Top 10 Skills Required For a Good Storytelling Narrator

Narrating a story is a demanding job. As a specific type of voice over, narration includes describing the story based on what’s happening on-screen. Narration is most commonly used for entertainment, whereas non-narration voice-overs are mostly used in education or instructional/informative videos.

Whether it is a tragedy or a romantic story, every story is different and so is the way of delivering it. A story read should not only engage the audience but also create curiosity in their minds. For example; narrating a suspense story without really eliciting any response from the audience (fear, curiosity) will lead to a higher video bounce rate i.e. more users are likely to stop watching a video due to it’s low-quality audio.

A good story includes a combination of both – visually engaging on-screen elements as well as a great voice over that helps people understand what’s being shown. With the rise in popularity of audiobooks, there is a demand for high calibre Audiobook voice acting for a better perspective on a story.

Additionally, to get a better perspective on what constitutes as good storytelling, check out my blog on the best audiobooks available on the internet today.

A. How to Narrate a Story: Skills Needed for Good Storytelling

For professional narration, you need to develop some basic skills. A story narration not only depends upon the script but also on how you decide to tell it. Each narrator has a distinctive way of conveying a story depending on the subject matter. But, the core remains the same and includes all the below voice over skills.

1. Accurate Articulation and Clear Pronunciation

While narrating a story, it is essential to be clear in pronunciation and enunciate each word and phrase correctly. Knowing what you’re saying is understood by the audience is the prime element. Avoid over/under articulation as it may make the words/phrases sound unnatural or strained. Also, ensure that you maintain a flow from start to finish and there is little to no mouth noise.

2. Ability to Control Emotions

In a story, the plot may have different scenes and characters with varied feelings and emotions. So, it can be overwhelming to strike the right balance. However, a good narrator knows how to use emotions effectively. Stability is the mantra that you need to follow, which will help you control your emotions while in character and ensure you stay calm while delivering the dialogues.

3. Being Expressive and Coherent

To engage the audience, a good narrator needs to be expressive. Depending on the character, you need to emote feelings of joy, happiness, sadness in a relaxed and genuine manner to resonate with them. Being shy or nervous can disconnect you from the audience. Thus, be expressive and coherent to maintain wonderful synchronisation that’ll help you put across the message to the audience.

4. Instinctive Pausing

Another skill to learn when narrating a story is instinctive pausing. A right pause between sentences lets your audience understand the context more clearly. It helps them keep pace, especially when the scene is developing rapidly. It also provides a more realistic human touch to the whole narration and can give an edge to the story.

5. Maintaining a Steady Recital Voice

If a story is long and requires a few days to finish, it may take a toll on the narrator’s voice and affect the delivery. Story narration needs to have an uninterrupted flow to sound authentic. As such, maintaining a steady voice throughout the reading is one trait that a good narrator needs to develop.

6. Being aware of when to use an accent

Many narrators use accents to provide authenticity to the characters and make them more interesting. But, this can backfire sometimes as the use of an accent may sound fake, making the audience lose curiosity over the story. Thus, being aware of when and where to use accents is also an important skill for a storytelling/audiobook/radio voice over artist.

7. Heedful Use of Humour

Even the most tragic, dark or dramatic stories need a little humour in them as it adds excitement to the story and is a breath of fresh air to the audience. You may have heard the phrase “Humour sells”, as it is indeed the easiest way to engage your audience.

8. Bring Characters to Life Through Voice

Characterization is an essential part of the story. Adding life to a character helps in building up a story. Every character must have a different voice, age, attitude all based upon their personalities. Observing your surroundings and picking up relevant traits that have a similarity with your characters, especially in a third-person perspective can also help.

9. Get to Know the Story Beforehand and Practice

Being well-versed with the piece you are presenting is necessary. While narrating it, the story must seem natural – like you are regaling it from your own experience. Also, practising the story several times before the actual recording can help you get the enunciation and pronunciation right, thereby eliminating the possibility of any errors later on.

10. Record a Demo

After considering all of the above factors; when you feel ready, record a demo. This will help you figure out where immediate improvements are needed. It will also help you listen to yourself from an audience perspective and make the necessary adjustment in tone, pitch and delivery.

Further reading: What is Voice Over Narration

B. Types of Narrator Voice

When narrating a story, there are various types of narration voices that you may be required to perform. This could be slightly confusing for a first-timer as the narrator’s voice largely depends on the script or the point of view of the character. The type of voice you choose also directs the way you convey the story, which plays an essential role in engaging the audience. The voice also sets the personality you want to create for your character.

1. First-Person: In this type of narration, the story is conveyed from the protagonist’s point of view. Here, first-person pronouns are used such as ‘I’ and ‘We’. This point of view creates a sense of familiarity among the audience and the main character of the story.

2. Second-Person: Here the pronouns ‘You’ and’ Your’ are used. The narrator here hints that the events or story is revolving around the reader of the story. This type of storytelling is alluring for an audience as it includes individualistic approaches throughout the narration.

3. Third-Person: This simply personifies the characters in the story by using pronouns as ‘he’ ‘she’ or ‘they’. It creates a diversion for the audience to a third-person perspective wherein they can trust and learn about other characters as well. This one is the most difficult as voice over artists often have to do various impressions.

Conclusion

Narrating a story is a powerful art. Stories bring people together and convey a strong message in society depending on the subject. They motivate, encourage, provide inspiration, and leave an impactful impression on the audience.

There’s always scope for improvement and learning something new. With these few skills mentioned, you could increase productivity as well as the quality of your work. To know more about being a voice artist, you could check out my blog on how to become a professional voice over artist to get familiar with this field.

Peter Abraham

Peter Abraham is a versatile voice-over artist based in Mumbai working in the voiceover industry since 2009. With a passion for storytelling and meticulous attention to detail in every project, he brings scripts to life with his captivating voice and professional delivery, exceeding client expectations. Whether it's a commercial or an audiobook, Peter specializes in a wide range of voice-over work, ensuring the highest quality.