The VOICE OVER MISTAKE CHART

Tempo Mistakes

You know that completing your voice over job in a timely manner is important..... Yet oddly, speeding through copy usually causes the recording session to take longer.

Sure there are some scripts which require a speedy delivery. But in most instances, slowing yourself down will get the job done faster. Weird? Nope. Read on.

In this section of the Edge Studio “Voice Over Mistake Chart”, we discuss Tempo Mistakes!

GENERAL

• The BIGGEST mistake voice talent have is NOT developing (practicing) a sense of timing

COPY WRITER’S INTENT

• Talent doesn’t consider the tempo that will work best for the listener (e.g.: slow on a relaxation recording, mid-tempo on a telephony recording, fast on a zippy radio commercial)
• Talent doesn’t consider the visual that will work best for the viewer (e.g.: slow on a self-guided tour of a fine art museum, mid-tempo on a travelogue, fast on a zippy promotional video)
• Talent doesn’t consider the intended emotion that will work best for the listener (e.g.: slow on a sentimental script, mid-tempo on a “regular Joe” script, fast on an excited script)

VARIETY

• Talent doesn’t use tempo change to add variety to a read – as we often do in normal conversation
• Talent doesn’t use dramatic pauses to add emphasis to words – as we often do in normal conversation

NATURAL TIMING

• Talent doesn’t have a natural sense of script-length. (It’s helpful to look at a script and have a sense of how long it would take to read at a given tempo.)
• Talent doesn’t have a natural recording-tempo-gauge. (It’s helpful to know what tempo to read to hit an intended length. E.G.: When the director says, “Make this line 30-seconds.”, you should be close.)
• Talent doesn’t have a natural playback-tempo-gauge. (It’s helpful to know how long a recording was by listening back. E.G.: You can impress a client by saying, Okay, let me try again- I was over time.”)

ELECTRONIC TIMING

• Talent doesn’t have a stopwatch with them at all times (for practice and recording)

MIXED TEMPO

• Talent increases tempo when asked to increase their energy. Or the reverse.
• Talent cannot match the tempo of a previous day’s recording for continuation of the recording (as in: day 2 of an audiobook, or as in: a line pick-up).

RUSHING

• Talent rushes the phrase “one of the” (as in, “The Giganotosaurus was one of the tallest dinosaurs.....”. Try reading this and extend the words “one” and “tallest”.)
• Talent rushes key words, such as product names and client names