card-num-155-500x385

Pattern Interruption And The Musicality Of Voice Over

Hey there!

In a workout session with my clients, the idea of “pattern interruption” came up. This is a concept that revolves around what happens when you violate the expectations of a listener on purpose.

In particular, we talked about the melody we use when giving IVR users the action needed for a particular option, and the melody we use when beginning or ending a commercial with the product or brand name.

Here are the details.


(Click/tap ↑↑↑↑↑↑ that red YouTube button to subscribe to my channel. You’ll get notified when I release new videos.)

Hope this helps!

David

All Episodes

One Step At A Time

Five Ways To Have An Excellent Coffee Date With Me

Five Ways To Have A Crappy Coffee Date With Me

Taking Advantage Of The Wisdom Of The Tribe

How To Be A World Class Complainer

The False Nobility Of The Struggle

Watch Out – The Rules Are Going To Change

“Show Me The Secret, Daddy!”

Coaching vs Consulting vs Facilitating

The Perils of Live Performance And Why Jeremy Kappell Should Not Have Been Fired

Let’s Welcome To The Stage…Failure!

Don’t Confuse Price With Value

Whiteboards In The Hallways

Go Wake Up Your Luck

Playing and Planning

The Two Things Most Talent Try to Accomplish Way Too Soon

10,000 Hours To Become Good At Something? Not Really.

The Curse of Knowledge

The Trick Charlie Munger Uses To Make Better Decisions

Everyone’s A Customer, Not Just Your Customers

“What do you mean, you’re a ‘process guy’?”

Pay Attention To Your Storytelling, Not Removing Your Breaths

How To Conquer FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)

The Problem In Every Commercial Script

The Job In Every Commercial Script

The Secret In Every Commercial Script

How To Pick Your Stage Name

Voice Over Is REALLY Hard. Until It Isn’t.

Helping Make Resolutions Stick

ACX Jobs: They’re ALL SAG-AFTRA-Friendly

Non-Union? You Can Still Open An AFTRA H&R Account. What?

Who Says You Need To “Feel Like It?”

Are You Engaged?

Your Day Job Might Just Be Worth Keeping For A Bit Longer

Want To Learn Something Really Well? Teach It To Others

Don’t Confuse What Works With What You Like

The Lost Keys And The Microphone In My Elevator

My Insane Backup System Plus Two Helpful Tips

What Open Loops Are And Why They Work So Well

Two More Things For Which You Can Use Open Loops

Three Things Not To Say Or Do…When Trying To Learn Something New

Front Burner and Back Burner Project Management

How To Properly List The Accents and Dialects You Perform

My SAG-AFTRA Presentation On VO Demos (Part 1)

My SAG-AFTRA Presentation On VO Demos (Part 2)

A Simple, One-Word Decision-Making Question To Ask Yourself

Ready, Shoot…Aim

How You Can Use The MVP Model As A Performer

How Lazy Can You Be?

Avoid The Struggle Porn

The Robocall Equivalent Of Unsubscribe

Saying Goodbye To A “Failure”

Making Your Links Irresistible

HTTPS Is Not Just For Banks – It’s For You

The Threat That Made Me Create a New Page For LAME

The Resource You Must Guard Most Carefully

How New Media Is Using The Oldest Ad Model Ever

“You Could Be Hit By A Bus!”

Killing Customers With Kindness

I Found Out What She Was Podcasting About

How I Answered Voices.com’s Inquiry

Turning Mountains Into Molehills

Motivation: Your Three Big Needs In A Cool Little Package

Go Ahead. Multitask. But Try It Like This.

The Prodigy Game Doesn’t Deserve This Treatment

I Don’t Want To Go Blind

What Fair Markets Are, And Why Voices.com Isn’t One

Trevor’s Three A’s From Apple On Killing Customers With Kindness

Getting Ready vs. Getting Started

You’ll Never Believe Who Got Rejected By Harvard

There Is No Failure, Only Feedback

Who Is Your Most Dangerous Adversary?

73 Videos In, My First Hater Appears

If You’re The Smartest Person In The Room, Do This ASAP

Your Glasses And Crucial Laptop Positioning Info

One More Insanely Over-engineered Piece Of Gear: My UPS

The Crazy Backward Way IKEA Prices Their Stuff

Voices.com Complained To YouTube That I Violated Their Privacy

The Gig Economy: RIP?

For Your Health: Not Perfect. Just Better.

Celebrate Your Isolation!

Mr. Wonderful Is Actually More Wonderful Than I Thought

Let’s Finally Close The Digital Literacy Gender Gap

The Guaranteed Way To Completely Avoid Criticism

The Two Things People Judge About You Within Seconds

Prioritizing…Nashville Style

Are You Committed? Or Just…Interested?

