Katherine Kellgren, though classically trained, sophisticated and sonorous, narrates stories from the depths of her soul, combining talent and skill with pure passion infused by a love of the spoken word, uplifted by her father's devoted ears.

I was there to see Katherine present at the Audies and also be acknowledged for her talent. Fortunately, I also was present to hear her speak at the BookExpo America Audiobook and Author Tea, discovering more about her creative process and hearing a reading from "Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary 'Jacky' Faber, Ship's Boy."

Learn more about this lovely and gracious lady who not only walked away with three Audies this year but also with the hearts of those to whom she read.

"I'm Listening"

Before New Yorker Katherine Kellgren became the celebrated narrator that she is today, she studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, seeking her education abroad while keeping ties with home by sending her father a series of recordings that she narrated using a hand-held tape recorder of his favorite detective book from the 1920s in installments on audio cassette.

Each recording was an opportunity to share a special bond with her father, and while perhaps not being done so consciously or deliberately, further develop her narration skills and character voices.

At this time, Kellgren's father was very sick, so these installments came as a great joy to him. When she returned to New York after her graduation, she read him stories he selected by his bedside for several months. These short months, as it would turn out, were to be the final days of his life.

Just as he appeared to be fast asleep, which was one of the goals while reading aloud to him, Katherine would take a good look to make sure he was at rest and then stop reading, closing the book quietly, only to hear him exclaim from the depths of REM sleep, "I'm listening," prompting her to pick up the book and start reading again.

Dedication and Motivation

The words, "I'm listening," continue to echo in Katherine Kellgren's mind, helping her to get through long days in the recording studio. Buoyed by the acute ears and encouraging voice of her father, she is able to push herself to meet any challenge head on and pursue her work with gusto and meticulous attention to detail.

When doing research for audiobooks that she narrates, and depending on the complexities of the book, it can take up to two weeks to get a full grasp of the characters, the setting, jargon, expressions and dialects required. In studio, it can take between 2 to 5 days to record an audiobook from start to finish.

To be an audiobook narrator, just as an actor prepares for a role, it takes at times the mind and determination of a scholar. Understanding of context, rhythm, and a developing a deep connection to the characters does much for the narrator to help suspend the audience's disbelief.

Over the years, Katherine has narrated numerous audiobooks, and has won many awards for her work such as the AudioFile Earphones Award, the Peabody Award, and now most recently, several Audie Awards for her work on the sequel to Bloody Jack called "Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady", including the Audie award categories: Solo Narration - Female, Teens, and Distinguished Achievement in Production.

Have You Listened to Any of Katherine Kellgren's Work?

If you are a fan or colleague of Katherine, I'd like to invite you to comment. Also, if you are an audiobook fan in general or of the Bloody Jack books, I want to hear from you, too!

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Yours,

Stephanie

Have you ever heard that it's the journey that matters, not just getting to the destination?

You may find in your travels that going to events issues opportunities to learn, to admire and reminisce in a beautiful and historic setting, combining voice over with the local culture.

Voice talent Linda Ristig shares her experiences in the American city of Schenectady, NY. By setting aside time to explore her surroundings, Linda was introduced to people, places and things within the city gates, connecting with her in meaningful ways.

A Voice Over Guest Perspective

By Linda Ristig

I'll admit, I didn't even know how to spell Schenectady, let along pinpoint where it was located in New York somewhere, until I read about the Voice Coaches Technology + You = Opportunity Marketing & Networking Event 2009 through Stephanie Ciccarelli's Vox Daily blog a month or so ago. After becoming aware of the impressive list of guest speakers, I felt compelled to be part of the learning curve. When I checked our family calendar, I knew the May dates for the weekend conference would fit into my schedule.

But what I gained from that experience went far beyond the various topics discussed. Through the last several articles on this site, you've read an amazingly and accurately thorough analysis of what pearls of wisdom the speakers addressed. But there was so much more...

When I arrived at the Albany airport, I spotted a poster of a Science Museum located in Schenectady. Within minutes, a delightful Capital Cab taxi driver, Mike, explained with his NY accent, that I'd enjoy my stay in Schenectady, since I'd be staying at the Parker Inn. He began to tell me a bit about the history of the town, in relationship to electricity and the settlement by the Dutch. He showed me several beautiful photos he had recently taken of tulips, and wished me a pleasant visit.

Now, it's my nature to have a sense of wonder and curiosity about the world around me. After checking into the hotel, I rode the wrought iron encased elevator to the fifth floor. Only four rooms were on my level, and I was entranced. The room was spacious and beautifully appointed. Back down I flew to desk to ask directions to the local science museum. It turned out it was only a few blocks from my hotel.

Off I trekked to the Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium, Science Center of Tech Valley. I found out that Thomas Edison arrived in the town in the 1880's, and was involved in founding the company all of us recognize, General Electric. There were so many industrial inventions and interactive displays within the museum. My husband's grandfather had the first radio shop in Washington, D.C., so I recognized the oscillating fan and old time radio that we have at home, on display there! I learned about the locomotives that were manufactured in the factories. During WWII, those foundries were altered so they could produce a tank in 19 days, with half of the workers being women. I learned also about the war between Edison and Tesla over AC and DC current. There was so much to see, but I only had an hour.

When I went to the section that predated the industrial revolution, one word jump out at me. Mohawk. The original settlement was located on the Mohawk River, founded back in the 1600s. I graduated from Mohawk High School, PA! I knew I needed to find that river! I learned about the Stockade Walking Tour of the historical buildings because of a kindhearted informative museum docent. She showed me a brochure, and explained that if I liked architecture, I wouldn't be disappointed.

I needed to zip back to the hotel to change for the Expo's Meet and Greet. I should mention that my hotel connected to the elegant and classic Proctor's Theatre, the site of the first movie projection screen! I had take a short stroll through the main lobby, a quaint bar, and a comfortable seating area, and there I was... in the main concourse of the theatre.

There I was fortunate to be introduced to some outstanding people, both established in the field of VO, and some that were just beginning their careers. I still consider myself very lucky to have been able to attend. The energy and positive outlook were fantastic to be a part of. In addition, the catered food was outstanding! John Florian created a fun-filled photo montage of the event at his VoiceOverXtra.com website.

Fast forward to Sunday, when the conference was over. My flight was scheduled to leave in the mid-afternoon. I dug out my "Stockade Walking Tour" pamphlet, and set off on another adventure. I must tell you, the historical homes were marvelous. Having taught Middle Ages history for a number of years, I have a special fondness for Gothic architecture. Wrought iron and stained glass captivate me. Located on one of the Ellis mansions, I even spotted a gargoyle! In the oldest section, there were many beautiful churches that have withstood attacks within the walls of the original fort. Yes, the tulips were blossoming, birds were chirping, church bells were ringing, and I even saw a priest close a huge wooden door to signal the beginning of services. I glanced at the dates engraved on some of the centuries-old tombstones, as a few late parishioners rushed to claim their spot in the service.

Lastly, I found the Mohawk Riverfront. I stood at the general area where the Dutch founder of the town purchased the land from the Mohawk Indians in 1661. A longhouse actually had been within the walls of the town, for visiting Indians who traded furs with those long ago settlers.

I called my mother on my cell phone to let her know I was standing along its shores. I wandered a few blocks from the river, and found a statue of Lawrence, the Native American Indian that helped the original settlers. Those wooden walls of the stockade no longer exist, but there was so much history here, and I had no trouble envisioning the town as it might have been.

I've only touched on a few of the wonders within Schenectady. Taking time to step outside and learn about your surroundings can create unexpected and marvelous adventures.

The world of voiceovers allows you to tell stories that matter, just like I'm sharing this special memory with you. Just a Marketing Expo? I think not!

To what surprising and interesting places have you been led during your voiceover experience?

Linda Ristig

Lawrence Circle Image via Suns Along the Mohawk, photos of the Schenectady Stockade by David Giacalone

This transcript of the Voice Coaches expert panel will make you feel like you were there, and for those who were there, you get to relive some of the event!

If you've been wondering what the difference is between NYC and LA for voice over, when it's time to redo your demo, what the current trends are, working as a voice actor in an animated film or cartoon, what it takes to get the gig and why it pays to be prepared (and a little nervous), sit back and let the experts deliver the answers to you here at VOX Daily.

Warren Garling: We want to start with David Bourgeois because there is something that came up just in the last little bit this afternoon.

David Bourgeois: Just a quick thing I want to add in, here. I had somebody approach me and suggest I clarify this. Some people seem to have a misunderstanding when it comes to marketing yourself with an MP3 versus marketing yourself with a physical demo, that it's a one or the other thing. It isn't, it's a both thing. When we think about services like Voices.com, the clients on that service who are looking for voice actors expect to be marketed to that way. Stephanie and David have put together a tremendous way to effectively market yourself that way. When we speak about not marketing yourself with an MP3, that's when we're talking about blindly sending somebody out an MP3 who doesn't suspect it. Put something physical in their hands in that case I think.

Warren Garling: Well, if you'll allow me just to add, my last two voice over jobs came from folks that I'd given my CD to 18 months before, and it's because it sat on their shelf and because when they thought, "Oh, now I know what I want to use this guy for", they pulled it off their shelf and there it was, but 18 months, a year and a half! I talked to them maybe once or twice in between, so don't tell me that it doesn't work, it does work, it's out there.

Warren Garling: Let's get started. Evan, in animated movies, are the voices of the characters all voice actors, or movie actors, or both, and how would one get into the animation film business as a voice actor?

Evan Farmer: The short answer would be all of the above. I have to clarify first of all, I don't think to my knowledge I've been in an animation movie yet, so Rodney would probably be a much better person to ask that, but, how do you get into it... My experience getting into my voice acting career started and ended in that genre about ten years ago and back then we didn't have MP3s and digital and all that stuff. I actually left a voice mail (laughing) on somebody's tape cassette answering machine. Back then I called in at a specific time because there wasn't call waiting and I would actually just read when I was in my bathrobe the lines they had given me earlier.

Every job I've had since has been an offshoot of networking, somebody had heard my voice, or another project had sort of led to somebody questioning "Hey is this guy available for this sort of thing? Can he audition?" In my experience it's always been an audition of some sort. Now more often than not, it's an audition based upon someone recommending me who was familiar with my work. I don't know if that really answers the question because I really don't have a lot of experience in the film industry.

Warren Garling: Well, let's move next to Rodney then, and just ask how did that transition for you? How did you find yourself doing animated characters?

Rodney Saulsberry: Someone just asked me that question too, up front. You know, it's another branch. You find out that you can do it, and you audition, and you get lucky, and you get cast. Once you're cast once in something animated, that's part of your credits and so you're trusted to audition for other things. One thing I do want to say is that a lot of times, people think that animation is some funny voice. Bob Bergen is Porky Pig; we've got Porky. We've got some other people who do these voices, but every time I've done some animation, I must tell you that I'm talking pretty much have been talking like I'm talking now, especially the character I was hired for, and contractually, they get two more characters out of me and then I may get into a character voice, but for the most part, it's just who you're hearing. Cartoons have gotten real real these days.

Warren Garling: Very good, thank you. Stephanie, the question is obviously we all have limits on what we can spend up front on our careers. After the initial investment, what makes the most sense? I'll go through a list here and maybe we can put these in order. Books, online coaching, home studio, membership in the chamber, membership at online at sites like Voices.com... I have a feeling I know what you're going to rank first (laughter), but where else do you think it is very important to be spending money?

Stephanie Ciccarelli: Well, that's a good question, because obviously money is part of the whole thing. If you are in business you need to be investing in your business. I would say some of the first places you should be spending your money are in education. You've already been through Voice Coaches, there's still more to learn.

Before you do anything else, even before you upgrade for a membership at Voices.com, I strongly suggest that you then invest that money into your studio, because if you don't have a studio at home, you really stand no chance to compete with everyone else who is professionally voice acting on a daily basis, and also it's the only way that you'll get access to those auditions.

So, if you have a home studio, then at least you are positioned to be able to record on the fly, you don't have to check in with a studio to see what their availability is, and you're also saving some money there. Now, I would say lastly, invest in a membership at Voices.com because unless you are ready to go up against people who have been doing this (voice acting) for 25 or 30 years then there really isn't much of a point. If you don't have a studio in your home, you don't have your education, and you don't know how to act, then you're really at a great disadvantage and you won't get anything out of the service and you'll be disappointed. Does that makes sense? Educate, build your home studio, get some experience and then sign up for a membership at a voice over marketplace.

Warren Garling: Very nice, thank you. Dave Goldberg, as a voice over talent with a home recording studio, how much should I concern myself with learning more about or becoming proficient at mixing and editing and adding sound effects, music and that sort of thing?

David Goldberg: That's a great question and it really depends on the type of voice over you are pursuing. So, if you are pursuing, for example, audiobooks, the average unabridged audio book is I think 9.5 hours long. And as Dan spoke earlier from Full Cast Audio, it can take four hours to complete one hour of audio. It takes that long because you have lots of retakes, and you make mouth clicks and pops and you have to go back and start things over again. All that means is that when you go back it, you have 36 hours of recording to clean up, 36 hours of editing. If you are not proficient, it's going to suck. The more proficient you become the more money you make per hour, so again in audiobooks, you are paid by the completed hour of audio. So if you're paid, for example, $100 per completed hour, if it takes you four hours to complete that audio including editing or ten hours, you are at a much better advantage if you can do it in four hours.

With respect to adding music and sound effects: It's a wonderful service if you can be a one-stop-shop for your clients, but adding music and sound effects is very difficult. We've been doing it for 21 years and we're still learning, we really are. Stephanie said, you have to continue learning. I believe that if you offer a service to clients, and you don't do it very well, you'll really hurt your relationship with your client, so go to Voice Coaches. David Bourgeois and Jenny have a wonderful studio and hook up with them, let them do the music and sound effects for you, and maybe do a little markup on the thing, but be a one-stop-shop for your customers. I hope that answers your question, but now I've forgotten what the question was (laughter). See, in voice over you have a script so you don't have to memorize anything so you don't write notes!

Warren Garling: Jenny Marcotte, I really want you to think of me the next time you're looking for a voice. What should I do to make that happen?

Jenny Marcotte: Please keep in touch with me. We were kind of talking about this before where people will go out with their demo and they're sure they are going to do this and I never hear from them. Or, we'll have potential new students call me and say, "How many people are successful in doing this?", but until you tell me and you call me to say, "I've done this job," or "I just got done with this" I won't know and that's actually the best way. I need to know you're still doing it. I think one of the worst things would be to recommend someone and call them up to find out, "Oh, I actually really haven't done this since I made my demo" so it's really important. Please just keep in touch, let me know what you're doing, send me an MP3, send me a quick note, that's the best way.

Warren Garling: Thanks, Jenny. Billy, how much difference is there from East Coast to West Coast re: style, formality, % of use of Internet vs. studio?

Billy Serow: In my world, which is the union world, the voice over business is structured very, very differently between the west coast and the east coast. The east coast is still for the most part a casting director driven business. I was a casting director before I was an agent. I saw with the proliferation of the internet, which in turn made sites and talent agencies building their own in house studios, casting directors are really fighting for their livelihoods because it is easy to get an audition, but casting directors want you to be in their studio to audition for them with the benefit of their direction so they can get some kind of credit from the advertising agency for doing a good job and choosing the right talent.

Budgets for casting sessions for voice overs are small. They are smaller than budgets for on-camera commercials. On the average for an on-camera audition, a casting director might audition 50 people or a hundred people for a role because they have the budget and the time and the day to do those auditions. For voice over auditions, casting directors are usually given a half a day or a quarter of a day to do an audition, even if it is for a major, national campaign. The number of actors who are auditioning for those sessions are maybe 8 to 20 to maybe 25 if it's a very long half day. What's good then in the New York market is that your odds are then 1 in 20 of scoring the job. In LA, partially because of the geographic nightmare that is Los Angeles, there are very few casting directors who actually concentrate on voice overs because they can't make a livelihood on it any more so most of the auditioning is done in an agent's office at an agent's studio.

So if the job goes out in New York with a casting director, if a job goes out to 6 agents, and each agents sends in 3 or 4 people per job, in LA if the job goes out to 20 agents and they're putting on tape 10 to 20 people, well, you can do the math. You're competing against 200 to maybe even 400 voices. If an advertiser is listening to 200 voices, theoretically, chances are they are not listening to 200 voices. Chances are they are listening to the auditions that come in and when they hear someone they like, they go "OK, I'll take that guy". So, the structure of the business between Los Angeles and New York is very, very different and certainly easier to break into in the New York market.

Warren Garling: Would you agree with that, Rodney, or do you want time for rebuttal? (laughter from the audience)

Rodney Saulsberry: No, I definitely agree. Everything Billy said was right. I think it's important to find houses. I'm in LA, and when I have an audition at my agency, which is William Morris, the competition is a lot more because we've got all the William Morris clients plus every other agency in California, in Los Angeles, whereas...

Billy Serow: (off mic) Sometimes also New York.

Rodney Saulsberry: And also New York, Billy's right, however, when I go to a Carroll Casting, which is a big casting agency in Los Angeles, and I've been quite successful there, Carroll has decided on about 8 to 15 guys, so that's it. Elaine Craig Casting... so any time these houses call you, you have a better chance of being successful. Amen to what Billy is saying because everything he is saying is correct.

Warren Garling: Thank you. David Bourgeois, am I always free to use quotes and name of people/brands that I've worked with or do I need permission?

David Bourgeois: I think to a large degree, particularly at the local and regional level, corporate training level, it's assumed by the client that you are going to use some sample of the work on a demo or a quote they gave you or something like that in regard to your marketing material, I do however, and I've run into this professionally... once in a while you will meet resistance and the best course of action is to ask permission to do that. You'll certainly run into situations where you're going to eventually do material that can't be released. A great example, I had a friend do a series of work for the New York State Department of Corrections. Some of it is training for prison guards that can't be released, he can't go putting that on his demo or a lot of prison guards will get beat up, but for the most part, I think absolutely, and I think that it would be unusual for somebody who you work with or have a professional affiliation with to not allow you to do that, so usually, yes.

Warren Garling: All right. Evan, back to animation from a few years back when you did an animated character. What's the difference between doing that kind of a session and a voice over session for what you did on "While You Were Out", which you did in our studios, I'd like to say.

Evan Farmer: That's a great question. One, it's a lot of fun, because there are absolutely no boundaries for a free spirit like myself, it's great, but I learned to enjoy the technical aspects of While You Were Out, and I'll explain the difference. When you go in, and at least the cartoons that I was involved with, we didn't do what's called ADR, I didn't have to match a characters mouth or film when you do ADR, there's a technical aspect to that. I would go in and it was acting as you've heard quite a bit today. It was really all about creating a character using your imagination which is one of the wonderful advantages to voice acting over regular acting in that there's a lack of self-consciousness that you can really grab onto in a studio, in a dark studio with a microphone and it's your imagination that's speaking. I really enjoyed that aspect. I would go in and read lines... usually we would go until both the engineer and I were laughing. That's kind of why I tended to get hired because I'm a goofy kind of guy and I was willing to go there.

I made an allusion to it but my first cartoon voice acting job was for a cartoon called Daria on MTV. I phoned in my audition and I was literally in a bathrobe because I almost missed my audition. I totally forgot the time and everything, and I'm looking at myself in my living room mirror, I'm half dressed, on the phone, just thinking of how ludicrous this was and it loosened me up. That's one of the great things about a home studio as well. It's the same effect. I was safe in my own environment.

Now with the technical side of going in to do voice overs for a show that you're hosting, for example, there's mostly a time requirement and a formula that's alluding me right now, but there is a certain number of seconds per word, so when somebody is writing, a good producer or director who is writing the copy will know that if they have a space they need to fill on the show that they've got 5 seconds, that they can only use a certain number of words. You could always tell, as somebody who has worked on 300 episodes of While You Were Out, for example, 300 episodes where I had to do an hour's worth of voice over narration, you learn very quickly which directors were good at dialing that in, however, I didn't always have the option to change the copy, which would have been a great option so you have to learn to make it work.

The technical side of it mainly came with the experience and the practice and that was being in the studio time and time again. I got to the point where, David (Bourgeois) can testify, we'd go through an hour's worth of voice over and we'd knock it out in about 20 minutes because I'd be dialed into that and he'd say "You've got 3.2 seconds" and I'd hit it at 3.1, and he'd say, "One more time, you've got to add a .1" My brain automatically knew what .1 seconds sounded like and where I needed to get that and still get the inflection. That became a very enjoyable aspect of it to me because it became a sense of accomplishment. I could go in and deliver this great 20 minutes of solid, hit it out of the park work because I had mastered the art of the technique. They are two different beasts altogether, both of them tremendous fun from different perspectives.

Warren Garling: Terrific. Stephanie, we're back to the union again. Does the VO talent have to be a union member for the jobs on Voices.com?

Stephanie Ciccarelli: To answer the question, no, a voice talent doesn't have to be a member of the union. We have non-union talent as well as union talent on the site. There are clients who search for one or the other or they audition both. To some people it doesn't matter and some people are looking for something very specific. But in short, no, it really doesn't matter if you are union or non-union, any voice talent, as long as you are professional and confident in what you can do, and prepared to actually do the work and be ready with your studio and education, training, all the good things that Rodney brought up earlier, then you should be set and you're more than welcome to be listed on Voices.com.

Warren Garling: Very good. Dave Goldberg, what if you are offered a job for an ad promoting a product/person/company that you don't like or support? How could saying 'no' affect my chances at getting work as a voice actor?

David Goldberg: That's an interesting question. I guess I should say that I know a lot of voice talent, a lot of voice actors who have turned down jobs over the years because they just don't believe in the personal product or it could be a politician that you don't support and so forth, so to answer the question how could it negatively affect you?

Certainly, you could lose a relationship with that particular client, and of course as most of you have heard throughout the day, you do one job and you meet the script writer who knows the video editor of another thing and one job can lead to many jobs, and you know, it can have an affect. I think at the same time, if you're working with an agent or a casting agent or a director, producer, copy writer, whoever your direct client is, if you word it in such a way and you stand up for your beliefs, they can possibly come to your aid, and say, "This guy is pretty good. They'll read only what they want to read."

Maybe it makes you look very professional, that you are not so desperate to take on a job that you turn down a job. There are certain things that I personally won't produce, our studio won't produce any commercial for cigarettes, that's our thing. I think it really comes down to what your beliefs are and how important they are, and it probably comes down to how expensive your rent check is and how badly you need to pay your rent check. You have to weigh the pros and cons.

Warren Garling: Good point. Rodney, we get this question quite often from folks and maybe you can help us out a bit. "I'm really concerned about being too nervous when I enter the booth. What can I do to relax?"

Rodney Saulsberry: Well, I think nervous is good, I really do. I said this last year, I was terribly nervous before I came out and spoke with you all today. But if I ever lose that, something would be wrong, and I think that you take that nervous energy, you use that adrenaline to be successful. That's what it does for me, it keeps me on my toes. If you are a basket case and you have a real problem and you never pull it together, I think you're going to have to work on that, I don't know that I can necessarily say how. Taking deep breaths are good I think, just sort of settling yourself. Breathing is real important in voice over and I think it cures nervousness too, at times. But don't fear nervous, embrace it. I think it makes you better, it makes you sharp.

I want to go back to something real briefly about doing work that you don't want to do. I had a person ask me to do a job and they said the money is not that great. OK, that wasn't a problem. Then they sent me the script and I wrote back that I'm not into doing this because I didn't want to be this guy. The guy was the guy who was sexually harassing somebody on the job. And I said in the email, "Don't I have the right as a voice over artist to turn down something I don't want to do?" to which the person wrote back, "Yeah you really do. Well we've got other spots, what if you aren't that guy but the victim or something? Would you be into that?" And I'm like OK, because I'm into the cause, I'm not into sexual harassment on the job, but I did say no to saying the slimy things that this guy was saying and I was respected for it. She wrote back in one email and said, "Why? Is it because of the money?", I said, "The cause, I would do for free. I just don't want to play this character." I thought when they switched and gave me the next character that they were going to say, "Well now you said you would do this for free... would you do it..." but they didn't do that. (laughter)

David Bourgeois: I just want to add to the nervousness question. I agree 100% with Rodney. It can be important to be nervous, it can be an advantage. I would love you all to be nervous, as long as you're nervous about the right thing. Too many voice actors I meet who are new to the field come in to do a professional job, and when I meet them ahead of time, do you know what they are nervous about? They're nervous about getting it right. I need to be nervous about that, I'm the producer, or the client needs to be nervous about that. Getting it right is not part of your job description. You're not going to be determining what right is unless you are self-producing that job through Voices.com.

You've got three things on your plate here, read aloud, take and interpret direction, and very importantly, apply creativity to the material you are reading. You focus on the things you should be nervous about. Develop your reading skill, develop your direction, taking it and your ability to effectively apply direction, and for goodness sake, always with people like me who are producing, I always prefer to have somebody that takes a unique and creative approach to the copy, even if it's 19 miles away from what I'm looking for, I'd rather have that than somebody who comes in flat because at least I know there's somebody who I can work with.

Warren Garling: Great, thank you. Jenny, what are some of the things voice actors you've hired did RIGHT to get invited back to work with you again?

Jenny Marcotte: Did right. Practiced, definitely, came in on time, professional, followed up, thank you. Just what he (David Bourgeois) was saying, you can tell when they were able to take direction, they were creative, they were fun to work with. All of those things definitely help me be able to hire that person back and refer somebody to them.

Warren Garling: Don't forget cookies!

Jenny Marcotte: And the cookies, right, definitely! And cheesecake I think we got too, recently.

Warren Garling: Chocolate chip especially

Jenny Marcotte: Yes, we did. (laughter)

Warren Garling: Let's ask the other side of that and have Jenny answer again. What has someone done wrong when they've come into the studio that in your head you're saying that you you'd never invite this person again or hire this person again?

Jenny Marcotte: How much time do we have? (laughter from the audience) Just on the flip, we recently had this happen. I had a pretty good demo and referred this person. She had not practiced from the time she made that demo. It was an extremely long and painful session I believe, really hard to work with and basically what it does is it then costs us that client, too. People not showing up or thinking it's okay to show up an hour late to a session, having to reschedule... I know it probably sounds ridiculous, but it actually has happened, and it does get mentioned after so please keep those things in mind.

David Goldberg: Let me add a comment to this. I've seen this happen so many times with new talent. You're on your first job and you look at the script and the talent says, (leaning in) "Who wrote this piece of garbage?" (audience laughter) and the client is right there and it's not a good thing to say.

Jenny Marcotte: You can think it all you want.

David Goldberg: Yes, think it, you know... and also, actually, it's kind of a rude story, but I have to tell this and I'll make it fast. We had a woman in the studio once, quick background: there were about 10 producers on this particular job, don't ask why, but the creative director, the script writer, the video editor and so forth, the woman forgot that the microphone was on when she went in the booth and she passed gas (audience laughter), and had no clue, and then all of a sudden 10 people on the other side of the glass are laughing and she had no idea what happened. So remember, the microphone is always on and you don't want to lose a job over silly things.

Warren Garling: Billy, have you noticed a change over the years as to the kind of voices businesses are requesting?

Billy Serow: (leaning in) No. (audience laughter)

Warren Garling: Thank you, next question!

Billy Serow: Ah yes, Rodney touched on this greatly so I'm just going to I'm just going to sound like a broken record. Yes, the operative word "real" and these are the days of the anti-announcer. Every single day, and it's so funny how people say it as if you're supposedly hearing it for the first time. "We're looking for a guy, 40-45, NOT announcery" (audience laughter). Hmm, OK. You take them at their word and then you read the copy and the copy says "Introducing!", something that nobody says in real life, and you're supposed to sound real while saying the word introducing, so yeah, the operative word is "real".

Warren Garling: Stephanie, I notice that you require a minimum $100 fee for any voice work offered through Voices.com. Why can't I charge less?

Stephanie Ciccarelli: Why can you not charge less? Well, the answer is that you need to respect yourself. If you are putting all this work into the audition itself, and your studio, your education, all of these things have culminated to something worthwhile for you in your business, so if you start quoting less than what is suggested and what the client is actually prepared to pay, then you are doing yourself a disservice, your peers a disservice, you're doing the industry a disservice. So please keep in mind that if a client has specified this is my budget, this is the high end, the low end, please meet me somewhere in the middle or do your best to quote, remain within that budget. Also, don't take yourself for granted because your skills, everything you put into yourself, your work, your voice, how they are going to use it... you're worth so much more than undercutting yourself and everyone else who is on the website (applause from panel and audience), so that is why you shouldn't bid less than $100.

Warren Garling: Very nice, absolutely. Dave Goldberg, is there any seasonality to the VO business? Is there a good time of year, bad time of year?

David Goldberg: It depends what you're talking about. We've found at our studios that summers are typically a bit slower, the amount of production work that comes in, meaning for you that it's a fantastic time to market yourselves. Producers have a bit more time on their hands, or their ears, so take advantage of it. And certainly, I guess there are different kinds of commercials that sell more during winter and summer, it depends on the product that's being narrated but, otherwise I'm not familiar with any seasonality.

Warren Garling: OK, thank you. Rodney, how has marketing yourself changed over the years as you've become successful? Do you still have to market yourself just as hard as you did from day one?

Rodney Saulsberry: Yes, you do, and I talked about YouTube. It's just the same. In my book I talk about saturating the market, but it is important to do your research first, you know you don't want to just throw things out there that don't go anywhere. Have a plan, have a group of people that you are going to send something to. If you can, make contact with people at these places that are hired to listen to these demos, and trust me when I tell you that they were hired to do that for a good reason because that's what they are supposed to do. Sometimes they actually do listen, and sometimes you are successful, but you have to take those shots and market yourself. I talked about simplicity.

Someone asked me about pictures on a CD. I think it's a personal thing. If you want to, you can, but when I'm asked my thought about that, I say No. I say that we need to be recognized by our voices and our talent as opposed to someone seeing a picture and deciding something about us and that may make them not hire us for the job. I had a situation recently where I did a cartoon and all of a sudden they said they wanted to see me for a motion cap (motion capture), a mo-cap, they call it, session, and so I had to drive to San Diego and put on this scuba diving type suit and all of these balls on me and this thing on my head. The character that I played, the body and the movements are based on my body, the face is not, it doesn't look like me, but the movements that I'm making... well, you know, I do voice overs! I'm working for 4 or 5 minutes, 30 minutes et cetera, I'm done, they've got me for a day, 8 hours, and all of a sudden I've got rifles in my hand and they're asking me to roll around on the floor and all types of things, and I'm thinking to myself, as

I looked at all these younger people around me, they thought my voice sounded like something (laughing), but now I'm here and I'm not necessarily that same guy. I may not have ever gotten there if they had seen a picture, so let your voice do the work for you and yes marketing is very important, just as it was when I wrote that book in 2004 and talked about saturating the market.

Warren Garling: Thank you Rodney, Mr. Bourgeois, what techniques do you recommend for slowing yourself down when reading text?

David Bourgeois: Well, like Billy said, we have definitely gravitated toward conversational, believable, sincere delivery. One of the most common differences in how people read text and how they speak text is that reading becomes task oriented with the goal being reaching the end. So, everyone has a natural tendency to accelerate their pace when they're reading.

