Voice-Over Techniques, Marketing & Opportunities

Cardiovascular Fitness and your VO Career!

2012-02-01T10:29:00.000-05:00

Year after year, the number one New Years Resolution people make is to get in shape or lose weight. If you are one of these people, I'm here to provide another reason for you to get in shape (or stay in shape) to keep you motivated!

All of us in the voiceover industry can agree that breath control is very important when working on a job. Breath control can make or break auditions and makes all the difference in the flow of a script. You work so hard on all the other aspects of your career, it's easy to forget how much of an impact physical fitness has on your voice!

Do you notice yourself editing out noisy or forced sounding breaths from your script reads? Those breaths actually introduce tension into your voice, which means that you are tense during a reading. Sometimes as voiceover artists we find ourselves trying to take short, quick breaths in fear of making the script sound choppy or uneven. The problem is that once you take one quick, short breath you then have to figure out how to make sure you have enough breath for the next sentence. Before you know it you take a deep breath mid-sentence (or rushing through a sentence before you run out of breath) and then you find yourself starting your recording all over again. Of course, all of this can be edited out in the end, but learning to control your breathing from the beginning will help you cut down on editing time and be more efficient submitting auditions, not to mention sound better overall. Having breathing issues is an even larger problem when booking jobs with a long script, or even audiobooks. Make sure that you take the necessary time and learn how to breathe well in the correct areas.

Working out is a great way to increase your lung capacity, which in turn helps you have more control over your breathing. Exercise is a good idea in general for a healthy lifestyle, not just for your voiceover career. Getting your heart pumping is great for many reasons since exercise increases endorphins, which helps to increase energy levels. Physical fitness also helps boost your immune system, which means that you're less likely to contract illnesses than those who lead a sedentary lifestyle. The fewer sick days you have to take, the more jobs you can book!

It seems obvious that cardiovascular exercises would be the most beneficial to a voiceover artist, as they focus on increasing your lung capacity (and therefore helping your voice the most). I personally think that if you can manage to work exercise into your daily routine at all it's a step in the right direction. If you are moving your body more than you were previously, it's building toward healthy patterns.

When it comes to what specific activities you should participate in, opinions vary greatly. Some people swear that swimming is the best exercise for voiceover artists (because it is invigorating as well as relaxing to your vocal chords and that they perform at their best soon after a swim session). Others say that taking yoga or meditation classes really helps them focus on their breathing patterns. I say that you should just focus on something you truly enjoy as exercise. The more you enjoy it, the more likely you are to stick with it and be motivated to keep up the good work!

Make sure that when you're exercising to keep a good breathing pattern and don't overexert the muscle groups around your head and shoulders. The last thing that you want is to tense the muscles in this area and have a hard time using your voice in certain ways. Sometimes if you pull a muscle in your neck it can make it painful to enunciate certain words you might need to for an audition.

Above all else, remember that your voice is your instrument and your money maker. You wouldn't expect a guitar player to walk out on stage with a broken string, you would expect them to keep their instrument in top working performance. Treat your voice the same way by giving it the best treatment and doing everything that you can to make it the best that it can be!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Marketing Tip of the Month: Blog like a Pro

2012-01-04T10:33:00.001-05:00

Blogging is a wonderful way to bulk up your image as a knowledgeable professional in your industry. Although I would say that blogging doesn't typically lead to booking new clients directly, it does so passively by creating an online presence showing that you are a reputable player in the industry. Potential clients see that you aren't just someone that has thrown together a website, they see that you are actively involved and well versed in the field. Clients then feel more comfortable that they are getting the quality service they need and want.

Step 1: Generating Content

Before you even begin writing, compose an outline. Having an outline will help you stay organized and will also help with the fluidity of your article to ensure that you won't miss an important point that you want to cover.

Don't forget that we're living in a fast paced society! You really have to fight to get -and keep- a person's attention. The first way to do this is by writing a mind-blowing headline. After all, most people won't even click on your article to read it if it doesn't catch their interest with the headline! Focus on writing a headline that will please search engines and readers alike by incorporating focused keywords in each of your blog posts.

"Mac or PC?", "THIS JUST IN!", "Best VO Software JUST RELEASED!" These are just a few ideas of topics that are most likely get people talking. Controversial opinions, breaking news and new technology tools are all great things to blog about. Use these "hot" words, ideas and phrases to illicit more of a response from people reading your blog. Another simple way to get people to comment and engage on your blog is to ask a question at the end of an article. That encourages people to continue the conversation by commenting and interacting with one another.

Make your blog visually pleasing. By taking a little time to format your blog, you are increasing the chance that someone will stay and read the entire post. Make sure that you have a clean design and take full advantage of formatting helpers such as bullet points, images and hyperlinking to outside sources or websites.

Remember that variety is the spice of life! Cover a variety of topics and vary the lengths and styles in your own writing. You could vary the styles by including interviews, Q&A style articles, bullet-pointed lists and a rating system (i.e. "Top 10 Microphones") to shake things up.

Creating a resource list is one of the great ways to attract readers and keep them coming back for more. If you can create a resource list relevant to the industry (Top 10 places to get free music, 10 social media sites every voiceover artist should be on, etc.), your readers will likely bookmark this article and keep coming back to use it for reference. If you see that you have traffic coming back to reference your post years after, you can always choose to add and expand on it. Make sure you announce on your blog by posting that it has been updated, for those people that maybe haven't read it yet, or haven't referred back to it since they originally read it.

Another popular format is a product review. Not everyone can afford to purchase 5 microphones to give each a full review, but you could download a few different free editing programs and review the ups and downs of each of them and give your final rating system based on what you found! To encourage feedback from your readers, ask them if they've ever used any of these programs and which one is their favorite.

You don't always have to be the first person to cover a topic. This is a very typical cause of writer's block…people think they have to write about something that nobody has written out before. You could spend hours upon hours trying to come up with a topic that nobody has ever written about. Instead of trying to come up with a completely new idea, just write about a topic that interests you or something you have a lot of knowledge about. Even though somebody else has written about it in the past, you are the only one that can provide your perspective on the subject using your unique writing style.

Are you getting burnt out by being the only contributor to your blog and feeling like it's just becoming your personal sounding board? Get another opinion (and "voice") by setting up guest bloggers to contribute to your blog. This is a great way to get a burst of fresh air to your blog now and again. You may even be able to team up with other voiceover artists and do a blog link exchange in which you provide them with a few blog articles you've written and they'll provide you with a few in return. Typically you link back to their blog for credit and they'll do the same for you. It's a wonderful way to get new content AND help expand your reader base.

Finally, before you hit "Publish", take the time to proofread! I can say that this is one point in writing that I've personally had a hard time breaking. I used to just send off each article to another set of eyes to proofread before taking a highly critical eye and reading the finished article myself. Trust me, though. Taking the time to read what you've written and see if YOU enjoy reading it will make all the difference. If you don't enjoy it, why would anyone else enjoy it? Make sure it reads well and makes sense from beginning to end. If you have someone else that you trust and can count on, it never hurts to have a second set of eyes quickly read what you've written to make sure it reads well to them as well.

STEP 2: Getting (and keeping) readers

When you first begin blogging, it's very important that you post blogs on a regular basis to start attracting readers to your site. I suggest trying to post a blog article every day if you can. The articles don't have to be very long (no more than 500 words, really), but they should contain nuggets of useful information to show your readers why they should be following your blog.

Don't have any followers on your blog yet? Make your blog content easy to find for people that are already looking for it! How many times have you been looking for something very specific online and you've had to search through 10 sites before you've found what you were looking for? A lot of times people just give up after the first few sites didn't contain the information they were seeking out. Make sure your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is top notch for your blog to ensure that your readers or potential readers can easily find your blog when it's relevant to what they want and need. Not well versed in SEO? There are quite a few resources out there for free that can teach you the basics, they're just a Google search away!

Don't just be a blog writer, be a blog reader (and commenter) as well. Take the time to seek out other blogs that are relevant to you and comment on articles that you enjoy or have an opinion on. Since you normally have to submit your information when you comment on a blog, make sure you are logged in to your account that you use for blogging. Therefore, everyone reading the comments on that blog (as well as the author) will then be able to link back to your blog!

Make it easy for readers to post comments on your blog. It's pretty simple, the easier you make it for readers to post comments, the more comments you'll receive. If you force someone to create a new account for each different blog hosting site, type in a captcha code and register an email address, it's going to be too much work for the reader to give you something that you WANT from them. Make it easy by letting them log in either with their choice of email address or even using Facebook.

Utilize buttons so readers can easily share your blog. Most blog hosting sites have tools that help you give your readers the ability to share your blog articles via social media sites. Make sure you activate this feature (how it's handled varies from site to site). Readers are more likely to share your blog with their friends and followers if you make it easy for them!

There are many things that you can do to help build the quality, content and interaction on your blog. The tips above are a great way to start. A quick search online will lead you to a sea of information about blogging. Each site has a varying degree of expertise, so it all depends on how much time you want to spend on your blog. Many people out there blog as their career. Obviously you are blogging to help promote your career, so you don't want to spend your entire day working on your blog.

Remember, just like every other marketing strategy, building up your blog will take time. Stick with it and write about topics you enjoy and you'll begin to start seeing the results!

The best piece of advice I ever received regarding writing was "When you have writer's block, don't spend too much time thinking about it…just start writing". Sounds so simple, but it has helped me work through so many cases of writer's block! What is the best professional advice you ever received?

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Manage Your Time Better!

2012-01-03T10:55:00.001-05:00

Take a moment and think about your typical workday, think about the tasks that you do on a daily basis. If someone were to stop and ask you right now how much time it took you to do each task, would you have a good grasp at it? Do you ever feel like there just aren't enough hours in the day for what you have to accomplish? Do you find that you're completing tasks JUST before they are due and stressing out that you may miss deadlines? In my past days of management, I noticed that many people pride themselves on how busy they appear to be. When somebody tries to offer them solutions or ways to try to manage their time better, they tend to brush them off. Sometimes people will even get downright defensive or insulted. It's almost as if they think that the busier they appear, the more important they are. They may feel threatened that if they don't seem busy all the time that their job would be on the line. Or they may be insulted because they think that you're implying that they're not working hard enough or fast enough (definitely not the case). If any of these examples apply to you, I'm here to change your theory and give you more peace of mind at the end of the day. If this does not apply to you, then still continue to read and get great tips on how to manage your time better.

I will be the first to admit that many years ago I fell into that first category of people. I would rush around all day long, unwilling to ask for help, ending my day in a stressed frenzy claiming that I simply had too much to do and not enough time in the day to do it. Now, let me clarify, I really BELIEVED that I had too much to do and not enough time in the day to do it. I never thought that I was doing anything wrong or that there was anything I could do to change that. The day came when I had finally had enough. I stepped back and analyzed my day, the approach I was taking to the tasks I was completing and the order in which I was completing them. I asked coworkers for an unbiased opinion as to how I was going about things. Asked them for any suggested shortcuts that they used on any programs, processes or procedures that we both used in our daily tasks. I took all of this information and restructured, reorganized and refocused with a clearer vision. I realized that if I made a few adjustments to my day, it might just give me some breathing room. Best. Decision. EVER! Now I jump on the opportunity to meet with someone that says they can help me better manage my time. I will no longer be the person so unwilling to seek out advice from someone else. Let's face it, if you can shave even 15 minutes off of your workload, it's still worth it! After all, you're "so busy you can't even breathe until the work day is over"…so 15 minutes would be fantastic, am I right?!

Are you sitting here right now rolling your eyes and thinking that you're so impossibly busy that you can't take time out of your day to revamp your functional system that you have worked out? I thought maybe you might be…just keep reading. I recommend for you to start keeping a journal, spreadsheet or other document and record your day. I'm sure you've heard of food journals, or dream journals. This will be your work journal. Start out by listing your goals for the day to keep yourself on task. As the day progresses, try to note how much time you spent on each goal and add in anything else you spent time on during the day. I would recommend trying to break things out into 15 minute increments so it doesn't get TOO specific (you don't need to notate that you took a break to get a glass of water).

Sidebar: Those of you that follow our blog posts regularly know about my list obsession. You can read more about writing an effective to-do list (the list of threes) in our blog article here.

Take things into consideration that take time away from your goals (personal social networking, playing games, reading articles online, chatting with friends, etc.). Now start practicing restraint with those procrastination tactics. On the other hand, some of the things that take time away from your goals are things that are unavoidable (sleeping, eating, driving to and from appointments). You can still try to plan your day out even better to make the most of that unavoidable time. For instance, if you find yourself in the waiting room of your physician's office (and, like many people today, you have a smart phone), take a few minutes to check your business social media sites or answer a few business emails.

Beware of the stealthy productivity killers! Do you sometimes take your laptop into a family area to work comfortably from your couch? Do you then think "Oh, I'll just turn on the TV for background noise"? Do you then realize that hours have gone by and you've been watching a marathon of some show that you would normally never watch if the TV wasn't on merely for "background noise"? The same can be said for streaming music onto your computer. You turn it on for background noise and before you know it you're downloading new music, setting up a playlist or searching out the history of a particular artist. Now, I'm not saying that you should work in complete silence, just make sure that you're staying focused on your work and not searching out lyrics for a song you just heard!

Take advantage of your computer's multitasking abilities! I've walked by many-a-desk in my time to see people staring at their computer screen and tapping their fingers as a large file saves or as their email loads and wondered "why?!". Your computer is a powerful machine, so don't sit there and stare at it as it works, continue working. Update your to-do list as that large file saves. Update your business social media sites as your email loads for the day. Take the time during a computer reboots to get your work station organized or make an important phone call.

Once you use these tips and analyze your workday, I hope that you'll be able to free up time! Changes begin small, so even if you manage to free up 10 or 20 minutes in your day, it's still a step in the right direction. Don't stop looking for ways to free up even more time by multi-tasking or restructuring your day. If you're constantly looking for ways to manage your time better, you'll always be working toward the most productive workday you could have!

Now that you've freed up a bit of time, don't make the mistake to then turn around, take that free time and pile on loads of additional work. That will just bring you right back to where you started. The whole point of managing your time is to be able to handle your workload with less stress. Don't end up overextending yourself back to the point where you were originally.

When all else fails, if you just keep struggling to manage your time, I would sincerely consider hiring a professional consultant. Now, of course, this all depends on your budget. I firmly believe that having a professional unbiased opinion about your workflow is a great way to analyze your workday. Don't fall back into the routine of being defensive about how busy you are. After all, you're the ONLY one that's suffering in that equation! A professional will typically monitor your work day for a few days, sitting by as you work and have an open conversation about your daily tasks, the time you spend on them, what your priorities are in your day and what tasks you always find that you aren't making time for when the day is over. They will take notes and then analyze areas where you could save time by either implementing different programs or procedures to help. I've worked with about two or three different time management consultants and I've found that they are definitely worth the money to have a little peace of mind at the end of the day!

What methods have you used to manage your time in the past? What has been your most effective time-management method to date? Have you ever hired a consultant to help you prioritize your workday? We'd love to hear your stories and experiences!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Talent of the Month: An Interview with Natalie Donegan

2011-12-28T11:18:00.002-05:00

"Last week I completed my 65th voice over project, the latest that I'm working on is a 70 minute (80 page) educational video for a German university."

Despite studying theater and drama in college (and always having an interest in the arts), Natalie never had any desire to be in front of a camera or on stage. At 20 years old, she discovered that voiceovers existed, but didn't have any space in her busy schedule (she was single, had a mortgage and a very demanding job as a sales manager of a daily newspaper) to pursue a possible career shift into voiceovers. 12 years later, Natalie was married and a stay-at-home mom and she was looking for an outlet that would challenge her creatively. That was when she searched out SuchA Voice.

Natalie's training program focused on technique, visualization, pitch, inflection and lateral reading. "My training combined with the resources that Such A Voice offers in the Members Only Area has all aspects of the industry. It helped me work on developing my voice style, setting up my marketing, a business plan and more! I felt like I had an entire spectrum of knowledge from Such A Voice, I had a plan and knew what I needed to do to get started. I also joined in on the live bi-weekly training sessions, which I found extremely useful in helping guide me as a new voiceover talent".

When Natalie was ready to step into the voiceover booth, she was happy to have a trained producer from Such A Voice by her side "In an area that I knew nothing about I was happy to have someone so well-versed in recording demos. You need to make sure you get the best demo you can, that is what you'll be selling at the beginning!" From there, Natalie often referred back to the resources provided by the Such A Voice program to set up her website and market herself on various social media and pay-to-play sites. She takes full advantage of web marketing between Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Voices.com and Voice123.com!

