Directing Audiobooks: The Voice Can’t Act | 084

Audiobook fans and narrators: Paul Alan Ruben, Grammy-winning director, walks us through the process of working with actors to deliver riveting performances that make us feel like we’re living inside the story. 

Tracking Paul’s journey from acting with Second City to directing and writing, he recalls why he stopped chasing laughs, and the moment that cemented his decision to direct actors. To collaborate with authors and publishers, he started an audio production company, and became a go-to director for high-profile titles with celebrities.  

Diving into what makes a compelling audiobook, Paul looks at why we lean into some narrators and not others. It’s not about the genre, a savvy reader, or a “golden” voice. It’s about a great actor intuiting the feelings of the character, and not only delivering the subtext with the words, but breathing life into the silence—what’s not being said. Takeaway: Turn up the playback speed and you'll miss the nuances of the performance.  

Paul imparts key lessons from directing Meryl Streep, Burt Reynolds, Michael J. Fox, Lynn Redgrave, Johnny Depp, senators and cabinet members, and his insights on working productively with people, regardless of status or star power. 

Paul says to the actor and the listener alike: Understanding a story has zero to do with position or intellect. Give yourself the time to listen, feel, believe, and experience, and go on a magic carpet ride. 

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• What makes great audiobooks is great acting, not just clear reading or vocal tone.  
• Great audiobook narrators don’t “try to sound like” the characters; they become them.  
• Structure and technique matter; it’s more important to connect with the emotional core.  
• The truth of a story exists in the silent “white” spaces—what is not spoken. 
• An actor who conveys the emotional subtext behind the words captivate the listener.  
• Narrators who use vocal tricks in place of emotional connection lose the listener. 
• Audiobook listeners want to be ahead of the actor, to anticipate what they don’t know.   
• As an actor, be emotionally connected to your world, and the worlds you want to inhabit. 

ABOUT PAUL 

Paul Alan Ruben has produced and directed audiobooks since 1990, winning numerous awards, including Grammys for Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, and Always Looking Up by Michael J. Fox.  

Teaching and coaching professional actors in the United States, Paul has cast and directed many first-time audiobook performers who’ve become celebrated narrators.   

In his earlier career, Paul worked writing TV and theater, and has contributed features to Audiofile and Dadcentric magazines and The Washington Post.  

His short story collection, Terms of Engagement: Stories of the father and son was published in 2018, and narrated by a stellar multi-cast including George Guidall and Scott Brick.  

Paul lives in Brooklyn with fellow audiobook director, his wife Paula.  

CONNECT WITH PAUL 

Paul Alan Ruben: http://www.paulalanruben.com/ 

Terms Of Engagement:

https://www.amazon.com/Terms-of-Engagement-audiobook/dp/B07JHYGW9H/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-alan-ruben-8235276/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

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