March 27, 2018 • 16 mins
A Guide for the Beginning Voice Over Artist
My name is Anthony Pica and this is for the voice-over artist that is just starting out and wants to learn everything from building a booth, getting microphones, equipment, DAW's, to learning how to record voice-overs for audiobooks, narration, commercials, video games ...
While at the same time marketing using different platforms and strategies. We will also talk about the business side of voiceover and how to run your business so you can make money.
If you would like to learn how to work with me to grow your voiceover business, check out my website here
Social Links:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/anthony_pica_vo/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/AVOsJOURNEY
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/avosjourney/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonypicavo/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to episode one of a VOs Journey.
My name is Anthony Pica and I amyour host.
I'm going to try to be, andwe're going to get this thing
kicked off for this firstepisode.
I'm going to be talking aboutwhat I plan on doing with the
(00:21):
show and, uh, hopefully I canoffer a lot of help to a lot of
voiceover artists.
So, um, yeah, so just movingright into it.
The point of this show is togive all of the advice that I
have to help VOs, uh, make itfrom beginning to end and
(00:45):
ending, I mean, to a place wherethey can become full time
artists.
So, uh, the hope is that by thistime next year, two years, five
years down the road, you'll beable to go full time at this.
(01:06):
So that is the goal and that isthe point of this podcast.
So just to start off telling youa little bit about myself.
Um, I have been, let's see, I'vebeen acting, teaching and doing
voiceovers for like my entireadult life.
(01:28):
So, um, it is what I love to do.
Um, I do a lot of live theaterand I teach, that is my day job
and I'm, I'm a high schoolteacher and I also teach
technical theater.
So, uh, I loved doing that,loved doing light sound.
(01:48):
I'm building all kinds ofthings.
So anyways, getting off topic.
So, um, what I am hoping is thatwe're going to go through
everything that I do on a dailybasis and that my hope is to
document my journey intobecoming a fulltime voiceover
(02:12):
artist.
And in the meantime help youbecome a fulltime voice artist
as well.
And we're just going to go, gofor it all in.
I listened to a lot of people, alot of coaches and there's a lot
of awesome ones and I couldrattle off a bunch of names but
I won't.
Um, but what I want to do is Iwant to be really transparent
(02:35):
with all of you on finances andwhat is happening with clients
and what I'm actually doingphysically doing a day in and
day out and the results that I'mgetting, the wins, the losses,
the triumphs and failures, ifyou will, so that you can get an
(02:56):
idea of how this is actuallyplaying out for real.
Um, there's a lot of people whodo similar things, but I've not
really come across someone who'sactually gone into, hey, I just
did this.
This is what happened.
Hey, this is the monotony.
Hey, this is just a, a bigfailure.
(03:16):
Hey, I'm trying this, I'mdumping that, all that kind of
stuff.
This is what happened and soforth.
And then actually talk about itand tell people about it and
then hopefully start a dialogueabout what other people are
doing.
So that is my plan for this.
And hopefully also we're goingto have some guests that we can
(03:38):
interview a, I've got peoplelined up, um, well I've got them
lined up in my head, we'll justput it that way.
And hopefully with a littlecoaxing, we'll get them on this
show and go from there.
So, um, yeah, so anyways, that'skind of where I am with the show
(04:00):
and what I hope to do tonight.
I want to talk about, um, kindof what the overall, um, the
overall purposes for what I, Iwant to accomplish, um, or why I
want to be a fulltime voiceoverartists.
(04:22):
And um, and my suggestion to youbefore you go down this journey,
you might already have started.
You might be thinking aboutbecoming a voiceover artists.
You might be thinking aboutwanting to change jobs.
You might be tired and, and justfed up with the daily grind, you
know, that kind of feeling whereyou were not really meant to be
(04:44):
doing what you're doing.
You just got stuck in it somehowor it's partially what you love
and it's not everything that youwant it to be.
Um, but so, you know, you havethis desire, this urge to do
something else, to do more or tobe more than what you currently
are.
