April » 2009 » The Voiceover Boblog

The voice of the Mythbusters, part 2

Posted April 30, 2009 by Bob

Mahmoud Taji emails this morning with news that he’s posted the second half of his interview with Robert Lee, the narrator for the Mythbusters television show on his blog.

Category: General, People | Comments (2)
A flying tour of a British voiceover studio

Posted April 29, 2009 by Bob

Have a look at the voiceover studio of Emma Thurston and Colin Day.

Category: General, People | Comments (0)
You must act

Posted by Bob

Bob Fraser is a source of a great deal of valuable guidance and information for actors of all stripes. Much of what he has to say cuts right to the heart of the matter for us who work primarily or exclusively as voice actors. With his permission, here is the contents of a lengthly email I received from him today.

——————————-
Why Most Actors Fail

Today’s missive is going to upset a few of you. But, to be
blunt, I don’t do this to make friends – I do this to help
SOME actors build successful careers.

Let’s begin …

As an actor who yearns for a professional career, you must
start with the knowledge that you are facing a locked door.

On the other side of that door is the career you’ve always
wanted – great projects, lots of work, recognition and your
choice of roles.

But the key that unlocks that door is all wrapped up in your
belief in yourself.

Because until you are convinced that you DESERVE the career
you want – until you BELIEVE in your product (YOU) – until
you are capable of recognizing REALITY, you will not do the
one thing that makes everything happen … which is to SELL!

If you read my posts, blogs and other writings, I’m sure you
have realized, by now, that I’m pretty darn aggressive about
selling my many acting career courses.

In fact, according to some, I’m “too damn pushy” and I sell
too much.

Now, I realize that there are a lot of actors out there who
don’t like to be sold anything. Some actors get real huffy
when they think I’m treating them like ‘customers.’

And heaven forbid I should ever be too “pushy” about selling
anything to them. After all, most actors are ‘broke’ – and I
should know that.

Behind this attitude towards sales and selling lies the reason
most actors are ‘broke’ – and the real reason that most actors
never have the successful career they say they want.

=======================
SOMEDAY THEY’LL NOTICE ME
=======================

Here’s what I mean: Unfortunately the great majority of actors
are simply unsure of their value – and, because of this, they
behave as if they will be ‘unmasked’ as untalented, unworthy,
untalented pretenders – who don’t deserve consideration.

That’s why a lot of actors ‘undersell’ themselves.

They opt for ’safe,’ they ‘hang back,’ and most egregiously
they don’t go ‘all out’ in the pursuit of their business.

They seem to believe that the ’soft sell’ is the way to get
through that door. That all they have to do is show up – and
one day it will become obvious to the buyers that they are
deserving, talented, committed, and ready for success.

Of course, by underselling, ‘hanging back’ and generally acting
diffident, those kind of actors don’t risk anything more than
being told ‘no’ – which they expect – as opposed to being told
they don’t have what it takes to ‘make it.’

That’s what the anti-sales attitude is all about; avoiding the
risk of being totally rejected.

Of course, if you intend to be a professional paid actor, this
attitude is a disaster of epic proportions.

=============================
SELLING CANDY IN THE PARKING LOT
=============================

It’s a behavior that is analogous to the kid selling candy in
front of the supermarket who starts his sales pitch like this:

“You wouldn’t want to buy a dollar candy bar, would you?”

That approach almost guarantees you will say “no.”

In fact your “no” is exactly what that kid is expecting. As a
result, the kid feels justified in his approach because now he
knows he was right about what to expect.

See, for that kid, being ‘right’ is more important than selling
you a candy bar.

The successful kid approaches things far differently: “You can
help a lot of kids improve their lives by purchasing just one
of my delicious candy bars – how many do you want?”

Sure, the second kid risks exactly the same rejection – the same
“no” – but believe me, she sells a lot more candy bars.

Look, selling is the most important component of success in
any business. Successful people know that they must sell and
that they must remain unconcerned about those who may find
their approach to business … “too damn pushy.”

