Why a Call To Action is vital for your Voiceover business.
By British Male Voiceover Artist Chris Tester
Essentially, what I want to do is bring together two of my previous videos, one of which was about goal setting and the other one which was about taking stock of your voiceover achievements for 2021, and then use myself as an example of how I'm going about setting my goals for this coming year. The trickiest aspect of this can be that you don't really know where to start!
Everybody has their own kind of competing goals. There are loads of posts on it at the moment on social media; various voiceover provider services are all about these things. And you can't really see the wood from the trees. So I recommend that you have to start with what your goal is. You also need to think about how you would go about achieving that goal.
But the thing that I believe is I really kind of missed out from last year in properly interrogating was the why, as well. I think this is of crucial importance to really determine whether or not a goal actually works for you personally, or whether or not you've just taken it from someone else's goal list and assumed it into your own business rather than really properly interrogating it. So it's about the what, it's about the how, but it's also crucially about the why, and this is what's going to be able to make you narrow down your options into something that is actually feeling possible to you in this coming year, as opposed to something that is overwhelming.
Let's talk in-depth without further ado!
#1. Brainstorming
So to get onto the resolution aspect of this, the first thing that I really recommend is that you brainstorm everything. But you brainstorm everything with three major sectors in mind:
Technical Side
The first one is going to be the technical side. The technical side may be equipment, it may be an investment in your space, but it's to do with your recording environment, the process of recording from a technical side. So equipment, all of that kind of thing.
Performance Side
The second area to really focus on is the performance side. So that could be working with particular coaches in particular genres. But then that also goes towards the actual demo production you might be involved in if you actually want to showcase your work in that respect
Marketing/Employment side
There's the technical side, and there's the performance side, and then there's also the marketing/employment side.
So this is to do with what are your inbound marketing streams?
What are your outbound marketing streams?
Inherently, that's social media and any direct marketing that you do. And then, on top of that, it's also what agents are you represented by?
How often are you auditioning?
Are you auditioning through production rosters?
Are you using pay-to-plays?
And if so, how regularly you are auditioning, all of that kind of thing.
So we've got those three rough areas from which to start with.
#2. Stock Consideration
The next stage is to make sure that you have taken stock of this year, 2021, to see what targets you've set and whether or not you managed to do so. And then also to interrogate why. So when I look back, I'm not going to try and repeat everything that's already in that pre-existing video. But when I look back, obviously, there are many things that I'm very proud to have been able to achieve.
So, for example, I didn't hit my income target, but I came very close to hitting in terms of working more in games or audiobooks. That was very successful. I managed to get this home studio built, which has made me have to worry a lot less about the technical side of things. And I've also managed to formalise my coaching offering. I've managed to work with a marketing company specifically on defining what my marketing strategies are. And I've also managed to create another skillshare course, which is very, very good and very well-regarded and completely free if you sign up for a trial, just saying.
But there was also something that I completely dropped, completely failed on. And again, this comes back to not having really interrogated the why enough. So, for example, I had this whole idea that I would create a kind of marketing pack for myself so that I could, I don't know, get more varieties of interviews or appear on podcasts or anything else like that.
Because there wasn't a really clear why behind that, other than I'd heard a few other people do it, that never really kind of came together in any way, shape or form, or more specifically also with working on US general American accents, it's something that I'd set up as wanting to revisit because I'd done a lot of it as a trained actor before previously.
Many people say it's a very, very good idea, but it never became a priority for me because I just didn't encounter that many castings where it was really an issue. And increasingly, as well, with people looking for really authentic accents, I kind of used it as a bit of an excuse because my why wasn't strong enough in the first place to not even begin touching that. So I'm not saying that's not something that I'm going to focus on in the new year, but I need to develop a strong enough why to justify that being on my goals list.
So oriented around those three different areas, you brainstorm everything you think of, anything that pops into your mind that you possibly think of as a goal. Don't try and qualify it in any way, shape or form; just put it down there and attach it to one of those three spheres. And then from that, you need to focus on the why which will be a natural process of elimination before you get into the nitty-gritty of the how.
There's no point in wasting lots of time on the how if the why isn't strong enough. It's like any kind of acting objective exercise; if your want isn't strong enough, then the scene won't be successful because you won't really feel you'll need it. So there won't be that tension of drama. It's exactly identical in terms of your motivation. If these are going to be goals that you're going to be pursuing for an entire 12 months, if the why isn't strong enough, you won't do it.
