Take Action #27: Getting your own practice copy together

1. This exercise is to help you begin to compile your own practice copy for you to work on and then eventually use to create your commercial or animation demo reel.

2. For commercial copy, find magazines, see which ads visually pop out at you and write down the advertisement (or if the magazine is yours, pull the page out). Remember that print copy reads differently from commercial audio copy, so use the print as a starting point and then make slight adjustments to help the line flow.

3. To build animation copy, find an inanimate object in your house, then begin to write a monologue or conversation this object/character might have with you about its needs or hopes or dreams. Another wonderful way to create animation copy is to write down your favorite characters from animated shows, then rename them and make changes to what you know of their experiences, then try building a history or story for them that you find interesting.

4. Note which type of ad goes with the different types of commercial types (hard sell, soft sell, partner read, tag, etc.) also review your animation copy to see what types of characters you’re showing off and make sure you have some variety that works with your voice.

5. Put all your found (and massaged) copy into a binder, and practice randomly flipping to different pieces and reading and performing them as you would if you were in the booth.

Wonderful. You’ve had the chance to hone your unique vocal qualities and become more familiar with your natural voice. You’ve also probably gotten to see how your body reacts to a warm-up and how that can better prepare your voice for a session. You’ve read copy and made choices and have begun the process of building your own personal stack of practice copy that you can use as you move toward making your demo reel.

Voice-over isn't like it used to be where only 'certain' voices worked, now there are voices of all kinds and varieties to make up the spice of life. Basically, if you are a solid actor, are professional and considerate and you have good mic technique there is no reason you can't work in VO, of course, someone would have to hire you, so you'd need your demo reel ($$$$, time, energy) and most likely you will need to secure an agent to represent you and get you auditions (time/energy) as well as giving yourself as much as an edge as possible by taking classes, practicing your craft, knowing your voice and how to take care of it; so planning a career in voice-over is an investment.

The wonderful world of voice-over allows you to create amazing characters, to teach, to entertain, to offer new alternatives and to go on a whole new adventure. Remember, voice acting just “acting” without the bonus of using your facial expressions or body language to convey something visually, so your intention has to come across with just your voice helped by your imagination. And we all have one of those…

Take Action #26 Practice Copy

PRACTICE WITH SCRIPTS & COPY So, your body is warmed up, your mind is awake and you’re ready to get your hands (well, your vocal cords anyway) dirty with some actual voice-over work. There’s a lot to take in when you are looking at a script so here are a few helpful (non-acting) hints and reminders.

As we mentioned in the book, if you’re working on ADR/dubbing, there might be notations in the script to let you know where pauses (sometimes called ‘hitches’) fall, at what time-code the line starts and ends, and what lines might be on-camera and not. If you’re recording original animation there might be loop numbers before each line of dialogue. Let’s review briefly some common notations, as any extra information you can mine from the page can help to inform your performance.

Hitches (means pause) (^, …, /_, ) MNS – mouth not seen, OM, CM – open mouth, closed mouth _______ - off screen Time code – 01:02:03:04

Below is a practice script, some fake commercial copy for you to practice with. Create a practice work session that you can go back and review by using some sort of audio recording device to record yourself while you practice out loud. Enjoy your session!

1.As you read, try circling all the notations you notice as well as be extra aware of any information you can mine from the page. 2 Ask yourself the Who-What-Where-When-Why-hoW questions to see what comes up. Underline this information to help you see if it affects your interpretation or acting choices.

COMMERCIAL COPY

Your new voice-over agent would like you to read some of the spots they just got in today so they can see what would best suit your voice. Often agents will have you read for all sorts of things when you first sign, as a way of throwing things up against the wall to see what sticks. So, go ahead and read the various copy that’s come in

Luxury: The Jewelry Outlet at KnollCrest is having a pre-Valentines engagement ring sale. Come on down and surprise your loved one with the proposal of a lifetime. We have 24 karat gold and platinum rings on sale for almost 30% off, this weekend only. High Energy: It’s Faaaaaaantastic. Super Fruit Bowl ‘O’Sugars get you ready for a day of fun in the sun. Filled with vitamins, minerals and naturally sweetened real fruit pieces, Bowl’O’Sugars are part of a complete breakfast. Start your morning right, be fan-tastic.

Promo This October, The Best Show on TV is moving to a new time…five days a week. Catch your favorite characters Mindy, Bobbi and Karl now at 7pm on KOOLTV.

