Volunteering my voice coaching services to our volunteers

[dsuden]

Our volunteers are providing a WONDERFUL service, and I've personally benefitted from it for years, having listened to many many Librivox audiobooks. As a way of giving back, I'd like to make voiceover coaching sessions available to our volunteers for free. We can get together and go over some of your recorded material, and I can give you some kind, encouraging, and USEFUL feedback.

Backstory: I'm a full-time professional narrator who has been doing voiceovers for over 40 years, and who also does professional voice coaching. What I have in mind is a 15 minute Zoom session where I evaluate your current stills and technical setup and give you some practical ideas about ways to improve. We can cover things like delivery style, technical setup, proper mic use, recording environment, whatever you like. The idea is to do this for free for as many readers as would like the help. I'll also give each person a PDF with some good additional common sense common sense ideas and suggestions.

I have a fairly busy daily calendar of voiceovers and sessions, but what I've done is to allow for one free Librivox session per day Monday through Friday. You can go to this link to schedule a session through Calendly. To help reassure you I'm safe and one of the good guys, feel free to check out thegigdoctor.com...that site is all "me."

Here's the link to grab a spot on the calendar and arrange for our Zoom session.

https://calendly.com/danescott/free-librivox-coaching-session

Keep up the great work, you guys!

Dane Scott Udenberg
Librivox Volunteer

[lightcrystal]

Thank you Dane! I hope that many LibriVox volunteers take up your kind offer.

[SowasVon]

Whoa, that's a great offer! Let's hope many people make use of it.

[dsuden]

Thank you Dane! I hope that many LibriVox volunteers take up your kind offer.

Me too!

[dsuden]

Whoa, that's a great offer! Let's hope many people make use of it.

I'd like that!

[lightcrystal]

I have listened to a lot of the best American narrators.

It's clear to me that there is an "American" way of doing narration and voice over. It's also clear that I use a very different technique. To put it at its simplest take the sentence:

I hunted the dragon on Monday.

I will say that in about 20 different ways depending on the tone, emotion, genre, context and many other things. One simple exercise is to pick any one word from the sentence and say it like it is italicized. When I do this my volume does not change appreciably. That is the first difference between myself and American narrators who are usually very flat unless they change volume. I know that if I got extensive coaching most coaches would try to coach everything that is good to me out of how I narrate. Rather like what happens to Australian ex footballers who go to America to be punters in the NFL.

Nor can I do the "American smiley" technique that they use for ads. I have not been brought up in that American media culture. American adverts are very different from Australian adverts; I listened to a lot of American health care ads once when I found a bootleg copy of Babylon 5. Pssst. Don't tell anyone about that.

The broad aim of all narration, whatever the technique used, is to be a personable, sincere voice for the listener. Whether you are narrating as a kind old man or Dracula, Some people are great with words. But in my opinion they could never narrate. They can't be sincere. They speak down to the listener.

[Rapunzelina]

I'll also give each person a PDF with some good additional common sense common sense ideas and suggestions.

The pdf might be useful also for the people who don't do Zoom, if you'd like to share it here.

[philchenevert]

Hi and thank you. I would like to take advantage of your generous offer and hopefully improve my recording technique and/or setup. What do I do next?

[philchenevert]

OK, I have scheduled a session for next Monday at 9. Looking forward to it.

[dsuden]

OK, I have scheduled a session for next Monday at 9. Looking forward to it.

Great session, Phil, thanks so much for spending time with me!

[lightcrystal]

Thank you Dane. I just finished the free 15 minute coaching session. That was interesting. I read out a few passages from Oliver Twist and Dane gave me constructive tips and some downloaded material.

I would recommend LibriVox volunteers to take advantage of this.