He posts an ad for Target that he says (and I completely agree) is completely awful, posts the general idea of the copy, and says rewrite and revoice it. So I did.

Here’s the result:
Audio

If you would like to participate in the contest, submissions can be made until the 8th, so you’d better hurry!

Good luck!

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Script Collection

I was writing a script collection until I came across this AWESOME resource on Jeff Kafer’s blog.

There are thousands of scripts in this collection and they all seem really great. DEFINITELY take advantage of this resource for your demos.

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-Ronald Reagan

One of the most important (if not THE most important) aspects of being a voiceover artist is networking aka PEOPLE.

How does one go about making connections that can take you places?

As a side note: even though I’ve covered this topic in previous posts, it really is important to make connections with people in as many ways as you can.

Simply the best way to network is to tell everyone who you come to know what you do. The more of a big deal you make it (within reason) the more you will come up in conversations. The more you come up in conversations, the more of a chance there will be that the right person (who needs your particular set of skills) will hear about you and get in touch with you. How do they know how to get in touch with you? As I’ve covered before, business cards, website, or social networking.

What is social networking? Simply the most explosive web phenomenon in the history of the internet. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, LinkedIn and probably a dozen more that I have never even heard of.

You sign up (anyone can, and everyone should) and fill out your profile. People usually say “That sounds dangerous”, but it’s really not (unless you put your address and telephone number on the page, or offer to meet people you don’t know in person), especially if you want to catch up with friends you’ve lost touch with (Facebook, Myspace), get in touch with other business owners or colleagues (LinkedIn), or keep everyone up to date on what you’re up to (Twitter). Another thing that people say is “That sounds like a waste of time”. But what if someone wants to get in touch with you and they can’t find you? Social Networking helps to alleviate that worry, at least in my mind. I know if someone gives my name to someone else, they can find me on the internet, not only on my website, but on Facebook, Myspace, or LinkedIn. And once you’re in touch, you can keep in touch with Twitter. The internet is an awesome tool, you should use it.

I would tell you how to sign up for each, but the processes are so simple, it would be a complete waste of time. You go to the website, click a couple of buttons, type in your personal information, and that’s it! From there, it’s easy to find friends and keep in touch with family and at the same time meet new people who might need your services.

A way for you to get started is click the buttons I have underneath my picture on the right side of the page once you’ve created your profile on these sites. Connect with me. I’d love to get to know you and help you with your journey to voice over success.

Now that the holidays are over and I’m spending a lot more time working on voice over stuff (not at my part time job), you can count on many more regular updates to the site. More contests, more great information, and great lists of resources for you to use.

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Paypal.

Paypal is a service that allows you to send and receive payment without sharing your financial information with anyone. I use it on my website to take payment from clients. (See the bottom of www.voiceofmichael.com). Since I am a business member of paypal, I can take credit card payments as well. There are different levels of paypal for different users, check it out and see what level of service is best for you.

Since every voice over person I know does work remotely (and sometimes never even meets their clients face to face), how do you expect them to pay you? If you’re waiting on a check in the mail, there’s a good chance it might not show up. Cash by mail? Forget it! Western Union? That’s getting desperate. You need Paypal so you can make money on the internet. It’s very secure, probably one of the most secure sites on the net. Go to their site and sign up right now!

There are other payment services on the net, but I can’t remember them off the top of my head. Share other payment services you use in the comments.

Hope all of you had a happy holidays, I know I did. Be looking for the next post soon! Subscribe to my feed at the top of the page to get my posts delivered to your mailbox instantly.

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Great opportunity for free publicity!

Next post: 5 P’s of Voiceover Success: PRICE is COMING SOON!

Stay tuned! Subsribe to my RSS Feed and get new posts delivered to your email! Just click SUBSCRIBE TO MY FEED at the top of this page!

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I want to get to know you. As a voice over artist, I always have my audience in mind, but just a general idea, for me, is never enough. So, here’s what we do about it.

Here’s a chance to talk about yourself and your opinions and get rewarded for it.

Between now and May 31st, I want the readers and visitors of this blog to give me three things:

1) General information about yourself. I don’t even need your name (although I would like to know it). Where do you live? How old are you? Tell me anything you think would be interesting.

2) Start, stop, continue. What would you like to see started on this blog, stop on this blog, and continued. The start part is the most important.

3) What topics do you want to read about on this blog?

Whoever submits the best idea (chosen by me), will receive some awesome stuff.

1) A write-up on my blog as “featured voice talent of the month”. A link will be added to the top of my page that talks all about you and your voice career. This blog is about others, not about me, it never has been and never will be. So here’s your chance to get featured.

