Welcome to My Blog!
Hot off the Presses…
Beating VO Burnout: A Dozen Ways
We work hard. Sometimes too hard. Perfection is a burden when taken too far. Consider these 12 suggestions for avoiding VO stress.
read moreJust Before that…
Social Media: Hollow Marketing Promise?
Social Media is effective & trending, but is it right for your VO Marketing?
Save $50 !!!
Thursday and Friday…the last chance to get the lowest price on the best VO conference yet this year.
Maximizing Your Audition Time
The directions say one thing, and YOU are another…but you just KNOW you can do that thing. OK, but think about this first.
Stanching the Voiceover Rates Race-to-the-Bottom
Everybody wants to stop the bleeding. No one knows how. GFTB says it does.
Remember
Memorial Day is not “Happy”. It’s solemn…respectful.
Hawk Talk
John Hawkins is a smart guy, a Las Vegan, and now a podcaster. How lucky am I to be on his program!
Voice Over Education
VO Coaching Conundrums
Apparently, a lot of people want to coach voice acting these days. But why?…and who? When does a voice talent become a voice coach…and where are the rules & regs? A few observations within…
4 Things That Will Make Your VO Clients Love You
Courtesy never goes out of style. Neither does consideration. If this is a relationship business, then here are some tips to curry good relations.
Creative VO Prospecting
Yesterday, I was reading through my Google Alerts, and came across a Craigslist ad placed by a seasoned VO pro. I've re-printed most of it for you to see below the line-break. The ad came complete with a graphic, phone #, website address, a map to his major U-S city...
Clearing Out the Crud
When your speaking apparatus is gunked-up... you can't keep up your VO commitments so well. And Boy Howdy, this is the season for gunking! How many times have I seen anguished posts on social media groups begging anyone for quick-fix solutions that will allow the...
Starting Out
Launching into the world of voice acting is a steep challenge. There are no manuals, but plenty of "opportunities". The opportunities range from legitimate offers of help to outright predation, and everything in between...including the costs involved. As you would...
Qualified to be a VO Coach?
The estimate that only 5% of voice actors are truly supporting themselves and their families with strictly voiceover work is probably close to correct. (remember, 47.93% of all numbers quoted online are made-up). Whatever the number (almost impossible to discern),...
My Monday Night Visitor
What day of the week would you say comes with the highest concentration of VO audition requests? Uh-huh. Monday. Now, let me explain that my prime daypart for recording auditions is midnight to 3am. Lately I've also adding 11am - 1pm after I rise, for doing...
Your Homework Assignment for Tonight
Does anybody watch TV without the DVR running in the background any more? Either way, your homework assignment for tonight is to play back pay a prime-time or prime-time access program and pay special attention to the commercials. Right. The thing that we all...
Lookin’ For a Reason To Come To Vegas?
...like you really needed one, right? Well, September 10th-11th is apparently a very popular VO weekend in Las Vegas. Two coveted voice acting coaches will be here for weekend workshops. #1. Pat Fraley Pat is hands-down one of the top VO coaches...he could do this on...
VO Email Marketing
Your email signature bookends your salutation. Both are perfunctory, and yet pertinent.As overlooked as the signature can be...don't you always notice when it's missing?...or minimal...or overdone?The email signature for a voice-actor is part marketing, part...
World Voices #WoVochat
WoVO: For All the Right Reasons
6 years ago, World-Voices sprang into being.
Now more than ever, our profession needs the ethics we uphold.
WoVO MiniCon #2
You need more than a voiceover conference, you need a World-Voices Organization mini-con!
Details within.
Friday Fun @ VOAtlanta
You woulda loved being here.
Opening Night: VO Atlanta
The faithful are here for the gathering.
Enjoy some photos?
Atlanta-Bound
The great VO pilgrimage is underway!
Watch here for updates.
Advice For VO Conference Attendees
For no particular upcoming conference specifically… 🙂
WoVO Rates Roundtable: Challenges of the Post-Voicebank Voiceover Marketplace
See our latest Rates Toundtable and learn how the post Voicebank world will thrive.
