They are out there lurking around the Internet waiting for the right opportunity to strike you down with malicious criticism. Yes, I mean the trolls. The online bullies. The ones who look for any excuse to ruin your day or your whole life. They love to linger on YouTube so they can dislike your videos and post cruel comments. And when you succeed at something they post taunts and in some cases death threats just to unnerve you. [Read more…] about Do you have a thick skin to work in Voice Over?
Above you can see two sets of macaron batches. These are my pictures from when I was practicing and then perfecting my technique. Can you tell which one is bad quality?
If I told someone that I make macarons despite not having sales or proof that I know what I’m doing, and they wanted to buy some from me, what do you think would happen if I took their money and gave them the poor batch?
There’s a reason quality matters. And in voice over, quality demos and quality recording DO matter!!
We all want critiques of demos, especially those of us starting out. The problem is, too many get demos made when they’re not ready. And what’s most heartbreaking is that the talent don’t realize how bad they sound until it’s too late. What do I mean by that? Well, there’s two ways.
Two weeks ago I was part of a marketing group led by a well-known VO talent. When I was asked what I was doing to get my name out there I mentioned my demos, my website, my rapid growing list of connections on LinkedIn and my blog. The leader of the group stopped me and said that blogging was a huge waste of time and that I needed to abandon it and focus more time on marketing myself. “Blogging won’t help your career. No one cares what you have to say,” She said. That’s ok. Everyone is entitled to an opinion; however, it was the verbal approach that caught me off guard. Her tone was harsh and her criticism malicious. I wanted to explain why I blogged but she quickly moved on to someone else. Some time later I combed through the auditions I had to get done for the day and found myself thinking about my blog. Could this marketing expert be right? Was it worth continuing? [Read more…] about Why do I have a Voice Over blog?
I know, I know this is nothing new, I’ll admit that. But lately I’m asked by lots clients to help find VO for projects which I’m happy to do. However, it reminds me of certain people whom I keep on a list. These people are either pros, intermediates or even beginners. When I started out, many were helpful and encouraging, yet there were also those who happened to be quite established and turned their noses up at me, sometimes literally upon introduction. When I asked acquaintances why these pros treated me in such a way, they listed a few reasons: [Read more…] about Kindness and Respect, You Need Both
The other day a VO talent I’ve known for a few years asked for referrals to agents I work with and agents I know personally. I VERY rarely give referrals because 1. I must be comfortable with you as a talent and as a trustworthy source. 2. I must believe in the potential of what you’re able to do as a voice over (commercial, animation, narration, video games, radio, etc.) and 3. You must have trained or worked with people I know in voice over. [Read more…] about Think about what you say…
