At first, you might think voiceover is all about the ability to parrot famous stars, create cartoony characters at a moments notice, and authentically mimic any accent under the sun. And while these skills are certainly useful to us as actors and might be asked of us from time to time, it may surprise you to learn that they’re not the primary skills necessary to keep you steadily employed as a voice talent.

What Makes You Stand Out as a Voice Over

While we all continue to wrestle with this on going, combination social-psyche stress test and health threat, Actors’ SOUND ADVICE continues to assist voice talent across the country establish, maintain and expand their voiceover business. 

It may surprise you to learn, it’s never been a better time to double your efforts in this field.

How The VO Industry Has Changed Since COVID-19

“Ambition is the first step to success. The second is action.” 

There are a few key basics voice talent should know about this industry from the onset that’s either required of you or you can expect as industry standards. Hopefully, understanding them from the start will improve your ability to create, secure work and navigate your voiceover career. Here’s a brief, but important list…

Voiceover: The Basics Defined

You build your professional reputation as a voice talent and as an actor by consistently delivering exceptional auditions. Lots and lots and lots of them. Which is why persistence and tenacity serve you so well to succeed in this, or frankly, any business.  

So, how many auditions do you imagine it takes to land a single voiceover job? Five? Ten? Twenty? What’s the average?

Auditioning is a Numbers Game

As Actors’ SOUND ADVICE, we strongly encourage all non-union voice talent to apply some basic union policies and standards to their voiceover careers to achieve the best, most professional results in their careers. Here are a few key industry policies to improve your bottom line, elevate your brand, instill confidence, and expand your voice acting business.

10 Ways to Apply Union Policies to Your Non-Union VO Career

If you find yourself waiting for someone else to tell you what to do you will likely find yourself unemployed. Therefore, it's imperative you learn to self-direct in order to make yourself valuable to any producer, talent roster or project.

What's Your Goal as a Talent?

What you must do with every take
Why you should never wait for direction or "permission" on how to deliver the read
Why we're expected to continually offer options rather than one "perfect" read
 

What's Expected of You as a Voice over?

As a kid I fell in love with short stories in large part from hearing old radio theatre-style recordings that often played on the radio throughout October leading up to Halloween.  I especially loved Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles".  So much so, I adapted my own version of a few of his wonderful "Twilight Zone-ish" tales, of which he gave me his very gracious blessings on.  I gathered a few of my most talented friends in our studio one crisp night a few years back, supplied the apple cider and donuts and this is the result.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed doing them! Listen for more throughout the month!  They are meant to be the 'treat' portion of the season.

The Earth Men, adapted from Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles"

For decades now, legions of actors have emerged from assorted acting schools across the country harboring a deep aversion to pursuing and accepting commercial work. Yet, if you scratch the surface a bit, you’ll probably find this unfounded antagonism typically stems from the misguided notion you’d become “a sellout” if you perused commercial opportunities. It’s especially unfortunate and shortsighted when you consider mastering commercial voiceover and on-camera work offers you the greatest opportunities to effectively subsidize your acting career.

The Unexpected Benefits of Mastering Commercial Work

“The Revolution shall NOT be televised,” as Gil Scott-Heron famously said. 

When it comes to the backstory that provoked the dual writers and actors’ strike no truer word were spoken. The key details of how and why these two vital, creative industry Guilds entered into this collective strike hasn’t been widely delineated, partly because the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers) are quite literally who own mass media through which that information would, should and could be broadcast. 

Quite the formidable foe, wouldn’t you say?

Even with a deal on the table between the AMPTP and the WGA that’s projected to be ratified within the week by the writers, the studios won’t be sharing with their audiences why they’ve avoided coming to the table to negotiate with the writers and actors all summer.

