The Truth of the Matter

The Truth of the Matter

Why all voiceover work must have truth at its heart

By Chas Rowe | British male voiceover

And that’s what counts. Photo by Brett Sayles via Pexels.

It was my first Vox (annual British voiceover) conference in 2010 and I was talking with the actor and voiceover artist, Pavel Douglas.

You’ve probably seen and heard Pavel. He’s been on the big and small screen in Goldeneye, Eastenders, Lovejoy, and even a recent Christmas Hallmark channel film.

Can you cry on cue? “Yes”, came back the reply. “Wow”, I said. “How do you even do that?”

His simple answer was one that struck me, and has stuck with me, ever since.

“You have to be in the moment”.

“Be in the moment… ok…” I let the idea sink in as my eyes rolled around, trying to understand what this meant.

Be in the moment. Be. In. The. Moment.

It’s taken me a long while to appreciate the wisdom of these words.

A lot of us are clearly not in the moment a lot of the time. We worry about the past. We’re anxious about the future. As human beings, we’re often not very good at being in the moment at all.

As the Beatles might put it, we struggle to ‘Let It Be’.

But Pavel‘s advice, or Pav as I’m allowed to call him now, is that to “be in the moment” is to be in the mental space that opens up, and invites in, a whole universe of possibilities to explore the human condition.

Being in the moment is the simple and effective advice for anyone who needs to communicate a message and command an audience at any time.

Be in the moment. Be present. Be in the zone. Go with the flow.

There are several ways you could describe this state of being.

After speaking about it to another actor and voiceover artist (and vocal tutor), Ian Swann, I think I would expand on Pavel’s interpretation and say – perhaps even more precisely – that to “be in the moment” is:

to get to the truth of the matter.

The matter of the truth. Photo by Brett Jordan via Pexels.

Truth, I feel, is a vital additional component to this idea of being – and by extension, being in the moment.

And I also feel that truth is not just something that an actor or a voiceover artist should evoke, or search for, in their performance.

But it is something that should be central to their being, so that they are it.

To be, or not to be, as Shakespeare put it in his famous Hamlet soliloquy.

The artist does not express it, channel it, or embody it; they do not become it and they do not even access it. They just are. They are the ‘truth of the moment’ – to use another possible expression.

You see, what matters in these moments of what actors, voice actors and voiceover artists somewhat wrongly call a “performance” is the truth.

And it has to be the truth. And equally, the truth has to be. Because the truth is clear. The truth is certain. The truth is indisputable. The truth is, as many people might say these days, authentic.

But, you know, the truth doesn’t even need the definite article, ‘the’.

If being in the moment is being, then truth is truth.

Or to boil it down further: the truth is.

It needs no introduction. No definition. No qualification.

Spelled out in black and white. Photo by Kevin Malik via Pexels.

All that matters is (the) truth.

Because the truth is at the heart of all matters. And all matter for that matter.

As for the matter of what we call “acting”, “performing”, or “performance” – no. What they really are, are states of being. Truly.

And these states of being are quantum – in that they can be in two places at once.

This means that two Hamlets can be in different states, online, or on different other material stages, and be just as genuine and thoughtful and “in the moment” as the other.

But, alas, as humans, or Hamlets, trying to be is tough.

It’s like searching for the truth.

So the simple answer is: just be. And the truth will find you.

Of course, a really good actor, actress, or voiceover artist knows, or should know by now, that truth and being must be interchangeably one and the same.

However, if you’re not a voiceover artist, but a hirer, a client, a customer, or whomever, you should equally know that your ways of being must also be the truth. All of your ways of being. And always.

You must be clear by knowing what you want. You must be certain in your words and actions. And you must not let your dealings become disputable.

Own the truth. Photo by Brett Jordan via Pexels.

If you’re working in commercial voiceovers, you must know and share the TVRs, or impressions.

If you’re working on a corporate video voiceover, you must know how narrowly or broadly the video will be consumed, on which platforms, and for how long.

If you’re working on an audiobook, you must know how many words and pages it has.

For every voiceover state (or genre) of being, you must be in the know about all matters.

If you aren’t, then this is not the truth.

This is not true for the voiceover artist, this is not true for you, and this is not true for anyone else.

So in truth, there can be no ‘must be’ or ‘must do’ with these things. As the engager, these things are your automatic states of being.

What you’re signing up for. Photo by Pixabay via Pexels.

So be everything you’re meant to be. Make robust agreements and stick to them. Set clear and defined terms. Pay in full and on time.

Be the engaged engager.

It’s your role. So be it.

And so be it – that is to say, know the situation is what it is.

Whether you’re a direct end client, an intermediary such as a production agency or a voiceover agent, a solo producer, a director, an animator, a scriptwriter, a video editor, or anyone else in the universe of other possibilities in the production chain.

Truth matters in all aspects of voiceover work. In emails, phone calls, negotiations, words in scripts, word counts, page numbers, timings, recording sessions, terms of usage and payment, audience figures, sales, and whatever else.

Everything quantum. That is to say, everything (based on the word’s Latin root) that is quantifiable, or measurable. Everything that counts. Everything that matters. Everything that binds all concerned.

This is the universal truth at heart of our business. And universally, the truth at the heart of all matters.

Whomever you are you are in such matters, the truth is that these matters matter to all of us. This is the universal truth.

So be you. Be true. Just be.

Further reading

Five Ways to Write Voiceover Copy Like a Jedi – Chas Rowe, British male voiceover

Five Keys to A Successful Voiceover Project – Chas Rowe, British male voiceover