Welcome to My Blog!
The Very Latest…
Can We Just Standardize Audition File-Naming Please?
Computer hardware mega-companies can agree on USB across the board, so why can’t voiceover-land agree on a common way to name audition files?
Just Before that…
The Discerning Audition Talent
The directions say one thing, and YOU are another…but you just KNOW you can do that thing. OK, but think about this first.
A Message for People Who Hire Voice Actors
The voice hirer is stuck. Here’s how they could help themselves get unstuck.
The Value of Your Talent
Anger is the new currency. That, or rampant self-importance. Why it never works.
These Hours Are Ours
Is our English language really ours? It took me hours to think of that.
“Broadcast Quality” is a Fabrication
There is no such thing as “broadcast quality”. At least not in today’s voiceover world. And if there was such a thing you wouldn’t want it for your auditions.
Your Voiceover Auditioning Primer
No question about it…auditioning is a crapshoot. Here’s how to improve your odds.
Voice Over Education
Your Invitation…
…to an online conversation you need to see.
Do This Crucial Thing…
…to save your time and grief.
The rest will follow.
The VO Newcomer Playbook
There’s no more secret to approaching VO for the first time than there is ANY freelance “gig” profession.
It boils down to one word.
The #1 Enemy of Voice Actor Progress
You’re gonna hate me when you find out what it is.
You already know, and you’ve let it get in your way.
No SEO Will Survive THIS Search Method
Just when you think you might be gaining ground in the holy grail of search optimization, along comes a method for finding voice actors from way out in left field.
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...
World Voices #WoVochat
Video: Newest Rates Roundtable!
WoVO is at it again…with another expert panel discussing rates.
3 Must-Know Messages for Monday
Mondays. Ugh!
But news of a special price on a singularly seminal event may brighten your day.
Read on!
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.
VO Business & Compensation
The Value of Your Talent
Anger is the new currency. That, or rampant self-importance. Why it never works.
These Hours Are Ours
Is our English language really ours? It took me hours to think of that.
Your Voiceover Auditioning Primer
No question about it…auditioning is a crapshoot. Here’s how to improve your odds.
Voice Over Education
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...
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...
Voice Over Hardware & Software tools
The Ultimate Podcasting Reference
There are a lot of reasons people Podcast, but probably the biggest, is that it WORKS! It works especially well as a marketing tool...or in today's parlance: a content marketing tool. In the process -- much like blogging -- you learn a lot, and you earn a lot of...
How’s Your Email List?
Expert marketers claim that the carefully curried email list is still the Holy Grail of finding and maintaining clients. True?
Have You Considered….?
Google Fi is in the mix; offering some incredible value, and great coverage for your cell use.
Ah, the Mic. The Mighty Mic!
The mic is a voice talent’s axe.. While we can’t escape its necessity, there’s no reason to let it overburden us either.
The Best NDA-Signing Apps and Programs
Have you noticed, more and more clients are requiring the non-disclosure agreement. Here’s how to get it done with the least hassle.
Maybe You Can Use These Tools?
LinkedIn add-ons, a great (and free) video editor, and SIP audio demystified.
Anybody Can Do This
…and the vehicle is Podcasting. But is it really voice-acting?
5 Reasons Why You Should NOT Produce Your Own Demos
Yeah…don’t even think it.
Here’s why.
WAVSplitter: Next-Gen Word2WAV
Specialty software designed just for voice-actors is rare. It's usually musicians, producers, or DJ's etc. who are the target, and voiceover artists have to adapt it. But Word2Wav was one of those unique, gems-of-a-program that could save you, the voice actor, hours...
Video: Doing the SKYPE Phone Patch
Erik Sheppard hosts this video with me explaining the Skype phone patch.
Voice Over Events
Video: Newest Rates Roundtable!
WoVO is at it again…with another expert panel discussing rates.
3 Must-Know Messages for Monday
Mondays. Ugh!
But news of a special price on a singularly seminal event may brighten your day.
Read on!
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.
Listen to my Commercial demoVoice Over Niches
Remembering the Fallen on Memorial Day
There should be no confusion between this day and other national holidays. This is the biggie.
The Discerning Audition Talent
The directions say one thing, and YOU are another…but you just KNOW you can do that thing. OK, but think about this first.
A Message for People Who Hire Voice Actors
The voice hirer is stuck. Here’s how they could help themselves get unstuck.
Voice Over Hardware & Software tools
How to Conduct a Phone Patch Using Skype
Hard-wired phone lines are almost an anachronism for all but serious businesses, government, and other formal institutions. POTS (plain old telephone systems) services are not going away, but for most individual consumers, and certainly 3rd-world countries, phone...
143
When is the truth so obvious that you HAVE to admit it?
5 Creative Ways to Evaluate a Voiceover Colleague’s Demo
Lord knows it's hard enough to be honest with YOURSELF about your demos. It's even harder to be candid, yet diplomatic with your peers when they ask you for an opinion about THEIR demo. And yet, the call eventually comes...that email with an attachment. Someone...
2 New Browser Releases, and 3 Reasons Why It May Not Matter to Your Voiceover Business
How DO you access the internet these days? Increasingly laptops and desktops are becoming irrelelvant.
Can You Say “Moo”?
Clients meet voice-actors, and everyone’s happy, right?
Wrong.
You can do better.
Coolest Online Digital Tool EVARR
Anyone who's had to build a story using subject interviews under deadline pressure (TV reporters?) knows the drill. You can't really compose the narrative until you know exactly what the interview subjects actually say...so the first task - while the clock is ticking...
Best Voice Over Lead Generator I’ve Seen in a Long Time
Access. How do you find access to names, emails, phone numbers of people/prospects who might hire you? THIS is how.
Google Search on Steroids
Understand a few simple syntax constructions in your google search,
and you can open up a world of opportunity.
The 5 Technology Myths of Voiceover
Impossible! 21st-Century technology BUILT today’s VO profession! How could it conceivably shackle your progress? Read it and weep. Chances are you’re guilty.
5 Tactful Ways to Critique a Voiceover Colleague’s Demo
Are you qualified to evaluate the demo of a VO peer? Yes and no. Here are five suggestions for seeing your way through that thicket.
Can You Relate?
Without it, you can forget about successfully navigating life (not to mention your VO business).
12 Ways to Succeed in Your First Audition (the phone call)
Working on getting a new client? You’ll never even get a chance to send her/him a demo unless you get past your first audition. Huh? Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. It goes back to the old saying…”You never get a second chance at a first impression”. That...
WoVOCon Community?…Priceless!
World-Voices Organization's 6th-annual conference in Las Vegas wrapped up at 6pm Sunday night. Most all of the 115 attendees, presenters, sponsors, and speakers were walking two feet off the ground when they walked out the door. That's the kind of energy these...