When you begin to consider of it logically, you know how important it is for your commerical or presentation to have the best voice behind it. After all, voices are persuasive. Even though they often take a backseat in our minds to the way a person looks, without the right voice, looks ain't nothin'. And if the voice is all a person has to go on for instance, in a radio commercial then the voice becomes the most important thing in the world.
A person who understands just how to use their vocal capabilities can control another person just by using it properly. This is a startling concept the first time you consider it, but when you consider some of the most famous voices in the world, you will understand how true that is. Consider, for example, the actor Michael Wincott.
He's an attractive guy, but of course in Hollywood that doesn't mean a whole lot. Good-looking guys are a dime a dozen. But this guy gets role after role after role based on the way he uses his voice He has a voice that can keep you looking over your shoulder, long after the movie is over, because you're just a little worried that the latest Michael Wincott character may just be waiting to pounce. Remember the movie, The Count of Monte Cristo? He was the warden with the whip and the gravelly voice. Fans of the movie weren't quite sure which was more frightening, the whip or that voice. That voice is what gets him jobs.
Then there's Clint Eastwood. Of course, that unflinching, squinty stare of his is something to write home about. But what do people do when they're attempting their best Eastwood impression? They give some love to the stare, but mostly they give kudos to the way he said, Come on punk. Make my day. Like Wincott, Eastwood has a gravelly characteristic in his voice. But once upon a time, he knew where all the pauses were supposed to be, and that made him something worth watching. He was worth watching because he was worth listening to.
Another actor who understood the concept of using his voice was Marlon Brando. Now this man had a nasally cotton-mouth voice that, untrained, would have been unpleasant. But he became an actor. He learned how to speak. He took something that stood out and made it a trademark. The rest, my friend, was timing. When he said, I made him an offer he couldn't refuse, as the Godfather, he didn't just say a cleverly written line he said it with emphasis. With weight. What we are responding to isn't something these guys do inherently. They've been schooled. Therefore, when they acted those lines, the audience never knew what hit them. But they knew that it was good.
Of course Michael Wincott, Clint Eastwood and Marlon Brando won't be available for your project, but they make great models to study when you are trying to understand how voices affect listeners. You want to use some of the same principals in selecting your voice actor, or in determining whether to use one. You are not the only business-person with a message for the public. There are thousands of other messages out there as well. You will have to convince listeners, and that means getting and holding on to their attention. A powerful voice can do that.