I used to do a little experiment with people where I would have them speak for a couple of minutes off of the top of their head, and this goes way back to when I started training in this field, and we'd bring them back in the control room and play that back a couple of times, write it down word for word, and ask them to go in and read it at the same pace that they felt that they had said it. We never, and I did that with many people, had anybody able to read it in any more than half the time it took them to say a couple of minutes of material. It's very interesting.

So, a great technique to fight this is to use what I would call reset points. Take your pencil and just put little reminder marks in your copy to reset that pace back to a genuine, believable, conversational pace. You always want to be working off of what I would refer to as your conversational average, your average conversational pace. As the excitement level increases in the copy you're reading, you're not just going to speed up, you're going to use more variation in the pace. As your perception of the excitement level in the copy lessens, you don't just slow down, you come back closer to that conversational average. But maintaining that conversational average is difficult, feel free, mark your copy up, put reminders at the beginning of the third or fourth line that says, "Hey, settle down back down and get that energy together again". To the client, to the copy writer, to the person trying to convey that information, the words later in the copy are just as important as the words you started out with.

Rodney Saulsberry: I love that, and I call it scoring the copy. For me, all of this voice over is analogous to music, right, and so I draw lines where I'm going to pause, I draw lines up where I'm going to take a line up at the end, and I think about something that Evan said when he talked about how from doing this over and over again, he began to have an internal clock that just naturally happened, you know, and that's what I'm talking about practicing. The more that you do something, the better you are going to get, and the notation that David is talking about, and what I'm telling about, you're going to do that - I still do that today - but you will find that if you keep doing it, practice is practice, and then pretty soon it's in you and you got it, and you don't even need to mark it as much, but do in the beginning, and if you have to mark late like I still do, mark.

Underline words that you're going to emphasize, if you're going to go down, you're going down, if you're going to go up, it's going up.

I do an exercise where I can have two people, and we can have a paragraph, no let's say a few lines, four or five lines. I will have one person score the copy, come up with an interpretation and then score it. Underline words they are going to emphasize, make a line go up when they are going to go up, make a line go down. I will have that person read that interpretation that they have just scored, or do just what David said, and then the next person will tell us and tell that person where their underscores were, where the lines were going up, where the lines were going down. Do you see what I'm saying? That's how important scoring copy is and that's how obvious it can be if you have written this map that is so right on that somebody can tell you what's on your paper. When we looked at the paper, the next student got it exactly right, because the person read their interpretation just like they scored it.

Evan Farmer: The power of the scoring, and for me it's mostly on-camera stuff, is so evident that when I score an audition for a sitcom audition, for example, and I'll see other actors also doing the same thing in the room, I'll take my sheet into the room and typically I'm off-book by the time I go into read. I'm a big believer in preparedness. It's one way to take the fear out of an audition. Anytime you feel anxiety about something it's usually nature's way of saying, "Hey prepare, prepare for what's coming. Are you prepared?"

Sometimes there are other things like what we've spoken about before, but my copy of that audition sheet to me is such gold, that I wouldn't in a million years let another actor see it, because my interpretation that I have come up with could the the ticket of why I got the job, and I'll give you a quick example of that.

Austin Powers III : Gold Member, anybody see that? Young Number 2 character, Robert Wagner, originally Rob Lowe, I was the high school version.

Now, to give you an idea of what I was up against, when I auditioned for that I was 30 years old, I was playing a high school character, and in film that's not always a leap of faith, but the people they had already cast for characters to play next to me were in high school. But, I went in and I auditioned, and actually it's a longer story and I'll make it shorter, I auditioned for another character, the casting director came in and said, "Hey, that guy looks like Rob Lowe", thought I looked like I could be the part, mind you, I was at the apex of my career, I had a big television show, I had been in the MTV thing where we opened up for Britney Spears, I could go into malls and get my shirt ripped off my back and yet I was in there auditioning for the first audition just like everybody else.

So another example, it never ends, you're never too big, and your marketing never stops, but that's not the point.

I go in there, and I had this line, and I'll never forget it. It didn't end up in the movie, and I'll tell you exactly where it comes, but my character was supposed to explain his existence in the prequel episodes of the movie, and my character, Number 2, I walk up to Young Doctor Evil who is looking at his class standings, his ratings in the class, and he says, (in character) "Hey look everybody, I'm Number One!" and that was the part I originally auditioned for and I clearly didn't get it for that reason you just saw.

Anyway, my character comes up and I walk up in my Robert Wagner / Rob Lowe kind of voice, and I did a lot of preparation, in fact DVDs for me are a great way because I needed to find that voice and I had to find something that kind of had a blend of both of them. So I watched the DVDs and watched Robert Wagner in the special scene selections and Rob Lowe talking at the end of those. That's how I prepared for that movie. So anyway, my character comes in and says (in character), "Hello, I'm Number 2" and so he goes, "Hello, Number 2", and I have to explain to him, and this line is how I got the movie, I explained to him, "No, my name is not Number 2, I'm Number 2 in the class", and then he goes on to say something, he goes, "Well, what's your name?" It was something like Mark Banibischibinibinischwitz, or something ridiculous, you know, some Hollywood... and he says, "Well, I'm sorry to hear that", and then of course this is the part, and my script actually had this little sign I have for a take when an actor kind of takes a moment and acts without saying anything, and I took a deep breath, and he says, "I'm sorry to hear that", and I went (huskily, airy Robe Lowesque), "Tell me about it".

It was this big pause in this scene that had this rhythm and it broke the scene up. So fast forward, I get the part, return that $700 suit I bought at Macy's to audition with (audience laughter), always keep the receipt, and I'm on set with Jay Roach and we're doing the scene, and I notice on the script that the line had been cut out and I was a little upset because I knew that was my moment.

That was actually the very moment I could see on the casting directors faces and the directors faces that I got the part. Sometimes you don't know, but sometimes in an audition you can just get that visceral, boom, I'm in. That was the moment.

So anyway, I walk up and Jay was having a hard time getting this good scene out of me and he couldn't understand why because he didn't realize it had been rewritten 17 times. He's like, "There's something you did in the audition. In fact, Mike Myers..." - this is one of those great moments where you get a glimpse into the decision making process - "In fact, Mike Myers and I watched your audition tape and we both" - and I can't say it - "Beeped ourselves. It was awesome. What did you do?"

I knew because I remembered it was that moment that I'll never forget that I got the part. And I said, "Oh, well it was this line that is no longer in it (the movie)". It was that, and I made that decision on my couch while I was reading through this, and I found an opportunity for me to shine, for me to give a little piece of me that nobody else probably will, and now had somebody seen my sheet, if they could even read my scoring, I don't know if they could have picked that up but that one take is how I did. That's how critical it is from a perspective of on-camera as well, and to this day I never let anybody see my sheet, and I write in code (audience laughter).

Warren Garling: Thank you very much, Evan. Dave Goldberg, it's been a while since I did my first demo. When do you know it's time for a new one?

David Goldberg: If it's been a while, yes. A couple of things to say about this. The most important thing, I think you said it, Jenny. It's so important that if there's a time lapse between when you've made your demo and got your first job that you are able to reproduce the sound on your demo. Does that make sense to everyone? Because we've lost clients over that same reason and it's not good for anyone.

So when is it time to make your new demo?

1. When you have improved.

2. If you have a new specialty that you want to focus on, so for example, you may have a demo that just focuses on general commercial or general narration but perhaps you decide to focus on animation, or audiobook or documentary or educational or sales and presentations and so forth.

3. It's time to produce a new demo when the styles on your existing demo are all out of date. And you don't need to produce an entirely new demo, but if you have a demo that sounds like it was done in 1997, add one or two new spots on your demo, and now hopefully if a casting agents ears are in tune, they'll listen to your demo say, "Well, it sounds like they were working ten, twelve years ago and they are still working today," because you have a new sounding style on your demo, it appears as if you're very experienced, you have been working for twelve years. There's some thoughts.

David Bourgeois: Yeah, I agree completely with what Dave says, and the mindset should be like this, your demo is your resume; your demo is never done throughout your voice over career. You'll continue to add to your demo, tune your demo just based on exactly what Dave said, you know, you develop a new skill, you want to focus on a specialty, particularly in a B market, you've done some recognizable work that you want to include on your demo, but it's a resume - keep it fresh and I 100% agree with Dave on a point he made - you've really got to bring your skill set into the studio with you. Make sense?

Stephanie Ciccarelli: I'd like to add something to this too, and I think David you kind of pointed to it, you can have older material on your demo just make sure it isn't dated like, "1997, come get our Ford whatever it is!" because right away you know that is 10, 12 years old. That, and also keep in mind that you will age too, your voice is going to change. For women, your voice matures when you are 40 years old. It will go through a variety of different stages depending on how old you are when you start your voice over career. You will go from sounding one way to maturing and so forth.

Men, your voices tend to stay around the same area for a while. When you're middle aged, you'll still sound like you're younger, potentially. Your voice will shift as well, obviously it will happen, but as you age, take a look at it. If you listen to your demo and all of a sudden you don't recognize the voice on that demo (audience laughter), it may be time to reconsider because it's just like a headshot. If you get a headshot done and you're passing out this picture of yourself but it doesn't look like you anymore, you're misleading somebody with what you can do.

So, if you keep up with the trends, keep up with the different things in the market, but also make sure that what people are hearing is actually something that you can still do, as you age obviously you can still manipulate your voice to sound younger perhaps, or to sound older, but if you can't maintain that anymore and if your natural speaking voice has shifted into a different register, for men, sometimes tenors will become baritones, so keep that in mind, but specifically for women, you're going to want to look at this more because the female voice ages more dramatically as the years go on, more so than the male voice does, so I just thought I add that in there.

Warren Garling: Thank you Stephanie, and that's going to have to be the last word. Ladies and gentlemen, can I hear a rousing thank you for these folks (audience applause)

Any Comments You'd Like To Share or Add?

Looking forward to hearing from you!

On behalf of everyone on the panel and at the Voice Coaches Expo, thank you for reading and I hope you've enjoyed this conference coverage.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Valerie Loiseleux

Voice over legend Rodney Saulsberry returned to the Voice Coaches Expo to a rousing, standing ovation.

A Detroit native and graduate of the University of Michigan, Rodney Saulsberry is one of the most sought-after voice talents in our industry. As one of the top movie trailer voices in the business, moviegoers have heard Rodney's voice promoting some of the most popular films of recent years, including How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Friday, Drumline, Finding Forrester, Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Dumb and Dumberer, and many more. His voice has also announced for prestigious ceremonies including the NAACP Image Awards and the Essence Awards.

Filled with anticipation, people sat in the darkened theater, fully engaged in captivating storytelling that was both authentic and inspired.

Learn more from this phenomenal teacher through this coverage and hear about some personal experiences in voice acting.

Your Arm's Too Short to Box With God, But Not For Taxi

If you know Rodney Saulsberry's story about how he got into the business, you know that he started out in music and acting, but what you might not know is how this connection landed him on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles and how that day changed his life.

Rodney always wanted to go to LA, in fact, nearly every day he would tell his friends so much when they got together and watched a nightly program on TV. Toward the end of the show as the host was signing off, Rodney would interject his own sign off, which was, "Rodney Saulsberry, Los Angeles California". His friends encouraged him and knew that one day he would make it beyond the University of Michigan, his alma mater, to ham it up and make a go of it as an actor in Hollywood.

When he found himself on tour with the Broadway musical, "Your Arm's Too Short to Box With God", the final leg of the tour was in Los Angeles.

Not being one to let an opportunity pass him by, Rodney was considered for a role on "Happy Days", a role that he didn't get because he was too tall to play opposite The Fonz. Was he deterred? No! Rodney chose to keep walking the Paramount lot and found himself on the set of a show called "Taxi", directed by James L. Brooks, which starred Tony Danza.

Tony Danza happened to spot Rodney and gave him a playful push. Rodney, always the actor, pushed him back. They started to spar, and in the midst of this, Danza piped up and said, "That's him James!" For those of you who watched Taxi, this was the fateful moment where Tony Danza had identified a new cast mate for the show in Rodney Saulsberry, who then donned the role of Carl the Boxer.

A Man of His Word and a Man of Action

Rodney Saulsberry did indeed make it to Los Angeles where he resides with his family to this day. He has enjoyed a very successful career and continues to work for companies such as Twix, Toyota, Burger King, Zatarains, Alpo, Honda, 7UP, Nestle Crunch, SBC, Verizon, and now is also a sound alike for the current US president, Barack Obama.

Two things that got him to Los Angeles were his determination to be successful and his desire to entertain. Four things, among others that have kept him there, are Rodney's integrity, his talent, faith, and genuine humility. To add a fifth, his innate need to give back and see others succeed, reaching their potential.

Here's just a sampling of Rodney's work:

What it Takes to Be Successful

According to Rodney, it takes three things:

1. Confidence
2. Talent
3. Technique

In response to the day, Rodney added a fourth to the list, which was another T for Training.

How Can You Be Successful?

Rodney draws upon all of his personal experiences, skills and talents, or branches, to create new characters or interpretations. He likens this process to the anatomy a tree.

Your roots are always looking for something new with inspiration that feeds the trunk, which is your signature voice. Your signature voice is the voice that makes you the most money. Remember that everything you do, even if it is very different sounding from your regular speaking voice, is still an extension of you and is your voice. Lastly, when the roots offer a new opportunity to your core voice, or the trunk, let's say an audition, your branches, which are everything you have done in the past, are there to help assist you in developing whatever it is that you need to make creative choices that work.

For an example, Rodney's Zatarain man voice comes from a familial branch, modeled after his father-in-law's voice. Because of its success, Rodney's wife still jokes that he owes her dad money!

Other projects require pulling experience from his musical branches, such as the motivational music CD that he released earlier this year called "Better Than Before", a CD with 7 tracks based upon his teachings that build confidence.

P for Prolific

Rodney Saulsberry is the author of two published books, You Can Bank on Your Voice and Step Up to the Mic. He also has a CD as I mentioned before of motivational music called Better Than Before.

If you take a turn on YouTube, you'll notice that Rodney Saulsberry has a YouTube channel featuring a number of videos online, tongue twisters and podcasts.

The Rodney Saulsberry Effect

The night before the event, Rodney was able to make it to the gala mixer and spend some time with the participants, Voice Coaches staff and David and I. Within minutes, he had graciously connected with people who were very excited to meet him, enjoying the encounters, too. The next morning, people were already buying copies of his books and CDs. I was happy to see this because I have all of his books and his CD and know what kind of an impact they can make.

Rodney didn't present until late that afternoon, and after his presentation, there was a line up from the door of the theater to his booth at least 60 to 80 people long! Needless to say, those books and CDs went even faster then than they had gone before the presentation. There's something special about being in the presence of someone who inspires you and being able to shake their hand. I think this event was the perfect kind of venue for people to meet Rodney and see him in his element.

Any Comments?

Has Rodney made a difference in your fife? If you've read any of Rodney's books, listened to his music, attended a workshop or heard him speak, I'd love to hear from you in celebration of his contributions to the voice over industry.

Please add a comment if you are moved to do so.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/AVTG

David and I delivered an interactive presentation that shares how members of Voices.com can get the most out of the service and gave some power tips that make a world of difference.

Giving the presentation was so much fun! I'm excited to share some of the highlights with you now.

Even if you are already doing much of what is mentioned, you'll probably find something new that you haven't explored or tried, so dig in!

Game Plan

This year we decided to place more of an emphasis on how our members can get the most out of Voices.com, including power tips for marketing your voice that will make a world of difference.

During the presentation, we discussed:

๏ Creating Your Profile
๏ Uploading Your Demos
๏ Auditioning for Job Opportunities
๏ Accepting Payment
๏ Delivering Files

Creating Your Profile

Describing your voice

Describing your voice may seem a bit of a chore but you must remember that it is often the description of your voice that sells your talent first. Text is visual and easier to take in whereas audio requires taking the step to listen. A good description of your voice is gold. Your description should be brief yet telling, accurate, and easy to digest.

Selecting your "Primary Language", adding accents and dialects

When you are featuring your voice and capabilities, it's important to let clients know what language you speak primarily and also which accents and or dialects you are able to perform.

Highlight your experience

Experience can include anything you've done that would support your voice over career or business. I've heard someone in casting say that they consider education to be experience. If you are a new voice over talent and feel that you don't have much to show for yourself as a voice talent yet, including your education, any training, volunteer work or projects you've created promoting your voice count for something and look better than leaving the field in your profile blank.

Profile Power Tips

๏ Add testimonials in your feedback area
๏ Include a partial client list
๏ Upload a head shot or representative image

Uploading Your Demos

Upload MP3 demos

If you upload an MP3 demo, your file will play beautifully in the flash players at Voices.com. Do not upload any other file format and expect it to work because it won't! This goes for auditions, too. Only submit MP3s.

Select a category for each demo to get featured in the Directory

Once you have uploaded your demo, you will be able to choose a category to feature it in. Pick the category that best represents what's on your audio file, for instance, if you have uploaded auto attendants and on-hold messaging for telephone system recordings, choose the Telephone category.

Choose one demo as your "Primary Demo"

If you have multiple demos uploaded (more than one), it will be necessary to identify one of your demos as the audio sample you want to appear in name-based searches. When a client looks for you by name, this will be the demo they hear.

Demo Power Tips

๏ Name your demos appropriately
๏ Add tags (descriptive words) to each demo
๏ Make sure you feature only your best work

Auditioning Tips

Make sure your profile is complete

As you may know, all of the job notifications you receive are based upon the information that you have listed in your profile. Any preferences you have selected also determine what kind of jobs you receive. By completing all aspects of your profile, you'll be opening the door for more opportunities to come rolling your way through job invitations and also via the Voices.com search engine.

Only audition for jobs you are suited for

Inevitably, there will be jobs that you are notified of that match your profile on paper but aren't necessarily a perfect fit in practice. If you read the requirements for a job and feel that it's not your cup of tea or that you don't meet some of the casting specifications, there is no harm in passing on the audition.

By only submitting for jobs that you are best suited for, you stand a better chance of being hired and or making a good impression on the person who is hiring.

Audition Power Tips

๏ Personalize proposals
๏ Stay within the client's budget range
๏ Record a dry voice, custom demo whenever possible

Accepting Payment

Clients pay using SurePay at Voices.com

In response to the needs of our customers, both client and voice talent, we developed a payment gateway that ensures clients are satisfied with the work and that voice talent get paid for their services.

SurePay protects both clients and talent

When you're doing business online, especially doing business for the first time with someone you don't know, it is a comfort to have something in place that protects both the buyer and seller, ensuring smooth sailing for both parties. As a neutral party, Voices.com is able to mediate should a dispute ever arise between voice talent and clients at the site who are using our payment service. We've found that dispute resolution is required in about 1 in 10,000 jobs.

Funds are released to talent once clients approve the files

When your client receives the files to review and is happy with them, they click "I accept" which notifies Voices.com that the client has released their payment.

Work Agreement

Outlines the scope of work

A work agreement must be uploaded by a voice talent upon a client awarding them a job. When a client awards a job, it's time to get all of the details from the initial proposal into a work agreement that confirms all that you said you'd be able to do for the client.

Confirms important details

Your work agreement will spell out the nitty gritty of your project, confirming details such as when the work will be finished by, the format you'll be delivering it in, the quote and any other particulars.

Is a binding contract

Once completed and uploaded to Voices.com, your client will need to accept the work agreement in order to continue, verifying all that you have proposed. This is a binding contract which you have both agreed to. This is also information that our team at Voices.com is privy to. If need be, we can refer to this work agreement to assist you at any stage of the project's completion.

Delivering Files

Upload your files to the work space at Voices.com

Once you have recorded for your client, the next step is to upload the finished audio to your work space at Voices.com.

File limit is 100MB

100MB is a generous amount for delivering files. Most projects come in under 100MB.

Click "Send File"

Just as easy as it sounds. When you're finished uploading your file(s), click "Send File".

Give and Receive Feedback

Many people prefer to use SurePay because it makes it easier to do business and getting feedback is an important part of that process to build trust and credibility. Briefly:

๏ Jobs completed through SurePay are eligible to receive feedback
๏ Client rates experience
๏ Talent rates experience
๏ Feedback consists of a 5-star rating and a review

If you have any questions about how this works or would like to read more about the various aspects of Voices.com, scroll back up and click on the blue hyperlinked words to visit articles concentrating on particular features or topics of interest.

Any Comments?

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Stephanie and David

Having a home recording studio is a given if you want to be a professional voice talent in today's world.

Even if you do most of your work outside of your home in local studios, you will still need to have a basic setup available to you 24/7 in the comfort and convenience of your own home.

Hear about some new pieces of audio recording equipment that might be an attractive fit for your digital home recording studio via advice from Sweetwater Sound's Mark Magdich courtesy of the Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo.

Great Gear

When you start a voice over business, you'll need to make a modest investment in your equipment, however that being said, you can't just buy anything and expect that it will meet your needs and approval of those in a position to hire you.

Depending on how savvy someone is, they'll know in one look at your profile, or listen, what kind of equipment you are using to record your voice. Perception can make or break your studio because people in the know are going to notice.

Last year, I covered the fundamentals of a home recording studio for voice talent. This article will be shorter and focus on a few items that Mark Magdich of Sweetwater Sound referred during his presentation.

Pro Tools

You may be afraid of Pro Tools, perhaps in part to it's complexity and price, but it is good to know that it provides both a hardware and software solution. Many of you won't have a need for the multi tracking capabilities that Pro Tools provides, however, if you do get into any kind of production work, this is the industry standard.

Mbox Mini

Another product to be aware of is the Mbox 2 Mini. This fits in the palm of your hand, comes with Pro Tools and is integrated as a hardware / software.

Bluebird Microphone

One of the more nifty things mentioned was the Bluebird Microphone, styled upon the 50s bottle mic, similar to what Frank Sinatra used. The beauty of this microphone is that it makes your voice bigger. The closer you get, the louder and more full your voice sounds. This microphone retails at $299.

sE Electronics Reflexion Filter

If you're looking for more noise reduction or need something that will give you the portability of a voice booth, you might want to do a bit of research on the sE Electronics Reflexion Filter. This piece of equipment sits on the mic stand and acts as a portable booth, weighing all of 11 lbs. The Microphone mounts right into the center of it and it can be used in any room to turn it into a studio environment. The sE Electronics Reflexion Filter will also act as if you are standing in a whisper room or recording studio. Obviously, if you have a lot of external noise (road traffic) it won't block it out but is very good otherwise for recording in a quiet room.

A few other elements that were mentioned in the presentation include the Wavelab Essential - Personal Audio Editing System by Steinberg; Peak LE 6 - Essential Audio tools for your digital lifestyle; and Secrets of the Pros - basics and beyond ProTools DVD: Volume 1.

Mark Magdich (Fort Wayne, Indiana)

Home Recording Expert and Sales Engineer Mark Magdich from Sweetwater, America's leading recording equipment retailer, is an accomplished musician, playing nine different instruments and singing the theme songs for numerous animated series, including the New Adventures of Speed Racer.

Do You Use Any of These Products in Your Home Recording Studio?

Looking forward to your reply,

Stephanie

How has the use of voice over changed in multimedia over the years?

You'd be amazed by where a few decades has brought voice over! In fact, you'd even be more amazed by what a matter of months can do in the age of modern multimedia.

This informative lecture presented by Dan Dinsmore of Overit Media at the Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo will share how new doors of opportunity have opened for voice over talent online, specifically through podcasts and interactive gaming.

Want to learn more?

Gain a new perspective on this field and learn how you can make multimedia voice over part of your business.

Voice Over's Rise to Prominence in Multimedia

Voice over has become a standard element of advertising in multimedia, but it wasn't always the case. In recent years, voice over has gone from being an afterthought, to an option, to a service offered to customers developing their ad campaigns for the web, mobile, and interactive.

Traditional ad agencies are now seeing the exciting potential of voice over and how it can be used to invigorate visual displays, make advertisements more human and reach people on a deeper, more pronounced level in ways unheard of even a decade ago.

All kinds of companies, from traditional brick and mortar to online startups, are finding new ways to leverage media such as podcasting, web, interactive gaming, and mobile applications.

Even Better News?

The majority of these media are perfectly suited to voice over and have created work where none existed before for voice actors.

Not only is this fabulous news to hear, the best part is that it's true.

What Kind of Work is there in Multimedia for Voice Actors?

๏ Being the voice of a corporate podcast
๏ Representing a company as the voice heard on their website
๏ Interacting with customers through online support channels
๏ Recording voice over for in-store advertisements
๏ Voice over in video games, Internet, and on mobile gaming devices
๏ New work in telephony

And, the list goes on...

Companies are using the tools available to them to spread their message even further, especially online. Of late, organizations are finding that marketing their messages through social media is of particular benefit from a cost savings perspective in addition to the heightened visibility they achieve.

Speaking of mobile applications, there is now talk of geo-centric advertising, in effect, ads that are triggered on a mobile device when you are in proximity of an advertiser. This is text based at present but could also take on a more audible form using voice over in the future.

Who Wants to Sound Good?

EVERYONE!

While marketing has become a bit easier thanks to social media, that doesn't change the basic need for companies and individuals to brand themselves in the best possible way to attract business.

Now that podcasting is a proven vehicle for communicating ideas and reaching audiences, the realization has set in that they want their content to sound professional in addition to being well written and produced.

You'll find that most podcasts created by larger corporations and conglomerates are professionally recorded by a voice talent. Even small to mid-sized businesses are realizing that image is everything and are opting to explore adding professionally recorded voice overs to their marketing mix and internal communications such as newsletters and memorandums.

Voice Styles Used in Multimedia

The journalistic approach is to use voice artists who can tell a story with authenticity and trustworthiness.

Some companies are even having testimonials recorded by voice talent to give their website an entirely different dimension.

Experimentation with shorter, viral commercials, testimonials as mentioned a moment ago, and even animated characters has given way to introducing voice over as a requirement to achieve success, not just an afterthought or suggestion.

Voice Acting Balloons in Video Games

Of course, what we've just been talking about isn't limited to mere captains of industry, but reaches beyond to all industries, including the gaming industry.

Gaming, an $18 billion a year industry in the US alone, is averaging roughly 1,200 to 1,500 lines of dialogue per character in story driven games.

To give you some perspective, Halo 3 had more than 35,000 total lines of dialogue, quite a bit of voice over, you'll agree.

I hope this article has given you some ideas regarding how you can work multimedia into your voice over business, whether for your personal use or as a service you provide to your clients.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

~~

Dan Dinsmore (Albany, New York)

As a visual communications and advertising expert, Dan is CEO of the award-winning design firm, Overit Media. Overit Media's clients include the Chicago Bulls, Trump Vodka, the Denver Nuggets, and AOL founder Steve Case, as well as Voice Coaches. Dan's team is extremely active in developing visual marketing for voice professionals. In addition, Dan was recently named one of New York's Capitol Region's "40 Most Successful Business People Under Age 40".

©iStockphoto.com/Eva Serrabassa

Have you been wondering about getting into the world of audio book narration?

What about playing a role as part of a full cast of characters?

Dan Bostick, Artistic Director of Full Cast Audio, a speaker at the Voice Coaches Marketing Expo, describes how the company got started, their creative process and shows you how working with a variety of voice actors to achieve a common goal can be a rewarding experience.

Full Cast Audio

Founded by Bruce Coville in 2001, an author of children's books, in partnership with director and voice actor Dan Bostick, Full Cast Audio presents the public with a wide variety of unabridged family friendly classics and a collection of audio books recorded specifically for children, teens and families.

How Full Cast Audio Began

After having a poor experience with a publisher who hired a professional narrator to record his books, Bruce Coville found that by taking matters into his own hands, he could ensure that his stories were read to his satisfaction and brought to life by not just one narrator, but a whole cast of characters. Pioneering and nurturing this aspect of his work for five years with Listening Library, Coville's relationship with Listening Library came to an amicable close when Listening Library was purchased by Random House. Following that, Full Cast Audio as we know it now, was born, blending pleasure with passion to achieve excellence in audio book narration.

Recognized By Industry

An award-winning company, Full Cast Audio delights in creating artistic brilliance by capturing an author's literary interests in audio, recorded with a full cast of characters. The majority of voice talent who work with their company are either aspiring actors or non-union voice talent, recording their work together in studio with the bulk of recordings produced in Syracuse, NY.

At one point, there have been as many as 56 voice actors in a cast, although this was the exception, not the rule.

Full Cast Audio has been nominated in 6 award categories at this year's Audies.

Author-Approved Audio Book Recordings

The highest goal and most critical component of the Full Cast Audio mission is to thrill the author by realizing, in audio format, everything that the author intended including staying true to the book, breathing life into characters and telling the story as they themselves had envisioned it.

By incorporating a full cast, each character is able to spring into action, contributing a deeper meaning and additional dramatic layers to the production.

Voice talent are able to smoothly deliver their lines to make the listening experience enjoyable, and also shape the smallest piece of text, even the most mundane, into a compelling statement.

Insights From the Director's Perspective

๏ Get every bit of meaning out of the text
๏ Match the voices he hears in his head with the voices of voice actors
๏ Matching is tricky which is why they need many voices
๏ Getting the shape of the performance to match exactly what is heard in his head
๏ Actor will have more inspired, instinctive responses than what the casting director has in their head which can be refreshing

Capturing Drama: Tips on How to Improve Your Reading

Read Aloud

If you want to improve and elevate your skills, regardless of skill level, read aloud. Audiences give you feedback, so if you can take advantage of reading in front of a live audience, do so!

Be Mindful and Vocally Resourceful

Voice acting in degree of difficulty is 5:1 over stage acting. There are no props, costumes, movements, or facial expressions that your audience can see to aid or embellish your performance.

Be Yourself

Voice work should always start with your own voice. Forget characterization. Speak as yourself.

Be Confident and Flow Well

Read clearly, feed those images, don't take it too slow.

Reading Lists with Continuity

When you have a list to read, build a list in a circle to fascinate your reader at least for the duration of the list. Go incrementally from a lower pitch to a higher pitch and return back to lowest pitch at the end of the list.

Make Repeated Information Interesting

Even at the beginning of paragraphs, find different pitch notes to start with. Always think, could I give more meaning to this?

The Full Cast Audio Culture

When you're working with a voice cast, the sessions become an artistic collective, different from other environments where the director micromanages the actors.

Everyone brings their gifts, talent and skill to the table. When everyone participates and finds meaning in the book, it's a thrill.

If the interpretation that a voice actor offers doesn't intuitively match what is in the director's head, the opportunity to jointly craft a performance arises.

Dan Bostick played a number of videos from recorded sessions for us to gain insight into the creative process and his direction. One was from a session for Cyrano by Geraldine McCaughrean, featuring Trevor Hill as Cyrano de Bergerac and Cynthia Bishop as the narrator, dissecting Cyrano's delivery on "The Art of the Insult".

The art of the insult is at times soft but instructive, pointed, and grows in strength throughout the read to a triumphant climax. Italics in the text were used to help fuel the crescendo.

When narrating something like this, relish what's about to happen. You can do this with volume but you can also do it with ravish.

Giving this kind of performance is extremely hard work for the actor. The roles that Full Cast Audio casts voice actors in helps them to grow in maturity as performers and stretches their voices.

Books Read By The Author

A new venture for Full Cast Audio is single voice productions. Not only is the voice of the narrator the only voice that is heard, the company is challenged by a different situation altogether when guiding the author in reading their own book.

