Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, Bart Smith! Bart is an award-winning audio engineering and producer, casting director, and co-founder of the nation’s first all-digital post audio facility. Bart was also described by his friend and fellow engineer Frank Verderosa tonight as “a god among men in the world of audio production.”
Bart said that loved being an engineer and always had great rapport with the voiceover talent in the studio. He said that earlier on in his career, he found himself wishing that he knew more about the script from a creative standpoint. He then he went out on his own and got into all aspects of production: casting, booking, directing, sometimes writing, and putting it all together. It’s clear that he enjoys the creative process.
Several brave audience members read commercial scripts for Bart, and just listening to his direction was a great educational experience. Here are some of the tips that he shared:
- The first sentence of a script is so important, as it needs to convey the idea of here’s what I’m talking about and here’s why you should listen.
- Another note about the first line of a script is that sometimes it helps to act like you are answering a question about the product. Imagine someone says, “What’s that?” before you read that first line. It will come out so much more natural.
- Even when time is tight, do as much as you can to slow down, have pauses, and make it dynamic. That’s what makes it sound conversational.
- Even in a 30-sec commercial, there’s a beginning, middle, and end.
- Use some physicality in your reads, like raising your eyebrows, physically smile, stop and wink at something — those things come across in your read.
Thanks so much to Marc and Bart for the amazing conversation and for the brave audience performances that helped everyone listening learn so much! Check out the Marc Guss Voiceover Club every Wednesday night on Clubhouse at 8:30 pm ET or catch the replay later.