2) My voice saying “(Your name), voice over artist” allowing you to brand your demos so that those listening know where it’s coming from.

But wait, it gets even better

3) $20 cash. That’s right, free money for your feedback and talking about yourself. Pretty awesome huh? I can send it to you via Paypal.

So, the only thing you have to do is come up with some great ideas, tell me about yourself, and tell me what YOU WANT and YOU CAN WIN!!

Use the Contact Me tab to the upper left and send me all the good information and WIN!!

Good luck!

Michael

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What Is A Voiceover and How Do You Do It?

By Bettye Zoller

www.voicesvoices.com

btzol@aol.com

What Is A Voiceover?

Radio is the ultimate voiceover. It has often been called, “The Theatre of the Mind.” A voiceover can be defined as, “anytime a voice is heard without seeing a person talking.” This definition doesn’t always suffice however, because voiceover talents often speak in on-camera TV commercials or TV programs. One example is the wonderful and timeless sitcom, “The Wonder Years,” and another program that used voiceovers extensively was “My So-Called Life.” Today, “Desperate Housewives uses voiceovers.

Voiceover talents can also “overdub” by synchronizing their voiceover to the movements of on camera actors’ mouths as the actors are viewed on-screen. Sometimes, voice actors overdub speech because on-camera actors were chosen for the way they looked but vocally (as actors) lacked some sort of quality the director sought. Other times, voiceovers are used in films and TV programs because the audio sound was not of sufficient quality and must be improved in a recording studio setting (ADR work—additional dialogue recording). On-camera actors are usually cast for the way they look, the image they project, not for their voice skills. Voiceovers are also used to overdub actors’ speeches so that the film or TV show can be sold or syndicated in foreign markets.

Voiceover talents today are hired to narrate audio books, anime, cartoons, videos, films, and cable TV programs. They are the voices of toys, talking picture frames, cell phone messages, talking greeting cards, your car’s GPS navigation system, and everything else that’s manufactured with a computer chip inside of it on which a voice track can be stored and played. Voiceover talents greet you (and annoy you!) on thousands upon thousands of those pesky recorded telephone messages and IVR systems. They talk to you through ceiling speakers while you shop in stores. You hear voiceover talents trying to convince you to buy cosmetics at your department store on a video playing over and over (looping) next to those expensive cosmetic products! The military uses voiceovers in training projects and the educational field also uses voice actors for educational endeavors. Nearly every classroom today, kindergarten through post-graduate study in universities sports a large TV monitor in a corner on which educational videos are played. Sometimes, it seems that a teacher doesn’t talk very much anymore. Rather, schools teach a majority of the time with videos.

What Should a Voiceover Talent Strive For, and Why?

The talent’ should sound natural and believable (unless voicing a cartoon or character voice, and even then, being a “believable bunny or duck” is probably a worthwhile goal . . .) without revealing there is a written script. The ultimate goal is to sound as if the thoughts being expressed in the script are emanating from the voiceover talent’s own thoughts. The voice talent is a communicator who should strive to convey the script’s message in the most effective manner.

Stages of Performance

A voice talent should strive to understand the project, its scope, its purpose. The talent should understand what the producer/director/client needs and wants you to do as the voice of the project. This may require questioning the producer or attempting to delve deeper into the project’s scope. Never be fearful of asking questions on an audition or a session.

A voiceover talent should:

• Understand the script and its purpose
• Understand the director/producer/client’s needs and goals
• Determine for whom the voiceover message is intended (audience)
• Sound natural, believable, and real (even if you’re a cartoon or toy voice!)
• Be skilled at “the cold read,” that is, reading something aloud you’ve not seen previously.
• Give the script “life,” by bringing it to “full bloom” with your vocal rendering
• Be “at home” in the recording studio and understand the recording process, never waste studio time, but rather, be quick, saving money.
• Be a business person, a skilled professional, always prompt, dependable.

No one had all of these qualifications starting out! These are acquired with practice. I always remind my students that, “you have to play to win.” I add, “one thing is certain: You’ll never know if you could have succeeded if you don’t try.”

That brings me to the next bit of advice: Listen to voiceovers constantly—on TV, in videos and films (cable TV is a goldmine to learn how to narrate video and film). Listen for voiceovers in stores (on point-of-purchase videos or through ceiling speakers), on the telephone, in the airport, in your physician’s office, —everywhere. Learn from voiceover professionals who speak to you constantly, teaching you, every day!

The Voiceover CD Demo

A performer’s voiceover demo is required if you’re going to get auditions or work!