Authors reading their own books need to be directed just like actors. Although they have a more intimate connection to the text and characters, it is still helpful to direct their performances making use of tools such as metaphors to help express direction.

We got to watch a session with an author narrating their own book which was very interesting. She was guided through metaphor. Once the suggestion was made, the difference in her read was amazing! Sometimes being so close to the material influences much of how you interpret a read. In these cases, it is beneficial to have an outside ear providing feedback that will result in more creative, definite choices when read aloud.

Dan Bostick (Syracuse, New York)

Dan Bostick is Artistic Director of one of America's premier audio book recording companies, Full Cast Audio. Dan spends his day preparing for, casting, and directing audio book productions of family-friendly classics. Using a "full cast" of characters to voice each book, Dan and his company have been singled out and awarded for their excellence.

Any Comments or Experiences You'd Like to Share?

If you've been part of a full cast audio production or found value in this article, I invite you to leave a comment. Also, if you found this article to be useful, please pass the link along to someone who would benefit from reading this information.

With gratitude,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Fred Palmieri

The first presentation at the Voice Coaches Expo this year was delivered by Jay Silverman, discussing how technology can help to facilitate traditional marketing techniques while reminding us that offline marketing is still one of the most personal and effective ways to self-promote.

I've taken some time to jot down much of what Jay advised as well as added my own thoughts in this article about how you can leverage technology combined with the personal touch.

Modern Self-Marketing

Creating new opportunities to market yourself has never been easier thanks to technology, specifically, the Internet.

Having a website that you can call your own to feature your voice on is absolutely mandatory in today's world where you, and your voice, may be only a click or several keystrokes away.

Although the web offers an abundance of opportunity to network and get the word out about your business, don't forget that there is a whole world out there of flesh and blood connections that you can introduce yourself to with some personal marketing.

How Marketing in Person Can Strengthen Your Online Marketing

Many people grew up before social networks, before it was common to use the Internet as a business tool, or even before the Internet existed, period. Networking was based upon the physical of meeting people in person at events, business meetings, at conferences, social encounters and in the workplace.

Firm handshakes, making eye contact, being friendly and open while exuding confidence and an attitude of service were and still are key in developing meaningful business relationships... the challenge faced today is making those skills translate to networking in a virtual environment.

Those same people are also in business today, and to their benefit, are applying techniques and person-to-person communication skills to online efforts.

Creating More Business Opportunities

People everywhere admire and are moved by the personal touch. It means so much more when you receive something that you know has been touched, written by hand or sent especially to you in the mail.

Consider the following ways that using technology can help create more business for you:

Have hard copies of your demo on CD: Being able to hand someone a physical representation of your work is very important. You'll find that there are people who want to hire you who are uncomfortable with receiving attachments via email, especially when it's the first encounter. While MP3s are more convenient for you as the sender, sometimes they can pose issues and actually deter people from listening to your work if the MP3 is unsolicited.

Business Letter that accompanies the demo: Share that you are looking for work and have the talent, are understanding of what that perspective employer does and thus needs from you. Do more self-marketing through following up. More business is lost because someone drops the ball on follow up than any other reason.

Do web research to learn more about who the clientele is: Find out what they need and how your voice can help target their target audiences.

Build a website: Your website gives you the opportunity to look better and present yourself. Fully display your range, depth of your voice, and other assets.

TIP: Don't just hope that someone finds your website among the millions of sites out there. You must guide people to finding your website. Helping them find you is very important. List the URL of your website on your business card.

Marketing activities still work, and as communications processes evolve, you can apply the same principles to your marketing as before.

Job Opportunities May Rely Upon 3 Things:

1. Training and your ability to use it (formal training, reading articles, listening to podcasts, etc.)
2. Communicate person to person and sell yourself to convey that you know what you are doing and that you can help them.
3. Your willingness to use some of your time resources even better. For those who are still working in other areas outside of voice over, you will need to give up more time than potentially anticipated.

Tell The World!

Hesitation will only hold you back.

Here are a number of ideas to help you self-promote and be a good ambassador for your business:

๏ Be aggressive in marketing yourself
๏ Take advantage of marketing opportunities already out there
๏ Be creative in establishing marketing opportunities for yourself
๏ Educate people about voice over
๏ Educate people, even those at social / recreational events you participate in
๏ Business meetings outside of your workplace
๏ Give examples that they'll recognize to learn more about what voice over is really about
๏ Bring a load of business cards
๏ Training makes you qualified to seek out work
๏ Do something social to network with people one-on-one, BBQs for instance
๏ Non-technical, inexpensive ways to extend your self-marketing a little bit farther.
๏ Be prepared
๏ Develop an elevator speech / pitch

Elevator Speech / Pitch

When you give an elevator speech, you're summing up who you are, what you do and how you can be of service to someone in less than 60 seconds. You can also see this as the amount of time it would take you to travel on an elevator with a person of influence from the first floor lobby to their executive office, upwards of 30 floors or higher. You've got a limited window of opportunity to make an impact and you've got to have your pitch down.

If there is a follow up question from the person you are talking to, you know they are interested.

For some great examples of this, visit:

60 Second Pitch Contest at Voices.com

Parting Words

Remember to follow up and stick with it. Also, always have a copy of your demo on you as you'll never know when opportunity will knock. Handing someone a demo CD, even though it may seem to be low-tech when compared to zipping an MP3 off to someone, is still a viable and potentially preferred way to present someone with your offering and show them what you can do.

Jay Silverman (Mechanicville, New York)

In addition to being a voice actor and professional announcer, Jay is a marketing and public communications expert. His experience in communications training spans the corporate, government, higher education, and not-for-profit sectors. Jay is a member of the marketing faculty at the Sage College and the University of Albany.

Any Comments?

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/P_Wei

Adam Caplan gave an amazing presentation at PodCamp London called "The Practice of Brevity", teaching us how to deliver a compelling, educational and entertaining message in two minutes or less.

Don LaFontaine's name came up as someone he had worked with and I decided to follow up with Adam to discover more about his experiences with "The Don". Adam has graciously shared some of his insight and memories here with us at VOX Daily for you to enjoy.

Learn more about how Don LaFontaine's masterful application of the art of brevity helped him to make a significant and profound impact while maintaining his trademark delivery and singular style.

Working with Don LaFontaine, A Master of Brevity

By Adam Caplan

I had the pleasure of working with Don only a few times as the Head Writer or Creative Director would generally direct the sessions - I was a 'preditor' (Producer/Editor combo), and so our work 'together' was limited.

Most of the work done by the company I worked for (DG Entertainment) was for TV promos and movie packages (I have a Field of Dreams spot voiced by Don and written by Harris Cohen for DG Entertainment that's really great). TV spots for shows like Leeza, 'Go Wild' and radio for the Star Trek franchise were the day-to-day for Don, so we would be a regular stop on his daily tour of the city's TV & movie shops.

Don started out as a writer; Indeed, he is frequently credited for inventing the catchphrases for which he became known.

Sometimes, hanging out in the sound booth, I watched as his ability to tell stories informed every part of his work. It was this sensibility that was perhaps what inspired me most about him; his ability to look at a script and intuit the angle that the writer/producer was going for.

When he performed, he would physically find the beats and use his own rhythm to sell the angle.

It wasn't Don's voice that made it memorable, it was the way Don led us into the story he was telling, showing us, the audience, how to emotionally empathize with what we were hearing or watching, no matter the length or the subject.

Moreover, Don was a consummate gentleman and professional. His generosity of spirit, advice, and the time he made for young voice actors is still legendary, and remains an inspiration for me when I am approached to offer advice or mentorship for those seeking to enter new media.

Finally, I believe that Don was a true innovator.

He really was the first to recognize that his voice provided the emotional tone and timbre for the text that was written, much in the same that a concert violinist or pianist can provide new insights into music that is sometimes hundreds of years old. This innovation is notable because it represented the migration from the insistently stoic voice-over style of the mid-century to our modern, emotionally pitched voices.

Don brought humanity to modern promotional media, and brought our emotions front-and-centre.

As someone engaged with short-form media I can say that the hardest goal - and the most important - is to leave audience members with an emotionally memorable message. The only way to do that is to engage listeners emotionally, and lead them to the point you're trying to make by showing them, with emotional resonance, rather than telling them, with just words. Aligning the words with the right emotion takes practice and talent, and is tremendously valuable when it's realized.

Finally, to voice actors: Consider writing!

Blogging, short stories, scripts, poems... All these formats require a knowledge of the fundamental tenets of storytelling. By practicing the art of storytelling, and understanding a writer's sensibility, you can both improve your own interpretive (and thus performance) abilities, and also have a more informed conversation with your clients and their copywriters.

Sincerely,

Adam Caplan

Adam Caplan is a lecturer at the University of Western Ontario and is a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts. He works at his own startup, web.isod.es. You can follow also Adam Caplan on Twitter.

Any Comments?

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Stephanie

Learn how to take care of your voice, engage in a vocal warmup, speak clearly and become more confident behind the microphone.

Discover how you can improve your voice over technique and achieve a personal best with regard to vocal performance.

Your audience will thank you!

PodCamp London

Yesterday, I presented at PodCamp London and am eager to share the contents of my session with you!

The topic was "Content is King But Voice is Queen".

During my session, those in attendance heard an abbreviated, but substantial, version of what I have blogged about in today's article.

My audience was a group of podcasters, however, I think you'll find a great deal of value in this as voice over professionals or public speakers.

Content is King...

When you're trying to reach an audience, the most important aspect of your presentation is your content.

As a podcaster, you have the responsibility to:

- Research topics
- Create quality content
- Be prepared

...but Voice is Queen

Why would I say that voice is queen? Why not audio production skills or something else?

- Your voice communicates the message
- Makes creative choices when interpreting copy
- Voices connect with people on a deep, human level

These Pipes Were Made for Talkin'

- The human voice has been used for thousands of years to communicate
- It's the most effective way of engaging another person
- When talking, realize that it's not all talk, it's social engagement

Know And Love Your Voice

By now, I'm sure you've realized just how singularly important it is to keep your voice safe, after all, without it, podcasting would be incredibly difficult. How many of you take care of your voice, I mean, really treat it well? Like most things, before you can meet its needs, you need to have a relationship and understanding of how your voice works and how you can protect your asset.

Caring For The Voice

Your voice is so delicate. It's not something you can turn on or off by flicking a switch. It's also not something that you can carry in a bag or download on the Internet. Simply put, your voice is with you at all times and cannot be put on hold or paused whenever it's convenient to do so.

When caring for your voice, you need to be aware of just how sensitive your instrument is and also realize that it is just that, an instrument. Coming from a musical background, I grew up abiding by a number of guidelines set in place to protect my voice. In university, the first week of school, we were handed an extensive package that described in great detail what to avoid doing to save our instruments from harm.

Getting sick aside, any number of external elements could affect the well being of your voice and its performance, including what you eat, drink, breathe in and so on.

Don't Abuse Your Voice

Yelling, screaming, whispering, crying and even talking extensively on the phone can all wear your voice down. You might have been surprised by the telephone citation, but believe me, it's a culprit and is very tiring, drying and can be taxing on your voice.

Some of those things may appear to be obvious to you because they directly involve the use of your voice. Now consider this. Smoking cigarettes, drinking alcoholic or caffeinated beverages, and inhaling second-hand smoke can also injure your voice.

Avoid these at all costs before a recording and stick to water as the beverage of choice.

Also be mindful to not wear perfume or cologne before you warm up your voice and record. If you must wear something, make it a light, neutral scent. Remember, no one can smell you through your podcast.

Be Realistic

Know your range and respect its natural boundaries.

If you know that your vocal range is limited to an octave or so, don't push harder to reach low, growly pitches or strain to speak too high, either. Do not force yourself because you'll not only sound bad but it will also hurt your voice.

Your natural speaking voice sits in your comfort zone, also known as your tessitura. Tessitura is an Italian word that refers to a singer's comfortable range that presents its best sounding texture or timbre.

Bearing this in mind, your voice has limits and you'll need to respect them otherwise you will grow tired quickly and find that your voice is under performing, even in pain.

Protecting Your Voice From Sickness

Protect your voice from environmental factors / sick people!

I went to see my doctor just yesterday for an ear/nose/throat issue and in passing, he mentioned that he has seen more people lately who are sick with a cold than he did throughout the entire winter. For whatever reason, there's something going around, and because of what we know about how important our voice is, we've got to do even more to protect ourselves from getting sick.

Being sick when you record changes the quality of your voice, its range and also may injure you. When you're sick, it's best to let your voice rest and save recording for another day.

Some Tips For Keeping Healthy:

1. Wash your hands thoroughly
2. Make as little contact as possible with those who are sick
3. Take your vitamins, remain hydrated, get lots of sleep and eat healthy foods

Warming Up Your Voice

- Stay hydrated
- Start with gentle warmups like humming
- Engage your articulators and resonators - do tongue twisters

Don't Forget To Breathe!

- Breathing and support is fundamentally important
- Supporting from your diaphragm helps you to project
- Phrase well by speaking on the breath

When we were little babies, breathing was so natural. Over time, you lose your ability to breathe properly and fall into some bad habits. When you are singing, speaking in public or acting, you need access to as much supported breath as possible and that may mean that you need to relearn how to breathe deeply, sustain the breath and use it to buoy your phrases.

For a moment, I want you to stop thinking about everything and concentrate only on breathing. Feel the air as you inhale as it fills your lungs, and gently exhale and release. If you can, please stand for this to get the full effect. Put your hand on your stomach now as you breathe. When you breathe in, your ribcage should expand as your lungs fill with air. When you breathe out, let the air leave you slowly on a hiss.

Panting like a dog can help you to establish proper breathing technique in its earliest stages. Try it. You can't help but inhale and exhale properly when you are panting. Pant quickly at first to get the rhythm and then slow it down so that you can dissect your breathing technique. When you breath in, your stomach should expand. When you breath out, or exhale, your stomach should return to its normal state.

What Did You Say?

Seldom do you misinterpret what a professional actors says or miss words due to poor diction on a CBC radio program, however, when it comes to podcasting, not everyone is a trained professional and aware of how they pronounce words, intone or deliver their speech.

I once had a teacher at my choir school who would ask people to come in literally off the street to see if they could understand what our class was singing. If someone who was hearing the piece for the first time could repeat back exactly what we were singing, we knew that our diction was spot on. If they had difficulty, we had to place more emphasis on spitting our consonants out.

Sometimes it helps to have another person listen to your recordings before you publish them and be that second set of ears for you.

- Be conscious of how you sound
- Watch your diction
- Project your voice and do not mumble

Your Voice Speaks Volumes About You

- Your voice and how you use it defines you
- How you use your voice will directly impact your audience
- People expect to hear quality content and pleasant voices

Podcasting is an audio medium and the most important tool that you have to communicate your message is your voice. If you are recording podcasts for pleasure and are not trying to make a business of it, people will not be as judgmental, however, if the podcast is for a corporation or organization, there is the expectation that the voice over be of professional caliber.

Final Tips:

- Drink lots of water!
- Respect your voice
- Maintain good health
- Speak in your comfort zone
- Prepare for success

Download The Presentation At Slideshare.net

If you'd like to download a PDF copy of my presentation, visit this link:

"Content is King But Voice is Queen" from PodCamp London by Stephanie Ciccarelli

At some point in the near future, the actual recording of the presentation will also be available to enjoy. Thanks to those of you who attended in person and via the web on Saturday streaming live!

Thank you also for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post!

Cheers,

Stephanie

In the near future, many of the voice over industry's brightest minds will gather for an event that is sure to knock your socks off.

Voices.com is pleased to announce that the Voice Coaches Expo, "Technology + You = Opportunity" will take place on Saturday May 2nd in Schenectady, NY at the GE Theater, featuring presenters and experts within the field of voice over and beyond, to name just one, Rodney Saulsberry!

Find out more about this event now.

Technology + You = Opportunity

I'm thrilled to share that David Bourgeois and his team at Voice Coaches have invited Voices.com to speak for the third year running at their annual expo. David Ciccarelli and I, as co-founders of Voices.com, will be presenting on how voice talent can get the absolute most from Voices.com and Internet marketing.

As stated earlier, Rodney Saulsberry, will also return to speak. As Voice Coaches puts it, "For Voice Actors, this is an opportunity to hear from a professional with royalty status in our field." Who'd want to miss that? Rodney will share his experiences, offer his unique brand of motivation, and answer your questions.

We're thrilled to share the stage with fellow presenters including:

๏ Rodney Saulsberry, voice artist, instructor and author of books "You Can Bank on Your Voice" and "Step Up to the Mic"
๏ Mark Magdich from Sweetwater Sound, who will be presenting on how to build a home recording studio, elaborating on software, hardware (and maybe even some insider info on new products!)
๏ Dan Dinsmore, president and creative director of Overit Media, who will discuss the changing face of visual communication and the opportunities it provides for today's voice actors
๏ Dan Bostick, Artistic Director for Full Cast Audio, who regularly produces, casts, and directs audio books with a "full cast" of characters. Dan will talk about the world of audio book voice acting and share information ranging from how voice actors are selected to the skills needed to bring characters to life.

VIP Mixer

The night before (Friday May 1, 2009), there will be a VIP Mixer where participants can join a number of the speakers, experts, and panelists. This social is one of the highlights of the event because you can mingle, have some delicious food and enjoy the company of those around you.

Voice Coaches President David Bourgeois will give the welcome address and Voice Coaches Marketing Expert Jay Silverman will set the stage for the expo prior to the first guest presentation of the day.

The Expert Panel this year includes:

๏ Rodney Saulsberry: One of the most successful professional Voice Actors in our field
๏ Evan Farmer: Host of TV's "While You Were Out," numerous film, television and voice roles
๏ Billy Serow: Top industry agent from Abrams Artists Agency in NYC
๏ Dave Goldberg: Voice over producer and trainer - Disney, Nickelodeon, HBO
๏ Stephanie Ciccarelli: Co-founder of Voices.com
๏ David Bourgeois: Voice Coaches President, Professional Producer
๏ Jenny Marcotte: Studio Manager for Voice Coaches and White Lake Music & Post, Jenny is regularly involved in hiring and casting Voice Actors

Additional special guests will be announced and on hand throughout the event.

Want to learn more?

Visit http://www.voicecoaches.com/marketing for more information about the event and learn more about the individual presenters and presentations.

Should you want to speak with someone about the expo, you can contact Kristen or Jenny at Voice Coaches for additional information or to enroll by dialing 1-866-887-2834 Extension 100.

Alternatively, if you want to attend and prefer communicating electronically, send an email to scheduling@voicecoaches.com with the subject line "Reserve My Space." Kristen or Jenny will return a call to you at your convenience to finalize your registration.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Do You Know Who Has Had a Stroke or Has Parkinson's Disease?

In Dr. Arlene Barr's lecture, she discussed how neurological diseases are related to voice disorders, featuring Stroke and Parkinson's Disease, among others.

Learn more about how neurological disorders affect speech at VOX Daily.

Diseases Associated with Voice Disorders

๏ Stroke
๏ Parkinson's Disease
๏ Essential Tremor
๏ Spasmodic Dysphonia
๏ Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
๏ Myasthenia Gravis

We'll be focusing on Stroke and Parkinson's Disease in this article.

Stroke

๏ After a stroke the can be cortical impairment of comprehension (receptive aphasia) and articulation (expressive aphasia).
๏ Production of sound can be affected by impairment of subcortical structures that are coordinated by the cortex. These structures include:
- brainstem structures
- the phrenic nerve which innervates the diaphragm
๏ Cortex - left: production of speech, right: prosody (inflection, intonation, and timing)
๏ Corticobulbar tracts: communication between the cortex and brainstem
๏ Cerebellum and basal ganglia - modulate motor control of speech

Components of Voice Production and Their Roles

See if you can connect the dots! CN is for "central nerve".

Component: Diaphragm, lungs
Nerves: Phrenic (C 3-5)
Role: Source Generation

Component: Vocal Folds
Nerves: CN: X
Role: Pitch, phonation

Component: Supraglottis, pharynx, oral and nasal cavities
Nerves: CN: VII, X
Role: Shape, resonance

Component: Lips, cheeks, mandible (jaw), tongue
Nerves: V, VII, XII
Role: Articulation

When you think about it, there's a lot that goes into speech production and phonation, and you can see from the information above just how complex voice production is.

Impact on Stroke on Speech

๏ Vascular disease of either the cortex or brainstem can have a direct effect on speech
๏ Indirect complications of stroke include: intubation, ventilation, aspiration risk, nasogastric nutrition, pneumonia, and medication side effects

Treatment of Speech Disorders Associated with Stroke

๏ Rehabilitation is handled by the speech pathologist
๏ Laryngeal paralysis or vocal fold paralysis due to a CNS lesion can require surgical intervention

Let's take a look now at how Dr. Barr explains Parkinson's Disease and its affects on the voice.

Parkinson's Disease

๏ A progressive disorder of the substantia nigra in the brainstem
๏ Typical symptoms include: pill-rolling tremor, rigidity, shuffling gait, poor balance, stooped posture, slowness of movement (bradykinesia)
๏ Approximately 70% - 80% have speech problems
๏ Greater than 30% find the speech problems very disabling

Speech Manifestations in Parkinson's Disease

๏ Related to bradykinesia
๏ Soft, breathy, monotone voice, can have a tremor or stuttering-like quality
๏ Poor articulation, difficulty in initiating speech
๏ Vocal fold adduction is weak
๏ Vocal folds appear thin and bowed due to vocalis muscle atrophy
๏ Articulation is sluggish
๏ Voice is strained and can sound like spasmodic dysphonia

Treatment of Speech Disorders in Parkinson's Disease

๏ Dopaminergic medications
๏ Speech therapy
๏ Injection laryngoplasty
๏ Botulinum toxin (Botox) injection of laryngeal muscles in patients with hyperkinetic dysphonia (vocal rigidity predominates over hypokinesia)

About Arlene Barr, MD

Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology
University of Illinois at Chicago
Department of Neurology

Dr. Barr is a part-time Associate Professor in Clinical Neurology at the University of Illinois at Chicago since her retirement in 2004. She specializes in electromyography, peripheral neuropathy, and movement disorders. Throughout her career at UIC, she has held various academic positions, which included Director of Electrodiagnostic Laboratory from 1991-2004 and Co-Director of Clinical Neurophysiology Fellowship, Department of Neurology from 1994-2004. Also, she has been named one of America's Best Doctors in 2006 and 2007.

Any comments?

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Doc, I've Got Sinus!

Learn all about:

๏ How allergies develop
๏ Treatment options

Dr. Stephanie Joe gives us the rundown on runny noses in this excerpt from her presentation at the Midwest Voice Conference in Chicago.

What's Rhinology?

๏ The study of the function and physiology of:
- the nose
- nasal cavities
- paranasal sinuses
๏ And its diseases

What Does Your Nose Do?

Your nose:

๏ Regulates temperature
๏ Is a humidifier
๏ Filters and removes particulate matter
๏ Provides defense against infections

Nasal Problems Affect the Voice

As voice actors and professional voice users, you know that the ears, nose and throat are all connected, and when one suffers, it takes a toll on the entire system. When your nose is battling an infection, the following symptoms present themselves:

๏ Hoarseness
๏ Throat clearing
๏ Thick drainage
๏ "Nasal Voice"
๏ Poor resonance
๏ Poor lung function

Who Here Hasn't Had a Cold? Silence.... That's What I thought!

Colds are annoying and oftentimes they manifest themselves through:

๏ Runny nose
๏ Stuffy nose
๏ Congestion
๏ Sore throat
๏ Fevers
๏ Body aches

You Can Treat Colds By:

๏ Having proper hygiene
๏ Drinking plenty of fluids
๏ Getting plenty of rest
๏ Consuming some Chicken Soup (there's actually science that says it works!)
๏ Expect recovery to take 7-10 days

Doc, I Got Sinus!

Sometimes when people think they have sinus issues, what they really have is Rhinitis.

๏ Inflammation and/or irritation of the nasal passages
๏ May or may not involve the sinuses
๏ Sinusitis - refers to inflammation of the sinus cavities

When Is It an Allergy?

You could be suffering from an allergy when any or all of the following are present:

๏ Watery, itchy eyes
๏ Sneezing
๏ Runny, itchy nose
๏ Ears, throat itch
๏ Dark circles under the eyes

It's Definitely an Allergy When:

๏ Symptoms stop when there is no contact with irritant
๏ No fevers or aches
๏ If it's seasonal
๏ There are no other sick family members

What Causes Allergic Rhinitis?

๏ Trees
๏ Grasses
๏ Weeds
๏ Pollen
๏ Dust
๏ Molds
๏ Cats, Dogs
๏ Feathers

These triggers can be single or multiple.

Treatments

Dr. Joe recommends the following when treating your allergies:

๏ Avoidance
๏ Environmental changes
๏ Medications
๏ Immunotherapy

Avoidance:

๏ Stay away from the irritant (allergen)!
๏ Spring - trees
๏ Summer - grasses
๏ Fall - weeds
๏ Winter - dust, molds

14 Tips for Avoidance and Environment:

๏ Keep windows and doors closed during season
๏ Stay indoors
๏ Wear a pollen mask when gardening or housecleaning
๏ High efficiency vacuum
๏ Remove upholstery, carpeting, drapery
๏ Electrostatic filters, change / clean monthly, air purifier, HEPA units
๏ Wrap mattress and box springs in hypoallergenic coverings
๏ Wash bed linens in hot water every two weeks
๏ Change from feather and wool to cotton or synthetics
๏ Low humidity
๏ Clean sources of mildew, like your fridge, remove indoor plants
๏ Ventilate damp areas such as the bathroom and laundry
๏ No dander producing animals (cats, dogs)
๏ No smoking

Have Questions about Allergies, Allergy Testing or Immunotherapy?

Contact your doctor for more information or consult a voice clinic such as the Chicago Institute for Voice Care.

About Stephanie Joe, MD

Assistant Professor
Director, Sinus & Nasal Allergy Center
University of Illinois at Chicago

Dr. Joe is an Otolaryngologist certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology, sub-specializing in rhinology, sinus surgery, and nasal surgery. She is trained in treating a variety of nasal and sinus problems. Her expertise is in the minimally invasive surgical treatment of nasal and sinus problems.

Any Comments?

I'd love to hear from you!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Ever heard of Pharyngeal Voice?

Some people debate its very existence while others study it and credit the singing style for their success.

Find out more about this centuries old method through this mind-bending lecture presented by Randy Buescher, of Your True Voice, and Dr. H. Steven Sims, Director of the Chicago Institute for Voice Care.

Historical Background of Pharyngeal Voice

๏ Pharyngeal Voice was discovered some 350 years ago as it was used by church tenors throughout Italy
๏ It was known as "Voce faringea"
๏ E. Herbert-Caesari wrote about it with a degree of ambivalence

Is There Such a Thing as Pharyngeal Voice?

Although E. Herbert-Caesari identified pharyngeal voice in his writings for The Musical Times in 1950, he was quick to also say that there was no such thing as "pharyngeal" voice, stating that the term evolved merely to describe the peculiar tonal quality produced.

E. Herbert-Caesari recognized that there are 3 distinct vocal mechanisms:

๏ Falsetto
๏ Pharyngeal
๏ Chest

"All tenors, some light baritones, and all female voices (have) a pharyngeal mechanism whether they know it or not". - E. Herbert-Caesari

How Does Pharyngeal Voice Work?

๏ Herbert-Caesari indicates that the "Singer can engage the mechanism separately or in combination with (the) other two mechanisms"
๏ He also said, perhaps controversially "The falsetto by itself is an anemic, stupid tone, mixed however with good percentages of pharyngeal it becomes a living entity"
๏ The use of the pharyngeal mechanism can be trained AND can eliminate the fear of high notes

Wait, What Does this Have to Do With Voice Overs?

Although this seems like it is only applicable to singers, Dr. Sims suggested that voice actors, by virtue of their wide array of vocal projects and versatility, are likely using the Pharyngeal voice without being consciously aware that they are doing so.

He also said that he hopes to explore this idea further in the coming year and may present on the topic at next year's conference.

What Do You Think of this "Pharyngeal Voice" So Far?

By some accounts, we've opened a can of worms and I can understand if it seems a bit strange to you.

If I hadn't heard it for myself, I'd have questions about it too, however, for our part, there was a demonstration later in the afternoon with a young soprano who has been coached using the pharyngeal voice and it was astounding to hear the steadiness, power and focus in her voice, with her head and chest voice connected seamlessly.

The male voice works this way already and the female voice, using this method, could also be trained to have a fully connected head and chest voice.

I wasn't trained using this technique but with Bel Canto, the standard technique in conservatories and universities that has been used for hundreds of years to train singers of opera, art song, musical theater and those who want to engage in beautiful singing in general.

To go from what I knew to hearing what I heard took me aback and was puzzling as I tried to wrap my head around the concept and the sheer power of the sound at all times on any pitch. It's like turning the fire hose on full blast.

But Is It a True Vocal Mechanism?

As with anything new, or in this case, what's old is new again, you need to ask questions to fully understand what it is and to justify the use of Pharyngeal voice and be aware of any harm it could do to the voice.

How Does It Work?

Without going into too much detail and medical terminology, there are certain muscles that play a role in speech that act together to create the pharyngeal sound.

How Does It Sound?

When warming up the voice, the soprano from the workshop was asked to make an "ugly" nasal sound, kind of like how a witch would cackle.

After someone has been trained using this approach, their ability to produce consistently powerful sound is incredible and sounds very "commercial" or "marketable" leaving many to question how they can maintain the intensity and still have a brilliant, resonant tone. Randy Buescher teaches this approach exclusively at Your True Voice.

The one thing that people using this approach need to be wary of is that they don't sound twangy or too nasal.

The tone that is produced works well for people singing Pop, Gospel, Country, Blues, R&B, Musical Theater and would definitely blow the doors off the Karaoke Bar.

Benefits of Using the Pharyngeal Voice

People who use this approach have noted:

๏ The use of pharyngeal mechanisms allowed them to sing higher
๏ Less self-reported vocal fatigue
๏ Less self-reported neck soreness after singing
๏ Must take care to prevent "twangy" sound

About Randy Buescher, MS

Voice Coach
Director, Your True Voice Studio

Randy Buescher has a degree in music from DePaul University along with a B.A. in Communications, and is degreed in Speech Language Pathology. He strictly teaches the Your True Voice Singing Technique. It is a systematic approach to bridge together all the registers of the voice. As a former certified Speech Level Singing teacher he was extensively trained in that approach.

About H. Steven Sims, MD

Assistant Professor
Director, Chicago Institute for Voice Care
University of Illinois at Chicago

Dr. Sims is an Otolaryngologist certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology, sub-specializing in professional voice care. As the Director of the Chicago Institute for Voice Care at the University of Illinois at Chicago he provides treatment for the care of the voice and airway disorders. From vocal fatigue to reflux disease the institute treats a range of disorders that affect the voice, including paralyzed vocal folds, chronic hoarseness, Spasmodic Dysphonia and chronic throat irritation. An accomplished musician and singer, Dr. Sims is dedicated to providing education to professional voice users to help them avoid voice injury.

Any Comments on the Pharyngeal Voice? Have You Ever Tried It?

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Mark Strozier

Does Girth Have Anything to Do With Your Voice?

Just because there are many portly singers doesn't necessarily mean that you need to be fat to be good.