Muffett/Griffith/Courvoisier on VO Conferences
VO conferences are kinda like VO Coaches. Everybody is counseled to get at least one new one a year. True? Maybe, but is it right? A quick guide from some people who’ve been there.
WoVO Rates Roundtable: What Should You Expect to Pay for VO Coaching or Demo Production
A Blue-Ribbon Panel examines the ins and outs of demo production and VO coaching…offering a spectrum of what you should reasonably expect to pay.
New WoVO Rates Roundtable: Rates for Demos and Coaching
Instead of discussing the rates voice actors should charge for their work, we’re examining what we should EXPECT to reasonably be charged for coaching and demo production.
VO Business & Compensation
Stanching the Voiceover Rates Race-to-the-Bottom
Everybody wants to stop the bleeding. No one knows how. GFTB says it does.
Hawk Talk
John Hawkins is a smart guy, a Las Vegan, and now a podcaster. How lucky am I to be on his program!
Advice Avalanche
People wanna know. They have questions. What’s the secret to VO marketing? How do I get clients? Well, there’s marketing wisdom. Then there’s you.
Voice Over Education
3 Warnings About Blog Titles With Numbers in Them
Why? Because it’s a manipulative device to get you to read it! That’s the #1 reason. You don’t want to be manipulated do you? Virtually every last blog about and for bloggers mentions this magic formula. I’m sure there’s some psychological reason behind it…so let...
Gold in the VoiceOver Frontier
Seasoned VO pros have just as much responsibility to protect our profession as do the newcomers.
Here’s why.
Break the Mold
It's late...or early...whichever. The clock says 3:32am as I write this.We're creatures of habit, tending to keep the same schedules. Mine is a late one. Yes, I do sleep. My sleep hours are just not YOUR sleep hours. Personally, I believe the hours from midnight...
What AGE is Your Voice?
Does a voice HAVE an age? Well, I mean, of course it has the age associated with the cords' owner but can you tell a person's age by their voice? Or vice-versa...does a certain timbre/quality of voice HAVE an age?I go back to the analogy surrounding race. The...
Does Voice Acting Have a “Slow” Season?
Time and again I see online posts asking if anyone else is experiencing downtime. It's almost as if people are trying to reassure themselves that their own reduced workload mirrors the experience of others (the old "misery loves company" thing).There are all sorts of...
The Ultimate Authority
Just when I think I've got a bead on the people who make up this voice over community, I find out I really know nothing.I mean, I've been to umpteen VO conferences, I write a widely-read VO blog, I administer some social media VO forums, I'm the president of...
Are You “Studio Approved”?
World-Voices wrestled with this issue from day one.WoVO is not in the business of making subjective decisions about whether you are a good talent, can give a compelling promotional read, or can kill it on a commercial read.But, there are some objective and measurable...
Studio On Wheels
Most voice actors seem obsessed with obtaining, and having at-the-ready, a mobile recording solution.I get it. I'm a geek too, and I've got several iterations of an "away" recording configuration.But let's face it, you can have a U-87 in your hotel room, and your...
Cracking the “Newbie” Nut
Every day a new voice is born. When they get older people tell them "you should be in radio" (not knowing that radio these days hardly has any live humans to speak of anymore). When that happens often enough, the person with the golden pipes starts to believe they...
Go With What You Know
Ask me what got me into being a voice-actor, and I'd tell you "AudioBooks". It seemed like a perfect fit for me. I was interested in it, and pursued it whole-heartedly for about 5 years. I ended up narrating some 40 titles, attended APAC twice, was a beta tester for...
Voice Over Hardware & Software tools
The Skinny on Voiceovers.com
Matt Dubois stepped up with VoiceCastingHub. Now he’s stepping in with Voiceovers.com. Here are the facts from the source.
Dealing With Dialects
Delivering esoteric accents can be learned. But where to turn for a resource? Inquire within.
‘Best of the Web
Stuff too good not to share.
Great Voice Overs – It’s Not About the Mic!
Stop spending big bucks on fancy mics. Here are the three things you SHOULD be focusing on.
ConnectionOpen: Free Day Passes
Sure they want you to try out their new product. And once you see how amazing it is, then you get to give it to others.
