Conversational Specs

It’s safe to say that 98% of the specs given on every audition these days is one of the following:

• Real Person
• Not an Announcer
• Genuine
• Authentic
• Believable
• Talking to a friend
• Heartfelt

Consumers are over being talked at, and creatives know it. To cut through the messages bombarding today’s buyer, the tone needs to sound like one real person talking to another. This is especially true of messages being delivered via headphones as the voice is literally IN the consumer’s ear.

Tough to Be Real

Sounding genuine is much more difficult than you’d think. The voice over talent has to make someone else’s words sound like her own, and sometimes those words aren’t written like real people speak to each other. When’s the last time you used the phrase, “and more” in a conversation?

Audible Authenticity

The word “authentic” is also used quite often when the director is looking for a real-person, conversational read. As consumers lose trust in influencers and brands, they gravitate to people who come off as trustworthy and show they really understand the consumer’s experience.

Recently, studies done by Veritonic demonstrate that both male and female consumers find a woman’s voice more authentic, unique and trustworthy. Another study, this one conducted by Neilsen, proved that a woman’s voice was found to increase brand awareness in both female and male audiences.

One of my upcoming projects, a collaborative of talents, is to create a website where brands can connect with professional voice talents who have a real, genuine connection to the brand’s values, culture and offerings. That kind of authenticity is the real deal…pun intended.

How to Get a Voice Actor to Sound Real

So how does one get a voice actor to sound like the copywriter’s words are her own? Here are some methods top directors use:

• Have the voice actor respond to a question with the copy. For example: Why do you use XYZ’s toilet paper?
• If the talent naturally talks with his or her hands, have them perform the VO using their hands as they normally would.
• Have the talent soften his or her Ts and get a little sloppy with the diction.
• Turn the script over and just share the message like you just got home and are telling your partner about the XYZ product. Then play that take back to the voice actor so he or she can hear themselves sounding like themselves talking about the product.
• Make sure the script uses contractions.
• Put the voice actor in an environment. In addition to saying, “It’s like talking to a friend,” maybe add where that conversation is taking place. For a softer, more intimate tone, put them in a library or in the back of a room during a meeting. For a casual, lighthearted read, try placing them in a booth with 3 friends at their favorite restaurant. For a more authoritative, but still real tone, put them in a B2B sales call situation where they are meeting with a long-time client in his or her office. You get the point.
• Put the voice talent in a chair rather than standing.
• Have the talent describe a similar experience to the one he or she is relating to in the commercial or project.
• Encourage ad libbing. This gets tricky for us voice actors. Some agents tell us never to add anything to a read while others encourage us to be a little freer with the copy. If a director asks something like, “What sound do you make when you’re excited and telling a friend all about the things you’re going to do on vacation?” The list the voice actor is reading will sound a lot more exciting. (If you ever want an embarrassing story about ad libbing a voice over for the Atlanta Hawks, let me know.)
• Tell the talent to ignore the punctuation.
• Have the talent drop the energy level and get a little closer to the mic.
• Don’t use the two words, “and more” in the copy. No real person I know says that.