In this lecture, we'll take a look at:

๏ The state of American obesity
๏ How obesity affects the voice
๏ Treatment options

Find out this and more, all courtesy of Dr. Carlos Galvani, here at VOX Daily.

Just How Fat is the USA?

While sitting through this lecture, Dr. Galvani presented some startling facts about just how fat the US is becoming, and the numbers will shock you.

Here are some National Statistics on Obesity:

๏ Obesity has dramatically increased in the last 30 years, affecting 33% of the adult population in the United States. Obesity has increased in every state and both sexes, across all age groups, races and educational levels.
๏ Presently, the lifetime risk of being overweight exceeds 70%.

We looked at a number of charts that tracked the levels of obesity over the years and the increase was unbelievable.

The Prevalence of Obesity Among US Adults in 2007:

15% - 19% of people were obese in one state
20% - 24% of people were obese in 20 states
25% - 29% of people were obese in 27 states
>30% of people were obese in 3 states

Zeroing In on Illinois

๏ Ranked 25th heaviest state
๏ Adult obesity 23.9% (national goal 15%)
- Diabetes 7.1%
- Hypertension 24.8%
๏ IL is one of 31 states whose obesity rates rose in 2006
๏ IL obesity attributable medical expense in 2003: $3.439 Billion (ranks 6th nationally)

Obesity is the result of a combination of influences:

๏ Genes inherited from parents
๏ Surroundings
๏ Psychological factors
๏ Modern lifestyle

Dr. Galvani made the reference that we're a "Modern Society with Stone Age Genes". Not much has changed in our bodies over thousands of years, however, our eating habits, lifestyles and environments have changed significantly.

How Does Obesity Affect Your Voice?

The following diseases are related to obesity. Those diseases also affect the voice to varying degrees.

๏ GERD / LPRD
๏ Cancer
๏ Asthma
๏ NIDDM
๏ Obesity Hypoventilation syndrome

In particular pertaining to the voice, Extra-esophageal manifestations of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in obesity include symptoms of:

๏ Laryngitis (laryngopharyngeal reflux LPR)
- 50% - 60% of chronic laryngitis
๏ Asthma
- GERD is present in 50% - 80% of asthmatic patients

- Cough
- Chest pain
- Dental erosions

Why Breathing is Important

It goes without saying (and we won't get too technical here) that obesity affects breathing, and as we all know, breathing is important. Obesity also is a cause of sleep apnea syndrome, cardiac disease, diabetes, asthma and other ailments.

As a voice actor you rely on your capacity to breathe properly in order to get enough airflow to project your voice, maintain your support and complete a phrase.

Obesity Affects Breathing, Especially for Asthmatics

I have some information to share about subjective and objective evaluation of voice quality in patients with asthma:

๏ Adequate airflow during expiration is a prerequisite for the effective vibration of vocal folds during the generation of voice:

- in patients with asthma, obstruction and resistance, which are most pronounced during expiration, result in impairment in the generation of the voice
- Allergy and nasal polyposis, in patients with asthma affect the vocal performance
- Bronchodilators and steroids have been reported to be associated with voice changes

Does Weight Affect Your Voice?

Remember that rather rotund picture of the late opera singer Luciano Pavarotti in the opening of this article?

Pavarotti used to say that he loved tasty food and good wine. He considered his size as part of his identity and one of the reasons for his success, however, whether or not his size was the source of his beautiful voice is another debate altogether.

Take a look at this picture of Luciano Pavarotti when he was 33 years old and considerably less obese if overweight at all. Was his distinctive sound very different then as compared to the tenor voice he had in his middle age and later in life?

Voices age but they do carry certain characteristics with them over the years so it would make sense that the sound he was known for (and that made him famous) was the same robustness back then changed slightly by his weight gain later on.

Vocalist Who Took Operative Measures To Save Her Career

Dr. Galvani spoke about opera singer Deborah Voigt for a little while.

In 2005, Voigt was dismissed from a production for being overweight and has since had surgery to reduce her size, opting to undergo Gastric-Bypass Surgery, losing 135 lbs.

The reason for her dismissal?

The people running the production at London's Royal Opera House said that Voigt would not suit her costume (she would not fit into Ariadne's little black dress, according to sources).

Losing her role in Ariadne auf Naxos was the final straw for her I would imagine. Losing the weight it seems got her back in the production for the 2008-2009 season with her performance reported as:

“Soprano Deborah Voigt finds that less is more at the opera house.” ~ From the "A Shadow of Herself" interview on New City Chicago

Has Her Voice Changed Since the Weight Loss?

There is a difference between what she sounded like and then and how she sounds now if you listen closely to her range and tone quality.

Is it any better? Any worse? That's up to you to figure out, but the fact of the matter is, weight gain or loss does have an affect on the voice.

Opera singer Maria Callas is another singer who lost a significant amount of weight near the end of her career. She tried to carry on the way she had sung before at a fraction of her original weight and the damage done was irreparable.

Another example of a popular singer who is still with us who has also experienced a major shift in weight is singer Aretha Franklin.

Her slender figure in the days of Motown has been replaced with a larger, more obese figure that gives her cause to stop for breath more often which has surely affected her voice, vocal abilities and tone quality as Dr. Sims had politely pointed out.

Conclusion

There's a lot to think about here, isn't there?

Dr. Galvani closed with the following statement:

"Finally, no man should ever attempt to adopt the rotund figure of Luciano Pavarotti unless he thinks he can sing as well as Pavarotti."

About Carlos Galvani, MD

Assistant Professor of Surgery
Bariatric Surgery
University of Illinois at Chicago

Dr. Galvani is an Assistant Professor of Surgery, whose specialties include Bariatric Surgery (Lap band, Sleeve gastrectomy), minimally invasive and robotic surgery, surgery of the gastrointestinal tract, surgery for Gastroparesis (ENTERRA), robotic-assisted esophageal surgery for benign and malignant diseases of the esophagus, and robotic-assisted living donor nephrectomy.

Any Comments? Do you find that this is the same with voice when used for speaking and voice overs?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

What is GERD?

According to the American College of Gastroenterology, GERD is defined as:

"Chronic symptoms or mucosal damage produced by the abnormal reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus."

Do you have acid reflux?

If so, this lecture presented by Dr. Jay L. Goldstein will teach you the basic principals of gastroesophageal reflux (GERD), help you to understand how reflux can get to and affect the vocal folds, and learn about treatment options.

GERD is not fun, particularly if you rely on your voice to make a living.

Symptoms associated with GERD include:

๏ Heartburn
๏ Typical symptoms other than heartburn:
- Regurgitation
- Dysphagia
๏ Atypical Symptoms

Atypical Symptoms of GERD

๏ Throat clearing
๏ Globus
๏ Laryngospasm
๏ Dental eroison
๏ Chest pain
๏ Hoarseness
๏ Chronic cough
๏ Sore throat
๏ Wheezing

Without going into too much detail as to the scientific explanation and how GERD happens, it's basically triggered by acid-peptic attacks that weakens cells leading to a widening of gaps between the cells allowing acid to penetrate.

Penetration of acid and pepsin allows for acid to make contact with the nerve, and as a result, disrupts intracellular mechanisms leading to cell rupture -- reflux!

(Explanation paraphrased as explained on a diagram from Orlando. Am J Gastroenterol 1996)

Let's take a look at some dietary factors that may aggravate GERD symptoms.

Dr. Goldstein suggested the following as potential aggravators:

๏ Caffeinated products
๏ Peppermint
๏ Fatty foods
๏ Chocolate
๏ Spicy foods
๏ Citrus fruits and juices
๏ Tomato-based products
๏ Alcohol

Food is one factor in that may aggravate GERD, but certain medications may also play a part in aggravating GERD symptoms by impairing LES function and medications that may aggravate GERD symptoms by damaging the esophageal mucosa.

It's All About Acid!

Management of Non-erosive Reflux Disease

GERD strikes most people at night time when going to sleep, but it is also prevalent throughout the day at meal times, running on a 24 hour cycle, usually becoming more severe with each meal, and the dinner hour being the most disruptive for GERD symptoms.

You can manage non-erosive GERD by taking charge and making some lifestyle changes such as:

๏ Raise the head of the bed, or lie on left side
๏ Decrease fat intake
๏ Avoid certain foods
๏ Avoid lying down for 3 hours after eating
๏ Stop smoking
๏ Lose weight if appropriate

There are several different types of reflux disease (non-erosive, erosive, complicated, and refractory), and to learn more, I recommend you consult your doctor should these be areas of concern for you.

About Jay L. Goldstein, MD

Professor of Medicine
Vice Head for Clinical Affairs
University of Illinois at Chicago

Dr. Jay L. Goldstein is a gastroenterologist at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago. After completing his fellowship in gastroenterology, he joined the faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1984, where he is currently Professor of Medicine and Vice Head for Clinical Affairs. Dr. Goldstein is a Fellow in the American College of Physicians (FACP), American College of Gastroenterology (FACG) and the American Gastroenterological Association (AGAF).

Any comments, tips or thoughts you'd like to share?

Looking forward to hear about any methods you've found to alleviate GERD to help you with your voice over performance.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Have you ever suffered a vocal injury?

For those of you who have you know the long road to vocal recovery that presents special challenges and demands.

Read some pearls of wisdom from Karen Wicklund, MD, as she shares some tips on how to help recover from a voice injury like surgery, nodules or a vocal hemorrhage and also how to take it easy while exercising your voice to return to full strength.

Preface

I am only sharing a few points from this lecture as Dr. Wicklund has a book about to go to press in September 2009, "Singing Voice Rehabilitation: A Guide for the Voice Teacher and SLP", and the information she lectured on is part of that endeavor. This will be a short overview as it pertains to voice actors and performers of voice over.

The Role of the Voice Teacher in Voice Rehabilitation

When a voice teacher encounters a vocal injury in a singer, they are often the best people to help rehabilitate that person as they knew the voice pre-injury and already have an established relationship and history with the student.

Should a voice teacher not feel that they are qualified to treat the vocal injury, referrals to a professional who specializes in treating vocal injuries and disorders is a standard practice so that the student's voice can be rehabilitated properly.

3 Kinds of Vocal Disorders

There are 3 types of voice disorders:

๏ Organic
๏ Neurogenic
๏ Functional, further divided into (a) hyperfunction, (b) hypofunction

What Should Be Considered When Evaluating the Injured Voice?

Dr. Wicklund refers to this as PIRDQ:

๏ Pitch
๏ Intensity
๏ Resonance
๏ Duration
๏ Quality

Vocal Recovery Schedule

With some exceptions, therapy can begin almost immediately, however, teachers or therapists (also the person being treated) should be prepared to expect and accept a less-than-beautiful tone at first during early stages of treatment.

Therapeutic Exercises

The speaker or singer should keep exercises smooth and within a comfortable middle range, making incremental range increases by step rather than by leap.

For voice actors, this means that when you are recovering, fluctuate your voice with less range (keep in the mid range of your voice) and build upon your strengths little by little. In music, we refer to these small steps as semi-tones or whole tones.

When doing therapeutic exercises, you'll need to keep your voice moving in a comfortable range (tessitura for singers). You don't want to be leaping all around. The leaps Dr. Wicklund is referring to are pitches greater than a Perfect Fifth (P5), which for you, could mean the difference between how your voice changes or ascends when asking a question, emphasizing an exclamation point or noticeably jumping up or dropping down in pitch suddenly.

Good News

As voice actors and professional voice users, you are highly motivated to get your voice back to where you want it to be, thus being able to discipline yourself and not jeopardize your recovery by going to far or to fast.

From what I've learned, should find yourself in a state of vocal injury, the best thing to do is to seek professional help from an ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat Specialist). You may need a referral from your doctor to see an ENT to begin therapy for your vocal injury.

About Dr. Karen Wicklund, MD, MHS, CF-SLP

Associate Professor of Voice and Musical Theater Voice
Western Michigan University

Dr. Wicklund is the Director of the Chicago Center for Professional Voice, which provides a wellness site, http://www.singershealth.com, rehabilitation, and referrals for medical services for singers and other professional voice users. She is also Clinical Faculty Specialist at the Van Riper Clinic where she is a speech-language pathologist.

Have you Ever Had or Treated a Vocal Injury? Any Comments?

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Last weekend, I had the privilege of attending the Midwest Voice Conference on August 9, at the University of Illinois at Chicago, an event sponsored in part by Voices.com.

Prepare to be educated en mass! I'll be covering two lectures each day in this week dedicated to protecting your asset, in other words, your voice.

Midwest Voice Conference : Protecting Your Asset

As a delegate at the conference who represented the voice over industry, I'm excited to relay that the Midwest Voice Conference offered a wealth of information that I can share with you about taking care of your voice and the assessment and treatment of common disorders that may affect the voice, presenting articles centering in on areas of interest pertaining to voice actors and voice acting.

In the coming days you can look forward to:

๏ Current Methods in Singing Voice Rehabilitation
๏ Diagnostic Evaluation and Medical Treatment of Adult Patients with GERD
๏ Do Singers Have to Be Fat?
๏ Pharyngeal Voice: Description and Application to Pop Music Styles
๏ Rhinology and the Voice
๏ Neurological Diseases Associated with Voice Disorders
๏ Finding your Authentic Singing Voice
๏ Common Voice Disorders and Preventative Care

At first glance, it may look like this conference was meant only for singers... not at all, I assure you!

Coming from a musical background (I have my Bachelor of Musical Arts, Instrument Voice), this conference was helpful for anyone who uses their voice professionally or teaches others how to use and care for their voice for singing, speaking, speech therapy, voice over, and professional coaching.

Earlier in this article, I mentioned that I'd be writing from a voice acting perspective, so even if you're still not convinced that the above topics affect you and your voice over career, I hope to show you how each of these lectures offers valuable information and understanding that you can apply to your voice and its professional use.

Gratitude

Before we start the coverage, I would like to thank many people who made my day at the conference particularly memorable and enjoyable:

Thank you especially to Dr. H Steven Sims, Colleen Kenost, Adello Purnell, Janet Hotch, Simon Kaulius and Janine Sacco.

Our first and second articles following this introduction are right around the bend. I hope you find these insights helpful and perhaps life-changing.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/U.P.images

A couple of weeks ago, you may remember that I wrote an article about the Midwest Voice Conference, but what I didn't say at the time is that I will also be there!

In this article, I've detailed the conference program so that you have a chance to learn more about what you can expect from this one-day event on Saturday August 9, 2008 in Chicago.

Will you be coming?

Let me know by adding a comment so that we can meet up :)

Conference Program

8:00 am Coffee, Continental Breakfast, On-Site Registration

8:30 am Introduction and Welcome by Dr. Steven Sims

8:45 am “Current Methods in Singing Voice Rehabilitation” by Karen Wicklund, DM, MHS CF-SLP, Chicago Center for Professional Voice, Associate Professor of Voice and Musical Theater Voice at Western Michigan University

9:15am “Reflux Disease: A Prospective from ‘Below’ the UES” by Jay Goldstein, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago, Vice Head for Clinical Affairs, Department of Medicine

9:45 am Presentation on Obesity by Carlos Galvani, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago, Associate Professor of Surgery, Bariatric Surgery

10:15 am Break

10:30 am Presentation on Voice Training by Randy Buescher, Your True Voice Studios, Vocal Therapist

11:00 am Presentation on Allergies and Sinus Disease by Stephanie Joe, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago, Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology

11:30 am Presentation on Neurological Diseases (Parkinson’s Disease, Stroke, ALS, & Spasmodic Dysphonia) by Arlene Barr, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago, Associate Professor of Neurology

12:00 pm "Finding Your Authentic Singing Voice," by Lyndia Johnson, Executive Director/Voice Coach, Sterling Voice Coaching, Ltd.

12:30 pm Lunch

1:30 pm Presentation by Steven Sims, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago Institute for Voice Care, Director

2:00 pm Hands-On Workshops

3:45 pm Wrap-Up/Conclusion

Conference Objectives

Principles of Speaking Voice Restorative Therapy

๏ Learn basic principals of abdominal breathing to support voice production
๏ Understand the role of head resonance in amplifying voice and reducing the work of speaking
๏ Learn about the role of voice/ rest/conservation of the voice/general voice care: vocal hygiene guidelines

Common Medical Diagnoses that affect the Voice: Allergies, Post-Nasal Drip, LPR, Hormone Related, Colds

๏ Learn about how allergies create drainage that irritates the vocal folds
๏ Learn how acid reflux is more than heartburn and can harm the vocal folds
๏ Learn about how estrogen, progesterone and testosterone affect the voice and how disorders with the hormones produce voice changes
๏ Learn how to support your immune system and fight a cold

People who would benefit from this conference include:

๏ Actors
๏ Singers
๏ Radio hosts
๏ Clergy
๏ Telemarketers
๏ Politicians
๏ Teachers
๏ Lawyers
๏ Coaches
๏ Aerobics Instructors
๏ Receptionists
๏ Sales People
๏ Homemakers
๏ Brokers

The fee to attend is $35.

Conference Date, Time and Location:

Saturday August 9, 2008
8am - 4pm

UIC College of Medicine
Research Building
@ Moss Auditorium
909 S. Wolcott St.
Chicago, IL 60612

Click here to fill out the form to register.

Hope to see you there!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Mark Strozier

Voices.com is pleased to provide promotional sponsorship for the Second Annual Midwest Voice Conference in Chicago, IL on Saturday, August 9, 2008 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

If you use your voice to earn a living, make your way to this very informative, enlightening and practical conference in Chicago!

On August 9, The 2008 Midwest Voice Conference will be a one-day workshop discussing the effects of common disorders, such as obesity, reflux disease, neurological diseases, and allergies on the voice.

Hear World Renowned Faculty Explain:

๏ How the Voice Works
๏ Diagnosis of Voice Disorders
๏ Tools to Protect Your Voice
๏ Common Medical Conditions Affecting the Voice
- Reflux Disease/ GERD
- Allergies & Sinus Disease
- Stroke, Parkinson's Disease, ALS & Spasmodic Dysphonia
- Obesity
๏ Hands-on Workshops and Demonstrations

Speakers include:

๏ H. Steven Sims, MD
๏ Stephanie Joe, MD
๏ Carlos Galvani, MD
๏ Jay Goldstein, MD
๏ Karen Wicklund, DM, MHS, CF-SLP
๏ Arlene Barr, MD
๏ Lyndia Johnson
๏ Randy Buescher

As a voice actor, this conference will give you a different perspective on how to use and take care of your instrument (your instrument being your voice, of course!).

People who would also benefit from the conference are actors, singers, radio hosts, teachers and anyone who uses their voice to make a living.

The fee to attend is $35.

Conference Date, Time and Location:

Saturday August 9, 2008
8am - 4pm

UIC College of Medicine
Research Building
@ Moss Auditorium
909 S. Wolcott St.
Chicago, IL 60612

To register or for more information contact Colleen at ckenost@uic.edu

Will you be in attendance?

Best wishes,

Stephanie

At the end of the day, we were treated to an expert panel Q&A session featuring Rodney Saulsberry, Billy Serow, Evan Farmer, Heather Frenz, David Ciccarelli, Dan Dinsmore, Jay Silverman, Jenny Marcotte, and David Bourgeois.

Get some fabulous insight and then some here on VOX Daily.

Rodney Saulsberry, Voice Actor, Author and Voice Over Coach

Q: What kind of steps did you take as a fledgling artist?

A: I saturated the market and made a lot cold calls, if you want the top guy or girl, call late close to 5 or 6. You need to know the name of the person you’re calling so do your homework. Get their name right. Know who you’re calling and be fast on your feet.

Jay Silverman, Voice Coaches Instructor

Q: Should I put non-paying vo jobs on my resume?

A: Absolutely, pro bono (no pay) is a good way to get your feet wet, but you can start practicing voice overs over the air to the blind and visually handicapped. Organizations that offer these opportunities exist everywhere.

When you go to do a pro bono piece, make sure that you get a CD of what you have done so that you can put the recorded material on your demo. Pro bono work shows professional growth and you certainly should include it in your letter. It's a great way to get started and build your reputation.

David Ciccarelli, CEO of Voices.com

Q: Should I join as many marketing sites as I can?

A: Just as Rodney said, saturate the market and get your name everywhere you can. Get on social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn.

Before you sign up with any sites that require you to pay a membership fee, make a call to their office to speak with them to see if their service is a good fit for you. Be sure to note the quality of their customer service. Compare competing sites and get comfortable with a service before making a financial commitment. Look for testimonials, read up on the company's latest news and ask colleagues about their experiences.

Dan Dinsmore, CEO Overit Media

Q: How long does it take to get visual branding done?

A: The process varies and is dependent on the interaction between the designer and voice over artist. On average it takes about 2 weeks to get a brand together and fulfillment.

Billy Serow, Abrams Artists Agency

Q: Should people who are in the union go non-union to get work?

A: If a member of the union who declares themselves Financial Core, they lose the right to vote (among other privileges), however, with Fi-Core status you can audition and procure both union work and non-union work.

The stigma attached years ago to the status of Financial Core and prejudice against talent who were Fi-Core is not as great as it once was. Tough times call for greater understanding of the choices voice actors are making to go Fi-Core.

David Bourgeois, President of Voice Coaches

Q: How do you feel about the unions?

A: We support the union but understand that many of you are in smaller markets will not become members of the union. For more info on AFTRA, check out the literature at the back of the conference workbook.

Heather Frenz, NY Voice Actress

Q: Can women who have families make a successful living working in voice overs?

A: Women with families can make time for voice over and it is a good career if you can make it work for you. I have a family myself. Oftentimes there is little amount of work for big return.

Evan Farmer, Television Actor and Voice Actor

Q: How do you get work?

A: When you are looking for work, you've got to be in the hunger category; I would pursue all the jobs I could and my entire approach to the entertainment industry was to get work. I came to New York City to get work, and I found myself doing everything that presented itself to achieve my goals. One of my first character voice acting gigs was voice acting on the MTV program “Daria”. I joke that I booked my first job in a towel because I got the call about it fresh out of the shower.

You need to approach everything with the purpose of getting work, a hint of desperation, and a little more enthusiasm than the next person. You can get out there and get work if you are more prepared and more motivated to get the work than your competition.

Jenny Marcotte, Voice Coaches

Q: Are talent given the opportunity to pick a time slot when they have a session?

A: Sometimes flexible we're flexible and can work around someone's schedule but if we need you in for a session immediately or have booked all other time slots, it's important that a talent respect the schedule and take the session that is available.

Rodney Saulsberry

Q: Were there days that you wanted to pack it in? How did you react?

A: There are days when we all experience those kind of days, but I have faith. If you have a lot of auditions you don’t worry about any specific one. Once I was out golfing with Denzel Washington and one of his friends. We had lunch, and when the whole thing was over, Denzel said to his friend, "He sounds just like Pick (James Pickens Jr, actor on Grey's Anatomy), doesn’t he?" to which his friend replied "Yes he does."

Later on I had an audition for Grey's Anatomy. When auditioning for this role, I wanted so badly to tell them that "Denzel thinks…" but I made the decision to make it on my own merit. As I was waiting for my turn, I was told “If they’re looking for somebody to act it, you’re probably going to get it”. I got a call saying "The people at Grey’s Anatomy want to know what your availability is for a given day."

You've got to take every opportunity that comes your way. I'm encouraging you to join Voices.com, get auditions and get out there.

Jay Silverman

Q: Is there such a thing as overdoing follow up calls?

A: It’s funny, Heather and I were talking about this and she believes in every 6 weeks to follow up, I believe that you should follow up every 3 weeks. If you pick a time frame between 3-6 weeks, you’ll be in the right ballpark. Be assertive and don’t be obnoxious. Say what your business is and what you want to do, express interest, and always leave a phone number.

David Bourgeois

Q: Who gets the gig?

A: Sometimes it is the easiest person to go to who is hired. Not every demo is listened to even though it would be great to be able to sit in a soundproof room and listen to everything. Remember that the most difficult job to get is the first one.

It takes 60-70 percent more effort to get an initial job with a new client than more work from someone you’ve already done business with. Always be looking for the next work opportunity in an established relationship.

Jay Silverman

Q: Can you just stop in anytime to follow up or say Hi?

A: Remember that people are in business and make appointments out of courtesy for those whose work you are disrupting. By making an appointment, you're showing consideration for both your time and the client's, and they'll appreciate that greatly.

Dan Dinsmore

Q: How important is branding for voice actors? Does it affect whether or not you hire?

A: You want to have consistent branding on your website, CD packing, and so on. I receive anywhere from 10-15 demo CDs a month of potential talent looking for work in commercials and ad campaigns.

Usually I will throw away 50% of packaging that I get based upon professionalism and looks because I need to present my clients with something professional. You are selling yourself to an agency or network for work and your product needs to look professional. This is a business and anything that doesn’t look professional will probably get tossed.

We have worked with numerous artists and one woman would call every so often. She sent a gift once that I still keep in my wallet (gift card). Every time I open my wallet it makes me think about that individual because I have a piece of her branding with me at any given time. Once I use the card, that'll be that, but for now her branding is with me everywhere I go. To reiterate, make sure that you have a professional package to represent your business.

Billy Serow

Q: How do you feel about packaging?

I listen to every demo that is sent to me because it's a piece of someone's heart, now that being said, it might just be for 10 seconds or so. Bad packaging? I've seen it all, including CDs that have names written on with sharpie pens. Most CDs with poor packaging end up in the circular file, and sometimes I want to see how bad it will be (or will it be a surprise?); more often than not it lives up to its expectation. Success in voice over has everything to do with your talent and voice and nothing to do with your appearance. My greatest pet peeve is people putting picture on a CD.

Don’t put your pictures on your CDs.

One woman sent an incredibly beautifully designed CD along with a crystal (she paid pretty good money for it because I went on the Internet and checked). As I do with each CD, I listened to it and liked it regardless of the crystal. I called her up and said I'd like to bring her in for an appointment, but only on one condition -- that I could give her gift back to her. I told her that bribery is inappropriate and the CD stood on its own merit. She did graciously accept the crystal and because of her talent ended up getting signed.

Evan Farmer

Q: When you’re an on-camera host do you have more input in to what your voiceovers should be?

A: It depends on the producers. When I started While You Were Out, they dictated a lot of things, including hair, to which I argued "You hired me based upon who I was in the audition". In the early days I didn't have as much influence but as the show progressed, more and more of my suggestions were implemented and I felt more like myself. If you have a good relationship you can negotiate certain things.

Somewhere down the road if you have an ongoing gig, you become the person that they’re hiring. By the end if you put the first show up against 372 show, there’s more Evan input than in the beginning. With regard to voice over hosting, the work was very technically derived. I had to squeeze in 3 words per second and had a limited amount of time to hit marks. In the end though, creativity won out and had full reign.

David Bourgeois

On Evan's participation on While You Were Out

A: The While You Were Out people did ask Evan what he thought later. Producers are counting on you to walk in as a collaborator. If you give more creatively it’s easier to turn it down rather than try to pull energy out of you. Once, we recorded 2 episodes in 40 minutes.

Jenny Marcotte

Q: Is there any one quality that you are looking for in a voice talent?

A: Professionalism, politeness, and personality. Please show up for appointments.

David Ciccarelli

Q: There are so many talent out there. How does one stand out?

A: Give a unique headline as description for your voice and use graphic design to help solidify your brand. Only include your best work on your demos. Keep things current culturally as well as relevant to the calendar year. For instance, don't have a Christmas theme demo on your page during the summer.

Rodney Saulsberry

Q: Do you know of any ways to help someone relax immediately in the booth?

A: Adrenaline is good. I was nervous today and I’ve been talking before people forever. I don’t think it’s a problem. If you miss you have to be good because the competition is good. Embrace nervousness because it’s energy and you need energy. When you get to the job you still have to get it right. Take some deep breaths.

There is no technique for immediately getting rid of nervousness. Be prepared and that will help to make you more comfortable. Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity. Preparation cuts some of the nervousness because you know what you’re doing.

Heather Frenz

Adding to Rodney's comment

A: Think that everyone there wants you to succeed. That's how I maintain composure if I am nervous. Everyone wants you to have the best performance possible. Their success depends upon your comfort level and performance.

David Bourgeois

Further comments on being nervous

People who are nervous are worried about if it is right. It shouldn’t be your concern – that’s someone else’s decision. Read aloud, be aware and be open to suggestion. Creatively approach the copy. You have your best possible performance and worse possible performance – hit for upper middle range.

Evan Farmer

On pressure continued

A: Pressure that makes you nervous is that if you screw up you don’t get the job. The worst thing I ever did was walk into the room when you were still making decisions – clear your head – you’ve done the work – there’s nothing you can do in the last half hour before the audition. Get it out of your head – it’s the best thing you can do. It makes your performance that much more natural because you are connecting with the casting director.

Your confidence makes casting directors less nervous and more receptive to your audition.

Rodney Saulsberry

Q: Since I’m not in or near a major market what can I do to market my talent?

A: You can be anywhere today but Billy makes a good point. Big jobs are in major markets and residuals come with the union. If I were somewhere else in today’s times, I would still make it in this hussle. Yes, you can be anywhere but union work is mostly in NY or CA.

Do you have any comments on the panel?

Looking forward to hearing your feedback!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Rodney Saulsberry taught people more than a thing or two about how you can bank on your voice at the Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo and Conference.

Discover some tips that will more than get you on your way and light a lively fire beneath you in your voice over career.

Need A Moment?

What do the movie trailers "Waiting to Exhale", "How Stella Got Her Groove Back", "IronMan", Twix chocolate bars, the Zatarain's Jazz Man commercials and Dominos Pizza all have in common?

They are all voiced by Rodney Saulsberry, celebrated voice over artist, author and voice acting instructor.

You might recognize the following:

"Need a moment? When you need a moment, chew it over with Twix"

"Jazz it up with Zatarain's"

That's Rodney Saulsberry!

Rodney Saulsberry

One of the reasons why I love hearing Rodney Saulsberry speak (and reading his voice acting books) is because he is so down to earth and is genuinely interested in helping others succeed and meet their potential.

Rodney firmly believes that we all have a path in life and that hard work and determination pay off when the right opportunities present themselves.

Isn't it nice to know that you've arrived at this stage in your career for a reason?

Voice Over is Voice Acting

Voice over isn't just talking, it's acting. Rodney advises that all aspiring voice actors take an acting class. Also, consider improvisation (improv) classes and singing classes as voiceover is analogous to music.

It's not how you sound, it's how you interpret the copy. That's the way you get the work.

Remember that beauty is in the ear of the beholder. Upon making that critical realization, you'll learn not to take rejection personally and be better for it.

Take Action and Make Your Own Opportunities

Many years ago, Rodney got an audition for a show called "Happy Days". Although he wasn't cast for the show, this ambitious talent from Detroit, Michigan wasn't going to pack up and go home without dropping some resumes!

While making the rounds, Rodney stumbled upon a rehearsal for the show "Taxi" starring Tony Danza.

Tony saw Rodney and purposefully pushed him. Rodney, always being the actor, decided to reciprocate and a light boxing match took shape right there and then. As soon as Tony had seen enough, he motioned to James L. Brooks and told him to hire Rodney on the spot to play the role of Carl the Boxer.

See what creating opportunities and taking risks can do for your career?

Trends in Voice Acting

The trend today is to sound like a "real person".

