One might think that being a voice over actress and radio announcer are one in the same profession. Well you'd be wrong!
On the one hand, I am a voice over artist, a job that requires knowing how to act out a text.
But I am also an announcer for RTL Radio, a different profession all together.
For 30 years I have been speaking to people I never see.
At RTL, I don't have my own show, I intervene in other hosts' shows with short amusing inserts. This requires being quick-witted and knowing just how and when to limelight the show's host or the journalist without disturbing the listener's experience.
It's a delicate balancing act that needs to be adapted to every show and it's what makes this job so unique.
It's pure improv work that requires quick thinking and a sure response when things like a technical glitch interrupts the program !
Speaking to the audience while staying in control, keeping a smile in my voice while everyone around me is in a total panic ! And knowing how to talk, talk, talk to fill empty time and then be right on the dot when the clock strikes the hour.
As an announcer I also present advertisements. This can happen live in front of an audience, or in the studio in front of journalists and famous guests. Of course, there's
no room for blunders, and it's tough have to stay on track when everyone else is giggling as you try to stay serious while reading a message from "The Carrot Club".
And for these radio spots, I don't read the same way I would in a voice over job for a production company. It's not the same style of work. But I admit that sometimes my acting voice can't help but bring color to the product!
One thing is for sure; experience reading live advertisements to millions of listeners has given me precious skills for when I'm in the recording studio: the ability to work fast and avoid mistakes in pronunciation.