IATSE.net:
Marvel Studios VFX Workers Unanimously Vote to Unionize with IATSE, Marking Historic First
https://iatse.net/marvel-studios-vfx-workers-unanimously-vote-to-unionize-with-iatse-marking-historic-first/


SAGAFTRASTRIKE.org:
https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/post/on-strike-in-the-mid-size-and-small-locals

Variety.com:
New WGA Contract Explained: AI Is Not a Writer, Solo Scribe Shows Don’t Need Minimum Staff and More
https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/wga-new-contract-strike-ai-writers-room-staffs-residuals-1235736648/

Variety.com:
‘We Caused Them Pain’: The Inside Story of How the WGA and AMPTP Negotiated a ‘Great Deal’ to End the Writers Strike
https://au.variety.com/2023/biz/news/wga-strike-writers-studios-reached-deal-explained-11329/

Read the WGA contract for yourself:
https://www.wgacontract2023.org/

To further support SAG-AFTRA, added support, clarity and insight can be found at http://www.solidarity.us/

How the Actors’ STRIKE Impacts  the Voiceover Industry, Part 2

Discover how to conquer overwhelming nerves, and:
•	You Become the Effect of That Which You Resist
•	The Goal of Every Take, Every Performance
•	You Have To Entertain Yourself In Order To Find Your Audience
•	And a great deal more!


How to Conquer Stage Fright & Master Your Auditions

Avoid one of the greatest mistakes budding voice talent make and why to give your voiceover career the best opportunity to achieve the greatest results. Here are a few key industry insights to improve your bottom line, elevate your brand, instill confidence, and expand your small business as a voice actor.

Why Producing a “Makeshift”  Demo of Your Voiceover Demo  is a Professional Mistake

Here are a few key industry insights to improve your bottom line, elevate your brand, instill confidence, and expand your small business as an actor, on- or off-camera!

Six Key Similarities Between Voiceover & On-Camera Acting

The quality of your auditions when recording from home is as important as your performance. In fact, it’s never mattered more than it does today.

Since COVID, production demands now require every voice talent to not only be well-trained and prepared to deliver their best at a moment’s notice, but we’re also assuming the quality of your auditions (recorded from home) will inevitably be the quality of the audio of the final recording, should we hire you.

Other than that there are a few common mistakes to avoid to improve and increase your booking potential.

The Most Common Mistakes to Avoid When Recording Your VO Auditions from Home, Part 1

The Most Common Mistakes to Avoid When Recording Your VO Auditions from Home, Part 2

Your type can and will eventually change. Type can be especially elusive in voiceover for a number of reasons, besides the obvious: we can only hear you. Therefore the audience must imagine what you look like; how you feel, what you think, how you approach the world, or at least the world your voiceover immediately exists in.

How to Determine What You Do Best as a Voiceover

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit” If that adage holds up, and I happen think it does, then it stands to reason the habits we practice, whether by design or default, determines our strengths and ultimately our skills.

With that, I give you five habits to strengthen your performance abilities.

Five Habits to Master to Improve Your Voice Acting

It may come as a surprise to most people as to what a casting director actually does, even if you’ve considered yourself a professional talent for a number of years. Casting agencies select talent they feel are most suitable for the specific job at hand from talent agencies based on the individual talent’s professional promotional materials.  

Suffice it to say, casting agents don’t solely conduct auditions to casting talent; they offer industry insights to both the production.

What Does a Casting Director Do?

Let’s assume you have a work ethic that won’t quit, and everyone says you have a remarkable voice. You can have all the talent in the world, but it’ll die on the vine without drive and momentum. Your passion and instincts account for a great deal, but neither will get you anywhere unless you dedicate yourself to continually sharpening your skills while you pursue the work.

To Trust Your Instincts    You Have to Use Them

What makes you valuable as a talent? How do you challenge your comfort zone to garner the greatest results? Listen up, my friend. This podcast may alter your perspective of your job as a talent and dramatically elevate your career.

How To Agree With The Reality Of Any Script & Add To It

Sound Advice - Slate

Kate McClanaghan and Jeff Finney discuss current trends and helpful techniques regarding the voice over industry, and also host interesting interviews with guests.

Sound_Advice

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