#3. Documentary Work
So if I look at some of the goals that I'm contemplating in 2022, one example is documentary work. So that's what it is. I want to work more in documentaries and long-form duration and that type of thing. Then why is because I've always had a real interest in that from David Attenborough and his nature narrations, having a particularly huge effect on me, and then more kind of historical narration as well. I've been really interested in it.
And so, therefore, once I've got those two as established, that's a very positive thing, then I can go into the, how could I possibly do that? And that would be by working with a coach that I think is well-respected. So maybe doing some research on that and working with them to get a demo. And then when you have that demo, well, what can you do? Yes, you can put it on pay-to-play sites. Yes, you can give it to your agents. Still, it would then be working in terms of my marketing as well so that I could identify specific leads that I could reach out to directly and then incorporate into my overall kind of direct marketing strategy as a result.
#4. Consolidation of Income
Another what that I'm really contemplating is that I want to consolidate my income. Before I get into how I want to do that, I really need to think about the why. And obviously, it's because more money is always great, right? Maybe? But the why is actually because I want to take some time off from voiceover without massive feelings of guilt. So that's quite a strong activator for me in terms of a life goal, as opposed to a business goal, to take more time off without going; oh my God, my business will plummet as a result. And then that justifies very much more strongly the, how I want to go about that.
So that's making sure that I am actioning all of the marketing work that I explored with Knowlton Marketing when I hired them as a consultant for my business. In terms of inbound work and outbound work, it's about making sure that the workflow of my content creation is as streamlined as possible so that I can be consistent and do batch contenting. It's led to some outsourcing. It's why I've got a virtual assistant for my outreach to help with that. Now, throughout this process, I'm not saying that the why has always to be ridiculously strong. It's good to have some speculative ones in there that you can subsequently kind of quantify.
#5. Whole Dubbing and ADR World
So, for example, with me, one of the goals that I'm contemplating is looking into the whole dubbing and ADR world because it's something that I haven't experienced. I don't know whether I'd love it or hate it because I've never even done a workshop on it or tried it out myself. So I know that I want to go about doing that. What's the why? Because it seems to be such a booming industry at this moment. So do I know whether or not I'd like it? Do I know whether or not it's a genre that would work for me? I'm not going to know that until I explore it in some kind of way.
And so, therefore, we go down to the how, and that's by seeing what workshops are available, seeing if there are any resources that I'm already paying for, from my memberships to the VoiceOver Network or Gravy For The Brain, or other organisations are available and whether or not they have some resources that I can use, whether or not the friends or people that I know who already work in those spheres, that I can potentially talk to to see what the whole process is like.
Once you've gone through this entire process, you should have a bunch of ideas that you've brainstormed out, and then they will have automatically kind of funnelled down quite considerably as soon as you've analysed the why.
#6. Different Colours
I recommend even using a kind of different colours. So maybe all of the ones you've brainstormed are in blue, but when they actually qualify to the next stage, you may put the why in red. And then if they're ones that you actually want to spend considerable time on thinking about the how, then you put them in another colour, like purple for example. And that means that they are definitely going to be priorities for you. And obviously, if they chime with you and you're more excited about them, then that's obviously a very good sign.
In a Nutshell
One of the practical benefits of having those three areas kind of like mapped out is to make sure that there's some form of balance so that you're not focusing purely, always on the performance side and not at all on the marketing side, because yes, it's great that you focus on your skills, especially when you're starting out.
But if you want actually to make it function as a business, you need to spend at least as much time on the marketing side, on getting auditions, on getting those relationships, and on the technical side. I know that the technical side, thanks to having invested in the studio and making it such a priority in 2021, is less of an issue for me.
So it's going to be focusing more on the performance side and much more on the kind of marketing side, marketing to new areas. But again, it's about kind of forming a natural process, not by trying to get it right, right from the get-go, but by literally copying everybody else's ideas first and foremost, having them all out in front of you, and then seeing what speaks to you.
Last Words
I hope this video has been of some use to you. And I wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, regardless of what the COVID restrictions may or may not be by the time that we get there. Thank you so much for your support for the channel, as ever. Please do like, subscribe. Please do tell other people that you think might enjoy this content about this content, as it would mean a great deal.
And thank you, as ever, for your time and support and lovely comments. I will be taking a break for a week just to kind of revise where I want to take this channel next. And I hope that I'll be able to bring you all along with me. Thank you so much, and I look forward to seeing you next year!
How to prepare for a Remote Voiceover Session
Video games are continuing to boom as an industry. And as a result of that greater popularity, the expectation for voice acting is only getting higher and higher. Gone are the days of getting your friends to do it for free and hoping that would work out.
Voiceover: I'm fully aware of what I'm doing. Can you see? Man committed a sin, disturbing the lifecycle of nature. The original sin that man is responsible to, to protect the life cycle.