Being a stay-at-home mom in the voiceover industry, Natalie probably appreciates the flexibility in her schedule most. However, she does say that lack of time is probably her biggest downfall. She loves having the ability to fit her work in around her very busy schedule instead of having a set of strict office hours. "Sometimes I get a big job that my day schedule doesn't work with, so I stay up late to get the tracks recorded instead. My family will always come first, but with voiceovers I don't have to choose between the two, there can be a happy balance".

Natalie did a great job marketing herself, she attributes this to the fact that she was in advertising sales for 9 years when she entered the voiceover industry. "I am determined and I know how to sell, I'm just selling my voice now instead of a product. When I first started in the business I created lists of local potential clients: advertising agencies, marketing agencies, TV stations, radio stations, producers, telephone on-hold companies and more! I had no problem picking up the phone and calling them to sell myself and get my demo's out to as many people as I could."

Voiceovers have kept Natalie VERY busy since she completed her training with Such A Voice! "Last week I completed my 65th voice over project, the latest that I'm working on is a 70 minute (80 page) educational video for a German university." Her first job came from Voice123.com, it was a two-minute telephone on-hold recording. "I felt like I had won the lottery when I booked that job!"

You may recognize Natalie's beautiful British accent being used as the voice of such companies as: 45 Degrees Latitude Film and Production, 371 Digital Films, Bandwidth.com, Beam Audio, Cherry Creek Radio, Digital Media Communications, Go On Hold, Griffin Wink Advertising, Legwork Creative, MotionFoundry Inc. and many more!

When we asked Natalie what her advice was for aspiring voiceover artists, we couldn't help but nod emphatically as we listened to her answer: "If you are getting into the industry, get a professional demo cut! Use every avenue you have to promote your name. Don't be afraid to offer free work at the beginning, as long as you then have their permission to reference that work on your voiceover resume (and use a recording of it on your website). I found that it was hard to have NO experience and a demo, so I offered a few freebies. I then took those freebies and used them as examples of my work. I requested testimonials from every client I worked with and asked permission to quote their company name. Within a short period of time I had an impressive resume for voiceovers!"

We're so proud of your many successes, Natalie! We can't wait to see (or hear) what you do next!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Tip of the Month: Stay Hydrated!

2011-12-14T09:55:00.002-05:00

As we approach the colder months in the year, it's time for most of us to break out the scarves, mittens, hats and heavy jackets. The heat dial gets turned up and, if we're lucky enough, we fire up that fireplace or wood stove and enjoy it's warm glow. Unfortunately, something many of us don't remember to do is to also increase our hydration to make up for our drying atmosphere. As voiceover artists, we need to make sure we stay hydrated so the mucous cushions in the vocal cords stay lubricated. Think of it like getting an oil change for your car on a regular basis. You need to make sure the pistons are running smoothly to keep the engine at top performance!

It's very easy to remember to keep hydrated when exercising or when in a dry and hot climate, but many of us forget that just sitting in our homes, offices or studios with the heat on is drying itself. Most of us don't worry about hydration until we feel very thirsty, which is a sign that we aren't drinking until our body is starting to become dehydrated.

Why is it that so many of us can remember to water even the most delicate house plants on a regular basis, but we can't remember to keep ourselves well hydrated?! Being surrounded by beverages that don't actually help us stay hydrated certainly doesn't help. To make sure you're keeping your vocal cords in their best shape possible, stay away from caffeinated, alcoholic and/or sweetened beverages when focusing on hydration.

Water is the most obvious choice that people reach for. Is water too bland for you? If you're anything like me, you may have trouble getting in your suggested daily intake for fluids if you can't seem to get excited about it. I am definitely a big offender when it comes to gravitating towards the three things listed above that people should avoid when trying to stay hydrated (caffeine, alcohol and sweetened beverages). Do you want to know what works for me? Adding a little squeeze of fresh lemon, lime or orange juice to your water really helps brighten up the flavor! Herbal tea is another great way to get some flavor to your hydration regimen. Many people swear by sports beverages when they get dehydrated, but you need to really be careful about the added sugar in many of the most popular brands.

The next thing to consider is the intake quantity. There are so many different views and opinions as to how much you should actually drink. The standard last time I checked was a flat 64 ounces across the board, which always struck me as odd. I always thought this number would fluctuate based on activity level, body weight, climate and other extenuating circumstances. Turns out I wasn't alone! The International Sports-Medicine Institute has had a more specific formula in place for over 30 years. They predict that you need approximately 1/2 ounce of water per pound of body weight. So, although it doesn't take all of the factors into consideration, it certainly is more specific than one number for everyone. Very easy, you just take your body weight and split it in half and get the amount of ounces you should drink each day. Do you want something more specific that gives you a more detailed estimation? About.com offers a calculator that takes other factors into account that will help you pinpoint the correct amount even better.

Staying hydrated is probably the easiest and least expensive way to keep your throat healthy and your voice in top performing condition; not to mention it's a great healthy habit to have in general! Always keep a glass or cup nearby to encourage yourself to keep sipping throughout the day!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Voices for a Great Cause!

2011-12-09T10:56:00.000-05:00

For the first time ever in the history of voiceovers, 31 voiceover artists joined forces to raise money for children. The group gathered last week to record “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” The recording has been released this week and has been picked up by radio stations across the nation. All sales and donations to Voices For Children will benefit Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA.

To listen to the production, click here.

To make a donation, clickhere.

Wrap Up Tax Details Now!

2011-12-07T14:02:00.001-05:00

As we close in on the end of the year, it's a very busy time for most of us. Holidays with the family, religious celebrations, company parties and seasonal voiceover work keeps us very busy this time of year! It's so easy to forget the most important task of the month, which is closing out our tax year!

As a voiceover artist (and small business owner), there are quite a few things that you should have available to make your tax filing as seamless as possible. December 31st is ideally YOUR deadline to get organized for your tax filing. By taking a little time and getting yourself organized now, you can save yourself loads of money! We've put together this article to try to help make your tax filing as easy as possible.

If you have your very own CPA, this makes things much easier, as they can advise you on all things tax related. For some of us, we don't have a CPA to rely on throughout the year and are left to our own devices to muddle through and learn from our mistakes. It may be worth it to you to have an accountant on hand just for year-end advice, particularly when it comes to your business operations. You need to have a good understanding of your financial situation when it comes to your business. An accountant can be particularly helpful with this, especially around this time of year. It can be a great asset to have when planning your strategy for the new year.

Everyone has different opinions on this, but we recommend to collect on your outstanding accounts before the end of the year, purely for organizational purposes. It's fairly common knowledge by all business owners that companies want to collect on their accounts by end of year to balance their books and prepare for tax season. We all have those clients (you know the ones I'm talking about) that drag their feet paying you. Chances are if they typically drag their feet, they will this time of year as well. So make sure you give your clients a few weeks to get their past due invoices caught up. Feel free to send them a reminder every week if necessary. Some people recommend collecting past due payments during the first week of January, to defer that income to the new year. However, once you begin this habit, it's a hard habit to break. You'll always be rolling over income from the previous year into the new year and that can be a logistical nightmare when trying to keep your books organized.

You should get all of your deductions organized and categorized. The general guideline is to try to spend whatever profit you made for the entire year. You should have been saving all of your receipts and categorizing all of your deductions throughout the entire year. Business deductions include such items as: new headphones, software, client luncheons, training seminars and much, much more!

Have you just been stuffing all of your receipts in a file folder hoping that inevitable day will never come? Well, my friend, the day has come to take them all out and get them organized, so get to it! Also, if you know that you'll be needing goods or services in the first quarter of the new year, now is the time to buy them (if cash flow permits, of course). Stock up on office supplies, pay your bills early, purchase that new office chair you've been eyeing!

Plan for your distant future while helping your immediate future with retirement plans! You can also reduce your claimed income by either setting up or contributing to a retirement fund. Check the contribution limits for your type of plan. In the U.S.: 401(k), KEOGH plan, Roth IRA, or SEP's. (For SIMPLE IRA's the deadline is set in October, too late for year-end tax planning.) This is another topic that would be great to discuss with an accountant.

Taking the time to get organized now will give you time at the end of the month to wrap up any loose ends and focus on more important things this time of year (like enjoying the holidays with your children and family)!

NOTE: This article was not written by a certified CPA or tax preparer. Please check with your personal accountant or tax preparer on all rules and regulations when making all decisions for the tax season.

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Tip of the Month: Combat Congestion!

2011-12-01T12:40:00.000-05:00

Tis the season; the season for sickness, that is! As we all know, congestion is practically doomsday for voiceover artists. Being that I recently got over a pretty bad cold myself, I decided to write an article on a few methods to combat congestion to help you record on the tougher days. We would love to hear your miracle-cures as well, so feel free to leave us a comment!

Hot shower: A hot shower is a great way to loosen congestion. Bonus points if you use a minty soap to try to help ease congestion as well. Unfortunately, staying in a hot shower for too long can also be drying to your skin, so my hint would be to take a shower and then turn up the water heat and step out of the shower to enjoy the steam. Turn off any vents or fans and let the bathroom really fill up with steam and enjoy it for a few minutes.

Herbal tea with honey and lemon: Many people would recommend drinking an herbal tea, typically with spearmint or chamomile. Personally, this works wonders for me. Many voiceover artists swear by 'Throat Coat' tea, which I use in dire situations but really can't stand the taste of. Lesser known is to drink ginger tea. Ginger is a natural antihistamine, so it will help any inflammation you are suffering from due to congestion. The less inflamed things are, the less congested you'll feel. Try to avoid any tea that contains caffeine (even green tea contains caffeine), stick with herbal.

OTC decongestant: For the most part, I try to avoid taking medicine unless absolutely necessary. Sometimes you just have to so you can function in your daily schedule. Make sure that if you're planning on working, to choose a non-drowsy formula!

Avoid dairy: As many of you know, dairy products can cause your body to produce more mucous than it normally does. In fact, we recommend that our students stay away from dairy products 24-48 hours before recording their demo to cut down on mouth noise produced when dairy is consumed. When you're congested, your body is already producing PLENTY of mucous, so avoiding dairy will help keep your body from producing even more! As an alternative, try soy or almond milk.

Indulge in a spicy, brothy soup: The combination of the steam and the spices really helps open up the sinuses and ease chest congestion. Bonus points on this one if you lean in close to your bowl of soup and breathe deeply to get the full steam-effect!

Metholatum Ointment: Depending on where your congestion is, this can work wonders either below your nostrils or on your chest. It's a temporary relief, but it's a great addition to your congestion combatants.

Gargling with warm water & salt: The salt helps dry out post-nasal drip and the warm water eases a sore throat.

Use a humidifier: Many people complain that bedtime is the worst time when they're suffering from congestion. Most times this is because when we lay down and can't breathe through our nose, we sleep with our mouth open which dries out our throat and causes us to cough. Having a humidifier in your bedroom for when you are ill will help a bit to keep your throat a little more moist.

Keep hydrated: Not only is keeping hydrated good in general for voiceover artists, it's particularly important when you're suffering from congestion. Making sure you have plenty of liquids will help thin out mucous, which will make it easier to pass any mucous you have lingering.

Neti-pot: I'm sure may of you have heard of this contraption already. Personally, I can admit I was a little freaked out by the concept. You get this little teapot-looking thing, add in a solution (provided by the makers of the neti-pot) that contains 2 ingredients, mix with warm water and pour it into one nostril, which it then goes up into the sinuses and out the other nostril. Sounds weird, right?! I thought so, too! After numerous friends of mine gave me rave-reviews of their dealings with this thing, I decided to give it a shot. I have to admit, the thing worked! It takes a bit to get the angle right and you feel really silly while doing it, but for the first time in a week I was able to take a deep breath through my nose without being all stuffed up. I won't hesitate to use this thing again next time I get sick!

Saline nasal spray: This is a great thing to add in between uses with the Neti-pot, or if you don't have a neti-pot or don't want to try using it. It does a great job of clearing up nasal congestion temporarily. Perfect for using right before bed and when you wake up in the morning!

Until the days when scientists find a cure for those pesky viruses, we just have to try to make ourselves as comfortable and functional as possible while our bodies fight off the sickness. Hopefully the hints above will provide you with a few new ideas on how to help with congestion and make you able to record that urgent voiceover job for your favorite client!

Written by: Bethany Baker Such A Voice Marketing Director

Meet Our Staff: Michelle Falzon

2011-11-16T10:00:00.001-05:00

Once a month, Such A Voice will be highlighting a member of our staff to give you a little insight into who they are & what they do here at Such A Voice to help you get to know the people behind-the-scenes!

Meet Michelle Falzon. Michelle was born & raised in Michigan. She lived in Manhattan for a little while but loves the peacefulness of her home in Michigan. "Although I REALLY miss New York, it's so peaceful over here. I live in a wooded area and there are a lot of deer and other wildlife. Sometimes my backyard looks like a National Geographic episode. You really can't beat such naturally beautiful surroundings". Michelle is one of the people in charge of coaching and mentoring our students to develop/refine their talent and to prepare them to record their demos. She also works as a mentor to our students after they have recorded their demos to help them continue with their voiceover careers.

Michelle has a strong passion for the voiceover industry. "I love the creativity behind it. The best thing is when you see the finished product and how all elements of the final production work together. Being able to do it all from home is just the icing on the cake". You can hear her earnest desire to see our students succeed when she begins talking about her coaching with Such A Voice. "Taking students from being a hopeful novice to booking their first, second and third gig is amazing! I love helping students book work. It's also great when you get to watch a student come into their comfort zone. Seeing them bring life to the script after they've been struggling is a wonderful feeling!"

Michelle is most known in her voiceover career as being the voice of the Shake Weight for Women. Just in the past month she has completed an IVR for Frito-Lay, Numerex, a commercial for Connecticut Orthopedic and an anti-bullying PSA.

We were excited to learn more about Michelle!

What are a few of your passions? I thank God that I can say that my work is also my hobby. I truly mean that. I LOVE what I do. When I'm bored, I start creating a new demo for fun. I really enjoy time with my God-daughter, Taylor. I also love nature and wildlife and am a National Geographic fanatic. I have recently turned into a workout junkie. When you work from home, it is easy to get lazy and not get enough exercise. So, I joined a gym and have found that I really like a good workout!

Where is your favorite vacation spot? The island of Malta. Malta is a small island in the Mediterranean, very close to Sicily. It's where my dad was born and I still have strong family ties there. It is absolutely beautiful! And yes, I am 50% Maltese!

What are two foods you absolutely love? Chobani yogurt and ANYTHING Italian.

What/Who is on your playlist right now? One Republic, Flyleaf, Three Days Grace…I love alternative rock.

Do you have any advice for aspiring voiceover artists? Remember that rejection in this very competitive industry is normal, especially in the beginning. If your skin is too thin, you will have a tough time accomplishing anything. Instead of dwelling on rejection, take that time and work at fixing the things that are holding you back. Spend time listening to the demos of people who are doing well. Work on your editing skills and focus on connecting with your client's message. You have to be willing to put in the effort and make a choice to improve rather than quit. Give 100% of yourself to your dream!

Written by: Bethany Baker Such A Voice Marketing Director

Marketing Tip of the Month: Make Time For Face Time!

2011-11-15T15:40:00.001-05:00

As voiceover artists, we have the privilege of being able to work from home. I'm sure that many of you, much like myself, are reminded of this privilege by all of your friends that have to commute into an office every day! The voiceover industry has created quite a network online that allows us to connect and form relationships with both clients and other voiceover artists all over the country and world. One of the basic elements of marketing is a facet that so many voiceover artists forgo, simply due to the fact that most of our existence in the industry is within the confines of our home studios! What marketing tactic am I referring to? In person networking!

There are many ways you can go about networking in person. I've listed a few below, but you'll know what works best for you based on your time, region and community. Another way to practice networking in person is to go to individual businesses and introduce yourself as a voiceover artist, however, this article will be focusing more on a group dynamic of face-to-face marketing.

1) Chamber Mixers/Chamber Events

If you have registered your small business with your local Chamber of Commerce, you should be on their mailing list to receive updates on events that they're holding in your local community. These events are a great place to meet local business owners and let them know about what you offer. Make sure you bring plenty of business cards and even a few demos to hand out if requested!

2) Tweetups/ Other Social Media Events

Social Media Events are events created within social media groups. This might be through Twitter (these are typically reffered to as "Tweetups") or other social media sites you belong to. These events can sometimes be purely for social reasons and sometimes there is an agenda or event planned around the meet-up. This is a great way to attend events that may be hosted by a business you're interested in working with, or it may have a large attendance which would be great for you to network with as well. Pick and choose what work best for you based on your availability and interest level.

