Voice Acting: A Tale of Two Richards

The recent deaths of two iconic British actors, has made me ask a fundamental question: do actors make better voice over artists? Stage and screen stalwarts Richard Griffiths and Richard Briers not only made a big impact on screen, but were equally formidable as VO talents.

My children know him as Uncle Vernon in the Harry Potter films, but Richard Griffiths first made his mark on me in Withnail and I the cult classic where he played another, but altogether different avuncular figure, Uncle Monty. However it was his voice over for a beguiling series shown on Channel 4 and made by Televisionary, that has really left a lasting impression on me.

Waterstories was a collection of short programmes about people who live and work on Britain's rivers and canals. It was a series of charming vignettes complete with gentle music, bucolic locations and enhanced by Griffiths' warm narration.

His delivery belied his big frame; never booming, always nimble and engaging he weaved a thread of magic through each programme. He did exactly what a voice over artist should do: enrich the piece, rather than dominate it.

He also pulled off the one trick that turns a good voice over talent into a great one - he allowed his personality to shine through. No mean feat when you are dealing with somebody else's words.

Richard Briers did likewise; although known widely for Tom in the BBC sitcom The Good Life, he was also a regular on TV commercials and an admired Jackanory favourite. But for me his defining VO moment came with the 'seventies cartoon Roobarb (re-launched in 2005). Briers' lively delivery matched the shaky style of the animation; he managed to energise the words and bring the scripts to life in his own nice-guy way.

So what voice over legacy did these men leave behind? I believe they threw down a gauntlet; in
voiceover terms they showed not only how it could be done, but how it should be done. But what if you are not an actor and still want to achieve voice over success?

Although from a strong acting background both performers exhibited a naturalness in their delivery. Whether it was a documentary about British waterways or a silly kids' cartoon, the real personalities of Richard Griffiths and Richard Briers shone brightly. The crucial point is that when they were doing voice overs they were not playing character roles so much as being themselves.

This is a salutary lesson: in voice overs it is all about how you interpret the message; not playing at being the announcer or 'voice over woman/man' but doing it for real.

Do you need to have an acting background to do voice overs? Of course not, but we can all learn from truly great acting talent.

Gary Terzza runs a voice over training course in London, England.

Losing Your Voice Is Nothing To Shout About.

Whatever your politics, listening to the chancellor George Osborne struggling to speak as he presented his budget this week was a salutary lesson to us all on how much we rely on the human voice. Lose it and your power to communicate is drastically diminished. So is there anything we can do to prevent it happening?

Politicians have a habit of going hoarse. Tony Blair has been a sufferer and this seems to have had a long term effect. Listen to his speeches in the nineties compared with the timbre of his voice today. Then it was light and smooth, whilst today there is a background rasp and slightly scratchy tone.

Ageing may have taken it's toll, but the more likely cause is overuse. Relentless public speaking puts a huge strain on the vocal folds. Do this over a number of years and in stressful situations and you can understand why the larynx starts to give up some of it's original youthfulness.

Another politician who has literally found it difficult to make himself heard is Bill Clinton. His natural huskiness has been exacerbated by years on the campaign trail and endless public speaking events. His frequent hoarseness has been further compounded by underlying nasal allergies (he had an operation to help with rhinitis as long ago as 1979) and reflux.

In the latter case, the acid produced by the stomach comes back up into the oesophagus and throat, having an adverse effect on the voice box.

So what can we do to keep our voices finely tuned?

There are lots of sensible things we can do: don't smoke, drink lots of water and go easy on dairy products and, of course, alcohol. Try not to shout and rest the voice if  it has had a punishing schedule. The British Voice Association has some very useful tips on how to look after your voice and I personally find their guidelines invaluable.

Poignantly older people often find their voices have become croaky due to a lack of use; this can be a direct result of social isolation - they simply have not had anyone to talk to. If this is the case it is important to exercise the vocal cords on a regular basis with gentle humming or even singing around the house!

You don't have to be a voice over artist, singer or politician to suffer from voice loss. Teachers, call centre staff, sales people and anyone who does presentations at work or  just uses the telephone a lot are all at risk.

When your career depends on vocal dexterity, that is quite a sobering thought.

Gary Terzza is a voice over coach based in London.

Voice Over Jobs: Raise Your Fees, Not Your Clients Eyebrows

Want to earn more money doing voice over work? Simple - put up your prices. Yes even in the middle of the deepest recession in living memory, a few upward tweaks can dramatically improve your bottom line. 

I wrote in my last post that there is strong downward pressure on fees from voice over clients. Anyone booking a voice over artist will try and achieve a lower quote and who can blame them? We looked at how just a 10% reduction in your VO jobs played out over the financial year can really hurt your pocket.

Now I want to explore what happens when you actually raise your fee.