Um, so I, um, basically when Ifirst started out as an actor,
(05:09):
um, for the stage, I fell inlove with it right away.
I can remember when I first gotup on stage, I was in high
school and I did a production ofguys and dolls and um, I went on
the stage and I was just, I wasa straight up goofball.
I don't know how they actuallylet me stay in the show.
(05:29):
But what I remember from thatshow was I had a solo.
I was nicely, nicely Johnson.
I don't know if anybody's seenguys and dolls, um, the movie
with Frank Sinatra, MarlonBrando or any of the musical
because the movie was a musical.
But, um, I was nicely, nicelyJohnson and there's a piece in
(05:51):
there called sit down.
You're rocking the boat that Idid and I, um, I started the
show.
It was blocked and choreographedreally well.
I thought at least looking backon it and I sang the song and
every night, you know, afterhearing the audience cheer, I
just, I got addicted.
(06:13):
I fell in love with it.
I fell in love with theperformance, I fell in love with
the idea of taking people andfor a moment or a couple of
moments or a couple of hourshelping them forget about the
real world and their troublesand all the stuff that was going
(06:34):
on and helping them have fun,uh, through whatever I was
doing, whether it was happy orsad.
And to this day, it's what Ilove the most, is creating a
world where people can go to andlive through another person and
(06:56):
just enjoy life without worryingabout all the other crap that we
have to deal with day in and dayout.
So anyways, after that Spiel,let me tell you about how
voiceover plays into it.
So anyways, um, I don't know,maybe there's some similar
people out there that have thiskind of, um, story, but
(07:16):
basically I had been acting fora while and you know, that
wasn't really paying the bills.
Um, and uh, I was either goingto take a plunge.
I was engaged to a wonderfulwoman and I decided to ask a
well engaged.
So I, of course I asked her tomarry me, but I had made a
(07:38):
decision that I wanted to have ahome and a family and not travel
around and as you become more ofa serious actor, you've got to
really go where the work is.
And at that time I was notliving in New York or Chicago or
la.
So, you know, I decided to dosomething different and I've
(07:59):
always loved to teach.
I've always loved to help otherpeople.
Um, and so I started teachingand my wife happened to be a
teacher at the time as well, soit kind of worked out and
anyway, so that's how I became ateacher.
And through that, um, I taughttheater and then I taught
(08:21):
technical theater and um, but Istill had this craving to be an
actor.
So of course I did communitytheater here and there and I
worked with some old friends andI would go for sometimes
summertimes and do stuff.
But, um, you know, I came intovoiceover, um, uh, came into
voiceover, just quitehappenstance of.
(08:43):
I had a friend who, um, I wasdoing a show with them.
We were doing a Neil Simon.
I'm the odd couple and uh, wewere bunking together and he had
his laptop and he was basically,uh, we would, uh, at nighttime,
after rehearsal or whatever,we'd be back in our apartment
and he'd pull out his laptop anda microphone and I literally
(09:06):
start recording commercials, uh,that he would submit to the
radio station or whatever.
And, you know, I was like, whatis this witchcraft?
I didn't understand it.
Um, but, uh, I was just blownaway by it.
And um, from that point on I wasreally kind of fascinated and I
started getting into it and, um,anyways, so, uh, I learned as
(09:31):
much as I could and then Irealized at that moment that it
was for me the best opportunitythat I had to continue to be a
performer.
While at the same time I'mliving out the life that I
wanted to live with a, a homeand a family that I didn't move
(09:53):
around.
I wasn't gone all the time and Ididn't travel everywhere.
Um, without them.
And, uh, I could still performnow, you know, the tradeoff of
courses is that, you know,there's not a huge audience
standing right in front of youare sitting right in front of
you rather cheering andscreaming your name, but, um, as
(10:14):
long as you can imagine that,um, for people like me, which,
which I do and I love'em I canexplore and actually do things
that I might not even do on astage and for those who love to
perform and, and are crazy andwacky or serious and um, even
melancholy a or just crazy andthey love to perform, but they
(10:38):
don't want to get up in front ofpeople, but they don't mind
doing it by themselves, avoiceover.