3) Voiceover Groups

Most large cities have voiceover groups that offer weekly or monthly gatherings in their area. Networking with other voiceover artists is a great way to build your reputation as a voiceover artist, to find out what clients are already spoken for and to have a connection with people you know you can turn to when you have a question about the industry. Networking with other voiceover artists can also be great to build your client base. For example, if you have local connections in the industry and a client comes to one of those fellow VO artists looking for a voice that matches your niche, you may just get that client passed to you!

Try working in a few events to your marketing plan. The more you attend, the more you'll be at ease networking with new people. Let's face it, clients can connect with a face, conversation and handshake a lot more than they can a phone call or a website! So get out there and MAKE TIME FOR FACE TIME!

Written by: Bethany Baker Such A Voice Marketing Director

Meet Our Staff: Heather Costa

2011-10-26T10:46:00.014-04:00

Once a month, Such A Voice will be highlighting a member of our staff to give you a little insight intowho they are & what they do here at Such A Voice to help you get to knowthe people behind-the-scenes!

Meet Heather Costa. Heather is originally from Catskill, NY. From there she attended theHartt School of Music at the University of Hartford in CT where she received aBachelor's Degree in Vocal Performance. After graduation, Heather relocated to northernNJ for a couple of years to establish herself as a voiceover talent. Fromthere, she spent a few years in Albany, NY and has now settled in the HudsonValley with her husband and two beautiful children where they are surrounded byapple orchards and vineyards. Heather is a country girl at heart. She loves beingsurrounded by open spaces and watching the beautiful sunsets over the rollinghills. The Hudson Valley is just a short train ride away from Manhattan, so it's aperfect mix of country and city for their family. When it comes to passion forall things voiceovers, we've yet to meet anyone that can meet Heather's levelof enthusiasm for the industry! Some of her clients include: the DisneyChannel, Comcast, Infiniti, Playtex, PetSmart, Finish Line, eBay, theEducational Testing Service, Barnes & Noble, the Cystic FibrosisFoundation, MVP Healthcare, Chase, Clear Channel, Prentice Hall and many more.

Heather began her journey withSuch A Voice as a student. From there she wore many hats as an instructorwithin the company and has always been an integral part of the Such A Voice family.She is now the Director of Operations, where she handles a myriad ofresponsibilities. She oversees all of the staff members atSuch A Voice, works directly with the Such A Voice President, Dan Levine, increating new programs and always making sure that we have the bestopportunities for our students. She also makes sure that things run smoothlywithin the company and that all of our students are happy and succeeding withintheir programs. Heather let us know that the part that she loves the most abouther job is "Getting to focus on all of the details within Such A Voice.It's great having the opportunity to be creative and constantly bettering theservices and resources for our students. I also love receiving emails from ourstudents telling me about their wonderful experiences with our coaches andproducers and hearing all about the jobs that they've booked!"

We were excited to learn more about Heather!

Whatare a few of your passions? Enjoying lifethrough my children's eyes. Watching them experience things for the first time.There is nothing more amazing! I also love filming & editing home videosand integrating photos within them to create family movies, rollerblading,photography, writing poetry and reading.

Whereis your favorite vacation spot? One of my favoritevacation spots is Boca Raton, Florida. My parents have a time share and I'vebeen going there since I was five for an annual family trip! Now I get to sharethat with my kids. It's a time to relax and enjoy four generations alltogether!

What/Whois on your playlist right now? Adele, Maroon5, Javier Colon (who is a college friend and the winner of the first season of The VOICE) and Rebecca Correia (mycollege roommate and amazing musician).

Doyou have any advice for aspiring voiceover artists? Go after your dreams! I am a big believer that if you want somethingbadly enough, you can make it happen. Have a plan. Push yourself to reach yourgoals and always, always have fun!

Written by: Bethany Baker Such A Voice Marketing Director

Talent of the Month: An Interview with Kathy Poelker

2011-10-25T12:46:00.004-04:00

"I have had the pleasure of working with several people from Such A Voice and have found everyone to be very nice and interested in helping me develop this facet of my business."

When Kathy attended an intro-class in the Fall of 2010 with Lisa Foster, it wasn't on a whim. "I've had an interest in voiceovers for about 20 years". Kathy already had quite a successful career that included keynote presentations and consulting to teachers. She also has her company "Look At Me Productions" where she writes, records and publishes children's music. Look At Me Productions has published approximately 60 products for early childhood programs that involve children from birth through age 7. These publications help developing children and children with special needs. "Two of my products are Children's Musical Big Books, which are sing-along/read-along products. I did the voiceovers for both series of books (11 different titles) in both English and Spanish versions. This was the beginning of my voice over interest and a natural extension of my recording work & studio experience".

The intro class was also a great bonding experience with her son, David Lecinski, since they attended together. "The class was fun, lively and exciting. Lisa made the class non-threatening for anyone who had never been on the mic before. She did a great job of giving us plenty of valuable information about the industry and let us know what to expect as working voiceover artists". After attending the intro-class, they both realized they had what it takes to make it in the voiceover industry. They both signed up for coaching with Lisa Foster.

Once Kathy completed her training with Lisa, she picked up additional training with Anne Ganguzza. "I have had the pleasure of working with several people from Such A Voice and have found everyone to be very nice and interested in helping me develop this facet of my business. Dan Levine, CEO, is a wonderful human being and he's been very supportive. I have not only coached with Lisa Foster, but also with Anne Ganguzza, who is delightful and determined as a vocal coach. She made every coaching session interesting and challenging. She really goes the extra mile for her students. Her sessions were very well done and she was prepared for all of them, every week. As an educator, I wanted a 'good coach' and I can say that Anne is absolutely that person."

Kathy's passion for learning definitely helps her out in the voiceover industry. "I would definitely say that my biggest strength is that I love to continually learn new things. A career in VO provides that opportunity. Every day is a day of learning for me. What I love about the VO industry is the challenge it provides. Each project is different; people you work with are different; learning new VO techniques each day is exciting, expanding, and demanding. My weakness is that I want to try it all! All genres are interesting to me, but there aren't enough hours in a day to try them all."

Kathy is happy to report that she has booked numerous jobs! "My first job was a multi-faceted VO job that included a 1 1/2 minute overhead store announcement which I wrote and added a music bed for a chain of five stores in our area. That same music is also being used as their on-hold music for their phone system and on their corporate website. I have repeat business from them in doing their drive-thru ramp recording for all of their stores as their customer greeting! The pay for this bundle of recordings was GREAT! It was a very nice opportunity for me as a first job! It all went well. No surprises."

Once that job was finished, the jobs started coming in very quickly. "A few of the projects include: two TV commercials, a 1.5 minute TV medical program narration/introduction, a 9/11 Memorial Tribute for a video production for a mega-church in our area, robocall advertisements for a publishing company, robocall advertising for a teacher training organization, an online psychology course narration for a university and an online character animation for an education company. Every project is different and unique and a challenge of my vocal abilities!" On top of all of that, Kathy has also been contacted by an audiobook producer for a future audiobook narration!

"One of the most wonderful things I can share in this interview is that each of the jobs I have had have asked me to continue working for them on future projects! All are new clients for me and repeat business is what matters in this industry. When people can count on you - on the way you run your business, your character and your voiceover talent - you're a "go to" person for future work. That adds up to great financial rewards in the long run. You need to be a good listener and give your client what they want!"

Kathy offers a few great tidbits of advice for aspiring voiceover artists. "Remember that 'Rome wasn't built in a day'. Listen to other VO talent, study and read about the industry. Practice, practice, practice and then practice more. Learn from successful industry professionals and don't give up when you think 'it will never happen'. BELIEVE in yourself, and go for it! Be a networker. You can do it! You're in for a great ride!"

We're so proud to have helped you on your journey, Kathy. Congratulations on your success!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Marketing Tip of the Month: Give Back to Your Community!

2011-10-24T13:08:00.001-04:00

As voiceover artists, we are always looking for new and creative ways to increase our clientele. One of the easiest ways to do this also has a "feel-good" aspect to it: volunteer your voice to a non-profit, charity or even an event! Donating your time and voice is an excellent way to advertise your talent by promoting a worthy cause. Whether you live in a small town or a large city, there are organizations that would love to have your professional voice promote their message!

There are numerous ways you can volunteer your voice over services. You can offer your voice for PSA's (Public Service Announcements) on the radio or television, you can also find organizations nationwide that need great voices to read local news and events for the blind or reading impaired. Nearly every city and town has a reading program to assist the reading impaired. If you don't love the thought of volunteering your time by spending time in the recording studio, there are plenty of other options. Offer to be a master of ceremonies at an upcoming charity event, read a book for a group of young children at a local library or at a retirement center where their sight might not be the greatest.

One of the most prominent online reading impaired programs is Learning Ally (formerly called "Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic"), which was founded in 1948. Learning Ally serves more than 300,000 K-12, college and graduate students, veterans and lifelong learners. These are people that cannot read standard print due to things such as blindness, visual impairment or a learning disability. LearningAlly has trained volunteers that read textbooks and other literature titles to produce downloadable audio versions. These audio versions are able to be downloaded onto computers, smartphones and specialized assistive technology devices. They currently have more than 6,000 volunteers across the U.S (all statistics according to their website).

Another great company to volunteer your voice with is Librivox.org. Librivox has volunteers record a variety of different books which allow the visually impaired access to books that they perhaps did not have had access to before. As a volunteer, you can record chapters from novels and practice your narration and acting skills at the same time. You get the added benefit of public exposure being listed on the search engines under the Librivox banner. Not to mention that your recordings will be listened to by possibly hundreds of people. You also have the opportunity to promote yourself and your website at the beginning or end of each recording.

What do you get by volunteering your voice? Besides the warm, fuzzy feeling of giving back to your community, remember that quite a few local businesses also make a point of volunteering their time, products or services to charitable causes. You never know who may be listening! The crowd that you are emceeing for today could bring you a new client or two tomorrow!

Volunteering your voice provides a much-needed service within your local community and even those that need your talent in other parts of the country. Not only will you feel good about helping others, every experience adds to your portfolio, helps keep your technique top-notch and potentially opens the door for new clients. Investing time in your community is an excellent investment for your business.

So log on to your computer, because an organization you’d love to work with is just an easy search away! Help make a difference in the quality of someone’s life by simply doing the work you love.

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Such A Voice Presents a seminar with the Casting Director for Walt Disney TV Animation!

2011-10-21T13:20:00.001-04:00

What voiceover artist hasn't dreamt, at one point, about voicing a project for Disney?! When asking our students what their "dream job" would be, the leading company is always Disney! Which is why we're so excited to have teamed up with Sara Goldberg, the Casting Director for Walt Disney TV Animation! Currently, Sara is casting for shows such as Phineas & Ferb, Fish Hooks and Gravity Falls.

We are hosting a three-hour workshop in Los Angeles with Sara for those that are interested in using their voice for animation. Sara will be discussing how she casts and what you can do to pursue this exciting side of the VO industry! She will also be providing feedback on each students performance.

(NOTE: This is not a Disney event. It is a Such A Voice event and Sara is doing this for us on her own as an independent contractor.)

For more information and details, please go to: http://www.suchavoice.com/Page/Disney_Seminar

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Such A Voice Presents a seminar with a Reality TV Casting Director AND a Creative Director from a prominent Ad Agency

2011-10-21T10:22:00.001-04:00

If you have the guilty pleasure of watching Soap Operas, you may recognize the face above as Shayne Lewis from the legendary Soap Opera, The Guiding Light, played by Marty West. What you may not know is that Marty is now the CEO of a very successful Reality TV Casting Company, West Casting, and he has cast over 50 reality television shows (including such hits as Deal or No Deal, Millionaire Matchmaker, Tool Academy and many more). He is considered to be one of Hollywood's leading Casting Directors for TV Reality Shows and Game Shows! Due to his firsthand experience in the industry, he understands the pitfalls. He created West Casting to help bring people's dreams to fruition, because he believes everybody deserves a shot.

We are proud to have teamed up with Marty to offer a handful of seminars in different locations nationwide. Marty will appear at each of these locations along with a prominent Ad Agency Creative Director in each city to discuss what Creative and Casting Directors look for when hiring talent. They will also be providing feedback on each students live performance!

For more details, or to find out upcoming dates and locations, please go to: http://www.suchavoice.com/Page/Casting_Seminar

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Working on the Road: Tips to remember when recording away from home.

2011-10-20T13:07:00.001-04:00

With holidays approaching in the next few months, I'm sure many of you have prepared to take time off to spend with family in various locations away from home. As you book your flights, make your packing checklist (or is that just me?!) and figure out who's going to take care of your cat while you're away, you also need to decide if this will be a true VACATION or a working one. Yes, it's nice to get away from the mic for a while, but it's also nice to know that you can spend a couple hours during your trip and earn back what you spent to get there! A few of you probably don't put much thought into any potential voiceover jobs that may come in while you're away. To some people, a vacation means NO work whatsoever, others may want to make sure they're available to their clients in case of a last minute job or pickup that's needed and then there are others who choose not to miss out on any VO opportunities and therefore always bring their studios with them, even while on vacation. Below are our tips for making the most of your "time off":

1) Remind your agents and clients of your planned trip. You should notify them about a week in advance and then remind them again the day before you leave, letting them know if they need anything else before you go, to please send it over at that time. You can let them know how you plan to handle jobs while you are away, whether that be that you're completely unavailable, available for emergencies only or available as you always are for any VO job that comes in. Most agents and clients will respect your time off, but you always have to make sure that they know! Then when you return, send them another email to let them know that you're back (even if you already gave them a return date). Some agents/clients will mark you unavailable until they receive that confirmation that you're back and ready to work again. For all of your agents/clients that require you to travel to them for auditions and bookings, even if you plan on taking your studio with you, notifying them in advance of your absence is extremely important.

2) Make sure you're on the same page with your family members and travel companions. After all, this is your vacation. You want to make sure you get ample R&R time, so it's important that everyone is on the same page as to whether you'll be working while away or not. That may mean agreeing that you'll only check correspondence once daily, or only during certain hours of the day, or that you'll still be glued to your smartphone, even while sitting poolside.

3) Make a separate checklist for your recording equipment. You don't want to arrive at your destination just to realize you've forgotten an integral part of your traveling recording equipment. Simple things like headphones, cables and a light (so you can read scripts in hotel closets if need be) are very easy to forget when you have a whole slew of other things to worry about packing. When preparing for your trip, try to keep in mind what, if any, equipment you will be checking for a flight, versus carry-on, or how much room it might take up in the car if you're taking a road trip. Also keep in mind that if you are flying, any equipment that is carry-on you should be prepared to remove from your bags at the security checkpoint, since a microphone and long XLR cable can be confusing to a TSA agent!

4) Keep your environment in mind. Sometimes you won't be able to handle work efficiently while you're on vacation simply because of your environment. Will you have internet access? Will you have an adequate power source? Will you have sufficient space to record where there isn't any room noise? These are all things to keep in mind when planning your travel and how you're going to handle any jobs while you are away. If you have a portable recording booth, that will certainly help with acoustics in your hotel room, or car (yes, cars are great for recording in!), a closet, or anywhere else you can squeeze yourself into. If you don't have a travel setup, you can certainly create a make-shift studio with hotel pillows, couches, mattresses, curtains, you name it!

5) Take any work in progress with you. You may have to do pick-ups on a job you've already begun working, so make sure you bring anything you're currently working on with you. Also keep in mind that recording in a different space will change the sound and if your home studio mic and travel mic are not the same, it'll obviously affect the sound as well, so you'll have to work around that.

Hopefully these few tips will make it a lot easier for you to record when you're away from home. After all, the happiest clients are the best clients to have and when they're happier, it's much easier to relax and actually ENJOY your vacation!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Talent of the Month: An Interview with Greg Allen

2011-10-05T09:21:00.004-04:00

"I was really nervous when recording my first job, but I was pleasantly surprised when the client accepted it and enthusiastically stated that they liked my voice so much that they'd be contacting me for future projects!"

Greg Allen's love for voiceovers developed very naturally as an offshoot of his love of the radio and broadcasting industry. It all began when was asked to lend his hand at some copywriting. He did such a great job that it led to writing original scripts of his own which, in turn, helped him look further at the process of voicing a spot from start to finish. Like so many voiceover artists, he was immediately hooked!

There was quite a bit of raw talent working in Greg's favor right from the beginning. He has the experience of a radio broadcaster under his belt, along with a naturally wonderful tone to his voice. He also has the ability to express genuine emotion with each and every script, which allows him to really connect with the listener. When it came to his areas in need of improvement, he knew that he would need some help learning the intricacies of the technical side of editing (so he could easily and efficiently be sending jobs out quickly). He also realized that he had the tendency to slip into his "announcer" voice at times (which doesn't work well when voicing a natural sounding script). That's where Such A Voice came in!

