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What the heck does "Bring yourself to the party" even mean? What kind of coaching is that? Turns out, it's really important coaching. Today, Anne talks about what that means and how you can do it. Now, pass the dip.
Know that people want to connect with you as a human being.
You may have heard the expression, "Bring you to the party" or let's hear, "I want to hear you in the copy, bring something unique to the copy" and I want to talk about that today because it's this really important factor in making your audition, or your job, or your connection to that audience unique and personal, and very special, and something that will help you get booked again and again and again. I know in the beginning when I wanted to get into voiceover, I had a particular sound in my head of what I should sound like, and it was very much, "Hello! This is my performance in front of the mic or behind the mic!" and it just was a very much a performed sound, and it was what I thought that most people wanted to hear, or it's what I thought I heard when I listened to commercials or I heard voiceovers. For many years now, it has evolved into really becoming a personal, believable, authentic sort of a read for voice-over, and that is one of the toughest reads, I think for any of us to get, and I think it's because we have a preconceived notion of what we think other people want us to sound like or what we should sound like, when in reality, when we are trying to engage with an audience and engagement is something that is a back and forth, there's that give and take, that back and forth, and that's really what you want to bring to the party when you are voicing a lot of copy. Unless, of course, the director is asking you to be announcery or sound like a promo.
But in reality, if you want to connect with that audience and have them listen to you, because most of us don't have a large attention span these days, you want to be able to connect authentically with your audience. To do that, you have to sound like you. It's just like meeting somebody. When you meet somebody for the first time and sometimes there's that instant click, you just get them or they get you, and it's just a feeling right? That's the feeling that you have to evoke and that comes from your personality, from who you are individually, who you are uniquely, and that's the same type of connection that you want to have with your listener. However, you're not just standing in front of them physically, right? You are behind that microphone and you want that connection to be right in their ear and so it has to be like introducing yourself at a party where you have something other than just words or a melody, you've got a point of view. It's not about imitating a sound, it's not about imitating, necessarily, a character -- unless, of course, the director calls for that. But I always tell my students that in the very beginning of your read, or in your read for anything that you do, try to analyze the read and become that person that is speaking authentically to the potential listener. If you can do that, then that's going to grab the casting director's ear as well.
I want you to trust yourself. Give yourself some grace. Know that people want to connect with you as a human being. Otherwise, you know what, we've got synthetic voices out there that can certainly voice it for you. We want you to be the most human-connected voice that we hear. So trust yourself. Trust yourself that people want to hear from you, that they want to know who you are, they want to know your personality, and that whatever product or service that you're representing, that is a part of obviously the company and the company's point of view, but also your own as well, because that's what's going to make your read the most unique, and that's what's going to get you the gig.
Thanks for reading!
Keep on rocking your business like a #VOBOSS
About Anne Ganguzza
Recipient of multiple Voice Arts Awards for Outstanding Narration Demo - Anne Ganguzza is California-based Voice Over Coach and award-winning Director & Producer specializing in target-marketed voiceover Demo Production. Anne's production team creates SOVAS-nominated demos across several genres, including Commercial, Corporate Narration, and eLearning, and her VO BOSS podcast is the winner of SOVAS Outstanding Podcast in 2022.