It was just perfect.
So, uh, I, I got all of theequipment I needed, started
learning everything I could andI started, uh, started, uh,
doing it.
And first thing I went into hisaudio books and you know, we're
going to talk about audio booksbecause that's kind of my
(11:00):
wheelhouse is narratingaudiobooks.
Um, but then after audio books,uh, I got into doing e-learning,
um, corporate.
And then commercials, of course,some of my favorite things to do
is voices as also, I like audiobooks, but I love to do
animation and cartoons as wellas video games.
(11:21):
It's just lots of fun.
So, um, but there's also atechnical aspect to everything
here as well.
Like, you know, your booth andyour equipment and technique,
acting technique.
You know, I've taught actingfor, Gosh, 12, 12, 14 years.
And um, you know, I've taughttechnical theater for, oh gosh,
(11:44):
about the same amount of timeand um, you know, so much goes
into your craft.
So, uh, and then of course onthe other side, which not a lot
of people talk about everbecause it's not necessarily a
sexy thing to talk about is thebusiness aspect.
You know, I was told my actorsthat, you know, the, the biggest
problem with young actors oryoung artists is that, um, they,
(12:08):
they don't think aboutthemselves as a business on the,
you know, they just go from onejob to another, auditioning,
creating demos, sending them outand they forget that this is a
business and we're in this tohopefully make a living, make
enough money to supportourselves a, pay the least
amount of taxes as possible anduh, you know, have some sort of
(12:32):
steady income, which I alwaysthink is the a performers
challenge, you know, I'm beingbecause everything ends just
like a voiceover gigs end.
It's another reason why I likeaudio books and some royalty
deals because they last a lotlonger.
So I'm at acx right now in sevenyears.
So that's really nice if youpick the right books which will
(12:54):
go into.
So anyways, um, yeah, so I thinkI've been talking for about 13,
14 minutes about what I'm, I amdoing and uh, I guess I should
end up by saying where I want togo.
So what I'm hoping this podcastis, is it's for the voiceover
(13:17):
artist who is just starting outtrying to learn how to do this
crazy thing called voiceover,make some money and hopefully
become a fulltime performer andbe able to leave their job if
they want and do this forliving.
(13:39):
And for me, um, my hope is aswell as kind of like a side hope
is that this helps me go beyondthat point to where I can become
full time as well.
And I want to do it together andI'm not perfect.
I'm not there yet.
So I don't want to tell anybodyhere that I am or lie to you
(14:02):
because I want everything to beon the up and up.
But I want to hopefully do itwith you and I know that if you
know, we together go on thisjourney and we try stuff and we
document it and go back and tryother stuff and keep working and
working.
That will make it.
(14:22):
And I've got loads of ideas,lots of energy and lots of stuff
to narrate.
And so I'm really, reallyexcited.
Thank you guys so much forlistening.
I'm on a side note.
I don't even have a tag or um, Idon't have anything to drop on.
This is just me talking.
(14:44):
So God, if you stuck with methis long.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Um, this is just the firstepisode, so I'm kind of just
laughing at myself making itthrough here.
Then hopefully I will get waybetter and you can stick it out
with me and then, um, you know,we can make something out of
(15:05):
this.
So, um, yeah, so anyways, so thenext podcast I really want to
get into a setup and equipmentand stuff that I use and I'm
kind of give a little tutorialabout how I set up my first
booth with like literally under$100.
(15:26):
And even now, um, I reallyliterally record in that same
structure.
A course.
I've modified it now over thetime, but I've had no reason to
change, you know, whisper roomsor everybody wants to whisper
room and they're wonderful.
I'm not saying they're not, uh,and, but at the same time, you
(15:49):
don't need that to doprofessional work and, um, I can
hopefully help you get therewithout having to spend
thousands and thousands ofdollars on a whisper room.
