I love reading!!  There’s nothing quite like getting enthralled in a book that whisks you away to a completely different world.  It transports you to a different time and place where you can meet fascinating characters who experience incredible journeys.

 

Books can help you escape the present moment, but reading books can also provide health benefits.  There are many articles and studies out there that focus on this topic, but just as an example, an article on healthline.com claims that research shows regular reading can improve your brain connectivity, increase your vocabulary and comprehension, help you sleep better, reduce stress, lower blood pressure and heart rate, fight depression symptoms, prevent cognitive decline with age, and contribute overall to a longer life.  Research also shows that reading can empower you to empathize with other people, which I think is really awesome!  Those are just a handful of the benefits of reading!

 

I will always love curling up with a good book.  There have been many nights when I stayed up super late because I just couldn’t put a book down.  I love the feel of a book in my hands.  As technology has developed, we now have the ability to read books on devices.  While it’s not quite the same experience as holding a real book in your hands, many people enjoy having the portability of dozens, if not hundreds, of books all in one lightweight device.

 

In our society today, many of us are too busy to have time to sit down and read.  We’d love to, but there just aren’t enough hours in a day.  However, a lot of people have to commute to work.  What better way to spend that time than to read?  Now, i f you’re driving (or even sitting in traffic), please don’t actually read a book!  Instead (I’m sure you can guess where I’m going with this), you can have someone read a story to you!  They’re called audiobooks today, but they’ve also been called “books on tape” and even “talking books” back in the 1930s.  No matter what you refer to them as, the concept is the same: a narrator records the text so you can listen to it rather than read it.  This is not only helpful to people who want to multi-task, but also for people with visual impairments and those who are learning to read or struggle to read.  As a former teacher, I know that students can learn reading fluency and develop critical listening skills as they read along while listening to a narrator, and audiobooks that use an expert narrator can model good reading for students.

 

I know May is half over now, but I strongly encourage you to pick up a book or listen to an audiobook as soon as you can.  Treat yourself to the many health benefits and the temporary escape (don’t we all need that once in a while!) that books can provide.  Take advantage of the explosion of the audiobook industry in the past few decades; there are countless options available in so many genres.

 

Have you, or someone you know, written content that you’d like recorded as an audiobook?  If you haven’t thought about it yet, I urge you to consider it so you can reach an even greater audience.  I would love to help your story come to life so even more people can benefit from and enjoy your work.  Please contact me if you are interested in pursuing this.  I love so many fiction and non-fiction genres, as well as children’s books, and I will work with you to determine the best tone and style of delivery for your story.  Take the next step, and share your story with the world!

 

And remember, everyone…Get Caught Reading!

 

Here are some (but not all!) genres of audiobooks available to you:

 

Arts & Entertainment

Biographies

Memoirs

Business

Classics

Romance

Fiction

History

Mysteries

Thrillers & Suspense

Science & Technology

Sci-Fi

Fantasy

Self Development/Self Help

Comedy

Newspapers & Magazines

Nostalgia Radio

Radio & TV

Sports

Travel

Adventure

Religion

Spirituality

Nonfiction

Live Events

Language Instruction

Drama & Poetry

Health

Fitness

Food

Children & Juvenile

Politics

Short Stories

Western

Women’s Fiction

Literature

Education

 

 

Just a few examples of projects using voice over:

e-Learning / Digital Learning

Commercials

Audiobooks

Animation / Anime / Video Games

Toys

Tourism Videos

Explainer Videos

Training Videos

Online / YouTube tutorials

IVR / Telephony / Voicemail

GPS Navigation

Promos & Trailers

PSAs

Medical Narration

Technical Narration

Corporate Narration

Radio Dramas

Radio Broadcasting

Documentaries

Guided Meditation Exercises

Museum Tours

ADR/Looping

Real Estate Videos

 

https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-reading-books

Image by Felix Lichtenfeld from Pixabay