Had to share this awesome light show that my talented husband created!

Labels: Christmas lights, computer controlled light show, Holiday lights

Although one of the Voice Over - How To pages on my web site is titled “How To Read Copy”, it is very basic practice information for you and not in any way meant to be a substitute for working with a Professional Voice Over Coach! When I started working as a voice over talent, there weren’t as many people out there coaching voice over. Many voice over performers began as radio personalities or DJs and started doing voice over for commercials that way. Some, like me, came from an acting background and migrated into the world of voice over. And, yes, people had always told me I had a great voice, too, but then, as now, that is not nearly enough to help you become successful as a working voice over talent!

When I produced my first voice over demo, I found ad copy from magazines and other sources including radio station DJs who shared copy they had at the station. I probably even picked up some from Soundworks - known as Cook Sound back then- where I was producing the demo. Not having a coach, I relied on the expert guidance of the audio engineer who produced the demo to direct me. Later, I always created demos from snippets of spots I had actually recorded for clients. At the time, that was what everyone wanted to hear - actual work you had done.

Today, everyone with any experience in voice over will tell you that it’s best to study with a qualified voice over coach and only create your first demo when you are ready. You can waste a lot of money producing a bad demo which may not help your career and could, in fact, end it before it begins! There’s just too much competition out there. Agents will not want to represent you if you present them with a substandard demo, and producers will not want to hire you directly with it either.

So, how do you find a qualified voice over coach? Word of mouth and referrals from working voice over talent are the best means of locating those coaches who can truly give you what you need to succeed. Then, you need to talk with the coaches, which may require paying for a session in some cases, in order to determine whether personality types mesh and to see what kind of a feeling you get for how this coach works and how they plan to help you reach your goals. This is an important investment in your career. Getting into voice over requires an investment, especially if you intend to build your own home studio as well. (More about that in another blog!)

If you’re still not convinced that you need a voice over coach to give yourself the best shot at succeeding in voice over, please know that after over 25 years as a professional working voice over talent, I studied with coach Nancy Wolfson, of Braintracks Audio in order to stay current and in top form. In addition, I have worked with others in workshops and tele-seminars. You always need to keep learning. In my blog post titled “I’m Not a Voice Over Agent”, I list Nancy’s link as well as links to other reputable voice over coaches I know.

I hope this helps you on your journey into voice over!

Labels: professional voice talent, voice over coach, voice over demo

We usually try not to be redundant. But when it comes to our computers and important documents, pictures, and audio files it's a VERY good thing! I was reminded of that last week when my computer became infected with a serious virus even though we have a very formidable firewall. The virus attaches itself to some other benign file which you download and then wreaks havoc on your computer. All of a sudden, it appears that your hard drive is full and a window pops up as if it's from Windows which runs a scan, "detects" many issues with your hard drive, and offers to "fix" it. Even though I knew better than to follow through with this, it was impossible to close the window, and once my computer was shut down, it would not boot up again. It's called Windows XP Repair virus, and more about this particular virus can be found at http://www.2-viruses.com/remove-windows-xp-repair.

While this did put my computer out of commission for a couple of days, we were able to copy all of my files from the hard drive onto another drive before attempting to remove the virus. There was nothing wrong with the hard drive and only minimal files are kept on it. All of my important documents and audio files are stored on my server - which backs up daily to another server. Of course, we had to reload the programs I use, but it did give us the opportunity to do some housecleaning as well.

I have intended for awhile to have another hard drive waiting in the wings to take over in case mine should fail, and this has only emphasized the need to keep a back up with current information ready to go at all times making it even easier and quicker to get up and running in short order.

To further complicate things, I was scheduled to leave town just the day after this happened. Actually, since it's hard for me to leave town knowing I might miss something, it did have the effect of making me feel better about leaving since it was impossible to record on my own anyway. I was still able to record via ISDN before leaving even though I had to read the script from my iPhone! My FAX machine came in handy, too. Where there's a will there's a way to make it happen for dedicated voice over talent!

I can't emphasize enough how important it is to have multiple back ups of your hard drive contents and all of your important documents, pictures, and audio files! Keep it all safe, and be prepared.

Labels: computer backup, voice over talent, Windows XP Repair virus

An agency just requested a "Southern" demo, so I just put together some spots I've done with a Southern or Texas dialect. One or two of them are on my generic Character Demo, too. Always fun digging through old spots looking for the right thing to use on a demo. It used to be that everyone recommended only making your demo with actual work that you've done, but that doesn't seem to be the trend anymore. Of course, you have much more control when building a demo from scratch.....sometimes, there just isn't time for that, though. It does help to keep a library of your voice over work for times like these - neatly organized in folders on your computer or server. It's not always easy to get copies of the finished spots, but it's sure worth a try!

Labels: professional voice talent, Southern dialect voice over, Texas accent Voice over, voice over

I've done quite a few medical commercials in addition to other commercial voice overs. I just created and uploaded a new Medical Commercial demo to You Tube:

Labels: Beginning Voice Over, Brown Hand Center, Commercial VOver, medical, professional voice over talent, professional voice talent, Scott and White Healthcare, Voice Over for Commercials

Bill DeWees shares another of his voice over videos on being successful as a voice over talent. Good points and interesting info. I enjoy watching Bill's videos and find that he's no nonsense when it comes to running your voice over business.

Labels: Beginning Voice Over, professional voice talent

Almost daily, I receive calls and emails from prospective voice over performers looking for an agent. I'm not a voice over talent agent. I talk about agents in the "How To" pages on my web site and in my blog posts, so I think my voice over talent web site may be picked up by the search engines because of that.

If you are truly interested in pursuing voice over as a career, I'd suggest you read my "How To" pages on my web site and also my blog posts. I hope those pages and my posts will be of some help to you – at least point you in the right direction. I have received many appreciative emails and calls from prospective talent thanking me for the quality and depth of information I have provided free of charge on my web site and blog. I’m happy to help with some basic advice. I do appreciate receiving emails from prospective talent as opposed to phone calls. I spend much of my day recording in my audio booth, and I cannot often take time out of a busy day to go through a step by step process of how to get started in this business. That’s one of the reasons I have provided the information which is accessible at any time on my web site and in my blog posts.

To begin your journey, you need to understand that it's not just about having a great or unusual voice that counts, but what you do with that voice and how you market yourself!

Those of us who work as voice over artists study and work hard continually honing our craft and marketing ourselves just to work and survive in this business. However, there are many talented people who do that and still do not make a living at voice over. Also, realistically, getting started by taking classes, making demos, marketing, building a web site, creating your own voice over studio, etc., requires an outlay of approximately $4,000 - $5,000. All things to be considered......

It is best to work with a voice over coach (in person or via phone!) in order to make sure you are ready to create a demo and start distributing it. The last thing you want to do is create a demo before you are ready. It will not serve you well in trying to get an agent or trying to get work. There are many good voice over coaches out there who are willing to work via telephone if you do not live in their area. Several coaches that I have personal experience with are: Nancy Wolfson, James Alburger & Penny Abshire , Marc Cashman , and Rodney Saulsberry If you contact them, please tell them I referred you. I don’t make any commission for referrals, but I just like them to know that I’m thinking of them!

Do your homework, find a good coach, and dig in! All the best to you in your pursuit of a career in voice over!

Labels: Beginning Voice Over, professional voice talent, voice over coach, voice over talent agent