So anyways, thank you guys somuch for listening and tuning in
and I can't wait to, uh, to dothe next one.
(16:11):
All right.
Well you guys have a wonderfulnight and talk to you next time.
Peace.
Hello and welcome to episode one of a VOs Journey.
My name is Anthony Pica and I amyour host.
I'm going to try to be, andwe're going to get this thing
kicked off for this firstepisode.
I'm going to be talking aboutwhat I plan on doing with the
(00:21):
show and, uh, hopefully I canoffer a lot of help to a lot of
voiceover artists.
So, um, yeah, so just movingright into it.
The point of this show is togive all of the advice that I
have to help VOs, uh, make itfrom beginning to end and
(00:45):
ending, I mean, to a place wherethey can become full time
artists.
So, uh, the hope is that by thistime next year, two years, five
years down the road, you'll beable to go full time at this.
(01:06):
So that is the goal and that isthe point of this podcast.
So just to start off telling youa little bit about myself.
Um, I have been, let's see, I'vebeen acting, teaching and doing
voiceovers for like my entireadult life.
(01:28):
So, um, it is what I love to do.
Um, I do a lot of live theaterand I teach, that is my day job
and I'm, I'm a high schoolteacher and I also teach
technical theater.
So, uh, I loved doing that,loved doing light sound.
(01:48):
I'm building all kinds ofthings.
So anyways, getting off topic.
So, um, what I am hoping is thatwe're going to go through
everything that I do on a dailybasis and that my hope is to
document my journey intobecoming a fulltime voiceover
(02:12):
artist.
And in the meantime help youbecome a fulltime voice artist
as well.
And we're just going to go, gofor it all in.
I listened to a lot of people, alot of coaches and there's a lot
of awesome ones and I couldrattle off a bunch of names but
I won't.
Um, but what I want to do is Iwant to be really transparent
(02:35):
with all of you on finances andwhat is happening with clients
and what I'm actually doingphysically doing a day in and
day out and the results that I'mgetting, the wins, the losses,
the triumphs and failures, ifyou will, so that you can get an
(02:56):
idea of how this is actuallyplaying out for real.
Um, there's a lot of people whodo similar things, but I've not
really come across someone who'sactually gone into, hey, I just
did this.
This is what happened.
Hey, this is the monotony.
Hey, this is just a, a bigfailure.
(03:16):
Hey, I'm trying this, I'mdumping that, all that kind of
stuff.
This is what happened and soforth.
And then actually talk about itand tell people about it and
then hopefully start a dialogueabout what other people are
doing.
So that is my plan for this.
And hopefully also we're goingto have some guests that we can
(03:38):
interview a, I've got peoplelined up, um, well I've got them
lined up in my head, we'll justput it that way.
And hopefully with a littlecoaxing, we'll get them on this
show and go from there.
So, um, yeah, so anyways, that'skind of where I am with the show
(04:00):
and what I hope to do tonight.
I want to talk about, um, kindof what the overall, um, the
overall purposes for what I, Iwant to accomplish, um, or why I
want to be a fulltime voiceoverartists.
(04:22):
And um, and my suggestion to youbefore you go down this journey,
you might already have started.
You might be thinking aboutbecoming a voiceover artists.
You might be thinking aboutwanting to change jobs.
You might be tired and, and justfed up with the daily grind, you
know, that kind of feeling whereyou were not really meant to be
(04:44):
doing what you're doing.
You just got stuck in it somehowor it's partially what you love
and it's not everything that youwant it to be.
Um, but so, you know, you havethis desire, this urge to do
something else, to do more or tobe more than what you currently
are.
Um, so I, um, basically when Ifirst started out as an actor,
(05:09):
um, for the stage, I fell inlove with it right away.
I can remember when I first gotup on stage, I was in high
school and I did a production ofguys and dolls and um, I went on
the stage and I was just, I wasa straight up goofball.
