Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, the legendary voice talent and coach Dave Fennoy! Dave’s recently been teaching his way across Europe at different VO events, and tonight he spent some time on Clubhouse before he and Marc switched over to his weekly Ask Dave Fennoy Anything on Facebook. But even with just a few audience questions, Dave gave a lot of great advice and insights.
He talked about the ability to cold read copy as perhaps being somewhat overrated when it comes to voice over, and described it as coming across as read-y, non-focused, and that it’s like “singing a song that is not your real song.” This, he says, is not going to get you booked.
Dave said that he’s a believer in preparation: read the script in your head 3 times, mumble it 3 times and by the time you’re ready to do a performance, you’ll be at the point where “the words are only there to remind you of what you’re saying.” And make sure that the first few times you read it that you’re doing it slowly and accurately so your brain doesn’t get stuck repeating a mistake.
When asked about warm-ups, Dave says that he relies on his morning coffee, tongue twisters, fake yawns (they realign your pipes), and breathing exercises through a straw. When he’s working on a game with a lot of shouting, he takes as many breaks as he needs to, for example, instead of every hour, take breaks every 15-20 mins.
What does Dave recommend to make efforts seem realistic? He says to think about the breathing, that there are all these sounds that our character might make that aren’t words. Imagine yourself getting hit, jumping, running, etc, and although it all comes from your mouth, your body informs the voice, so get physical. Think about air coming in when you get hit, or if your character is hitting someone else, think of air going out. Bring the acting, be familiar with what’s going on in the script, and read the stage directions.
“The voice is the exhaust of the acting engine.” This is a quote from a colleague that Dave shared tonight, and he says he likes it because it’s a good way to explain what voice acting really is about. “We think it’s all about the words; it’s not,” Dave says. “The words are the last thing — the words are giving detail of what we’re thinking and feeling, what our action is. But it’s about what we’re reacting to, what we’re thinking, what we’re feeling, what we’re doing, and what’s the relationship with the person we’re talking to.”
Thanks so much to Marc and Dave for the amazing conversation and for the audience questions that furthered the discussion! You can find out more about Dave on his website. Check out the Marc Guss Voiceover Club every Wednesday night on Clubhouse at 8:30 pm ET or catch the replay later.