A couple of things I recommend to people interested in announcing / voiceover:
1. Read aloud. To your kids, to your spouse, to whomever, to a recording, to yourself. Try to achieve a “natural read.” Reading aloud helped me immensely. The best class I took in college as far as my announcing career is concerned was “Oral Interpretation of Literature.” We had to read different kinds of literature in a dramatic way to actually “perform” the piece. Great class for announcers!
2. Practice, practice, practice. Read copy aloud from catalogs, newspapers, shampoo bottles, etc. Try to imitate the delivery of announcers you hear on TV and radio (not necessarily imitating their voice, but their delivery style). Ask yourself how you would change the delivery if it were you.
I have known many people who had great voices who could not give you a natural read on a script if their lives depended on it. I’ve brought people into the studio to try them on a script because I thought they had a great voice only to find that they couldn’t deliver a natural sounding read. Delivering a natural read requires practice, especially critiqued practice.
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