Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Lord, I shall give these laws unto thy people.
Hear me!
hear me!
All pay heed!
The Lord, the Lord Jehovah, has given unto you these fifteen...
Ten!
(00:20):
Ten commandments for all to obey!
Yeah, there are probably more than ten, but ten is the traditional number of...
Commandments, so that's what we're rolling with today.
Today, completely unlike Moses from the mountaintop, I'm gonna give you the TenCommandments of VoiceOver.
Trust me, not every day you get Ten Commandments from an atheist.
(00:42):
Now, before you get your hackles up, we're playing a little fast and loose with the wordcommandments, okay?
There are not any real hard, fast rules of voiceover that you should never, ever, everbreak.
But these are pretty close.
Think of them as my strong recommendations.
(01:02):
As always, you run your own business and career.
But if I were you, I'd pay attention.
Commandment number one, thou shalt get really, really good at voice acting first.
Before you even think about upgrading your mic or obsessing over branding or spammingproduction companies with your demo, stop, pause, ask yourself,
(01:28):
Am I any good at this?
Not my mom thinks I sound like Morgan Freeman good.
I mean objectively, undeniably, consistently good.
I've said it a million times, voice acting isn't just reading words off a page.
It ain't just talking.
It's acting.
It's script analysis and subtext and backstory.
Crafting characters, not voices, characters for some genres.
(01:51):
And knowing how to shift gears seamlessly.
No one gives a shit about what you sound like.
Clients care about the performance.
Ever wonder why elite talent makes it look effortless?
Because they've clocked in thousands, tens of thousands of hours in the booth.
They've worked with coaches, they've acted in plays, they've taken improv classes, andthey've made 10,000 tiny adjustments to get to where they are today.
(02:18):
Now, how do you get good?
First, training is a non-negotiable.
Hire a reputable
Coach, train for months, not days or weeks.
And don't worry about the damn demo when you're starting out.
Do the demo only when you're competent and competitive.
Next, record consistently.
In other words, practice whatever you're into.
(02:40):
Audiobook copy, commercial copy, animation scripts, whatever you're training on daily.
Then develop your ear, record a piece, walk away from it, and come back later with freshears.
Would you hire you?
Listen closely to national spots accomplished audiobook narrators national animated seriesWhatever genre you're working on listen to very closely the best in the business Why
(03:07):
because when you're newer it's okay in fact I think it's essential to mimic when you startout That's how we eventually find our own voices and our own performances and finally
improv and acting classes Especially if you intend to pursue commercial work the abilityto
To act, to fully inhabit a character will help you in commercial, it will help you in justabout every other genre of voiceover work there is.
(03:33):
Remember, clients hire good actors, not announcers.
If your reads still sound like you're narrating a PowerPoint, get back to square one,which is training, even if you're actually narrating a PowerPoint.
Commandment number two, thou shalt learn to market.
It doesn't matter if you're the love child of Don LaFontaine and Sally Kellermanthemselves.
(03:54):
Okay?
If you're under 40, look them up.
If no one knows you exist, the gigs won't come.
VO is a business and you, my friend, are both the product and the salesperson.
Think of it like this.
Every time you send out a cold email, every time you send out a demo, you are planting aseed.
And astronomically, few of those seeds sprout immediately.
(04:16):
The sheer odds of someone
Needing you on the day and time that you reach out for a project that is absolutely rightfor you are astronomical.
So some seeds take months to sprout, some years and some others never grow at all.
The more seeds you plant, the significantly better your chances.
Okay, so marketing, where do you start?
(04:36):
Number one, build a killer website.
Simple, clean, easy to navigate, include your best demos, front and center, don't make mehunt for them, don't make me peck for them or click for them, and make it stupid simple to
contact you.
Next, and this one's the 800 pound gorilla, direct marketing, research productioncompanies, ad agencies, video producers, corporate video producers, reach out every damn
(05:00):
day with personalized and tailored messaging.
