Every once in a while there’s a word I have trouble pronouncing during a gig. It’s always just one word that even the audio engineer starts I make fun of me for. The producer or client will ask, “what part of the mid-west are you from?” Wha!? I suppose I should be flattered since I’m a Jersey Girl!
Today it wasn’t just any word, it was the PRoDuCt NaME! Yikes!
It must have been listed about 8x throughout the copy too.
So what do you do!?
I have three steps that worked for me in this situation:
- It’s not Shakespeare-Or is it? I went iambic pentameter on these sentences and forced the stress where it was supposed to be. I over-enunciated it to be sure it was correct. It felt like I was stressing the second syllable too much at the time but in the end, it was perfect. Plus it’s always easier to overact something and then pull it back than to force something out of you.
- Take a hike! I stepped away from the booth. Took my dog for a walk (he likes when I get stuck 😉 distanced myself from the copy for a half hour letting the sound of the word and the feel on my tongue melt away.
- Use your words. I formed sentences of my own with “the word” so I was using it in a more organic, native way to me. This allowed my brain to ease off a bit. After a few sentences, the word became my own and part of my vocabulary.
GOOD luck…err, good LUCK!?
NY Voiceover Artist 