Vox Daily

What can I do as a Guest? Get the answers here!

Greetings,

At Voices.com, we have a membership level called "Guest".

While it's true that our Guest membership is a wonderful service, receiving the Guest service is just the tip of the iceberg!

As a Guest, you have limitations, namely less marketing opportunities (for example, Guests cannot apply to job postings), less room for your demos (only 5MB of audio), less visibility on the website (no Featured Talent categories), and lower rankings in the Voices.com search engine.

Who is the Guest membership designed for?

The Guest membership is ideal for amateur talent who are developing their craft and for professionals who would like to explore our website and get to know us better before making a commitment to our paid service.

That being said, Guests are being offered an incredible deal, and the Last Day of the Promotion Is Today!

If you are a professional voice actor, there is no reason to hesitate. Upgrading your service will only give you more of the opportunities that you are looking for!

Have you heard what your peers are saying?

Testimonials from others in your field, also known as satisfied customers, are available for you on our VOX Buzz blog.

See what your colleagues are saying about Voices.com (InteractiveVoices) here.
Click on "Read more" for the entire testimonial.

Looking forward to serving you!

Best regards,

The Voices.com Team

3 Ways to Ensure Prompt Payment from Customers

Greetings,

When you move ahead with a client to record a voice-over job, what's your first course of action?

For many talent, it might be recording the audio right away and then expecting payment after receipt of the files while other professionals, especially where recording for clients you meet online is concerned, start the job off with some money in their pocket (or, in their PayPal account).

Here are 3 Billing Tips that will safeguard your business online:

1. Ask for Payment Up Front

If you are invoicing the client for a small project, it should not be an issue for them to pay you the full amount prior to recording the project. For example, when you go to a store to purchase something, you don't expect the vendor to let you take the product home without paying for it first.

The solution to this issue is to assure satisfaction and be clear about all expectations regarding the project.

2. Require a Deposit

Not all jobs are small. Some can be worth tens of thousands of dollars! It is prudent to ask for a deposit before starting the job, usually 50% down is acceptable.

Other arrangements can be made for clients where ongoing work is concerned to ease the billing load, paying you more frequently while increasing their cash flow.

3. Make sure that your Agreements are Clear and in Writing

When you begin a business relationship with a client, all expectations, clauses, and commitments should be understood and acknowledged in a written agreement BEFORE you start recording. This includes confirmation of any irregular pronunciations, the word count, receipt of the final draft of the script, and a cost for revisions should any be required.

A signature is a powerful and binding tool for you to use to your advantage. If a client signs for something, they are stating that they fully understand the agreement and all that it entails. Should they ever go back on what they said, you have written proof of their consent.

Getting their signature is as easy as faxing the agreement to them. Calling to confirm receipt of the fax is a good idea and will keep the ball in your court. The agreement should be signed and dated by both parties.

By recording only once a financial commitment has been made to you, you are in better stead to receive proper compensation for your work and in a timely manner. All transactions should be completed before delivering the final product to ensure that you will be paid in full.

My last piece of advice is to steer clear of any situation that makes you feel uncomfortable. If you listen to your conscience (or, your gut!), you'll know which business dealings to pursue.

Does anyone else have a tip about safe business practices to share?

Stephanie

P.S. There are a bounty of resources in the Support section of our website that will help you to develop this area of your business.

Find out what's going on where in July 2006!

Greetings,

This list is just a sampling of some of the educational opportunities available to you this month. If you don't see a workshop that you are attending here or your favorite coach is absent from the list, email me so that I can update the calendar!

To contact the coaches for more information, just click on their name in their bios below the listings.

Cheers,

Stephanie

July 1, Burbank - The Cashman Cache Beginner Class (Marc Cashman)

July 1-2, Driggs, Idaho - Creating Character Voice Workshops (Pat Fraley)

July 8, Burbank - The Cashman Cache Beginner Class (Marc Cashman)

July 11, Hollywood - Basic Voiceover (Dolores Diehl)

July 12, West Burbank - Beginning Animation Class (MJ Lallo)

July 13, West Burbank - Intermediate Commercial Class (MJ Lallo)

July 13, Hollywood - Basic Video Game Voiceover Workshop (Dolores Diehl)

July 15, Burbank - The Cashman Cache Beginner Class (Marc Cashman)

July 15-16, San Diego - Animation Voice Acting Workshop (Bob Bergen)

July 16, Los Angeles - The Disney Way ADR/Looping Event (Pat Fraley)

July 17, West Burbank - Beginning Commercial Class (MJ Lallo)

