All Voice Actors Breathe
I remember when I first got into voice over years ago, one of the very first things I had to learn was not to hold my breath. 
Learning to actually incorporate breathing was hard. Voice actors need to learn how to breath and when to breathe. But being told to breath from your diaphragm and then automatically doing it at all the right places in the script are two very different things. That’s why this week fellow voice over coach Diana Birdsall and I invited Michelle Blenker into our Clubhouse room “Ask the VO Coaches.”
Michelle Blenker is a well-established professional voice actor and coach. Michelle is the only coach we know who has developed a curriculum specifically for breathing and voice over. She began her vocal training as a young child, taking singing lessons in MA where she grew up. There Michelle learned a breathing methodology to protect the voice.
This practice is useful beyond VO, and would work for people in sales or public speaking as well Michelle noted. As both a trained opera singer and a graduate with a Speech and Hearing Science degree, Michelle has both the training in specific breathing programs and the knowledge and understanding of human anatomy to bring out the best in her voiceover students.
Does Your Voice Feel Tired After Recording All Day?
We were eager to ask Michelle about vocal fatigue. Whether you are auditioning or doing booked work, often your voice feels tired as the day goes on. Our voice is a delicate instrument, Michelle explained. She said our entire being is used when we do voice over. We use our body but our vocal cords take the brunt of what we do so we need to use our whole body to support them. As we bring air into our larynx, we want the air to float through and we don’t want to push air in. She suggests that we reframe our thoughts about where our voice comes from and focus on the diaphragm.
How Can I Control My Breath More?
This is so common, from newbies to established professionals. Everyone wants to know how to best control their breath. Michelle cautions that if you sit, you often slouch which is problematic. In contrast, when you stand, you engage your legs. This provides a loosed base for your instrument. Apparently, most people barely use 40% of their air capacity!
In order to increase this amount, you need to learn how to stand. Then, you need to engage your ribs and fill them more deeply with air. Lastly, you need to control how quickly the air is exhaled. When you learn to use your resonators properly, which are found in your sinuses and more, many voice talents discover that their true voice is actually higher than they realized.
Interestingly, Michelle cautions that a lot of people mistakenly think their voice comes from their chest. It does not. Our vocal apparatus is actually suspended quite miraculously in air by muscle and just floats in the throat. That is why pushing too much air can be so destructive. Our instrument is so delicate. Unlike drums, we need to phonate healthfully to prevent our vocal cords from getting damaged.
How Do You Avoid Vocal Strain?
It seems like that raspy sound is still popular. Still, just because they ask for it, this does not mean you have to provide it if that is not your natural vocal tone. When we speak, our vocal cords vibrate and bump into each other to create sounds. When this happens, we can get nodules. Then, the vocal cords don’t open and close properly. To prevent rasp, there is an exercise you can do:
- Take a deep breath in and learn how to control the flow of air
- Do this singing and speaking exercise:
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- Very softly and gently sing “Hah-may-mah-mo-meh-moo” across keys
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Diana noted that she always feels like when she practices such exercises she should do them stronger and louder. Michelle explained that in this case it’s experiential and you should feel the softness and then put power behind it.
One of our attendees asked a question about promo reads. He said that when he tried to get deep resonance he loses his breath. Michelle confirmed that he stands and he said yes. She directed him to put one foot in front of the other. Then, he was told to tuck his bottom under to expand the back ribs. Michelle said that as he releases his breath he needs to control it and let it come through more slowly. She then told him to do the above exercise in the tucked stance, letting the air flow in and out like a balloon.
Another attendee wanted to know if cardio vascular exercise improves voice over endurance. She surmised that her best recording days are the days that she does her elliptical machine. Michelle suggested that your body is more oxygenated on work out days, so it is possible. She further instructed Lisa to work on practicing her breathing as she walks. To count her steps, and try to control her exhales as a means of learning to increase her breathing capacity.
We also had a touching chat with Keaston, a voice actor living with a spinal cord injury. Keaston has to sit all the time, so he was curious how this technique applies to him. I was fascinated to learn that like pilates, the technique that Michelle teachers her voice students was created for injured veterans after World War II. So, perhaps he could learn from it as well.