Since my main goal is to teach actors how to be successful in
our business – by showing them how to DO business – I believe
the most effective way is to show by example.

That’s why I’m willing to risk the upset some actors feel when
I’m ’selling’ them something. It’s the reason I utilize what
some call the ‘hard sell.’ Because I know that approach is the
approach that WORKS.

It’s precisely that approach that gets actors to professional
status – and eventually to the red carpet.

Everyone who ‘makes it’ in show business MUST be “pushy.”

==================
WHAT IT REALLY TAKES
==================

Pushing yourself forward is pretty much the only way to stand
out from the crowd. It’s also the only way to make forward
progress. So that’s what I do with my stuff, because I want
to stand out from the crowd – and be successful.

Make no mistake … every sale in show biz is a ‘hard sell.’

That’s the reason I continue using the so-called ‘hard sell’
when I know that some actors just don’t like it. I do it
that way for two reasons:

First, I know it works.

And secondly, when I first started, I observed the failure
rate actors faced – and realized that it was the ‘undersell’
or ’soft sell’ approach that was behind all those failures.

So I got aggressive. I focused on selling.

The result of that decision, some five decades ago – is that
I’ve been successful for a very long time in a business where
most people have a hard time even making a living.

To be blunt, I’m aggressive about advertising and selling my
products now because I know how much my stuff can be worth to
an actor whose REAL goal is to become a successful actor.

This is a business where putting yourself forward and ‘closing’
those hard sales are the twin pillars of success. (And the only
way that is proven to work, year after year.)

Here’s the truth behind the feelings some actors have about
selling and being ’sold’ …

=================
HANDLING THE TRUTH
=================

Success in our business isn’t about who is the most talented,
or who has the best training, or who loves acting the most.

The proof of that is something you’ve probably said to yourself
on more than one occasion.

I’m sure you’ve observed a lot of actors who might charitably
only be called ‘talent challenged’ and complained about their
successes. Or griped about some actress who keeps getting work
even though she never studied acting at all. Or you’ve looked
at some stars and wondered aloud why anyone would pay to see
them – since it is patently evident that they are terrible
actors.

Yet, there they are, on television, in movies, getting their
star in the sidewalk, working constantly, being the subject
of interviews, being sought after – and pretty much living
the dream you hold so dearly.

Why?

Because those actors understand that this is a business and
they focus their energies on selling and promoting themselves
- and most of them do it quite aggressively.

What I know is this: Once you get past the idea that you can
undersell yourself or engage in the soft sell approach and
succeed – after you’ve dispensed with the idea that talent,
training and love of craft will get you where you want to go
…. that’s when you’ll be ready to go to work on the things
that DO matter:

ADVERTISING.
PROMOTION.
“THE HARD SELL.”

You see, those actors who worry about ‘bugging’ the casting
directors, offending their sensitive artistic pals, and steer
clear of ’selling’ themselves – are going to find themselves
standing on the wrong side of that door for a long time.

Only those actors who have confidence, believe in themselves
and SELL at every opportunity – have any hope of opening that
door

Of course, it doesn’t happen by itself – you can’t just think
these skills into existence … you WILL have to take action.

Or, as I like to say … YOU MUST ACT!

===================
SPEAKING OF SELLING
===================

I’ve gotten a lot of emails asking me how You Must Act! is
different from all the other acting information that’s ‘out
there.’

The best explanation is this: Almost everything you have
learned about acting is about how to act. You Must Act! is
about how to become SUCCESSFUL professional actor.

That’s why I call it an ACTING CAREER COURSE.

You Must Act! is a computer-based course that clarifies the
methods, techniques, strategies, and skills used by successful
actors – to build well-paying careers in the entertainment
industry.

And these are not the same old shopworn “tips” you’ve probably
seen all over the internet. This is vital information that,
according to Emmy Winner Robert Guillaume … “propels actors
to amazing and exciting results.”

Tony Winner Rene Auberjonois (Star of Boston Legal, Star Trek,
M*A*S*H, The Patriot, and many others) had this to say …

“What an achievement! What a GOLD MINE of essential information.
Bravo! It’s the kind of stuff I wish had been available in one
package when I was stumbling around trying to get started.”