Partner read: A: Honey did you forget to pay the phone bill? B: What do you mean, I thought it was automatic? A: Oh, right, its just so easy, I keep forgetting? B: Yeah, now we can spend time thinking about more fun things. A: Like if you paid the cable bill? Announcer: Don’t let bills get you down, use the automatic bill pay feature offered by Earth Bank to pay for all your charges throughout the month, even if your provider doesn’t have an auto feature set up. Earth Bank the bank of the Earth. Not available in intergalactic space station Giltex. Soft sell: Soft CleoPattra Egyptian sheets are specially designed to become softer with use…and every time you wash them the natural bamboo fibers relax just a hint more…which makes your bed even more comfortable to get into….who wouldn’t want to sleep in…Soft CleoPattra Sheets. Easy to sleep on, easy to sleep in. High Energy: I love hitting the BergerJack on the way to the game. I can fill up on all my favorites, a real ice-cream shake, a 100% beef patty and a large Idaho potatoes home fries for under 5 bucks. And I can even grab something for the coach, so if I’m a little late to practice sometimes, no harm done.

Tag: Prices based on participation and subject to change without notice, offer good only in the continental United States, all entries must be postmarked by July 4, or will not be considered.

The above copy will give you good practice in looking for clues on the page as well as making cold choices. Of course, there are so many different types of spots always remember you can tune into the radio or TV to see what is currently running.

Take Action #25: Radio Follow-Along

Turn on the radio or TV and try to mimic not only the words, but the accent, the inflection of the speaker and see how close you can get to sounding like them. This is another great (and inexpensive) way to practice is to mimic things you hear. Listen to your favorite radio station and simply mimic the DJ’s, the commercial announcers, even the newscasters. Not only will this clue you in to the types of voices that are booking work, but you’ll often come up with new and exciting voices just by trying to mimic someone else’s.

Take Action # 24 Audition Time

1. This exercise is to help simulate an audition experience for you. Remember to look for all the information on the page to give you clues to your performance.2. Do a trial run with each of the specs and record yourself. Play it back and listen to hear if what you planned in your head was apparent in your recording.

Try out the following Commercial and Animation Audition Copy using the following specs. See how each unique spec changes your performance.

Commercial –

Specs: 1. young, cheerful, spunky 2. wants to be everyone’s friend 3. eternally optimistic 4.intelligent, honest, down-to-earth

1. In the summer heat, 2 bucks can go a long way. Now, at The Burger Joint, grab a large drink, large fries and your choice of hamburger or cheeseburger for only $1.99. Come in and fill up for less than 2 bucks.

2. Why choose one of those other companies that might loose your package or handle it with less-than-optimal care? Let BoxYouUp come by your office or home and package, mail and deliver your important items at your convenience. Visit BoxYouUp.com for pricing. Animation –

Specs: 1. energetic, sporty, hot shot 2. is always having a good time 3. goofy, crazy, wild 4.nervous and easily excited

1. Hey little monkey, I don’t know what you are doing in there, but you need to come out right now. You hear me?I don’t wanna have to yell. C’mon now. Get out. Get. OUT. Monkeeeeeeeeee! OUT. Now see, that wasn’t so bad, now was it. Ha! Silly monkey.

2. You mean there is more out there than this? Robots even? Wicked! Because I’ve been waiting my whole life for that.I just know I can take them on. Let’s go. What are you waiting for? Let’s do this thing. Woah. Did you see that? I’m awesome.

Fantastic. Hopefully getting the experience of listening to your performance has given you a deeper understanding of the variety of things you will want to consider when working on audition material or even going to an audition. Of course, this exercise can’t exactly duplicate an audition experience, but the more prepared you feel before you go into an audition situation, the more confident and relaxed you will be, and the higher your chances of you doing your best work, and with any luck, booking the job!

Take Action #23: Fight Sounds

1. punch small medium large 2. kick small medium large

3. attack small medium large

4. hit (you’re being hit) small medium large

5. death small medium large

The above is a good example of something you’ll encounter quite a bit in video games because video games are generally chock full of action. Imagine what kind of sounds you’d make in the given situations. Mix it up a little and try a variety of sounds like hy-ah, ki, shah, rah, gar, huh, for example. Try the same sounds with different types of efforts to see how they come out. Experiment with different lengths of efforts. Often in a video game session they will ask for a small, medium and large version of each fight sound. Imagine the difference between getting your earlobe flicked, getting punched in the face and getting decked with a sledgehammer. A good imagination will bring variety and directors really like variety. Give ‘em what they want and they’ll call you again.