Audible Retail Samples: Why They Suck And Why It Doesn’t Really Matter

How To Voice Copy That’s Set In Italics

Dyslexia, And The Palindromic Poem. The Wha?

Increase Your Chances Of Being Seen And Heard On Facebook

Jamie Has Some Thoughts About Fiverr

Is Simply Discouraging Distracted Driving Enough?

“Young People Are Just Smarter.”

The Real Purpose Of The “Can You Hear Me?” Phone Scam

Beware Of Overkill

Laying Down The Perfect Slate

An AMA Preview: The Word “Ethnic” – A Slur, Or An Essential Adjective?

10 Rules of Profitable Self Discipline from Napoleon Hill

AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 1)

AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 2)

AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 3)

AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 4)

AMA Answers Part 5 Plus A Medical Warning

Last AMA Answers (#6): Gear, Services and Success

A 7-Word Reminder: “Don’t correct people when it matters little.”

Do You Have A Plan? And Is It The Right One?

What’s Your Next Big Move? Are You Ready?

Build Your Future On Your Own Platform, Not Someone Else’s

I’m Leaving Facebook: Why Groups and FB Live No Longer Spark Joy

Time To Accept That I’ve Failed At Something – Happily

Crowdfunding Without The Internet: Pulitzer And The Statue Of Liberty

The Amazing Power Of Recognition And Badging

Might We Have A Possible Cause For Alzheimer’s?

Why Podcasting And Radio Are Out Of Whack

Value Enthusiasm, But Value Persistence More

Ten Ways To Make Money With Podcasts Besides Ads

One Quick Question To Find Out How Important Something Actually Is

The Workflow For Producing These Videos (So Far) Part 1

Why Not Wade? And…Why Not You?

Audiobook Narrators: How Paymasters Work, And The One I Recommend

Why Gen Z And Millennials’ Love For Audiobooks Is Crucial

American Idol: It’s All About Story, Not Just Singing

Less Beating Yourself Up, More Talking Yourself Up

Resist Oversharing. Instead, Start A Dialogue.

Vocal Care: It’s All About What Works For You

3 Biases You Should Be Aware Of

3 More Biases You Should Also Be Aware Of

Wow. People Really Grokked Biases. Let’s Tackle Fallacies.

Three More Fallacies You Need To Watch For

What’s Your Imprint?

Fallacy Follies, Volume 3

Two Last Big Creativity-Crippling Fallacies

Fail Sooner To Succeed Sooner

A New Lead Source For Performers: Voice Assistants And Smart Speakers

A Great Way To Handle Trolls and Haters

Quantity Does Not Usually Equal Quality

Is Facebook Truly A Monopoly? No More Than Microsoft Was.

Fear Of The Unknown, Or The Day Before My Surgery

A Strange Aspect To Performing That Should Be Cause For Protest, But Isn’t

Want To Grow? Don’t Go It Alone.

How Am I Doing? I’m Gobsmacked. That’s How Am I Doing.

Why I Give My Agents 10% Of Everything

Not Just Explainer Videos, But Video That Explain Things Spectacularly

Mental Floss To The Rescue: Skills You Can Pick Up On YouTube

What’s Better Than Willpower? Grit.

Regarding Apple’s App Store: Be Careful What You Wish For, Pepper

Of COURSE You Wonder What Porter’s Five Forces Are. Who Doesn’t?

Don’t Waste Your Time: Talk Shows Aren’t Meant To Be Fair

Sooner Or Later, I’m Really Going To Tick You Off

Just Because You Can Do Something Doesn’t Mean You Should

Wait, What? Audacity Records In The Background?!

Enjoy Your First Booking. Pay Close Attention To The Next Three.

Pattern Interruption And The Musicality Of Voice Over

Do You Still Have A Landline? Is It POTS? Wait, What’s POTS?

Increase Your VO Accuracy, And You’ll Increase Your VO Profits

Age Range Isn’t Really A Valid Metric For VO

What Is The Overton Window?

How To Stop Jealousy From Killing Your Progress

Even The Bible (And Game Of Thrones) Has One-Star Reviews

How Much Is Enough To Make Per Hour?

With Royalty Share Plus, ACX Makes Hybrid Stipends Official

Wait, Vices Can Be Good For Your Health?

What A Lovely Thing To Discover: Praise From CourVO

I Figured Out What I Provide: The Onboarding Performers Don’t Get

You Don’t Need Permission To Care Or Contribute

It’s Not Just You. It’s The Superstars, Too.

Do You Sometimes Think Irrationally? Maybe. Here’s How To Stop It.