You Must Act! works for actors of all ages – and all stages of
career development. In other words it can help you if you’re
just getting started … or if you are in mid-career and your
booking rate is stalled.

I get lots of great comments from readers and users:

“What it contains is worth millions.”

“I feel like the power is back in my hands.”

“You Must Act has had a profound effect on my career. I cannot
thank you enough.”

(You can read dozens of letters from actors all over the world
- who are thrilled with the results they’ve gotten from You Must
Act! – on the site.)

So, why not discover how good information, explicit success
techniques, no-nonsense, practical, step-by-step instructions
can put the power back into your hands. The power to actually
take effective action and dramatically improve your career.

If you MUST act … go to the site now, and check it out.

GO HERE ==> http://www.youmustact.com

Have a splendid day and, as always …

Much Success,
Bob (Fraser)
——————————-

Bob, thank you for permission to re-publish your missive today. Very well said.

Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover | Comments (0)
Two Legends

Posted by Bob

With thanks to Dan Hughes who posted this link in the Yahoo! Voiceover Group, this video features 2 legends from the days of classic radio drama.

Fred Foy was the announcer for the Lone Ranger radio show from 1945 until it ended, and later for the Dick Cavett Show. Barney Beck was the sound effects man for The Shadow and the radio version of Superman, and later Bob & Ray. They both appear in the video above in which Dan and his 11-year-old (at the time) daughter Karen appear.

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If you are in LA and a member of AFTRA …

Posted April 28, 2009 by Bob
You might want to seriously think about attending the meeting planned for Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at the AFTRA headquarters from 7:00 to 9:30 pm. The subject is “Personal Development, Healing and Performance Mastery” and among the panelists taking part will be my voiceover coach, Marice Tobias. Topics that will be discussed include …
- How emotional wounds show up in the creative process
- The relationships between healing, authenticity and mastery of craft
- Ways that performers experience healing while honing their craft
- The role of psychotherapy, meditation, yoga, spirituality
- The healing process as it is unique to artists
- The connections between body, breath, emotion and performance
- The contributions that performers have made and can make through their own transformative healing process
Register for the event by emailing larsvp@aftra.com.
Category: General | Comments (0)
The voice of the Mythbusters

Posted by Bob

On his voiceover blog, Mahmoud Taji has posted an interview with Robert Lee, the narrator for the Discovery Channel program Mythbusters.

Category: General, People | Comments (0)
Scott Brick podcast part 2 is posted

Posted by Bob

Be sure to hop over to the Voice Registry blog for part 2 of Tracy Pattin’s podcast with audiobook narrator superstar Scott Brick.

Category: General, People | Comments (0)
Dan O’Day Summit 2009

Posted April 27, 2009 by Bob

Every year since 1996 there has been an International Radio Creative and Production Summit held in the Los Angeles area in August. I’ve attended every one starting in 1997 (I missed the first) and have gained tremendous benefit every year. My voiceover skills have grown sharper. The writing sessions help me understand copy better, again raising my game for voiceover work. The production sessions help me understand my gear better.

There is a limit of 100 who get to attend every year. Registration information will be coming out soon so you might want to pop over to Dan O’Day’s Summit page and sign up for the official announcement.

When you do, if you include a mention of me as the person who referred you, I’ll receive a commission (in the interests of full disclosure) but your price is exactly the same whether you mention me as a reference or not. And if you don’t want me to get a commission, don’t mention me.

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2 roses and 5 thorns

Posted April 26, 2009 by Bob

I spent a large portion of the day Sunday gaining much of value in my voiceover business. My friend Pam Tierney hosted a get-together of voiceover folk mostly from the Chicago area (interlopers from Iowa, California and North Carolina were made welcome) including the one and only Pat Fraley. This gathering took place at Pam’s home in Chicago. We had a wonderful meal. Even more wonderful conversation. And a chance to put faces to names of several folks we’ve only known electronically.