Try to make sure you are generating the sound from good diaphragmatic support and not uncomfortably constricting your throat to create the sound. Straining your throat can put a lot of pressure on your vocal cords and could damage your voice.

Another great (and inexpensive) way to practice is to mimic things you hear. Listen to your favorite radio station and simply mimic the DJ’s, the commercial announcers, even the newscasters. Not only will this clue you in to the types of voices that are booking work, but you’ll often come up with new and exciting voices just by trying to mimic someone else’s.

Take Action #22: Complete Body Warm-Up

1.lie down flat on your back somewhere comfortable yet firm 2. hum/sigh in and out

3. practice panting

4. roll over to one side and then slowly get up to a standing position (make sure you’re not holding your breath!)

5. do some neck rolls - very gently roll your head around in small circles both clockwise and counterclockwise to warm up your neck and throat

6. do some shoulder rolls - gently roll your shoulders forward and backward to loosen and warm up your back and neck

7. shake out your feet/hands - gently get your circulation going by shaking your hands and feet out

8. jump 1-10

9. massage your face - rub your hands together until they’re warm, then massage your face to relax all the bones and muscles there

10. lion/mouse – this is a fun one, which you can do in front of a mirror if it makes you happy. As the lion, stretch and open all the muscles in your face, your eyes your mouth so you look like a scary lion getting ready to bite your head off, then immediately switch to mouse face, where you twist and tighten all the muscles in your face, eyes and mouth so that you are as small and pressed as possible, switch between the two to send blood to those areas and wake them up.

11. tongue extension - stick your tongue out as far as it will stretch, then pull it back in. do this several times. Also try and touch your nose with your tongue. Now your chin. Now your right ear, and now your left (if you have to towel your face off after this one, you’re doing it right).

12. sirens

13. trills

14.P-T-K-T, B-D-G-D

15. tongue twisters (find some of your favorite tongue twisters and practice saying them as quickly as possible) search “tongue twisters” on the Internet and see what comes up (“Peter Piper…” What a to do…” “Unique New York,” “Red leather, Yellow Leather…”).

Now, hopefully, you feel awake, alive and ready to play. You can take as long as you’d like with this warm-up or you can time yourself. For example, if you’re short on time, see if you can get thru the entire warm-up in only 5 minutes. If you have more time, allow your body to warm up a little more slowly, maybe giving yourself a half hour to get through all the exercises. Adjust the warm–up to your specific needs.

Fight sounds, efforts and reactions can be a tricky part of voice-over especially if your voice isn’t warmed up. They’ll turn up almost no matter what type of VO you’re doing, from animation to video games to sometimes even commercials. Take the time to make sure your voice is fully warmed-up and awake before trying this next exercise so that you don’t hurt your vocal cords.

Want to feel ready to tackle auditions, VO sessions or expand your breath control and range? The Warm-Up MP3 or CD - both are available here

Take Action #21: Trills

Roll your tongue on the roof of your mouth (in a “Spanish ‘R’ ” sound) while going up and down the scale Doing trills combines warming up your vocal cords with waking up your tongue. Since your vocal apparatus is like a machine, you want all of its parts warmed up, well-oiled and working together to create your best, strongest, most versatile voice.

Great articulation, and rapid tongue movement is what a ventriloquist uses when throwing their voice.

Take Action #20: Articulation

1. P-T-K-T (puh-tuh-kuh-tuh) Repeat the sounds P-T-K-T over and over (p-t-k-t-p-t-k-t…) 2. B-D-G-D (buh-duh-guh-duh) Repeat the sounds B-D-G-D over and over (b-d-g-d-b-d-g-d…) 3. P-T-K-T-B-D-G-D (puh-tuh-kuk-tuh-buh-duh-guh-duh) Repeat the sounds P-T-K-T-B-D-G-D over and over (p-t-k-t-b-d-g-d-p-t-k-t-p-t-g-d…) 4. Vary up the pattern a bit to make it harder for yourself. Try also going up and down the scale while doing this articulation exercise 5. After doing this exercise for a bit, try one of your favorite tongue twisters and see if it’s easier.

This exercise will allow your mouth to get warmed up while working on both plosive and non-plosive sounds. Also be aware of your breathing throughout the articulation exercises, so that it also helps you practice breath control.