July 22, Hollywood - Advanced Video Game Voiceover (Dolores Diehl) *

July 22-23, Buffalo - Nine Critical Skills & Character Voice Master Classes (Pat Fraley)

July 26, Valley Village - Advanced Animation Voiceover (Dolores Diehl)

July 27, North Hollywood - Extended Commercial Voiceover (Dolores Diehl)

July 29-30, New York - Women in Animation Master Event (Pat Fraley)

About the Instructors:

Bob Bergen

Bob Bergen travels around the country teaching weekend animation voice-over seminars throughout the year. This is a jam packed weekend of nonstop work on how to create and sustain characters, breaking down animation copy, essential information on the business of the business, the demo process, etc. Plus, if you help put together a weekend seminar in your area you take the class for free!

Check out Bob's 2007 Pacific Coast VO Cruise, due to set sail April 29th - May 4th, 2007. Book now: there are only 60 cabins reserved.

Marc Cashman

Marc Cashman, Executive Producer at Cashman Commercials, has won over 150 advertising awards in the past 15 years, including the ADDY, IBA, SUNNY, INT'L RADIO FESTIVAL OF NY, SILVER MICROPHONE, BELDING, LONDON INT'L, and the prestigious CLIO on behalf of hundreds of clients across the country. Marc is a frequent speaker to Ad Clubs and Broadcasters Assocations throughout the U.S. and other countries and also donates his creative and production services to many charitable organizations. Biographed in Who's Who in California, Marc has taught at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels, and has been interviewed in trade magazines and newspapers and on numerous radio and television programs.

Dolores Diehl

Dolores has performed for, and has taught voice acting to more than 100,000 men, women and children in live classes and professional audiences of from 6 to 700 people. Dolores has also taught on Closed Circuit Educational TV and across the Country by phone. She teaches and directs her Basic Voiceover Workshops in Commercials, Animation, Narration and Audiobooks, and manages all of her other workshops, from intermediate through professional levels, personally selecting the Directors.

* Dolores' classes are ongoing sessions. Weekly sessions continue varying from three, five, six, or eight weeks. Classes with asteriks (stars) beside have irregular scheduling.

Pat Fraley

Patrick Fraley has created the voices for over 4,000 characters, placing him among the top ten performers of all time to be cast in animated programs. He has taught voice over for 30 years and holds his workshops in L.A., San Francisco, and New York. His is the only character voice curriculum ever to be accredited at the university level. He holds an MFA degree in Acting from Cornell University, and is a member of the Voice and Speech Trainers of America.

MJ Lallo

Mj Productions was established in 1983 in San Francisco. MJ has 23 years of experience in audio VO and music production for the advertising, entertainment and corporate market places. MJ Lallo is a VO artist, director producer, teacher and composer-singer. She has done voice looping for feature films and her unique vocalizing with digital processors won her three Addy Awards.

* All of MJ's classes are once a week from 7-10 p.m. Each class runs for five consecutive weeks at MJ Production Studios.

Audit a class for free this July at the "Cashman Cache of Voice Acting Techniques"

Greetings,

I'm pleased to share a resource that was just brought to my attention, coordinated and taught by Marc Cashman called "The Cashman Cache of Voice Acting Techniques".

Marc is encouraging anyone who is thinking about investing their time and money in a voice acting course to come and audit a class for free. Guests are given the opportunity to explore the facility in Burbank, California, and review some of the course content while getting acquainted with Marc's teaching style.

Extra copies of scripts are distributed so that guests can follow along, as well as additional copies of handouts.

The "Cashman Cache" can accommodate up to three guests per class, and the available dates are:

July 1st, July 8th or July 15th from 10AM-1PM.

If you'd like to attend, contact Marc to reserve a seat, and he'll send you directions to the studio.

The "Cashman Cache" Beginner course gives you the tools you need to:

--Analyze any script in minutes
--Direct yourself effectively
--Determine appropriate delivery in any copy
--Effectively "work" a microphone
--Perform consistently on each and every "take" and more

* Including the "Cashman Cache" V-O Report Card! *

Be well,

Stephanie

We've all seen the Apple Computer commercials, but which computer is better for recording and editing voice-overs?

Greetings,

A series of commercials were released by Apple about a month ago, featuring several conversations between two male actors, one representing a Mac, a trendy, no frills hipster, and the other actor, representing the PC, a self-deprecating Bill Gates look alike.

Aside from the superb execution of the advertisement favoring the Apple brand, does Apple deserve the audio production crown?

Have your say and mention your recording gear in your comment!

