How Did You Get Into Such An Unusual Career?
Thanks to Peter O'Connell, fellow voiceover talent and all around good guy, I had the opportunity to answer that question, and four others in his 5Q:VO Series, Five Questions for Professional Voice-Over Talent.
You can check it out here.
Thanks for reading!!!
How To Be A Voiceover Actor
Last night, before presenting the award for Best Animated Feature Film at The Oscars, Chris Rock made a few jokes about voiceover in animation and how easy it is, and what a payday it is.
Esteemed animation voiceover actress Tara Strong responded with a post on Facebook: "“I challenge Chris Rock to a voice off, since he thinks it's so "easy". If I win, I get his million dollar pay checks #oscars”
My guess is Tara Strong's email inbox will really light up this week, especially since her comments have made their way into the media. Click here to read.
I too posted something on Facebook about Chris Rock's comments, and a couple of my friends reminded me that Chris Rock is a comedian, and it was just a joke.
I get that. I truly do. Here, see, I'm laughing: hahahahaha!
On the flipside, many voice actors I know receive inquiries from voiceover hopefuls pretty frequently, with questions ranging from "how do I get started" to "what kind of a microphone do I need" to "who's your agent and can you give me a recommendation?"
Woah.
Baby steps, people, baby steps.
If you're interested in trying to have a career in voiceover, here are the first things I recommend you do:
1) Go to my friend Nancy Wolfson's web site, www.braintracksaudio.com, and buy the mp3 entitled "Your Voiceover Business." Listen to it at least three thousand times. (Ok, three times will likely work). Take notes. Process the information, and decide if you are truly willing and able to make the investment of both time and money to see if you can break into voice acting.
2) Buy the book "Voice for Hire" by Randy Thomas and Peter Peter Rofe. Read it. Two thousand times. It's a quick read. Ohhhh... ok, read it twice... that should do. Take notes. Process the information. This book will also give you a better understanding of how the world of voiceover works.
3) No matter what your background, or what genre of voiceover you're interested in, take acting classes. Lots of them. And improv too. Play as much as you can.
Once you've done the above, along with the one million and one things you need to do, most importantly, set specific goals. Create a business plan. Because, it is, afterall, a business. You will need to not only audition and work, but market yourself, seek out clients, be responsible for book keeping and invoicing, and all the other things that go along with running your own business.
I truly believe that if you truly have a dream to be a voiceover actor, you can do it. Lord knows, I did. I had zero experience - no radio or broadcasting background, no acting background. Just a true desire to make a dream come true. I worked very hard... no, wait, I WORK (present tense) very hard, and I am VERY blessed to be able to walk into my studio each morning and work and make a living.
But it doesn't happen overnight. Or easily. But, it CAN heppen. You have to make it happen.
"Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be, your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil." ~ James Allen
The Training Effect by Marice Tobias
Click here to read Marice's blog.
What Does a VO Director Expect of YOU?
Clickety Click here to read!!!
Be Grateful.
I saw this posted on Facebook a few days ago, and it really resonated with me.
I believe in manifesting what you desire. I make Vision Boards every so often - I put pictures of places I want to go, health goals, the vo gigs I plan to voice one day, and even manifest monetary goals.
I've been doing Vision Boards for a few years now. As I look back at my old boards, it is absolutely amazing to see what has come into my life, because I put those desires out there to God/the Universe/insert your deity here, and made them happen.
But, there's also another Board I create and maintain.
A Gratitude Board. Or what I like to call, a Blessing Board.
On this board, I have pictures of the things in my life for which I'm grateful. There are also lots of words on this board, because frankly, it's easier to write these things out. I have a piece of paper glued to the board that has LOTS of space for me to write in, and every so often, I write down one or two things that come to mind that day that I'm grateful for.
I think it's important to not only put out there what you want to achieve, but to be so very grateful for all you have.
"It's not having what you want, but wanting what you have, that's true happiness."
Life's Lessons
There's an online bulletin board for voice over talent called the vo-bb.com. I've met some of my closest friends through interactions on that board. These are people from all over the world... we not only talk all things voice over, but as it happens, we share our trials and tribulations of life. The folks on the vo-bb.com are some of the most supportive, caring, loving folks on the face of this planet. And I've not even met most of them in person.
Mike was a regular on the board. I didn't know him very well, however.
I've not been a regular on the vo-bb in a while. Life has just gotten in the way, I guess. But when I do go on the board, Mike was the master of the "Gear" section, always offering his help on studio build outs and acoustics. Let me tell you, when you don't know a whole lot about this kind of stuff, when someone offers their knowledge, you are soooo appreciative.
I remember Mike would even go so far as to ask for the dimensions of the room. He would draw out a plan and go to great detail to explain what the best acoustical plan of action would be. The conversation thread could be miles long - he was generous with his time and knowledge.
Even an acquaintance's untimely passing can give us pause to think about what's really important in life.
You hear all of this time and time again, but TRULY consider this.
Give an extra hug to those you love... everyday.
Don't just tell them you care about them, ACT like you care about them. Show them.
Show appreciation for those in your life. Even those you don't know well.
Be kind. Give a smile to someone you don't know. You never know how much it will affect their day... but I promise you, it will.
“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to leave the world a better place; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
You Don't Know Till You Try!
"Not sure your voice meets the specs of a project? Give it a shot anyway! You don't know till you try!"
Lori's asked to hear a story of my winning a job I thought my voice wasn't right for.
I must say, this has happened a number of times in the past year.
My "money voice" has been the happily amped, highly charged, Disney-esque toy commercial read. Now I can spit that read out so easily, it's just second nature. I can generally get it in one take, without really breaking down the copy or overthinking the read.