Take Action #19: Dog Pant

1. Place your hand on your diaphragm. 2. Open your mouth and allow the tongue to relax and hang out of your mouth. 3. As quickly as possible, inhale and exhale, like you’re a dog panting. (of course, if you feel dizzy or lightheaded, stop immediately)

We’ve been focusing on strengthening your diaphragm, but that won’t be the only thing you’ll be using. Your diaphragm will be working in conjunction with your mouth, tongue and mind so they must be ready to go as well. Articulation, or the ability to speak clearly, is a crucial element to a voice actor’s repertoire. Not every character you play will need good articulation (and sometimes you may even be told to articulate less), but it is always better to have it up your sleeve, so that if you’re slurring your speech, it’s a choice rather than an issue.

Take Action #18: Snake Hiss

1. Inhale deeply and then, holding your palm an inch in front of your mouth so you can feel the air, let out a hiss. 2. Hiss for as long as you are comfortable and then take a deep breath. 3. Repeat this 5 times alternating between an “s” hiss and a “z” hiss (which we guess might be called a ‘hizz’).

4. Begin to gradually increase the length of your hiss (or hizz) as you are comfortable. Hissing can strengthen your abdominal muscles and your diaphragm because they are working to maintain one strong continuous flow of air. Another exercise that’ll work your abs is to pant, rapidly, like a dog when it is hot. This exercise will force your diaphragm to rapidly push and pull, which will strengthen it over time, but might tire you out pretty quickly. The benefits are many, though, not the least of which being to help protect your voice when you have to do any shouting or yelling.

Take Action #17: The Count

1-2-3 inhale 1-2-3 hold 1-2-3 exhale 1-2-3 hold 1-2-3-4 inhale 1-2-3-4 hold 1-2-3-4 exhale 1-2-3-4 hold 1-2-3-4-5 inhale 1-2-3-4-5 hold 1-2-3-4-5 exhale 1-2-3-4-5 hold

Having a strong diaphragm will not only help you maintain your breath for longer periods of time, it can also help you yell, scream, shout and make fighting and reaction noises, all of which are likely to come into play in voice acting. Continue exercising and strengthening your diaphragm so that no matter what type of VO job you jump into next, you’ll be that much more ahead of the game.

Certain sounds (“s” and “z”) will naturally help you ‘hold on’ to your voice and increase the amount of time you can breathe in or out. The next exercise will help you to strengthen this ‘muscle.’ Using the “s” or “z” sound, (rather like a snake hissing) try to slow the air down as much as you can while pushing it out. Start by counting to a lower number (say, three) while inhaling, then exhale on the hiss for three as well and up the count as you feel comfortable doing so. Try also adding a count between breathing in and out, so you’re breathing in, holding, then breathing out, holding, then breathing in again, and so on.

Take Action #16: Your Breath

1. Begin by lying flat on the ground and placing your hand on your abdomen just below your ribs.2. Feel the natural rise and fall as you breathe. 3. Notice the natural ‘pause’ between inhale and exhale.

This is how your body breathes without you trying to do anything to control it. As you breathe, there should be four sections to each breath: 1. an inhale, 2. a pause, 3. an exhale, 4. a pause. We usually don’t feel the pauses because they’re short and they happen naturally, but they’re there, all right. This next exercise focuses on lengthening, or expanding, your breath. Begin by inhaling for a three-count, holding for a three-count, exhaling for a three-count and holding for a three-count. Do this until it’s comfortable and then start to increase your count, four-count, five-count, etc. If you start to feel light-headed or dizzy, stop immediately and take a break. See if you can comfortably work up to 5, 6, 7 or even 8, 9, 10.

(Tara once had a voice teacher who could breathe in and out on a thirty-count, which comes with a lot of practice. Being able to hold your breath and control your breathing allows you to play with your voice more, giving you more range and stamina, which could come in handy for things such as recording long passages for audiobooks or characters who really ramble on.)

Take Action #15: Front-Mid-Back Sounds

1. Using a “nee, nee, nee, nee” sound, try squinting your eyes or scrunching your face muscles between the sounds and on some of the sounds to create a more nasal resonance2. Switch to humming to feel a very mid mouth placement 3. Now move the sound to the back of the mouth and throat by making a “guh, guh, guh guh” sound. 4. Try switching between the “nee”, the hum and the “guh” tofeel how your voice resonates in different areas of your body.