Cheers,

Stephanie

Tinker Bell will speak for the first time in 2007 courtesy of the voice talents of Brittany Murphy, Hollywood actress.

Greetings,

Most of us know Tinker Bell as Peter Pan's fairy friend, jealous to a fault of Wendy in Disney's animated feature film, Peter Pan (1951). Even without a voice, she could sure get her point across!

Modern day audiences will soon know a new dimension of Tinker Bell in Disney's forthcoming computer generated animation in the fall of 2007.

When asked about landing the role, Brittany Murphy shared the following "I've had the good fortune of playing many interesting characters, but none as magical as Tinker Bell, To give Tinker Bell a voice for the first time in history is such an honor."

In related news, the original live-action reference model for Tinker Bell, Margaret Kerry, now aged 77, will be at the Oakland Museum of California on July 9th from 1-4 p.m. as a part of its BEHIND THE MAGIC - 50 YEARS OF DISNEYLAND exhibition.

Cheers,

Stephanie

Voice acting is one of the hottest "me too" careers right now, but does that mean that everyone should do it?

Greetings,

Has it ever occurred to you that some people have the wrong idea about voice-over?

The mass populous is immersed in a love affair with celebrity, do-it-yourselfing, and dreaming the impossible dream.

And now, perhaps due to reality television programs like American Idol, everyone thinks that they can be a voice actor. Let's call it the "me too" phenomenon of the performing arts.

To better understand why this is the case, I invite you to examine the psychology behind this with me.

Voice acting, to be sure, looks like a great deal of fun, especially from the Hollywood perspective.

Everybody is smiling, lounging around in their street clothes (pajamas in some cases), and happily strolling into the recording studio at the crack of noon to record for an hour or two, completing an entire days' work in the course of a lunch hour.

People are able to stand there, animated and let loose, and are completely uninhibited by their surroundings. Characters seem to come out of nowhere and everywhere at the same time, various pitch levels resonate, personalities are out in full force, and conversations take place in the ethereal atmosphere that is a 'voice acting session'.

That's what an audience sees when the cameras are rolling for special 'behind the scenes' cuts on TV and limited edition DVD excerpts.

What they don't see is years of training, talent, and fortitude. They don't acknowledge the physicality of it, don't understand how each sentence starts with a deep breath and proper placement.

Viewers don't think about diction, accents, interpretation, control, posture, phrasing, memorization, the recording process, or the labour of love that goes into developing a character people can relate to.

They don't think about the strict health regiment that keeps a voice in good form, the warming up of a voice, or the way that each voice actors instrument complements the rest of the cast.

They aren't there for the takes that didn't work out, the glottal attacks, or the fits of coughing when the air gets too dry. Viewers don't see how taxing a role can be. They don't know that your voice can get tired and certainly have never heard of 'vocal rest' periods.

How many things do you need to avoid to make sure your voice is healthy and can maintain a consistent tone and support throughout the session?

No one knows the sacrifices you make for your career better than other voice actors and professionals who make their living by using their voice.

Did this stike a chord with you?

I welcome your comments.

Sincerely,

Stephanie

The voice of Bill Nighy, thanks to Computer Generated Imagery, will star in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest coming to a cinema near you on July 7th, 2006.

Greetings,

Bill Nighy, acclaimed British actor, has given us cause to talk about CGI, that is computer generated imagery.

The character Davy Jones, half squid, is far from recognizable regarding his former human state, but still acquires an authentic and ghastly persona, thanks to Bill Nighy's voice acting.

For those of us who aren't scholars on the subject, here's what Wikipedia has to say about Computer Generated Imagery:

Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the application of the field of computer graphics (or more specifically, 3D computer graphics) to special effects. CGI is used in movies, television programs and commercials, and in printed media. Video games most often use real-time computer graphics (rarely referred to as CGI), but may also include pre-rendered "cut scenes" and intro movies that would be typical CGI applications. These are referred to as FMV.

CGI is used for visual effects because the quality is higher and effects are more controllable than other more physically based processes, such as constructing miniatures for effects shots or hiring extras for crowd scenes, and because it allows the creation of images that would not be feasible using any other technology. It can also allow a single artist to produce content without the use of actors, expensive set pieces, or props.

Recent accessibility of CGI software and increased computer speeds has allowed individual artists and small companies to produce professional grade films, games, and fine art from their home computers. This has brought about an Internet subculture with its own set of global celebrities, clichés, and technical vocabulary.

Many movies incorporate CGI (computer generated imagery), including Jurassic Park, Toy Story, and the special effects in Forrest Gump.

