A famous actor is said to have once remarked that “…acting is all about being genuine and true to yourself…once you can fake that, you’ve got it made…” (generally attributed to Spencer Tracy).
Today’s Nancy Wolfson mini video lesson about lying struck me almost as hard as the one where she asks you to cuss (in your mind) to reach a certain attitude. [Being an on-air talent, I purged swear words from my daily life as protection from getting fired…and here is my trusted coach telling me to do exactly that! Never mind… she was right!]
The thing about Wolfson’s approach to voice-coaching is that it always moves you out of a place of comfort (read: rut), and bids you discover something you didn’t realize you had in you, until somebody (Wolfson) forces you off the cliff.
But as usual, I’m getting ahead of myself. You’ll see what I mean about that in today’s video about not judging the copy.
Watch:
[quicktime]http://braintracksaudio.com/soundreal/6_learn_to_lie.mov[/quicktime]
You can also see the video on her website: http://www.braintracksaudio.com/soundreal/6.html
Politics is a great example here, but it could be a food item, a hotel, or a car that you don’t like…reading a spot for something that has a negative connotation for you.
I like the politics example, though. It comes up regularly in election cycles because the liberal/conservative passion brings out strong emotions and allegiances in us. Some voice-actors simply find they cannot retain their integrity and do a spot for an opposing viewpoint. The typical rejoinder is that the political client WILL find someone to pay good money to do the spot…it might as well be you. Personal decision, I guess. But if you find you have to lie at some point in life, ‘might as well be openly disingenuous about it AND get paid for it.
The lying lesson is but a smidge of the total wisdom you’ll find in the complete video offering called: HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE. Wolfson’s shrewd analysis of acting specifically for advertising speaks for itself in this insanely-inexpensively-priced video of 127 valuable Coursework Tips from Nancy’s private curriculum.
The result is, you’re gonna want to hire Wolfson for the Olympic-scale Circuit-training Triathalon series of real-time lessons anyway, and THERE you’ll get the swearing lesson and the lesson on lying and oodles of other career-changing tips right from the source. No subsitute!
So start with the video (HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE), and if you don’t believe me, call: 702-610-6288 and I’ll give ya the straight poop on Wolfson….I don’t get any kickbacks for it.
CourVO
