How to Achieve a Voice Like a Radio Or Drama Pro!
How do you train your voice to be like the pros? Whether your passion is to be on radio or act on the stage, your voice is a critical part of how you will be perceived and how you will communicate, because your voice is your tool for either of those professions.
The whole process may at first appear overwhelming, particularly, if you are the kind of person that wants a quick fix to suddenly achieve results.
Many of my clients have the desire to go into the media or on stage as an actor.
So, let's take a look at how you can get your voice trained to gain your dreams.
Your training needs three key elements: an action plan; an application of the training steps; and experience.
Key # 1: Set an Action Plan Your first step will be to find a voice coach or self-help training book to assess your voice and take steps to show how to improve it.
Training is a must for you to follow through from your idea or passion.
Set up a checklist for yourself with a time-line; for example, go to a voice coach for the next 3 months then re-evaluate your progress.
This helps to keep your confidence up by checking off your progress on a daily or weekly basis.
Post your plan up where you can see it often.
I like to record a client's voice at different stages so the progress can be noted.
An action plan gets you from thinking about it to actually doing it.
Key #2: Apply the Training Be sure to apply the exercises at all stages of your training.
If you have to do 5 minutes of daily diaphragmatic breathing exercises, tongue twisters, or reading aloud the newspaper, then give yourself a pat on the back for doing the training.
You will have come a few steps closer to your goal.
Do not let doubt get in your way, stick to your training and have fun with it.
There are common points of training your voice for radio and the stage which include: breathing with the diaphragm for control of your breath; articulating the words for clarity; and creating tone to deliver your message.
Doing audio voice overs and acting on stage are also commonly concerned with using your voice for the character, age, and emotion.
However, there are different emphasis of training between radio and the stage.
How to use a microphone for radio is critical; but an actor needs to focus on how to project his voice to reach the back area of the audience without the use of a microphone.
The speaking pace on radio commercials is much faster as the announcer will read from a script within a commercial time limit.
Whereas, an actor memorizes his lines and evokes these lines without use of a script, at a pace in keeping with the character and movement of the play.
Key #3: Gain experience Transfer your training to real life experience.
One of the easiest ways to gain is experience is to volunteer your voice in your community.
Take the opportunity at local charity or sports events to be the MC, or at your community radio station using your voice on the microphone to apply the training and gain some experience.
For the stage, join the local theatre group and take on a part for the experience of using all the nuances of your voice along with projecting to the audience.
Finding a mentor can come from your volunteer groups that you interact with or from a professional radio announcer.
This can also be a great lead to other projects that could use your vocal talent.
Don't forget your training coach who has been helping you along the way, as often he or she can refer you to opportunities to gain experience, or continue to be a mentor for your work.
Once you have some documented experience then you can go after the professional jobs.
Make the decision to go for the voice training to achieve your passion.
If you find that time or budget does not allow you to have a personal coach; then use a self-help training guide that is broken down into the steps from beginners to advanced level.
Follow-through with these steps, then nothing will stop you from having the voice you want!
The whole process may at first appear overwhelming, particularly, if you are the kind of person that wants a quick fix to suddenly achieve results.
Many of my clients have the desire to go into the media or on stage as an actor.
So, let's take a look at how you can get your voice trained to gain your dreams.
Your training needs three key elements: an action plan; an application of the training steps; and experience.
Key # 1: Set an Action Plan Your first step will be to find a voice coach or self-help training book to assess your voice and take steps to show how to improve it.
Training is a must for you to follow through from your idea or passion.
Set up a checklist for yourself with a time-line; for example, go to a voice coach for the next 3 months then re-evaluate your progress.
This helps to keep your confidence up by checking off your progress on a daily or weekly basis.
Post your plan up where you can see it often.
I like to record a client's voice at different stages so the progress can be noted.
An action plan gets you from thinking about it to actually doing it.
Key #2: Apply the Training Be sure to apply the exercises at all stages of your training.
If you have to do 5 minutes of daily diaphragmatic breathing exercises, tongue twisters, or reading aloud the newspaper, then give yourself a pat on the back for doing the training.
You will have come a few steps closer to your goal.
Do not let doubt get in your way, stick to your training and have fun with it.
There are common points of training your voice for radio and the stage which include: breathing with the diaphragm for control of your breath; articulating the words for clarity; and creating tone to deliver your message.
Doing audio voice overs and acting on stage are also commonly concerned with using your voice for the character, age, and emotion.
However, there are different emphasis of training between radio and the stage.
How to use a microphone for radio is critical; but an actor needs to focus on how to project his voice to reach the back area of the audience without the use of a microphone.
The speaking pace on radio commercials is much faster as the announcer will read from a script within a commercial time limit.
Whereas, an actor memorizes his lines and evokes these lines without use of a script, at a pace in keeping with the character and movement of the play.
Key #3: Gain experience Transfer your training to real life experience.
One of the easiest ways to gain is experience is to volunteer your voice in your community.
Take the opportunity at local charity or sports events to be the MC, or at your community radio station using your voice on the microphone to apply the training and gain some experience.
For the stage, join the local theatre group and take on a part for the experience of using all the nuances of your voice along with projecting to the audience.
Finding a mentor can come from your volunteer groups that you interact with or from a professional radio announcer.
This can also be a great lead to other projects that could use your vocal talent.
Don't forget your training coach who has been helping you along the way, as often he or she can refer you to opportunities to gain experience, or continue to be a mentor for your work.
Once you have some documented experience then you can go after the professional jobs.
Make the decision to go for the voice training to achieve your passion.
If you find that time or budget does not allow you to have a personal coach; then use a self-help training guide that is broken down into the steps from beginners to advanced level.
Follow-through with these steps, then nothing will stop you from having the voice you want!