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Voiceover Exercises

Career Advice, People

I’ve mentioned the Voice-Over Bulletin Board a number of times now, not least because it’s a superb resource with a bunch of people who very well represent the intersection of being talented and being nice.

I originally found the Voice-Over Bulletin Board as a result of following a link from Connie Terwilliger’s web site. I’ve added Connie’ site to my blog roll of voice-over people and places. However, I also want to point you to a very cool part of Connie’s site. She gives some excellent advice on warming up your voice on a page called Voiceover Exercises.

Check it out.

Good reading at Slate.com (updated)

Career Advice, History, People

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 want—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.)

A rich mine of treasures

Blogging, General, Getting started in Voiceover, History, People

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.

Phrasing, another take

Career Advice, People

I’ve written previously about how we naturally communicate verbally not so much in words or sentences, but in phrases. And yes, some short sentences are single phrases unto themselves, but it’s the larger point I’m aiming at here…that human communication happens in “groups of words” or “partial sentences” called phrases.

Peter Drew, in a very fine article he’s written on this subject, calls them though groups. (When you’re done reading that article, you’ll find a bunch more on his site.)

And when you’ve learned to read the copy that’s in front of you in natural, rhythmic phrases, shaping each one and connecting each to what goes before and comes after, you’ll be a long way ahead of most other folks who are just reading words.

Worth your time to read, another recommendation (updated)

Career Advice, Getting started in Voiceover, People

Another of the voice talents to whom I’ve been introduced via the Voice-Over Bulletin Board is Doc Phillips.

On Doc’s site you’ll find a few articles he’s written. All of them are good reads, but don’t miss the one titled So You’re Considering a Career in Voiceover? (updated to correct spelling) You might expect from the title that it’s filled with ideas of where and what to study and how to work on your first demo. Stuff like that. Doc’s advice is much better than that.

Read it for yourself.

Worth your time to read

Blogging, Career Advice, People

Since I started this voice-over blog in May of 2005, I’ve been trying to find as many other folks who blog about voice-over as I can. One such blog I found the other day is called MCM Voices Voiceover Blog. It’s written by a voice talent named Mary C. McKitrick.
As I was reading some of her recent posts, I saw one that I thought especially worth your time. Mary comments about something I’ve posted about a few times, competition. In her case she’s writing specifically about competition for animation roles. I hope you’ll read the whole thing, but here’s the key point:

Voice actors grumble a lot about the celebrity craze. Celebrities get the big parts in the animated feature films and the “real” voice actors get Townspersons 1-20. I don’t exactly think that celebrities are taking roles away from me. These are not huge numbers of roles, compared to what else is out there in the universe of roles. Plus, I’m not yet so well established as a character voice actor that I can think that way, and even if I were, it would still be a losing battle. The movie moguls want celebrities, they’re going to hire ‘em and there’s nothing anybody can do about it.

Very well put, Mary. And as I said, the entire post is well worth your time.
And when you’re done with that post, don’t miss what Mary has written here, driving the point home even more clearly. I’ve walked that same path Mary, and don’t regret giving those recommendations. That’s why there are a number of links here on the left to other male voice-over talents.
By the way, if you know of someone else blogging about voice-over, leave a link in a comment here or email me a link.

One of those turning points

Career Advice, History, People

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.

Concentrating on the important stuff

Career Advice, People

Over at the Voice-Over Bulletin Board, there’s a discussion going on about whether or not to to have audio play automatically on our voice-over web sites.

Anthony points to this incredible post from a couple of years ago that makes an extremely cogent point that every voice-over performer can learn from if he or she will spend even just a few minutes thinking about what Bonnie has written. Read. Think. You’ll be glad you did.

The intersection of being talented and being nice

Blogging, Career Advice, People

Maybe “nice” isn’t quite the right word. Kindness, generosity, words like that apply to many people in the voice-over business, as I’ve noted previously, more than once.

For example, I posted a note about Dan Nachtrab the other day, after he left some kind words in the comments to one of my posts below. He in turn posted a thread on the Voice-Over Bulletin Board, pointing back to my post about him. See what I mean? A really nice thing to do.

