Voiceover artistes translate life's little gems with sizzling style, channeling their energy into fun fantasy worlds, just to communicate directly with people they don't get to see. One such character actress says it's often like working with al dente spaghetti to see what sticks.
"Vocally, I can be whoever you want me to be, but I’m all-heart, no matter the character or performance. I’m a risk taker and a giver. That’s just me," says local voiceover actress Susan Bernard, whose work spans the globe.
Voiceover is a production technique for narration in broadcasts, promotional spots or movies that's typically not accompanied by an image of the speaker, or it also can be a voice that's audible over artistic action. For instance, Susan is often heard on radio commercials, e-Learning projects, corporate narrations, radio imaging, station identification tags, DIY video narration, on-hold messaging and casino games.
Susan can't help but be a true original, it seems. "I've been called funny, brilliant, wildly authentic, irreverent and energetic," reveals the spirited, occasional stand-up comedian (who sometimes admits to her one-time dream of becoming famous for being the funniest woman in the world).
Instead of a game room in her house, she has a fully developed, broadcast-quality home studio from which to record for the past 12 years. Combined with her bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from Texas Tech University, she's trained with notable voiceover coaches, such as Lori Alan, Elley Ray Hennessy, Portia Scott, Kay Bess, Stephane Cornicard, Everett Oliver, Jeff Howell and Dave Fennoy. She's also worked with demo producers Michelle Sundholm & Melissa Disney-James, Winning in Voiceover Sophia Cruz, Chris McCann, Digital Op Media Entertainment, David Buell-Reel to Real Studios and SB Sonic.
Looking back, Susan says she definitely knew, as a young girl, that she wanted to be a communicator and to use her voice to anchor her career. "I enjoyed speech and drama during junior and senior high. And really, I wanted to be a sports broadcaster. In Texas, Phyllis George was about the only female role model at the time. But, in my college radio days, I was told men didn’t want to hear about sports from a woman, and another thing I was told was that I could only cover women's sports. That's not what I wanted," she recalls.
"Ceilings are made to be broken, however. I think everyone needs to be true to themselves to be the real you. I even thought about, and wanted to be, the first female NFL referee."
Instead, Susan pivoted to become a radio traffic reporter in Dallas, first interning at Q102. She also interned at top rock station KZEW 98-The Zoo. "I was the only intern at both stations to ever get then hired on at both, which was a wonderful feeling at the time," she recalls.
She also handled Traffic Patrol responsibilities for two years, honing her on-air precision and technical skills.
Beyond that, Susan says a friend connected her with a major advertising company that sought people to record dialogue for commercials. Susan found that avenue suited her true passions, especially when she got to ad lib. She also discovered how fun it was to apply her talent for making various noises, character voices, international accents and different dialects.
"My jam is creative collaboration," assures Susan. "I really enjoy getting with someone, who may feed me a nugget of a direction that they've envisioned for a character. Then I can throw two or three voices at them. Then, together, we can tone it up or down, go farther one way or deliberately go against typecasts."
Since then, Susan landed notable clients, such as Crayola, Procter & Gamble, Don Horton Homebuilders, Land O’ Lakes, Dollar Tree, Publix, JCPenney, Kraft-Heinz, Texas Instruments, Bed, Bath & Beyond, JB Hunt Transportation, Dr. Pepper/Keurig and Caesars Entertainment.
“You have to be more than just a pretty mouth in this business. You have to be someone who can proofread as well as write copy, edit sound and deliver a solid product ready to broadcast. I believe I'm hired for being both creative and authentic," Susan assures.
She says she relishes getting to verbally tweak something different each day, while adding what she fondly calls her “crazy juice" to projects.
With voiceover work being all action and a lot of skill, Susan actually did fulfill her own wish and mission by getting to call life's play-by-plays, just in different characters, varied voices and lots of pizzazz.
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"When you change your narrative, you change your life." ~Susan Bernard, award-winning voice talent of The Voice Arts Awards