I don't know how they actuallylet me stay in the show.
(05:29):
But what I remember from thatshow was I had a solo.
I was nicely, nicely Johnson.
I don't know if anybody's seenguys and dolls, um, the movie
with Frank Sinatra, MarlonBrando or any of the musical
because the movie was a musical.
But, um, I was nicely, nicelyJohnson and there's a piece in
(05:51):
there called sit down.
You're rocking the boat that Idid and I, um, I started the
show.
It was blocked and choreographedreally well.
I thought at least looking backon it and I sang the song and
every night, you know, afterhearing the audience cheer, I
just, I got addicted.
(06:13):
I fell in love with it.
I fell in love with theperformance, I fell in love with
the idea of taking people andfor a moment or a couple of
moments or a couple of hourshelping them forget about the
real world and their troublesand all the stuff that was going
(06:34):
on and helping them have fun,uh, through whatever I was
doing, whether it was happy orsad.
And to this day, it's what Ilove the most, is creating a
world where people can go to andlive through another person and
(06:56):
just enjoy life without worryingabout all the other crap that we
have to deal with day in and dayout.
So anyways, after that Spiel,let me tell you about how
voiceover plays into it.
So anyways, um, I don't know,maybe there's some similar
people out there that have thiskind of, um, story, but
(07:16):
basically I had been acting fora while and you know, that
wasn't really paying the bills.
Um, and uh, I was either goingto take a plunge.
I was engaged to a wonderfulwoman and I decided to ask a
well engaged.
So I, of course I asked her tomarry me, but I had made a
(07:38):
decision that I wanted to have ahome and a family and not travel
around and as you become more ofa serious actor, you've got to
really go where the work is.
And at that time I was notliving in New York or Chicago or
la.
So, you know, I decided to dosomething different and I've
(07:59):
always loved to teach.
I've always loved to help otherpeople.
Um, and so I started teachingand my wife happened to be a
teacher at the time as well, soit kind of worked out and
anyway, so that's how I became ateacher.
And through that, um, I taughttheater and then I taught
(08:21):
technical theater and um, but Istill had this craving to be an
actor.
So of course I did communitytheater here and there and I
worked with some old friends andI would go for sometimes
summertimes and do stuff.
But, um, you know, I came intovoiceover, um, uh, came into
voiceover, just quitehappenstance of.
(08:43):
I had a friend who, um, I wasdoing a show with them.
We were doing a Neil Simon.
I'm the odd couple and uh, wewere bunking together and he had
his laptop and he was basically,uh, we would, uh, at nighttime,
after rehearsal or whatever,we'd be back in our apartment
and he'd pull out his laptop anda microphone and I literally
(09:06):
start recording commercials, uh,that he would submit to the
radio station or whatever.
And, you know, I was like, whatis this witchcraft?
I didn't understand it.
Um, but, uh, I was just blownaway by it.
And um, from that point on I wasreally kind of fascinated and I
started getting into it and, um,anyways, so, uh, I learned as
(09:31):
much as I could and then Irealized at that moment that it
was for me the best opportunitythat I had to continue to be a
performer.
While at the same time I'mliving out the life that I
wanted to live with a, a homeand a family that I didn't move
(09:53):
around.
I wasn't gone all the time and Ididn't travel everywhere.
Um, without them.
And, uh, I could still performnow, you know, the tradeoff of
courses is that, you know,there's not a huge audience
standing right in front of youare sitting right in front of
you rather cheering andscreaming your name, but, um, as
(10:14):
long as you can imagine that,um, for people like me, which,
which I do and I love'em I canexplore and actually do things
that I might not even do on astage and for those who love to
perform and, and are crazy andwacky or serious and um, even
melancholy a or just crazy andthey love to perform, but they
(10:38):
don't want to get up in front ofpeople, but they don't mind
doing it by themselves, avoiceover.
It was just perfect.
