My voice is not so low that I’m really selling the heavy duty Ford F150’s with the gruff man’s man manliest of men voices. No Darth Vader-y James Earl Jones sounds are coming out of my pipes. But I’m also not sliding in with a high pitched squeak city voice. My voice is more in-between these two registers.
My voice has a kind of natural drawl that is just long enough to be languid but not so long that it feels like Ee-ore is reciting the a Charles Dickens’ novel.
I believe that my type for Voiceover is that of a guy. A guy who drinks beer, or a guy who likes cars, a guy who maybe pays for DirectTV just so he can get NFL Season Pass. I think it can be a guy who is a slacker who needs some chips to get through his day.
As far as type goes I think I can be lively, jovial and friendly, but can also be snarky, distrusting, and grossed out. I think the niche product market for me is dudes selling other dudes stuff and not making those dudes feel emasculated.
There is not so much of a man’s man quality about it and not so “chillaxed” as a dude-dude, but someone in-between. The regular Joe. The guy you trust, the person who can change your tire but isn’t going to talk to you about all the different lug-nuts you have the option of getting (unless we really have to delve into that stuff).
He’s a dad who loves his kids and plays quirky and fun games with them. He’s a dad that for his kid’s birthday makes their favorite storybook come to life in their backyard (and sometimes messes up). He’s a DIY guy who likes to take care of others and sometimes needs some help from some trusty, easy to use, easy to understand products.
He’s a friend who is almost over hanging out with his friends and feels a little too grown up to continue on with teenage shenanigans from yesteryear but when his friends urge him to throw a cherry bomb in the bathroom of the local bar, he sighs before giggling and throwing it in and needing to find a lawyer to take care of his ticket for…not acting his age.
He’s a guy who likes the simpler things in life. Pizza hut. McDonald’s. Kraft American Cheese. Anything fast quick and easy where he can take care of both himself and his loved ones is probably the best route for him to take. And the better the deal, the better for his life, and the life of his friends and family.
Outside of that, my degree at DePaul and the voice work and classes I've labored through have afforded me the skills to tap into a myriad of varying "unique" voice types, including but not limited to: accents of all types, goblins, wizards, superheroes, villains and everything in-between.
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