From left to right we are Pat Fraley, Tom Test, Bob Souer, Mo Holland, Tony Craine, Pam Tierney and Justin Kaiser.

It was an incandescent day full of wonderful memories and people.

Category: General | Comments (1)
A red letter day for our family

Posted April 25, 2009 by Bob

Well, actually the color was black. You see my middle son David tested successfully today for his black belt in karate.

Congratulations son. I’m very proud of you.

Category: General | Comments (2)
A happy ending, but …

Posted April 24, 2009 by Bob

My friend John Taylor posts on his Voiceover Universe blog today a cautionary tale about an experience he had with his PayPal account. The long and short of John’s story is that there are risks to just about everything.

Category: General, People | Tags: paypal, risks, Voiceover | Comments (0)
The Annual Post Promax Voiceover Intensive for Established Professionals

Posted April 23, 2009 by Bob

Marice Tobias who is both my voiceover coach and my friend will be a featured speaker at Promax this year. Marice will then conduct her traditional follow-up weekend incorporating the news and views expressed by producers, stations and networks at the Conference in this pivotal year of change.

The Promo challenge for performers is to continually distinguish the vast and varied demands of the read in all its subtleties and shifts.

Trailer is the most elusive discipline in VO, yet it’s growing in number and in diversity. The trailer read informs and influences all other aspects of VO and is an imperative skill for serious players.

With the expansion of Cable and the Internet, Narration is the ever-growing opportunity for performers to deepen their footprint and opportunities.

Creative teams are compact and fluid. Networking and recommendations, genre to genre, promos to shows, shows to networks are guided by social media as much as personal experience. The more chips you have on the table, the better.

The Post Promax Voiceover Intensive for Established Professionals. New York City – Saturday and Sunday June 20 & 21, 2009 from 10am-5pm each day. New attendees: $775. Returning: $650. Call Stacey Stahl at Creative Entertainment Management 503.246.2239 to bookmark your spot.

Category: Career Advice, General, People | Tags: marice tobias, narration, promo, trailer, Voiceover, voiceover coaching | Comments (0)
Ask Joe #16 is live

Posted April 22, 2009 by Bob

Joe Cipriano has posted a new Ask Joe Video on Voiceover Universe.

Find more videos like this on VU

Good stuff, Joe. Thank you!

Category: General | Tags: Joe Cipriano, studio, Voiceover | Comments (0)
A new place for recording gear

Posted by Bob

My friend Greg Phellps recommends ZenPro Audio. Here’s what he had to say about the place on the VO-BB.

———————–
When I find good people who know what they are doing I like to pass along the word. Not only does he deserve the business but you deserve to be treated well too. That’s part of what makes my friend Warren such a pleasure. He has just opened up shop as Zen Pro Audio.

A few weeks ago I was asking about what you would like to see as a voice over package.
This is the guy I was telling you about. He has put together some nice packages, check them out, but that’s not what he does best.

Warren, or Warhead as his friends call him has been in the audio industry selling gear for over 5 years. He’s been a home and project studio guy since the early 90’s, interned at SoundLab Recording Studios in Lexngton SC from 1993 to 1994 and learned the basics, and buying his mentor’s previous 8 track rig and setting up an office trailer in the backyard to charge $15 an hour to track local bands. “It’s been years, but yes I’ve edited with a razor blade a few times back then…!” he recalls.

Moved to digital in the early 2000’s and became active in online forums posting as “Warhead”, always appreciating the high end stuff but decidedly “bang for the buck”: He talked mostly about things he discovered that delivered high quality sound for a great price. He began writing online reviews for MojoPie.com, and received a Safe Sound Audio P1 channel strip for review and was blown away by it. Instead of reviewing it, he worked out a deal to import Safe Sound Audio to North America and it’s been that way for over 5 years. Now he sells dozens of brands and hundreds of products, most of which he owns or has personal experience with to help the customer make decisions that are right for them.