Greg credits Such A Voice with really teaching him the importance about being true to himself and his voice as he interprets each script. When it comes to his personal coach, Greg has nothing but wonderful things to say! "Michelle Falzon has been helping me deliver a more natural read instead of sounding like an announcer. She's also helped me to learn A LOT about the editing process. Because of her, I sound much more relaxed and natural as I deliver my reads now. Thanks Michelle!"

Anyone that speaks with Greg can definitely attest to his determination. This is a man that really seems as if he could conquer anything he puts his mind to, he's always up for a challenge. In fact, the one thing he enjoys most about the voiceover industry is the challenge! "I really enjoy matching my read with the director's idea or image of how the spot should be". His inspiring perseverance also comes through in his advice for aspiring voiceover artists: "Stick with it! Don't throw the towel in too soon. Seriously, when I felt that I just wasn't cut out for being in the voiceover industry my first job opened up! So stick with it and put your heart into it because your listener's on the other side of the mic, not just the consumer, but producers and directors can tell that your heart is in it."

Since receiving his demo, Greg has already booked four jobs! His first job was for a software company, which he auditioned for and was pleasantly surprised to find out he had been chosen. "The contact gave me clear, detailed directions for the read and gave me a definite deadline. I was really nervous and felt that I would mess up my first job but I just tried to focus on relaxing and working through it. I was so excited when they accepted it, they even enthusiastically stated that they liked my voice and will be contacting me in the near future for more projects."

We are very excited to see where voiceovers take you next, Greg!

Marketing Tip of the Month: Use Email Marketing!

2011-10-04T16:11:00.005-04:00

Email marketing has been proven to be one of the best marketing strategies for many businesses. Why? Essentially you'll be putting your message right into your target contacts lap. That's right, email marketing is DIRECT marketing! We'll be giving you a few tips in simple terms so you can begin email marketing as part of your plan to increase your voiceover business.

Tip #1: Make it personal.

When writing your marketing copy, think of it as if you are speaking directly to your potential client. A personal approach in email writing is usually more effective than using a very formal tone, particularly when it comes to the voiceover industry.

Tip #2: Timing is everything.

Find out when the best time is to send your marketing emails. For some marketers, Friday evenings generate a higher response rate but the perfect timing may vary from one business to another. The best way to know what works for your own business is to test audience response for different times of the week. I personally suggest setting up a spreadsheet with how many emails you send out each day, as well as the time it was sent and keep track of how many responses you receive. You'll quickly start to see trends emerge.

Tip #3: Write an interesting or exciting subject line.

Here is your best chance to grab the reader and entice them to open your email. Use words that will spark interest or that resonate strongly with their business or product. Avoid using words that are usually found in SPAM emails and never use an exclamation point at the end of your subject line.

Tip #4: Never SPAM.

Even if people are subscribed to your newsletter, make sure that you only send them relevant messages about the topic that they signed up to receive information on (in this case, voiceovers). NEVER try to send an unsolicited email, even if you think a person might be interested with your offer, if it's unrelated to your industry. If you try to SPAM even once, you could leave a negative impression to the recipient, which may cause them to unsubscribe from your emails.

Tip #5: Include a call to action.

Don’t forget to use call-to-action words or phrases not only in your emails but with all your marketing material in general. Do not leave the recipient guessing what he/she should do next. Spell it out clearly and encourage the reader to take action. Phrases like “Click here”, “Order now”, “Call now” may sound overused but they can really make a big difference in improving your response rate.

Tip #6: Watch out for errors.

It’s important to make a good impression. Before sending out your emails, spend time reviewing the content and thoroughly proofread to make sure that it doesn't contain typos, misspelled words, or grammatical errors. It is also recommended to have someone else review your marketing copy, as it is easy to overlook errors if you were the one who wrote it.

Tip #7: Don’t give up.

Like other direct marketing methods, email marketing is meant to be consistently repeated, so try not to worry if at first you don’t get the exact results you want. Study your method and see where improvement is needed. Continue to test the method by sending marketing emails. As long as you don’t SPAM and you send the emails out at proper intervals, you can repeat email marketing campaigns as many times as needed.

These are just a few tips to get you started. As you utilize this form of marketing more, you will learn quite a bit about what works best for your client base and be able to fine-tune your strategy based on this gathered research. Before you know it, email marketing will become almost second nature to you. You'll know exactly what time of day to send out your emails, what keywords you should use in your subject line and how to phrase your call of action to get the most response from your clients!

Written by:
Jeff Santoro
Such A Voice Marketing & SEO Specialist

Meet Our Staff: Anne Ganguzza

2011-09-30T10:30:00.004-04:00

Meet Anne Ganguzza. Anne grew up in the town of Rochester, NY and moved to sunny California in 2008 (Orange County, to be more specific) where she is very active in the voiceover community. Anne specializes in corporate narration, e-learning and telephony. You may recognize a few of her clients such as Kia, Advance Auto Parts, Jones & Bartlett Learning, Starline Films, Goodwill, Hong Kong Board of Tourism and many, many more! Anne is one of the people in charge of coaching our students to develop/refine their talent and to prepare them to record their demos as well as going into the studio to produce them! Anne also teaches our introductory classes mainly in Southern California. When speaking with Anne, you can truly tell that voiceovers are her calling, the enthusiasm in her voice when the topic turns to voiceovers instantly makes you smile. Anne's passion for the industry really reflects in her mentoring and coaching style (you can just ask her students, we always get fanmail regarding Anne). Anne puts it best when she says "Helping them to live their passion and discover their unique voices is my favorite part of this job".

We were excited to talk more with Anne Ganguzza:

What are a few of your passions?

Scrapbooking! It's a wonderfully creative outlet (much like voiceovers) that just plain makes me happy. I truly believe every person has a story to tell - whether it is about themselves, their loved ones or a family ancestor. It's NOT about creating a "perfect" scrapbook page, but about those precious memories that can be shared with your family and future generations to come. I am so blessed to have ancestors that left behind scrapbooks. It has given me a precious look at their lives and into their hearts that I would never have known otherwise. To me, scrapbooking is an art and an expression of love. What could be better than that?! You can see some of my scrapbooking work at: www.anneganguzza.com

I also love spinning. I have been spinning for 12 years now. It's a great exercise that I never get tired of, an amazing stress reliever and is just pure fun with great music! It's also how I met my husband - he was my spinning instructor! He still teaches today and I never miss a class!

It's a great thing that I spin, because my husband is ALSO a gourmet cook. It's hard to pick one favorite dish that I love. If I had to choose, I would say it's a toss-up between his Chicken Milanese, homemade pizza and homemade salad dressings. These will always be favorites of mine.

Where is your favorite vacation spot?

If I had my choice of anywhere in the world, I would choose Sicily or anywhere in Italy. I have been fortunate to be able to visit both on more than one occasion to see our extended family there. I could be happy doing just about anything in either place. I love the fact that I can take my voiceover career anywhere and have high hopes of eventually moving or retiring to Italy!

What's on your playlist right now?

I have such an eclectic taste in music, I really love all types. I really don't think I could pick a favorite out of everything I enjoy listening to.

Do you have any advice for aspiring voice-over talent?

Don't be afraid of failure or hard work, they are both essential to your success in this business!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

How your voiceover coach can help you launch your VO career and take it to heights you never expected!

2011-08-30T10:23:00.001-04:00

Almost everyone can agree that a voiceover coach is essential to launching your voiceover career. A voiceover coach will refine your raw talent and help you learn so much about making money by using your voice. Before you even cut your demo, your coach does a great deal to teach you how to interpret and deliver script reads, helps you learn about inflection, breathing and the pace at which to deliver a read and you'll be able to do all of this while still being able to sound conversational and natural in your read. However, so many students discontinue their coaching once they have cut their demo. We're going to discuss ways a coach can help you AFTER you have your demo in hand!

Most voiceover artists I've encountered go into business for themselves. Being in business for yourself or "being your own boss" can be empowering, exhilarating and exciting, but it does come with a myriad of responsibilities. Because you spend a lot of time setting up your business and maintaining the day-to-day work that goes along with it, there may come a time that you think "this is good ENOUGH". This is why coaches are so key in growing your voiceover business!

One-on-one coaching allows you to tailor the sessions to focus specifically on what you're struggling with. That is what's so great about one-on-one coaching versus group coaching, you don't have to listen to everyone else's problems and questions. The last thing you want is to sit there and wait patiently to ask the specific questions you have just to get a quick response before the coach moves on to the next student! Are you struggling with a script for a job you recently landed? Your coach can help you with that. If you're trying to submit an audition, a coach can work with you to make sure you submit the best audition possible. Does your marketing seem to be leading to a dead end? A coach can give ideas and pointers as to where your marketing plan is falling flat and tell you where to make changes. It really all depends on what you need to focus on.

If you're finding you're starting to doubt your basic talents, you won't be given time to dwell on your doubts. Instead your coach will shift your focus towards how to work to overcome these doubts and gain confidence to squash them completely. You will be forced to look at the big picture logically, instead of letting your emotions get in the way and cloud up your judgment.

When it comes to reviewing your business plan, a voiceover coach is one of the most reliable people to provide a no-nonsense, unbiased point of view about the details of this plan. They can analyze where you are thriving in your business and they will figure out where you're struggling. From there, they provide advice on how to overcome these hurdles. After all, your coach is already established in this industry. They know the industry far better than asking a spouse or friend advice on how to grow your VO business. Your coach provides a completely different insight than your own for doing things in your business, things that you might have never thought of on your own.

Your coach will encourage you to take your business to the next level, to the place you always wanted your business to be (but didn't know quite how to get it to that point). You will work with your coach to determine where you see your business in 1, 5 or even 10 years from now. Your coach will help you keep your focus and make sure you're on task with these goals you have set for yourself. Coaches do a great job of breaking down the larger goals into smaller tasks for you to accomplish. This helps to make your "ultimate goal" seem a lot less daunting and a lot more feasible.

A coach is a great way to grow your business in ways you would have never thought possible. When you think about it, there are quite a few professions that rely on coaches to mold their career and make sure it stays in the top of it's game (singers, athletes, etc.). If you want to have a successful career in voiceovers and are struggling to figure out where to go after you have your amazing demo in hand, coaching is well worth the investment to see your dream come to fruition!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Talent of the Month: An Interview with Allenda Harris

2011-08-17T08:27:00.001-04:00

"Make sure you have a solid marketing plan in place and that you're diligent because voiceover jobs ARE out there, they're everywhere!"

Allenda's family and childhood friends would probably describe her as the type of child that was always able to get an entire audience to give her their full attention simply by speaking. To this day, even while having a simple phone conversation with her, there is something compelling and almost addicting about the tone and inflection of her natural speaking voice. There is just something about Allenda's voice that makes you smile! "I was the one who picked up a book of prose and began reciting the words on the page aloud, as if there was a crowd of people in front of me hanging onto every dramatic inflection in my voice". When given the opportunity to actually perform in front of a big audience, Allenda started to realize that she was always given the largest number of words or lines to speak aloud.

Her first job, like so many teenagers out there, was at a supermarket. She was promoted quickly from cashier to customer service. One day, she was asked to say something over the loudspeaker to entice people to buy a new product that wasn't selling well. She quickly came up with a script off the top of her head and announced it over the loudspeaker. To her surprise, customers rushed to pick up the product she was advertising. The product sold out in roughly 5 minutes and her manager couldn't believe it! "I knew in my gut there was something more to this 'voice thing'".

Allenda went on to college and decided she could use her voice to become a news reporter. It was clear in her mind, even after receiving her degree, that she enjoyed using her voice in an already written piece of copy more than actually writing the piece herself. She quickly brushed off the idea, thinking that there was no way that there could be a career that consisted of only using her voice itself.

Years later, while browsing her local college catalog, Allenda came across the Such A Voice introductory class on the industry of voiceovers. She realized by the description that voiceovers were exactly what she was thinking of when she was dreaming of using her voice as a career. When she attended the class, Allenda knew she had made the right decision!

"I worked with Rob Sciglimpaglia in my class as well as throughout my training. His manner, disposition and teaching style were all excel

lent for student learning. He was the expert, but very much approachable, encouraging and open to questions". Like many people that attend our introductory classes, Allenda had a great time behind the mic in the class and collaborating with fellow attendees to read commercials. "I felt at peace that my speaking abilities found a new home in the voiceover industry."

Allenda is fortunate to have a well-rounded list of experience ranging from directing and producing live special events to producing short CD and DVD advertising segments (and voicing the majority of these projects). She is also able to relate incredibly well to clients on both sides of the table largely because of this experience. "I understand the clients perspective of 'wanting to have it right' and the perspective of the clients representation of 'needing to get it right.'" She realizes that she does tend to push herself a bit too much at times. "It doesn't matter if it's five hours or fifty hours, I will go without eating or sleeping if it's necessary to get the job done. If it needs more practice, more research, more editing, I'm your lady!"

Allenda probably gained the most knowledge on the marketing side of the voiceover industry. "I learned from Rob that I must not ever become complacent in marketing my voice/my brand. Voiceover jobs ARE out there, they're everywhere!" Allenda's marketing plan began with her professional training that she received at Such A Voice, following up with the resources and opportunities that Such A Voice had to offer as well as other resources online. She knew she wanted to set up a home studio, so she did her research to find out what would work best for her and the space she had designated for her work area. It was also very important to her that her print materials and website would be both aesthetically appealing and functional for the best return on her investment. "Of course, one doesn't need these things to get started. For me, all of this was part of my plan". In a session with Lisa Foster, she realized that all of her hard work was paying off and headed in the right direction. "I'm grateful to the entire Such A Voice staff for their excellent guidance, availability and helpfulness at each phase of my journey!"

What's her piece of advice to students pursuing this industry? "The bi-weekly teleconferences have provided me with a wealth of knowledge from people that are experts in the industry and willing to share their knowledge and experience with you. The coaching is strong, organized and competitive for anyone interested in doing voiceovers."

Final thoughts from Allenda: "As Mike Turnbull says in 'The Business of Show Business', it's mandatory to realize that voiceovers are a business like any other. You must have a plan to work and work that plan. Take time to put a focused plan down on paper because it helps your mind to think through potential obstacles and solutions. It also reminds you that your dream is worth the effort. The bottom line is that you should have fun and enjoy yourself. Go for it with everything you've got to work with!"

We can't wait to hear where your dream takes you next, Allenda!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Meet Our Staff: Lisa Foster

2011-08-11T16:17:00.004-04:00

Meet Lisa Foster. Lisa has been in the voice over and media broadcast industry for over twenty years. She has been fortunate to record with such household names as: Ford, Crest, Sesame Communications, Active Network, Microsoft, Sleep Train and many, many more! Lisa is one of the people in charge of coaching our students to develop/refine their talent and to prepare them to record their demos as well as going into the studio to produce them! She also teaches our introductory classes. Lisa is the type of person that always manages to make people smile when they're interacting with her. She really brings out the fun side of VO's and admits that her favorite part of working at Such A Voice is when the student has fun. "There is nothing like it, it opens them up to the whole process of polishing their product. When they let go and have fun, it's such a great thing to see!" Her sense of humor and friendly demeanor really make you feel like you're learning from a dear friend and not a "teacher". Lisa is based on the west coast in the gorgeous city of Seattle, WA.

We were excited to talk more with Lisa Foster:

What are a few of your passions?

I'm always searching high and low for unique vintage jewelry. My favorite things to collect are cocker spaniel brooches and rhinestone necklaces from the 50's. The brooches are really hard to find, but that makes the hunt for them (and the discovery of finding one) all that more exciting. I love the necklaces because they are so fun and beautifully made (who doesn't love the sparkle of rhinestones?)!

The collection of cocker spaniel brooches leads me into my next obsession, which is my love for dogs! I am madly-obsessed-in-love with my beautiful cocker spaniel, Daisy. I cannot remember a time in my life where I didn't have a dog or multiple dogs. They bring me so much joy and comfort. There is nothing like coming home and having someone so excited to see you that they can't contain their happiness!

I am also a crazy gardener. I once dug up and moved a dogwood tree 3 feet, just so I could make a nicer flower planter area around it! I always seem to be moving plants around like furniture.

Where is your favorite vacation spot?

Anywhere that has a quiet beach sounds great to me! I find the sound of water very relaxing and enjoyable.

What's on your playlist right now?

I'm currently obsessed and listening to Adele, Schuylar Fisk, Fine Frenzy and Ingrid Michaelson. I highly recommend you add these artists to your playlist!