Final Thoughts and Breathing and VO
One of our regular attendees, Xavier, made an interesting observation. He noted that when he is really engaged in a script, you can’t hear him breathe and he incorporates the breath naturally. In the end, isn’t that the goal? To have good habits so that the breath flows naturally and all of these habits become second nature?
Like with other genres of voice over, actors have to make a choice. Directors give input and Randy works with that. Randy shared an anecdote about her late, great friend Chris Corley. Chris is well-known for being the voice of the MLB network, movie trailers, imaging, and more. Anyway, once auditioned. He was cast in this role. Once hired, they told him his read was not what they wanted. But, he was so committed and they loved that commitment to the read. The choices we make when we read and the characters we choose matter so much across genres.
Fast forward quite a few years. Now I have the luxury of having a weekly Clubhouse Room, “Ask the VO Coaches.” This week voice over legend Scott Parkin was our guest! Whether you know it or not, you likely know Scott! He is the voice and face of many recognizable brands as he does both voice over and on-camera work. He actually started out on morning radio. Scott has a national Tide TV commercial and many more. He has also made appearances on well-known shows like “Grace and Frankie.” Scott finds that the relationship between VO and on-camera work is symbiotic. Scott shared that most of his work comes in through his agents at DPN. As a single dad, his daughter Miranda grew up socializing with other talents in the DPN waiting room.
In the end, you have to trust your gut. If the coach has good referrals, and you feel like you will go far from working with them, it is reasonable to try coaching with them. Sometimes you can tell a lot by the demos they have produced and others that have coached with them, sometimes you can’t. One of the best coaches I ever had, Fred Frees, never coached anyone until I begged him to coach me. He was amazing. I found him in a testimonial on another coach’s website, and Fred was incredible. He gave meaningful feedback, he listened, he was genuine, he was kind, and he had years of industry experience. What more could I have wanted? I think about Fred often. Don’t pick someone because of their name. Find the right fit for YOU. We all need something different, and we all learn differently. So, find someone who is the right coach for you!
I consider the is to be the “Golden Rule” of voiceover! Whether a job is worth $200 or $2000, I treat every single client the same. If a new student books a single lesson or a five pack, they too are treated equally. First, I truly cherish each and every booking. Whether as a talent or as a 
One of my values is respect of everyone’s time. In the last year, I made a shift to using Calendly to book meetings and sessions. Automating bookings has been a huge improvement not just to my quality of life, but is also a giant nod of respect to my own time. There is no longer a repeated back and forth just ti schedule a 20 minute introductory zoom. Or when a student needs to book a session they have paid for, I no longer waste their time waiting for me to confirm a booking. It all happens seamlessly, which benefits everyone. Another way that I try to be respectful of everyone’s time, whether it is in a Clubhouse or a live session, is that I always am mindful of how much time has been booked. If an hour has been allotted, I try to work within the hour, and not run over. I always keep in mind everyone has a schedule.
Try to be giving when you work with clients. Don’t nickel and dime them, try to think of the big picture. When you go out to eat, and you ask for extra of something, how do you feel when the waitress immediately snaps about extra charges? Even if there are extra fees, there are pleasant way to introduce them, and then there is a tone that makes you seem like an anxious money grubber. Recently the traversing rod in my bedroom broke. I had to reach out to the local upholstery man, John, who had made them to come back and repair them. I had no idea how much he was going to charge and I had to call him repeatedly to beg him to do the work. I was worried that with each pleading call the price would go up. Instead, when he came to do the work, he charged me less than I expected. In this scenario, I was delighted by the quality of his work, his turnaround, and hsi fair price. This is how I want clients to feel every time they work with me.
Make it easy for clients to get what they need. Once you have a booking, turn that booking into a repeat client by making it is easy as possible for your customer to get exactly what they need by being genuinely helpful and kind. For example, I happen to have a lot of international clients. Often, the scripts were clearly not written by a native English speaker, and they need revision. I offer Copy Writing. If the changes are minimal, I do not charge. If the changes are quite involved, I send a helpful and caring note and suggest my usual hourly rate for this before I move forward.
