Increase Your VO Accuracy, And You’ll Increase Your VO Profits

Photo by Stephan Henning on Unsplash

Hey there!

A bit of counterintuitive advice today, but advice that might make you more money.

And it has to do with, of all things, the width of your script’s window in Preview, Word, or whatever app you use to narrate from.

Hope this helps!

David

Responses

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  1. I do have a wide monitor–which is why I prefer putting Preview and Audacity up side-by-side. It improves focus on Preview, and allows me to keep a fraction of an eye on Audacity to make sure it’s continuing to work as I do. There’s a nifty utility called Spectacle that allows me to throw an app to that monitor, then stick it in the right half or left half of the monitor, using keystrokes. It’s now instinctive to open Audacity, then hit the pair of keystroke combinations that place it where I want it, ready to work.

  2. I actually like using my iPad Pro 9.7″ for the script. I set the microphone at a ~45 degree angle to my DAW screen, then actually turn my chair so I’m directly facing the mic, and not distracted by the DAW. It also makes interaction with the script very natural and noiseless, since I’m only touching the screen to move it. Bliss!

  3. I convert any .pdf to Word, change the margins, make the font bigger, then save as .pdf. Works like a charm! If I get a .pdf that is made from a .jpeg, then I use the + and – iconsat the top left to size the page. Hope that makes sense!

  4. This is why I put my script on a 7 inch tablet that I put on a stand. Scrolling makes no noise and there is no potential adverse affect to my DAW.

  5. I like my iPad for reading script/copy. I have a stand for it and it works very well in preventing eye strain and no constant movement of the eyes. No sound of rustling paper and no need for split screen on my computer when recording. Works very well.
    But I really like your take on less eye movement makes for quicker reads leading to fewer mistakes and more income potential.

  6. David, when you first taught this method of script reading in class it was literally an eye opener. It improved my reading accuracy noticeably.

    I still can’t read off the monitor for physical reasons—I even went back to try it on my new, big, curved monster. So like most of the other folks who commented, I use a tablet. It is attached to my mic arm so everything is always perfectly placed.

    To be sure the font is the proper size and the line length is narrow enough, I always convert to MS Word.

  7. A bit old fashioned here with word doc, but hands down when I enlarge font, I smoothly get through my reads…when I book with my Agent and have to go into a studio, I also ask if they can make the text larger. I like your idea of a more narrow margin, that is awesome!!

    Can’t wait to get on the mic today!