ZenPro Audio is his new venture

Warren really knows the products well and what will work best for a given situation. He is there to help you and makes it a point to really understand what you are after. In other words, the man knows how to SERVE his clients…he is not just a place to buy gear but more of a gear guru that you will find yourself going back to over and over again. The gear purchase is almost like a bonus to the education you’ll get…

A lot of guys in the gear sells business claim they can do this…but so many are limited to what the current push on equipment is…ever went into a store for a mic and came away with a new preamp because they were the “featured” product?

Your life, as far as equipment purchases go, just got a whole lot easier. Give him a call….tell him I sent you…you’ll find you like him right from the start. He’s a one man operation and how he manages to keep up with it all and still serve you like you’ve never been served before is an amazing feat all it’s own. Don’t take my word for it though…You could look up his name on Gearslutz and find out what others say about him…like, “the guy really knows his stuff”….”great guy to work with”….”amazing how he knows all this stuff”….it goes on and on….give him a shot…you’ll find out what buying gear is supposed to be like. www.zenproaudio.com
———————–

The site looks like someplace worth exploring and Greg knows what he’s talking about when it comes to gear. Thank you for the good information, Greg.

Category: General, Tools | Tags: audio equipment, studio gear, Voiceover, voices.com | Comments (3)
The perfect compliment

Posted by Bob

My friend Ross Bagley emails the following, which is too good a story not to pass along.

—————–
Yesterday I got the perfect VO compliment. Let me explain.

As you well know, one of the interesting challenges in industrial VOs is describing in detail a procedure you’ve never seen, don’t understand and can’t visualize. The trick is to not let the audience, who is familiar with the subject, in on the secret that you haven’t the vaguest idea what you’re talking about. Yesterday’s assignment involved an oil rig in Alaska. When we finished, the petroleum guy said: “Great! You sounded like you’ve spent 20 years on The North Slope”

Now THAT is voiceover heaven: pleasing a client who didn’t expect to be pleased. He just might come back for more of the same.

Today’s project should be easier: “How to Clean an Operating Room”. At least I’ve been in one of those. Of course I was asleep at the time and don’t remember much.
—————–

Nice, Ross. Good for you. I had a very similar experience several years ago. I walked in to the studio (so you know it was a long time ago) to record a narration for a new client of a video production company at which I had done hundreds of narrations. Their client was using an outside production company for the first time as was really nervous that everything go just right.

The script was about 60 pages long and described the processes for providing maintenance on the machinery that binds and stitches books together. I sat down with the script, looked over the first several pages, asked for clarification on the pronunciation of one term I didn’t recognize and then said, “OK. I’m ready.”

The client objected, wanting me to read through the entire script before we started. Thankfully, my engineer that day was one of the co-owners of the video production house. He quietly said, “Bob’s done quite a few narrations for us. Why don’t we let him go ahead into the booth.” Reluctantly, the client agreed.

About 3 or 4 pages in to the script we had to stop for our first re-take. The client came on the talk-back immediately and asked “Have you ever worked on one of these machines?” The rest of the session went very smoothly from there.

(Edited to correct typo)

Category: General, People | Comments (2)
Are you the real deal?

Posted April 21, 2009 by Bob

With thanks to my manager and friend, Stacey Stahl for sending me the link … take a few minutes to read Drew’s Marketing Minute for today. As you might imagine from the title of this post, it has to do with being authentic. Read the post carefully and then think about how you approach voiceover work. If you business has been in decline for a while, is it maybe because you don’t speak with a real voice?

Category: General | Tags: authenticity, voice acting, Voiceover | Comments (0)
Five things we can learn about voiceover from John Madden

Posted by Bob

John Baldoni writes on Leadership At Work at Harvard. His post today is titled Five Things John Madden Teaches Us about Leadership. As you read, substitute the term voiceover each time you see the word leadership. I’d suggest the parallels are quite striking and the advice more than a little useful.

(Update: When I posted this previously I neglected to thank my friend Ralph Hass for posting the link to this article on the VO-BB. Thank you, Ralph.)

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Not just faster, but slower

Posted by Bob

Seth Godin’s blog post Sixty to zero is something you want to read if you haven’t. Where are the cliffs in your business? Can you change direction when you need to or are you going too fast? Important questions. Comments are open. I’d be delighted to hear your answers.

My thanks, as ever, to my manager and friend Stacey Stahl for sending the link to Seth’s blog post.

Category: General | Comments (0)
SaVoa news

Posted by Bob

John Florian has published an article by Ed Gambill, the founder and chairman of the Society of Accredited Voice Over Artists (SaVoa, Inc.) on some recent news from the organization about reaching the benchmark of 100 accredited voiceover artists.

Further information about SaVoa can be found in a previous article by Nikki Saco, or at the SaVoa website.

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World Digital Library

Posted April 20, 2009 by Bob

With thanks to my friend Jane Ingalls for sending me the link, check out the World Digital Library that launches tomorrow. Multilingual format, primary material from cultures around the world, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, architectural drawings and other significant cultural materials is how the collection is being described. Oh, and the price? Free.

This should prove a very valuable resource for many people, including us voice actors.

Category: General, Tools | Comments (0)
Ann DeWig is featured on podcast

Posted April 19, 2009 by Bob

The Erik and Ember podcast has a new update. Be sure to check out Episode Three featuring the exceptionally talented Ann DeWig.

Update: And if you can’t get enough of Ann, she’s also featured on Ryan Drean’s podcast. My thanks to my friend Joe Szymanski for having the link to that podcast on his blog, thus leading me to it.

Category: General, People | Comments (0)
The value of frog eating

Posted by Bob

Dave Temple offers some mighty valuable counsel on his blog. As strange as it may sound it has to do with Eating a Frog at the start of the day. Read the post. You’ll understand.

Category: Career Advice, General, People | Comments (0)
Risk analysis and the voiceover professional

Posted April 18, 2009 by Bob

On his voiceover blog, my friend Greg Houser recently provided you with a straightforward walk through the question of whether or not you should have ISDN in your home studio.

Category: General, Tools | Comments (0)
Making the connection

Posted April 17, 2009 by Bob

A few days ago on her voiceover blog, my friend Bobbin Beam provided some solid advice for how to find and keep your connection with the stories you’re telling as part of your voiceover work.

Category: Career Advice, General, People | Comments (0)
The lessons are everywhere, if we’ll just look for them

Posted by Bob

My friend Jeffrey Kafer blogged the other day about a lesson he brought to his voiceover work from his previous occupation as a tester in the gaming industry.

What Jeffrey has done is one of the key methods of making progress in any field: Find a related industry. Identify how they solve problems. Apply the parallel methodology to your own business. Even if my business is my voiceover work? Yep. Read what Jeff did. Think about your own life experiences. What kinds of parallels can you find?

Category: General, Tools | Comments (0)
Scott Brick featured on Voice Registry Podcast

Posted April 16, 2009 by Bob

Scott Brick, audiobook narrator without equal, is featured in a podcast interview with Tracy Pattin on the Voice Registry Podcast and the Voicebank Blog.

Category: General, People | Comments (0)
World Voice Day

Posted by Bob

Check out the post at my friend Craig Crumpton’s Voice Actors in the News blog about World Voice Day. Interesting stuff, Craig. Thank you.

Category: General | Comments (0)
Seth’s insight on success

Posted by Bob

The other day, and I just noticed the post today, Seth Godin wrote some deeply insightful words about success. Very interesting and thought-provoking stuff. Well worth the few moments it will take you to read and think.

(updated to add the actual link to Seth’s blog post. sheesh!)

Category: General | Comments (0)
Happy Birthday, Billy West

Posted by Bob

With thanks to my friend Craig Crumpton for posting a link on the Yahoo! group he runs called Voice Actor Appreciation Society, you can pop over to the forum at Billy West’s site and wish him a Happy Birthday today.

Category: General, People | Comments (0)
SWOT your voiceover business

Posted April 15, 2009 by Bob

My friend Greg Houser helps you look at your voiceover business from four key points of view in this blog post called “It might be time to take a SWOT at your VO Business.” Excellent stuff from an excellent mind.

Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, People | Comments (0)

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