COMMENTARY

An amazing number of would-be voiceover artists whom I initially evaluate are mediocre to poor basic readers. Not only does this prevent them from pursuing a voiceover training program (or at least, mine) but it can intrude on many other areas of their lives as well, particularly in the workplace.

I attribute the root causes of this problem to the role parents have played in early childhood and to the failure of the schools to fill in the blanks.

Language skills are fundamental to continued learning, and of course, in America, that means that the universal language of choice is, and historically has been, English. When I refer to skills, I mean speaking, reading, comprehension, writing, vocabulary and in the case of voiceovers, interpretive reading aloud. Ability (or lack of) in any one of these areas directly affects the others.

One in every three of the world’s people cannot read or write. Closer to home, since the 1960’s, language skills have been on a precipitous decline in the United States. In its Reading Report Card in 1985, the US Department of Education found that “40 percent of the nation’s 13-year olds and 16 percent of 17-year olds did not have intermediate reading skills. (they could not find key information, link and compare ideas, or generalize, using materials in science, literature, or social studies) only 5 percent of the 12-year olds tested had advance reading skills – the kind needed to understand complex ideas found in professional or technical journals and textbooks.”

Further, the National Adult Literacy Survey of 1993 found that “even though most adults in the survey had finished high school, 96 percent of them could not read, write, and figure well enough to go to college.” Worse than that, “25 percent were unable to read”, period.

In the 1970’s, reading levels of young Americans fell so low that the Army had to rewrite its manuals in comic-book fashion.

It has been predicted by some that somewhere in the near future, one may be able to graduate from a prestigious university without a good working knowledge of English.

Much has been written in the last few years about America’s decline in math and science. On the other hand, if English-language skills are lacking, how can anyone pursue other areas of learning?

English-language skills are fundamental to all areas of voiceover, but in particular, narrations and audiobooks. So, if you are leaning toward these areas in your interest in voiceovers, be mindful of the fact that the purpose of an in-depth evaluation of your potential as a voiceover artist is to assess your facility with the English language as well as other applicable skills.

  

  

Remember that in a phrase or sentence, your should conserve your energy and breath as you move through the phrase or sentence. Start lightly and build as you go, and be mindful of where your destinations are in every situation. Ask yourself “How far do I go before there’s an ending?” Don’t assume that it’s always where there is a period; there are frequently many places within a long sentence where there may be several destinations. Never allow yourself to run out of breath. If you’re doing it correctly, you will always feel as if you have breath to spare when you reach a destination, which may end with a comma, a colon, a semicolon, or a period.

Never, never end a sentence with diminished energy, unless it ends with a colloquial phrase, a pronoun, or a word that has been already established in the context of the script.

Generally speaking, phrases and sentences have strong endings most of the time. Build your sentences; don’t let them die at their conclusions.

 

 

HOOKED ON PHONICS CAN SOMETIMES ... BACKFIRE!!!!

With a 5 year old, what you see is what you get. Read on...

Jake is 5 and learning to read.

He points at a picture in a zoo book and says,

'Look Mama! It's a frickin' Elephant!'

Deep breath ... 'What did you call it?'

'It's a frickin' Elephant, Mama!

It says so on the picture!'

and so it does .

' A f r i c a n Elephant '