Do you ever get emotional as an Audiobook narrator, and is it okay to show (and record) your emotions?

I know it’s hard to speak in generalities because there are so many books and so many genres. Let me give you a specific example instead, to make clear in which context you need to read what I’m about to say.

I was narrating a non-fiction book about the holocaust, and at one point I just had to stop. It was too much. I choked up and tears were rolling down my cheeks. Why do people do these horrible things to other people? And why are some of these things still happening?

You and I, we’re only human beings. How can we not be affected by the things we read? Isn’t that the point? Doesn’t an author want to move us and make us care?

But here’s the question: do listeners want to pay for a sobbing storyteller?

CONTROL AND SUPPORT

What happens when we get emotional? We lose control. And while it may be cathartic to indulge in our personal feelings and have a good cry, I don’t think the listeners are waiting for that. It’s something private that should stay private.

It is our job to allow the LISTENER to be moved. As narrators, we’re kind of conductors of an orchestra. If we get too carried away, we lose focus and can no longer guide the musicians to where they need to go. What is more, our behavior becomes a DISTRACTION, taking away from the experience instead of adding to it. We make it about US instead of about the music.

Imagine you going to a therapist for support and instead of being a shoulder to lean on, she starts crying because she’s so moved by your story. That’s not going to help you, is it? You need someone to show you the way, and be there for you. Someone you can lean on.

I was once asked to lead a funeral service for a dear friend of mine and I felt overwhelmed by grief. But it was my job to create a space so all the friends and relatives could express their grief. If I would fall apart, the service would fall apart. I had to be strong, so my words could reach and comfort others. Mind you, being strong doesn’t mean being cold-hearted or uncaring.

As an Audiobook Narrator, you’ve got to keep it together. You’ve got to stay in control. Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t be affected by what you are reading. However, the more you subject the listener to your feelings, the less space you give the listener to experience his or her emotions.

So, what do you do when things get emotional in a book you’re narrating? My approach is to hold back; to let the words speak.

Good writers don’t need overemotional narrators. 

And when you’re done recording, you can have a good cry.

Mind you: I’m not advocating for a flat, robotic read. Read like an observer, and not like a participant.

Award-winning audiobook narrator Simon Vance has this to say:

WHO IS THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS?

Now, before you give me a piece of your mind, I should emphasize that the above mainly applies to non-fiction, like the book about the holocaust I mentioned in the beginning. We serve the book and its author. The book does not serve us, so we can show the world how much drama we can inject.

Having said that, I know people who have stopped listening to certain novels (fiction) because they couldn’t stand the melodramatic, self-indulgent performance the voice actor was giving. The narrator became a distraction instead of a conduit. The characters in the book became caricatures instead of real people.

But who determines the line between acting and OVERacting? And, are we able to objectively evaluate our own performance to realize when we’re overdoing it? One of my colleagues wrote to me:

“If I AM moved, my listener is. We have to go with our belief and our gut.”

That’s like a professional chef saying: “If I like the way I prepare my food, my customers will like it too.” But doesn’t that also depend on the taste of the person sitting at the dinner table; a person the chef has never seen in his or her entire life? How does the chef know what he or she likes?

I’ve seen professional musicians who believe they have given the performance of a lifetime, only to read a terrible review the day after. As a voice actor, I will often listen back to auditions I did years ago. Auditions I was sure I NAILED at the time. But when I listen to myself knowing what I know now, I can totally understand why they didn’t pick me. So, I wasn’t such a good judge of my work after all.

I recently sent in three versions of the same script and my clear favorite was the last one. Guess which version the client chose? My LEAST favorite!

RECEIVING FEEDBACK

It’s because we can never be objective about our own performance. We’re too invested. Too biased. Too pleased with ourselves, or we are our own worst critics.

We need quality feedback from people who are not involved in the process who have no skin in the game or ties to us. It’s like being a judge at a competition. If you’re too close to the person you’re judging, you can no longer be fair. And who is closer to us than we are to ourselves?

Secondly, if you say: “When I’m moved, my listener is,” this presupposes that you know the listener, otherwise there’s no way of knowing. But how is it even humanly possible to know that thousands of individual listeners with individual preferences will like what you’re doing just because YOU have a good feeling about it?

Coca-Cola once had a very good feeling about “New Coke,” and it became one of the biggest flops in marketing history.

There’s a reason movie studios show new movies to focus groups and ask for feedback. Because outsiders will give their honest opinion. The director may think it’s a masterpiece, but the audience may say it’s the most boring movie they’ve ever seen.

There’s a reason even a successful author should never edit his or her own work. They are immune and blind to their own mistakes, and too involved to be objective.

WHO DECIDES?

Ultimately, the success of any performance depends on how it is received. The only thing we can influence is our part. Then it’s up to the audience to decide. And they don’t care if we feel good about our own performance. They don’t care about how much money we’ve invested, how much time we’ve sacrificed, or how much we spent on our equipment and our expensive vocal booth.

That professional chef I was just talking about may have used the best ingredients and the sharpest Japanese knives, but if the customer or the food critic thinks his dish was too sweet, that’s what will end up in the review. That’s not something the chef can predict.

After watching my vlog about why I think narrators should keep their emotions in check, one viewer said:

“This is very much the opposite of the advice I’ve received from several reputable industry coaches and from avid audiobook listeners. If that is your style and opinion all good. But I’m not sure conveying this as coaching advice for narrators is entirely accurate.”

To that I say: I don’t care of you agree or disagree with me. I don’t pretend to tell THE truth about audiobook narration, voice acting, or anything. If someone tells you there’s ONE accurate way to do it and one way only, I would run away quickly. There are many ways, and that’s what makes this so interesting!

I mean, how many versions of Hamlet have you seen? Is one the “accurate” way, or should we embrace the fact that there are many ways to approach this play? I really don’t mind if you turn on the tears next time you narrate an audio book. That’s your choice, but you should be aware of the implications.

BRINGING BACK THE DIRECTOR?

My goal, as always, is to give you a few things to think about, and come to your own conclusions. You’ll find out soon enough if your theories hold or not. It’s like doing auditions.

You may have a good gut feeling about it, but ultimately, the client and the listeners decide.

The best clients, in my opinion, are the ones who allocate a budget that allows for a director to guide the audiobook narrator (especially with sensitive material). When I listen to a melodramatic narrator, I bet you they didn’t have someone to give them feedback and rein them in. I can also predict that this narrator is not a trained and experienced actor (hence the overacting).

It’s one of the sad consequences of having to record things quickly, cheaply, and choosing a clueless home studio talent who sounds like he’s reading to a bunch of children.

You may think I’m a bit harsh, but for me this comes down to professionalism. It’s not a matter of personal preference.

Less is usually more.

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