It can be very fun to learn to control your voice and be able to switch between a voice that is more frontal and a voice that is further back. Try reading this paragraph out loud in your natural voice and while doing so, move the sound toward your nose for a bit, and then reverse it and move it toward your throat and belly. Pay attention to where your voice is most comfortable as well as where it’s beginning to expand to offer you new and exciting options.

Take Action #14: Chewing Hum

1. Keep your mouth and lips closed and begin to hum.2. Start chewing, as if you were eating something tasty, as you keep humming. 3. Now use your hands to feel the vibration in the front of your face, your nose, your cheeks, and gently allow your hands to move to your neck and throat, and perhaps even onto your belly so that you can feel how your voice resonates in different areas of your body.

Using the chewing hum can warm up the different areas where your voice will resonate. Once again, when your voice resonates, it bounces around a certain area of your body, whether that’s up in your face, nose or head area, your throat, or your chest or belly.

Now to begin to identify where your voice is resonating, let’s concentrate on specific sounds that tend to resonate in different areas. Certain sounds we create generally vibrate more toward the head, while others, because we use different muscles to make them, may vibrate lower, toward the belly. If you can learn to control where you choose to place your voice, you can begin to use it in more powerful and interesting ways.

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Take Action #13: Sirens with and without Lip Trill

1. Keeping your lips together, like you were making imaginary car (or motorboat, if you prefer) “brrrm, brrrrm” noises, and allow your lips to make a “raspberry” type sound (like a good old-fashioned Bronx cheer without sticking your tongue out), or lip trill. Begin at the bottom of your possible range and while continuing the lip trills gradually raise your pitch until you hit your highest note possible.2. Now reverse direction. Start at the top of your range and move downward thru your natural pitch to your lowest note. 3. Continue your lip trills while going from low to high and back to low again. It’ll sound a little like a siren. 4. Repeat the sirens 3-5 times until you feel like your voice is beginning to get warmed up. 5. This can be hard to describe on paper. Feel free to visit this link ( ) to see an example.

Lip trills are a great way not only to warm up your face and resonators in your sinus cavities, but also helps keep your vocal cords and neck muscles from tensing up while you’re warming up your voice. Don’t worry if your voice cracks during the sirens. That’s just a natural part of expanding your range. We all have “head tones” (high) as well as “chest tones” (low) in our range, and in order to move back and forth continuously from one to the other, you have to move through your natural “break,” which is the sound that often people associate with a teen boy going through puberty. One of the reasons for this is that the vocal cords are actually growing and stretching and sounds that used to be easily within one range move to a different register, and the voice “cracks” as it pushes through unfamiliar territory. So in addition to warming up your voice, this exercise can also help you widen your vocal range.

Sirens w/out Lip Trill

1. Allow your mouth to hang slightly open, and begin an “ee” sound at the bottom of your range. As you exhale, slide your pitch higher and higher until you hit your highest note possible. 2. Now reverse direction. Start at the top of your range and slide your pitch downward until you hit your lowest note. 3. Make sure your face and jaw are relaxed and comfortably open while making the siren sound. 4. Repeat the sirens 3-5 times until you feel like your voice is warming up. Practicing sirens can really begin to stretch your range and gently allow the musculature in your face and neck (as well as your vocal cords) to begin to become accustomed to the sounds you’ll be making while acting.

Whether you have a high or low-pitched voice you can also begin to think about the placement of the sound you’re making. This is separate from the pitch. Placement relates to the physical location in your body where your voice is resonating. For example, if you have a head cold and are all stuffed up, you might sound very frontal, or nasal, since your sinuses are blocked and thus blocking the sound from escaping completely, therefore creating a very frontal resonant sound. If you drop the sound way back to the back of your throat, then you would almost sound like you were swallowing the sounds, creating a very different quality altogether.

Begin to play around with extremely frontal, a mid-range placement as well as a back placed sound. This is something that you can bring into your work and begin to pick and choose where certain voices you create will be placed and where others will lie instead. [Should this be a new exercise to help develop awareness of where you’re placing your voice?]

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Take Action #12: Phrasinator Mix’Em’Up

Using the phrases for our last exercise, try Exercise: The Phrasinator

• Over here......................................... Excited
• I need that........................................ Overjoyed
• Let go...............................................Secretive
• What are you talking about..................Frustrated
• Don’t do that......................................Uncomfortable
• I don’t think that’s a good idea..............Annoyed
• Give me the new one..........................Angry
• No....................................................Scared
• Try it again........................................Sleepy
• Listen to me......................................Happy
• Alright..............................................In awe
• Stop right there.................................Uncomfortable
• Wow that’s huge................................Frightened

Then if you want continue playing with the phrases by trying each of the different descriptions with each of the sentences. To take it one step further, try adding punctuation (? . !) and see how that might change the way you say the lines.