While that may sound easy enough, you'd be surprised at how much work goes into sounding real without sounding contrived or fake.

During his presentation, Rodney graciously shared the floor with a handful of participants who were asked to read for him using some advertising copy he had prepared. The energy in the room was fabulous, being a theatre and all, and the voice actors really gave it everything they had.

The performances were noteworthy but what the genius of it all came out through some very carefully worded direction that turned a voice over read into a believable voice over performance. Big distinction.

Rodney asked his volunteers to perform and insert his name at key points in the script so as to create an atmosphere where it wasn't just a voice actor talking to the wall but to a real person who they could converse with and relate to.

I Am Always a Student

Even people at Rodney's level in the voice over biz are students.

With the industry changing fast and furiously, it's hard not to be a student, and if you aren't still learning you'd be surprised by how much things have changed!

In the past, people like Rodney in sunny California used to hop in their car and drive all over Los Angeles -- just to audition. Of course, the majority of the work was also done on-site at recording studios, but with today's technologies (Internet / ISDN), there's significantly less commuting which happily makes for cleaner air and less money spent on gasoline.

It also used to be more common that talent would get bookings based upon their demo. Not so in recent years. Top talent also need to audition nowadays according to the new realities of the voice over marketplace.

Takeaways

• Say your name before you read audition copy and state it nice and clearly.
• Don't enhance your voice in auditions at home. You need to live up to your demo in person.
• Send MP3 files instead of WAV files when auditioning.
• Celebrity sound alike work is big business. Match the key they speak in, their timing and breathing.
• Once you find your signature voice, stick with it. Your signature voice makes you the most money.
• It all starts first with hard work. If you work hard, how can you not be successful?

Ask yourself:

Which voice gets you the jobs?
Which voice makes you happy?
Which voice are you most comfortable with?

If you work hard and you also have talent, the sky's the limit.

Ideas for Practice to Gain a Competitive Advantage:

• Read copy.
• Cereal boxes, sides of buses, and so on.
• Turn on the radio. Repeat right after the announcers.
• Listen to other voice talent.
• Notice their phrasing and voice over style.
• Listen to timing.

Any comments? I'd love to hear your thoughts and I'm sure Rodney does too.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Big League VO is where some of the meatiest, most lucrative voice over jobs are acquired, but the latest news out of the traditionally union-dominated Manhattan voice over scene may surprise you.

Find out how the US economy continues to take a bite out of union work.

Big League VO

One year has passed since we last met with Super Agent Billy Serow and heard him speak on the topic of Big League VO.

While the man and the agent are still the same, the way the game is played has changed considerably.

Billy Serow

For those of you who don't know Billy Serow, Billy started out as an actor who later moved to the other side of the dinner table to work as a casting director, followed by becoming a voice over agent working at William Morris representing celebrities.

Although William Morris paid the bills, Billy's heart was set on developing talent more than further lining the pockets of established personalities. He enjoys making people stars, not servicing stars, which led to his current position as a voice over agent at Abrams Artists Agency where he has been for the past six years.

The Abrams Artists Agency voiceover department has 6 agents. They make money for their talent in every possible venue using the human voice.

Sounds pretty normal so far, doesn't it?

The Conversation Took a Decidedly Different Turn

Fact: The voice-over world is rapidly changing.

When Billy first got into commercials, 95% of national network commercial jobs cast in New York City were union jobs and 5% were non-union jobs.

Commercials are the mainstay in the union field.

In recent years that reality has dwindled. Non-union network voice-over commercial jobs in New York City now account for 38% of the work and climbing while only 62% presently remains union voice-over work.

For union talent (SAG / AFTRA), that's a tough pill to swallow -- for a franchised union agency, that's a wake up call.

The non-union sector is growing in leaps and bounds and uncertainty is ravaging the landscape, overshadowed by a thick cloud known as "New Media".

Big League VO has Found Itself in the Wild West

The new frontier of New Media is quick to move and the unions have yet to find a satisfactory and standardized way of handling work contracted for mediums and applications such as podcasts, DVDs, mobile devices, cell phones, viral marketing campaigns and Internet.

Let's be clear: There is no contract for “New Media”.

Example: A commercial that was on radio first and then re-broadcast online has additional fees.

Online use post-broadcast is billed at the equivalent of 3 session fees ( $400 per session ) = $1200 for 1-years rate

That being said, when the audio is procured initially for distribution via New Media and then subsequently applied to other mediums, there's nothing in place to charge for usage of the material.

If you think this subject sounds familiar, take a moment to remember the Writer's Guild of America strike last year and think ahead to the imminent discussions SAG will take part in with producers regarding issues of compensation for usage of broadcast material in New Media.

US Economy Poses Challenges for Union Talent

The US economy is in danger of entering into some murky waters and as a result union work is becoming harder to come by and negotiate each day.

Enter Financial Core.

Some people in the union struggle with the thought (and some with the reality) of taking non-union jobs just to make enough money to support their families. In most cases this would be impossible, but not where Financial Core is concerned.

In a nutshell, Financial Core is the only way for union members to do non-union voice-over work without being scrutinized or risk excommunication by the union. While work can still be pursued on both union and non-union terms, the individuals who apply for the status of Financial Core do lose some privileges such as the right to vote on union politics and attend union functions.

Several years ago, there was a glaring stigma associated with having Financial Core status in the union, but the stance held on the issue has become seemingly less stringent and more forgiving in recent months.

This Is The Sound of an Industry Changing

What happens now? Many are debating over whether or not to join the union considering the financial outlook, diminishing signatories who hire union talent, and increasing percentage of non-union jobs.

With living expenses on the rise, an uncertain economy, sparring unions, and fewer union jobs to go around, some people will need to make difficult decisions in order to get by.

What Do You Think of All This?

Leave a comment sharing your thoughts.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Mark Magdich from Fort Wayne, Indiana flew in and gave a whirlwind talk featuring audio recording equipment and basic concepts of home recording for voice actors.

Discover the benefits of investing in quality gear and learn about standard technologies you should have in your studio.

Sweetwater Sound

If there's anyone who knows the scoop on hardware and software for home recording, it's a hardcore rock musician, and the audience at Voice Coaches certainly had access to one of the most knowledgeable people in the business, Mark Magdich of Sweetwater Sound.

With the advent of new, more efficient technologies the costs associated with building a top tier audio recording studio have plummeted, making some aspects of the previously unattainable multi-million dollar studios of a decade ago available for somewhere in the neighborhood of a few thousand dollars today.

Now, you'll find that you can "plug and play" with the aid of simplified digital audio recording devices, specifically using USB microphones and cables.

Essential Audio Recording Studio Equipment:

• Microphone
• Audio Interface
• Pop Screen
• XLR Cable
• Music Stand
• Blank CDs
• Headphones
• Recording Software
• High-speed Internet Connection

Now, having the equipment is one thing, but understanding how it works is another.

Signal Flow

Something you should be aware of is "Signal Flow" sometimes referred to as the "Signal Chain". The Signal Flow encompasses a series of steps that begins with your voice (reading a line) all the way through how your voice is recorded using recording software.

The Signal Flow operates as follows:

Voice -- Mic -- XLR Cable -- Audio Interface -- USB / Firewall Cable -- Computer

With proper equipment and studio setup, you'll get good, clean audio which is a very good investment if you are going to take voice acting seriously and work in this friendly yet competitive industry.

Recording is Just Like Using a Word Processor

Mark elaborated on some basic recording techniques and practices including editing and exporting your audio, likening it to a word processor.

As he put it, there are many parallels such as:

• Creating data (Recording your voice / Typing words)
• Copying
• Cutting
• Pasting

The beauty of digital audio recording is that you can start and stop the process at your leisure and combine the best parts of each recording into your final take.

Once you're through with the editing of the file you'll want to export it from your recording program. Once exported, the audio is ready to send to your client via email or bounce down on CDs to mail out and promote your voice.

Software Suggestions:

• Cakewalk Sonar
• Cubase
• Digital Performer
• Pro Tools

Interfaces / Hardware Suggestions

• M-Audio FastTrack
• Digidesign MBox
• Edirol AudioCapture
• Lexicon Lambda

Microphone Suggestions:

• Audio Technica AT 3035
• Neumann TLM 103
• Shure SM-7B
• Rode NT1-A

For reference purposes, I've included the current US pricing (May 3, 2008) for certain items listed here courtesy of Mark Magdich's presentation notes as provided in the Voice Coaches 2nd Annual Advanced Marketing and Conference workbook:

• Cubase ($149, PC only)
• Garageband (Mac only but comes free with most Mac computers)
• Cakewalk Sonar ($100, PC only)
• MOTU Digital Performer ($500, Mac only)
• Digidesign Pro Tools ($295 for the MBox mini 2 audio interface with Pro Tools LE included, for PC or Mac)

One of the sweet things about Sweetwater Sound is that they have fanatical support and many of the products they sell have long warranties, long meaning 5 years of coverage!

If you are interested in purchasing audio recording equipment from Sweetwater Sound or learning more about how they can serve you, check out their website as linked in this sentence.

Any comments?

Best wishes,

Stephanie

P.S. That's Mark arriving in a limo with the lovely Anna Bourgeois as his personal welcoming committee. As I've said before, Voice Coaches does it up right.

Jay Silverman of Voice Coaches took his bulldog at the gate lecture to new heights with a baker's dozen of self-marketing tips specific to offline marketing for voice actors.

While these tips are based upon traditional marketing procedures elements of this presentation can also be applied for auditions online through the voice over marketplace.

13 RE's of Self-Marketing for Voice Actors

1. REsearch the Internet and other directories. You'll be able to find job listings posted by prospective employers. Be sure to get their contact information right when you apply to work for them.

2. REvive past networking and business relationships. Keeping in touch with people you've met through business over the years will become advantageous to your career.

3. REwrite your cover letter for each job and be sure to personalize it as much as possible for the different kinds of recruiters you'll encounter.

4. REcap your strengths in your letter. Always capitalize on your strengths! Be sure to "hook" the reader and persuade them with your words to take notice of what you have to offer.

5. REview the letter. You want it to be polished and free of any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. Remember that a person who is in a position to further your career will be reading it.

6. REalize that this letter (proposal) and the demo that accompanies it may be your only shot of getting the job.

7. REmember to tell the recipient that you'll follow up in a specific number of days from the date of the letter. Commit to this unless you hear from them first.

8. REach out to the "bulldog at the gate". Establish a relationship with that key player and develop a relationship with the gatekeeper to get him or her on your side.

9. REevaluate your letter and marketing methods. If you don't get some calls within four months, reconsider whether that prospect is worth keeping on your list of follow ups.

10. REpay your hard work by networking at advertising industry meetings. Don't be afraid to treat yourself to a meal and the company of other people. Be active in at least one professional organization such as an ad club, chamber of commerce, tech alliance, etc.

11. REexamine your goals if you have difficulty marketing yourself.

12. REconnect with your instructor for additional suggestions.

13. REcall that you're the only person who can self-market your talents. Outside help can teach you, train you, and give you time and expertise in the studio but you must develop the skills and nurture a desire to market yourself!

Any comments?

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Jack Puccio

When it comes to blockbuster video games few companies compete with Vicarious Visions and Activision.

Are you ready to go inside the world of gaming voiceovers?

This article profiles Vicarious Visions' gaming VO Producer Evan Skolnick. Evan has worked as a producer and writer on games including Guitar Hero, Spider Man 3, Shrek 2 and numerous others.

At the Voice Coaches Marketing Expo, we learned how material is prepared for recording and how Evan works collaboratively with his team on both coasts, as well as celebrities like Tobey Maguire and James Franco to complete the job.

During his career, Evan Skolnick has been a writer and editor for a variety of media and was a member of the Marvel Comics team.

Currently, Skolnick Works for Vicarious Visions, a division of Activision. A couple of his credits include the wildly popular SpiderMan 3 and famed Guitar Hero.

The US Gaming Market

The Video game industry has experienced exponential growth, raking in 18.5 billion dollars of revenue including both hardware and software.

In comparison, the US Hollywood box office during 2007 brought in a mere $9.7 billion, their best year ever, yet still half the sum of the booming video game industry whose products and culture is asserting its position in the mainstream and rivaling traditional forms of entertainment such as film.

Video games have become increasingly commonplace in our society. To give you an idea of just how commonplace, 72% of Americans play videogames either on a console, a PC or on a mobile device.

Old Games vs. New Games

Do you remember the first games available for Atari? Does the name "Pong" ring a bell?

Since the early years of gaming (circa 1982), there have been some monumental improvements made to heighten the gaming experience including better graphics, gameplay, audio, character development and more engrossing plot lines with additional complexity.

Doom

As an example of progress heading into the mid 1990s, the video game Doom (1993) was recognized as a turning point and the beginning of a new genre called "First Person Shooter". Every game before Doom had the main character shown from the back looking down. Doom was the first game that the gamer got to experience playing the game while looking through the character’s eyes.

Although it was a step in the right direction, Doom was pretty basic and only featured music, gunshots and was lacking in the voiceover department.

BioShock

In contrast, BioShock (2007) found itself competing directly with the movie industry. BioShock and games like it today give the player control of the characters and are more interactive thanks to cut scenes, compelling story lines and voiceovers.

How is this possible?

• Shared knowledge
• More attention to the story and character
• Increasingly savvy marketing / focus testing
• Hiring producers and managers and more experienced processors

Scope of Work: How much goes into a VO Project

Scope of VO in games:

• Movies have about 2000 lines of dialogue
• The average video game has 8,000 lines of dialogue
• Herculean video games have upwards of 70,000 lines of dialogue

In order to keep some variety, the voice actors are asked to record several versions of utterances or words that are repeated countless times throughout the game, for instance, when a character is hurt, screams or passes out, there needs to be a variety of takes that will be incorporated into the game to ensure that the gaming experience fluctuates and is less predictable.

During the presentation, we got to hear a couple dozen varying exertion sounds performed by Tobey Maguire in a row followed by a couple rounds of him passing out, demonstrating just how many different versions of the same lines are recorded to be used in the video game to entertain and satisfy gamers.

Who Records Video Game VOs?

When the movie stars can't or aren't willing to record their roles in the game, their rights are signed over to a soundalike, that is, someone who can make their voice match the sonic quality of another person's voice, even their vocal mannerisms and style. Being a soundalike can be big business if you're voicing as a soundalike for a prolific or popular actor.

Some contracts require the celebrity to approve the soundalike.

When you have big-name games you usually encounter big-name voice actors. Some examples include, Bruce Willis, Steve Carell, and William Shatner. These games are certainly in the minority but they are interesting to discuss.

Developers of medium and high-profile games use lesser-known voice actors (union with either SAG or AFTRA) and developers of smaller budget games use non-union talent as a rule of thumb.

Recommended Articles

Want to get into gaming? Play the Games!
Interview with David Sobolov
Infinite Ammo : Peek Behind the Scenes of Videogame Production

Gaming Voiceover News Stories

Spider-man Web of Shadows Game Swoops in August 2008
Incredible Hulk Game in the Works, Celeb Voice Actors
Iron Man Video Game to Feature Robert Downey Jr.
LOST : Via Domus Videogame
Actors Score $500K for Video Game Voice-Overs

Have a comment? Let us know what you think!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

As promised, here starts the coverage of the presentations at the Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo and Conference that was held in Schenectady, NY.

To kick things off, I'd like to share the Voices.com presentation with you and other articles will follow throughout the week.

Check out the Secret Playbook for Marketing on Voices.com and the Internet!

You can revisit this playbook once per year. Just like you would a business plan or doing an annual check-up at the doctors who looks for the same stuff year-over-year, it’s important to have a solid foundation for your voice acting career.

Build a Winning Team

Even though you’re a freelancer, every person in business is supported by their peers and colleagues within the industry. Consider yourself a business person. Reality is that you are in business, and the service you provide is voice-over.

Your winning team will include:
• Voice Coach
• Voice Over Agent
• Peer Support Group
• People in Your Social Network
• Tech Guy or Gal and Web Guy or Gal
• Vendors and Partners
• Lawyer and Business Advisers
• Role Model or Mentor
• Spouse or Significant other

Make the Most of Training Camp

From the second string goalies to the captain of the team, everybody goes to training camp, plays the exhibition games and gears up for the season opener.

Going to events like this, or study privately or taking a course to improve your skill set. Just because you have decades of experience doesn’t mean that you don’t have to brush up your skills every so often.

• Annual Events
• Monthly Newsletters
• Weekly Podcasts (+100 Lessons Available FREE)
• Daily Blog Articles (+2000 Articles Online)
• Everybody goes to training camp.

Prepare for Success During Pre-Season

Apply the techniques that you learned during training without being penalized during the regular season.

• Learn how to use your computer, recording equipment and websites
• Outline a workflow for how you handle an audition
• Set-up systems for how you going to manage your contacts, organize scripts, auditions and send invoices

Complete Profiles Get More Clicks

Your Profile is your online storefront at Voices.com and is used to conduct business with clients from around the world if used effectively. An incomplete Profile is not representative of you and your body of work nor will it attract prospective clients or index much about your skills as results for search engines such as Google, MSN or Yahoo!.

One of the criteria that influences the rankings in the Voices.com Search Engine is "Profile Completeness". People who have completed profiles will rank higher in search results than those whose profiles are incomplete. You can measure your Profile Completeness in your account.

Solution:

• Fill out as much of your Profile as you can

• List anything and everything that supports your voice acting career

• Upload samples of your voice

• Use keywords that relate to your voice, studio equipment, clients, etc.

• Select voice ages, skills, years of experience and other criteria

• Add testimonials in your Experience area

Stand Out By Doing the Opposite

One of those winning, but counterintuitive strategies in marketing is to be different. You can accomplish this by creating a visual brand that positively identifies you.

We've designed several new themes to help you personalize and brand your Voices.com website. There are 22 elegantly designed themes to choose from and they'll be available in your Profile section, under Themes.

Create a Visual Brand by Adding an Image

Does your Voices.com website have a placeholder avatar where your picture, logo, or graphical representation could be? Without an image that represents you as a professional, it is hard to relate to you and next to impossible to see how you brand yourself and your voice acting business.

Solution:

Upload an image to your account, whether it be a professional head shot, cartoon image or corporate logo. This is a golden opportunity to brand your website! Let people know more about you visually to become intrigued enough to listen to your voice over demos. If you don't want to present a photo of yourself, you don't have to, but it is wise to have something to brand yourself with - just don't be a placeholder.

Create a Unique Vocal Description

Famous advertising executive David Ogilvy say “The headline is the ‘ticket on the meat.’ Use it to flag down readers who are prospects for the kind of service you are offering.”

When a client is looking through the Voices.com search engine or is visiting your website at Voices.com, the first textual impression they get of you and your voice comes from your vocal description. If a description lacks the appropriate adjectives that best describe your voice and an element of pizazz or originality, it makes it easier for a client to overlook your Profile due to lack of perceived information or detail upfront before they listen to your voice over demos.

What's an example of a weak description? Try this one on for size: Strong, great for all kinds of reads, can be old or young.

Solution:

Really and truly describe your voice. Three adjectives (unless they are extremely telling and succinct) aren't enough to whet an ad exec's appetite when they are looking for something that stands out from the crowd and gives them an immediate impression of your vocal capabilities.

Ask yourself "If I were a client, would I hire me based upon what I have on my website?"

Your vocal description should not only be a litany of complementary keywords about your voice but also a persuasive advertisement for your voice. Those who can describe their talents in an inviting and appealing manner will be listened to and hired.

Examples:

Your voice description provides a summary of your vocal qualities and abilities. Your voice description is also visible in the search results as well as on your website.

Sample 1: Jim's voice is quite versatile and has been referred to as genuine, charismatic, and hilarious. Ranging from characters such as the stereotypical football coach to a doting father, Jim is able to cater his performance into a voiceover that works perfectly for your project.

Sample 2: Annette has a wide spectrum of vocal capabilities. Trained as a classical singer, Annette's vocal elasticity and burnished tone color shines brilliantly through commercials, telephone recordings, and children's audiobook narration projects.

Sample 3: Richard's light tenor voice is caring, authoritative, and didactic. Richard specializes in recording for educational materials and has an impressive command of technical jargon for medical and scientific scripts.

Showcase Only Your Best Work by Uploading Your Voice Over Demos

No matter how you slice it, sometimes, interpretations can sound more like reiterations or regurgitations. The client doesn't want to hear theme and variation when they click on demos that are classified as being in completely different niches or for distinct applications.

Solution:

Make sure that your vocal style, interpretation, tonality, versatility, and range varies not only from demo to demo, but from spot to spot.

If you work in radio as an announcer, for instance, be sure that your voice is not stuck in a radio rut. Announcers and DJs, (sorry to pick on you!), do at times adopt the same delivery and vocal approach for voice over as they do when on the air. The trick to all this is to concentrate on voice acting and really interpreting a script, internalizing it, and giving the words their own unique embodiment using your voice.

Titles & Tagging

When you go to a store and pick up a product, you likely read all of the advertising copy, the ingredients (if it's food), and once you've done so, are able to discern what it is that you may be purchasing. It's the exact same with demos. Simply giving your demo a category isn't enough when a client is looking for something very specific to their needs.

Solution:

Be sure to properly name (the "title") and label (the "tags") all of your demos in the appropriate field when you are in the process of uploading them. If you do that, you'll not only rank higher in the search results and be found in more places, clients are more likely to listen to your demo and hire you for work. Why? Because you've clearly identified the style, voice type, tone, and supplied other adjectives that describe your voice and the audio recording.

Don't make any assumptions - not everyone is a casting director by trade and most people will appreciate the extra details.

Feature Your Voice Over Demos in the Directory

As a Premium or Preferred member, you have the ability to promote your voice in a variety of application specific categories such as TV Commercials, Movie Trailers, Telephone System Recordings, and so on.

If you aren't making use of the real estate being provided to you as part of your membership, you are missing out big time on clients finding you who prefer to search in this manner.

Solution:

When you are uploading your demos, be sure to check the box that says "Feature this demo". If you are a Premium member, you have unlimited categories to feature your voice in. As a Preferred member, you have 5 categories to feature your voice over demos in.

You can change which demos you feature and their respective categories at any time in the Studio section of your Profile.

Be a Star During the Regular Season

When a new job that matches your preferences and skills is approved at Voices.com, you will receive an email from us with an invitation to reply to the job posting. Simply click through the "Reply to Job" button to audition right away.

Your jobs manager organizes all voice-over jobs in one central location. All job notifications are governed by your user Preferences in your Account and Settings area.

See Opportunity in Every Audition

Simply put, you are auditioning or applying for a job online using the Internet, a medium that is available to you 24/7.

The Internet is generally a one-way medium wherein the person using it is able to move along at their own pace and fulfill a task with the help of their personal computer or hand-held device using an Internet connection.

As a freelancer applying for a job online, be sure that the person on the receiving end of your bid for the work is provided with all of the information necessary to make a hiring decision while they are reviewing your submission ONLINE.

Your Proposal Should Include 5 Critical Components:

1. Your name

2. Sample of your voice (or work)

3. Proposal detailing why you want the job

4. How long it will take you to complete

5. Quote

Always Have a Call For Action

How effective are ads or websites that have no obvious call for action? Not very, but with a solid call for action or invitation, you'll see remarkable results.

Solution:

Invite and encourage potential clients to send you an email if they like what they hear so that you can further discuss their objectives and how you can work together.


Now, those are just ten of the most common mistakes. Here are some more that fall in line with what we've discussed but are further along in the routine chain of events.

Sample of a Winning Proposal

Dear (Contact Name)

Thank you for the opportunity to present my custom demo to you and quote for your commercial project.
I have extensive experience recording for radio and television commercials and I confidently feel that my voice meets the requirements listed in your project details. I can deliver your audio within 24 hours via email or on CD.

My rate for a :30 national broadcast commercial recording is $.

Looking forward to working with you.

Best regards,
Voice Actor

“The ones that were the most succinct (but still had all of the info I really needed) were the most appealing” ~ Dana Detrick-Clark from Serious Vanity Music

Be a Fan, Cheerleader and Advocate for the Industry

BLOGGING

1. There are millions of blogs out there on the Internet (get recent stat)
2. There are now over 50 voice acting blogs on the Internet.

Getting involved
1. Discover a blog
2. Subscribe to that blog
3. Comment on articles

Comments add value to the conversation that’s already going on.

They should:
1. Be insightful
2. Validating
2. Carry Momentum

• Bloggers love to approve valid comments to share with their audience
• Comments can be reassuring to a blogger
• Comments validate what has been written
• Comments provide new ideas for the voice over community.
• Wonderful way to introduce yourself to other people
• Build links to your website
• Keep yourself involved in the conversation

Bloggers need to:
1. Promote their blog
2. Build an audience
3. Write consistently
4. Reach out to their readers
5. Help direct the conversation

PODCASTING

Podcasting is audio content on-demand, when you want it, where you want and how you want it.

Listening to podcasts is:
1. Fun
2. Educational
3. Community oriented

Most podcasts are accompanied by a blog. The blog often includes:
1. Synopsis of the show
2. Show notes with links to websites
3. An image or picture
4. Area for comments
5. Opportunity to submit audio feedback.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

Social Networking can be an integral part of your marketing mix.

Connect with other people who:
1. Are in a position to further your career
2. Could become a client of your services
3. Network with as friends.

Popular social networking sites
• Facebook
• MySpace
• LinkedIn

Some tips when using Social networks are:
1. Use the same name and photo at all sites so that people can easily recognize you
2. Personalize your profile and list your business information
3. Upload audio samples if you can and link to your website
4. Keep any information that you want to remain private off of your profile
5. Add friends to network with and try your best not to become addicted!

Go To Market Strategy

Did You Find This Helpful?

If you found this presentation insightful, download the entire presentation as a PDF, then leave a comment below.

Stephanie and David

After seven hours of driving, we arrived in Schenectady, NY for the Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo and Conference at the GE Theater at Proctors.

The energy here is great and everyone can't wait for what tomorrow will bring. Come join us by catching the latest news on VOX Daily!

Voices.com Road Trip

I'm writing this post-soiree and am happy to share some information about the conference thus far.

We arrived shortly before 6 p.m. in beautiful downtown Schenectady after a long drive through Canada and New York state.

There are a lot of returning faces as well as some new ones which is always fabulous to see. While everyone hails from somewhere different they all have a couple of things in common including a passion for voice over and that they are an absolute delight to converse with (and easy on the ears to boot).

Get Ready to Read!

If you're reading this posting at home the voice conference will be covered on VOX Daily and you'll get to read articles about each presentation and featured presenter as well as a roundup from the expert panel.

There's a stellar lineup of speakers and topics so expect to hear and learn some useful things. David and I will updating the blog throughout the weekend.

Want to Stay in the Loop?

Stick with us at VOX Daily and it will feel like you're here too :)

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Dmitriy Shironosov

Enjoy a Q&A period at the Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo!

Learn from industry experts Jim Sciancalepore, Heather Frenz, Bob Souer, David Ciccarelli, Billy Serow, Evan Farmer, and David Bourgeois.

Moderating the discussion was Voice Coaches Marketing Director, Warren Garling.

This aspect of the Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo was definitely something that I looked forward to.

To wrap up the day, Voice Coaches Client Services Director Don Bowers introduced all of the experts on the panel, including Jim Sciancalepore, Heather Frenz, Bob Souer, David Ciccarelli, Billy Serow, Evan Farmer, and David Bourgeois.

Warren Garling, Voice Coaches Marketing Director, asked the first question of celebrity guest Evan Farmer from the hit TLC show "While You Were Out" and the new HGTV program "Freestyle".

I've included the thoughts of each panelist below, including some parting advice towards the end of this article from each expert.

Evan Farmer on VO on While You Were Out: The specifics of voice over in narrating for a television series is very different from the process of acting. The hardest part is to try not to go into autopilot doing a schtick. On television, you need to be very conscious of not falling into autopilot voice over responses.

Billy Serow on picking one voice over another: You could take anyone off the street and even uneducated ears could pick out who the best voices are. The masses will try to take the safe road and give interpretations that they think are expected of them instead of stepping out and giving their boldest go. Just as something can step off a written page, voices can step off of a recording. Interesting and creative choices book jobs, not safe interpretations.

Bob Souer on how he got his start: I started by working at a radio station doing everything, including answering phones. One day, I received a call and was asked if anyone would like to audition. I said "what about me?" Nine months later, I was working at a different radio station and still hadn't heard from the client. All of a sudden the phone rang and I had landed the government gig I auditioned for nine months previously. Thus started my voice over career.

I only work at 2 studios; the one at the Billy Graham Association and my own. The only work I record in the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association studios is the work I do for them. All of my work for any other clients is done in my own studio.

David Ciccarelli on what impact the Internet has had on voice overs: The Internet and technology has given voice actors another communications channel to find work. It is a viable option to market your talents and is one of the most opportune methods to gain new clients and prospects.

Heather Frenz on working from her home studio: On-camera host for a real estate company and they wanted her to do real estate listings for them everyday. Heather reads it at home and sends the work back to them. Sending MP3s as audition material from her home, but no broadcast work yet because she wants to preserve her relationships with the local studios she has worked with.

Jim Sciancalepore on receiving CDs from talent: It goes without saying but the CD needs to arrive on the right day at the right time. Random unsolicited email promotions get deleted so the successful items are more traditional deliveries - postcards, demo CDs, etc. No seasonal recruiting - it used to be - now it is entirely random with other mediums in the fray like new media (podcasts), and keeping under the radar of local studios or casting directors or agents - networking.

David Bourgeois on the business of voice over: It's easy as a musician or actor to be aware of the fact that you need to develop your art skill, however the fail to recognize that it is a business where money changes hands. Make a business plan, develop a plan, make some goals, write down the steps that you are going to take to reach your goal. Make a plan and be aware that 95% of startups fail in the first 5 years.

Evan Farmer on liberties of being a host: While You Were Out, produced by the BBC, is formal, structured, news based but my producer was flexible and ended up giving me a large sum of creative freedom. You have to make big strong choices. When you do, you tend to enjoy it and become very passionate about what you are doing. I'm recognized more often for my voice than my face even though I am an on-camera host. Voice acting advice? Take the risk and you can pull back later. Most people are innately too shy to break out but this industry is all about acting like a fool or an entertainer if you want to be a success.

Billy Serow in agreement with Evan Farmer: A Casting director saying: "I can always pull you back but I can't always get you there".

David Ciccarelli on the difference between Voices.com and voice123: We have a comparison chart, but it really comes down to customer services and the fact that everyone here has a livelihood and needs. We truly believe that your success is our success. To differentiate even more specifically, Voices.com has entry level budget ranges for every job posted at Voices.com whereas the other site does not. The client needs to commit in order to work with Voices.com talent. From what is apparent, voice123 has no standards and people know that they can find professional voice over talent at Voices.com and get the job done right.

Bob Souer on his career: Longevity over 24 years working for a company doing narration. Many of my clients turn into longterm relationships. You will do well as a non-union talent and can make a living if you develop ongoing relationships with clients over the years. It's about starting and maintaining relationships. This is true of the people who hire you, of agents, of websites, it's all about the people.

Percentage of New VS Established clients for Bob: 30% - 50% of work each month is new work. 50% - 75% is ongoing.

David Bourgeois on getting voice over work: It's always easier to get the next job than the first job. In B Markets, there is more work in relationships than anything else.

