First of all, yeah I totally haven't updated this thing have I? That's okay, it's not a blog.
A lot of times when people who used to be in radio are interviewed on Voiceover podcasts, they act like being from radio is a big handicap.
In raDIO, we are a LITTle more SingSONGy, a littLE more PERFORmative.
I did have to learn to tamp down my "radioness", but it wasn't a huge hinderance. Once I started booking live sessions, I figured out that being from radio has its advantages.
Radio people! Here are some voiceover skills we already have thanks to radio.
Radio teaches you how to listen.
Ever interview someone live, run a board for a game or produce a call-in show where you have no idea what the callers are going to say? Congratulations, you've learned how to listen. That is a huge advantage in live sessions.
2. Radio teaches you how to cold read.
In a perfect Voiceover World, we would all get the scripts with plenty of time to research but that only happens about half the time. Scripts will change, clients will get ideas mid-session, cold reading is a great skill to have.
3. Radio teaches you how to roll with it.
Did Adobe Audition randomly change your Audio Preferences for no discernable reason? Let's vamp while I fix it. Script not opening? Let me fill time while I try something else. Live radio is fantastic when everything runs perfectly but stuff happens, it teaches you to adjust and keep going.
4. Radio teaches you a lot of the vocabulary.
Already know what inflection is? A lead-in? Billboarding? Punching in? Do you already know to smile while you speak if you're supposed to sound happy? Congratulations, that's one less thing to learn.
5. Radio teaches you how to connect.
In broadcasting school, they tell you, "Remember, you're speaking to ONE PERSON". When you remember that you are speaking to a person and picture them in your head, it helps you read something like a person.
Side note: AHEM Agents and Casting Directors: Sounds like someone from radio is great on our feet, takes direction and is eager to please.
Honestly, we're excited to be getting paid to do a commercial (ya'll know radio people don't get paid for spots on their own stations, right?).
My point is that while those of us from radio do have to relearn our delivery, there are plenty of other skills we bring along. Don't let "being from radio" stop you from voiceover. There are plenty of skills that you bring to the table. Did anybody need that pep talk? Probably not, but you got it.
Fun read, cool perspective finding all those positives