Rich Van Slyke
By Rich Van Slyke
“Oh Man, these sound like sh*t!”
You just got the reads back from your voice guy and they’re all wrong. He’s puking harder than a drag way spot. Or he’s completely lifeless. Or he sounds so gay, George Michael is calling for a date. Now, your company VP or consultant is going to be asking, “Dude, whassup with your station voice?”
Just like Tom Cruise or Matt Damon, your voice guy or gal needs direction. You’ll get the best results when you communicate the read you need. “Oh man,” you think, “that is such a pain in the ass. Can’t I just email the copy and leave it to them? They’re pros, they know what to do.” Well sure they do, once your voice talent is dialed in to the sound you want. But if you’re not getting the sound you want, all you have to do is ask. Too many PDs think they are stuck with whatever their voice talent sends them. But you’re not stuck. Most voice talents can do any read you like, from flame throwin’ balls to the wall, to pillow talkin’ whispers of love. But they won’t know which read you want you unless you tell ’em! So, here are 10 tips for directing your voice talent:
- Type scripts the way you want them voiced. Use lower case. Lower case means the normal sound. Quotes means it’s the “Name Of The Contest.” ALL CAPS MEANS LOUD! BOLD CAPS IS EVEN LOUDER! Italics means as an explanation. Underline means more emphasis. Skip a line for a new thought. Three dots means a pause. Here’s an example from Jerry Tarrants at WGRD in Grand Rapids:
* Weekends at GRD just became… very profitable.
Announcing GRD’s “Instant Cash Weekends”. Just listen all weekend to get qualified… then every Monday at Noon JT will pull a winner of $50 CASH! And that’s not all… each weekly winner has a chance to become a finalist to win other grand prizes too, like more cash, a computer, or even a 2007 CHEVY AVEO! To increase your odds of winning stop by any Instant Cash Advance location and sign up today, for details and rules hit WGRD DOT COM. GRD’s “Instant Cash Weekends”… from Instant Cash Advance and the station that likes to always put a buck or two in your pocket… 97-9 GRD.
- Keep the natural ability of your voice talent in mind. Nobody sounds good when they push themselves beyond their natural limit. If you hear strain, your talent is pushing too hard. Natural is always better.
- It’s better to demonstrate than to describe. Call up your talent and read it the way you want it to sound. Believe me, it’s much easier to understand what you want when I hear you voice it, than if you try to describe what you want.
- Give your voice talent examples of what you want. You might have an aircheck of a station whose sound you love. Or you might ask your voice talent to listen to the station online. Understand that there are several right ways to voice stuff. But the way that sounds best to you, is most often the way you personally like it.
- Ask for exactly what you want. Every voice talent want to get it just right for you. Why? Because it’s fun to nail the read and make the PD happy! There’s nothing more enjoyable than getting an email from a PD who says,”Great job. Your reads were just what I was looking for.” But we can’t nail the reads unless we know exactly what you want.
- Make sure your voice talent understands local words and phrases. Here’s a line from a promo, “we’ll be cruising for action on Bleeker Street!” If your station voice understands Bleeker Street is where all the hookers work, the line will be delivered much better!
- Encourage out takes and ad libs, if you like them. Some stations want lots of out takes, off the cuff remarks and character voices. Other stations hate it. So let your voice guy know, and you’ll get more of what you want and less of what you don’t want.
- You’re the Program Director, so do some directing. Somebody thinks you’ve got the ability to direct the programming of the radio station. Consultant Ed Shane says some PDs complain that the voice guy didn’t read the liners with the right inflection or attitude. But when asked “Did you tell him that?” The answer is sometimes “uh, no.” A great Program Director provides direction.
- Send you voice talent the finished product. Sometimes, it’s much easier to understand what a PD is looking for when you hear it produced. Many times I have altered my reads after I’ve heard how they are produced. If the production is loud and aggressive, I know to make sure everything will cut through. But if the production is softer, I can be a little more subtle. It’s so easy to email a produced liner, yet many stations just don’t think to do it.
- If you use a production service, send the example. Do you use an online imaging service like Short Bus Radio? For each liner, they provide an original cut with a demo voice. If your voice guy hears how the original liner or promo was voiced, and how the voice will be used in the finished piece, he’ll understand exactly how to read it. He’ll be able to put the pauses in the right places, adjust the timing, and match the inflection to the production.
Rich VanSlyke is a Voice Guy on over 40 stations including KQQL, KDKA, WNOR, WBUZ, WKLR, WKQZ, WKZQ, WRXW, WIXO, KCBL, KKPL, and KZOZ! His new website is www.richvanslyke.com. Email richvs@bellsouth.net.