Do you have any advice for aspiring voice-over talent?

Allow yourself to PLAY! You will discover SO much more about your own, unique talent if you give yourself room to play and discover the amazing things you can do with your voice.

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Demystified Studio Jargon!

2011-07-28T11:10:00.000-04:00

For those that are new to the voiceover industry (and even those that have been in the industry for quite some time), there has likely been a time or two where a term has been used and you've frantically searched on Google to find out what that term means. We've all been there, which is why we've compiled a cheat sheet of studio jargon for you to reference! Below is a short list of some of the terms you might hear while recording in a studio or when referring to recording.

ADR: Automated Dialogue Replacement; also, “walla walla” or “looping.”

Anechoic: Free from echoes.

Animatic: The "rough draft" of the commercial (not finished, no music).

Announcer: This is the person selling the product (could be the voice of the entire spot or just a few sentences with other people).

Axis (on-axis, off-axis): On-axis refers to standing right in front of the microphone with it level to your mouth. Standing off-axis is slightly to the left, right, top or bottom of the microphone.

Bleed-through: Noise from headphones that are being picked up by the placement of the microphone. Your headphones may be too high or you may be standing in the wrong place.

Cans: An old term for headphones.

Condenser Mic: A microphone that has a higher frequency and transient response than most. This gives it the ability to reproduce the speed of your voice easier than other microphones. It also has a louder output and is more sensitive to loud sounds than its counterparts. They also require their own power supply.

Copy: A script.

Copywriter: A person who writes copy.

Cue up: Sound engineer is lining up your voice to the visual and timing of the spot (may also be lining it up to music).

Cut: Stopping a take. Used more for looping and ADR work.

Donut Spot: When copy is inserted between segments of music or video.

Dubbing: Anything you have to record over what has already been there.

Dynamic Mic: More rugged than condenser microphones, but their frequency response can sometimes be less than that of a condenser microphone. They also tend not to respond to the attack point of a sound source (i.e. your voice) as well as a condenser microphone. Does not require a power source.

Feedback: When a loop exists between an audio input and an audio output. When the output signal of monitors or speakers gets fed back into the input of a microphone it creates feedback. This can be dangerous to your hearing. Never have your mic and monitors on at the same time if they are in the same immediate space.

FTP Sites (File Transfer Protocol): One of the most common methods for sending large audio files between two computers. This is one method you may use to send audio files to your clients. Yousendit.com is an alternate method to FTP and there are other companies as well. Think of an FTP site as a digital drop box for you to put files that are too large for email to be picked up by the client.

Hear More Live: Hear more of yourself in your headphones by turning up the volume.

Input: Something that sound is going into, like the input port on your M-box (for those of you recording with Pro-Tools).

Insurance Take: When you have all the takes you need, but you get one more just to be sure. Or, when you record one more take to have fun with.

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) Line Codec Box/ Source Connect: This service allows you to digitally transfer data to and from the Internet in real time. This allows you to record at a studio without having to be physically there, or to interface with your client from across the country.

Iso-Booth/Voice Booth: A small enclosure that isolates its occupant from exterior sound or is acoustically treated to record or broadcast a sound source with as little noise from walls as possible.

Looping: Re-recording dialogue that was missed or didn't record properly the first time. Done in post-production.

MP3 File Type: Common audio format for consumer audio storage. It is a lossy format (meaning some digital information may be lost), designed to greatly reduce the amount of data required to represent the audio recording, while still sounding like a faithful reproduction of the original uncompressed audio for most listeners. MP3 is a popular audio file type because it is a manageable file size for most users.

Music Bed: The music that will be used in the back of a spot.

Output: Something that sound is going out of, like headphones, speakers or monitors (which are speakers).

Phone Patch: The producer, client, director and writer are patched in from another location to where you are recording.

Plosive: A sudden release of air from the mouth generated by the hard sounds of such letters as B, P, K, C, G and TH sounds. The air can hit the diaphragm of a microphone pretty hard and distort the broadcast or recorded signal.

PSA (Public Service Announcement): This is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media that's intended to raise awareness of an issue and bring the public to action. There are no residuals with PSAs if you’re a member of AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists).

Push: Emphasize, punch it using inflection, dynamics, pace or all of the above.

Slating: Reading your name aloud prior to performing the audition copy so that the casting director, or decision-maker, knows who they are listening to. A slate can also be the identifier for what part of the copy you’re reading.

Spot: A commercial.

Tag: A label associated with something for the purpose of identification. The end of a spot that usually includes the client’s name and catch-phrase or slogan. For example: “LG: Life’s Good”.

Track: A separate sound recording that can be combined with others to be heard at the same time. You could have a vocal track, a music track, a sound effects track, etc.

Track Sheet: A physical or digital document to keep track of what has been recorded.

V-O: Voice Over: V/O: voice-over: Voice-Over: VO: a live or recorded broadcast of spoken word by an unseen commentator.

Watermark: Placing an undesirable sound effect on a V-O mix in order to render it unusable until final payment is made by the client.

WAV File Type: A larger audio file type than MP3. It is a better representation to the original work or audio. It is lossless and uncompressed unlike its MP3 counterpart, but because of its size, MP3 tends to be more common.

What other terms would you add to this list that you've heard in the studio?

Written by:
Bethany Baker, Such A Voice Marketing Director and
Brendan Coyle, Such A Voice Post-Production Coordinator and Producer/Coach

Talent of the Month: An Interview with Paul Michael Kennelly

2011-07-28T10:55:00.000-04:00

"Tom Force was so great to work with, he was very helpful and incredibly patient. He told me that he wouldn't let me out of the studio until my demo was perfect and because of that, my demo is AWESOME!"

Some might say that Paul was destined to be a voiceover actor, that it was "in his blood". Paul's father was a sportscaster on TV & radio and Paul would tag along with him to work whenever possible. As Paul grew up and his voice started changing, friends and colleagues would ask him jokingly when he was going to "take the old man's job". Paul never really considered it seriously until his father passed away in 1999. Paul had a reawakening at that time, a fire reignited for his passion of voiceovers and he started to wonder if people heard something in his voice that he just took for granted all of these years. He started asking around, his dad's former coworkers bluntly told him that if he didn't at least try to pursue voiceovers that he would be wasting the greatest gift his father ever gave to him, his voice. "People told me for years that they can close their eyes and hear my dad when I speak, how could I not give it a shot?"

Paul decided to try to take a shot on his own and he went into a NYC studio to record a demo. Unfortunately, he found out very quickly that agents don't want to work with you unless you're already working. He would audition here and there but wasn't getting anywhere. He had his first break when his cousin Chris moved east. Chris worked at a production company in downtown Manhattan and he would call Paul anytime there was a casting call for voice work. He landed his first big job with the company Mike's Hard Lemonade. "Three minutes in the booth and $750 in my pocket! It was so great and I realized this WAS something I could do". Unfortunately it wasn't long lasting, only a few months down the road, Paul's cousin Chris passed away and Paul's connection for a steady stream of auditions disappeared, along with a much-loved relative. Soon thereafter, Paul and his wife gave birth to a little redhead and Paul placed his voiceover work on the back burner to focus on a more steady career in the sheet metal industry.

Paul's dream of working in voiceovers never faded and he always wondered in the back of his mind what might've happened with his voiceover career, until one evening when Paul came home and his wife had bookmarked up a web link she thought he may be interested in looking at. "I pulled it up and saw that it was for Such A Voice, and I instantly knew I was going to do it. I had put this dream on hold long enough".

Paul worked with Tom Force and is incredibly pleased with the way things have turned out so far. "Tom Force was so great to work with, he was very helpful and incredibly patient. He told me that he wouldn't let me out of the studio until my demo was perfect and because of that, my demo is AWESOME!"

Since receiving his demo, Paul has been diligently auditioning for work and has been working on other aspects of his voiceover career as well. "You need to market yourself to make it in this business! Also, I love to work with Pro Tools and am just super happy to follow my dreams after this time". We have no doubt that Paul's passion and determination for voiceovers will take him far!

As far as a piece of advice from Paul? "You have to want it! Don’t think this will just fall into your lap. Just don't quit, somewhere out there is someone looking for YOUR voice!"

We look forward to seeing where your journey takes you next, Paul!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Maintain your focus (and life/work balance)!

2011-07-27T08:56:00.003-04:00

One of the perks of working in the voiceover industry is the flexibility to work from your home at the hours you wish. As gas prices climb, rush hour approaches and the rain (or snow, or hail) falls outside your window, you can sit back with a cup of tea and wish all of those commuters well! With that being said, it's very easy to end your day and wonder how you managed to squander away that much time. It's also very easy to realize that the sun has set hours ago and you're still sitting at your computer working! Thankfully, we've brought you our tips to ensure you make the most of your day (and still get to sleep at a reasonable hour).

Set up a designated work area: Office, closet, corner of a quiet room, etc. It's much easier to focus on work if you create a dedicated space for a home office that's free from distractions and provides you with all the tools of your trade close by and easily accessible. It's even suggested that you close the door (if you have one) to your working area. This indicates to anyone sharing your living space that you are unavailable and it also creates a more serious atmosphere for yourself. Think about it, how easy is it to get distracted by noises outside of your working area if the door is open? Before you know it you're venturing outside of the room and getting sidetracked! It is also a good way to separate your work and personal lives. That way, when you enter your designated work area, you know consciously what you’re there to do: go to work. It changes the state of mind from “I’m at home” to “I’m at my job”. It also makes it much easier to "wind down" from your day once you leave that designated space.

Set regular hours, and stick to a regular schedule (as much as possible): Obviously if you have a client that needs a project right away, you would divert away from this plan. However, in general, you should try to keep established hours for doing your normal daily tasks (marketing, networking, auditioning, etc.) and plan out your to-do list accordingly. This leads us to our next tip…

Make yourself a daily task list, and stick with it: Try to make three lists of threes. The first list contains three things that you WILL do today, the second list is three things that you WANT to get done today (but aren't essential), and the final list is three things that are long-term goals. Your long-term goals on your third daily list should be ones that you want to focus on that day, if you get through the first two lists. It's also a great idea to have an ongoing task list where you can pull ideas from to create your daily task list.

Reserve time at the end of your schedule to plan for the next day: 15 minutes should be plenty. In this time you'll want to make your daily task list for the next day, organize and file any paperwork you accumulated from your day, review your task list from the day and make sure you completed (at least) the three things in your "must do" category. Also, take the time to complete any other miscellaneous tasks to get your office/desk area organized for the next day (cleaning your desk falls into this category).

Find your best working hours: Does a train pass your house every day at the same time? Do you have jets flying overhead each morning? Is your toddler waking up at the same time every day? These are all things that are distractions and you should try to schedule your work day to be outside of these distractions. You should plan your day around your tasks accordingly. Make business calls during business hours, record auditions when your voice is at it's best, etc. You should fit in your other tasks (social media, blog writing, building your contact list, and more) around these time-centric tasks. Lastly, you also want to take your energy level into account. If you are an early riser, start your day early. Night owl? Go into the wee hours of the night. Whatever works best with your schedule!

Keep your desk and/or work area tidy: This helps keep your mind focused and on-task. With nobody around to hold you accountable for your tidiness, those piles of papers can quickly stack up until suddenly a client calls looking for a contract they asked you to sign and you can't find it. You tear apart the room finding the contract and before you know it your desk looks like the Tasmanian devil ripped through! Now you MUST clean your desk and it'll take you so much longer than it would have to just stay organized to begin with.

Be prepared to take notes as needed: Whether you choose a Word document or a good old fashioned paper and pencil, you need to be prepared to write things down as needed. Thoughts can enter your mind very sporadically throughout your day. For instance, you may get a great idea for a blog topic in the middle of editing an audition. You should be prepared to write down this idea (and any thoughts that go along with the main idea) for future reference without interrupting your train of thought on your current focus. These notes can be used to compile ideas for your third list of three (the "long-term goals" list) down the road! This can also be applied "after hours". If a great idea comes to you outside of your normal hours, write down a note and put it on your desk, do not go back to work once you've finished!

Give yourself breaks: Just because you work from the comforts of home doesn't mean you should be locked in a room all day long. For every 2-3 hours that you work, plan on taking a short 10-15 minute break. This gives your mind time to settle and refocus. It's a great way to improve the quality of your work!

Expect the unexpected: Inevitably, no matter how much planning one does, something can and will come up to put an unexpected dent in your productivity. The best you can do is to try to plan for these events by leaving yourself a small amount of leeway in your day. Worst case scenario is that you have zero distractions, in which case you can just tackle your long-term goals on list three.

Maximize your time (both professional and personal) by thinking outside the box: If you take an hour lunch break and are eating at home, you can easily do household chores (laundry, dishes, etc.) as you make your lunch. You can also (depending on your area) go to the local store to pick up anything you need for the day on your lunch break. Doctor's visits should be scheduled outside of your "working hours", as they can run over an expected time allotment. Alternatively, you should work your appointment into your day when planning out your schedule.

Don't lose your social skills: It's very easy when you are working isolated from the outside world to start to feel a bit secluded. Make sure you're getting plenty of social time so your work day doesn't feel so lonely. Go to the local coffee shop to work for a few hours, schedule a lunch date with a friend, participate in social networking events after hours, get in a quick workout on your lunch break, etc.

Although we look at working from home as a treat, it is still work. Use our guidelines to make the most of your workday and still have time to relax and enjoy your personal life without feeling guilty about having a less-than-productive day at "the office".

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Meet Our Staff: Dave Tolar

2011-07-20T08:30:00.001-04:00

Meet David Tolar. Dave has had a long history in voiceovers working with various radio stations. Being an on-air talent, he always found himself in the role of having to do voiceovers within those various radio stations. Years later he was asked by a Boston studio to come in and lend his voice for a series of different projects. He was rehearsing with his band in one room and working on voiceover projects in the next and he loved every minute of it! He has had the pleasure of working with such clients as Hasbro, W Hotels, WNBA, McGraw/Hill and has also lent his voice on several independent documentary films. Dave is also a past student of the Such A Voice program and always admired the fun, patient and helpful demeanor of the staff members at Such A Voice through his experience as a student. These are just a few of the reasons why Dave was so eager when the opportunity arose to apply for the position of coach & teacher at Such A Voice. Dave is one of the people in charge of coaching our students to develop/refine their talent and to prepare them to record their demos as well as going into the studio to produce them! Dave is based on the east coast in the picturesque town of Millis, MA (about an hour outside of Boston) where he has lived his entire life.

We were excited to learn more about the life of David Tolar:

What are a few of your passions?

I absolutely love music and am surrounded by it in many ways. I have been performing since age 5. I'm currently working with the band AGONA (featuring the talents of Agona Hardison, you can check out her work at www.agonahardison.com). Her new album just came out, it is called "The Drive", and it's amazing!

I also released an album in October 2010 with a "songwriting collective" titled "LOOK! A PONY!". You can listen to that at www.reverbnation.com/lookapony. There were just two of us in my home studio for this collaboration.

My parents had very diverse tastes in music, which has given me the eclectic sound I have today. I can trace the root of my musical passion back to seeing The Beatles perform on "The Ed Sullivan Show". I really am the sum of all I have heard.

I'm also an avid photographer, audio engineer, DJ and writer/editor. You could say I have a bit of a creative streak running through me!

Where is your favorite vacation spot?

England and Canada are my top two destination areas. For some reason those two places just feel like home to me. It's hard to define why they feel like home, they just do. Vermont is another place that feels this way.

What's on your playlist right now?

My favorite band is definitely The Beatles, so they are ALWAYS in rotation on my playlist. Currently I'm listening to my favorite album from them, "Revolver".

Do you have any advice for aspiring voice-over talent?

Always remember that your listener comes first. Perform your scripts with that in mind. Also, if you think you've practiced enough…you probably haven't!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Insights from the Mentor Program: Susie Schwarz

2011-07-01T11:42:00.004-04:00

"Never in a million years would I have been able to deposit a check to TalkonSusie Voice Overs without Michelle’s help. Susie Schwarz, student of the Mentor Program.

Susie first heard about our Mentor Program while working with Rob Sciglimpaglia. She realized how much she desired a career doing voiceover work while in the studio recording her demo. "Being behind the mic, talking with my hands and taking direction…it was all incredibly thrilling to me! It motivated me to want to put in the time, effort and practice to get to become the best I could be." Rob recommended the Mentor Program as a starting point after she recorded to set up her home studio and hone her skills. "I had such a positive experience with the training program that it just seemed the most obvious and logical choice for me".