CGI is quite the field, full of opportunity for voice actors. Have you ever been the voice of a computer generated image?

Cheers,

Stephanie

Whether you're starting out in voice-overs, honing your craft or would like to belong to an offline (face to face) voice actor community, this calendar is for you!

Greetings,

By popular demand, we've started a new section of the blog that will list upcoming master classes, workshops, lectures, and classes.

You'll be able to participate in educational activities and network with fellow voice actors. A month before each calendar month, you will be able to search through scheduled voice acting learning opportunities.

If you see something that you'd like to be a part of, just click on the instructors name and you'll be able to contact them for more information.

From what I can already gather, this is going to be a hot category!

Keep your eye out for July listings.

Cheers,

Stephanie

P.S. If you're a coach or instructor and we haven't met (by email, phone, or in person), introduce yourself to Voices.com and get listed on the blog!

They've announced it the other day, but it's still worth talking about as this "contest" will not end until July 23. That's right, I'm talking about the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Voice-Over Contest.

You can be part of this game when Activision finally adds a new character to the Marvel game intended for different consoles. The company is planning to add Namor (a.k.a. Sub-Mariner) and Jean Grey to their roster of playable characters. As a consequence, Activision is now calling for enthusiasts to audition to be the voice of these two Marvel characters (the Bruce Banner voice-over promo has been closed already).

Winners will get a copy of the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance game, an Xbox 360, a poster of the game with Stan Lee's signature, a pack of Ultimate Alliance playing cards and a Los Angeles trip for two to meet the producers and to record their lines.

The contest will run until the 23rd of July. So, what are you waiting for?

Click here to enter the contest!

Johnny Depp is reprising his role, Captain Jack Sparrow, in the blockbuster video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow, due for release today, June 27th 2006.

Greetings,

After refusing to record for the first Pirates of the Caribbean video game, Johnny Depp agreed to lend his pipes to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow, a video game produced by Bethesda Softworks.

“We are thrilled to have Johnny Depp working on this project,” said Todd Vaughn, executive producer of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow. “We couldn’t imagine a better way to capture the spirit of the character than to have Depp lend his voice to Captain Jack Sparrow. It truly adds to an already rich gameplay experience.”

The game will be released for both PlayStation 2 and PC platforms. The swashbuckling Disney adventure, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley opens in theatres on July 7th and is sure to thrill just as the original did in 2004.

Have you seen the first movie? What did you think of it?

Cheers,

Stephanie

P.S. To read an interview with Johnny Depp, click here to read one on ComingSoon.net.

P.P.S. Click here to visit the official Disney website for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

If you've been wondering the average number of words per page, you've gotta read this!

Greetings,

This morning, Laurynda forwarded me an excellent resource that was submitted to her from Martyn Lloyd regarding page lengths and respective word counts as published by Gloria T. Delamar of the Philadelphia Writer's Conference Inc.

For instance, you'll find helpful nuggets like this:

Bear in mind that to say you have a manuscript of fifty pages, doesn't adequately convey its length. It depends on how many characters-per-inch (cpi) it was printed at.

If printed at 10 cpi, there will be about 250 words per page, making the manuscript about 12,500 words; if printed at 12 cpi, there will be about 300 words per page, making the manuscript 15,000 words. A heftier manuscript of 250 pages can mean the difference between 62,500 and 75,000 words.

If you'd like more information about the average word counts for a wide array of publications, check out this excellent resource here at the Philadelphia Writer's Conference website.

Thank you again to Martyn for sharing this resource.

Cheers!

Stephanie

Coaches, this is your opportunity to fill me in on what you're up to so that you can promote your workshops and courses on Vox Daily!

Greetings,

I was looking over the blog this morning and read a wonderful comment from Karen Commins on the audio book interview with Janis Panizza, and it got me thinking.

On any given weekend (or week day), there could be a voice actor workshop of some sort, be it audio book narration (such as Pat Fraley's recent audiobook masterclass in Los Angeles with Hillary Huber and Kimberly Breault), animation voice-overs, or interpreting copy for commercial work.

If you are an instructor and have a workshop coming up (or a series of scheduled workshops / lectures), send me a quick email and we'll blog about your programs.

We've had enquiries from voice actors about who to study with and how to find workshops specific to a particular voice-over niche.

Many of these individuals also desire to network with fellow voice actors in a friendly, educational setting offline (that is, in person, face to face) and develop offline communities to hone their crafts and be a support system for each other.

There is no better way to reach a substantial audience looking for these kinds of educational opportunities. Not only that, you'll be helping to establish small voice acting communities, connecting voice actors with each other. That's a win-win!

