VOICE ACTING

How To Determine Your Inflection When

The Script Asks Listeners A Question

May 4, 2015



By Hugh Klitzke

Casting Director and Coach



When reading a voice over, the purpose and context of a question must be identified in order to sound correct.



In other words: if we made every question only sound like an upturn they wouldn't make sense on the ear.



Why? Because sometimes questions in commercial text are rhetorical. A rhetorical question is designed to provoke thought in the mind of the listener - not to solicit a specific answer.



Example:

"Why stop? I think we all know what roses smell like. AMP energy drink from Mountain Dew."

Or this:

"Got a cravin for Cajun? New Orleans style fried chicken, cajun battered fries, and buttermilk biscuits. Love that chicken at Popeyes.

Or this:

"A diet drink that's nutritious, too? How refreshing. Who says diet drinks have to be all style and no substance? Diet V8 splash not only tastes great 

In these examples, the sentences AFTER the question determine the proper inflection OF the question.



ANOTHER QUESTION ...



But here the question is NOT rhetorical:

"Hey. You know the really cool thing about being a grown up? You can order Pizza Hut pizza...whenever you feel like it.

And this:

"What kind of tea makes iced tea that can stand up to ice? A tea with so much flavor it wont melt with the ice. A tea thats made with tiny little tea leaves for big tea taste. Tetley Tea.

In these, the question is specifically answered.



Moral of the story: Context matters. Context ALWAYS matters.

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ABOUT HUGH

Hugh P. Klitzke is studio manager and voice casting director for a leading bi-coastal talent agency, who has directed more than 85,000 auditions for all voice over genres. Based in New York City, he is also a coach specializing in teaching voice over for actors, and writes VO4TA , a twice-weekly blog with helpful voice acting tips.



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