There is one thing that binds just about all
journalists, now that print people are “doing audio” online. Most of
us, it seems, are unhappy with the quality of our recorded voice. I hear it all
the time from newspaper people who now are producing podcasts. Radio and TV
people struggle to “find their voice” too.
Some days I feel that my voice is in fabulous shape, and
other days I crackle like a teenage boy.
That’s why I contacted Dr. Ann
Utterback.
In her 35 years as a voice specialist, she has rescued many
a struggling journalist; in fact, her entire practice is limited to journalism.
She has written eight books on voice and delivery. She even offers voice coaching over the phone. I
interviewed her by e-mail, however, so she would focus on my questions and not
spend her energy analyzing my voice.
Aren’t some people just born with great voices and
others with crappy voices? There is nothing I can do about my tonal quality,
right?
I would
answer “yes” to the first part of this question if we had a time machine and
could go back to the beginning days of broadcasting. That was the era of the great booming voices
like Lowell Thomas and Edward R. Murrow.
But that was a long time ago, and on-air delivery has changed enormously
since then. What we want to hear on the
air now are comfortable communicators.
If you flip through the channels during a news hour, you’ll hear voices
that range from higher pitched to lower, richer to fuller, and softer to
louder, and they’re all making a living as news broadcasters. I define a good broadcast voice as “a healthy
voice that enhances meaning.” Now that’s
not to say that you can’t work to make your voice sound better. I’ve helped people do that for over 30
years, and I’ve heard amazing improvements.
But the goals have changed from the early days of broadcasting, and they
continue to change with Internet webcasting.
I have an accent. It sounds fine when I am just talking
with people, but when I hear it in a recording, it sounds awful. How do I
overcome it?
Anything
about your voice that is distracting needs to be corrected before you go on
air. An accent that is severe can break
down meaning for the listener. Accent reduction work is a slow process, but it can work. I suggest you check with speech pathologists
or speech or drama departments at universities to see if they have someone on
staff who works in the accent reduction area.
If I can’t afford to hire a voice coach, how can I get
better? Are there exercises, DVDs or books that you recommend?
There are
several books that can help you improve your voice. I contributed to a book titled “Sound and
Look Professional on Television and the Internet,” by Michelle McCoy. This book is a great place to start if you
want to improve your voice. My book
“Broadcast Voice Handbook” is devoted to every aspect of voice and includes many
exercises. I wrote it in such a way that
it works as a self-help manual. It’s
used in newsrooms and universities across the country.
I
have heard you say that people often try to read sentences out loud that are
too long. How long is too long?
One of the main misconceptions many people have is that
writing for broadcast is the same as writing for print. They are really two different animals. In print, we use clauses, phrases, compound
and complex sentences freely. If you
want to stifle comfortable conversation, continue using these. Would you ever say to a friend, “Having
parked in front of your house, I walked, slowly at first, up to your
door”? Surely not. In conversation, we talk in short sentences
that are usually simply constructed with subject, verb, object and have no more
than one idea per sentence. We might
say, “I parked in front of your house. I
walked slowly up to your door.” This may
not seem as appealing in print, but try saying it. You’ll find that it flows much better. If you want to learn more about
conversational writing, check out Mervin Block’s “Dozen Deadly Sins” in his
book “Writing Broadcast News — Shorter, Sharper, Stronger.” One of his dozen focuses is on “Using Newspaper
Constructions” and can help broadcasters who come from print backgrounds make
the transition to broadcast writing.
As a voice coach, you often talk about stress. What’s
the connection?
For the
voice to work effectively, relaxation is the key. Because the voice depends on various muscles
in the body, it reflects the degree of tension a person is experiencing. A tense body will produce a tense voice. Can’t you always tell when a friend is tense
by the sound of his or her voice?
Keeping your body relaxed and your life balanced will actually make you
a better broadcaster. I work with
clients on keeping their voices healthy by eating well, exercising and finding
time to relax.
I have heard you talk about eating or drinking before
cutting audio. What’s that about?
Two things
are involved here. First, you want to
have eaten within an hour or two of your on-air time. With news broadcasters, I often hear horror
stories of making it through the whole day on a couple of cups of coffee. That won’t cut it, because if your blood sugar
has taken a dip, your mental, visual and motor skills also drop off. It’s almost impossible to do a good live shot
for television, for example, if you have only had those two cups of
coffee. The combination of the caffeine
and the low blood sugar will affect your ability to stay focused. The second point I often make is to stay away
from dairy products for a few hours before air time. Dairy tends to increase the mucus in our
bodies, specifically in the throat. You
may find yourself clearing your throat on the air if you consume dairy. What you do want to do is drink lots of
water. Water is the best way to keep
your throat healthy (except for not smoking).
I suggest clients drink at least half their body weight in ounces of
water daily.
Does it matter if I am
standing or sitting when I cut audio?
It will be
easier to breathe if you stand. You can
still sit, though, if you sit up straight and slightly away from the back of
the chair with both feet flat on the floor.
You want to be able to breathe all the way around your chest area, even
in the back. If you’re slumping in a
chair or pressing your back against the chair, it will inhibit this full
breathing.
When you think of a
“great voice,” who do you think of?
I don’t
think so much about “great voices” as I do about “great communicators.” Peter Jennings was one of the best because he
always made you feel that he was talking right to you alone. That’s the goal I set for my clients. They should sound so comfortable and
conversational that every member of the audience thinks it’s a personal
interaction between them and the broadcaster.
As I explained in the first question, gone are the days of staid
broadcasters. What we want now are
comfortable communicators. This is
especially true of the Internet. If I’m
watching you on my cell phone at Starbucks, I want to hear you speaking as if
you are sharing a latte with me, not as if you are announcing something to an
audience.
Is there anything you can do to make me sound like
James Earl Jones?
I hope you
see now that that’s not the goal. But
one thing you can copy from James Earl Jones is his complete focus on what he’s
saying. When he says, “This is CNN,”
he’s so completely connected to what he’s saying that it has amazing vocal
energy. I often use him as an example of
someone who has the best vocal energy I’ve ever heard. He doesn’t achieve this by talking loudly or
fast or with lots of pitch changes.
Vocal energy is not cheerleader or used-car-salesman energy. It’s focus and passion for what you’re
saying. That you can learn.