So, if this interests you, I invite you to email me directly with your upcoming schedule details and topics.

Including links to your website outlining your schedule would be fantastic.

Cheers,

Stephanie

We've just finished moving our entire blog over to Voices.com. Whew, what a journey!

Greetings,

We have some exciting news to share with you!

As of today, our blog is now hosted on Voices.com!!!!

You might have found this post because you were reading our old InteractiveVoices blog. Thank you for making the leap :)

The new blog is in many ways bigger and better.

For instance, you'll be able to read articles organized in categories and have a keyword search tool available to you to find topics that are of the utmost interest to you :)

It is also easier to comment on the blog, so if you ever hesitated on the old blog because of technical issues, you'll be able to post your thoughts as freely as they flow.

You are going to love it!

Cheers,

Stephanie, David, Carol and Laurynda

P.S. All past blog posts have been moved over to the new blog (this very blog that you are reading), including the comments.

Continue to enjoy and discover new posts that you haven't seen before!

Yesterday, I interviewed Janis Panizza, who recently launched her new website and recorded an audio book entitled The Dark Twin, written by Marion Campbell.

Greetings,

Yesterday, I interviewed Janis Panizza, who recently launched her new website and recorded an audio book entitled The Dark Twin, written by Marion Campbell.

Campbell's novel, a Celtic tale set in 500 B.C., is comparable to a primitive version of Tristan and Isolde, a breathtaking story of love, irony, and tragedy which is regarded (thanks in part to the recent film starring James Franco, Sophia Myles, and Rufus Sewell) as a precursor to William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

When corresponding with Janis, I asked her a few questions about why she decided to record this particular book, her experiences while recording, and if there were any challenges along the way. I'm pleased to present her experiences to you in her own words.

Janis Panizza: The book by Marion Campbell is amazing, to begin with. I first heard of it in college through a friend who had been in the Edinbugh Arts Festival, had stayed in the Campbell's castle while there, and brought the book back with him.

I contracted the rights to record it and potentially her other titles. The Campbell clan has lived in their castle for over 200 years where the book was written. She claims to have 'caught' the story, as it flew by her, so fitting with the mystic atmosphere of the story, with references back to Celtic times.

This was my first audiobook. I recorded it in Mexico. I was coached by the street musicians and studios to bring out the full depth of feeling in the story. They helped bring out the qualities in my voice, expressive and ethereal, that express the story. I recorded many times 'til I got what I wanted.

The result is something that I believe is a new classic that will stand the test of time. I am told that the audio book has surpassed the original, bringing it to a new level.

When I finished, I returned to the states, where I registered Aire Craft Audio as a business with the intent to record more audiobooks and present online. I'm looking for retail distributors right now for a CD/DVD version.

There's a huge curiosity about this subject now. People need something besides 'stuff' in their lives, and are drawn to spiritual themes. This one is interwoven with historic adventure and romance.

To read the authors personal notes about the book, click here.

Best,

Stephanie

Cover Art courtesy of Janis Panizza

“Hey! Voiceover people are NICE PEOPLE”.

Greetings,

This morning, we received an email from Dave Christi directing us to a great post he made on his blog.

To quote him, “Hey! Voiceover people are NICE PEOPLE”.

What he says is true. Working with you is a joy and a privilege.

Take care,

Stephanie, David, Carol and Laurynda

Rank higher in the search results and save the voice industry at the same time!

Greetings,

We are inviting you to trade links with us!

Why should you trade links with Voices.com?

1. Your website will rank higher (link popularity)
2. You'll be linked from the most trafficked voice industry website
3. You'll save the voice industry, one link at a time

Firstly, linking to us will recognize Voices.com as the undisputed authority in the voice industry, enabling us to educate more clients for you, leading to more job opportunities as a direct result!

The second half to this equation is: the more links there are to Voices.com, the higher our website will rank in the search engine results, bringing more clients to post jobs and contact you directly for work. These clients will also be educated and eager to work with you on professional terms.

Increased visibility and relevancy is key to educating clients, and with your help, there will be no question about where they will go to get their voice work recorded.

To exchange links with Voices.com, click here.

With your support, the possibilities for the voice industry are endless.

To mutual success!

Stephanie and the Voices.com Team

Limiting your ability to audition is counterproductive, not to mention undemocratic...

Greetings,

I've been hearing some interesting things through the grapevine, and I thought I'd share some good news with those of you concerned about 'limited auditions' with other services:

We (Voices.com) DO NOT limit your ability to audition.

