{"id":467,"date":"2018-07-16T15:23:39","date_gmt":"2018-07-16T20:23:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madbrama.com\/wp\/?page_id=467"},"modified":"2019-03-06T11:25:31","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T16:25:31","slug":"coaching","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/madbrama.com\/wp\/coaching\/","title":{"rendered":"Coaching"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Spokesperson Coaching<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you the spokesperson for your company?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If not, why not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afraid to speak in front of crowds, large or small, or worse\u2026 get in front of a microphone and read your commercial?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can help, especially with that last one, with Five Keys to Curing Spokesperson Stage Fright<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, a little confidence booster.  As a creative director, voice talent, producer, and talent coach for over three decades, I\u2019ve written or produced well over 50,000 commercials.  Working directly with business managers, leaders, and owners, I\u2019ve seen them go from shy, quiet, nervous, even shaky copy \u201creaders\u201d to calm, assertive, confident company spokespeople in less than an hour \u2013 and have a broadcast-ready commercial to show for their efforts.  More importantly, they became the vocal \u201cface\u201d of their brands, resulting in sales increases in the millions and double-digit year over year percentage sales increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet you\u2019re thinking, \u201cI don\u2019t have the voice for it.  Shouldn\u2019t I get a big, booming announcer voice to tell our story?\u201d  You could, but think for a moment.  If you have great news to share with your neighbor, would he or she rather hear it from a friend like you\u2026 or somebody who does it for anybody who will pay for it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Creative Director of a highly-rated major market radio station for nearly 25 years, our account reps would often ask that \u201cGilles\u201d do it.  Problem is, with my voice on so many commercials, it made it harder for each advertiser to stand out \u2013 to sound different from the commercial that played just before or after theirs.  Buy this product, buy the next product, then the product after that!  It sounded like I couldn\u2019t make up my mind on what to recommend.  Good thing I had 150+ character voices to change things up on occasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is precisely why I\u2019ve strongly encouraged business leaders, owners, managers, and entrepreneurs to consider being their company\u2019s brand voice.  Here\u2019s why: no matter how wonderful an announcer\u2019s voice might be, if a businessperson like you can just come across as approachable, likeable, and essentially \u201cneighborly,\u201d  your credibility instantly leapfrogs over the paid professional.  It just takes some good coaching, a bit of practice, and simply focusing on my Five Keys to Curing Spokesperson Stage Fright:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 \u2013 Smile. <\/strong> You can literally \u201chear a smile\u201d on the radio.  Sure, you\u2019ll sound happier and friendlier to your customer, but just as important, by physically changing your expression to a smile, the tone of your voice \u2013 the midrange and treble frequencies \u2013 will come through more clearly and distinctly.  Try it yourself.  Read your copy with a frown or by barely moving your lips.  Then, switch to reading with a full-on smile.  Hear the difference?  Your message goes from like a mumbled ransom note you\u2019re reading for your captors against your will \u2013 to a clear, friendly invitation!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 \u2013 Speak up. <\/strong> Perhaps you\u2019ve heard of the success of the moving company, Two Men and a Truck.  I love their set of Core Values, in particular, The Grandma Rule: Treat everyone as if they were your own grandmother.  Our world would be a better place.  For years, I\u2019ve used a similar word picture for reading copy.  Speak up as if you were talking to your own grandmother.  Both my grandmothers, Helen and Laverne, were a bit hard of hearing, so when we spoke to them, we\u2019d talk just bit louder than our normal voice \u2013 but without SHOUTING.  Combined with that smile, speaking up just a bit more makes for a better recording experience.  The microphone doesn\u2019t have to be turned up and all that background noise in the room (computers whirring, ventilation systems blowing, etc.) gets ignored by the microphone and the processing that seeks out sound.  Meanwhile, you sound friendly and authoritative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 \u2013 Speak from the heart. <\/strong> This is where we forget about reading and focus on connecting to the listener.  Picture this: speaking ever so clearly and distinctly so as to convey to the listener the precise message you are endeavoring to communicate.  