Having a professional voiceover demo that is created in a recording studio with the guidance of a professional producer is “a must!” A voiceover demo’s cost will be higher in NYC and LA. If saving money is important, have your demo produced and recorded outside of these areas! Also, realize that there are substantial differences between what producers deem a “proper demo” in LA and in “the hinterlands.” However, it is possible to produce a demo that agents and producers respect in many diverse geographic regions, even in Europe, if you seek out the right producers who know what agents and producers are looking for today. And, of course, compare prices. But also, realize that saving money should not mean settling for an inferior product. Know your producer’s credentials and ask for referrals from satisfied demo clients! And never even think of recording a voiceover demo without being well rehearsed.

If the recording studio or the producer tells you that you can “come into my studio and we’ll construct the demo that same day,” walk, don’t run! The contents of a demo should be tailored closely to the client’s voiceprint, the talent’s personality and voice profile, age, and gender. The sound of a voice usually tells a producer a lot about that profile. The contents of the demo should be chosen well ahead of the recording session date and the talent should be well coached. As for “voice type,” for example, a young female voice talent with a wispy rather whimsical voice would have a demo with certain types of material on it while a deep voiced older female, perhaps one with a theatrical flair, would have completely different material on her demo.

You’re Mentors

Who will train you? Who will produce your demo? That’s most important. You need a skilled voiceover coach / audio producer beside you, guiding you. A demo will illustrate your skills reading voiceover material in a wide variety of areas (the areas mentioned earlier here).

What does a Demo Contain and What Should Be Its Length?

A demo contains short passages edited into a montage about two minutes to two and one-half minutes long. This version, however, will be combined with short edits. I prefer 90 and 60 second versions of the long demo. The short versions are used on websites and as attachments to emails. In this way, the talent and his or her agents have a long version and two short versions to work with for various reasons. I do not favor ONLY the short demo length based on my ongoing discussions with agents in many U.S. regions. The short version is, however, favored by Los Angeles producers with whom I consult. Here, in Dallas and all of the U.S. outside of the East and West coasts, my agent advisors tell me they prefer getting one longer demo and the short edits.

As I explain to all of my students and clients: When I state “my opinion” on an issue, it is not solely, “my opinion.” Rather, it is my “take” on an issue that has resulted from my talking with, consulting with, my sources in many locations in the U.S. and Europe. I belong to many professional groups including VASTA (Voice and Speech Trainers Association), AFTRA national committees, SAG national committees, and many voiceover talent agents and producers. I also regularly consult with other voiceover professionals in many diverse locations.

Distribution and Self-Promotion

The next step involves duplicating your CD demo and obtaining a professional CD label. Some talents package a demo with a label plus a front and back cover and CD spine. Others use only a professional looking CD label. Remember: Producers and agents are interested primarily in what’s ON the demo, not in its packaging. If the package is fabulous and its contents terrible, you’ve accomplished naught. You may choose to duplicate and package the CD demo yourself. You may have others do it for you. Either way, it must sound the best. That’s most important.

Be prepared to produce quantities of your CD over the first year and on a continual basis throughout your career. Self-promotion should be on-going, year after year. However, don’t do large duplication quantities until you’re sure you don’t want to change the demo. Add some recent voice work to an old demo and rearrange the cuts and it’s “all new” (or so it seems . . .). Most coaches and producers agree that a voiceover CD demo should be updated about every eighteen months to two years.

Don’t print vast label quantities. Do not have a label printed in large quantities on the CD itself. You may change agents! Your phone or e-mail may change. It happens all the time! I suggest starting with 100 copies of your demo. Then, duplicate more copies as you need them to get signed by broadcast agents in various cities and to start your promotional machine in high gear. After that, plan on distributing about 50 demos per month or more if you can.

And finally, you are ready to distribute your CD demo to your broadcast agents, to business owners, to producers/directors, to people you meet at networking events, and to put your demo on websites (your own and commercial sites that send work to voice talents on the internet). Self-promotion never ends! You are a small business owner and your business is YOU.

Every Business Has a Start-Up Process (Voiceovers Do Too!)

Compared to opening a storefront, starting a new restaurant, becoming a dentist or lawyer, starting your musical or film acting career, the start-up costs to enter the voiceover field are relatively modest. However, you must prepare for routine, expected expenses involved with studying, attending workshops, consulting with teachers and demo producers, creating your CD voiceover demo, and distributing that demo (self-promotion).

The self-promotion never ends, as I said above! And that will cost money – for postcard mailers, business cards, CD mailers, mailing labels, promotional give-away items to get noticed, all of the costs connected with large batch duplication of your CD and packaging, printed brochures, postal charges, networking costs, anything and everything that gets you noticed by those who hire voiceover talents.