That concept is counterproductive, not to mention undemocratic. It would rob you of the opportunities that you deserve as a member of our service. It would also rob clients of the opportunity to hear you, potentially the perfect voice for their project, which could in essence, rob them of their signature company voice (that being you).

As you have experienced with us, our company provides more than just job leads. Our customer service is #1 in the industry and we believe in people, not numbers.

Your membership fee at our site (no hidden fees!) includes prompt, cheerful and helpful customer service, additional opportunities to be featured, community involvement, superior tools to market your voice and to be clear, the ability to apply for jobs that match your preferences (and also meet your moral and financial standards - a no compromise, win-win!)

Something that we take great comfort in is the fact that InteractiveVoices (soon to be Voices.com) has always been transparent in our business operations. We place more emphasis on our relationships with our customers than on sealing the deal. Trust is a key ingredient to help develop healthy and mutually successful business relationships.

We're a member of the Better Business Bureau and the TechAlliance, along with a number of other reputable organizations. We run our company based upon Christian morals and are not afraid to stand up for what we believe in.

We are not about numbers or 'audition credits' - those things will pass away.

What we're excited about is investing in people and giving you opportunities to grow, participate, and succeed.

All of us are a team, a community, and stand united upon the rock. We are Voices.com.

Sincerely,

Stephanie

Special Summer Upgrade Offer Good until June 30th, 2006. Click to read more!

Greetings,

It's the middle of June... It's hotter outside, the days are getting longer, and voice-over jobs are abundantly flowing at InteractiveVoices!

Need something to Spice Up your Summer?

We'd like to extend this special offer to you - it's good until the end of June (that's Friday June 30th, 2006).

Here's the offer:

Upgrade as a Premium or Preferred member by June 30, 2006 and receive:

* A three (3) month extension on your membership
* Two (2) additional Featured Talent Categories
* The recently updated 150 page “Definitive Guide to Voice-Over Success”

How does that sound to you?

If you have any questions or prefer to speak in person, you can give us a call toll-free at 1-888-359-3472.

If it's easier for you, login to your account and upgrade your InteractiveVoices membership online.

To be absolutely clear... There are NO HIDDEN FEES!

There's no better time to join the winning team of professional voice actors at InteractiveVoices!

We're looking forward to serving you.

Best wishes,

Stephanie, David, Carol and Laurynda :)

Choosing a business partner is very similar to getting married.

Greetings,

When it comes to choosing a business partner, it's very similar to getting married.

This week, we were interviewed by Sean Wise, the Managing Director of Wise Mentor Capital, a national venture capital consultancy focusing on bridging the gap between entrepreneurs and capital, and a columnist for the Globe and Mail in Toronto.

Sean asked us if we could share our thoughts with him about choosing a business co-founder and how it relates to marriage (David Ciccarelli and I are married to each other).

We shared the following:

"A co-founder needs to be a good communicator, a person with whom you have synergy, and a friend. A healthy business partnership is comparable to a marriage, built on a solid foundation of trust, respect, and understanding. When two complementary business people come together to form a company, guided by the same vision and values, they are at the very heart of their corporate family, and nurture the business as parents would their children."

Here's a link to a fabulous article that may help you in your quest, complete with pearls of wisdom from Sean Wise.

Marriages between voice actors and audio engineers are quite frequent, and it's not uncommon to hear of voice actors marrying other voice actors!

If you are among that number and are business partners with your spouse, please leave a comment.

Cheers,

Stephanie Ciccarelli

What's in a name? Almost everything when it comes to being an orator!

Greetings,

If you've ever been to an awards ceremony, a convocation, or a symposium, you've likely heard orators, that is, live announcers at events.

Yesterday, I had one such privilege participating in the 286th Convocation at the University of Western Ontario, graduating with a Bachelor of Musical Arts degree from the Don Wright Faculty of Music. The faculties of Engineering and Graduate Studies were also present.

The keynote speaker was Don Smith, founder of EllisDon, one of the most successful building firms in the world. He was awarded an honourary Doctor of Laws for contributions made to his community of London and also to the world, giving us wonderful gathering places including the Skydome in Toronto, now the Rogers Centre, to name one.

One orator who stands out is Theodore (Ted) Baerg, a baritone and voice instructor at the Don Wright Faculty of Music. It was actually Ted Baerg who was on my audition jury with Dr. Alvin Reimer several years ago.

