Ever wondered why broadcasts that include interviews often sound more comfortable than solo casts? It’s because none of us is trained to sound comfortable talking to a wall, which is usually what we’re doing when we voice. To sound conversational, we need the interaction of another person.
The best delivery sounds like a conversation with a good friend. I call it “enlarged conversation” because you should be a bit more careful with your articulation, but the general feeling should be one of conversation.
If you think you don’t sound conversational enough on air, begin the improvement process by imagining a person. This person you imagine should not be a vague, nebulous image. Pick a real person who you are comfortable talking with and can imagine very vividly–a sister, friend, coworker, or next door neighbor. Seeing this person in your mind when you voice your script will create a sense of comfortable communication.
The most important aspect of this exercise is for you to imagine the feedback the person gives you when you talk to them. Do they nod? Do they look interested? It’s this feedback that will allow you to adjust your delivery to sound conversational. When the listener’s feedback is missing, we forget some of the essentials about how to sound conversational.
In your broadcast you are always talking with just one person, not to a whole audience, because we listen one person at a time. Try putting a person in your head when you voice to get a comfortable delivery. Read lots more about this in my ebook, BROADCAST VOICE HANDBOOK (see chapter six on sounding conversational). It’ll help you put this into practice.
