1. Your Room…Don’t underestimate the importance of the environment that you’re in. Professional studios are acoustically treated areas made for recording. However, not all of us have the budget that large scale studios have. So, what can you do? Remove as much reflection as possible. If you can, build a small partitioned wall on wheels. Cover the wall with acoustic foam then pitch the wall so that it’s not parallel with the opposing wall. Play with the angle you pitch the wall until you’re satisfied. In fact, the more parallel services you can remove, the better. Now that you’ve removed some of the reflection, start treating the rest of the walls with acoustic foam. You might be wondering how to do this. Well, there are companies like Auralex that can help you know what kind of foam to apply and where to apply. BELIEVE ME, it’s worth the money to do this right the first time. (Also, don’t forget to keep your computers, printers…etc, away from your recording area. You don’t want to introduce any other noise.)
2. Your Gear…I’ve used a lot of different types of mics, monitors, and mic processors over the years. I’m really happy with the gear I’m currently using. For specific information about what we use, check out the Studio page. No matter what, you need a quality microphone made for voice over, the best set of monitors you can afford, and the best mic processor that you can afford. Your sound will only be as good as these 3 components.
3. Technique…Ok, so here’s the few things I’ve learned.

• When you’re going to be recording don’t drink milk or anything else that makes what milk makes in your throat…:-)
• Drink HOT coffee or tea 20-30 minutes before you record.
• While you’re drinking your HOT beverage, be reading some copy to get “warmed up”. Unless you’ve got a great set of pipes, don’t expect to grab the mic and lay down the perfect voice over without warming up.
• Try reading copy on an empty stomach. An empty stomach allows you to move more air.
• I like to read copy first thing in the morning. Generally, you’ll have more volume on the lower end of your register in the morning.
• Swallow before you read.
• Try reading copy without headphones on. I’ve found that if the room is decent, you can control the volume and inflection of your voice better listening with just your ears.
• Think of someone specific when you read copy. As you read, imagine you’re talking to that person.
• Don’t over-think the copy. Speak naturally. The copy will come out much more convincing if it doesn’t sound “read”.
• The best advice I’ve ever gotten is to SMILE…of course this depends on what you’re reading. But, for those of us in Christian radio, smiling as you read copy can be heard. Try it yourself. Have someone in the room with you. Grab a piece of copy, turn facing away from them, read the copy with a straight face and then with a smile…even a child will be able to hear a smile.
• Another great asset to good delivery is using your hands and eyebrows. Your voice is not separate from the rest of your body. Using your hands affects how your voice sounds. Your eyebrows are no different. Drawing your eyebrows up naturally “draws” your voice into an interrogative tone. Drawing your eyebrows down naturally “draws” your voice into a declarative and serious tone.

Well, I hope that these few tips have helped. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.