do exactly that!  Never mind... she was right!]

The thing about Wolfson’s approach to voice-coaching is that it always moves you out of a place of comfort (read: rut), and bids you discover something you didn’t realize you had in you, until somebody (Wolfson) forces you off the cliff.

But as usual, I’m getting ahead of myself.  You’ll see what I mean about that in today’s video about not judging the copy.

Watch:

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can also see the video on her website:  http://www.braintracksaudio.com/soundreal/6.html

Politics is a great example here, but it could be a food item, a hotel, or a car that you don’t like…reading a spot for something that has a negative connotation for you.

I like the politics example, though.  It comes up regularly in election cycles because the liberal/conservative passion brings out strong emotions and allegiances in us.  Some voice-actors simply find they cannot retain their integrity and do a spot for an opposing viewpoint.  The typical rejoinder is that the political client WILL find someone to pay good money to do the spot…it might as well be you.  Personal decision, I guess.  But if you find you have to lie at some point in life, ‘might as well be openly disingenuous about it AND get paid for it.

The lying lesson is but a smidge of the total wisdom you’ll find in the complete video offering called: HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE.  Wolfson’s shrewd analysis of acting specifically for advertising speaks for itself in this insanely-inexpensively-priced video of 127 valuable Coursework Tips from Nancy’s private curriculum.

The result is, you’re gonna want to hire Wolfson for the Olympic-scale Circuit-training Triathalon series of real-time lessons anyway, and THERE you’ll get the swearing lesson and the lesson on lying and oodles of other career-changing tips right from the source.  No subsitute!

So start with the video (HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE), and if you don’t believe me, call:  702-610-6288 and I’ll give ya the straight poop on Wolfson….I don’t get any kickbacks for it.

CourVO

Each segment (13 when we’re all done) is actually a worthwhile mini-lesson on its own, but begs the greater indulgence for the complete set of 127 tips in a video that — were you to engage in Nancy’s UFC SmackDown Full-Monty course — would cost many multiples more.  Don’t get me wrong, she’s worth every cent, but you could do some real audition damage with just this video.  More in a minute about which rainbow to look under to find this pot o’ gold.

First, watch today’s video on the topic of “Explaining”.  You may think you’ve heard this technique, and maybe you have, but not like Nancy tells it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

[You can also view this video here]

On-camera talent (esp. in TV news) have long been told to look into the cold black eye of the camera…through the words on a Tele-Promp-Ter….in a mostly empty echo-y studio, and talk as if you are talking to one person…preferably your best friend.  That’s easy (kidding)…and probably wrong.  Once again — the common theme running through ALL Nancy’s lessons — is to pause and engage the brain before shifting the vocal cords into first gear.  In that pause, there is much to consider.  Wolfson can pack an entire VO coaching course into that moment…or in this case… 127 tips to be found at the site:  HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE.

Remember this is not just acting.  It’s a specific subset Wolfson calls “Acting for Advertising”.  Stuff Shakespeare never came up with….she did.

Next week:  Learn to Lie

CourVO

…and once again, I find myself reaching into Rock ‘n’ Roll prehistory for a catchy title.  (Remember the Moody Blues?)  Uh…never mind.  The point this week in Nancy’s vid is CHOOSING THE MOOD.

Just so you know, there’s a graduate-level college course behind Wolfson’s approach to Acting for Advertising. I’m not kidding.  She could (did) write the definitive textbook for Voice-Acting 521, Transformational Approaches to Pithing and Dissecting Your Client’s Copy.  OK, I made up that last part, but when you engage Wolfson as your coach, you’ll come to appreciate the high level of erudition she’s brought to this field (erudition: impressive knowledge that is learned by studying).

There’s a big reason Wolfson chose the logo and the name she did for her company (did I mention she’s a branding expert, too?)  I’ll say more about engaging your brain before your voice in a second, but in the meantime, take a moment to watch this week’s video VO tip:

Click here to view the embedded video.

If for some reason, you need a URL to pass that video around, here it the site:  http://www.braintracksaudio.com/soundreal/4.html.

The lasting legacy Wolfson leaves with all her students is the admonition to pause with script in hand, mic ready and the record button blinking.  PAUSE.  Don’t just read it.  THINK ABOUT IT.  The few minutes you spend in diagnosing, analyzing, and picking-apart the psychology behind the words of the author/client/advertiser/copywriter will start winning you auditions.  It’s everything.  Well, almost. But we’ll get to the rest in future videos.

This is the fourth in Nancy’s 13-part series of snippets from the motherlode video (127 tips), which in my unabashed opinion is being offered for a steal.  See the offer for HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE.

Next week:  “Explain It To Me”

CourVO

Today’s blog features this week’s episode (#3) of a series of 13 Nancy Wolfson video tips for “How To Sound  Real, & Nail the Sale”

Yeah, THAT Nancy Wolfson:  uber voice acting coach and producer.

Previous weeks’ topics have included “Forget the Pronoun”, and “Untangle Your Tongue”.

Today’s video deals with “The Active Hush Technique”.  Broken down mathematically to its purest form:  Vocal Tension + Low Volume = Active Hush.  BTW, I love this tip, and find it useful on many auditions, but for appropriate application…please check with Nancy first!