Third, LinkedIn and networking.
LinkedIn is a
Goldmine for leads.
Host regularly.
Put the effort in.
Engage with producers and directors and the people that hire us.
And lastly, and it's lastly for a reason, casting sites.
The days of sitting on a casting site and making your entire income from that site oraccommodation are largely over.
(05:25):
But they can still be a good source of auditions, especially when you're new and you needa traffic source for auditions.
But do not rely on them.
They should be but one tool in your business development toolbox.
The harsh truth is no one is going to discover you and you're not going to break intovoiceover.
faster you accept that, the faster you will book.
(05:47):
Number three, thou shalt not violate an NDA.
What's an NDA?
A non-disclosure agreement and oftentimes clients will make you sign one even to audition.
NDAs are gospel, period.
When a client hands you sensitive material, they are trusting you with that sensitivematerial.
Break that trust even accidentally and you'll nuke your credibility and reputation fasterthan you can say, oops, I fucked up.
(06:13):
Even so much as mentioning the client's name before the project is public can be aviolation of an NDA.
And yeah, that means no humble brag LinkedIn or Facebook posts so that cool gig you justlanded or blurred out logos on the actual audition script.
We'll talk about that in a minute because yeah, people can still tell.
(06:33):
three best practices for NDAs.
One, treat every project as if it were confidential.
If the client hasn't given you explicit permission to share it, don't share it.
Number two, ask for clarification.
If you're unsure, it's okay to go to the client and ask, hey, I wanna post this on myInstagram.
Is it okay?
Can I do it at a later date?
(06:54):
Are there any restrictions?
And third, just...
Don't gossip.
mean, look, we all want to celebrate our wins and I fully support that concept.
But even casually mentioning projects and forums or groups can backfire if there's an NDAinvolved.
Trust is currency in voiceover.
Protect it with your life.
Number four, we alluded to this just earlier.
(07:14):
Thou shalt not post audition scripts.
Once again, for the people in the back, audition scripts are not yours to share.
Even if you're just looking for feedback.
Posting audition scripts is a big no-no.
Clients often recycle scripts or they use scripts from upcoming campaigns, as you mightimagine.
And when those scripts get out in the public and end up floating around the social mediacesspool, it reflects poorly on you and it reflects poorly on the entire voiceover
(07:43):
industry.
Instead, if you're looking for feedback, get feedback on old copy, generic copy, or whatyou know to be practice scripts that are not under an NDA.
Better yet,
Here's a thought, book a reputable coach for one-on-one guidance.
Think of it this way, you respect the work and the work will respect you back.
Number five, this one drives me nuts.
(08:03):
Thou shalt not ask thy brother or sister for leads.
Look, I get it, right?
You see somebody else kicking ass and you think to yourself, hey, wouldn't it be great ifthey could share some leads with me?
Don't, just don't.
Asking somebody else for their leads puts them in a really bad position.
(08:24):
They're the ones that worked hard to build those relationships with the prospects andturned them into clients.
Handing over those contacts is like handing over trade secrets.
It's unfair to ask.
So instead of asking about specific leads, ask about their strategy.
How'd you land that gig?
What's been your most effective marketing method?
(08:44):
How do you structure your outreach?
If you're going to be successful in this business, listen closely.
you need to learn to generate your own leads.
Now best way I know of to learn that, and I suggest it with obvious and unapologetic bias,is the VO Freedom Master Plan, where I teach you step by step how to generate your own
(09:06):
leads and market to them to grow your voiceover career.
Whether it's with me, whether it's with someone else, learn the process of generating yourown leads.
And by the way, buying leads, yeah, those lists are picked through
Big time.
Commandment number six.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's career and accomplishments.
(09:26):
Look, it's the easiest thing in the world to sit on Instagram and scroll and look at thesemassive campaigns all your friends are booking and the awards that they're winning.
And meanwhile, your voice and phone menus for Bob's plumbing.
But here's the reality.
