British Male Voiceover – The Art of Delivering Emotions

As a voice artist with a passion for both character and long form styles, I’m frequently asked to perform in a specific emotional style. 

The problem is that one person’s perception of an emotion can differ from another’s. Ultimately it’s my job as a British Voice Artist to understand what’s in a client head so that it can be accurately portrayed.

It helps to have clarity on exactly what is being asked of a voice artist and there are many different ways of expressing emotions. The best approach is to use straight forward terms like happy, sad, angry or confused.

Once you’ve got the basis of the tone down, it can be dialled in further between the client and the voice artist. Being overly imaginative with emotional descriptions at the outset can feel vague and confusing. 

Not being able to nail the brief first time can erode confidence for both the client and the VoiceOver artist. 

Emotional Voiceover Phrases

For instance, do we all know the difference between:

Joyous – Happy – Slightly Happy – Cheerful – Slightly Cheerful

There’s a voice in the client’s mind with each example here, but my interpretation may differ from yours.

Emotional Voiceover Delivery Styles

The same applies to tone requirements, consider how each of these could be represented differently:

Melancholy – Reflective – Thoughtful – Wistful – 

Strong – Resilient – Robust – Determined – Resonant – Powerful

When it comes to voice direction, there’s nothing better than plain speech for emotional and tonal styles in Voice Acting. 

UK Voiceover – 20 Emotional Styles

Having worked as a professional UK Voice Artist for 7 years, there are certain styles that are always in demand. Here’s a list of the top twenty that every professional Voice Actor should be able to call upon. It will also be a useful resource for Producers and Directors looking to direct a voice recording session.

Happiness

An emotion that conveys joy, contentment, and pleasure. To express happiness, I focus on maintaining a positive and uplifting tone, maybe even quickening it in places. It actually helps to smile at the same time as it adds authenticity. You can hear a smile !

Sadness

Reflecting sorrow, grief or despair. Here I use a softer, slower tone and incorporate pauses, even stutters to demonstrate vulnerability. The pitch is lower and consistency is important to maintain authenticity. 

Anger

This is such an expressive device that can represent anything from frustration and resentment, to all out fury and rage. It’s a real skill to re-create anger when you’re not angry. Volume is important, but there’s a balance between genuine intensity and maintaining a controlled tone. Short, sharp, explosive phrases, interspersed with syllabic emphasis and word stumbles are good ways to sound authentic.

Fear

This is a style that is best delivered with lots of humanisms, stutters, stumbles, rapid pacing and pitch changes. When representing anxiety, worry or dread, the key is to portray unease and instability.

Surprise

Often aligned with astonishment, amazement and disbelief. The pitch and volume has to vary wildly, emphasising specific words. Its goo to incorporate a gasp or an abrupt change in tone.

Disgust

See also aversion, repulsion and distaste. I use a lower pitch and emphasize specific words with a harsher tone. Its another style where facial expressions make the difference.

Contempt

Now this is one that can be easily mis-represented as disgust. It reflects scorn, disdain and disrespect. The most common way to portray it is with a sarcastic or mocking tone. Maintaining a sense of superiority in my voice helps too.

Curiosity

This represents inquisitiveness, intrigue and fascination. To convey curiosity I adopt an upbeat and questioning tone, pausing momentarily to express interest. I utilise a higher pitch and vary your intonation to demonstrate eagerness to learn more.

Confusion

There are so many styles that can be described in a similar way; uncertainty, perplexity, bewilderment. This needs a hesitant and slower pace, incorporating pauses and fluctuations in tone and raise the pitch to emphasise specific words, as well as ending on an upward cadence.

Excitement

This needs a genuine smile and even a bit of jumping about immediately prior to delivery. To deliver this well, you actually have to feel enthusiastic.

Nervousness

See also apprehension, unease and tension. Not to be confused with fear, its more about the unsteady nature of the voice. Over-do this and it can sound comedic though.

Calmness

A more resonant voice than usual is needed, a slow, but very much consistent pace is required here.

Relief

As relief is the removal of weight, worry and tension, it’s best portrayed with the frequent use of sighs and heavy breaths. Be careful not to slip into sounding exhausted though, like every character in The Archers !

Suspicion

The odd downward inflection gives this emotion realism. A slower pace, questioning style and a squint of the eyes can help the delivery.

Determination

Projecting confidence and resolve in a voice requires a strong delivery, consistent pacing and a robust tone. The lack of pitch variation suggests focus.

Boredom

This is all about the monotone delivery. It’s subtly different to the flat delivery style we see sometimes in commercials, which is more about a consistent delivery and a sense of emotional neutrality. The difference here is that there is emotional involvement, apathy and dis-interest. The occasional shake of the head and a lowering of the chin helps.

Amusement

This is all about having a playful twinkle in the eye, a cheeky sense of delight. Incorporating gentle laughter or chuckles helps convey enjoyment. I vary the pitch and pace to demonstrate the dynamic nature of this style.

Disappointment

Its all about using Humanisms with this style like sighs and groans. To convey disappointment, I also use a softer and lower pitch, maintaining a steady pace.

Empathy

Delivering an empathetic tone takes practice to distinguish the difference between calmness, sadness and perhaps even disappointment. It’s an emotion that reflects understanding, compassion and support for another’s feelings or experiences. As silly as it sounds, a little tilt of the head actually gets me in the right space. The tone is soothing, the pace is slower, the volume is quieter.

Confidence

It isn’t just enthusiasm or assertiveness in the voice that comes across as confidence. Self-assurance, poise and certainty requires a strong and steady tone, maintaining a consistent pace and volume.

How To Get The Most Out Of A Voiceover

The goal of both the Producer or Director and the Voice Actor is to deliver an outcome that hits the brief. The key to great creative collaboration is good communication and that has to start with plain speech.

As relationships develop between both sides, you develop a greater sense of each others approaches, the voice artist’s strengths and the client’s preferences.

Voiceover Reference Tracks Are Important

One final note is the importance that reference tracks can play. There is no faster way to get an idea of what is in a client’s mind than when they provide a voice artist with a video or audio link to something they’d like you to interpret in a narration.

British Voice Artist Skilled In Emotion

As a UK Voice Artist with over 50 audiobooks under my belt, character voices narrated for game audio, audioguides, documentaries and training material, I’m very experienced when it comes to delivering to an emotional brief. I run a successful voiceover studio in Hampshire UK, so feel free to Reach out if you have a script that needs an authentic and realistic delivery, one that truly connects with listeners.

Thanks for reading

James