It sounds a mad thing to do in these tough times. Surely reviewing your ratecard skywards is going to put off clients. Bear with me on this and hopefully you might be inspired to take action.

Let us revisit the example I gave in the earlier blog:  £200 reduced by that 10% is, of course, £180. Let us assume you are having a good year and you do 100 jobs in the year at this price (I know some gigs will pay more and others less, but I want to keep the maths simple.... for me if no one else).

That good year should yield £20,000, but with your across the board 10% discount that means a gross profit of £18,000. No surprises there, but you wanted to achieve your target of £20,000.

On my simple scale, a 10% increase (that is only £220 a job, so not a fortune) will be £22,000. That is a full four thousand pounds more than your discounted rate. Worth having methinks.

Ah you say, but surely you are going to lose some clients because of the increase. Yes perhaps you will, but you could still be on target.

Let us say eight clients refused to pay the increase. Here is how you would still be ahead of our target:
92 jobs (instead of 100) x £220 = £20,240. That is over £2,000 above the £18,000 discounted yield and £240 above our target.

The really good news, though, is that you will have done less work (only 92 jobs) for more money.

All sounds great in a perfect world, but you are probably thinking no one is going to pay your increased  fees. And how can you possibly justify the rise in these difficult times?

Firstly keeping your rate at £200 means you are losing out every year. Inflation in the UK is currently running at about 4% per annum. Even if you do not discount and hold your prices at £200, in twelve months time you will only be earning £192 per job in real terms. All things being equal this will be reduced to £184 in just a couple of years. This is before any discount and assuming inflation stays the same.

So make sure you at least keep pace with price rises in the economy.

You will be surprised how many clients will pay your increased fee. Most will quite happily fork out an extra £20 for the voice they really want. True they could search for someone cheaper, but price is only one consideration. Getting the voice they feel is apprpriate (ie yours) is usually of far greater importance.

A few quid here and there will not make much difference to their overall budget, but it will make a positive contribution to your profits. So face the fear and put up your fee.

Gary Terzza provides teaching and voice over mentoring at his VoMasterClass

Your Voice is Worth More Than You Think

In my last post I asked the question "should you do voice over jobs for free?" Judging by the response, the answer was a resounding NO. That now brings us to the thorny issue of actually charging your clients. What quote is a fair price?

Of course the answer to this depends on the job itself, but I believe we are all guilty at some time or other of under-charging.

What is your voice really worth? There is a tendency for many of us to play down our talents in a bid to get the work, whatever the pay. But the fee you charge says a great deal about you and your services. Quote a low fee and the implication is you are cheap.

I have discovered the hard way that not all voice over jobs are price sensitive. A couple of years ago I decided to do a 'John Lewis' with a project advertised on a well known voice over market place.  I said to the client that I was never knowingly undersold; in other words I would match and even undercut any other applicant.

The job was mine, I thought arrogantly. However I did not even get close. The reason? The client was not buying on price, but on quality and appropriateness. My voice was simply not right for the job, even though it was probably the cheapest.

Of course a client's budget is always a consideration, but if it was only about price the VO artist with the lowest quote would always get the gig and quite clearly that is not the case.

Be careful about discounting too. It is very tempting to reduce your fee to secure the gig, but even a ten percent reduction can have a marked effect on your bottom line. Your £200 quote suddenly becomes a less attractive £180. Do that over a year and you will be thousands of pounds worse off.

Stand firm on your price and your steady nerve will pay dividends.

In a future post I will explain how to raise your fee without raising eyebrows.

Gary Terzza provides voice over tutoring at his VoMasterClass.

Voice Overs for Free: Don't Use the F Word.

A colleague of mine at Channel 4 recently told me about an email he had received from an Internet radio station.

It was an enquiry about using his voice for some idents and liners.

They waxed lyrical about his fine, tones and suggested how his recognisable voice would improve the station's overall presentation

Very flattering he thought.

He read on, scanning quickly to see what the fee might be. Surely someone who had approached him would be keen to offer a decent quote.

His years of network TV and corporate VO experience would give him the edge, justifying a premium rate

Then came the killer line “we cannot afford to pay you, but you may use the recordings for your showreel".

Talk about a balloon rapidly deflating (not that he is that shape you understand).

They were willing to pay nothing. Zilch. And the replacement reward? A sample from a minor radio outfit to go alongside his national broadcasting demos.

Now you might say this is prima doña arrogance, but I don't think so.

Did that same radio station get their software for free? How about the plumbing in the studio toilets? Of course not. They paid the market rate like everyone else.

The price we quote as voice over artists says a lot about our value. If we charge nothing, the inference is that we are worth nothing.

Our precious time and (yes) skills come at a price. If potential clients don't value that, then they are probably not worth doing business with in the first place.

Gary Terzza is an announcer on More4 and runs a Voice Over MasterClass.