How to Say It with Your Voice- Jeffrey Jacobi

I just finished reading "How to Say It with Your Voice" by Jeffrey Jacobi. It's not exactly a "voice over" book. It's mostly directed to public speaking, and presenting yourself well to others. But, it does play into voice over work.

I look at it the same way I do dog training: you'll never find one resource with all the answers. Most people take one tip from that person, another tip from someone else, and on and on. Depending upon what you're personally hoping to accomplish, this book might have something to offer you too.

When I first picked it up, I was looking for some good vocal warm-ups I could do in the car on my way into work, and since it comes with a CD, I decided to give it a try. He covers exercises for articulation, phrasing and controlling different accents. The tips were easy to follow and he gives plenty of exercises to practice. Only after reading the book, do you start warming up with the CD.

One of the things I like, that I think he could stress more, is that if you decide to use his recommendations to improve a skill and not just for warm-up, you should be trying to carry that skill through your day -- not just during the exercise. The more you do it the more ingrained it will become.

Also, I see a lot of people pushing themselves to blast through long scripts. Jacobi's notes about phrasing and adding commas to text if necessary will not only help prevent you from gasping for air, they also really do help you convey the meaning of copy more clearly. If you're not marking your copy, you really should try to because if you're not getting the meaning across, what are you doing?

Oh, and I do like the fact that it is not geared specifically toward singers. Lots of times these types of warm-up exercises are directed toward vocalists. For those of us who swear they can't carry a note in a bucket, a more realisitc approach is a relief.

I will say that particularly on the CD it becomes clear that his phrasing addresses a large group or auditorium. Sometimes it seems I'm hearing the thought break too many times--but then again, I'm approaching the issue from a different direction.

I'm going to continue using Jacobi's warm-ups for a bit and see how they go. If I find some others I like, I'll share them as well.