Needless to say, having someone of Theodore Baerg's calibre announcing your name in front of thousands of people is a real treat. Professor Richard Semmens (Music History) and Professor Baerg (Performance) both confirmed the pronunciation of Ciccarelli (in Canada, the "C"s are pronounced like the letter "S" - same pronunciation as former NHL hockey player Dino Ciccarelli's name) and also ensured that every graduates name from the Faculty of Music, no matter how difficult to pronounce, was given its proper due with elegant diction.

I was surprised with a handshake from the President of UWO, Dr. Paul Davenport, enroute to the conferring of my degree by Dr. John Doerksen, which was indeed something special and memorable.

I wanted to be sure to get a blog post out to you yesterday before I graduated, and thought that this (today's post) would be a good opportunity to talk about orators and also share a bit more about who I am with you.

Many voice actors start in the field of music and musical theatre. It is in the performing arts that the passion for what you do is realized and developed.

If you can relate to that statement, leave a comment.

Cheers,

Stephanie Ciccarelli, Bachelor of Musical Arts

Photograph courtesy of David Ciccarelli, portrait of Stephanie with her mother, Brenda.

Catch some inspiration from CSI's Robert David Hall and find out why voice acting is not limited by physical infirmities.

Greetings,

Yesterday I read an inspirational article at onMilwaukee.com about an actor named Robert David Hall.

Currently, Robert is best known for his work as the coroner, Dr. Albert Robbins, on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation", but in the past, it was his voice we all knew best as a voice actor on the cartoon series, "GI Joe" along with a host of radio commercials and cartoon voice-over work.

In 1978, he was involved in an automobile accident, suffering the weight of an 18-wheel truck, crushing his car and resulting in the loss of both his legs. He now has two prosthetic legs.

Robert David Hall did not let his physical disability ruin his dreams.

“Just because I’m a person with a disability, that shouldn’t limit me,” he says.

To read the full article, click here.

Have you overcome physical disabilities as a voice actor?

Leave a comment on the blog!

Stephanie

With over 30 comments, this post is a hot topic!

Greetings,

If you've been in the business for a while, you are probably familiar with revisions.

A revision, when pertaining to voice-overs, is an alteration made to an existing recording, whether it be slight or significant.

Usually, ongoing revisions are made to recordings that are meant for long-term use, such as telephone systems, but revisions can also be made to ensure customer satisfaction when recording commercials or work that will not need revision in the future.

The request for changes or revisions is inevitable when you are working with organizations for long periods of time, particularly if you have recorded their telephone system.

Clients of yours may return to you months after the original recording and need an extension changed, a new greeting, an employees name added to the list, or updated on-hold messaging. After all, you are the voice of their company and they need you (and your signature voice) to grow with the company.

Some talent do revisions as value-added services while others charge for each subsequent revision. It would be interesting to know your philosophy on this.

Do you charge for revisions or provide bonus revisions for loyal customers?

Have your say and leave a comment on the blog :)

Looking forward to this conversation!

Stephanie

That Stuart Smith never quits! Check out what everyones favourite Celebrity Voice Impressionist is up to Across the Pond.

Celebrity Voices Ltd Partners with Talking Time Keeper

Stuart Smith, celebrity voice impressionist, has recently partnered with Talking Time Keepers to provide celebrity voices for their software program.

InteractiveVoices Press, June 12, 2006 - Toronto, Canada - Are You Talking To Me! Many people know those are the words of the great Robert De Niro. Now these words are quite literally talking to you, on your PC.

Celebrity Voices Ltd, a company based in London, UK has teamed up with Talking Time Keeper, a great software program that tells you the time and much more. Imagine having Robert De Niro as your timekeeper, Simon Cowell of American Idol fame, or even Ozzy.

These are all of course impressions from the director of Celebrity Voices, Stuart Smith.

Stuart says “We are delighted to have found such a wonderful simple piece of software that enables customers to use our wide range of voices.” Stuart, the voice behind the Talking Parking Meters goes on to add “The software is already very popular with over 160,000 downloads and we hope our voices add something a little different to an already popular product.”

What Is Talking Time Keeper?

Mark Judge the owner of Talking Time Keeper explains “TTK is a program encompassing a wide range of useful time and date related features. As the name suggests, TTK also has the ability to use built in real life sampled voices, both male and female to tell you the time and/or date, either at the click of a button, or at specified intervals.

"Of course you can use Celebrity Voices as the Time Keeper, imagine Ozzy telling you the time in his very own way. TTK is not lacking in the visual department either, with its beautiful state-of-the-art animated interface. You also have the option of downloading extra skins for TTK's interface, or even build your own.”

For more information on the two products please visit the websites for further details. Stuart Smith the owner of Celebrity Voices who also performs all of the voices can be contacted on the below numbers.