Then there’s Allen Scofield, who has also left some kind comments to the same post where Dan commented. Another talented guy (don’t take my word for it, here’s his demo page) who is also truly nice.

And to cap it off, at least as regards this post, Pat Fraley has just joined the Voice-Over Bulletin Board and there’s a thread welcoming him. I posted a short welcome message on the second page of that thread and he was nice enough to write a kind word of reply.

I should hasten to add that this intersection was first explicity pointed out to me by another talented voice-over guy, Dave Christi.

Here’s another guy who’s both talented and nice

Blogging, Career Advice, People

Dan Nachtrab left a comment to my post about VO-BB.com this evening, so I popped over to his site and his blog. Listen to his demos (he has a Flash site, so I can’t link directly to that page) and you’ll see what I mean about talented. Read his comment below and you’ll see what I mean about nice.

Dan’s also a guy who obviously understands you can never learn too much about voice-over. I agree completely. And while you’re reading his blog, be sure to scan down just a bit farther to this cogent post about finding success in the voice-over business. Whether you’ve ever worked at a radio station or not, you’ll profit from Dan’s excellent and insightful thoughts.

Good stuff, Dan. Thanks again for the kind comments.

A don’t miss interview

Blogging, Career Advice, History, People

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.

Voice-over Bulletin Board

Blogging, Career Advice, General

While exploring this morning, I found a link to a place on the Net called VO-BB.COM. (update: fixed typo) It’s a Bulletin Board started in 2004. There are about 300 members and as I type this, I’m the newest. (Update: Not anymore.)
Lots of interesting stuff to read. Too much to get into today. But, I will be reading through lots of this material in the coming weeks.

Other voices

Blogging, Career Advice, People

I found a link to Ron Harper’s voice-over blog through comments he’s left at the Voices.com blog Vox Daily.

As I read Ron’s comments, I was especially delighted by his thoughts in a post titled Other Voices. I’ve written previously that I don’t see this voice-over business as one in which I’m competing with other people for jobs. I audition for prospective clients so they can select the right voice or voices for their projects. Sometimes I’m right for the job. Sometimes I’m not.

Ron puts it this way:

Radio commercials, online training courses, movie trailers…I never know what kinds of jobs each day will bring. But that’s part of the magic of this profession. And there are times when -hold on to your seats now- I’m not the right voice for the project.

Exactly.

Exciting things are happening at Voices.com

Blogging, Career Advice, General

At Vox Daily, the voice-over blog at Voices.com, you’ll find a post listing the top 10 features they’ve been asked to add or change about their service as they prepare to roll-out their transition from InteractiveVoices.com to their new identity as Voices.com. (update: spelling correction)
I’ve added my comments and recommend that if you are a member there now or even if you’re just thinking about a membership with Voices.com, you jump into the discussion.

Waiting for Your Cat to Bark

Career Advice, General, People

Waiting for Your Cat to Bark is the name of a new best-selling book by Jeff and Bryan Eisenberg, a couple of really bright guys who have been teaching folks how to succeed on the Internet for quite some time.

So, what does this book have to do with voice-over? Because the old ways of doing things (not just voice-over, but nearly everything having to do with advertising, marketing, mass communication, etc.), all of these things aren’t just passing away; in many cases they already have.

So, if you’re going to prosper in the months and years ahead, you can just keep doing what you’re doing. (Let me know how that works out for you.) Or, you can invest a few dollars in a book like Waiting for Your Cat to Bark and start moving in the direction the culture is moving. Away from what’s fading away and toward what’s here and growing.

Oh, and if you like that book, check out their previous best-seller Call To Action.

Voices.com suggested rate sheet (updated)

Blogging, Career Advice

Voices.com, as I noted yesterday, has been working on a new sheet of suggested voice-over rates via their blog Vox Daily. The new sheet has just been posted. You can download it via a link in this post.

I agree with the comment that the rate for narration and multi-media recording is too low; but as it stated very clearly in Stephanie’s post and on the sheet itself, talent are free to set their own rates.

As Stephanie notes in her comment, the Voices.com team has updated their rate sheet to better reflect a professional rate for non-broadcast work. You can get the updated rate sheet and read all of the comments at this post on their Vox Daily blog.