Bob Souer on getting work: Once somebody knows that you can deliver the goods, you don't want to have to go anywhere else. Under pressure, under time, to the exact tenth of a second. It's risky to just go out there and try if you are not prepared.

Billy Serow on talent being too social at sessions: Voice talents can be their own worst enemies because they (the studios) want people who can come in, do their work and leave. You need to know the difference between schmoozing and work.

Jay Silverman on keeping front of mind: Stay on top of your marketing so that you remain in that category where people remember you and want to go back to you.

David Bourgeois on jobs: Capitalize on a work opportunity in every way that you possibly can and nurture that relationship.

Jim Sciancalepore on relationships with talent: We're hoping that this is a recurring relationship with a signature voice to impress the clients. It's being reliable, dependable and likable. It's a personal business and a fun business.

Heather Frenz on working in the field: I know most of the people I tend to work with. I goes in, know them, feel comfortable, know the client, and has developed skills as a likable professional and has fun at the same time. Always show your interest in other people.

Bob Souer on being professional: Being professional means knowing how to keep your cool. This always gets me "Perfect! One more time". There are times when it can get very emotional but you have to stay pleasant under extremely difficult circumstances, otherwise you won't be working as much as you could be.

Billy Serow on getting an agent: When looking for an agent, be careful to know something about the agency and how the agency works. Target specific people or it (your CD) won't find it's way into the right hands.

David Bourgeois on marketing: Don't imagine the Internet is the only way to market yourself. It's a great tool but there are many other ways to do it. Many beginner talent have a misconception that all they need is an agent and to be found online hosting their demos and not do any work on their own to try and improve their career.

Evan Farmer on breaking into on-camera from voice over: It's simple to get caught up in "I'm not ready yet or as soon as I've finished this course". You can't be afraid of rejection, because it's not personal. Don't be a passive performer. It's the last person standing who gets what they want. If you want it, you'll get it. Don't settle for comfortable when you can have outstanding. You have to think "I'm going to do it and whatever level I'm going to do it on is fine". If you want to work, you can work. You don't have to be the best, you just have to be the one who keeps showing up.

David Bourgeois on success: People who have made the decision to be successful take it to the next level.

Bob Souer on volunteer work: Yes, I do volunteer when I have the opportunity and time to do so if it is appealing to me. For example a science fiction audio drama. Or a church ministry asks, I might do it if I has the time.

Jim Sciancalepore on who has the most say in choosing the VO talent?: It depends on the client, but many of their clients trust us to make the right decision. We provide them with a few finalists to choose from giving our preferences and let the client decide.

David Ciccarelli on success at Voices.com: Success stories at Voices.com are numerous, for example, Bob Souer. Also many people get their very first jobs at Voices.com which is a success story in itself.

Heather Frenz on VO VS On-camera: I prefer VO work because I'm not up ironing every piece of clothing that I own. Wardrobe coordinating is not fun. I love VO because I can walk in as myself and get going. On-camera work is wonderful and I wouldn't give it up, but I feel that my image has become overused so I turned to more voice over work. No preference overall between the two.

David Bourgeois on the state of the VO industry: The lions share of the work is narrative (non-commercial in nature) Conversationality VS Announcer, broader range of voices, Internet is exciting, more than 1/2 VO produced at VoiceCoaches.com was Internet work this past year. Opportunities have never been greater or range has never been better in commercials or narrative - Voices for websites, DVDs, CD-ROMS, video games, cable television opportunities. Tremendously lucrative industry with loads of opportunities.

Billy Serow on men and women in VO: When I started in voice casting, the percentages for hiring VO talent used to be 90% men and 10% women. Now it's more like 55% men and 45% women.

Billy Serow on receiving material from talents: Cover letters are important to know if someone has been referred by someone I need to be aware of. Don't send gimmicks - also, pictures on CDs are not a good idea.

David Ciccarelli on watermarking: The point of watermarking is to use a watermark as a precaution to prevent unscrupulous clients from using your work without paying you. Place subtle tones throughout the audition, crippling the audio just enough so that it cannot be used without your permission.

Bob Souer on watermarking: Be very careful to say that you've made changes to the script in the custom demo or any alterations to timing. Actions were deliberate, not that you don't know what you're doing.

Evan Farmer on success: Inner instinct, listen to that voice - the "I wish I" is your gut and you need to listen to it, not your insecurities, and if you've figured that out, you're head over heels further along than many in this business.

Jim Sciancalepore on hiring talent on the web: Instant auditions are very convenient and a great source.

Parting advice:

Jim Sciancalepore: Put yourself out to the world, the Internet has made it possible. A world of opportunity out there. When you are in session, go for it and let loose.

Heather Frenz: Start thinking of yourself as a voice over talent as someone who is going to be successful - stick to it and believe it now.

Bob Souer: This is a business, it's not a game. If you want to make money at it, you have to treat it as a business. Find ways to market your career and actually do it - things that are comfortable for you to do. For instance, Bob writes a blog to help promote his career.

David Ciccarelli: Treat VO as a business. As much as the marketing component is important, you need to focus on your operations and how you manage your clients. Develop systems and routines because next time you are in contact with a client, it's good to have details on hand to personalize your communications. Monetary rewards will come after an initial investment. Find out what works best for you and how to allocate your resources and time.

Billy Serow: There is nothing more fun or greater than winning a job. It's such a high and is so cool that you are actually being paid for this. Feel incredibly blessed to be working in this industry.

Evan Farmer in response to Heather Frenz's statement: I too didn't want to tell anyone I was an actor or musician because I didn't want to hear it. Once you do say that, you are committed and people can hold you accountable. It really is great when your art affects other people and the feeling you get - the rush, exciting, probably the most fulfilling thing you could imagine.

David Bourgeois: Do not care for words "break into" - you develop a skill, hone that skill, become aware of opportunities and then go out and do them.

About the Experts

Evan Farmer: Host of TLC’s “While You Were Out”and HGTV’s design show “Freestyle”.
Billy Serow: Head of commercial VO Casting for Abrams Artists Agency in NYC and VO teacher at Yale University.
David Bourgeois: Voice Coaches President and voice over producer for clients including Discovery Network.
Jim Sciancalepore: As the Vice President / Senior Creative Director for Media Logic, a major award winning Advertising and Communications firm, Jim regularly casts voice actors for a broad range of projects. Their clients include Visa, FYE, Cornell University, MVP Healthcare, and numerous others.
Bob Souer: Professional voice over talent and industry blogger.
Heather Frenz: Professional voice-actor and Voice Coaches Marketing Trainer.
David Ciccarelli: CEO of Voices.com, the #1 Voice Over Marketplace and professional audio recording engineer.

David and Stephanie Ciccarelli presented on the topic of Voice Over in the Google Era.

With so many ways to promote your voice using the monolithic conglomerate that is Google, there's no stopping the voice over industry online!

Discover ways that you can improve and increase your presence on the Internet as a voice over talent regardless of your location.

David Bourgeois invited us to come to the Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo to lecture on the topic of Internet marketing and search, so we brought our Voice Over in the Google Era presentation down for the ride.

David gave the background on Voices.com, an overview of the industry ,and we co-presented on search engine optimization and various Google properties that you can use to market your talents online.

So, just what is the demand for audio production and language services?

The voice over market was worth over $8.8 billion worldwide in 2005!

That's right, a substantial amount of money was spent on language services and voice recording with $12.3 billion spent on language services and voice recording projected for 2010.

The ways of the past are no barrier to success for savvy voice over entrepreneurs of the new Google Era. Google has brought more to our fingertips than any other web portal on the Internet, corralling relevant websites and taming the Wild West of the World Wide Web.

Google is not just a search engine, it is an advertising company that makes billions of dollars a year through one of its programs, Google AdWords.

Essentially, the Google AdWords program is an advertising platform where buyers of advertising who are featured on the main Google search can bid on keywords to attract new business on a pay-per-click basis. These ads are also called "Sponsored Links".

Google AdWords was one of the properties we talked about in addition to Google Web Search, Google Image Search, Google News Search, Google Video, Google Blog Search, Google Directory (DMOZ), Google AdSense, and Google Analytics.

Now that I've mentioned some of the properties and services available to you as a Google visitor and customer, that leaves one last question...

How can you make Google work for you?

Remember to:

• Submit to the Google Directory
• Start a Blog
• Build Links to your Website
• Advertise your Services
• Track your Progress
• Create a Press Release

The audience at Voice Coaches was privy to a significant amount of added-value information that is not included in the PDF, like the scoop on Link Love among other things :)

At our next opportunity we'll present you with the details that are not included here in this article.

If you missed this lecture in person and would like more information about Google and their various web properties, you can download the PDF document Voice Over in the Google Era to get a more detailed account of what we were talking about.

Keep your eye on the VOX Daily blog and subscribe via email if you haven't already!

Best,

Stephanie and David

Does your demo have a case of the uglies?

Join the graphic design experts Dan Dinsmore and Phil Montelone from Overit Media as they give tips on how "putting on the makeup" for your Demo CD and branding materials.

What is Graphic Design?

Graphic design is a form of visual communication that combines words and imagery to convey a message.

Graphic design is everywhere. It's on stationary, booklets, business cards, carpets, paint, street signs, and more! Every design that you encounter starts with an illustrator or artist.

A design evokes emotion out of people, therefore, you want to portray yourself properly.

But you might be wondering, "What does design have to do with my voice?"

The answer: You are in a field where presentation is everything.

Here are some tips on how to make your demo packaging great and not have your CD end up as a coaster on somebody's desk or be confused with a piece of rubble.

Good Designs

- Make sure that your demo art is clean and professional
- Present potential clients or agents with nice packaging that they will share with others
- Get a pro to brand your image
- If you are comfortable, use a professional head shot on the inside sleeve of your CD
- Head shots should only be used if you are pursuing on-camera work as well as voice over
- If you are only performing as a voice over artist, do not include a photo of yourself

Bad Designs

- Placing a printed label on a blank CD
- Unprofessional designs (no clarity, inappropriate image, unflattering head shots, etc.)
- Leaving your name or contact information off of the marketing material
- Including irrelevant images or references
- People judge books by their covers and they'll judge your voice by your CD package

In the end, it all comes down to presentation.

You could be the greatest voice actor of our time, but if your CD or branding package is sub-par or questionable, it will end up in the garbage bin faster than you can say Jiminy Cricket.

Does any of this information resonate with you? What are your dos and don'ts for branding your professional image?

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Stephanie

Image © OveritMedia.com

Looking for a voice over agent in top tier commercial voice casting?

Learn more about Billy Serow, a commercial voice talent agent at the Abrams Agency in New York City.

Billy Serow is not your typical voice over agent.

True, he's been in the business for a long time and has seen it all, but he has something special that not many agents can claim as their own - heart.

Billy began his career at a crossroads having to choose between music and theatre. Opting to go down the acting road, Billy started out as an agent at William Morris and after a long career in voice casting director (18 years and thousands of commercial castings), the industry changed.

A website called VoiceBank.net came out and the emphasis was placed on agencies putting their house reels online and the role of the casting director being virtually eliminated from many voice over hiring regimes.

Realizing that his job was in jeopardy, Billy left William Morris with many others and started a new career at the Abrams Artists Agency where he truly got to spread his wings.

At Abrams, Billy was able to represent celebrity talent and also dedicate his time to his true passion, developing up and coming voice over talent and helping their dreams come true.

Billy listens to every CD he receives and has a strong work ethic. He has the immense joy of knowing that he can help bring someone to the next level in their career and loves making it happen.

Not every agent is like Billy, so you should check him out!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Image © AbramsArtists.com

Marketing yourself as effectively as you could locally?

Learn some hot tips on how to grow your circle of influence and increase your bottom line with tips from Stacey Nooney, Marketing Director / Project Director for Working Pictures in Albany, NY.

Stacey Nooney of Working Pictures, Albany NY co-presented on the topic of "The Organization Advantage" with Warren Garling, Marketing Director at Voice Coaches and White Lake Music & Post, Schenectady, NY.

Opening remarks included the fact that if you are a voice talent, you are also in business for yourself, thus you need to treat your voice over as a real business.

One aspect of maintaining a healthy business is to network and invest in those networking opportunities. A small investment of time and money goes a long way when it comes to sowing seeds for a prosperous career.

As this conference was taking place near Albany, NY, an emphasis was placed on the Albany Ad Club as one of the resources available for networking activities.

Benefits of membership specific to the Albany Ad Club:

• Social Functions
• Networking Opportunities
• Diverse Membership
• Monthly Educational Seminars
• Parties and Holiday Mixers with other like organizations
• Awards / Ability to volunteer

As many ad clubs do, the Albany Ad Club produces a quarterly publication or newsletter that gives you an opportunity to know what others are doing as well as promote your own news and success stories.

Tip: Voice Coaches instructs their students to become Ad Club Members.

It was reiterated time and time again, and I know we can attest to this as well, that making a small investment of money and time in a business chamber of commerce or club is worth far more than the price you pay and the added value received.

Are you part of an Ad Club? Has it helped you to expand your reach and network of business partners?

Best,

Stephanie

Image © AlbanyAdClub.com

Meet Jay Silverman, the resident Advanced Self Marketing Guru at VoiceCoaches.com.

Learn about the concept of how to make the administrative assistant (or bulldog) your friend to get to where you want to go when marketing your talents for voice over work!

Jay Silverman gave the first lecture at the Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo and enlightened us to an area of marketing savvy that not everyone observes as crucial to their success.

This morning, Jay discussed how to get in with the front person or the "bulldog" at organizations. This is the person who is ultimately responsible for you achieving or not achieving your goals when trying to promote your voice to a company or organization.

He started by asking us a question "Have you ever needed to 'stretch' yourself when you are marketing your talents?"

Sometimes we stretch a little bit when we are marketing. Although it may seem like your professional experience in the beginning is limited, remember to highlight all of the experience you have volunteering or in rehearsal (mic time).

In this way, you’re not breaking in anymore, but for every new prospect that you encounter when marketing your voice, there will be an instance when you need to break in somebody else, effectively, confronting the bulldog at the gate.

The bulldog at the gate is that front-end person at whatever business, advertising agency, or recording studio that you are looking for work opportunities with.

What do you need to do in this case?

Learn how to get in with the front-end person. Establish and maintain a personal and professional relationship with those people who are key to your success.

You’ll meet all kinds of people, producers, copywriters and a host of others that you'll want to network with. There is, however, one person who holds your future in their hands in a variety of ways, and as we covered above, that person is the bulldog at the gate.

The bulldog at the gate could be the receptionist, the administrative assistant, the secretary, the person who answers the phone and opens / distributes the mail, who does all the typing, copy work, and addition to all of the responsibilities noted earlier, has to satisfy the boss and not mess up.

Quite the job description, isn't it?

In order to get to the person you need to speak with, you will have to pass through the bulldog first. In the majority of cases, she is just as important if not more so than the person you are trying to reach. This person decides whether or not you get through to where you want to go.

For instance, you need to be careful about making a good first impression with your marketing materials and present yourself as best you can. Make as positive and professional of an impression that you are able to, and your efforts will help you to get through to your desired contact.

Something to focus on is the quality and appearance of your marketing materials and how effective they are as a vehicle to promote your voice.

Your "Family of Publications", which consists of letterhead, postcards, promotional materials, cover art, etc, needs to promote you and brand your business. When someone receives marketing materials from you, albeit different print materials, they should still be able to associate you with your brand and remember past items that they had received from you.

These promotional materials need to be professional and visually pleasing to get past the bulldog. Representing yourself in a manner that the bulldog feels comfortable passing your materials on to who you want them to go to is the best bet for achieving your goal.

You might be wondering why we are constantly referring to the administrative assistant or bulldog as a female and not a male.

After some extensive research on the Internet, Jay discovered that 93% of the people who work in the position of administrative assistants are females.

This person has to accommodate the needs and wishes of her boss politely and confidently, all the while getting everything done, regardless of how she is feeling that day.

In large business, there is a team of bulldogs who are responsible for a number of tasks.

Do not just walk in or cold call if you want an appointment. Send the information to the people who work there, let them know who you are, then make a phone call to schedule a meeting.

Oftentimes, the most important request or order that someone in the position of bulldog will receive from their boss is “Don’t let anyone disturb me, I’m busy”. This is a direct obstacle to you getting through to the person you want to reach through the administrative assistant.

If the administrative assistant asks you "Do you want to through to voice mail?", this is usually a dead end. It is in your better interest to simply develop a good rapport with the administrative assistant and follow up consistently until your needs are met.

If you know about an industry and are familiar with their jargon, that is invaluable to them and they will pay a premium for your services. i.e. pharmaceuticals, science, automotive, etc.

Research is key to making the bulldog your friend. Do your research on Google. Find the contact or team page and gather the information. Look at the clients they serve, listen or watch the work that they’ve done, pick your favorite job and identify it in your letter as something you admire.

Tip: Google business quotations and find 4 or 5 that you think would hook the interest of the person who opens up that letter.

Writing an original letter crafted from the research you have gleaned with a great deal of personalization is an excellent way to get the bulldog on your side. If you develop a rapport of respect with this person, you will then have an ally within the company who will advocate on your behalf.

Jay had several other wonderful points and even included a template on how to craft a letter that I have not mentioned here.

Key Point: The most important aspect that you need to take away from this article is to treat other people with respect, gain permission to send in materials, and make those marketing materials unique and attractive to the person who decides whether or not your demo or resume will see the light of day.

About Jay Silverman, Advanced Self Marketing

In addition to his experience as a professional Voice Actor and announcer, Jay is a public speaking and training expert. His experience in communications training spans the corporate, government, higher education and not-for-profit sectors. In addition to his work with Voice Coaches, Jay teaches both under graduate and graduate classes in communication and advertising at The Sage Colleges and The State University at Albany.

Jay also trains new business owners through the regional Entrepreneurial Assistance Program. As a former State Government Executive and Ad Agency Vice President, Jay offers our Advanced Self Marketing Teleconference clients an exceptional advantage in building lasting success.

Source: Jay Silverman Staff Bio, VoiceCoaches.com

Image © VoiceCoaches.com
Lecture Content © VoiceCoaches.com

We're at the Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo just outside of Albany, NY.

Learn more about this fantastic organization of progressive and caring instructors through the VOX Daily blog!

I'm blogging live today from the Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo being held in Colonie, NY at the Hilton near the Albany International Airport.

Last night, David Bourgeois and his team of excellent experts kicked off the evening with some good times, great food and intriguing conversation.

I'll be blogging about each presentation throughout the day. What a great opportunity!

See you over the course of the day,

Stephanie

Image © VoiceCoaches.com

Looking for ways to improve your voice acting or voice over demo?

At VOX Daily, we've compiled some of the most applicable and interesting tips from industry professionals on the Hot Seat Panel at VOICE 2007, sharing them with you to learn from and prosper by!

Check some of these tips organized by category. I'm sure at least one of the nuggets of wisdom presented will be of use to you.

When getting started or as a pro testing the waters in a new niche of voice over, it is always wise to have a few pairs of ears listen to your demo to give you their perspective.

For instance, a couple of Mondays ago, Nancy Wolfson offered four demo critiques in her Acting for Advertising teleseminar with Anna Vocino at the end of the class, dishing up great advice with her agent ears. Those fortunate to have their demos reviewed were encouraged and given some constructive feedback to help improve their demos.

One gentleman was even told that Nancy would change his demo at all. What a compliment!

At any rate, the art of critiquing demos is industry wide and a portion of the closing day of VOICE 2007 focused on just that.

I took some notes that I hope will be useful to you, generic though they may be. Take these tips into consideration when listening to your own demo or the voice over demos of others. They might just help you out in same way :)

Here we go, random tips from the panel as noted as per the "Hot Seat" at VOICE 2007:

Variety

• Have variety!
• Have variety in tempo (speed, pacing)
• Variety is in the emotion and attitude – focus on those aspects
• If you have a radio background, be sure to change up the pace and sound
• Don’t have “too long” spots or too “similar spots”
• Lots of different attitudes and emotion – no one trick ponies
• Something really good at the beginning and then something funny – anything you can do to get a producer to listen more than once is good – if they like it, they will pass it along to others

Interpretation

• Have a sense of conversation
• Don’t be “on the edge of reading”
• Try not to have negativity in your demo
• Communicate and tell the story - Subtleties can change the tone and open communication very quickly
• If you can’t picture yourself making money doing a certain voice, don’t put it in your demo
• Get control over your voice and make sure that variety is in the mix
• Leave the announcer voice out of it
• VO actors are not salespeople but persuasive and effective communicators
• Don’t be all things to all people – your demo should highlight your talents and not what the producer wants

Money Voice

• Use your money voice first (signature voice), don’t “save” it until the end
• First :06 – money voice sets up the flow - You have to win in the first :06
• Different agents have different ideas and will very often ask you to rearrange your demo to help them better market what they consider to be your money voice

Commercial Voice Over Demos

• Don’t put two character voices in a row in a commercial demo
• Strong comedic punch needs to be followed by something that’s unimportant so that people can laugh through it
• If there is a movie trailer, leave it out of your commercial demo – trailers are promos
• Conversation evokes emotion

Production

• Aim for solid production value and diversity of sound
• Don’t have a long intro
• Have something good enough at the start to get a listeners attention
• Leave at least :02 between tracks if you have multiple tracks
• Personal reads are best without sound effects, dry voice is nice sometimes
• Any expletive / deleted bit should or could be placed at the end or could act as a second intro
• Have as many tracks as you want in your demo, but send people what THEY want (i.e. if people want to hear narration, send them narration!)
• Spend lots of time sequencing the demo
• Production should complement the voice (on all speakers)
• So long as the people who are receiving a compilation demo know that it’s not specific to a given style, it’s OK, however, it is very good to be specific
• There is still value associated with having a CD with your voice over demos on them that you can send to clients or agents, so be sure to have a number of promotional CDs available for those who request them

It takes a lot of courage to throw your hat in the ring to be a demo critique done, but it is worthwhile and will help you in the long run if conducted by a professional instructor, demo producer or trusted peer.

Have you found any of these tips useful?

If you have a tip that you'd like to share, please leave a comment and we'll keep the conversation going!

Cheers,

Stephanie

P.S. Read the sister post inspired by David Bourgeois' comment!

©iStockphoto.com/Peter Finnie

Want to be a video game voice actor?

Learn the biz of video game voice acting and secrets on how to keep Gamers happy with your performance by reading this wonderful article about DB Cooper's VOICE 2007 lecture "Infinite Ammo".

Get ready to rock!

On Friday afternoon, the delightful DB Cooper presented on video game voice overs. Her lecture was entitled "Infinite Ammo".

I'm happy to share some excerpts from this highly entertaining and illuminating presentation.

DB revealed that the place of voice acting in video games is evolving because the entire process of audio in video games is evolving.

As game design advanced, so did the place of audio. It became more sophisticated. For example, the music in Final Fantasy 7 was phenomenal.

In the infancy of video game voice overs, some of the voice acting was absolutely atrocious. Don't believe me?

Visit AudioAtrocities.com.

Infinite Ammo means...

That the importance of audio in gaming and voice over needs to be taken seriously.

Games begin their lives under a great deal of negotiation: disk space, bandwidth, budget and so forth. At present, only 20% of an entire budget is allotted for audio (this includes music and VO).

At this time, DB cued a cut scene for us to watch on the projector.

A Cut Scene is a brief movie that plays within the game that moves the plot ahead.

Everything sounds the same. Voice acting gets squeezed as the game is produced. Since the majority of video games are produced in Asia, the English versions need to be dubbed (or localized), including all of the dialog, street signs, and so on.

Fact: Everything in audio is rushed regarding the implementation of the creative into video games.

Question: "Is music a rush job too?" (sent in an email from DB to a composer friend)

Answer from pro composer: "No time to write, really, I have to do all the music for kids games ASAP with a tight deadline."

The gaming industry needs to realize that audio is important, and to the North American market, is almost more so than the visuals that the creators take such pride in at their studios in Asia.

Another Fact: All too often, the script is not even heard aloud until the day of the professional recording.

Imagine not having anyone read a script aloud after it has been localized from another language. Scary territory!

Video game dialog management is not fun. Video game voice acting "communications" is about how to save the most paper or make file naming consistent, not focusing on proper sentence structure and the seamless flow of dialog.

Oftentimes, the only requirement of the audio directors is to “just make it work”. Quite the task if you ask me!

Ideally, the audio director should be familiar with the script, understand the flow of the scenes he or she is directing, and will have a distinct idea of the best way lines will work in a scene. Unfortunately, there are times where the audio director doesn’t see the script much earlier than the actors do.

Audio directors are always brought into the game very late. After all, it would be absolutely senseless to make the audio director a part of the development team, would it not?

So, we've briefly covered the development of video games and where audio fits into the equation.

Now, let's talk about the art form of video game voice acting itself.

Less is More

When performing VO for video games, less is more.

Vocal acting for interactives (simulation-style teaching programs, video games, and Interactive tutorials) requires being LESS larger-than-life than most VO work. You need very little to convey a lot.

Cartoon voice acting is to video game voice acting as stage acting is to film acting.

Gamers really care about the critical quality of voice overs. If they don’t like the voice overs, they chat about it all over the web. There are websites and forums dedicated to ripping apart voice actors in video games - I mentioned one of them earlier in this post.

Here's a quote from DB Cooper on the subject:

"Gamers spend a great deal of time in the intimate company of the characters in a game, and can get very wrapped up in their characters’ lives, and the emotional bonds can be terrific. I enjoyed over 200 hours with Final Fantasy X, a game whose story had me in tears several times. Final Fantasy XII took nearly 160 hours to go through ONCE . In fact, I just finished the game a couple of weeks ago-- and it came out November. Believe me, if a game is well written, a gamer has a great deal invested in the protagonists. And Gamers really care about the critical quality of the acting. If it’s not up to snuff, trust me--the VO gets skewered across the globe via game message boards and chat groups."

How do we avoid this scenario?

Firstly, you should avoid “indicating”.

Indicating is a term used to describe the presentation of an emotion. In many cases, it's what you think it "looks like", especially when demonstrating the emotion on-camera or in person.

In the case of voice actors, what we think is what it "sounds like". It's playing the symptoms, not the cause.

“Breathing as acting” doesn’t sit well with anyone. If your character has been exerting himself, then coming into a conversation with authentic panting is fine for the first line or two, but no one wants to hear huffing and puffing throughout dialog, whether from physical exertion or emotion. . . it’s just too transparent an attempt.

Do you have a favorite television character or character from comic book or piece of literature? If you do, you are most likely attached to the main characters, or protagonists.

To give you an idea of how this concept translates to video game characters, the people who play the games, or Gamers as they are called, are very attached to their protagonists.

Gamers can smell bad voice acting techniques a mile away. As DB said, breathing as acting doesn’t work under any circumstances. Nobody wants to hear fake voices. People, particularly Gamers, prefer authenticity.

Exertion Sounds (Directly from DB's notes)

Exertion vocalizations are the HARDEST PART according to the voice directors.

Does your character handle weapons?

Practice with weights that match your weapon. Swing a 20 pound dumbbell to see what kind of effort a broadsword would require. Learn, if you can, when it is like to shoot a gun. Have you taken a martial arts class? What does it feel like to throw a punch, or to be hit? You need to be able to honestly “fight” because so many games include battles of one kind or another.

I know during the filming of Marathon man, Sir Lawrence Olivier supposedly chided Dustin Hoffman for staying up all night so that his character would look exhausted, saying “WHY NOT TRY ACTING”?

I say, why not try authenticity? Do some physical preparation.

~~

Now, some thoughts on Microphone technique

• Film actors are better at video game microphone technique and Additional Dialogue Replacement (ADR)
• To be a voice actor for video games, you have to be able to scream.
• Use the most imagination for the tiniest of lines. This will determine if your voice is loved or annoying.
• Exertion audio is the hardest to do but the most important and numerous of voice over lines in video games
• If you are familiar with martial arts, gun shooting or fighting, it will help you to prepare for a role.
• If you’re going for a role in an ongoing game series, research the games that came before your game.

Circling back to screaming, keep these facts in mind:

This is not an easy feat, or pleasant for that matter. Screaming uses the same muscles that you use when you throw up. You should back away from the microphone when called to do this.

Hot tip: Learn about the characters and the recurring roles if you're auditioning for a series. Gamers expect you to respect the characters and plot as well as the history of the series.

DB related, "You may wonder why there aren’t rehearsals for such a complex dramatic form."

When she began her research, she asked audio directors about rehearsals and the consistent answer was “There are none.” It’s all about cost constraint.

This is why being familiar with games is such a valuable asset.

This is also why you need to be ready to "act on a dime”.

When making a video game voice acting demo, Include instructions for how to play the game. This will show that you understand the game as well as researched it thoroughly.

Quick vocab lesson: A side is a script that only has one character in it.

To wrap up, Audio directors need VAs (voice actors) to do two things:

1. Give them a line reading
2. Improvise / ad lib

Don't know what line reading is?

A "line reading" is where you repeat a line exactly the way the director reads it TO YOU. It's like being a parrot.

Sometimes, the directors have a very specific way they want a line said, and they just need it in the character's voice. It's the opposite of improv.

Pat Fraley’s "series of three" combos are valuable because sometimes you’re unsure of what’s going on in a scene or if you don’t know your proximity to the other characters.

• Best, Contrast, Best
• Goldilocks (too hot, too cold, just right)
• Like the person you’re speaking to, don’t like, are very close to.

It’s a great way to give the director a bouquet of line choices and hone your skills as a video game voice actor.

Wow! We've finished covering all of the lectures from VOICE 2007.

What do you think of DB Cooper's lecture? Has it helped you in any way?

Leave a comment for DB here on the blog :)

Best,

Stephanie

Who is the real Porky Pig?

How did he get there?

What keeps him going?

Read about Bob Bergen's extraordinary one man show "Not Just Another Pretty Voice" here at VOX Daily.

Growing up, Bob Bergen (then known as Bobby Bergen) was always doing voices, whether he knew it or not.

Bob's main goal in life from as early on as his 'tween years was to become the next voice of Porky Pig - a character voice acting role defined by Mel Blanc - a role Bob was determined to inherit from the master himself.

As most fans do, Bob picked up his telephone book and sought out every M Blanc in the phone book, hoping that he'd be able to speak with his hero and voice acting role model.

Not having much luck, he remembered that Mel's wife's name was Estelle, so he dialed up all the E Blanc's he could locate, and wham, Bobby Bergen found himself on the phone chatting with Mel Blanc.

The conversation (which was taped at the time) was interesting, revealing even.

Bob found out that Mel was to record at a particular studio the following week. After the conversation ended, as most fans would do, Bob then looked up the studio in the phone book and called in to "confirm" Mel's recording session - the receptionist then confirmed the time and date of the session, and, you guessed it, Bobby Bergen and his mother played hooky from school to go watch Mel Blanc in action.

At the age of fourteen, Bob Bergen already knew what he wanted to do, and that was to be the voice of Porky Pig. What better opportunity to glean those skills than to watch Mel Blanc in the booth?

Upon arriving at the studio, the secretary asked Bob why he was there. He answered that he was friends of the producers and they invited him to sit in. Satisfied, the secretary let him in to the room.

Once in the room, the producer asked him why he was there. Bob then told the producer that he was friend of the secretary. Again, the producer took no notice of the white lie and directed Bob to a place where he could watch the session from.

Finally, a budding Porky Pig got to see the legend perform live.