Michelle Falzon was a great fit for Susie from the beginning. "Michelle was super motivated, highly-talented with incredible experience. She was just amazingly easy to work with." Susie didn't have any particular expectations going into the program, she was only hoping to improve in general, whether that was in technology, technique or marketing, she knew she had room to grow in all of those areas. Her positive attitude and persevering personality really made her squeeze the most out of the Mentor Program. "If I was willing to put in the sweat equity with Michelle's help and support, then I knew would get something out of it."

Michelle helped Susie in many ways. They worked on technique tricks to help with post-production, analyzing scripts, reading pace, voice projection, inflection and adding certain emotions when appropriate.

Even when Susie struggled with a rough script, it turned into a learning experience. "I was super frustrated with my delivery. I couldn't get it right between the timing, emphasis and tone. Somehow it seemed my brain had completely divorced my mouth, haha! Michelle helped me reconcile the two by working with me on repeatedly practicing the script until I finally got it right. She gave me the confidence to keep at it and not give up, and that was amazing."

Working together, Michelle and Susie have been able to help Susie deliver a more competitive audition. In fact, they work on auditions almost every month. "Never in a million years would I have been able to deposit a check to TalkonSusie Voice Overs without Michelle’s help, and I mean that! I’ll record a spot beforehand and send it to her. She’ll critique it during our session, we’ll practice and polish it so that when we’re done I can submit a more competitive audition. In fact, I had a phone audition right after one of our coaching sessions. The audition direction was to be conversational, emotional and approachable. Michelle and I had just worked on sounding natural and believable. After the phone audition, I felt like it was just a great extension of my training with Michelle, not thinking that I would get the job. BUT I DID!!!! The job was to play the voice of a mother for a military website that was recorded in a studio in New York City. That was a blast!"

Susie is happy to share what has worked for her, "practice, practice, practice!" She sets aside time every day to reach small goals, so the end goal doesn't seem so daunting. She submits auditions that are within her niche, even if they don't seem quite good enough for consideration, just to have the opportunity to hone her skills.

Even though every job is a chance for Susie to grow as a voiceover artist, that's not to say she doesn't have a favorite job! "Recording with Kognito.com, a company that creates interactive programs in NYC has been my favorite so far. When I was in the booth taking direction and recording with other VO talents it was so much fun & exciting, I didn't want it to end! When leaving the studio, I was told that the character I played might be a recurring role, so I’m hopeful I’ll being returning soon. Keep your fingers crossed!"

We will keep our fingers crossed for you, Susie! Can't wait to hear more from you soon!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Congratulations Anne Ganguzza, newest member of SaVoa!

2011-06-29T08:24:00.001-04:00

We are very proud to announce that our coach and producer, Anne Ganguzza, has recently been accepted into the Society of Accredited Voice Over Artists (SaVoa)!

SaVoa is an accreditation program for voice over artists. Now in it’s 6^th year, SaVoa is an international Guild of seasoned voice actors that sets standardized criteria for vocal and technical delivery.

SaVoa believes the voiceover business benefits from a set of conforming quality standards that define the voice performance excellence that clients should expect. When such criteria become the standard, it reflects on the voice over community as a whole.

This acceptance into SaVoa means that Anne has exceeded the minimal standards of performance, audio quality, technique, and technical expertise that define the quality of this group.

Anne will have many familiar faces at SaVoa. She is greeted by Such A Voice colleagues: Jesus Blanco, Heather Costa, Lisa Foster, Scott Pollak and Brian Thon!

Anybody can apply to become a member of SaVoa. The accreditation criteria can be found on their website: http://savoa.org.

SaVoa recommends that you review both the Standards and Accreditation Criteria before applying. Once you become a member (as long as you adhere to the established code of conduct), your membership will last 4 years. The fee for that period is $75. SaVoa is a non-profit organization and uses member fees to modestly promote the Guild.

An active membership in SaVoa entitles a member to freely use the shield logo attesting to accreditation status on a website(s), voice over profile pages published on the internet, business cards, demo CDs, and print ads strictly and solely advertising your voice over services. Members may also provide written notice of their accreditation status in other acceptable content.

SaVoa is constantly growing and bringing greater value to its members. The Guild currently offers discounts from audio software, equipment vendors, educational materials, coaches and workshops. Also, a member can list their commercial demo next to their name on the SaVoa member site. SaVoa also encourages its members to join the exclusive online community of voice-actors that display the SaVoa shield. This group discusses various issues and openly shares advice. Members are also encouraged to submit questions to the group, as well as answer questions posed by other SaVoa members.

SaVoa prides itself on the outstanding list of already active professional voice actors who are “raising the bar” for all VO’s everywhere.

Becoming accredited at SaVoa is definitely something you should aspire to in your voice over career!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Talent of the Month: An Interview with Carl Martens

2011-06-28T12:03:00.003-04:00

"The time I spent in the recording studio with Anne Ganguzza was the most meaningful, educational and intense time I could possibly have encountered – she was one of the best mentors/coaches I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with."

Carl wasn't unfamiliar with the world of voiceovers when he enrolled to train with Such A Voice, he had been involved in voiceovers many years ago (due to his experience with music and theater work in the past). Even though he held a passion for the voiceover industry 15 years ago, his career path shifted toward the non-profit corporate world, and he put those desires to the side (only temporarily).

With such expansive experience under his belt, Such A Voice complemented his (already strong) foundation. "Such A Voice offered me exactly what I needed to transition into a more professional understanding in the pursuit of VO work. I believe the time I spent in the recording studio with Anne Ganguzza was the most meaningful, educational and intense time I could possibly have encountered – she was one of the best mentors/coaches I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with." Carl also attends quarterly meetings with a group called VO PEEPS in Irvine, CA, which is hosted by Anne, and these have provided tremendous insight into the intricacies of the industry.

Carl doesn't attribute his success only to Anne, he is quick to talk about his positive experience with the other Such A Voice staff members he worked with as well. "The quality and professionalism from the first contact, Nancy Halpin, really set the stage for the entire experience. Following up through interaction with Anne Ganguzza and the recording engineer (where the demo was recorded) added immensely to the learning process. However, it seems that the most to be gained came from tapping the knowledge of some of the professional VO talent that is presented in the Members Only area of the Such A Voice website. I particularly enjoyed Rob Sciglimpaglia’s marketing audio and Heather Costa’s marketing video. I believe the one thing that many newcomers never complete (and this refers to any new business) is a general business plan. Your business plan sets the tone for the entire life of the project/business, and can be updated any time deemed necessary. It also serves as a track upon which to refer when confronted with challenges."

Like many of our students, Carl has numerous reasons why voiceovers appeal to him so much. "I can't narrow down one reason why VO's are so appealing. I'm happy to be able to work independently, keep my own schedule, getting to do something I love, do it well and incorporating my entrepreneurial work ethic." Being that Carl does have an entrepreneurial past, he has a great grasp on formulating a working business plan, and has strong marketing & sales skills. This is a strong foundation to a great future in voiceovers! Although he marks his weaknesses as the more technical side of the industry (computers are not his forte), he has been doing as much online research as possible. He has also been reaching out to the support staff at Such A Voice to utilize their wealth of knowledge on the VO business.

Less than 24 hours after assembling his home studio, Carl was recording his first VO job! He booked a job voicing (and writing the script for) a wedding video. It made him realize how wide the spectrum is for people looking for a professional voice over artist, which makes him excited for future opportunities!

Carl takes a very smart and carefully planned approach to the voiceover industry. The biggest piece of advice he can give is to write a business plan. Much like Heather says in her marketing video "Review it every week, revise it, learn from it and follow it". It also only benefits you to do your research, follow the industry and learn from it and above all else "Assert your individuality, you are one of a kind!"

Congratulations Carl, we can't wait to hear what you do next!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Meet Our Staff: Brendan Coyle

2011-06-22T08:53:00.001-04:00

Meet Brendan Coyle. Brendan is the head of our post-production department, and is the one that ensures that your demo meets the highest quality standards. He has also been praised by many students as one of the most patient people to work with in the studio! Brendan was born and raised in Saranac Lake, NY (in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains), but now lives with his wife in the beautiful town of Shelburne, VT (just outside of Burlington). If you ever have a question about your demo, he would be your point of contact.

Brendan has always held an interest in music as well as audio production. Although he always held a passion for audio production, he started out in the industry as a drummer and studied with people such as John Riley and Richie Morales. Brendan has also worked with Neil Sedaka and (2-time Tony Award Winning Producer) Tom Kitt. At that point, he went back to school and earned his Master's Degree in music technology and has worked at Such A Voice ever since (starting as a producer and recording engineer and working his way up to the head of post-production).

We sat down to learn a little bit more about Brendan:

What are a few of your passions?

All things music! Writing music, drumming, audio production and playing piano. Yes, audio production is my job, but it's also a way of life for me! I'm also a history buff. American history, world history AND the history of music (of course). My passion for music and history also carries over to the genres I enjoy reading. I'm currently reading Paul McCartney's Biography Many Years from Now by Barry Miles and 1942: The Year that Tried Men's Souls by Winston Groom.

Where is your favorite vacation spot?

As far as places I've already been, I loved Hawaii, Ireland and the Civil War battlefields down in the south. My next vacation destination will either be London or Rome.

What's on your playlist right now?

It always seems to be changing! Right now I'm listening to the Beatles, Tommy Igoe and the Birdland Big Band Live from New York (thanks to a student) and the Jean-Michel Pilc Trio.

Do you have any advice for aspiring voice-over talent?

No matter what your schedule is like, or what kind of time you have to commit to your voice over career, do something EVERY DAY to work towards your goal. It doesn't matter if it's an hour or 3 hours. It doesn't matter if you're working on your technique, technology or your marketing plan…do SOMETHING! Practice a bit of copy, set up your studio or play with your recording software. Send out a couple of auditions, e-mails, or just make a few calls. When it comes to growing your business, you win by inches, not by miles.

If you ever need to contact Brendan, he can be reached by email at brendan@suchavoice.com or by phone at 802-275-0151.

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Technique Tip of the Month-Master Articulation!

2011-06-15T08:45:00.001-04:00

It's interesting what we can get away with saying in regular conversation that you can't necessarily get away with when you're recording. If you're swallowing words, or phrases, it's going to be harder for your listener to understand what you're saying. It is definitely important that your read sound natural and conversational, so therefore, over articulation is not ideal either, so you want to find that middle ground.

There are certain words and phrases in voice over that every talent knows is a challenge to say. For example, www at the beginning of a website URL. Luckily, most businesses today will leave out the www all together in commercials, but not everyone! The trick is to not get tongue tied on the "www". Instead of saying "double you, double you, double you" try abbreviating it to "double ya, double ya, double ya". When you say it quickly the abbreviated version sounds correct and is much easier to pronounce!

I have a client who hires me to voice radio & television spots for air conditioning and heating systems. Every script is guaranteed to have the following line: "...THAT CAN HELP LOWER YOUR UTILITY BILL." Try saying that 3 times fast! Or even once clearly! It's phrases like that, where a talent not only needs to practice saying it over and over again, but they need to figure out tricks to help it flow more naturally. With that particular sentence, I take a tiny beat of a pause (barely noticeable) after "lower" and kind of bounce on the word "your" to springboard me to "utility". Breaking down the sentence like that, definitely helps it to flow better.

I took a survey among my voice over colleagues and found a few more trouble words and phrases that many talent struggle with in a script:

Data

Community

any word that ends in "er" - like Burger

"Please leave a message."

Those may all seem easy to read right now, but when you're behind the mic and you come across one of those words or phrases, don't be surprised if you have to do a couple takes to get it right!

In addition to practicing saying the particular sentence or phrase that is causing you problems, make sure that you're positive that you're pronouncing it correctly. Sometimes when words flow together in awkward sentences, you run the risk of mispronouncing something. A wonderful resource for pronunciation is http://www.thefreedictionary.com. Not only can you see the IPA (phonetic notation) of the word, but there is also an audio sample of the word as well.

One of the best ways to strengthen your tongue and cheeks to master articulation is by reading fun tongue twisters!! This exercise is great for loosening up your tongue, mouth and cheeks to make those 8,000 word recordings read just a little bit easier... Here are a few you can try!

Crisp crusts crackle crunchily.

We surely shall see the sun shine soon.

Twelve twins twirled twelve twigs.

Can you imagine an imaginary manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?

Another articulation exercise, is what we call the "cork exercise" or "carrot exercise". We have devoted an entire article on this exercise that you can read here.

As you can see, there are a lot of fun ways to make articulation exciting! So grab your mic, pick a tongue twister and a wine cork and go for it!

Written by:

Heather Costa

Voice Talent, Producer, Coach and Such A Voice Operations Director

SCAM ALERT!

2011-06-08T08:30:00.002-04:00

Does this email sound familiar to you?

"Let me just assure you that if we close the deal and they chose you to be their official VO (let me be completely honest with you) that’s the only time that we can send payment for your VO. If this is ok with you then I’d be so glad and look forward to be working with you. Can you also calibrate your rates for me… that means, if you will be chosen this wouldn’t be a one-time deal… it’s gonna be on a regular basis (So please do give me a special rate… lower than those one time deals that you have. So sorry for being so brutally frank, hehe).
Again if this set-up is ok with you then hit the record button and give it a shot (sorry too for the rush but need this by monday, meeting with the client is wednesday)."

We've been seeing this scam more and more in the voice over market. Below are a few warning signs to look out for, and a breakdown of how the scam turns out.

How the scam runs:
The contact finds you through an online talent search (through various talent banks) and you are asked to send a price quote as well as a read of the script attached to the email. Once you have responded to the contact, they then let you know that you've won the job and they'd like to pay you with Western Union (or sometimes Cashiers Check). Typically you actually DO receive a check, but for quite a bit more (usually upwards of $1,000) more than your quoted price. Exciting, right?! Unfortunately, it really IS too good to be true. The contact apologizes for the overpayment and asks you to send back the overpaid amount via Western Union. You take the check to the bank and deposit it, and send out the overpayment amount as requested. Later on, the bank finds out the check is counterfeit, and you not only DIDN'T get paid, but you are also out the money that you sent back to the contact.

So, how do you prevent this from happening to you?

Warning Signs:

*Contact tends to be very casual in the email, uses some VO terminology, but misspells quite a few words and doesn't use proper English (you could almost chalk it up to be an error in literal translation)
*Contact is usually from a foreign country; Philippines, India, etc.
*Western Union typically seems to be used as a preferred format of payment.

To prevent falling victim to this common scam, there are a few precautions you can take to safeguard yourself:

*Never wire funds via Western Union, Moneygram (or any other wire service)
*Never provide direct financial or sensitive information (bank account number, social security number, etc.)
*Always research the company you're doing business with, and try to get as much information from them as possible (phone, email, address, website, etc.) to ensure they are a legit company, ESPECIALLY if anything seems "fishy" about the company.

By taking a few precautions, you can safeguard yourself against scams and save yourself a lot of headache and wasted time!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Technique Tip of the Month-Stop Mouth Noise in its Tracks!

2011-06-01T14:27:00.003-04:00

Mouth noise can be frustrating for a voice talent when you get behind the mic. Even the slightest sound that you don't necessarily hear in your every day speech, can be picked up by the microphone. The more you can be aware of it for yourselves, the easier it'll be in eliminating it during a voiceover recording. Please refer back to this list before you record.

To help eliminate mouth noise while you're recording, here are a few tips you can try:

1 - Keep yourself hydrated - drinking water when you already have a dry mouth won't necessarily remove the mouth noise, it might actually make it worse. The more hydrated you are before your recording, the less mouth noise you will probably have.

2 - Brushing your teeth and your tongue and using mouthwash right before you record. However, if your mouth is overly dry to begin with, sometimes using mouthwash can make it worse.

3 - Eating green apples, drinking cranberry or grape juice and/or using a hard candy to moisten your mouth (and then of course remove it when recording), a slosh of olive oil or eating a few greasy potato chips right before you record are also great tips!

4 - Using "Entertainer's Secret" or "Mouth Kote" to moisten your mouth while recording, are tools that many professionals use every day!

5 - Be well rested! Your body is your instrument, the better you feel, the better you'll sound.

Talent of the Month: An Interview with Phil Williams

2011-06-01T14:20:00.006-04:00

"There are no limits on what you can achieve. Sure, it's a competitive industry, but what isn't these days? Every day you wake up to a new set of challenges, different content, different characters. What regular job gives you that kind of challenge?"

Phil has always been complimented on his voice and many people over the years have suggested he should go into the radio business, however, Phil always considered himself to be a "technical geek" and not so much a "performer". Therefore, voice overs just weren't on his list of goals or even on his radar.

With his wife's gentle nudging, he attended an intro class close to home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They specifically returned from vacation a bit early so he could attend this class and learn more about the industry in which people had been telling him he should get into for so long. "After the session I was really excited about the possibility of VO. I was offered a spot in the Such A Voice program and my wonderful wife encouraged me to move forward, so I signed up! I realized that this was a business I could definitely get into. I had a product that I had control over, and could take it to whatever level I wanted."

Phil worked with Anne Ganguzza, and really focused on the tips that were suggested by the staff at Such A Voice. "Everyone at Such A Voice was extremely supportive and helpful. I had begun purchasing equipment that was on the recommended list from Such A Voice shortly after I signed up, so I had been able to complete a few practice recordings before recording in the studio to cut my demo."

Anne definitely helped Phil out the most when it came to recording his demo. "I had anxiously anticipated the studio recording portion of the class, but Anne made the process very enjoyable! When you're standing there by yourself in the soundproof booth doing something you've never done before, you can tend to get a bit nervous. It was great to have Anne there who could relate to what I was going through and help to eliminate my fears. My time in the studio went by far faster than I had imagined. Time really does fly when you're having fun!"

Phil has a wonderful, very deep, rich sounding voice. He also has a good ear, giving him the ability to hear and mimic voices & accents. In addition to using his natural voice, he has submitted numerous "British" accent pieces and received interest from several companies. He signed up for voice123.com and voices.com soon after he received his demos, and after submitting a few auditions he landed his first job for a corporate video with a company based in California. "The job took about 30 minutes total, and I was paid $330. Probably the happiest kind of money I've ever made. My wife and I celebrated with a great dinner."

Phil is still working on honing in his talent. "I'm still challenged by reading very long passages without stumbling, and I'm still trying to develop my ability to deliver a natural conversational sound. I practice reading every day, and my progress is really showing. Hopefully soon, it'll become second nature."

Being that Phil has started a few businesses in his past, he found that the rules still applied to his VO business. Pay attention to your coach, absorb every marketing tip you receive, work diligently on your marketing, be patient, network (both online and in-person), and always remember "Every contact you make is a potential new client, so treat them with care!"

Congratulations Phil, we look forward to hearing more from you!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Meet Our Staff: Pete Pederson

2011-06-01T14:07:00.007-04:00

Meet Pete Pederson! Based out of Sartell, MN (about 70 miles west of Minneapolis), Pete wears a few different hats here at Such A Voice. He teaches intro classes, handles all customer service correspondence and handles payment processing. His positive attitude, infectious personality and willingness to always go above-and-beyond will always leave you feeling confident. If you ever have a customer service related issue, he's your first point of contact!

Pete is very active in the voice over community, being that he is an avid VO talent himself. He is the voice for such companies as: Kubota, Flux International, Cloudnet Internet Services, Action MBA and lends his voice to a multitude of local radio & TV spots in the Midwest. He's also the lead voice in the cartoon "Stickyman". On top of all of that, Pete has also stepped in front of the camera for appearances on Court TV with Joan Rivers, and on National Geographic's "Man Made".

We sat down with Pete to talk a little more about his life outside of the office, as well as here at Such A Voice.

What are a few of your passions?

Cooking. I love to cook! My new favorite recipe is homemade mozzarella & basil pizza topped with roasted tomatoes, it's so delicious and simple

Music. I play bass and sing in a band. I've been a performer all of my life, which is why voice-overs are such a natural fit for me.

Baseball. I am really into baseball, my favorite team is the Twins. They're not doing so great right now, but they're my favorite team!

Photography. When I'm not working in voice-overs I'm also a professional photographer. I love the feeling I get when I'm working on a photo I've shot and it takes my breath away. Whether it's a bride elegantly sitting on a bench, or the laughter of a child, capturing that moment in time is very special to me.

Where is your favorite vacation spot?

The North shoreline of Lake Superior in Minnesota is absolutely breathtaking and holds a lot of nostalgia for me. A dream vacation spot would be Bora Bora.

What's on your playlist right now?

My all-time favorite band would be The Tragically Hip. Right now I'm listening to Avett Brothers, Mumford & Sons and Florence & The Machine.

Do you have any advice for aspiring voice-over talent?

Be positive and find your niche. Once you have found your place in the voice-over world, go for it and never give up!

If you ever need to contact Pete, he can be reached by email at pete@suchavoice.com or by phone at 802-275-0154.

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Marketing Tip of the Month -- Maintain a Unified Presence Online

2011-06-01T13:22:00.012-04:00

You've taken your voiceover classes, you've recorded and received your demo, you've been auditioning and networking on a regular basis. Now it's time to branch out. For everyone, there comes a point in their voiceover career when they realize it is time to set up an online presence. For some people it's early on, for others it's a little ways down the road, but the time always comes! An online presence could include things such as: a website, having a Facebook page, a Twitter and/or a YouTube account, a blog, etc.

One thing that makes a big difference when setting up the various sites online is to maintain a unified presence across all of your sites. This will help your clients, peers & potential clients easily recognize which profile is yours. In turn, this will help them easily have access to your information, no matter which of your sites they are on at the time. Below we discuss a few of the ways in which you can unify your presence online.

-Make sure your sites all contain the same information.

You want to make sure you have the following information on all of your sites: your logo and/or headshot, your company name, location, a brief summary about your voice qualities and your contact information. This way, potential clients can find this information quickly to learn more about you and your voice. The easier you make this information to find, the more likely a client is to immediately know if you fit what they're looking for, and hire you for the job!

-Maintain the same overall design.

Try to match the basic design of your sites as much as possible. Search for a blog layout that's similar to your website. The same goes for Twitter and Facebook (which now uses FBML for their business pages, so they are customizable). If you cannot match the background or layout to each of the sites, at least try to maintain a unified color palette.

-Always use the same profile image.

This would be the image that appears on the homepage of your website & blog, as well as the image that would appear as your profile picture for all social media sites you are using for your business. This could be your logo or your headshot. I would not recommend that you use an image you may want to change frequently, as this will be the face of your business and you want it to be recognizable for a long period of time.

-Try to make your username similar to your website.

If your website is www.joesmithVO.com then I would recommend that you make your Facebook business page www.facebook.com/joesmithVO and your Twitter account www.twitter.com/joesmithVO. Likewise, your blog should be http://yourblogserver/joesmithVO.com. This helps organize and streamline all of your sites into one memorable name.

If you follow these small steps, it will make it easier for clients and potential clients to recognize you on all of the sites you are using. Also, when you organize links to your sites for various reasons (on your website or email signature, for instance), they will look very clear, concise, organized and well thought out.

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Insights from the Mentor Program: Michael Nevarez

2011-05-01T08:30:00.002-04:00

"Michelle helped me to better understand how to effectively deliver the script. Knowing what is being sold, to whom and my role in the message made the delivery so much better."--Michael Nevarez, student of the Mentor Program

Michael first heard about our Mentor Program while working with Heather Costa. At the time, Michael was looking for some one-on-one help in a few overall areas. Mainly, he was hoping to improve how he connected with the scripts to help effectively deliver them naturally.

Michael and Michelle not only focused on the delivery of his scripts, but have also touched base on the technical aspects of recording, improving his vocal range, script interpretation and more!

He's already had success brought on by his one-on-one training: "I landed a 30 second TV commercial that is scheduled to run nationally for Hofbrau Beer based in Munich, Germany"

Michael's advice for people that are new to the industry? "Work with a Mentor to receive insight and constructive criticism, be authentic, learn from your competition and the industry consistently. Last of all-HAVE SOME FUN! If voice over work is what you like, then this is living a dream come true!"

You can check out Michael's website and demos at: www.dynamicvoiceproductions.com

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Technique Tip of the Month: Wear Your Headphones When You Record!

2011-04-30T08:30:00.001-04:00

You may wonder why on earth you need to wear headphones when recording in your own home studio. I mean, you’re right there, right? You don’t have to listen to a director’s instructions from another room, right? It’s just you, by yourself, so why on earth should you use headphones???

Let me ask you this – how many of you, when you first heard yourself recorded and played back, said these words: “Hey! That doesn’t sound like ME!” I see a lot of you raising your hand. Yeah. You didn’t think you sounded like YOU at all! Here’s what’s weird – you are the ONLY one who thinks that.

Because while YOU are saying, “Hey! That doesn’t sound like ME!”, WE are all listening to your recording and saying, “Um, yeah it does. It sounds EXACTLY like you!”

The problem is, you have been listening to your voice from INSIDE your head – and you are the ONLY one who hears it like this. Get on board with what the rest of us are hearing and ALWAYS use your headphones to record with. Your voice is your PRODUCT. You must have an intimate knowledge of your PRODUCT, and unless you are listening to your voice like the rest of us hear it, you will never know what you actually sound like. Remember, you have to have a good EAR to do great voice overs – headphones will give you that EAR! Use them!

Talent of the Month: An Interview with Anne-Marie Meeks

2011-04-29T08:30:00.003-04:00

" ...That was the best $150 I have ever earned for a 3 minute job done in the comfort of my own home in my studio that my husband had built." --Anne-Marie Meeks, Professional Voice Over Actor, on her first job after completing the Such A Voice program

All of us have come into voice over work in different ways. Some of us are looking for a change of career, some of us are looking for a supplemental income and some of us are fulfilling a lifetime dream much later in life. You always hear stories about artists showing signs of natural talent at a very young age, and Anne-Marie Meeks definitely falls into this category.

Anne-Marie partially grew up in Nigeria, her mother insisting that her children not speak the local lingo, she took to watching VHS videos of old classics such as "My Fair Lady" and learning to mimic the "Proper English". Soon her family members couldn't believe how similar she had made her voice sound to the movies and commercials she was listening to. A family member that worked as a TV Producer casted Anne-Marie in her first gig in the 80's doing a commercial for STAR toilet paper. The older she grew, the more drawn into the VO industry she became. The deal was sealed when a classmate did his Engineering thesis on VOIP (Voice-Over-Internet Protocol) and needed a voice to demonstrate his product. Needless to say, he later sold the product with HER voice, and the rest has all been leading up to this point!

Anne-Marie worked with Anne Ganguzza in Dallas, TX, and there was an instant connection. "I loved Anne, she made me feel welcome and relaxed. I felt that we bonded. We first started out with VO in IVR's". From there she recorded her demo with Anne, and the first job didn't take too long to arrive thereafter. "I had done the recording in pajamas and fluffy slippers, sent it to the client and was really anxious. Within a minute, Paypal alerted me to payment and the client called to say he was pleased. I was so excited. VO Life is sweet!"

Anne-Marie's advice for people venturing into the world of Voice Overs? "Always be open to constructive criticism, find your niche, everyones voice is unique and there is a unique job out there just for you....try your best and STICK WITH IT."

Congratulations Anne-Marie, we can't wait to hear more of your successes!

Written by:
Bethany Baker
Such A Voice Marketing Director

Marketing Tip of the Month: Don’t Limit the Manner Potential Clients Can Contact YOU

2011-04-28T08:30:00.002-04:00

"A good rule of thumb for every piece of correspondence that leaves your studio or office: Include your FULL name, your TITLE, your PHONE number and your EMAIL address." -Lisa Foster, Voice Over Actor, Producer & Coach

Some people are “phone” people. Some people are “email” people. When corresponding with your marketing or networking contacts, keep this in mind and always provide BOTH a phone number AND an email address.

“Yeah, I meant to call you, but didn’t have your number handy”. This is NOT something you want to hear from a potential client! By including your phone number in your signature line in your email, it guarantees they will always have it HANDY. Even if you have corresponded with this person dozens of times, and you figure they must have your number if they need to call you, make it EASY for them to contact you.

It can be frustrating when I need to call someone, right after I’ve read an email they sent, and their number isn’t right there on the email! Argghh! Then, I have to rifle through endless business cards, paperwork, contracts, or address books to FIND their number. I can tell you that sometimes, I don’t bother.

So, make it simple for people to contact you. Some people hate using the phone – if you call them and leave a message, consider not only leaving your phone number, but also your email address. Some people hate using email – so, any email correspondence from you should include your phone number.

Make it super simple for people to get a hold of you, no matter what they’re communication preference is!

Talent of the Month: Jim Anglo

2010-10-07T15:27:00.004-04:00

"Funny, I think every VO artist can relate to hearing this: 'You should be one of those voice over guys -- you have that soothing radio voice that's easy to listen to ...'" -- Jim Anglo, Professional Voice Actor, on why he got into voice overs

Jim Anglo decided to go into voice acting when he was perusing the classified ads back in August 2009 for something more interesting to do. Like many, he had recently lost his job. This time around, he knew he wanted to jump start career path he was passionate about!

"I knew instantly what I wanted to do and that I really had to commit myself to the VO field," Jim says. "What I liked about Such A Voice was that it was a structured program that brought everything together (marketing, home studio recording & demo production)."

A denizen of Minnesota, Jim joined our voice over classes in Burlington, Vermont, for the Master Program in November, 2009. He liked meeting people from all over, and he noted how interesting it was that so many people from different backgrounds could come together to be part of the VO industry. "Oh yeah," he adds. "Burlington was pretty cool, too. I worked with Brian Thon and Brendan Coyle -- incredible guys!"

One of the things that Jim loves most about working as a Professional Voice Actor is reading and breaking down scripts, a process that took him a while to appreciate. But he's definitely good at it! Jim describes his voice as a "warm business commercial/narration type," and since graduating from the Such A Voice Master Program, his clients have included 3M, GM (The New Chevy Volt Electric Car), PeopleNet, Polycom Communications, and Veolia Environmental Services.

Of one of his more recent voice over jobs, Jim says, "The Chevy Volt spot was a great launching pad and confidence boost for me, something that I was awarded through a P2P site. If you can land one job on a site like Voices.com, it just gets easier!"

Jim's marketing advice for people just getting started in the industry: "Give yourself web presence and add yourself on all P2P sites (which is free). If you can afford a premium membership, great, because it exposes you to many different types of reads. In the beginning you will feel like going after everything, but only audition for the ones that are the right fit for you!"

Congratulations, Jim! Cheers to your success!

Insights from the Mentor Program: Lori Linskey

2010-10-06T10:47:00.004-04:00

Meet Lori Linskey: Master Program graduate, Mentor Program student and budding Professional Voice Actor! Here are some excerpts from our conversation ...

Me: How did you hear about the Mentor Program?

Lori: I learned about the Mentor Program through an e-mail that I received from Such A Voice. I knew about the mentor program from reading the Such A Voice Newsletter and the e-mail arrived at the perfect time. I had completed my voice over classes, the Master Program and had received my demos, but felt like I needed more guidance and direction. After learning that I'd receive one-on-one guidance and have that special point of contact for all of my questions, I realized that the Mentor Program was just what I was looking for.

Me: Who did you work with, and what were your expectations going into the program?

Lori: I have been working with Heather Costa, and she is a fabulous mentor. She is incredibly supportive and really focuses our sessions on questions or issues that I am having at that time. As you know, when you are new to the world of voice overs, the hurdles that you face span a very wide gamut - from figuring out technical recording or Pro Tools issues to how you market your skills or bill your first client. My expectations were pretty modest going into the program. I knew that I had a lot of questions and wanted to feel that I had one person to go to for answers. I had started surfing the web for answers to questions, which is not always a good source for reliable information. Knowing that I could have an experienced voice over artist that I could trust for honest answers was a very attractive option for me. I also felt that the structure of monthly sessions would help keep me moving forward to make progress as a voice over artist.

Me: In concrete ways, how has Heather helped you get your voice over business off the ground?

Lori: Heather has helped me focus my expectations and goals, which has been a tremendous help. By becoming more focused, it's been easier to move forward. She has also had very helpful suggestions regarding branding and finding niches that would work for my voice. Heather is able to provide constructive criticism on both technical and performance issues in a manner that is really positive. This feedback has been so important in helping me grow and improve as a voice over artist. Heather has also helped me with billing and invoice questions. I was thrilled to get work, but was having a difficult time figuring out what I should charge the client. Heather also identified some background noise issues that I was having so that I could correct them before they stood in the way of getting new business.

Me: Have you been able to land voice over jobs that you wouldn't have been able to get?

Lori: I had gotten a small job from auditioning on an online voice over site and then had an opportunity to obtain more work from the client. Heather helped me by critiquing the audition and also helped me figure out how to put together a proposal for the second set of recordings. Her assistance was invaluable and helped me appear to be more experienced than I was. We all have to start at the beginning, but I didn't want to appear as new to voice overs as I was to the client.

Me: Any recommendations to people who are getting started in the voice over industry?

Lori: I highly recommend the Mentor Program. Being able to receive one-on-one assistance specifically focused on your own questions and concerns is a priceless resource. Knowing that you can ask any question about any issue that you have and that you will have a friendly encouraging voice with answers on the other end of the phone is a tremendous source of encouragement, particularly at the beginning of a new voice over career.

Technique Tip of the Month: Get Your Hands Out of Your Pockets!

2010-10-04T10:51:00.005-04:00

"You can't voice act with your hands in your pockets!" -- Scott Pollak, Voice Over Actor & Coach

Think back to when you just started voice over classes. When you stepped up to the mic, what did you do with your body? Did you look like this guy [see picture on left]?

Many students who are practicing to become professional voice actors have subconscious mannerisms that actually inhibit their ability to perform. One bad behavior pattern to break early on is putting your hands in your pockets.

When you put your hands in your pockets, it is nearly impossible to get into character. "If you look happy, you sound happy. If you look like your hands are in your pockets, you sound like your hands are in your pockets," says Brendan Coyle, Post Engineer.

Not putting your hands in your pockets is part of a greater lesson to learn to relax when you step behind the mic. As soon as you get your home recording studio put together, make sure to spend all of your practice time in it. The more you practice in front of the mic, the more comfortable you will become.

When you feel comfortable behind the mic, you will look and sound comfortable. Your body gestures will sync up with the character and the voice over job, and you will sound like the professional voice actor you want to be!

Remember: the only time your hands should go in your pockets is when the script calls for it! [See this picture to the left!]

Marketing Tip of the Month: A Typical Work Week

2010-09-29T10:18:00.003-04:00

The punch line is, "There is no typical work week!"

One of the beauties and challenges of doing voice overs is that work tends to ebb and flow depending on the seasons and holidays, as well as your own productivity and networking.

Networking is one aspect of your work week that should be constant, no matter how busy or bored you are. Reaching out to potential contacts and staying in touch with producers and clients is the only way to ensure your plate will be full when big holiday opportunities come along.

So, how far in advance should you prepare for the holidays? Three months is a good rule of thumb for all major events. That means that you should now be checking in with clients who might need your services for winter holiday commercial promotions. By this time next month, you should have your eye on Valentine's Day voiceover work, then Mother's Day, and so on.

If you did not get on the ball soon enough, you can still get ahead by contacting producers and clients for the next major tide of holidays. Be sure to keep a pulse on the timing of holidays or events that fluctuate from year to year, like Sweeps, which is typically in March.

When you start to get the hang of the yearly work flow, you will be able to plan ahead to dry spells more accurately. For example, January and February tend to be relatively slow periods for national commercial spots. Being able to predict a slower work flow will let you be more responsible with your voiceover business planning, as well as help you relax when you do not have a lot of work to do!

Preparing for a light load of national commercial spots does not necessarily mean you will not be working much. Take advantage of the down time by concentrating on networking within your local community. Local companies do not need to plan ahead three months in advance. Balancing your efforts and planning ahead is how you will stay as busy as you want to be!

Editing in Pro Tools!

2010-09-23T10:22:00.003-04:00

Once you have laid down your voice track, it’s time to listen back and do some editing.

This idea may feel daunting, but relax! Editing in Pro Tools is somewhat foolproof because Pro Tools uses non-destructive editing. This means that no matter how much editing you’ve done, your entire original recorded file always remains intact. Any edits that you perform only cause Pro Tools to reference your original recording file in a different way. Take a look at the way Pro Tools sets up your session by opening up your session folder wherever you saved it on your computer to view, and you should see a number of folders.

... Go here for the full article on editing in Pro Tools!

Pro Tools 101

2010-09-21T11:28:00.004-04:00

If this manual looks familiar to you, then you either took voiceover classes with Such A Voice or caught my guest blog post on Taji's Voice Emporium a few months back. If this is the first time you're seeing this manual, I hope you find it useful!

For more information on our live Pro Tools Workshops with Recording Engineer & Post Production extraordinaire Aaron Sullivan, click here!

Stay tuned for an expanded list of dates & locations for 2011 -- coming soon!

Getting started as a professional voice-over artist is thrilling and confusing at the same time. All of a sudden you have to become a pro at voice-over technique, a marketing expert, and a tech-savvy Pro Tools guru. I trust that you got your professional voice-over training, and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of social media marketing tips to help you get started. Pro Tools LE takes a bit more time to get used to, so here are some beginner tips to help you figure out the rest.

The Hardware

We’ll start off by looking at your Mbox. There are many different variations of the Mbox, which is the hardware required to operate Pro Tools. Most of them connect to your computer via USB, but some also connect via firewire. Your Mbox must be hooked up to your computer in order to operate Pro Tools.

Make sure that your mic is connected (with your XLR cable) to mic “input 1” on the back of your Mbox. Check your microphone instructions to determine if your mic requires phantom power. Phantom power means that your mic will need to be provided with power through the mbox. If your mic does require phantom power, you’ll need to click the button on the Mbox labeled “48v” in order to power your mic. If you’re still not sure if your mic needs phantom power or not, this can be determined when you’re setting up to do your first sound check.

Your headphones should also be connected to the headphone output. If you would like to use speakers instead of headphones, you may do so by running 1/4″ stereo cables from the “Mon Out” (Monitor Outputs) on the back of your Mbox. Visit Radioshack or your local music store in order to find cables that can run from the Mbox into the speakers of your choice.

What Settings to Use for Your New Session

1. After installing Pro Tools LE on your computer, open the program by clicking on the icon:

2. The Quick Start Box will pop up. Get started by selecting New Session from the File drop-down menu at the top of your screen. You are shown a screen that allows you to set some parameters for your session, which can be confusing. Under “Audio File Type” it is best to select a wave file because it is a high-quality setting, and it is both Mac and PC friendly.

Bit Depth is a measure of the quality of the recording you are about to make. A 16 bit is CD quality, whereas the 24 bit gives you a little bit better recording but takes up twice the space. The 16 bit is the way to go because you don’t want to make a client spend too much time downloading your file in order to hear your audition or demo.

Under I/O Settings select stereo mix if this is your first time using Pro Tools. After you use Pro Tools a few times, it will automatically remember this setting as last used. Click OK and save the session somewhere on your computer.

3. A blank session opens, and you can see your Edit window, your Mix window, and your Playback Transport.

The Edit Window is the large window on the left hand side of the screen.

Your Mix Window is the tall window on the right hand side of the screen.

The Transport is the playback controls on the bottom of the screen.

4. The first thing to do now is to create an Audio Track. To do that, go up to the File menu “Track” and select New. On the menu that pops up, select 1 — mono — audio track — samples, which is the standard format to make a track. Click Create.

5. Once you have created your mono audio track, this is what your screen should look like:

(Note: the edit window on the left side of the screen and the mix window on the right side of the screen now show your mono audio track.)

A tip to make the audio easy to follow and edit is to click on the ruler bar on the left hand, vertical side of the track, and select jumbo size.

6. Label your audio tracks to help keep your sessions organized by double-clicking on the white area of the edit window that says “Audio 1” and type “Voice” (or whatever your project name and date is).

7. You are now able to set up to record your track. Under “Audio 1″ (or the new title that you gave it) on the left side of the screen, click on the Track Record Enable button, which will start to flash red after you click it.

8. Click the Record Button (the button with the small red dot) on the transport in order to record-enable the transport.

The button should now be flashing red.

Note: You are record-enabling in two locations because there are often multiple tracks recording at the same time in Pro Tools. The program is designed for complex music recording sessions, and the system needs to know what track(s) you are recording onto.

9. On the track in the mix window, double check to make sure that the input is set to “In 1” (where your mic is plugged in to the Mbox). The output should also always be set to “Out 1-2”, which routes a stereo signal to the outputs of the Mbox. “In 1” and “Out 1-2” tend to be the default settings, but it’s good to be aware of this in case those settings happen to change for any reason.

10. Now are you able to do a sound check. Adjust the audio level on your M-Box and gauge the level of the audio on your Pro Tools screen by looking at the green, yellow, or red line that spikes when you speak into your microphone. Check the sound by reading the copy that you are about to record, and make sure to speak into the mic at the same distance and volume that you will when you record. Ideally, you want your audio to check in about three-quarters of the way up. If you are “red lining,” then you need to back off a bit.

11. Become familiar with the basic tools that you’ll be using in Pro Tools. You’ll find them at the top of the edit window, and when you scroll your mouse over them, they will be defined for you.

From left to right you’ll find the Zoomer, Trim, Selector, Grabber, Scrub, and Pencil tools. I recommend that you stick with the Trim, Selector, and Grabber tools for now.

With the Selector tool highlighted, click inside the track somewhere near the 5-second mark. This will be where your recording will begin.

12. Optional Step: The Pre-Roll

Because you will most likely be both the recording engineer and the voice-over talent, some people find it helpful to have a little bit of extra time to prepare to switch from recording engineer to voice talent.

Pre-Roll means that Pro Tools will roll or play a specified amount of time before it actually starts recording. To activate your Pre Roll, click on the button on the transport labeled Pre-Roll. The button will become white, which means that Pre-Roll is active. Then, select the length of your pre-roll. The time count shown is minutes: seconds: milliseconds. Next, click on the seconds, and type in how many seconds of Pre-Roll time you would like. Finally, hit enter or return on your keyboard so that the new Pre-Roll time registers.

I entered a 3-second pre-roll, so that Pro Tools will roll for 3 seconds before where my cursor is placed (5.294 seconds) when I start my actual recording. It will not begin recording any audio until it reaches my cursor.

13. Now that you have your track and mic level set up, you are ready to record! Either tap the space bar on your keyboard or click play on the Playback Transport to start recording, and then tap the space bar or click stop to stop recording. When you play back the recording, turn on your speakers, and turn off your microphone so that you don’t get feedback.

Note: You’re rarely going to be happy with your first take. But the good news is that editing in Pro Tools is fairly easy to do!

Voice Over Mum

2010-09-15T12:03:00.003-04:00

While many argue that pursuing voice over work is a full-time job in itself, it's high time we heard from real people who successfully tackle the full-time job of being a mother, a father, or full-time professional in addition to being a busy voice actor.

Natalie Donegan is one such busy voice talent and active mum who was happy to share a snippet of her life with us.

My desk is covered in sticky-notes and lists, for which I am very grateful and without which I would be lost! I am first, and foremost, a mother of an energetic toddler, but I am also a Voice Over Talent who decided to start my own home business when my daughter was one year old.

This may seem an odd time to choose to get into the industry and start a business, but for me it was perfect and came down to two words. Nap-time!

Before I became a mother I worked for over ten years in advertising; long hours, targets, deadlines, pressure etc. I went from this to being a stay-at-home Mum, a whole new type of pressure! Thankfully my daughter naps very well, every day like clock-work, and I had time on my hands every day during this period and when she went to bed at night.

I needed something to fill that time and I needed a challenge for my brain. I had the opportunity to try something that I had always wanted to do, but;
1. I had never had the time to dedicate to it; and,
2. I previously had to rely on a steady day job to receive a pay-check.

I had my plan in place, if it failed, nothing would be lost except for the price of recording my demos and the equipment I bought, which could be re-sold if necessary. It has been one of the best things I have ever chosen to attempt and has been a huge success.... but it takes a LOT of organization!

When I started out in the business I had zero client base and there weren't enough auditions available to keep me busy all day every day, so a number of hours each day was perfect. Now, as time has moved on and my client base has grown, things have had to change slightly.

I start each day before my daughter gets up with checking last nights e-mails, due to the market being international you have to think about the time zones -- for example, yesterday I received an urgent message from India and had to act quickly, as I knew even though it was the early morning for me, their office would be closing in one hour.

I update my social networks, which are all linked so it's only necessary to make one update (Twitter, Linked In, Facebook etc), and I check to see if any of the voice over jobs on the voice networks don't require a personal audition that can be applied to immediately. If any jobs require a personal audition to be recorded, scripts are printed off and are ready for my recording time later in the day. I check back on my e-mails as America arrives at work, 7am - 9am, for any urgent requests and I keep my e-mail logged on all morning with the volume set to the highest, so I can hear if any messages arrive.

On days when I have a lot of recordings I have to plan my days from start to finish. I may be busy with my voice work, but things still need to be taken care of, as to the rest of the family I am Mum, Wife, military spouse, cook, cleaner, grocery shopper, laundry-mat, etc. Food can be an issue, but this is alleviated by planning meals for the week or even using the trusty crock-pot. On days when recordings take longer than nap-times, recording time carries on after family time, but I make sure that once my daughter is in bed my husband and I have a little us-time before I go to work.

My husband is very understanding, and as a student he has plenty of books that he can pop his nose into when I need quiet time into the evenings to record. It is always good to have a back-up plan in place should the larger recording projects arrive. My back-up plans are my friends and relatives, where I know that my daughter can go and have fun when I need extra time to work. Or the weekends, as a stay-at-home Mum there are no weekends really as Monday - Sunday merge and your daily tasks don't change just because the day starts with an 'S'.

I try to take the weekends off from searching for new job opportunities and any of my marketing, but if I have to record, my husband takes our daughter out for the day, she loves it when I have to record as it means she get's some one-on-one Daddy time -- normally meaning a trip to the zoo or Chucky Cheese!

So, the long and short of it is that if you want to balance bringing up a toddler at the same time as starting in this business, you can do it! Your house won't be spotless, television will never be watched, you will be on the go constantly and your days will not be the same as any of your other stay-at-home Mum friends ... but you can do it and keep your family happy at the same time. Just buy a BIG wad of sticky notes and start planning!

Visit Natalie Donegan's website at: www.britishvoiceovertalent.com

Are you another voice actor who wears many hats? Share with us how you manage to balance your time and your energies!

Insights from the Mentor Program: Tennyson Williams

2010-09-10T12:52:00.003-04:00

"I have landed more voice over jobs since I began my mentoring with Heather, and I am fully confident that I am on track to continue landing more!" -- Tennyson Williams, student of the Mentor Program

Tennyson Williams first heard about the Mentor Program from our Scheduling Director, Bethany Craig. At the time, Tennyson was interested in getting one-on-one quality time with a professional voice actor who could examine his approach to launching his professional voice over career.

Other than voiceover technique, Heather and Tennyson examined his website, demos, business cards and general forms of branding. With feedback, Tennyson was able to get a better handle on how to employ direct marketing strategies, including who to call and what to say.

Tennyson says:

"Heather is a very dynamic voiceover professional! She has a very positive attitude and provides me with superb encouragement. She began by asking a series of tough questions about my expectations, personal resources, goals and objectives. Her questions caused me to sit down alone and perform important introspection and gut checks. After answering her questions, Heather offered tablespoonfulls of reality about the industry -- like, how much money can be made in what period of time -- very important. I've successfully incorporated many of Heather's suggestions into my branding and audition techniques."

Furthermore, Tennyson said he would recommend the Mentor Program to other new voice actors because:

"It's a great big competitive world out there in the voiceover biz. This is both a positive and negative. Positive because the opportunities are virtually endless (commercials, narrations, voicemail, e-learning, etc). Negative because one can become lost and disillusioned in the vastness without some navigational support from an industry expert like those working at SAV. Anyone aspiring to reach peak performance should seek the help and support of others who have traveled the roads and know the terrain.

"If coaching and mentoring is good for professional athletes, performers, even company CEOs, then it follows that coaching and mentoring can be good for those in voice over work as well."

Thanks, Tennyson!

You can check out Tennyson's website and demos at: www.voiceoftennyson.com

Talent of the Month: Shobha Srinivasan

2010-09-02T14:50:00.003-04:00

"I've been able to successfully market myself as a 'global' voice using an accent that is neither American or British." -- Shobha Srinivasan, Talent of the Month

Shobha first found out about Such A Voice by attending one of our introductory classes with Heather Costa out in California. Afterward, she signed up for more training and recorded her demos with Such A Voice a few months later.

Her proclivity for voice acting is hardly a surprise. To say she participated in radio and theater in India is an understatement -- Shobha was actually the first English language anchor on Calcutta TV before she got a scholarship to come study in the United States. Although she didn't pursue voice over jobs then, she continued to act in college, and immediately put her voice to work for in-house videos at the non-profit where she worked as Director of Development.

Shobha has successfully landed voice over work around the world for a range of humanitarian projects because her voice is distinctly elegant without belying a specific nationality. She has provided the voice over for a UNICEF sponsored project for Kerala Tourism in India, as well as other social documentaries for award winning directors, online recipe books, health manuals and a documentary on yoga.

Already enjoying a successful career as a voice actor, Shobha is looking forward to recording a children's poetry book -- and all of them are her original poems!

Shobha's advice for new voice talent? She says, "Be persistent and respond regularly when you see gigs that might be right for your voice!"

Congratulations, Shobha, and we look forward to hearing more of you!