Kids, it's social media.
You're not seeing the full picture.
Nobody posts about the dry months, the gigs they didn't get, and the years.
(09:49):
Years they spent grinding before they nailed those big-name clients.
Stay in your lane.
Keep your head down.
Trust the process.
Your job is not to have J.
Michael Collins or Karen Gilfrey's career.
Your job is to have the best career that you can have.
The only person you need to compare yourself to is yourself.
Are you a better actor than you were a month ago?
(10:10):
Six months ago?
A year ago?
Are you 1 % better today than you were yesterday?
And yeah, celebrate others wins.
Don't let them overshadow your own.
And I promise you, every gig, whether it's a feature film or whether it's a phone menu,builds momentum.
Take stock of your own wins, no matter how tiny, every week and if you can, every damnday.
(10:33):
Number seven, thou shalt not make idols.
Oftentimes in our industry, we tend to pedestalize people.
We put people up on a pedestal.
and we begin to take their advice, whether it's me or anybody else, without askingourselves, does this apply to me?
Is this significant and useful for me?
And if you listen long enough, you are going to get contradicting advice.
(10:56):
And that's not because those people are necessarily wrong.
It's because everyone has a different experience and they speak from that experience.
You take what works for you, you leave the rest.
You cannot set out in this business.
Intending to be Andia Winslow or Nancy Cartwright, Peter Coyote or anybody else.
They're not looking for the next Ryan Reynolds.
(11:18):
They're looking for the next you.
Look man, if you let this thing, voiceover can bleed into every stinking corner of yourlife.
Before you know it, you're auditioning at midnight and answering emails at 6 o'clock on aSunday morning.
And I'm here to tell you, is not, kids, is not a badge of honor.
Take breaks.
(11:39):
Recharge step away when you need to not only to rest your physical voice But to get yourrest as a human being set boundaries block off days to relax.
You'll thank yourself later Look, this is a long game one of my favorite ball players ofall time Cal Ripken jr.
From my hometown Baltimore Orioles He once said and I'm paraphrasing here.
I'm probably gonna butcher it.
(12:00):
But he said essentially look it's a 162 game season in baseball so you can't go 100 %every damn day
You have to pace yourself.
Commandment number nine, thou shalt seek to give, not to get.
You want to be remembered in this business?
Give back.
Share advice.
Recommend other voice talent.
Help a newcomer.
(12:20):
The more generous you are with your time, your resources, and your guidance, the moreopportunities will come your way and the richer your career and life will be.
The VO community runs on collaboration, not competition.
In short, don't be a dick.
And finally, commandment number 10.
Thou shalt not be a critic from the sidelines.
(12:43):
I love this thought from author Brene Brown.
She says essentially, you're not here in the arena getting your ass kicked with us everyday like we are, then I don't give a shit about your opinion.
I see so many critics, so much judgment from people who are too scared mostly to commit tothe craft.
who work for free or for shitty wages because they don't value their own work, who thinkthey know it all, who sit on Twitter and Reddit and wherever and tear down the people that
(13:13):
are actually in the arena and getting their ass kicked.
And those critics themselves don't have the guts to get in the game.
So if you're not in the game, shut the fuck up.
Don't tear down those who are.
Again, 10 strong recommendations for your career.
Follow them or don't.
It's up to you.
Did I miss any?
Do you disagree?
Pop me a comment in the comments below.
(13:35):
As always, I wish you the very best and if you got value from this video, share it withanother voice actor or another creative freelancer.
Don't forget to like, subscribe and hit the notification bell.
And then head on over to voPro.pro where you can get information on the VOPro communityand the VO Freedom Master Plan we mentioned earlier.
Most of all, thanks for the conversations we have in the comments in the VOPro community.
(13:57):
in the larger voiceover community at large.
I say it all the time, the more we talk, exchange information, disagree civilly, thebetter industry we're going to have for everybody.
Thanks so much and we'll see you back here again real soon.