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Take Action #11 - Can You Shake Up Your Rhythms?

Our last blog exercise hopefully got you going, stepping out of your natural voice. Now, use the following exercise, which we like to call “The Phrasinator,” to shake up your own rhythms. Read each phrase on the left with the emotional intention on the right.

Exercise: The Phrasinator

• Over here.........................................Uncomfortable
• I need that........................................ Scared
• Let go...............................................Frightened
• What are you talking about..................Awe
• Don’t do that......................................Sleepy
• I don’t think that’s a good idea..............Happy
• Give me the new one..........................Overjoyed
• No....................................................Annoyed
• Try it again........................................Uncomfortable
• Listen to me......................................Angry
• Alright..............................................Secretive
• Stop right there..................................Frustrated
• Wow that’s huge................................Excited

Was the word on the right not always the word you might have naturally associated with the phrase on the left? Did you discover some fun things simply by shaking things up a bit in this way?

Now, let’s take it one step further, and crank up the phrasinator. Try reading the first phrase with each of the thirteen words in the right-hand column, one at a time. Then move to the second phrase and do the same thing. Then the third, and so on, until you’ve gone through all the phrases and all the descriptive words. Do you begin to feel your old boundaries melting away as you expand your vocal tool box? Are you beginning to see the potential in this exercise for setting your audition apart from how another actor might automatically read a line?

If you want to continue playing with these phrases, take it one step further by adding punctuation (? . ! …) and see how that might change the way you say the lines as well.

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Take Action #10 - Can You Step Out of Your Natural Voice?

Stepping outside of your natural voice can be a lot of fun! Once you understand what your natural vocal qualities and “sound” are, you can begin to play outside the box and expand the range of characters and qualities you can offer. This exercise helps you play with a range of emotions. As you read the following phrases, you’ll notice that we have removed all punctuation, which can often be a clue to a phrase’s tone. But in order to expand your range, let’s play around with the many different ways the same phrase can be said. First, see what your natural inclination is when you read the phrase. Copy and paste this blog to a Word Doc, and after each one, write down the adjective that you feel most fits the phrase/sentence. For example, a sentence such as “stop,” might be angry. As you read the phrases, see how you naturally interpret the emotion associated with saying the words.

Exercise: Phrases

• Over here                                          
• I need that                                         
• Let go                                                   
• What are you talking about       
• Don’t do that                                    
• I don’t think that’s a good idea 
• Give me the new one                   
• No                                                         
• Try it again                                         
• Listen to me                                      
• Alright                                                 
• Stop right there                               
• Wow that’s huge                            

Now, review your phrase list and see how you naturally ‘heard’ the specific words. Perhaps your “no,” was “frustrated,” because you assumed that if you are telling someone “no,” it’s because you’re frustrated about something.

Becoming familiar with your instincts can be very helpful because it’ll allow you to make a choice outside of your natural inclination, which can yield very interesting results.

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VOVA on Lulu

The book is now available as an eBook for anyone who loves to read on the go! Simply visit Voice-Over Voice Actor on Lulu to buy your copy now. The eBook is the entire paperback version in a handy electronic delivery! Enjoy! But if you'd prefer to hold a book you can still pick up a copy at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Samuel French, Drama Book Shop and our website (where you can also get autographed copies).

Take Action #9 - What are your specific vocal qualities?

Taking from Action #7 and #8, consider your list of adjectives and adverbs and how certain words describe other people's voices and particular vocal rhythms and patterns. Now, using your list begin to eliminate words that don't fit your voice and hone in not only on which famous folks have similar sounds to you but what your own vocal description might be.

Adjective/Adverb List

Wry                               Calm                     Perky

Honest                         Open                  Cut-to-the-chase

Sarcastic                     Happy                 Clipped

Giddy                           Haughty              Innocent

Secretive                     Emotional         Bored

Inquisitive                  Playful                  Cool

Sexy                              Witty                     Crazed

Earnest                       Angry                    Grounded

Trustworthy            Confident              Relaxed

As you go through each word on the list, be really honest with yourself when deciding if it fits your voice naturally. Right now the focus is not on whether or not you can sound a certain way if you push it, but how you normally sound without pushing. Happy hunting!