Why the PSR™ Method?

I would like to explain why you need a technique to become a voice over man. After all, you are quite capable of communicating with other people and you can read.

Has a friend ever told you you’ve got a good voice? Maybe you’ve thought when watching a television commercial: 'I could do voiceovers.'

Well, you can, but it’s quite obvious that an advertising agency would not pay thousands of dollars or pounds for one hour in a studio if all they needed was a good voice. That’s like saying: you have ten fingers so you can play the violin for the Philharmonic Orchestra. Obviously that doesn’t make sense! It’s no different for voiceovers.

If you wanted to be a professional violinist, what would you do first? Probably buy a violin, and then, if you were serious, you would have lessons from a reputable teacher. Well, you already own the musical instrument – your voice – and assuming you have a good personality and ambition, all you have to do now is learn to read ‘music’.

In other words, to become a professional voiceover, you need to learn the PSR™ Method or go to a stage school for two years. However, 47% of people studying the PSR™ Method are fully trained actors.

The PSR™ Method will give you the expertise, which in turn gives you confidence and allows your natural personality to shine. When you sound more confident, your listeners will have more confidence in you.

The PSR™ Method has been created specifically for voiceovers, television presenting (teleprompt/autocue) corporate communication, facing the press and acting, and is the only verbal communication technique in the world.

What’s wrong with the way people communicate?

Do you recognise any of the following mistakes that are frequently made by broadcasters, voiceovers and (dare I say) some of your friends?

• People talk too fast, especially when nervous
• A few broadcasters / TV Presenters sometimes speak at the correct pace, but when reading a script or teleprompt, they invariably read too fast
• Most people run one sentence into the next with no obvious differential
• Many people lack energy and enthusiasm
• People emphasise insignificant words (and, is, are, we, you and yours)
• Some talk in a monotone
• Silence is golden – sometimes silence says more than words

For more detailed information, simply download our booklet and free CD, ‘Talk Your Way to Success™'
or we can post it to you

Who needs The PSR™ Method?

• Radio and television voiceovers
• Television and radio newsreaders, reporters and presenters (teleprompt / autocue)
• Corporate executives – to improve communication on the phone, shareholders’ meetings, facing the press
• Sales staff – for presentations in person or on the phone
• Call centre operators – a vital part of a successful business, the nerve centre for future success.
• Lawyers – to win cases by convincing judge and jury
CPD Course Visit Report, Initial Monitoring
Education and Training unit
April 2007
The Law Society

I thoroughly enjoyed the course and have come away convinced the PSR™ Method is an excellent way to learn how to use and control the voice more effectively, and that the skills acquired can be adapted for various purposes useful for solicitors, advocacy, presentations, public speaking generally. Also for more effectively presenting an argument in a meeting or a negotiation, not to mention anyone who might want to set up a sideline in voiceovers. I feel that solicitors would gain from this course, and that the provider should be granted accreditation.

Mrs. Susan Brown Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) assessor
• Air traffic controllers – where professional communication can be a matter of life and death

(One of the worst air crashes in history was in the Canary Islands in the 1980's and one witness stated that the information from the control tower was a contributory factor, because of the accent and the delivery of words. Another pilot told of the difficulty in landing at Kennedy airport, New York because of the rapid speech and the strong Brooklyn accent of some of the air controllers. All this under extremely stressful conditions.)


• Politicians – to sell their policies and get more votes
• Singers – because they are communicating and using their voice like a musical instrument
• Sports and darts commentators - ‘Mr. 180!’ was on the course recently
• Even someone who has to deliver a wedding speech!
• In fact; anyone involved in presentations, public speaking, sales, press, public relations and teaching

Other training companies…

There are many excellent trainers – especially in America. They have years of experience which is invaluable. Many of them record demo CDs and they really know the voiceover business. But the first thing is to learn a technique, and there is only one!

There are some trainers who rely on the fact that however little they know, a beginner will know even less, so you have to be very careful because brochures and websites quite often exaggerate.


Some people confuse ‘technique’ with ‘advice’.
Both are essential, but they are different.

First of all, lets define the word ‘technique’.
Imagine you want to learn to play golf. You go to a trainer and he tells you which clubs to buy, the best club to join and what shoes to wear. That would be very good advice, but it is not a technique.

The American Heritage Dictionary:

	‘advice’: [ad-vahys]	Recommendation.
	‘technique’: [tek-neek]	A set of specific rules which determine the degree of excellence. The degree of skill or command of fundamentals exhibited in any performance.

The PSR™ Method is a technique that is written out in black and white. It applies to every language. Whether you are recording a voiceover, giving a sales pitch, making a speech or simply socialising, the PSR™ Method gives you the rules for speaking more persuasively and with more confidence, so that you get your point across clearly and effectively.

For more detailed information, simply download our booklet and free CD, ‘Talk Your Way to Success™'
or we can post it to you

I’ve never approved of negative selling. Criticising your competition usually means you haven’t got enough good things to say about your own product. Car manufacturers often do it, and of course politicians do it all the time! However, there is a difference between negative selling and misleading the public.

Here is an example of why you need to be careful:

A leading ‘training’ company in America states that:
'The faster you talk, the more you sell.'
Because of this speed you will also be perceived as:
'…more intelligent, objective, knowledgeable, credible and persuasive.'

How can fast talking make you sound intelligent? I spend most of my life slowing people down!

They then tell you that:
'to increase your rate of speed, you should compress the gaps between the words.'

I’ve got news for these people; there are no gaps between words until you come to punctuation.
Then they give an example:
'Do you have a place where we can sit down?'
According to their instructions this would become
'Dyave a place where wecn siddown?'

Even here they have contradicted themselves, because they have compressed the words, which obviously makes this sentence more difficult to understand and therefore listener retention will begin to plummet towards 43%.

Just have a look at this survey: