History » The Voiceover Boblog

An interview with me?

Posted August 21, 2007 by Bob

John Florian has posted an interview he did with me on his Voice Over Xtra site. I hope you’ll find something of value there. By the way, sign up for a membership on Voice Over Xtra. It’s free. Lot’s of good information. I’m a member there.

Category: Career Advice, General, History, People | Comments (0)
Summit 2007, Reading for Terry Berland

Posted August 20, 2007 by Bob

Among the greatest of highlights for me at Dan O’Day’s Summit this year was the final session presented by casting agent Terry Berland.

With my deepest thanks to my friend Rob Actis, here is photographic evidence that I did indeed get to read for Terry. First, here’s my friend Ric Gonzalez from Texas and I as we’re going through the copy.

And here’s a wider shot of the whole platform and all 3 of us.

My thanks again to Rob Actis for sending me the photos and to Terry Berland for coming to the Summit to speak and to Dan O’Day for putting on such a superb event each year.

Category: General, History | Comments (0)
The family on Vox Daily

Posted July 12, 2007 by Bob

Stephanie at the Vox Daily blog, has done an interview with me about how our entire family gets involved in my voiceover business from time to time. Thank you for preparing such a gracious and kind post, Stephanie.

Category: General, History, People | Comments (0)
Estalvin’s Legacy

Posted May 30, 2007 by Bob

Since somewhere around my twelfth year (a long, long time ago, though not in a galaxy far, far away) I’ve been fond of science fiction and fantasy fiction. Some of my first audiobook projects were for a collection of short science fiction stories, which was great fun.

Now, I’m delighted to let you know that I’ve provided the voice for the promo introducing a new audio drama called “Estalvin’s Legacy.” You can hear the promo on this page, and starting on Friday, June 1, 2007, keep up to date with the audio drama itself on this page.

Category: General, History | Comments (2)
I almost did it again…

Posted May 2, 2007 by Bob

Last year, I didn’t remember my blogiversary until the month of May was almost over. This year, as I was out driving a bit earlier, I remembered that today is the day 2 years ago when I started this voiceover blog. So, happy blogiversary to me!

And thank you, where ever you may be, for reading. I’m so very grateful that we’ve managed to write and link enough material to keep at least a few of you interested.

Category: General, History | Comments (26)
Rodney Saulsberry and overcoming obstacles

Posted April 3, 2007 by Bob

Rodney Saulsberry had the unenviable task of being the first presenter at VOICE 2007. But, he pulled everything off brilliantly. Stephanie, over at Vox Daily, has recovered from the week in Las Vegas enough to post a fabulous and detailed report on Rodney’s presentation.

I especially appreciated Stephanie’s detailed report because I ended up missing the second half of his presentation. Why? Because I was actually putting into practice one of his techniques: overcoming obstacles! When my plane landed in Las Vegas I had enough work waiting for me in my email inbox to pay for the conference, my hotel room and most of my meals. But some of that had to be done and delivered right away. The obstacles to accomplishing this task were many, though none had to do with actually recording the pieces. Providentially, I was assigned a room way off in a quiet corner of the hotel and except for a plane flying overhead 2 or 3 times a night, I had no problems getting studio quality audio from my room.

No, the troubles began when I started to upload the audio. As soon as my FTP program would connect to the server and start transferring the audio, the Internet connection would drop. If I canceled the transfer, the Internet connect would re-establish. After several unsuccessful attempts, I called tech support for the hotel Internet service. The walked me through several steps, and we thought everything was back to normal; but as soon as I hung up the phone, the Internet connection dropped again. I called tech support back. They sent a technician to my room, this time. He too, was unable to fix things. But, he suggested that I try the business center in the hotel, as they were on a different Internet connection.

So, I packed up my laptop and mouse, and trooped up to the third floor of the other part of the hotel to try from the business center. No soap. It fact, it wasn’t even possible to connect my laptop to the Internet in the business center at all. I called tech support for the business center, but they didn’t have anything helpful to add.

So, I check with the front desk at the hotel (it’s now well past Midnight, Pacific time) and they suggest I try the FedEx Kinkos that about 2 miles from the hotel. I take a cab over there. The cabbie gives me his cell phone number as I’m getting out so I can call for a ride back and pulls away as I’m walking through the doors. I ask the clerk for directions to the laptop station and he says, “You’re welcome to try, but our Internet connection has been down since 4:00 PM this afternoon. Not just here, but everywhere in the company.” He’s right. No soap again. I try for several minutes. No soap. No connection. No uploads. It’s now about 1:45 AM Pacific, so I try calling the cabbie. I get a “this line is not in service” on the first attempt and a woman’s voice (voice mail, thankfully!) on the second.

Collecting my laptop and mouse, I begin the 2 mile walk back to the hotel. At 2:30 AM Pacific, I arrive, having walked through what turned out to be a really terrible neighborhood, but seeing only one other living soul, an older man trudging home carrying his lunch box. Needless to say, I’m praying the entire way and I’m ever so grateful to have made it back to the Palace Station safely.

At this point, I think maybe the Internet connection will work because the amount of traffic has to be somewhat lower this late at night. Nope. Same experience as noted above.

How does this tie in with Rodney’s presentation? Because in the middle, Frank Frederick was gracious enough to drive me back to the Kinkos where I finally was able to get online and deliver the audio. Late, but at least on the day it was needed. And truly, what a great guy Frank is. He’s one of the 3 folks putting this whole event on, and he takes the time to help me finish overcoming obstacles. I’m forever in his debt.

By the way, with thanks to Stephanie at Vox Daily for linking this in the first place, here is Rodney’s video that was part of his presentation during VOICE.

(edited to fix typos and to add video)

Category: General, History | Comments (12)
Interviewed, again.

Posted March 3, 2007 by Bob

The good folks at Lit Between the Ears, a blog about audio drama, have interviewed me. You can read the post here.

Category: Blogging, General, History | Comments (8)
So far from my expectations…

Posted February 22, 2007 by Bob

A little earlier today I took part in my first training class with Nancy Wolfson. Part of this initial class was her evaluation of my main commercial demo. Now, first a little context.

Near the end of the teleseminar presented by Nancy Wolfson and Anna Vocino, a few weeks ago, Nancy was given a demo submitted by one of the participants of the teleseminar. She offered a live, no-holds-barred evaluation of the demo and it was very direct, very honest and (for the lady whose demo was featured) very tough to hear, I’m sure. Especially since the first, very direct, critique happened only 4 seconds into the demo playback.

So, I had prepared myself that I would likely have a similar experience today. We said hello and almost immediately got into the demo evaluation. I could hear over the phone line as Nancy started playing my demo. 4 seconds in and she hadn’t stopped for anything yet. 10 seconds. 20 seconds. 30 seconds. 50 seconds. 60 seconds and it had played all the way through, without stopping. Nancy’s exact words at this point?

“Wow!”

She played the demo a second time. Again, no stopping. Her exact words?

“Wow!”

So I said, “I hope that’s a good wow?”

“Yes! You have to promise me something.”

“OK.”

“Don’t spend a nickel fixing that demo.”

To say that I was amazed and stunned is a major understatement. Here I was, all keyed up for a severe time in the woodshed and instead, compliments. And from a teacher for whom I already had a huge amount of respect because of all the things that my friends Blaine Parker and Kristine Oller had told me about what an excellent teacher Nancy is. As I type this, I’m still tingling from the pleasant shock.

So that was the first 5 to 10 minutes of our 50 minutes. We then talked about some of my background and work. I told her about my excellent experiences with my current agents (The Talent Group in Pittsburgh and Cleveland) and eventually I asked Nancy about looking for additional agents as I search for more voiceover work. I told her how terrible I usually am on the phone and she said “Good, because that’s not what you want to be doing.”

She then told me that she never does this (Her words, “OK, actually I’ve done it once before.”) and then she emailed me an audition opportunity with an agency in Denver. Which I have, of course, already recorded, (carefully following the directions for slating, file naming and emailing) and have sent along to that agency. I may be a little slow at times, but I’m not stupid. When a rare opportunity pops into my pathway, I’m going to grab it and run with it. Which is just what I’ve done.

Now, does this mean I’ve arrived and I can just sit back and wait for people to pile sacks of money at my door? Of course not. But, in the last few years one of the key ingredients I’ve learned that we voiceover people need is confidence. The certainty that we can, in fact, deliver the goods when we’re called on to do so. Today’s experience with Nancy has given me a huge boost of confidence. Huge.

So, what does this mean for you? Well, I certainly can’t promise an identical experience in your first class with Nancy that I had. But, if you’re serious about pursuing voiceover work, I already believed that Nancy Wolfson is the person with whom you should study. And have written about that here before. Everything that happened today just reinforced that conviction. Here’s the single biggest reason: because Nancy isn’t just about teaching voiceover techniques, though you’ll get plenty of that. She takes an overarching approach to starting a voiceover business.

Then, it’s up to you. And yes, that means it’s up to me, too.

Category: General, History, People | Comments (8)
Don’t sweat the small stuff?

Posted December 14, 2006 by Bob

While this post at the American Small Business blog isn’t about voiceover, I think there’s a vitally important point to be drawn from it.

It’s extremely easy to imagine that little things aren’t important. Yet, as Jane’s post makes clear, often it’s the little things that influence how other people perceive us. And those perceptions have a powerful influence on whether or not we’re hired again.

My goal with every voiceover session I do is to leave my client deliriously happy with my work. No doubt, I miss that mark much of the time; but it’s still my goal. And as evidence that I don’t always miss the mark, a fair amount of the time, when someone casts me once they do so again.

For example, the very first real voiceover client I ever booked in 1983, still casts me for voiceover work. In that particular case, their business model has changed in the last 10 years, so we don’t do as much work together as we once did. But, I still get work from them every year. Several other clients go back more than 10 years as well. And I’m deeply grateful to every one of them. Of course, I’m equally grateful for even the newest clients.

Hopefully, every one receives the same level of care and attention and passion. That is always my aim. So, how are you “sweating the small stuff?” I’d love to read your comments.

Category: Career Advice, General, History | Comments (0)
Finding voiceover representation

Posted December 8, 2006 by Bob

If you’re relatively new to voiceover work, finding an agent is probably one of the things you believe you need to do. You’ll find some very helpful guidance at Vox Daily, the main voiceover blog from Voices.com as well as two very fine posts (one and two) at their voiceover advice blog called Ask the Voice Cat.

Read them all. They are well worth your time.

But, let me offer one note of caution. Hopefully not discouragement, just caution.

You must be able to actually deliver the level and quality of work that’s on your demos. If you’ve hired a demo producer who has helped you create a killer demo or two or twelve that all feature reads you can’t pull off for real in the studio, you could torpedo your career before it even gets going.

Yes, you want to put your best foot forward on your demos, but it has to be your best foot, not the genius of your producer and editor. A killer demo will help you find representation, but if you can’t deliver the goods from behind the mic, a killer demo could kill your reputation. You’ll lose the represenation you’ve worked so hard to find, and you’ll lose opportunities to work.

This, by the way, is why so many auditions are required now. Too many killer demos from too many people who can’t actually deliver the goods in the studio. Producers really don’t like unhappy surprises when they are burning money at a booked session.

Tell the truth. Show what you can do. But, don’t try to fake it. You will be found out.

As I’m typing this, I’m remembering something that happened quite back in the late 1980s. I had signed with an agent in Chicago and was starting to get cast fairly often for commercials and especially for narration work. A friend of mine was a pretty decent voiceover talent, but his demo was produced using a number of editing tricks to make his voice sound deeper than it really was.

One day, he asked me to take a copy of his demo to my agent. I told him that I would be happy to. I also told him that if he were ever hired for a session on the basis of that demo, the first time he asked the engineer to use the speed control on the tape machine to make his voice sound like it did on the demo, he’d be laughed out of the studio. He dropped the subject.

Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, History | Comments (2)
Standing in the spotlight

Posted October 15, 2006 by Bob

The weekend of August 15 and 16, 1997 was the time when my understanding of voiceover took a leap to a whole new level. I’ve written about this experience several times previously, just look at the History and People categories and you’ll find lots of posts about the International Radio Creative and Production Summit.

But this post is about something that happened at my 10th consecutive Summit, the one in 2006. The final session each year is called the Critique-A-Spot-A-Thon. Those of us foolish enough to subject our work to public examination turn in one promo or commercial we’ve written, produced or performed for a live, on-the-spot evaluation.

You hear each promo or commercial played, and it’s then followed by that evaluation; in front of everyone at the Summit. Sometimes nice things are said. Most of the time, it’s more painful than that. But, in every case it’s a fair and honest evaluation. And in every case, I’ve learned something valuable in the experience. This time I learned more than I usually do.

First, before you hear this audio, note that in general as each evaluation is given, you just stay in your seat and listen along with everyone else. If Dan has a question, he’ll ask you to respond; but most of the time you just listen to your spot, listen to the evalaution and then Dan moves on to the next one. Here’s what happened to me. You’ll hear my spot first, and then a few minutes what followed.

Summit 2006 with Dan O’Day and Bob Souer

I can’t think of a better illustration of what taking part in the Summit is like each year. Because while being called up to the mike like that doesn’t always happen, there are many opportunities to jump into the action.

As I’ve written each year since I started this blog, whether you are full time in voiceover, work at a radio station in production or just do a little of this kind of work on the side, you’ll gain a lot from attending the Summit.

For those who’ve made it all the way to the end of this post, Dan has a great deal for you. A special offer on the audio recordings from the 2006 Summit (14 hours of actual seminar time) and a bunch of extras that will make the purchase very much worth your while. You can download Dan’s PDF about this offer right here. But, the deal ends October 31, 2006.

Category: General, History, People | Comments (2)
Some thoughts about the “regular guy” voice

Posted September 3, 2006 by Bob

I’ve written previously about the trend in voiceover away from the traditional “announcer” style to a more “regular guy” sound; a trend that’s been going on for at least 10 years now. (Actually I think it’s more like 20 years. See my story in the following paragraphs.) David Houston, a very fine voiceover guy, has a somewhat different take at his blog. It’s well worth a few minutes of your time.

And while I’m thinking about this subject, a quick story:

I first ran into this “regular guy” phenomenon at a recording session in Chicago sometime in the mid-1980s. For some months back then, I’d been the voice for a continuing series of radio and television ads for a local clothing store chain.

So, I arrive for my next recording session and there’s another guy there, who is going to do some of the voice work this time. They have him record first and I think he sounds terrible. No smoothness to his delivery. His voice is kind of scratchy sounding. He doesn’t sound like a professional. In fact, he sounds like someone they just called in off the street.

When he’s finished, I go into the studio, feeling pretty full of myself. I rip through the copy, even getting a couple in just one take. When I’m done, they ask me to wait in the control room while they call the client to play the takes. The client decides the other guy’s reads are the ones they’re going with. Only one of mine is going to run.

Woosh! That was the sound of the air rushing out of my balloon. And, though it would take me a few years, it was also the start of my efforts to sound more like a real person and less like an “announcer.”

(post edited to correct typos)

Category: Career Advice, General, History, People | Comments (0)
Good reading at Slate.com (updated)

Posted July 26, 2006 by Bob

In March of 2005, Seth Stevenson wrote one of his Ad Report Card columns about the Voiceover business. It’s really good stuff, and if you haven’t read it, it’s well worth your time.

He makes several good points, each one valuable for all of us working in voiceover. But, I think his last one is especially spot on…

It’s still an inexact science. Ad agencies can serve up all the adjectives they wantâ€”wry, edgy, authoritative, sexy, textured, real. It’s still a know-it-when-you-hear-it kind of business.

He then provides this quote from Harlan Hogan’s book VO: Tales and Techniques of a Voice-Over Artist as an illustration…

The voice for this spot should be younger, probably thirty-something. It should be honest and real and not too zany like a Steven Wright or Mark Fenske. If the voice were music it would sound more like the Dave Matthews Band or Bryan Ferry. Angie Harmon, formerly on Law and Order, would be a good start as a description for a female voice. Self-assured, with a brassy tone. George Clooney, if he could talk with more enthusiasm and speed, would be a good example of the quality we seek in a male voice.

Uh, huh. Could you be more specific?

(update: I found this article while reading the archives at the Voice-Over Bulletin Board.)

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A rich mine of treasures

Posted July 24, 2006 by Bob

I wrote this past weekend about a note I had sent to Bonnie Gillespie, responding to her column about how sometimes bad news is really good news on hold. Bonnie writes a weekly column for Showfax.com called The Actors Voice. Bonnie is a casting director in Southern California and much of the time what she writes is specifically for actors living and working there in the film and television industry that’s centered in that part of the country. But, a great many of her comments apply to us in the voiceover world too.

Now, candidly, this post was sparked in large part because Bonnie provided a very nice comment and link pointing to this blog in the comments section (called Your Turn) at the bottom of today’s post. But, even if she hadn’t done so, I was going to write again about her column because as I’ve read through a good bit of her column archives, I’ve been hit between the eyes again and again. These are really valuable, and more importantly actionionable, suggestions and insights.

I’d like to offer you just one example, also linked from her comments section today. Read this column from earlier this year. When you’re done, come back here, OK?

Back? Good. Now, did you see how Bonnie drove her point home with the anecdotes about the two letters? One actor isn’t experiencing much success and the other is. The key difference? They both think they’re open to learn, but in truth, only one is. The secondary point? When we invest ourselves in others, we inevitably enrich ourselves in the process…and I don’t mean financially, or at least not just financially.

As I’ve written multiple times, and to further illustrate this second point, this is why there are links to other male voice-over artists here. In fact, if you count, there are more links to men than to women. And some of those links go to guys with voices that are pretty similar to mine. Guys who might be taking work away from me. Except, you see, they’re not. Everyone’s voice is distinct. When mine is exactly the right voice for the job, and I’m known to the people doing the casting, I get the job. Regardless of how many links I provide to other guys. And of course, if my voice isn’t right, I don’t. (And of course, if I’m not known to the people doing the casting, that’s my fault, not theirs.)

But, back to the primary point, about truly being open to learn. This means more than giving lip-service to learning. It means more than spending time and money taking classes, reading books, working on demos, etc. It means actually listening. It means living the conviction that there’s always something valuable to learn from any and every circumstance.

To further illustrate, I’ve attended The International Radio Creative and Production Summit every year since 1997. I vividly remember only two sessions that were not well liked by my fellow attendees.

One was a session on creating promos by Bobby Ocean, a session called Advanced Cat-Skinning. Bobby revealed some very specific techniques and ideas that he uses when he’s working on a station promo in this session. He did so while building a promo before our very ears (and eyes, since we were all in the conference room with him) and I think a lot of folks didn’t understand that he was showing us how he goes about solving challenges. It wasn’t about that specific promo, it was about the principles he was teaching us.

The second session was by Joe Sugarman, one of the most successful direct marketers in history. How successful? He lives in a custom home on Maui. During his session, he spoke about many of the techniques he had learned in 30 years of direct marketing about adapting and focusing the copy in his ads to make them more and more successful. Then, in the middle of his session, he demonstrated the very process about which he was talking, by selling us some of his products. That is, he refined his pitch, his offer, and his language as he was offering to us a chance to buy some of his books. As I watched this unfold, I could hear a kind of angry murmur start up among some of those around me, people taking offense at being pitched to buy some books in the middle of this guy’s presentation. What did I think? I thought, here’s a guy willing to sell me a significant part of his hard earned knowledge about how to write advertising copy more effectively, and he’s come down to $100.00. Are you kidding? I got out my checkbook and paid for the books on the spot. It was the cheapest price I’ve ever paid for such valuable information. (And, by the way, much of Joe’s wisdom is distilled in his book Triggers, available for much less than $100.00.)

Look, I’m not perfect at this either; but if we’re paying attention, the opportunities to learn, to grown, to become much more successful than we are, they’re all around us. They’re happening every day. And one of those opportunities is sitting right here on the Internet in the archives of The Actors Voice. Happy reading. (updated to correct verb/subject mismatch)

And Bonnie, thank you again for your kindness.

Category: Blogging, General, Getting started in Voiceover, History, People | Comments (2)
One of those turning points

Posted July 21, 2006 by Bob

After reading Bonnie Gillespie’s column about Actor Mind Taffy that I linked to in my last post, I clicked on the “main” link at the top of the page to see what she’s written most recently.

I hope you’ll read the whole thing, but here are the key thoughts:

My point: I think it is incredibly important to remember that there is some bad news that is really just good news deferred. [snip] However, you simply cannot know, ahead of time, what bad news is providing you an opportunity for good news. And if you need to know that sort of thing, this business is not going to be a good fit for you.

Reading those thoughts from Bonnie was the catalyst to get me thinking in a fresh way about one of those turning points in my own life. I’ve written previously about the role my friend Darren Eliker played in getting my voice-over career off the ground. But, what I thought about today was the way this story represents the very kind of paradox Bonnie wrote about.

Back at the start of 1996, I had been working for 10 years as the host of a nationally syndicated radio program. Then, my producer called to say I was being replaced by someone who was more of a name, more of a celebrity. At the time, that radio program wasn’t my only source of income, but it was a big chunk. And I had no idea how I would support my family without it.

But, 3 months later, a friend of mine (Darren Eliker) dropped of my demo tape with his agent. At that point, I’d been nibbling around the edges of voice-over work for a little over a decade, not doing all that much. The agent, however, heard something he liked and called me that same afternoon asking to meet with me. We met the day after next (a Friday) and I signed with his agency the Monday following. In less than a month I’d been cast as the the national TV and Radio announcer voice for the “84 Lumber” company. Other opportunities and jobs have followed (though I’m not working with 84 Lumber anymore) and all in all I’ve replaced the income from that syndicated radio job by several multiples every year since.

And of course, if I hadn’t been replaced on that radio show, I’d most likely have turned down the meeting with the agent because it took so much of my time I couldn’t have spared any to meet with him. Or go to any auditions, even if I had met with him. Ten years later, I can see very clearly how that bad news was really good news deferred.

By the way, I sent Bonnie an email thanking her for your column, detailing this story and letting her know that I would post these thoughts here.

Category: Career Advice, History, People | Comments (0)
A don’t miss interview

Posted July 18, 2006 by Bob

Joe Cipriano, as I’ve mentioned before is one of the major voice-over talents. If you’ve listened to network television anytime in the last 10 to 15 years, you’ve heard his voice at least hundreds, more likely thousands of times. He blogs here.

I met Joe in 1997 when he was on a panel discussion about working full time in voice-over at The Second Annual International Radio Creative and Production Summit. It was a panel featuring Joe, the late, great Danny Dark, John Leader and Bobby Ocean. An incredible time that’s available in Dan O’Day’s catalog. And speaking of John Leader, he’s part of this fabulous little video featuring Don LaFontaine and four other guys, including John.

Getting back to the point of this post, all four of the guys at the Summit (John, Danny, Bobby and Joe) were simply wonderful, very down-to-earth, and easy to talk with.

Which leads me to this amazing audio file hosted on Joe’s main web site, an hour of the Jim Bohannon show about the book Secrets of Voice-Over Success.

By the way, the best parts of the interview are the bits of “behind the scenes” stuff you hear while the network commercials are running. Not “G” rated, but very funny.

UPDATE: I neglected to mention thanks to my friend Charlie Glaize for emailing me the link to the audio file.

Category: Blogging, Career Advice, History, People | Comments (0)
Talented people are often nice people, part 2

Posted July 3, 2006 by Bob

One of the nicest and most cheerful guys I know is Bob Holiday, a talented voice-over guy in Southern California.

I met Bob for the first time in 1997 or 1998 at either the first or second of the International Radio Creative and Production Summit seminars I attended. He and Blaine Parker work together. In fact they’re both terrific guys. I’ve just added Bob to my list of voice-over links on the left.

Category: Career Advice, History, People | Comments (0)
More about why I think you should study with Pat Fraley

Posted June 20, 2006 by Bob

My first encounter with Pat took place 2 years ago at the Dan O’Day sponsored 2004 International Radio Creative and Production Summit. His presentation was on creating and using characters. Since Pat is a very successful animation and character voice-over talent in Los Angeles, this was great fun, but not all that practical to me, since this isn’t my niche.

Then last year, Pat was back for a second session at the 2005 Summit. In 3 hours, Pat Fraley taught us practical and immediately useful techniques about how to approach copy at auditions. How practical? In the last year, I’ve earned at least $5000.00 more than I would have, because of the auditioning tools I gained studying with Pat Fraley. In fact in less than a year, I’ve won multiple high-paying jobs using the ideas I learned from him.

I’ll write about my expreriences of putting the audiobook class lessons into practice as time goes on, so there’s more to come on that subject.

Category: Career Advice, History, People | Comments (0)
It was a wonderful day of learning (updated)

Posted June 19, 2006 by Bob

The Audiobook Master Class presented by Pat Fraley was everything I hoped it would be and more. It was really 3 master classes in one. We each received a wonderfully detailed book of notes, saving us the trouble of writing like mad and hoping we weren’t missing something important in the process. Instruction both in the classroom and in the studio came from our three very talented teachers: Pat Fraley, Hillary Huber and Kimberly Breault. (Hillary’s link is to a page on Pat’s site. I can’t find a site specifically for her. Here is another page with some good comments about Hillary.)

First, it was training in how to approach the reading of an audiobook. It’s a very different approach than doing a commercial voice-over. The word picture Pat gave us was “it’s like a train,” running for a very, very long time in the same direction. Recording sessions for audiobooks often last 3 to 6 hours, with just short breaks each hour and for the longer sessions, a stop in the middle of the day for lunch.

Second, it was training in how to find work recording audiobooks. There were many helpful suggestions here, not just about web sites to look at but suggestions about letters to use for contacts and follow-up. This was the part I expected to get the least from, because I’m such a poor self-promoter, but even I believe I can follow through on these simple, and practical ideas.

Third, it was recording our actual audiobook demos. There were 3 voice booths in use, with four of us moving from booth to booth in turns. (One group had 5.) I was delighted to get to record with three talented artists: Connie Zimet, Dwight Harmon and Cindy Shoemaker. Hillary, Kim and Pat each provided direction and notes as we recorded.

This week they are taking our raw tracks to a professional editor to prepare the finished demos. We’ll receive them in a few days.

In addition, Kathe Mazur came in during lunch to offer us her insights as a successful voice talent recording audiobooks for major audiobook publisher, Books-on-Tape. It was wonderful to hear her thoughtful comments about both the delights and the challenges involved in recording audiobooks.

Having now attended three training events with Pat Fraley, I strongly recommend you jump at your next chance to take one of his classes; at least one that makes sense for your specific area of interest. The price of the serminar, the air transportation from Charlotte to LA and back, the hotel, rental car and meals…all of it combined was worth every penny based what I learned in one 8-hour day. I’m very confident I’ll make it all back, and lots more before this year is finished.

Best of all, its was a load of fun!

Category: Career Advice, History, People | Comments (0)
Pat Fraley’s audio book master class

Posted June 16, 2006 by Bob

This evening I fly to Los Angeles and tomorrow all day I’m going to be attending Pat Fraley’s audio book master class. There’s a second class the following day. Both are fully booked. (I’m sure there will be others in the future.)

I’ll post my thoughts about the class here once I’ve had a chance to absorb what I’ve learned. But, I’m sure it’s going to be a great experience. Janet Ault, a very talented lady I’ve met through Dan O’Day’s International Radio Creative and Production Summit, has attended a previous class and emails that she loved the experience. (It was at the Dan O’Day event two years ago that I also first met Pat Fraley.)

Category: Career Advice, General, History, People | Comments (0)
My first blogiversary and I missed it

Posted May 15, 2006 by Bob

The second of May 2006 was my first blogiversary and I failed to take note of that event that day.

Thankfully, I’m better about remembering more important dates like my wedding anniversary and the birthdays of my wife and children.

Category: Blogging, History | Comments (0)
I’m not really an audio geek

Posted May 5, 2006 by Bob

I’m not really and audio geek, but I have run my own voice-over recording studio since 1986 so I’ve picked up a few things along the way.

So, when I saw this post on Mitch Berg’s blog today, I had to post a quick comment with some answers for him. (Mine was the second reponse.) He was nice enough to send a thank you back to both of us through the comments.

Category: Blogging, History, People | Comments (0)
Bridges podcast (updated)

Posted April 17, 2006 by Bob

Some weeks ago I auditioned to become the voice of a podcast through Voice123.com thinking it might be an interesting thing to work on. I also figured that, if the producers of this podcast liked my work, they would keep using me and that leads to one of the most important keys to making a living as a voice-over talent: steady work, or clients who keep sending you work.

Well, I was cast for the job, and have been recording the narrations for them now for a couple of weeks. The podcast is called “bridges“, and is published along with a text version by the Office of Science and Technology of the Embassy of Austria in Washington, DC.

The, first thing we worked on were some previous issues. If you explore those issues, you’ll find my narrations on several of the articles. One thing I really like about the way the “bridges” site is designed is that there’s a flash player embedded in the page, so you don’t have to download the sound file unless you want to. You can just listen right on the spot. And there’s a download link too, if you’d rather do that.

(Update) I’ve updated this post now with a link to Vol. 9, which is the newest issue as of this posting. But, in the meantime, the one thing I think you’ll notice if you explore some of the articles, is that each article, no matter what the topic, is well-written and interesting to read.

Category: General, History | Comments (2)
One way to get into radio

Posted February 25, 2006 by Bob

The year was 1979. In May, we purchased a townhome in Warrenville, IL (a suburb west of Chicago) from the Pulte Home Corporation. At the time I was working as Classical Records manager for the big Rose Records store at 214 South Wabash Avenue in Chicago’s Loop. (I’ve just learned in my web search for information about Rose, that they evidently sold the company to Tower Records some years ago.)

Through a series of serendipities, I was hired by the new Vice-president of Sales for Pulte to work as the Sales Manager for our sub-division. I went from having a 45 minute train ride to work every day, to having a 30 second walk across the street! What’s more, I was making more money than I had ever made. The job went pretty well. I sold nine houses between June and December of 1979. One of the m was to Frank Dawson and his wife Cindy.

Frank, Cindy and their two kids walked through the door of my office in the first model home. I greeted them, and invited them to walk through our three models and asked that they stop back in if they liked what they saw. The two kids (one boy and one girl, as I recall) took off through the door that led from my office into the first model. Cindy was right behind them. But Frank Dawson stopped just as he was walking through the door, turned and asked me the question that ended up changing the direction of my life.

“Have you ever worked in radio?”

“No, I’ve always been interested in it, but how do you get into radio?”

“Well, my name’s Frank Dawson, and I’m the program director of WKKD Radio over in Aurora and I’m looking for some part-time help. Why don’t you come by and audition?” He reached into his pocket and handed me his business card.

I thanked him and said maybe I would.

As I mentioned, Frank and Cindy bought a house from me, in fact they bought that model house we were standing in at the time of that conversation. Over the course of the following few months, Frank asked me a few more times if I would come audition to be one of his part-time announcers. I actually thought he was kidding at first, but after 5 or 6 times, I realized he was serious.

So, one morning in mid-November, I finally drove to the station and did the audition. It consisted of reading a few news stories, the weather, and a commercial script. He told me to read everything twice and to stop the reel-to-reel recorder when I was finished. So, I did and then walked down the hall to his office when I was done. He introduced me to Todd Beezley, the production manager of the station as I was leaving.

A few weeks later I was sitting in my office when Frank Dawson called me. He said that 7 people had auditioned for the job and five of them had previous radio experience. I was sure the next thing he was going to say was that he had picked one of them, but instead what he said was, “And the best of them was you.”

“You’re kidding!”

“Nope, you were the best. Can you come to the station Monday evening around 6 to start training? Dave Fischer will be here and he’ll show you what you need to know.”

I agreed to be there on Monday, hung up and sat in stunned amazement for a few minutes. I then called my wife to tell her what had happened. It was now the middle of December, 1979. If you’re old enough to remember that year, what happens next won’t come as a big surprise.
About two hours later, the VP of Sales walked into my office and sat down with a heavy sigh.

“Bob,” he said, “There’s a recession on. The president of the company has just been fired. I’ve been demoted to your job. And we have to let you go.”

Bang! That was the club God used to help me see that my life journey was now headed in a new direction. I would no longer be in Real Estate. Now, I was going into Radio and from there, as I’ve written previously, into voice-over.

That’s my story. What’s yours?

Category: History, People | Comments (8)
The Challenger Disaster

Posted January 29, 2006 by Bob

(updated) I was in the middle of a long voice-over session at Domain Communications in suburban Chicago. The producer had just called a short break and I walked out of the studio and noticed the shocked looks on the faces of several of the staff. I asked, “what’s wrong” and one of the guys in sales pointed at a television in the corner of the office and said, “The space shuttle just blew up.” As I turned, the images were at that moment being re-run of the explosion.

Truly, a very sad day.

And yet, we had to finish the session, so we did. It wasn’t easy.

With a hat tip to Michelle Malkin, here is President Reagan’s address (video, audio and full transcript) to the nation following the disaster.

(Further update: At the National Religious Broadcaster’s convention 2006 in Dallas, I ran into my friend Jim Draper. (His contact information is on this page.) He was there at Domain that day and when I mentioned to him that I’d written this post, he told me that he had been listening to the launch on the radio in his office. When he heard the description of the explosion, he was the one who had the office staff turn on the television.

Category: General, History | Comments (0)
A very good idea

Posted December 20, 2005 by Bob

I received a note today from a friend named Dick. Here are the salient comments:

Just wanted to let you know Iâ€™m starting to get a little business. Voice123.com has produced two projects so far, and Iâ€™ve done a corporate narration for GlaxoSmithKline. Also doing some pro bono radio spots for a local Christian schoolâ€™s basketball team. Iâ€™ve been signed on to the roster of an audiobook publisher in England for when they need an American voice, but no actual work yet from them. Theyâ€™ve said I should be seeing something early next year.

And my reply, picking up on a memory sparked by the “very good idea” I noticed in Dick’s comments:

The pro bono work is a good idea. There’s a young lady in Pittsburgh named Kelly who did some pro bono voice-overs for our station for about a year, just to gain some “real world” experience. She is now a busy and well paid female talent in Western Pennsylvania. The experience you’re gaining can only stand you in good stead going forward.

Yes, if you’re just getting started in voice-over work, and you can find a radio station that will help you gain real experience, that’s a very good idea. Indeed, were I in that situation today, I would listen to the various local radio stations and pick the one that’s doing the best local production and volunteer there.

Two reasons: because they almost certainly need more decently talented voices because of the amount of work they have to do and because the direction you get will more likely be the kind that you need. Gaining experience doing cheezy, crummy voice-overs is worse than no experience at all.

Category: Career Advice, History, People | Comments (0)
Passion

Posted November 12, 2005 by Bob

I ran into a friend today that I haven’t seen in years. His name is Kenny Marks. When I first met him in the mid-1980s, Kenny was an artist on the Word Records label. You can find chord information to a number of Kenny’s songs here.

But, this is a blog about voice-over; not Christian music. So, why mention running into Kenny? Because as we talked this afternoon, I was reminded afresh about one of my convictions: you have to be passionate about what you’re doing. Kenny isn’t a full-time musician signed to a record label these days. What he’s doing is good stuff, things that he enjoys and it stretches him in ways that his music didn’t. But, as we talked I could hear that he misses being a musician, a full-time musician. He even said so at one point, confirming my guess.

I had a similar conversation yesterday with another man. Years ago he worked “on the air” on radio. His career path has taken him away from that for a long time now, but it remains one of his abiding passions. He very much wishes he could still do a live radio show. For my part, I told him that from the time I first learned about production and voice-over work, I lost nearly all of my desire to be “on the air” live.

But, giving voice to someone’s story, either through the crafting of the words or even more through the telling of that story in a recording studio? This I love with a deep and abiding passion.

Category: Career Advice, General, History, People | Comments (2)
Getting paid, part 2

Posted by Bob

Ann writes the following in response to my last post:

Bob,

Your emails have been very comforting for me at a time of confusion. Thank you. I will take your advice on this.

[snipped details about specific project]

Very best,
Ann

P.S. Why oh Why does Voice123.com advocate billing upfront with 50% down if this is not the standard among VO talent? I have asked a few other talents and each person is pretty much doing it as you are, nothing upfront. Is Voice123.com in the dark??? I think they need to be en-LIGHT-end about this one before they cause talent to lose work over this detail! Of course, my feeling is if you do the work you should get paid right away… But if that’s not how this business works, well… I need to know that!

My reply:

Ann,

Another very good question. Since I’d never noticed this recommendation from Voice123.com, I thought I would check the site and see specifically what they are saying. As far as I can tell this is the article to which you refer, the paragraph right after the sample “bid” language. (If I’m wrong, please let me know and I’ll revise my answer to you based on the corrected information.)

Yes, that article is posted on the Voice123.com site, but Caryn appears to me to be simply one of the many professional talents on the site. I don’t know that we can surmise this is the official position of Voice123.com; rather the opinion of Caryn as posted there.

But, there’s a more significant issue here. I suppose growing up in the farm country of Minnesota has left me hopelessly clueless; but I think that it makes most sense to treat one’s clients with the same measure of trust you expect them to have in you. In other words, I disagree with Caryn’s initial premise. If I don’t trust that someone will keep their word regarding payment, then why do I want to work with them at all? My standards about the kind of voice-over work I will do include the idea that I will only work on projects that promote legal, moral and ethical products and services.

I just don’t think it makes sense to begin with an adversarial point of view. The message I get from Caryn’s sample bid post is “I don’t trust you to pay me if I release the audio to you first; so you have to trust me to release the audio to you after I’ve been paid.” I don’t want to find adversaries, I want to find partners, people who like my work, and want to work with me again. I want to leave a sweet taste in the mouth of my clients, pleasant memories of how easy it was to work with me, and how well I gave voice to their stories. People who will hire me again and again. Leaving the impression with my clients that I don’t entirely trust them doesn’t help that happen. Indeed, just the opposite.

Even so, this voice-over business is a business as Freddie Bell points out so effectively here and as he underscored very well in his Voice123.com webminar (which will be available here one of these days). So, we should deal with our clients the way any business does.

We are a service business. In general, a service business bids on a project; performs the service and then gets paid. (Yes, there are lots of exceptions.) But, for example, if you hire a company to come clean your carpets, do you pay them before or after they actually do the work? What about car repairs? Hair stylist? Etc.?

Again, I hope this is helpful. And I’m delighted to hear about your work. I’m sure you’ll do a great job.

Be well,
Bob Souer

PS: Years ago, I often had to wait 90 days to get paid for my voice work. Now, it’s most often only 30. But, I’d rather have a client who hires me 6 times a year and takes 90 days to pay, than a client who hires me (for the same rate) once a year and pays in 30 days. Best of all, of course, is to have both as clients; but if I have to chose just one, it’s a ‘no brainer.’

Category: Career Advice, General, History | Comments (0)
A memory, A lesson

Posted August 10, 2005 by Bob

A few days ago I was talking with a friend about one of those turning point moments of life, a moment that took me by surprise. I’d been working at a suburban Chicago radio station for about a year and a half at the time. My first radio job and the place where I got my start doing voice-overs. Or, at least where I got my audition, as I’ve written previously.

So, I’d been working at the station, WKKD-FM (long since changed formats, owners, call letters, etc.) for about a year and a half when I learned that a big Chicago station was looking for new announcers. I called and asked for an interview with the program director and amazingly enough got an appointment.

A few days later, I’m in the office of that station (part of the old Century Broadcasting company) in the John Hancock Building. The format of the station I was applying at was Beautiful Music. (link in .pdf format) The same format WKKD-FM had at the time. After I get there, the receptionist tells me that the program director will see me in just a few minutes. Then I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, after about 45 minutes, she tells me that the program director is dealing with a crisis but that he would like me to wait if I can and meet with him when he’s free. Since I’d taken the day off, I had the time. I waited some more. Finally, he came out and got me. (I so much wish I could remember his name!)

We sat in his office and chatted for a minute. He then asked me if I brought my demo tape with me. I said, “yes” and handed him a 5″ reel. Yes, this was a LONG time ago! I thought that would be that. He would take my tape, thank me for coming down, and tell me that he would call me back. Instead, he turned around and threaded the reel onto a deck he had sitting behind him in his office and pushed “play”! He listened for a few minutes. Asked me a couple of questions about the format of WKKD-FM and then stopped, re-wound the tape and handed it back to me.

Then he looked at me for a couple of seconds and said, “Bob, I think you have just the kind of voice we’re looking for. I don’t know when my next position is going to open up, but I’ll stay in touch and let you know when we have something for you.” I was stunned. And elated. And the most amazing thing is that he did just that. He called me about once a month for the next 7 months. The 7th time he called, he had a job for me. I took it and it was one of the best things I ever did professionally. At least in those early years.

So, what did I learn from that experience? Just this: you never know when you’re going to be thrust into the spotlight. You’d best be prepared, because opportunity doesn’t often knock more than once. While I certainly haven’t been perfect about putting this lesson into practice, if you’ve read other posts on this blog, you know I’ve managed a few times, anyway.

Category: History | Comments (0)
A painful lesson

Posted July 21, 2005 by Bob

One of my mentors taught me an important but painful lesson years ago. Armand remains a good friend today. He’s now the General Manager of WWCA in Gary, Indiana. When we met, it was while we were both working at a now defunct radio station in the Western Suburbs of Chicago, WKKD-FM.

Armand had been a Program Director and had worked in sales for several radio stations at the time I met him. He sized me up right away as someone who needed a lot of help. And he was very willing to share his knowledge and experience.

We worked together again a couple of years later at another now defunct suburban Chicago radio station, WCRM-FM, where he was the Sales Manager. I was working as Afternoon Drive jock and Production Manager and one day as I arrived for work, the General Manager called me in to his office to tell me that he was promoting me to Program Director. Whew!

Thankfully, Armand was there. He coached me through the next several months of baby steps as I learned how to lead a staff and oversee the programming of a station.

So, what was the painful lesson?

Armand is also a very talented voice-over guy. His voice is pitched a little higher than mine, but he understood years before I did that the “big announcer” thing was going away.

So one time, back when we lived in the Chicago area, Armand and I both auditioned for a voice-over job. A couple of days later, he called me very excited, because he got the job. My reaction? Oh, it was very mature. I believe my exact words were, “That’s the last time you’ll ever beat me.” That’s right. I might as well have stuck a knife in his back.

He was quiet for a moment, and then simply said, “I’m not so sure that’s true.” As soon as he said that, I realized how hurtful I had been. And more importantly, a moment later I realized that my arrogance might well have been part of the reason I didn’t get that job. I had just assumed that I was so good I didn’t really have to work hard on the audition.

I’m very grateful for all of Armand’s help years ago. And even more grateful for his enduring friendship (and patience with me) to this day.

Category: History, People | Comments (0)

Bob Souer

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