Doesn\u2019t sound real friendly, does it?  That\u2019s because you\u2019re \u201cannouncing\u201d information, not talking.  If at all possible, put the script down and say what\u2019s on your mind.  Here\u2019s a tip: do it sentence by sentence.  Look at the words, put the script down, and tell it to the person next to you or the engineer running the equipment.  These days, it\u2019s takes only a minute or two to put all your lines together into one continuously flowing message.  The result: you sound like a natural \u2013 just as if that listener was talking to you in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4 \u2013 Tell your story. <\/strong> Someday soon, I look forward to reading stories to my grandkids.  With 150-plus character voices to use, it should be a lot of fun for both of us.  Still, when reading to kids, they get so much more out of it \u2013 they hang on your every word \u2013 if you read with passion, enthusiasm, emotion, and excitement.  You don\u2019t just read the words, accurately and correctly\u2026 you use your voice to lead them through all the twists, turns, ups, and downs, so they can\u2019t wait for you to tell them another story.  Now, try using the same mindset when \u201creading\u201d your message to your listeners.  It may feel a bit over the top at first, but with practice, it will sound like you care about your customers and are passionate to solve their problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 \u2013 Relax.<\/strong> The greatest fear I\u2019ve seen comes from worrying about making mistakes \u2013 as if every person who\u2019s come before has no problem reading a script start to finish with no mistakes, trips, slips, or stumbles.  This is what I tell every client I\u2019ve ever worked with: I record and average of 2,000 to 2,500 commercials every year.  Of those, the number that I get through \u2013 start to finish \u2013 with no mistakes is about three.  Then I make a promise to them.  If they can get through their spot \u2013 start to finish \u2013 with no mistakes, I will let them come do my job and I will go and try to do their job.  That usually gets a laugh\u2026and then a sigh of relief.  Then we get down to business and make a really great message.  Sure, it may take a little editing, but that\u2019s to be expected \u2013 even from those who voice thousands of spots a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready to record your next commercial \u2013 or your first one?  Great!  Comforted, but still could use a little coaching?  Feel free to use the contact page at http:\/\/madbrama.com<\/a>, and we\u2019ll find a way to may it happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spokesperson Coaching Are you the spokesperson for your company? If not, why not? Afraid to speak in front of crowds, large or small, or worse\u2026 get in front of a microphone and read your commercial? We can help, especially with that last one, with Five Keys to Curing Spokesperson Stage Fright. First, a little confidence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-467","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":""},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"

Spokesperson Coaching Are you the spokesperson for your company? If not, why not? Afraid to speak in front of crowds, large or small, or worse\u2026 get in front of a microphone and read your commercial? We can help, especially with that last one, with Five Keys to Curing Spokesperson Stage Fright. First, a little confidence booster.  As a creative director, voice talent, producer, and talent coach for over three decades, I\u2019ve written or produced well over 50,000 commercials.  Working directly with business managers, leaders, and owners, I\u2019ve seen them go from shy, quiet, nervous, even shaky copy \u201creaders\u201d to calm,…<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"","author_info_v2":{"name":"Jim Gilles","url":"https:\/\/madbrama.com\/wp\/author\/gillesjb\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","coauthors":[],"author_meta":{"author_link":"https:\/\/madbrama.com\/wp\/author\/gillesjb\/","display_name":"Jim Gilles"},"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 8 years ago","modified":"Updated 7 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on July 16, 2018","modified":"Updated on March 6, 2019"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on July 16, 2018 3:23 pm","modified":"Updated on March 6, 2019 11:25 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","featured_img":false,"series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madbrama.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madbrama.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madbrama.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madbrama.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madbrama.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/madbrama.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1597,"href":"https:\/\/madbrama.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/467\/revisions\/1597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madbrama.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}