A Bounty of Choices
Mmmmm, the latest mobile recording devices
“…the best of the best of the best…”
A classic line from one of my fave movies.
Can you guess what flick?
Polly Want a Crack at VO?
One of the world’s biggest-ever companies is making voice-syth technology available to the masses.
Gear Drooling
A decidedly geeky affliction that hits whenever drool-worthy gear is revealed.
Dissecting the Compilation Demo
Aren’t ALL demos, by dint of necessity, compilations?
Voice Over Events
WoVO MiniCon #2
You need more than a voiceover conference, you need a World-Voices Organization mini-con!
Details within.
Friday Fun @ VOAtlanta
You woulda loved being here.
Opening Night: VO Atlanta
The faithful are here for the gathering.
Enjoy some photos?
Atlanta-Bound
The great VO pilgrimage is underway!
Watch here for updates.
Advice For VO Conference Attendees
For no particular upcoming conference specifically… 🙂
WoVO Rates Roundtable: Challenges of the Post-Voicebank Voiceover Marketplace
See our latest Rates Toundtable and learn how the post Voicebank world will thrive.
Muffett/Griffith/Courvoisier on VO Conferences
VO conferences are kinda like VO Coaches. Everybody is counseled to get at least one new one a year. True? Maybe, but is it right? A quick guide from some people who’ve been there.
WoVO Rates Roundtable: What Should You Expect to Pay for VO Coaching or Demo Production
A Blue-Ribbon Panel examines the ins and outs of demo production and VO coaching…offering a spectrum of what you should reasonably expect to pay.
New WoVO Rates Roundtable: Rates for Demos and Coaching
Instead of discussing the rates voice actors should charge for their work, we’re examining what we should EXPECT to reasonably be charged for coaching and demo production.
August Rates Roundtable by WoVO® Examines VoiceBank Buyout
A Blue-Ribbon Panel of experts discusses the aftermath of VDC’s purchase of VoiceBank in this latest version of Rates Roundtable.
Listen to my Commercial demoVoice Over Niches
Rockets
Johnson Space Center in Houston. 'Shooting a documentary on their rebuilding of the Apollo 11 console room. CourVO
Social Media: Hollow Marketing Promise?
Social Media is effective & trending, but is it right for your VO Marketing?
Save $50 !!!
Thursday and Friday…the last chance to get the lowest price on the best VO conference yet this year.
Voice Over Hardware & Software tools
Pronounceology Proud
Adam Verner did it, and it looks great!
Give it a try?
Gmail Users Only
The sheer amount of Gmail add-ons can make your head spin.
Here are the cream of the crop.
3 Incontestabe Facts About Choosing Mics
…three facts that have nothing to do with polarity, capsules, or name-brands.
read more
Will CourVO Make it on COVOCO?
The greater questions might be: Will Courvo WANT to make it on COVOCO?
read more
A Browser Just for Us!
…and isn’t it really about time?
Get the download links here.
2 “L’s” and an “S” + 1
LinkedIn x 2 and SoundCloud.
Some stellar web resources.
Wouldn’t YOU Share?
Maybe it’s the “news guy” in me. I just hafta tell people when I see important stuff.
Like in today’s blog.
Resources, Resources!
Ebb and flow. Some days the VO world seems to be quiet, but over the weekend it was decidedly not!
read more
Make it Easy on Yourself
One of the all-time great VO collaborations, and I’m not talking about an audition.
See how two minds = one great idea.
Pronounceology
Voice Actors who see a need in our business, and fill it with a great idea.
Here’s a perfect example.
Adverbs are Disappearing Real Quick
You know, verb modifiers. They usually end in “-ly”. Yeah, those. You gotta look close (er, closely) to see ’em anymore.
3 Reasons Why It’s Important to Remember That Voice Actors Are People Too!
Courtesy in business? Is that a thing? Yes, in fact it’s so important that many producers/clients/agents have almost forgotten.
Are VoiceOver Newbies Welcome?
Newcomers to the promise of voice-over success gotta start somewhere. Along the way, though, they can fall victim to predators, challenge compensation rates, and remind us of our own early beginnings.