The Struggle Of Announcer-y Versus Non-Announcer-y Voice Over

How My VAs Support Me And My Team

What Exactly Is “The Cloud?”

The Often “Most Difficult” Concept I Teach

Please Unsubscribe From This List. But Don’t Do This One Destructive, Lazy Thing.

Don’t Mistake The Joy Of Knowing For The Joy Of Doing

Why Giving Yourself Some Simple Homework Can Be Life-Changing

One Weird Trick I Do That Makes My Note-Taking Superhuman

The Worst Thing About The Biggest Money-Making Entertainment Category

What Can We Grab From A Schedule This Strict?

Get Better At Executing Today’s Plan By Starting Last Night

How To Create Useful, Organized Audition File Names

Where To Find Related PDFs For Audiobooks on Audible

I’m Halfway Finished. What Have You Valued Most? What Can I Do Better?

Our Digital Attention Span Is Incredibly Brief

“Serves You Right!” She Actually Has No Idea How Right.

Create A Safe Environment For Self-Improvement

Why I Use One Single Channel For Crucial Communication

The Even Cheaper AT-2020 USB Plus Microphone?

Fred Willard (and Billy West) On Quickly Creating Authentic VO Characters

Leo Makes Your Searching Spectacular

On Asking For Things Performers Can’t Do

How To Battle The Urge of “Efficiency”

One More Best-Of-Breed Way To Brilliantly Complain

Changing Audacity’s Sampling Rate To 48,000 Hz

10 Words Of Encouragement When You’re Stuck

Seek/Give Mentorship That’s Appropriate To The Journey

Two Cases Where You Might Not Want To Simply “Follow Your Passion”

Having Fun With Headphone Volume

Please Stop Rushing To Perform

Something To Consider: Everyone’s Internal Menu

One Crazy Key To Creativity: Pure, Unadulterated Boredom

For The Sheer Joy Of It

The Most Commonly Consumed Media Is…!

What’s Dangerous For Us To Care About

Please, Clever Copywriters…Stop Using This Term

Wait, Wait…What? They Actually Listened?!

Why You Should Take The Same Classes Twice

How Your Character’s Menu Informs Your Performance Choices

What Shouldn’t Be Your Metric For VO Success

Someone Awesome Who’s Also Rising To A 365-Day Challenge

Union Or Not, Start With Union Rates

O. M. G. Look What Matt Zurbo Did!

So Where Will That Huge Facebook Fine End Up?

The Root Words of “Typecast”

Avoid That One Obvious “That Worked” Sound We Make

Why Union Members Can Audition For Non-Union Work

200 Auditions. 1 Booking. A Ghost. Really?

I Can’t Do One Thing I’m Asked To Do Every Single Day

One Of Your Secret Weapons: Agility

Do Networking Events Make You Anxious? Let’s Fix That.

Project X Is Just About Ready. I’m A Bit Giddy.

The Difference Between Mansplaining and Advice?

Too Late, Melissa. You Already Are.

Help Me Solve A Lovely Mystery!

