Are You Scared Of The Microphone? How To Combat Mic Fright

Are you gripped by terror before a voice over session? Does the thought of doing a voiceover job sometimes give you clammy hands and a sweaty brow?

Fear not, you are in good company.

In this video I explain how a simple technique will help you gain confidence behind the mic and help you give a better, more assured performance.

Video Transcript

Gary Terzza:                You're about to go into the studio. You're very excited about doing the voice over. And then your mouth becomes dry, and your voice gets strangulated. You're suffering from mic-fright.

Titles

                                    Hi, hello. I hope you're in fine voice. Now, I want you to meet a very close, very special friend of mine. Here he is. There we go. It's mic; my mate, mic. He's a very special friend, actually, because he never questions me. He's all ears, all the time, never answers back. He's always with me in the studio. I know he's there. I can totally rely on him 100%. I may be fallible, but he's not. Now, the reason I've made mates with mic--made friends with him--is because I know it helps me to deliver voice overs. That may sound strange, but having your microphone as your friend or even another microphone in another studio as a friend is a great asset.

                                        The reason is you're talking to a friend. You're not talking at them; you're talking to them. They're listening all the time in a friendly way. They don't want to criticize you; they just want to listen and see what you've go to say. That's exactly the same in voice overs.

                                        If you can make the microphone your friend, that is a great leap forward. What it means is you are talking, when you're delivering a script. You're not talking at someone. You're talking to them. You're just chatting away. Even if you're not sure about the words, or you're not sure about the environment. The mic is there. It's always the one constant you have. It's very important to do that. It's a psychological boost really, and it will help you cope with microphone fright, which is a bit like stage fright that actors suffer from.

                                       My top tip for today is make the microphone your friend, and that will stop you having scary mic-fright. See you soon. Thanks for watching, and look after your voice.