Don’t overlook free opportunities for publicity: Newspaper and magazine articles, trade publications, newsletters. Join organizations in your area where your visibility can be increased. Make new contacts that can potentially help you. Remember: It’s not necessarily “who you know!” It is “who they know!”

Visibility

You must (like every other business on the planet) create and maintain an internet presence. While your website does not have to be a major investment, it should look professional. I use website building templates provided by my website host sites. If you need help, solicit it from a student or friend rather than spending major sums of money on design that could be spent in other ways. Get started building your website or make sure your site can accept audio files so you can post your demo (s) on it. That’s a must!

Be Optimistic and Realistic

I have produced demos for a few of my students who made money from voicing substantial projects immediately. Many have voiced major national commercials that paid residuals for many years to come within the first year after I produced their demo CD. Some have become the favorite voices of producers who use them over and over, creating a steady income stream. Still others decide to start their own businesses, selling their own voiceover jobs (telephone messaging, audio books, commercials). Others for whom I’ve produced a demo have a slower start, preferring to maintain their “learning curve” and “promotion curve” (not unlike some business owners who want to “build the business” over time). Sometimes, that “slow build.” Is a good one. One talent recently told me that he is “building his start in his own way and finding his ‘sea legs.” Everyone moves at their own “career speed.”Bottom line: The amount of time spent on one’s endeavors usually is reflected, in direct proportion to the degree of success that one achieves. Part-time effort usually results in part-time work (if any). Perhaps a “day job” or family life means severely limited time is available for promoting your new voiceover endeavors. That’s o.k. everyone has their own time schedule.

Start building and keep building! One thing is certain: If you don’t try, you’re sure to fail! Good luck!! Everyone was a beginner at one time! Go for it!

Bettye Zoller Seitz

All rights reserved 2007

Ask for permission to use or reprint

Voiceover Talent/Educator Audio Engineer Recording Studio Owner/Demo Producer

Simon and Schuster Voice Talent-Producer/ Dialect and Voice Speech Coach

Winner ADDYS/CLIOS/GOLDEN RADIOS/AUDIE AWARDS

MM.ED/Ph.D.ABD

214-638-TALK (8255)

WOW!! What a GOLDMINE of information! I hope you got as much out of this as I did! Thank you Bettye! You truly are the consummate professional! We all have a lot to learn from you.

I would suggest that readers would hop on Bettye’s site and see when she’s holding her next seminar and GO!! I know I am going when she comes to Nashville!

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15 years ago, no one knew what the internet was. Now, if you don’t have a website and you want to do VO, you’d better get one. Your best investment for your VO career is practice/preparation. Your second best investment is good equipment. Your third best investment is a killer website.

Like we talked about last post, don’t ASPIRE to be a pro, BE a pro. To be a pro these days you MUST have a website and it must be excellent. It has to look clean, easy to navigate, content rich, and has to leave its mark on the viewer.

So how does one go about obtaining an awesome sight? I am blessed enough to be able to run 3 of my own websites (not including blogs or social stuff). What if you don’t know HTML, CSS, Flash, or Java or any of that fancy stuff? You have two options: do it yourself or have someone do it for you. I have suggestions for both.

1) Do it yourself.

By now, everyone in the known universe has heard of MySpace. What better place to start? If an 11 year old kid can change his MySpace layout, I think you can learn how. Create a MySpace page for you and your VO stuff. Add each of them as friends of the other and invite ALL of your friends (they’re all on MySpace, you just don’t know it yet). When you’re ready to make it look sweet all it takes is a simple Google search and there are THOUSANDS of profile editors that you can edit it what’s called WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). The best one is pimpmyprofile.com, it’s what I use. While you’re developing your image, studio, and website MySpace can get you by.

Not so keen on MySpace. Me either. Check out this site: Uber.com, it’s definitely one of the best free website creators in existence. It’s very… not… out there. Meaning, not a lot of people know about it, but, it’s really great. Customize that page, put your demos on there (only if they sound incredible) and slap the site on your business card.

2) Have someone do it

None of you know this, but I make websites for people. I just said that I made these, that’s a no-brainer, but I just started a website business as well. Check it out. Check out the rates. :-0 An affordable site? Absolutely. I can arrange you a site just like mine, www.yourname.com (domain) and all for around $100 a year. Good luck finding that anywhere else. Want your demos posted on the site? Not a problem! Want a blog like this one? Not a problem! One of my callings is to help other developing VO people get their feet wet and dive right in. I’d love to help you out too. Let me know if I can help.

If you enjoyed the post, leave me a comment and invite other VO people to the blog. We as VO artists go nowhere without each other! Spread the love!!

Until next time!

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