When he started recording, there was something odd about his technique. In one hand, Mel held a cigarette, in the other, some oxygen. In between takes, he would alternate between the two substances while young Bobby watched on, slightly confused.

It was said that Mel was told once that if he ever combined the two (cigarettes and oxygen), he'd be blown sky high, hence why he was so meticulous about keeping them apart. That may also just be commonsense, but still a good thing to be reminded of in the event those two should interact.

That wasn't the only thing out of line during the session.

After takes of Porky Pig and Tweety, the engineer would "speed up" Mel's voice.

Astounding!

While we're on the topic, Bob's Porky is not sped up, but his Tweety is to better match Mel's renditions.

Okay, back to the story at hand.

This must have been absolutely horrifying for Bob.

Bearing witness to substance abuse, recklessness and production tricks all at once that equally involved Mel Blanc in a recording booth doing the voices he knew and loved would drive him to say nearly anything.

In Bob's case, once Mel had exited the booth and approached him, his gut reaction was to say "You're not as good as I thought you were".

Open mouth, insert foot!

After that, Mel was out of the picture, minus the tape Bob replayed so many times that it finally broke. Remember, this was in the era of splicing and dicing with tapes, not digital wizardry.

Heart broken, Bobby moved on, grew up and eventually got the call to be the voice of Porky Pig and Tweety on Tiny Toon Adventures (a show I happen to have been in the demographic for, as Bob noted later that evening).

Bob has voiced the character of Porky Pig for over 14 years.

What keeps him going?

Maintaining the integrity of each character and paying tribute to Mel Blanc for the groundwork that he laid for future voice actors.

Now, that's only a snippet of the hilarious, side-splitting, tear jerking performance. If you go to Bob's show "Not Just Another Pretty Voice" at the Stella Adler Theater in Hollywood later this month through the end of May, you'll get to see what we all were privy to at VOICE 2007.

What I can reveal, however, is that there is a happy ending for taped telephone conversation recording.

Several years ago, Bob's mom called and asked him if there was any significance to this old tape she found packed away called "Phone Conversation with Mel Blanc".

Bob couldn't believe it. Back then, there was no hope that the recording could have ever been salvaged, but now, in this wonderful age of technology, it was only a studio visit away from being fixed.

And, that's what he did.

You can listen to the phone conversation between Mel Blanc and Bobby Bergen on Bob's website. They talk about the creation of voices.

So, what do you think?

The moral of the story is if you work hard enough, you will achieve your dreams. Bob did, and not every boy can grow up to become Porky Pig!

Please leave a comment with your thoughts and or feedback for Bob.

Best,

Stephanie

P.S. I am listening to Bob's conversation with Mel right now and it is giving me goose bumps! I'm nervous for Bob more than 25 years after the fact, but it all worked out swimmingly :)

Looking for a Character workout?

MJ Lallo brought the house down with her comedic personality and unique character voice acting techniques.

Learn some tips on how to make the most of your character voice acting career from a pro's point of view.

MJ Lallo's lecture on the Friday was all about putting technique into practice!

I'd like to focus in on several topics that MJ covered, including the Animation Advisor's organization, why it is so very important that you hire talented people to provide character voice acting services, and some techniques for you to try.

Animation Advisors

Animation Advisors is an organization MJ is involved with.

A part of what the Animation Advisors do is provide people with the steps they need to take to produce their animation project. They also strongly suggest that room for good voice talents is included in the budget.

You will save when you hire talented people

If you don’t hire talented people and hire other less talented people for less money (or for free), you will pay exponentially more in studio fees because the person you hired doesn’t know how to act!

Avenues for Work in Character Voices for Animation

Singing

Be sure that you can sing in different characters. Sometimes people hire actors who can’t sing (this happens more often that you would think) and they need to find a voice for those parts.

Being able to sing in character is a specialty skill - not everyone can do it.

Location

You don’t have to be in Los Angeles to get character work

Women Need to Step Up and Write!

Women need to start writing and producing more parts for other women’s voices. That's how the roles for women in animation voice overs will increase over time.

When creating a character, remember these points:

• Think like an animator
• Always think over the top in animation
• Nothing politically incorrect in animation

Idea: Explore all of the voices you have that stem from different parts of your body.

• Talk out one side of your mouth and then the other side
• Under bite
• Buck Teeth

You need to develop a vocal range in all of your characters and an arc in each character. The challenge after you’ve created that voice is that you then have to act.

Something to remember is that anytime you are not using your regular voice, you are doing a character voice over, even if it is a commercial.

Most importantly, try to relate to the people you are working with or talking to and your best performances will come through!

If you enjoyed MJ's lecture, please leave a comment on the blog!

Stephanie

Wine, cheese, Don...

Couldn't get much better than that!

Want to know more?

Keep reading!

Discover the magic that is Don LaFontaine, the King of Voice Overs.

As a young man, Don LaFontaine wanted to be taller (and, also an actor).

Along the way, he ended up in the army and somehow picked up the tools of the recording trade while working for the government.

Once those skills were honed, Don moved to New York and got a job at a recording studio. This is the very beginning of Don's journey to voice over.

Nowadays, Don is known for his voice, however, back in the very early '60s, he was known for his copy writing skills, crafting the movie trailers that he would one day be the voice of, part of a select group of entrepreneurs in the new world of movie advertising on radio and television stations.

One fateful day in 1962, an unnamed voice talent did not show up for their session to record a movie trailer voice over. Don being where he was at the time with the knowledge that he had (being the writer and all) was asked to be a substitute in his place to record the voice over.

It was the easiest $82.00 he had ever made and the first of millions.

For twenty years, Don was a casual announcer and producer. Then, he moved to Los Angeles and was able to work on movie trailers full time. 3,500 trailers later, Don sat confidently in his chair on the stage at VOICE 2007.

Now that we're through with our history lesson, let's dig in to what Don shared last week, shall we?

First off, Don said that all voice over work has a rhythm and you have to give it its proper weight. Just as in music, there is a rhythm to voice over performance.

Some voice talent are endurance runners while others prefer to sprint. Find your rhythm.

A quote from Don LaFontaine:

"If you are going to be successful, you have to have veracity and honesty - if you can fake that, you've got it made. Your heart needs to be fully behind what you read. Devote yourself to the service of words and you're halfway there."

Silence followed for a brief moment, then the inevitable question, "What's the other half, Don?"

"Wait 'til I die", delivered in true Don LaFontaine fashion.

To continue on that train of thought, Don encouraged writing to help develop the entire side of your creative personality. It's when your personal feelings ring through that veracity is realized.

Two of Don's favorite movies to work on were The Terminator and The Elephant Man.

When asked about his busiest days as a voice talent, Don stated that once he had 26 separate recording sessions, 200 spots in a day, including an entire season of spots for Cops! It's a wonder Don has time to sleep!

On another note, the room applauded when Don said that he was the biggest champion of women working in voice over. He also noted that the time is coming for women to really step up in the industry and record voice overs traditionally recorded by men.

Producers need to change their mindsets when in comes to trailers, that is to say, be more open minded when it comes to hiring women. Amen to that!

After the interview was completed, audience members were able to line up to ask questions of Don.

Of all the questions posed, the one with the answer that most piqued my interest was about maintaining vocal health.

Many of the suggestions Don gave were very similar to what the Vocal Department at UWO's Don Wright Faculty of Music presents to new voice students.

Here's a short list straight from Don LaFontaine:

• Don't abuse your voice
• Don't smoke
• Don't drink excessively
• Don't raise your voice
• Hydrate (drink water) frequently
• Don't overwork your voice

Don was also asked if his career could ever be duplicated. Will there ever be another superstar like him?

His answer was no, there likely will not be another person who reaches the same summits in their career and there certainly won't be another Don LaFontaine.

Don started out in the infancy of an industry and had the chance to help build and shape it. He wrote his own work and was the only one recording movie trailers for years. No, his career could not be duplicated.

The amazing thing is that Don had no formal voice over training. He worked hard for everything that he has. It is his determination, honesty, and instincts that have positioned him in the role he finds himself in today.

After 43 years of doing voice over, Don admitted that he has never grown tired of his job. He regards each page of copy as a new page. Each page is different.

Don's 43 years of voice over experience comes coupled with 43 years of AFTRA membership. Don revealed that eventually, if you are successful, you will find it necessary to join the union. Being a member of the union affords certain benefits, a pension and other perks. Don concluded that he had never been treated poorly by AFTRA.

After all was said and done, Don remained to have his picture taken and shake the hand of everyone who was there to meet him.

Kara Edwards snapped this picture of Don and I - thanks again Kara!

Did you like this article? If so, leave a comment and share your thoughts!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

P.S. Tune in to Jay Leno April 12th to catch Don!

Top photo of Don referenced from RickSommers.com

Has it been your dream to see your name on the credits of an audio book at Barnes & Noble or on Audible.com?

Have storytelling skills burning a hole in your pocket?

Bettye Zoller presented a fabulous lecture on the business of audio books and how you can find your voice in the 2nd largest growing sector of the entertainment business.

Bettye Zoller opened her lecture by sharing some objection handling regarding the number of voice talent out there in the market:

"There are not too many voice talents out there. Don’t let it discourage you. The only thing that is keeping you from success is you!"

Bettye first fell in love with recording when she was called upon to sing jingles in Dallas, TX. One session singing jingles made her more money than she had ever seen at once and more than a month’s paycheck. Upon realizing her potential in the field of jingle singing and voice over, she changed career paths and followed her dream.

Since that fateful day in Dallas, Bettye Zoller has enjoyed 34 tremendous years in the business, ranging from voice overs, jingles, roles as creative director and audio engineer.

Although you can have a specialty niche that you prefer to work in, Bettye cautioned that you can’t just do audio books or narration; you need to do anything that will make you money (commercials, telephone systems, and so on).

Early on in the presentation, a harsh reality was explained:

"Voice over people are just a piece of meat - the end of the food chain."

You could hear a pin drop after that one, folks.

Don't believe the statement? This is how Bettye supported it:

"Someone thinks they want to do something. Then they have to create the thing. It gets created, a client may get the final say, and then finally you get the thing planned and the last thing on the food chain is who is going to record the voice over."

Some tips:

It isn’t how good you are, however, in the casting director’s mind, it's often 'does this person fit the role'?

Advice: Leave your ego at the door. Don’t get disheartened if you are not chosen for a particular job, just move on.

Now, onto audio books specifically!

Sales of audio books are the 2nd largest growing sector of the entertainment business.

According to the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), talent are being hired more and more for audio book jobs than ever before.

An exciting aspect of the audio book craze is that print and audio are now done simultaneously instead of a book having been written and then a voice narration added to it once the publication has proven its worth on the market.

By virtue of this shift in consumer demand, you can do any kind of project in the world from poetry, non-fiction, to fiction to children’s books and everything in between.

Now, don't pigeonhole narration into just the audio book category. If you do that, you'll be limited in your choices and income streams!

Audio narration is also corporate work, educational work for the government, the military, schools (educational videos), medical narration, and so on.

Significant observation: With narration, you are not selling, you are telling. That’s there difference.

When you record for a fiction project, you may be voice acting as well as narrating.

As a narrator, it is your responsibility to become a personality and embody certain traits that your audience wants and needs to hear.

As a narrator, you want to talk like someone another person would appreciate hearing from. In order to achieve this goal, it is of the utmost importance to show personality in your voice. Be a friend who teaches.

Before you start recording, always ask producers what they want you to deliver in a more dramatic way. Pay close attention to the mood that they want you to project. Narration requires more finesse and nuances.

Take all of the direction you can before you are nose to nose with a microphone - you may be reading for a seven hour project.

Don’t go to a session without being prepared!

Let's look at documentary and film narration.

A little known fact is that most of the time you will be narrating videos or films before the film is even shot.

The director may request that you record several varying reads at different speeds so that they have a few interpretations to pick from in order to include the narrative that best complements the finished film.

Curious to know which narrators are getting the jobs?

Browse books and find out who narrators are in shows, look them up on the Internet to hear more samples. Don’t listen to stars, try to listen to unknowns who were cast solely upon their talent.

Pick out the color words in a narrative. Color words can also be described as adjectives. The color words paint the picture you want to convey in a lyrical and beautiful manner.

Bettye took some time to draw names to read a variety of narratives, including Voices.com's very own Carol Mroz! It was a treat to watch and learn from Bettye observing her in action as a teacher.

There were several entertaining performances with lots of nuance and character voicing. Some of the reads really pushed people creatively and psychologically and everyone who was called upon rose to the occasion with style.

As we came to learn, narration isn't just about storytelling, it's also about being able to stretch out of your comfort zone with your voice. This may include character voice acting, gender roles, and voice ages.

Be able to vary voice acting ages in increments of 5 years. If you are older, young yourself up.

Memorable quote from Bettye:

"Doing voice overs is never having to say you’re sorry!"

Producers would rather you just start again than apologize and begin in the middle of a sentence, hence the never having to say you're sorry (if you feel compelled, save it for the end of your session!).

So, just how do you get through a narration for an audio book recording successfully?

• Vary the speeds and inflections used in straight narratives
• If voicing a multi-role script, be sure keep the narrator voice consistent and have distinct character voices
• Don't leave too much space in between character lines for continuity
• Understand what you are reading and now what is going on in the script

Ask yourself: Can you do a continuum of ages, feelings, interpretations?

If you can, this is what sets you apart from the announcer... in other words, your voice acting skills.

Q&A with Bettye

Q: If you have kids, does reading the bedtimes stories at night help?
A: Yes, reading literature to children will help. If you don’t have kids or other relatives, volunteer at the library to read.

Q. What is an average Audio Book Narration Demo length?
A: They are longer than regular demos. Want cuts that are from 30 - 45 long and a variety of genres, non-fiction, kids story, medical, bodice, violent one, poetry, etc. Usually about 4 - 5 minutes long. Some are longer, however, it’s up to you. Be sure to do characters. Don’t put anything on that demo that you wouldn’t want a leading NY publisher to hear. Make sure it’s good!

Never do anything that isn’t in the script without asking.

Q: Any advantage of benefit to joining the Audio Publishing Association to break in?
A: Yes.

Q: How do you give character zest over a long period of time?
A: Vary pacing, tone of voice, put as much interest in it as you can.

Q: When recording multiple characters on digital, do people ever record many characters at home to practice before heading into a session for the real takes?
A: Yes, some people do.

Quote from Bettye: "The only stupid question is the one you don’t ask."

If this lecture presentation or summary has helped or inspired you, please leave a comment!

Best,

Stephanie

A member of the Canadian contingent that came to VOICE 2007 in Las Vegas, Debbie Munro has some insight to share with you!

Find out what one of Canada's top VO coaches thought of the VOICE conference.

As Deb says, "We discovered that we’re still in the baby steps of something huge about to burst."

I met Debbie Munro in person for the first time in Las Vegas.

She flew in from British Columbia and we came roaring on a jet plane from Ontario...

Funny meeting in the US, eh?

To give you some background on Debbie, she is currently represented by Deborah Harry Talent and has been teaching across Canada for the past 5 years as a voice instructor/acting coach.

All patriotic lingo aside, I'd like to publish this note I received from Deb today about what she took from the experience at VOICE 2007 and also some insight regarding the future of the industry itself:

After spending a week at the first of it’s kind Voice Over Convention in Las Vegas (VOICE 2007) it is my duty to tell you to get on board soon if you want to make into the world of Voice Over.

We discovered that we’re still in the baby steps of something huge about to burst.

Even Celebrities have taken an interest in next years event and each US union (including interest from ACTRA) has climbed on board to recognize the growth and opportunity in this generous and exciting craft of Voice Over.

This event was much bigger than we anticipated and it was my honor to represent Canada at this prestigious, historical and life changing event.

If you’ve been told that there is no work available in Voice Over, let us prove different.

Allow us to show you the opportunity available outside of your local market and in the comfort of your own home. We are teaching you the skills necessary to advance in this wonderful craft but also the equipment and means to begin your own home studio business.

It takes a lot of work to get there, but starting now puts you in the veterans circle.

We predict BIG things to come in voice over due to technology and instructors/talent spreading the word and spreading the work.

This is a rare industry full of happy, excited, generous and talented individuals who leave their egos at the door.

All our best,

Debbie Munro & The Mic & Me Team!

New to the Art of Negotiation?

Are you in for a treat!

Let master negotiator Gregory Best show you the ropes on how to negotiate and use your negotiation skills to your advantage in the business of voice over.

Day three greeted VOICE 2007 with the smiling face of Gregory Best and his toolkit for negotiating success in voice over business endeavors.

To start off, Gregory said that all small business owners and voice talent need to negotiate and a lot of negotiators are actors.

The clarification was also made that voice talent are small business owners, a very important fact to remember.

That's right, you are in business for yourself!

Negotiation can occur anywhere, including at home, in business and or at work, daily transactions, and even voice acting.

Simple Definition of Negotiation:

Negotiation is the process of overcoming obstacles in order to reach an agreement.

That being said, the primary obstacle is the distance between both parties. Each party has different goals, desires and needs to be considered when negotiating.

As you may have already discovered, the art of negotiation is present in nearly every aspect of business from setting a fee to agreeing upon services to be rendered.

3 Core Elements of Negotiation

1. Information is Everything

We need the right information to understand what the job entails, how your voice will be used, and so on. Get all the information you can to quote appropriately. Remember, get as much information as you give.

2. Time is Precious

Time is something that we need. You have deadlines. Deadlines force decisions.

For example, I will be getting paid by X date, or, we’ll look at a product by X date. While you can often set your own personal deadlines for projects, you need to respect the fact that other people you may be working with have deadlines to meet, too. Try to negotiate deadlines with others to make them work for you.

3. You Have the Power

We all have power. Most of what you see in the world is perceived power. People only have the power that you give someone and vice versa. It’s what you have and you need to use it effectively for yourself.

Telephone is one of the riskiest forms of negotiation. You are not in person, info flows too quickly, skip key points, math errors, no visual feedback (e.g. body language), time frame is limited to the length of the call.

* Use time to your advantage - preparation is the key of negotiating. Do research when time allows, always be prepared. Don’t be pressured by a perceived deadline.

In the end, it’s about wants and needs. Use the time you have to your advantage.

What makes a good negotiation?

Strive for negotiations where both parties are satisfied. You have to come to something that everyone can live with, not necessarily both smiling about it. You both have to have your needs satisfied. If it comes across as unbalanced or unfair, you won’t work together again.

What kind of a negotiator can make something like this happen?

PROFILE OF A GOOD NEGOTIATOR

Has the “negotiation mindset” or “negotiation consciousness”

• Attitude of those who make deals
• Everything is negotiable
• Assertive is stating what he or she wants and challenges everything

There's a difference between being a servant and aggressive when negotiating - be a servant.

AIMS HIGHER

• Value your services
• Respect yourself - you are you - no one else is you
• You can always come down but you have to aim high enough in order to come out with what you want
• Eliminate negative self-talk - be positive
• Self-doubt limits our ability to be assertive
• Learn to say no

REALLY LISTENS

• The best negotiators are good listeners
• Listen to the other side
• Don’t be thinking of your counter point

ASKS QUESTIONS

• Good negotiators, like detectives, ask questions
• Better understand the other side’s position
• Learn as much as you can - write down your checklist to better understand your position and don’t leave anything out

HAS HIGH ASPIRATIONS

• Top salespeople genuinely believe in the value of what they are selling
• Your expectation becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy

IS PATIENT

• Most patient person is in the driver’s seat
• Being patient will force the other side to give in as their anxiety rises
• Flexibility - be able to change or shift gears

FOCUSES ON SATISFACTION

• Looks at situations from the other side’s perspective
• Realizes that everyone looks at the world differently
• How does the other person perceive the situation?

IS WILLING TO TAKE RISKS

• Reasonable risks based upon reliable information
• Have a plan of action if it doesn’t work out

IS A PROBLEM SOLVER

• Looks for mutually acceptable solutions - don’t take things personally, it’s only a game
• Doesn’t get sidetracked by personal issues when negotiating

SOMETIMES WALKS AWAY

• Always has an option
• Doesn’t mean you won’t return
• Avoid the “new car fever” mindset

The Negotiating Game

• Make it a game
• Don’t let it become personal
• Keep to the subject of the negotiation
• It’s not about personalities

Style Supercedes Substance!

Let's look at Who You are. Who you are is your reputation:

Develop Positive Attributes

• active listening
• warmth and sensitivity
• patience
• sharing of feelings and consideration of others
• integrity and ethics

You will run into all sorts of people when you are negotiating, and for these different people, you will need to adopt unique styles to negotiate with in order to come away with a mutually acceptable agreement.

For instance, there are the tough guys, the nice guys, the nitpickers, the procrastinators and many others. Gregory goes into quite a bit of detail on how to handle each of these personality types in the VOICE 2007 workbook.

To conclude, you need to have strategies in place BEFORE you go to the bargaining table.

Your game plan may vary, but always know what it is and be confident. Know what it is you want out of a negotiation and what you can compromise on.

One very simple but overlooked rule: If you don’t ask, you won’t get.

Remember to be patient, check your personality outside of the deal at the door, and never accept the first offer. Also, don't be the one to make the first concession, either. Concessions should never move slowly.

Have you learned a thing or two from this lecture recap?

If so, please leave a comment for Gregory to let him know what you think!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Copyright Gregory Best, 2007

The anticipation mounted as the third and final iPod Shuffle winner was being drawn.

A mass of people ran up to the stage to get their business cards in last minute for the drawing...

What follows could only be described as WOW!

Voice actor and baritone Matt Merback assisted with the drawing of the third and final iPod Shuffle on Saturday, selecting the business card of a very excited Debbie Andreen!

I remembered Debbie well because earlier in the week, she had stopped by our booth and had a nice conversation with me.

We both noted that the colour of her business card was green and rhymed with her surname - those things are memorable for those of you with unique names (little branding hint!).

Congratulations to Debbie, Kara and Jeff on your iPod wins. I'm glad that you're all enjoying them!

Stephanie

Just what is the psychology of voice over?

Something to do with left brain and right brain...?

To find out, check out James Alburger and Penny Abshire's lecture presented at VOICE 2007!

So, just what does psychology have to do with voice over?

James and Penny pointed out early on in their lecture that as a voice talent, you are responsible for delivering a specific message to a specific audience.

When you're in front of your microphone, you are responsible for communicating, motivating, informing, educating, inspiring, and last but not least, selling.

Most importantly, throughout this entire process, it is still important to remember that you are performing!

When you record a voice over or message, the intent is to connect emotionally with your audience and build trust. You are creating an "illusion of reality" in the minds of your listeners through the use of compelling characters in interesting relationships.

OK, so that's what you need to do as a performer and professional voice talent. But, what does that have to do with the big psychological picture?

Penny and James spent some time on how your brain works and why this is relevant to your success as a voice talent.

You have two ways of thinking:

• Judgmental Thinking
• Critical Thinking

Judgmental Thinking is not conducive to succeeding in voice over. It's all about talking down to yourself - that doesn't ever help now, does it?

Critical Thinking helps you to identify the areas you may need to improve upon and then move ahead to become a better voice over professional.

I won't get into too much detail (there was a lot here folks and I recommend that you look into the DVD of the conference or books by James Alburger), but for homework, I'll assign you to look up the terms Broca and Wernicke. These are areas of your brain and both play significant roles in how you produce speech and interpret auditory information.

These gems also help to block unnecessary info and prevent sensory overload.

Now, on to the idea of Left Brain and Right Brain.

If you are a typical Left Brain thinker, you are driven by logical and linear thinking; you're likely very good at math and word problems, fixing things and navigating around.

If you're a Right Brain thinker (I know I can relate to this one), you are potentially a performer, more creative and also less linear regarding thought patterns. So, even if your grandfather was a mathematical genius, but your right hemisphere of your brain is dominant, those traits may just pass you by!

As a voice talent, you need to use both sides of your brain to fully succeed in your endeavors. Both hemispheres of your brain need to work together.

Don't sacrifice one for the other or it will certainly show in your performance. You need to find an ideal balance between the two that you are comfortable with as a professional in the field of voice over.

Some key points to take away when performing:

• Add drama whenever it is appropriate
• Find emotional hooks in the script
• Stay in the moment of the story you are telling
• See and understand the big picture of the story
• Listen and respond
• Discover the subtext of the story
• Keep spontaneity in your reads

Actress Shirley MacLaine was once asked by James Lipton how she defined acting, to which she replied "It's all about listening and forgetting who you are."

Some key points to internalize for Effective Communicating:

• Interrupt - Get their attention
• Engage - Keep them listening
• Educate - Give them the info they need to know
• Offer - Give the listener an opportunity to take action

As mentioned above, there were many interesting aspects of James and Penny's presentation that I have chosen not to reveal here.

To learn more about these techniques and the Seven Core Elements of Voice Over in James' book The Art of Voice Acting.

Best,

Stephanie

Disclaimer: Several key points and topics in this post were drawn from excerpts from "The Art of Voice Acting" as published in the VOICE 2007 workbook. Copyright James R. Alburger - all rights reserved.

Just how many tricks did Pat Fraley smuggle out of Hollywood?

These tricks will astound you!

Learn from one of the masters in this hilarious post.

Pat Fraley delivers pure Edutainment!

After the morning break, the room was prepared for Pat Fraley's grand entrance (of which he was entirely oblivious), complete with everyone wearing Pat Fraley's signature black sunglasses as pictured on his website.

As Pat entered to the theme music from Mission Impossible, he was greeted by hundreds of supporters wearing sunglasses and a standing ovation. I later found out from talking to Pat and DB Cooper that the sunglasses were Frank Frederick and James Alburger's idea (also, DB thought it would be great, too) and that he was touched and blown away by the experience.

Now, to declare some of those smuggled tricks!

Pat began his presentation with a live demo which was incredible to behold. The number of voices that came out of his mouth in a mere minute and a half or so was immense.

A very quick revelation to start off with: Pat says that experience is not the best teacher, it's the slowest teacher. His job as a teacher is to expedite a student's journey.

A teacher's job is to also get their students work. Helping students make it in the industry not only improves their circumstances and boosts morale, it also drives referrals to teachers who have schooled successful alumni.

Here are three of the many tricks Pat talked about at VOICE 2007 (Pat has a product that he sells where you can get them all for a very good price, so consider these a teaser!):

A smuggled trick: Smile and you won’t pop p’s!

Another trick: Need to sound 'hurt'? Do this:

Make really believable exertion sounds. These occur after an act of violence or a fall. When you are creating these sounds, stress the vowels and use consonants to propel and separate unique exertion sounds.

Another way to make a more authentic exertion sound is to mildly give yourself the Heimlich maneuver to get a forced sound.

Now, here is one really Shameless trick.

Let's say you are called upon to audition for a character role online.

Pat suggested that you could pre-record your audition - Slate your name - ruffle the paper and read the character name as if you’ve never seen it before. This tactic makes people believe that you are very good at cold reads.

On the flip side, the danger is that they also may think that you’re not prepared for the audition.

Hot Tip: If you think it will be dangerous, it will likely be good! Working outside of the box is not a safe place to be, but you’ve got to risk it. This tactic truly depends on the copy you are reading. Make your own judgment.

Oh, couldn't help myself! Here are three bonus tricks:

Bonus #1: Slating Your Name in Style

Consider having a British voice talent slate your name at the beginning of your demo or audition.

Bonus #2: Series of 3

Have you ever heard of an ABC role?

Essentially, you prepare 3 takes when auditioning. The first is your primary interpretation (A), the second is different from the first (B), and the third is mix between takes one and two (C).

Most directors will end up casting your third take, in other words, your C role.

You could think of this as the Goldilocks method: Too hot, too cold, just right.

Bonus #3: Stupid Character Voices

When called upon to be a stupid, dolt, or brainless person in a voice over, make the interpretation sound naive, not stupid. It will become more charming, engaging and acceptable (non-offensive to others).

So, there you have it.

If you'd like to smuggle some tricks via Pat's CD (60 tricks, vocal skills and techniques), you can purchase it at his website PatFraley.com.

Julie Williams also gave a wonderful review of "Greatest Cartoon Voice Tricks Ever Smuggled Out of Hollywood" in VOX Talk episode #17 that includes other tricks not mentioned here (but presented at the conference) including Mel Blanc's "Baby in a Hankie", Nancy Cartwright's (Bart Simpson) "Little Man in a Can" and "Speaking Fake French" among others.

If you enjoyed Pat's presentation, please leave a comment!

Cheers,

Stephanie

Need a website tuneup?

Chris Wagner's lecture on voice over on the World Wide Web will give you several ideas on how to renovate your online real estate.

Read, take notes, and apply!

Discover some of the hottest website secrets unleashed at VOICE 2007.

Chris Wagner was the first to lecture on the second day of the VOICE Conference (Thursday March 29, 2007).

A veteran of the computer industry, Chris works for Sun Microsystems and is currently a voice actor and the owner of WBCDesign. Chris carved a niche for himself in the business of voice acting online, 30 years in the making.

Chris began his lecture by sharing the results of a search he conducted on Google recently for the term "voice actor", a search query which yielded over 350,000 results.

In 1994, there were only 3000 websites on the Internet. To give you an idea of how far we've come in this the Information age digitally, this past month alone (March 2007), there are over 110 Million websites online.

By anyone's calculations, that's quite a number of websites to think about let alone rank above.

This lecture was engineered to help you build a proper web presence and reach your target audience. The first step is to know who you are targeting and what your message is.

A simple website design is better. When you complicate things, people get confused and it is easier to stray from your main objective which is converting traffic into customers.

Try to keep the number of clicks on your own personal website to a minimum. Saving people from having to click may earn you their business by keeping them focused on the task at hand while evaluating your website and voice over offerings.

According to Chris, you should AVOID:

• Sites more than 1 page long
• Information that doesn't correlate with your main message
• Automatic audio that cannot be turned off (install a mute or stop option)
• Multiple font types
• A hit or visitor counter
• Linking to unrelated websites
• Linking to your competition
• Poorly written text (copy)
• Reliance on search engines for all business
• Copyrighted material that you don't have permission to use
• Offensive materials that slander other businesses

Now, here's a list of things you SHOULD have on your website.

Website Elements

• Contact Information
• Voice Over Demos (current demos)
• Testimonials
• Links
• Professional Headshot
• Biographical Information (2 paragraphs)
• Credits and Work History

Delivery Options

• Email audio files
• FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
• Secure client login to FTP

Website Improvement Ideas

Keep in mind that you are never really ever "finished" working on or improving your website. Here are some great tips to build into your website maintenance and promotion regime.

• Follow a review schedule
• Make a list of changes / improvements
• Keep time sensitive material up to date
• Check your website on a regular basis
• Submit your website to major search engines
• Focus on Keywords
• Use domain name as part of your email address
• Do link exchanges with Voices.com and other marketplaces

Potpourri (A Hodgepodge of great ideas for you)

• Use web filters to stop spam!
• Make use of ID3 tag templates in recording software for demos to tag your audio
• Send a newsletter to clients that ties back to your website
• 1074 by 678 is standard for pixel size
• Place tracking software on your website (Google Analytics)

Lastly, your website should reflect your unique personality. After all, you are really selling you and your voice over services.

I hope you've enjoyed this article - it was one of my favorite lectures.

Looking forward to your comments,

Laurynda

Have a special memory of VOICE 2007?