These videos are just a taste, and yes, you’re encouraged to buy the whole series, but, hey, in the process, you get 13 unforgettable tips that will leave you wanting for the rest.  More about that later.  Right now, just take a look at this quick synopsis of today’s topic:  “THE ACTIVE HUSH TECHNIQUE”.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can also view the video here: http://www.braintracksaudio.com/soundreal/3.html

All of Wolfson’s excellent audio and video offerings are available on her website: BRAINTRACKSAUDIO.COM.

Full disclosure: Wolfson plied me with alcoholic beverages and McRib Sandwiches to coerce me to plug her series…NOT!  I’m a proud alum of her VO coaching, and gladly pass along these videos each week, especially knowing the ultra-reasonable price she’s asking for these 127 tips in the video HOW TO SOUND REAL & NAIL THE SALE.

Next week:  The Mood to Choose in Acting for Advertising.

CourVO

‘No shortcuts to the words on the page, especially when those words convey something important to the client… like maybe their PHONE NUMBER!

Just one example driven home by this week’s episode of Nancy Wolfson‘s “How to Sound Real, and Nail the Sale” series of videos.

So watch this brief excerpt called “How to Untangle Your Tongue”, then check out some links below to find out how you can get your hands on some of the best coaching material on the planet!
(you can also click here:  http://www.braintracksaudio.com/soundreal/2.html)

Click here to view the embedded video.

That is just a taste, a mere smidgeon of the 127 tips you get in the full video package “HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE”.  Like all her products, you can find it on Wolfson’s website.  For details on this full package deal, go to:  http://www.braintracksaudio.com/soundreal.

Full disclaimer:  I’m a graduate of the Nancy Wolfson Camp Pendleton VO Marines Training Sessions, and I can’t believe she’s making all this info available in these videos for the price.  You’re getting a bargain, my friend… and I would not say that if I didn’t think so.

Next in #3 of 13 such weekly video vignettes:  One of my absolute faves!…the Active Hush.

CourVO

Nancy picked up “the pronoun thing” in my delivery right away.  Apparently the Radio and TV announcers’ book of elocution demands you put extra emphasis on words like “you” and ‘yours” and “their” to the exclusion of  the point.  The point being the advertiser’s product, or at least the object (usually a noun, and usually an important noun) at the end of the sentence.

The reason for this misguided emphasis is lost in the mists of time before Edward R. Murrow probably, and it becomes 2nd nature after a while.

Broadcasters’ second nature = voice-actors’ stupid nuance.

Look, I could go on, but Nancy can tell it so much better.  So take a couple of seconds to watch this video, OK?

She makes a good point, doncha think? (BTW, nice going, Scott!)

There is no one in all VO-land who has dissected the motivational and psychological reasons behind ad copy like Wolfson.  Having completed her “Acting for Advertising” course (is it already?) two years ago, I can tell you her work is erudite, but more importantly it’s attainable, and doggone it…she’s right.

Every week for the next 12 weeks, I’ll be posting here on my blog another mini-lesson like this from Wolfson.  It’s part of a gradual roll-out to pique your interest in seeing the entire course, which comes at an insanely reasonable price if you ask me (but, again, I’m biased).

As you saw on the video…THAT tip is just one of 127 you get in the full video package “HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE”.  Like all her products, you can find it on her website.  For this particular video go to:  http://www.braintracksaudio.com/soundreal.

I had the nicest compliment from a VO peer the other day. He told me my blog was one of the few VO resources he felt 100% safe in referring people to.  That was HUGE…and I think you know I don’t endorse or support anything I haven’t tried or vetted first (part of my journalistic upbringing).

When Nancy asked if I’d be willing to post these videos here on my blog to help get the word out, I didn’t hesitate, because I believe in the value proposition she offers.  I know of very few voice actors who don’t share my opinion about her material.

Next week:  “1-888-Untangle Your Tongue”.

CourVO

Luckily, like all the other Acting for Advertising seminars from the duo, this one is now downloadable for a most reasonable price on the Break Into Voiceover.com site.

And you know…right?…that Nancy is THE most sought-after voiceover coach on the planet, and there’s a reason why…right?  OK, good!   Call her…get on the schedule, and find out why it’s called “BrainTracksAudio”.

______________
Also, John Armstrong, Managing director at World Gaming Executives.com and Gamevoices asked me to post on the Voice-Over Friends FaceBook group the following message:  “…I’m looking for some video game voiceover people who might add their voices to the http://www.gamevoices.co.uk/ site with a short sound file…”

It’s already gotten some responses, but no reason why yours couldn’t still be one of ‘em.
______________

Finally, an ambitious website I found that compares voices against each other for similar jobs: Behindthevoiceactors.com.   The site covers most of the popular niches of work we’d all like to build our resume with.

The site claims to be: “… a community database of voice over actors for fans to learn and discuss voice acting about those already in the industry. Only its cranked up to give you a visual and audible experience of seeing images and listening to sound clips of the actors themselves of the character roles they play, rather than a typical credit list of text names.”

If nothing else, click the “commercials” tab at the top to listen to some of the top commercials on the air right now…and see what the people are doing who are getting the work!

CourVO