H3: Cut Your Volume – Part 1

Video Review – Details you want to know

Why is cutting our volume such a powerful tool?

By being quieter and more intimate, we allow listeners to lean into us, instead of pushing ourselves out on them.

Projection and volume are great…sometimes. But we can’t have that be our only gear. We need to be able to do both.

What else does reading more quietly allow? (4:20)

Sometimes, it allows the texture and feel of the music or the visuals (if it’s for a video) to come through more vividly. It also creates space for more emotion in your own voice, because you leave yourself more room for range within the voiceover; you can be quiet in one part, and more loud in others. This makes you more dynamic.

Why is this different (usually) from being “breathy”? (8:40)

A “breathy” sound is often the result of still being physically tight, tense, and trying to push our voice, instead of trusting the microphone to do the work and committing fully to this technique.

How does Lindsay Lohan inadvertently show us a great exercise for this skill? (15:26)

First, she reads her line at normal volume. Then, she reads it more quietly. Then, she cuts her volume again.

You can do this too, with any line! Read it, read it at half-volume, then cut your volume in half again. It will stretch you, and it will show you notes and shades and a range that you might not have thought you had.