Contact: Stuart Smith
Tel: 0870 8034061 Mob 07875 485635
Email: press (at) celebrityvoices.co.uk
URL: www.celebrityvoices.co.uk
URL: www.talkingtimekeeper.com

Add-on courses? Voice-over internships in India on the rise.

Greetings,

The Hindustan Times had an interesting article about what their trendy teens are up to this summer.

Instead of working 'summer' jobs, many college students are pursuing internships in career fields, including voice-overs as an initiative by Delhi University colleges to help students gain hands on experience called add-on courses.

“Internships are part of our add-on courses like journalism. Students of other short-term courses like advertising and banking also visit advertising agencies and banks to see people in action,” said Meera Ramchandran, principal, Gargi College.

“The students may or may not get stipend for these internships but they do get experience in these organisations,” she said. “Most of our students do summer jobs such as voice-overs and editing.

Well, there you have it!

Do you know of other 'add-on' educational summer internship programs for broadcast and voice-overs like the opportunities mentioned in India?

Have you participated in a voice-over internship or do you coordinate one?

Leave a comment on the blog!

Cheers,

Stephanie

How does our website look in your Browser?

As I've mentioned a few times already, we'll be launching the new Voices.com website in the coming months.

We thought this would be the ideal time to freshen up the look and feel of the website, but more importantly ensure that the site adheres to W3C Standards. This means that Voices.com will display well on any Internet browser, even on old-school Netscape browers, text-based browsers, screen readers and text-readers for those who are sight impaired.

Over the past week, David has been developing a new graphical interface for the new homepage as well as numerous other pages that will govern the overall look and feel of Voices.com

It would wonderful to have some initial feedback. Please leave a comment with your computer type, browser application ( Internet Explorer, Firefox, Netscape, Safari etc...) , screen size (600x800) and if you think everything looks good to you.

Here's an example: Mac, Firefox 1.5, 1280x720 - Thumbs up here in Toronto!

Your observations, suggestions and other comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Stephanie

Do you protect your voice demos with watermarks or sound effects?

Greetings,

This week, I thought it would be apropos to write about watermarks and why you as voice talents may use them in your custom demos for clients.

A "watermark" is basically a sound logo or sound effect used to protect your work. These can be used at the beginning, throughout or at the end of a demo.

Some talent employ different techniques when protecting their work, including:

• Watermarks
• Script Alterations
• Strategically Placed Sound Effects

I wrote an article in the client blog earlier this week introducing demo protection techniques, explaining what they are, why they are used, and positive ways that they can embrace these as professional precautions instead of annoying blips and alterations to their script.

Click here to read the demo protection article on the Client Blog.

You can download watermarks and sound logos at InteractiveVoices to help protect your work.

Click here to download watermarks and sound logos (you'll find music too!).

Always here to help :)

Have a great weekend,

Stephanie

If you live in South Africa and are looking to pursue an academic career in voice overs, check out this post!

Greetings,

Business is all about relationships, and relationships are all about people.

I was fortunate to meet Nicole Finney, one of the founders of Oakfields College, based in Pretoria, South Africa. Oakfields offers students a range of diplomas and certificates including TV and Radio Presenting and Voice-over Artistry.

It is with great pleasure that I introduce Oakfields College to you and share more about their academic institution.

Oakfields College programmes provide students with the skills needed to become professional presenters and focus on building confidence, understanding the dynamics of dialogue and acquiring techniques for conducting themselves professionally in a business situation.

All courses are run by practicing voice-over artists with extensive hands-on experience both in South Africa and abroad.

The extremely practical and hands-on programme content has been designed by Mariette Engelin of CVT Academy. Mariette is renowned in the South African broadcasting industry.

“Practice, practice and more practice” is Mariette’s motto. The students are given a thorough grounding in the essentials of radio & TV presenting, voice-overs for advertisements or videos as well as public speaking & speechcraft.”

Students are introduced to the techniques that experienced and professional voice-over artists continuously use, rely on and are well trained in. Among the various techniques covered in this course are presenting live in front of a camera and recording in studios for advertisements and or audio visuals.

As you have read, Oakfields College is a great place for students to pursue both professional and personal excellence.

Thank you for reading!

Cheers,

Stephanie

The art of song and speech go together like peanut butter and jelly - just ask the Angels in Lockport, NY.

Greetings,

The gift of gab often goes along with the gift of song, as is evident in the An-Jo Angels choral sextet based in Lockport, New York.

I found this story at the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, an article written by Bill Wolcott. It was especially appealing to me as a music minister and cantor.