So, uh, I, I got all of theequipment I needed, started
learning everything I could andI started, uh, started, uh,
doing it.
And first thing I went into hisaudio books and you know, we're
going to talk about audio booksbecause that's kind of my
(11:00):
wheelhouse is narratingaudiobooks.
Um, but then after audio books,uh, I got into doing e-learning,
um, corporate.
And then commercials, of course,some of my favorite things to do
is voices as also, I like audiobooks, but I love to do
animation and cartoons as wellas video games.
(11:21):
It's just lots of fun.
So, um, but there's also atechnical aspect to everything
here as well.
Like, you know, your booth andyour equipment and technique,
acting technique.
You know, I've taught actingfor, Gosh, 12, 12, 14 years.
And um, you know, I've taughttechnical theater for, oh gosh,
(11:44):
about the same amount of timeand um, you know, so much goes
into your craft.
So, uh, and then of course onthe other side, which not a lot
of people talk about everbecause it's not necessarily a
sexy thing to talk about is thebusiness aspect.
You know, I was told my actorsthat, you know, the, the biggest
problem with young actors oryoung artists is that, um, they,
(12:08):
they don't think aboutthemselves as a business on the,
you know, they just go from onejob to another, auditioning,
creating demos, sending them outand they forget that this is a
business and we're in this tohopefully make a living, make
enough money to supportourselves a, pay the least
amount of taxes as possible anduh, you know, have some sort of
(12:32):
steady income, which I alwaysthink is the a performers
challenge, you know, I'm beingbecause everything ends just
like a voiceover gigs end.
It's another reason why I likeaudio books and some royalty
deals because they last a lotlonger.
So I'm at acx right now in sevenyears.
So that's really nice if youpick the right books which will
(12:54):
go into.
So anyways, um, yeah, so I thinkI've been talking for about 13,
14 minutes about what I'm, I amdoing and uh, I guess I should
end up by saying where I want togo.
So what I'm hoping this podcastis, is it's for the voiceover
(13:17):
artist who is just starting outtrying to learn how to do this
crazy thing called voiceover,make some money and hopefully
become a fulltime performer andbe able to leave their job if
they want and do this forliving.
(13:39):
And for me, um, my hope is aswell as kind of like a side hope
is that this helps me go beyondthat point to where I can become
full time as well.
And I want to do it together andI'm not perfect.
I'm not there yet.
So I don't want to tell anybodyhere that I am or lie to you
(14:02):
because I want everything to beon the up and up.
But I want to hopefully do itwith you and I know that if you
know, we together go on thisjourney and we try stuff and we
document it and go back and tryother stuff and keep working and
working.
That will make it.
(14:22):
And I've got loads of ideas,lots of energy and lots of stuff
to narrate.
And so I'm really, reallyexcited.
Thank you guys so much forlistening.
I'm on a side note.
I don't even have a tag or um, Idon't have anything to drop on.
This is just me talking.
(14:44):
So God, if you stuck with methis long.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Um, this is just the firstepisode, so I'm kind of just
laughing at myself making itthrough here.
Then hopefully I will get waybetter and you can stick it out
with me and then, um, you know,we can make something out of
(15:05):
this.
So, um, yeah, so anyways, so thenext podcast I really want to
get into a setup and equipmentand stuff that I use and I'm
kind of give a little tutorialabout how I set up my first
booth with like literally under$100.
(15:26):
And even now, um, I reallyliterally record in that same
structure.
A course.
I've modified it now over thetime, but I've had no reason to
change, you know, whisper roomsor everybody wants to whisper
room and they're wonderful.
I'm not saying they're not, uh,and, but at the same time, you
(15:49):
don't need that to doprofessional work and, um, I can
hopefully help you get therewithout having to spend
thousands and thousands ofdollars on a whisper room.
So anyways, thank you guys somuch for listening and tuning in
and I can't wait to, uh, to dothe next one.
(16:11):
All right.
Well you guys have a wonderfulnight and talk to you next time.
Peace.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com