Share it with everyone as a comment on the blog!

It's now officially one week since VOICE 2007 came to a close in Las Vegas, NV.

There were many wonderful events and speakers present, but what I'd like to know is what left a mark on you personally?

Maybe it someone (or the people) you met, insight from a lecture, participating in an activity, or perhaps renewed enthusiasm for your career.

Share your favorite moment or memory of VOICE 2007 by leaving a comment on this post.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Stephanie

P.S. I'll be posting more on the lectures this coming week. Until my next post, happy holidays for those celebrating :)

You don't have to serenade your clients beneath their balcony literally, but it doesn't hurt to send them some good old fashioned "Love Notes".

Frank Frederick's lecture on the subject of getting your customers to love you was a hit with those who have a way with words.

Branding all the way along, you'll thoroughly enjoy this post for the sheer loveliness of it! Grab a tic tac and get ready for some Love Notes with Frank Frederick, The Voice.

To carry us through to the end of day one, Frank Frederick lectured on the topic of "How to Create a Brand that Your Clients Will Love".

Firstly, Frank started at the beginning (a very good place to start, you'll concur) and asked everyone if they knew what a brand was.

Do you know what a brand is?

Examples of some familiar brands include Coca-Cola, Ford, Disney, and Google. Another way to come up with familiar brands is to play word association games and ask questions like "What's your favorite car?", "What's the first company you think of when you hear the word computer", and so on.

Now that's fine and dandy for established corporate brands that have been around for generations, but what about your brand? What is your brand?

The real truth about the brand is that a brand embodies aspects of your personal identity... A brand identifies who you are, what you can do and what you do for other people.

To use an example, Frank Frederick brands himself as "The Voice". Some of your colleagues in the room have already branded themselves as "The Voice of Choice", "Puma Voice", and "The Voice Inside Your Head" among other brands.

After a few minutes, we participated in an exercise that examined the obvious, relative and subliminal messages that are simultaneously conveyed when a brand name is uttered.

Now, just how do you achieve brand awareness for your brand amongst your customers and target market?

You have to write them Love Notes in your customer services that you provide and the customer experience. If you brand with Love Notes, your customers will "absolutely love you".

There are three facets of creating a brand:

• Seductiveness
• Familiarity
• Mysteriousness

Every brand has a back story, something that confirms where they've come from and how the company got to where they are today.

Hot Tip: When you are developing your brand, you’ve got to have a back story in order to draw people into your community.

In the middle of the lecture, we were asked to break into small groups (essentially the 8 or so people who sat at our tables) and create our own brand based upon nothing other than the fact that we were to brand our table.

The creative juices were obviously flowing for many of the groups and I think there was also a lot of hunger in the room (edging in on 5 p.m. at the time).

A large percentage of the groups included a reference to food or beverages in their pitch, a couple even stating that they were a smorgasbord of voices or a vocal buffet. Another group played on the VO5 Hot Oil brand while others focused more on their universality, touting that they were voices for the world, from many lands, and so on. Several groups incorporated humor as tools to persuade and engage which were quite effective as well.

Something I'd like to point out (this was only a brief 6 minute exercise) is that if you do not have a solid company image or identity, it is incredibly challenging to come up with something definitive particularly if you have several different visions and little more in common than the industry in which you work and sitting together at a conference.

Those who stepped up to the creative plate found a way around that obstacle and really made a go of giving their table an impressive brand that people would potentially do business with.

To close the lecture, it was time for some crazy questions!

How Branded is your Brand?

The perception of a brand is called brand identity - a front of mind awareness. Create an identity that makes people listen. The most valuable real estate available to you as an advertiser are the minds of other people, specifically your potential or current customers.

Branding is the Heart of Marketing

Fact: Over 98% of people will do business with the first company that they think of.

That's quite a percentage there. Now, as Frank Frederick suggested, we need to do some critical thinking as to why certain brands are stronger than others.

"Why are they the market leader in that company?", Frank asked. The answers he received varied, but they all drew similar conclusions.

Successful and powerful brands speak to your emotions, deliver on a promise, and create an image. It may not sound like rocket science, but this area is not for the faint of heart.

From my own experience and those of the Voices.com team, branding takes a great deal of passion, charisma and guts in addition to creativity and know-how. To reiterate, branding to this degree is not just something you do, it is truly a way that you live.

How can you create an identity to make your customers love you?

• Listen to what your customers are saying about you
• Use familiarity to draw them in
• Incorporate seductiveness, or as Austin Powers would say, "Your mojo, baby".

Finally, Frank had this advice to share:

"Thrive on the intensity of passion: when you believe in yourself you make others believe in you too."

If you have some Love Notes to share with Frank, please leave them here for him on the blog as comments!

Cheers,

Stephanie

Disclaimer: Several key points and topics in this post, though interpreted and expanded upon, can be found in the VOICE 2007 workbook. Copyright Legend Corporation, Park City, UT - all rights reserved.

What kind of instrument do you have?

When it comes to voice quality and professional range, you need to know how to work that instrument of yours.

Find out what pro voice talent and coach Connie Terwilliger has to say on the matter!

When you're trying to figure out what kind of a voice you have, it's a good idea to start with something familiar to compare your instrument to.

Connie asked the question "What kind of piano do you have?"

For instance, your voice could be likened to a Steinway, a Young Chang, or a generic department store keyboard depending on the quality, tone, and physicality of your voice.

During the lunch hour, participants were given a homework assignment to listen carefully to their voices and note elements about their instrument that they hadn't thought of before. Many people realized that although they thought they had a neutral accent, others told them that they had a distinct regional accent.

Connie then delved into how accents can limit or expand your career options:

If you have a neutral voice, there will be more work out there for you whereas if you have a regional accent, the work will be limited to a particular niche or casting requirement.

Mid range voices that are resonant with no discernible accent usually get the jobs. The accent most associated with this type of quality is the Midwestern US accent.

Accents like a Southern accent or New England accent are more limited with regard to demand... although that is the case, there a lots of people out there who live in areas of the country that have distinct local accents. What do they do?

The answer to this quandary is to figuratively adopt another brain!

If you have a strong accent or personality that takes you away from what is expected, employ another person's brain when you work on projects that require a neutral accent so that you can perform better and more accurately when recording a straight read.

For those of you just getting started in the industry, it will be hard for those of you who have the most common voice types. Lots of people have your accent and by virtue of that fact, may sound the same.

What you'll need to do is find something special that sets your voice apart that allows you to market yourself in the best way.

The VO Reality of Today

• Lots of work today through online marketplaces and voice over websites
• More competition correlates with more opportunities
• You need to critically analyze your competition
• Figure out their voice demo strategies and you’ll learn how to improve yours.

What makes something the way it is?

Know Your Competition

Overall sound: Are their demos professionally recorded using a good clean microphone? Are they using different microphones? Is there a subtle sameness throughout the recording?

Tip: In your recording session, see if the producer can change the microphones halfway through the session or EQ the microphones a bit to sound like a different microphone.

Listen carefully: Do you hear pops, mouth noises, unusual sound? Tinny? No acoustics? What is it that makes a voice recording sound professional?

Flow of the demo: Does it move along quickly and hold your attention?

While we're on the subject, some voice over demos are way too long and often redundant. If the producer has to shut you off (or stop your demo while it is playing) they likely are thinking that your demo is:

1. Too long.
2. The same kind of thing (not versatile / is redundant).
3. Not what they’re hearing in their head as they’re casting for a job.
4. Great! They will often say “I love that voice” and set your demo aside.

What do you really want?

A seamless, quick, and interesting voice over demo that leaves them wanting more at the end.

One way to achieve this is to add dashes of variety throughout your demo. Variety manifests itself in pacing, diverse attitudes, reads, copy, music, and sound effects.

Caveat about going to a demo mill:

They have their favorite music, sound effects and copy and every demo sounds the same. You have to be your own producer, do the self-evaluation and know what’s good. Look for variety in subject matter and in product. Variety in pacing, mix it up, show them what you can do. In point of view, you don’t want all the same kind of spots (first person, second, third). Add variety in all production elements.

Back to the core of the article :) What else should you be analyzing?

Acting skills: Top notch, mediocre, painful? Pick material that’s right for you. It's good to experiment and practice reading copy. Play your voice over demo, then play it back again and analyze all over again.

Give a lot of thought to the scripts. Use scripts that you can work with to highlight your voice and style.

What else do you need to succeed in this business? Understand the business and where the opportunities lies.

Marketing

• Don’t record a demo before you’ve got a business and marketing plan in place.
• Networking is different from sales. Effective networking leads to sales. Use schmoozing skills.
• Be able to understand and evaluate opportunities.

Point of interest: Union talent may be perceived as more professional by people who have been working with union talent. Something to consider when running a voice over business.

Something else you'll need to do to remain competitive is to keep yourself and your tools updated; have a marketing budget in mind to help you reach your target audience.

Business Sense and Ability

When you run a business, there are many aspects to consider as an entrepreneur. If you've been with an agent for as long as you can remember and are just striking out on your own, pay close attention to the following elements.

• Negotiation: What to charge. The cost of doing business, tools, marketing, value of time, how long it takes you to work and so on.
• Bookkeeping: Need to have some bookkeeping skills.
• Collection: Following up and making sure that you get paid.

Professional Tools:

• A great demo
• A web presence / place to park your demo
• A real domain name and corporate email address.
• Recording capability

When you go out to build your home studio, start by listening to and comparing microphones, setup an acoustically treated room, get a clean sound card, and purchase pro recording software. It's wise to learn how use the equipment before you invest too much in equipment.

Perk: Have some technical skills before you get into the VO biz.

Final question that you'll need to ask yourself...

DO YOU HAVE THE TIME TO DEVOTE TO THIS ENTIRE PROCESS?

Do you have the time to gain a true idea of the costs, time, and the expertise required for starting a career, for maintaining it, and so on?

Part and parcel of a voice over career is maintaining it, operating it, and keeping up with new opportunities, whether related to performance or new technologies.

When you are auditioning, take a critical look at your work and the process:

Is it right for you? Can you actually do it and does the client want what you are going to send?

Use your self-evaluation techniques to be sure that you are auditioning for the right projects.

Recording the project: Make sure that your self-evaluation techniques are in check while directing yourself. Objectively listen. Continue to self-evaluate as you progress in your career.

What else can you do to help your career continue to flourish?

• Create new demos and update old demos
• Re-evaluate your niche
• Test new niches

Connie asked at the end "Do you have what it takes?

Being in the VO business requires skills in the following areas:

• Talent
• Business
• Marketing
• Technology

And those are just the business side of things!

If you are curious about more areas to develop in your career, you can also read Rodney Saulsberry's lecture about stepping up to the mic and overcoming obstacles in your voice over career.

Your comments are welcome!

If you attended Connie's lectures, please leave her a note here to let her know what you thought of her presentation.

Best,

Stephanie

P.S. I've published this post about Connie Terwilliger's presentations at VOICE 2007. Please note that much of this material was taken directly from her copyrighted materials in the Conference Workbook. Please contact her (connie @ voiceover-talent.com) before reprinting this content.

Curious about the Art of Science and Self-Evaluation where voice over is concerned?

Looking for a formula for success as a professional voice over talent?

Connie Terwilliger may just have the answers you're looking for!

Read about Connie's lecture from VOICE 2007 to conduct your own self-assessment of where you stand in the world of voice overs.

After the break on Tuesday morning, Connie Terwilliger took the mic and gave a very informative lecture on the different stages people go through when becoming voice over talent as well as equipping her audience with the tools necessary to define where they stood as voice talent.

Connie's lecture was entitled: The Art of Science and Self-Evaluation

There are four basic phases that people go through as they mature in the voice over career. These Four Basic Phases are:

• Wanna-be
• Newbie
• Part-time
• Full-time

To define them further, a Wanna-be is someone who has been told that they have a great voice and should use it to make money.

A Newbie has taken a couple of seminars, has an idea of the direction they want to go in, simple technical abilities, and a low cost home recording studio.

A Part-time voice talent still works a day job to pay the bills, is more educated in voice overs than a newbie and has the ability to record pro quality audio.

Lastly, a Full-time voice over person is actively working in the business and can pay their bills in voice over or a very closely related area.

Of those who participated in Connie's poll to see how many people belonged to each phase, a quick show of hands revealed the following:

Wanna-be - 6
Newbie - 40
Part-time - 40
Full time - 30

The exciting aspect of voice over is that everyone has the ability to learn from each other because everyone is unique and has different backgrounds.

In order to discover where your niche is in the business, research the industry and options available; essentially, explore what it out there and how you can apply your skill sets.

For instance, you may find that you are a fabulous writer or can create or put music together with words. These skills are relevant and in some cases, necessary components of working in voice overs.

Connie insists that you explore the industry!

Be sure to ask yourself some questions. Start off with these:

• What do you sound like?
• What is your true natural sound?
• What are you doing?
• What can you do with your voice?

Evaluate your potential. You should be constantly evaluating your choices, decisions, and route of your voice over career.

Finally, figure out all those things and find where you fit in the industry. You really need to know where you fit in order to find success initially before you can branch out.

Now for the big question:

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

• Talent: Is your voice in demand or does it need a bit of work? Find your signature sound. What’s your money voice? Big money takes something unique and special that grabs people by the ear. It's a combination of your body and acting know how.

• Business: You need to know that you can actually run an office and get invoices sent out. Follow up, due diligence, customer relationship management (CRM).

• Marketing: Marketing is a major part of voice over career. Market yourself by following up, meeting new contacts, and advertising your services.

• Technology: In today's world, technology places a large role in how voice talent do business. Research hardware and software but also know your limitations.

The formula for success is simple: Find the people who want to buy what you have to sell.

If you want to take the bull by the horns, follow these suggestions:

• Make demos that showcase that ability and then get it into the hands of the people who have the money.
• Listen to what you hear on the air, websites, anything that has voice over. Think about the many different ways that people are hiring voice over people to voice things for them.
• Some jobs will pay top dollar, some won’t. Some will challenge you and some are boring. There are some fun things in the industry but a lot of it could be dry, however, it pays very well.
• Suffer through names, addresses, etc. to do other fun projects
• Know the voices that are out there and what they are actually doing
• Where are people making money - who might have the money to pay for this spot?

Connie ended the lecture with an easy listening exercise:

• Listen for what the voice type is
• Identify the attitude of the character speaking
• Discern the product being sold
• Interpret the meaning of the words and not the words themselves

Ex.

Voice type: Urban, youthful, etc.
Attitudes: REAL PERSON - Hip, sexy, tough, warm, motherly, everything in between.
Product being sold: Target demographic, regional? Radio and TV?
Interpretation: Figure out what required voice over style is along with nuances and coloration of the words.

I've published another post about Connie Terwilliger's presentations at VOICE 2007. Please note that much of this material was taken directly from her copyrighted materials in the Conference Workbook. Please contact her (connie @ voiceover-talent.com) before reprinting this content.

Click here to learn about the second lecture.

Cheers,

Stephanie

Who got the second iPod?

A lovely lady with a long flight home!

Check out this post to find out who the winner of the second iPod Shuffle at the VOICE Conference was, sponsored by Voices.com.

With some help from two wonderful volunteers, we drew for the second iPod on Friday afternoon.

Kara Edwards' name was called out!

Here's a picture that was taken of Kara, Carol, and I with the iPod Shuffle.

Good times in Vegas :)

Stephanie

(from left to right: Stephanie Ciccarelli, Kara Edwards, Carol Mroz)

Have you read Rodney Saulsberry's book, "Step Up To The Mic"?

If not, this account from notes taken during Rodney's lecture at VOICE 2007 is an awesome preview of the book.

If you missed the conference or haven't yet read the book...

You've got to read this!

The conference kicked off with a lecture from Rodney Saulsberry author of You Can Bank on Your Voice and Step Up to the Mic.

We began the lecture with an entertaining stroll down memory lane, discovering how Rodney Saulsberry, a Detroit native and graduate of the University of Michigan, came to find himself in the world of voice overs.

Rodney's career in the entertainment business started in music on Broadway and then exploded on the small screen with guest starring roles in series including Taxi, Mash, Gimme a Break, 227, Hill Street Blues and Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman with a recurring role on the day time soap opera, Capitol. The lecture was accompanied by a video presentation highlighting his on-camera work and voice over work.

Living in prime time, Rodney continued to pursue work in television and film which eventually lead to voice overs and voice acting. Some of Rodney's favorite roles comprise of Joe Robbie Robertson on the hit cartoon series Spider-Man, Chyron in the Animatrix, Ufwapo on Ahh…Real Monsters, Willy on Xyber 9, and has guest starred on many other Saturday morning cartoons that include Rugrats, Duckman and Static Shock.

The world of commercial voice over and movie trailers came calling. Rodney found that his background as a singer gave him the foundations he needed to find his "signature voice", also known as a money making voice, voicing commercials for Verizon, Twix, Zatarain's, Burger King, and Alpo to name a few.

The lecture was entitled, Step Up To The Mic.

It wasn't merely suggesting the stepping up to the microphone and recording something, not at all. What Rodney meant by this was the overcoming of obstacles in your way as a professional voice talent and how your personal journey, voice acting ability and attitude affects how your career will turn out.

Several times, Rodney emphasized the fact that voice-overs are a journey through life and how everything contributes to your signature voice, something we'll talk about in more detail momentarily.

There were three unique aspects of Rodney's presentation that I would like to share with you:

1. The Analogy of the Tree
2. Movie Trailer Lush Technique
3. STRIVE

1. The Analogy of the Tree

Imagine that you are the trunk of a tree. This is your 'signature voice'. Everything in your life has lead up to this voice including your training, background, and personality. The tree trunk is strong and robust, just as your signature voice is your most valuable asset where making money in voice overs is concerned.

Simply put, your signature voice is the voice you are hired for most often and makes you the most money. Remember the post asking which voice type you were? Very much like that.

So, if your signature voice is the trunk, what feeds the trunk? The roots, of course!

Rodney described the roots as outside influences.

If you listen to other voice overs and concentrate on what others in your field are doing, you can incorporate parts of what you hear into your signature voice. The roots of your tree keep you nourished and challenge you to continuously improve your craft and diversify.

The roots may also give you inspiration to try out voice overs or voice acting projects that are not within your comfort zone or realm of your signature voice. This is where the branches come in.

Branches are extensions of the tree trunk. Branches are numerous and not as robust as the trunk of the tree itself. Your branches are a mixture of what you hear and incorporate into your offerings as a professional voice talent outside of your signature voice.

For example, if your signature voice is in commercials, your branches may very well include promos, voice acting for animation, telephone voice work or corporate narration. While these voice over styles may not earn the bulk of your income, they certainly add to your bottom line.

Summary: Take all of your unique qualities and make it your signature voice. Your signature voice is what you get paid for.

2. Movie Trailer Lush Technique and Other Reads

The Lush Technique was one of the most popular on the presenter evaluation forms submitted about Rodney's lecture, so listen up!

Lush is a word Rodney uses to describe the pauses or breaths that follow a dramatic trailer read. For instance, if you had the typical line (this is not copy from the lecture - just a sample read):

In a world...(pause)
Where peace had reigned for centuries...(pause)
Two rival nations lost their way...(pause)
Abolishing the treaties signed by ancestors in generations past...(pause)

You get the idea. The "Lush" is all about spacing, timing and intrigue. Essentially, it's Lush that keeps you listening and on the edge of your seat. A very effective technique.

Rodney had several volunteers read dramatic trailers and comedy trailers incorporating techniques discussed.

Comedic trailers require a smile in your voice while dramatic trailers incorporate the Lush technique and a more serious tone.

Real Person Read

Rodney also examined the Real Person read, often a spontaneous, off the cuff delivery that makes people feel like they are listening to a real person and not an actor or an announcer.

To sound more like a Real Person, you might want to look at a USB Snow Ball mic to plug into your lap top computer, aptly named as it is shaped like a snow ball. Its a nice mic because it doesn’t bring out the bass frequency which in turn makes you sound more like a real person.

Some great tips when recording a session or auditioning for a Real Person read were to think of other names and talk directly to real people (do this in your head, not out loud).

For example, you could say:

"What do I want, (Rodney)? I want an adviser who understands that being really successful and really happy..."

Rodney also suggested that you shouldn't memorize the ad copy. Bring a pencil with you instead of a pen to make notes as directors often have more than one interpretation that they have in mind where a given read is concerned.

While in studio or at auditions, don’t feel the need to act with other actors. Stay focused. Another tip that you should observe before getting to the studio is not wearing clothes or jewelry that makes noise. Those condenser microphones are extremely sensitive, so watch out!

Side note from Rodney: The microphone companies have done all of the work and technology has come a long way. You don’t need to spend a lot of money because many microphones nowadays can do the job. Buy things inexpensively. ISDN may eventually be replaced by online options.

I think every voice artist took something different away with them at the conference, however, Rodney's Lush technique was most definitely a hit.

3. STRIVE

This last portion is all about your attitude and how a positive attitude can affect your career in ways you may have only dreamed of.

You can turbo charge your career by being positive. After all, most things in life are a state of mind to begin with :)

• You have to love your work to be passionate
• radiate confidence daily
• Knowledge is power
• Nothing changes if nothing changes

Hot Tip: The secret to not being overly concerned about one audition is to get lots of auditions. Don’t worry about one audition - it is not anything you should take personally - learn from the experiences.

Challenges and Stepping Stones

Don’t let the obstacles in front of you keep you down. Pick your friends well. Step over the obstacles to get to your prize.

Watch out for so-called competitive friends. These are people who sometimes don’t have you career or best interest at heart. Step over the rejections and so-called friends. When you step over these challenges you can make them stepping stones to learn from.

Taste your financial success. Build it, see it, taste it.

Lastly, put all of things things together and remember to STRIVE:

Stick to your objectives
Take your time
Renew your faith
Initiate new challenges
Victory is your goal
Excellence will be your reward

Staying positive results in:

• Feeling less stress
• Avoiding self-sabotage
• Having more energy
• Lets a positive attitude become your brand

Build a positive foundation by:

• Acquiring the right voice-over nutrients
• Putting together a team
• Getting the right coaching

A positive approach to voice-over work in necessary for:

• Auditioning
• Finding an agent
• Making a demo ( a minute )
• The CD Demo is still real - people still want it for various reasons.

Overcome Obstacles such as:

• Procrastination
• Rejection
• Difficult Copy
• Constant Changing of the copy

Work as a team in voice-over sessions by:

• Contributing ideas
• Give 110% of your effort and creativity

Useful empowerment exercises such as:

• Affirmations
• Interactive VO exercise
• The mirror

Here's a question for you: How has a positive attitude helped you in your career?

Several professional voice talent shared their perspectives in Rodney's new book Step Up To The Mic, A Positive Approach to Succeeding in Voice-Overs including Don LaFontaine, Harlan Hogan, Nancy Cartwright, Rob Paulsen and Frank Welker.

I have the book here with me and will be reviewing it on the blog in the coming months!

Above all, NEVER GIVE UP and Be Fearless.

"If you have the audacity to conjure up the tenacity to reach your highest voice-over capacity then I know that there is great success in you."

~ Rodney Saulsberry

I hope you enjoyed this review. Keep your eyes on the blog for more lecture reviews from the VOICE Conference :)

If you attended Rodney's lecture, be sure to leave a comment here for him on the blog!

Best,

Stephanie

P.S. Watch Rodney's video presentation from the conference here!

Disclaimer: Several key points and topics in this post, though interpreted and expanded upon, were drawn from Rodney's new book "Step Up to the Mic". Copyright Rodney Saulsberry - all rights reserved.

The first iPod Shuffle has been drawn for!

This is the first of three iPod Shuffles, so if you haven't put your business card in our special box yet, be sure to do so before the conference is through.

Find out who won the iPod Shuffle and put a name and face to one of your colleagues.

Jeff Gelder is the first winner of the iPod Shuffle draws that we're holding over the next couple of days.

Jeff chose the blue iPod. I must admit, blue is my favorite colour and I think he picked well indeed.

We took a moment after the draw to have a photo taken. Now you have another face to put to a voice!

Stay tuned to find out who the winners are of the remaining iPod Shuffles...

Best,

Stephanie

At the halfway point for the conference, there's been lots to celebrate!

Find out what's going on at the VOICE Conference at VOX Daily, and remember...

What happens in Vegas, doesn't have to stay in Vegas!

It's the end of another jam-packed day here in Las Vegas at the first ever VOICE Conference!

Each day has brought with it amazing presenters, exciting door prizes and the glorious opportunity to meet people within the industry, putting faces to the voices we know so well.

Let me start off with the opening of the conference on Tuesday night. Those of us who arrived early had the chance to register and pick up our goody bags, which I must say were quite impressive.

A part of those bags included an AFTRA lanyard for our name tags. I've included a picture of mine here for you to see.

Everyone has a red AFTRA lanyard, so it is really easy to find people who are associated with the conference. As you can see, our team took the liberty of designing our own name tags for the event - pretty spiffy, eh? You have to know the back story :)

Highlights from the first full day of lectures included a crowd pleasing performance by Rodney Saulsberry, a thorough and candid overview on developing your voice over career and self-evaluation by Connie Terwilliger, and some marketing "Love Notes" from Frank Frederick, whom I might add is an avid hugger (all of you here can agree with that!).

I plan on meeting with AFTRA while I am here to ask some key questions. Now by the way is your opportunity to let me know what some of yours are so that I can bring them to their attention and get some answers for you!

The evening carried on with a touching tribute to Lennie Weinrib, an actor, voice actor, and most importantly, loving father and grandfather. Linda Weinrib, Lennie's daughter, and also a voice talent, was present to share her memories and give us a different perspective into her father's illustrious career and personal life. I'll be posting more about Linda and Lennie Weinrib in the coming days.

Day two, which we've just completed was also one for the books.

Highlights included a lecture by Chris Wagner about voice over and the web, Pat Fraley and his slick tricks smuggled out of Hollywood (you really need to see this one when it comes out on DVD!), and an afternoon with Penny Abshire and James Alburger, teaching everyone about the art of voice acting and the seven core elements of voice over that when combined, create the sound and style you need to get work in voice overs.

The man of the hour later that evening was The Don - that's right, Don LaFontaine. AFTRA sponsored his visit with us and many were taken aback by meeting such a legend in person. I got to meet Don and he's agreed to an interview via email (we ran out of time for questions). I'll get more on Don's visit and eventually the interview up for you as soon as I can :)

By far, it's meeting our customers that has brought us the most excitement. To name a few that come to mind this late at night (it's now 11:50 p.m. PST), Bob Souer, Kara Edwards, Jay Buck, Rob Young, Liz de Nesnera, Bobbin Beam, Moe Egan, Kera O'Bryon, John Pruden, Rick Reid, Connie Terwilliger, Penny Abshire, Curt Byk, Dan Lenard, Michael Rhys, Mike Forrester, Bettye Zoller, Amy Snively, Melissa Frank, Derek Partridge, Gregory Best, and T David Rutherford. Please forgive any omissions at the tolling of midnight - they are not intentional - you know me :)

Tomorrow night, we're being treated to a performance by Bob Bergen, the current voice of Porky the Pig. Again, I hope to bring you more insider info on the show and of course, a conversation with Bob Bergen to share with you.

I just wanted to make sure that I got something out to you. It's been a bit of a drought these last couple of days, eh? I thought to myself that come what may, I had to get something out to you tonight.

I can't wait until I post more for you. It's been such a blast. Carol, Laurynda, and I have been taking notes during each lecture and have so much to share with the rest of the team when we get home and also with you here on VOX Daily.

I'll be blogging individually on each lecture - just give me some time for the dust to settle!

If you're here at the conference and want to leave a comment about how your experiences have been thus far, please do so!

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Stephanie

Peter O'Connell of audio'connell wowed PodCamp with expert advice and hot tips on recording equipment, teaching the crew about PodPresence.

PodPresence

It was my pleasure to be able to meet up with Peter O'Connell at PodCamp and hear his lecture on how to make your podcast more listenable. My seat mate was none other than Elaine Singer, a wonderful lady and voice talent you should all get to meet. (You can watch the video of the session by clicking on Peter's name a couple of sentences prior to this one).

To kick off his 30 minute talk, Peter discussed the basics, including equipment and recording software.

Here's a list of the equipment needed for podcasting:

• computer
• good sound card
• audio software
• usb (or firewire) connections are easier
• some brands to consider include m-audio Creative Technology, Alesis, Tascam and Digidesign

Peter said that you don’t want to ignore the sound! Most computers have an OK sound card. If you can't hear things very well on your computer, you will need to get an external sound card. What good is trying to get your message out if nobody can hear it?

Sound cards are priced between $35 - $200.

Hot Tip: Microphones can be bought for 300-400 dollars less than retail price when purchased from reputable people at eBay. There are sources out there aside from retail that will save you a lot on your bottom line.

Audio Software is:

• the heart of your production and the key to shaping the sound that you want
• depending on the level of commitment, there are a lot of choices that you have to work with

So, what should you use?

Beginners: AUDACITY is free ( http://audacity.soundforge.net ) or ePodcast Creator 2.0.62

~ Free and practical for basic voice recording

Advanced: Adobe Audition or ProTools

~ Free demos on download.com or visit digidesign.com or adobe.com

Microphone / mixer

You get what you pay for on mics ($50 - $300 for a pro name brand)

There are two schools on mics:

A list of high branded microphone producers who have some really good headsets that you can buy right now:

• Audio-Technica, Shure, AKG
• Handheld on stand
• Podcaster mic from Rode

Using USB microphones makes it easier to plug the recording directly into your computer; all the more portable (and convenient), but make sure it has good sound.

Headphone jack right in the microphone allows you to hear the sound coming right into the microphone - Rode.

If you have more than one presenter on your show, get a mixer.

Alesis and Yamaha make reasonably priced, good quality USB and firewire mixers. Full mixer, mic, headphone sets start at $250
~ bsw ( http://www.bswusa.com/podcastsolutions/)

Moving right along, it's time to get serious with your show and voice:

Organization = Credibility

You’re the expert but sounding like one doesn’t mean that you need a great voice. The listener needs to understand what they are going to learn or experience from listening to your podcast. The most important thing is that your message is heard and understood! Articulate!

Don't ramble... in some podcasts, this may be desired, but the majority of listeners favor more structured and content rich programs that keep their attention, not veer off in all directions.

Setting up the rundown

Take these factors into account:

• Respect peoples time
• Take them down the road in a logical sequence of events
• Set an agenda for your podcast episode
• Establish a running time for the show

What is a reasonable running time for your show? Will they stay with it for however long? Think about that as you are doing your rundown. Planning ahead will save lots of time editing your podcast.

Throughout the program, ask yourself:

How will my audience like this, not like this, respect this, understand this?

When these factors are not taken into consideration, you may end up with an unlistenable podcast.

Sound options to consider

The production:

Defining your podcasts’ objective/ purpose/audience will help you know how you want to design sound elements in the show.

Consider:

Intros, outros, breaks, segments

* Professional doesn’t mean conservative

Your on-air sound

Although nearly everybody hates how they sound, your listeners will be more forgiving if the content is great.

Hot Tips:

• sound like you only a bit bolder
• picture / imagine who you are talking to - a picture of a friend on a wall or something like that.
• posture (sit up straight), diction, and language

Again, if you want to watch Peter's lecture video from PodCamp, visit this link to get to the page where you can stream the video.

Cheers,

Stephanie