In the past 18 months, I've had some personal experiences (namely, a divorce, and all that comes with that) which have changed the shape of my perspective. This, in turn, has most definitely changed the way I interpret and read certain types of copy. I am able to lend a bit more gravitas and compassion to a read.
For example, I NEVER book the "hospital" read. You know the one... the "warm, compassionate, caring" read. But recently, I booked a large gig for that very read. The client definitely liked something about my sound when they heard the audition, regardless of whether my audition read fit the specs exactly.
Normally, I would likely not make auditioning for a gig like that a priority, however, I do try to submit on ALL auditions that land in my inbox. While specs are often somewhat specific (and, well, sometimes they're not), I think that in the end, the client only knows what they want once it graces their ears.
Here's another example: again, knowing my money voice is that hyped happy toy read, I DO audition for things that are sultry and sexy, and lately, land them! I've landed one very large account using this sexy, sultry read.
Point is this: you might have your "money voice" now, but know this can change, based on events in your life. Your perspective is ever-changing. Also, even though you're given specs with the audition, sometimes the client just "knows" what they want, once they hear it.
And you don't know if you're what they want, till you try!
My First LIVE ANNOUNCE Gig!
(This took place in early May 2011).
Tonight, I voiced my very first live announce gig. It was for a national awards show for a high school organization, with 15,000 screaming high school students in attendance. I didn't get to see the script until my 5 pm call time, just 3 hours before showtime... and I didn't get to see the nominee names until I read them off the page during the show. The hardest name was "Saravanapavanantham." That's the last name. I'm not making that up.
Most voice over people have a broadcast or radio background, so they're accustomed to ad libbing and talking on the fly. I don't have that background at all. I worked as a writer/in marketing in the financial industry all my working life before coming into voice over.
So, six years ago, when I met the woman who would later become my mentor when I was first getting started in vo, I was in sheer awe of her ability. A script would come in via fax, and she would grab it, run into her booth, flawlessly read it, sound great doing it, and then just come back to our conversation as if we weren't even interrupted. I recall being in NYC with her, eating lunch in a studio, and she practically hadn't finished chewing when she went into the booth to read a script she was hurriedly handed. On the other hand, when I was beginning in voice over, I had these weird rituals of brushing my teeth before each session, spraying God knows what in my mouth to keep it lubricated and stop mouth noise, and would drink apple cider religiously during my sessions. If I didn't do those things, I was so nervous I wouldn't sound right. (By the way, I haven't performed those rituals in ages. Ha!)
Whenever the genre of live announce was mentioned, I would squirm and wiggle and practically become ill. Hell, I can barely spit out a sentence NOW without stuttering. I recall auditioning for the MTV Video Music Awards a few times. I would let my mind wander about what would happen if I actually landed the gig... and I decided I would just have to decline it if I ever did land it. Just thinking about voicing something that was heard by thousands, live, would make me sick to my stomach because I "knew" I'd never be flawless at it.
When the opportunity came along to voice tonight's show, I spent some time thinking about it before I accepted. Actually, I think when I accepted, I even recommended someone else because I made excuses as to why I might not be right for the job. But, after I thought about it, this time around, the idea of live announce actually made me a little giddy, and I knew the time was right for me to try it out.
This morning, I woke up and felt a tad nervous (you know, kinda like when you voiced your first gig? Like that. That generally doesn't happen to me anymore, but it did this morning), and I posted that on Facebook. My friends were so wonderful and showed me they had confidence in me. I was really overwhelmed by the gestures of support. Their words meant a lot.
The show itself was crazy fast. Hectic. Loud with thumping music (which for me, is very helpful to set the "mood" and got me pumped up). Excited and screaming kids. Flat out cold reads... and such an adrenaline rush; so much fun. For these kids, this night was a really big deal. They'd worked hard to earn these awards. They were so happy to win, and there were actually many tears shed too. It was our job (I had a male counterpart) to ensure their night was special.
After the show, as I was walking out of the convention center tonight, it occurred to me, I did it. I did something I thought I'd NEVER do, EVER. I did it and didn't get sick, or pass out, or make a fool of myself. Matter of fact, I realized I have become what I always admired in others: calm, even-keeled, able to make changes on the fly, my feathers didn't get ruffled... I got the job done. I did something tonight most people could never fathom doing.
Here's what I figured out: You can accomplish ANYTHING you want. Things you might think are impossible... but they're not. Nothing is impossible. It might be a challenge, and you might have to work at it, but you CAN do it. Don't let negative thoughts or words permeate your mind. You are unstoppable. Make it happen.
3rd Annual NYC Voice Over Mixer - Who's In?
The 3rd Annual NYC Voice Over Mixer is coming up - Saturday, December 4, 2010, at Tonic Bar in Times Square. RSVP by emailing lindz@voicetalentproductions.com
So, who's going??
I've never gone before because it happens to fall on my birthday weekend, AND, more importantly, the SEC Championship gameday in which my beloved Florida Gators always play. However, chances of them making it to the SEC Championship this year are slim, and so I'm considering the trip to mix with fabulous voice over talent!!! Maybe I'll see you there?
Good Words to Live By
"How people treat you is their Karma; how you react is yours." - Wayne Dyer
While I'm a college graduate with a degree in English, I am by far not the most cerebral chick on the planet.
And, I'm not a Buddhist. However, I can appreciate much of the Buddhist way of thinking. I love this quote. I come from a family where we joke that our reactions are based on the premise of "Ready, Fire, Aim." I think my siblings and I pay special attention to not react like that in business or personal situations. So, if you have a client that is just annoying you by asking for a million retakes on a project you decided to cut him a break on and now it's taking up more time than you anticipated, or it's a personal relationship issue, remember this quote. Step back, take a breath, and think about how you're going to react. Know that your reaction sets the tone for what happens going forward.
We need our clients in order to be successful, so it often pays to be the bigger person.