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I often see audiobook fans on social media declaring their preference or distaste for narrators “doing voices”. This usually causes heated debates between listeners about whether narrators should do them or not. However, I don’t think it’s an either/ or scenario. 

What exactly does it mean to “do a voice”? When I narrate a book, I play all of the characters. I only have one set of vocal cords. It’s always going to be the one voice. Sure, I can use various techniques to sound different, like focusing the resonance in different parts of my body, such as my head or my chest, but I do that naturally in real life, not to play different characters, but just to connect with different types of people, or even animals. Think of how you might communicate with your boss vs your toddler, or with a German shepherd vs a kitten. 

 I teach my improv students that we have three different tools we can use to create a character: Point of view, physicality, and voice. In my opinion, the point of view is the most important. How the character sees the world will affect the other two aspects- the physicality and the voice. 

I have a hunch that the reason a lot of audiobook listeners feel like they don’t want to hear narrators “do voices” is that some narrators focus too much, or solely on the “voice” aspect. They might read the dialogue and try too hard to sound like the character, forgetting to just be the character. Real people don’t go through life trying to sound a certain way.

As an actor and narrator, my job is to put myself in the shoes of each character, keeping in mind what that character wants, in order to sound authentic. I should also use my whole body, rather than just my vocal cords. If the character is an orc, I might stand or sit in a way that makes me feel a bit more orc-like. I may also speak with the lower range of my voice. The key is to not forget what that character wants in that moment. Disengagement from an actor results in disengagement from the audience, or in this case, the listener. Whatever an actor focuses on is probably going to influence what the listener will focus on, so if all of my internal thoughts are on trying to “sound like an orc”, the listener will be focused on whether or not I actually did.  

Therefore, the question is not whether the narrator should “do voices”, but rather, whether the narrator should forsake the acting in order to sound a certain way, and for me, the answer is “no!” 

Thanks for reading!

Rebecca H. Lee
Audiobook Narrator

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