Speeding Up The Playback On The Audible App

Why Those Other Casting Sites Usually Aren’t Worth It

Raw YouTube Captioning

hey there it’s David H Lawrence the 17th
and I just completed a workout with a
bunch of my pros we do a monthly workout
where we do Clips pieces of scripts we
work on them I give them feedback and
direction we ask questions answer
question it’s all part of the the pro
curriculum these monthly workouts and
this month happened to be the month
where most people have taken a module
that talk about IVR as well as
self-direction and commercials and so on
and something that popped up was this
aspect of IVR which is interactive voice
response phone prompts phone trees that
I teach that makes sure that when you’re
doing this kind of work you call
attention to something that can easily
fly by somebody who is on their phone
trying to get their credit card balance
or trying to get through to customer
service in a loud environment and
they’re listening to your recorded bits
to help them find what they’re looking
for and so that’s one of the pattern
interruptions that I wanted to talk to
you about today the second one has to do
with commercials and the way commercials
are aired pattern interruption to begin
with is just what it sounds like you
have something that you expect that’s a
pattern of speech or music or
progression of some sort and yet the
interruption of that pattern calls
attention to something marketers use it
all the time they will start your start
you down a path where you think you know
where things are going and then they’ll
veer off to the left with something
humorous or comical or or intriguing or
interesting and that’s called a pattern
interrupt because you have a pattern
that you are gonna be following but then
it’s interrupted in an interesting way
so one of the things that I teach in the
class is to make sure that when you give
callers and I’m talking about the IVR
class right now when you give callers
the action and the option for that
action this is a very tip
thing would be for sales press 1 for
service press 2 first you have the
option sales or service and then you
have the action that they want to take
press 1 press 2 and what I tell them to
do is to have a certain melody or
musicality about it so that it actually
calls out the attention of the person
who’s listening and it highlights it for
them so what I say to do is for service
press 1 and in there is a little beat
before the number and then the number at
a higher pitch then one might expect in
the pattern might dictate because you
might think you should say for service
press 1 for sales press 2 or something
like that the problem is when you’re on
the phone and there may be who knows
what is going on around you car noise
you’re inside a store you’re at home and
the televisions on who knows what’s
going on you want to be able to hear
what the action is that you’re supposed
to take to get the option that you
wanted so I say take a beat and raise
your pitch that’s called a pattern
interrupt
so for sales press 1 for service press 2
and hearing it isolated like that it may
sound a little jerky and a little
halting and a little plotting but when
you’re on the phone your goal is to find
what you’re looking for your goal is to
interact with the company and you want
to make that as easy as possible so that
pattern interrupt makes that possible
now there’s one other way of doing a
pattern interrupt that also applies to
what we do and that is in a commercial
where the product name or the brand the
company name or the positioning
statement those are the three most
important parts
of any commercial and the three most
important words in any commercial the
name of the product the name of the
brand and the positioning statement
and when those things occur at the very
very beginning or at the very very end
of a commercial it kind of requires a
pattern interrupt when you do your work
you know we always try to be as
realistic as the story calls for you
know helpful authentic authoritative but
you have to remember sort of the space
in which these things are being
exhibited and what I mean by that is if
you’re doing a commercial for radio or
television or for the internet there’s
always something that precedes it and
there’s always something that follows it
either another commercial or a promo
announcement or the weather or pieces of
a show and those things could have
sounds at the end or at the beginning of
what precedes or what follows that are
louder or softer or have explosions or
crowd noise or a music bed or who knows
what it is but your job at the very
beginning of your commercial is to
arrest the attention away from whatever
preceded the commercial so that you can
talk about solving the problem with your
guys product or service right and so
you’ll sometimes hear voice over talent
do a very realistic job of telling a
story in a commercial except at the
beginning and at the end you might hear
them say new from Nabisco it’s double
thin Oreos I don’t even know if that’s a
product
or at the very end buy it now Toyota
right there’s a little bit of a of an
elevation because they realize that
there might be coming out of something
that is arresting might be going into
something that’s arresting and your
client is paying for 30 seconds or 60
seconds or 15 seconds whatever it is
they’re not paying for twenty nine point
five or twenty nine they’re paying for
the full amount of time and so to grab
the attention of the listener or viewer
you do a pattern interrupt and that
pattern interrupt is okay the pattern is
usually I’m gonna talk normally I’m
gonna be authoritative and you know I’m
gonna be authentic and I’m gonna tell a
story I’m gonna help you solve a problem
but at the very beginning and at the
very end push it just a little bit a
little bit of Hollywood a little bit of
spotlight on it just to grab the
attention so new from Nabisco or at the
very end
um save money live better Walmart right
there’s a there’s a pattern to that and
there’s a musicality to that anyway I
found it interesting and I thought you
might like to understand why I teach
things that way that pattern interrupt
way because it helps you grab the
attention of the viewer or the listener
and you help them get their job done you
help them understand why the product or
service that you are talking about is
going to be useful to them yeah
or you help them in the case of IVR find
what they’re looking for it to interact
with the company so you win either way
it’s awesome
any other pattern interrupts that you’re
familiar with anything else that you use
pattern interrupt for does this all make
sense to you leave me a comment below
and let me know I’d love to find out if
you’re watching this anywhere but vo –
go go comm go to vo dagoba comm because
we talked about all kinds of things that
will make your performance life better I
mean we love if you’re watching on
YouTube or whatever but we really love
if you’re over at vo – go go comm and if
you want to subscribe to my channel on
youtube so that you can be notified the
moment these videos are released go
ahead click on my head there if my head
isn’t there there’s a subscribe button
somewhere on the page here and if you
want to see the very latest video that
I’ve done go ahead and click on that
frame and YouTube will play it for you
I’m David H Lawrence xvii I thank you so
much for watching and I’ll talk to you
tomorrow.

2 Responses to Pattern Interruption And The Musicality Of Voice Over

  1. Veleka June 7, 2019 at 10:47 am #

    My favorite pattern interruption is Haydn’s sudden loud chord in the slow movement of his “Surprise” symphony to wake up Prince Paul II Anton Esterházy, his employer, who would always doze off during Haydn’s concerts, which pissed off the composer. :)

  2. Patricia Napolitano July 5, 2019 at 6:50 pm #

    Great info. But I don’t remember pattern interrupt from your lessons.

Leave a Reply