This is the second of three videos about the best ways of working with actors for video games. The first cover the casting process, and if you haven't watched it already, you can check it out here. In this video, we're going to look at how you can make your actual recording session with a voice actor as creatively stimulating and productive as possible. This is intended to apply to all forms of voice acting and video games. But for something as specialized as performance capture or motion capture, those are subjects that I would really like to approach in another video in the future. There is also an important distinction I would like to make between a voice actor and a voice over. And there is a distinction.
Of course, both require acting skills. But with voiceover, there's a particular style to it, there is a pattern, a formula that's actually at work. With voice actors where the emphasis is on the second word, then there's more process of using our imaginations, engaging emotionally with a character and actually putting ourselves in another person's shoes. Now performer can be both a voiceover and a voice actor simultaneously. You just need to be aware of the distinction, to be aware of the different skill sets that are associated with each. It's quite a confusing topic because different people brand themselves in different ways at different times. So for my commercial and corporate work, I will brand myself as a voice over but when I'm talking about games, I'll emphasize the acting part. Actually hiring a voice director to work with the actors on your behalf is probably the best solution. And it also allows you the opportunity to learn through observation, but you may not be in a position to hire them. And either way, some of the points that’ll raised in this video may be useful for your future learning. So to start, let's talk preparation.
If you can discuss the character with the actor before the actual session. Talk about their characteristics, their background, their relationships, and the world of the game. If you have time, be open to a dialogue and make the actual creation of the character as collaborative as possible. Provide the scripts which are often called sides as quickly as possible. Most voice actors can actually be very good side readers but the more time we have with the script, the better the end product will be. If the game has a lot of conversations between different actors, then try and organize a table read of some sort, even if it is only through zoom. It means that everyone will get a whole sense of what the world is like, what the interactions are like and that's something that can feed through even into individual sessions. And then if you have a discussion at the end, where people can ask questions, it means that you only have to answer them once rather than repeating yourself time after time.
Looking to the script itself, if there are any unusual pronunciations, then make sure that you have a guide so that everybody is on the same page. And try to resist the temptation to actor proof your script by throwing in objectives all the time telling them how they should say something, the odd direction of angry or whispered can be very good in terms of providing context to why someone is saying something in a particular way. But if it's every line or every other line, then it just limits the potential options open to the actor, which stifles their creativity and will probably be deleted anyway. Essentially as performers, we can only perform to the size of the space that you actually grant us. And finally, whenever possible, budget for more session time than you think you'll need. When a session begins, make the process clear for everyone. Make it clear how many scenes that you're covering, what different emotional states are required in each and where they come from in the game.
Obviously, that could just be you and the actor, that could be a director but there could also be a producer or writer or any other number of people on the line. Regardless of how many there are ensure that only one person is actually giving direction to the actor, so that they're not lost in a cacophony of voices. Spend the first five to 10 minutes of the session, just checking in with the other actor, seeing where they are, how their days been, and what they're going to be like to direct. Obviously, in all cases, time is money. And if you've got 5000, as opposed to 500 words to do in a three hour session, then you want to be getting on with things. But still having that chat at the start is useful for gauging the tone for the whole session. Ask the actor if they have any questions about the character about the background about the sides, whatever. But obviously, if you've been able to build in some pre session time, this will be less of an issue.
One crucial aspect to bear in mind is the order in which you approach material. If there's a particularly emotional scene or a lot of shouting involved, then it's usually better to place that towards the end of the session, but each actor may work differently. For some they may warm up with shouting first and foremost, different actors voices work in different ways. So check in with them before coming to a mutual decision. And one final thing before starting make sure that a break schedule has been agreed. Make sure that you enforce it, not the actor. Actors will tend to want to keep going and sometimes that's absolutely great because they're in the moment, they're feeling something, but they're still not necessarily the best objective judge of their vocal health, especially if they're inexperienced. Small breaks are important, both to replenish the mind and the body. When you finally get to the recording, you need to tell your actor at every scene, the where, the what and the why.
The where, where does the scene take place? Is it a battlefield? Is it a council chamber? Is it a bedroom? How big is the space? Are there other people there? And how far away am I from the person that I'm talking to? The what is the essential physical action. Am I running away? Am I in the middle of the battle? Or am I working in an office. And the why is what is the objective behind the characters actions? Of course, all of this information combines with the Greater Life of the character, and also the world of the game. And again, if you've done all of that prep work in advance, then it means you can be a lot more succinct when you're actually recording. But it's crucial to focus on these essentials rather than getting distracted by any extraneous information. It's also very useful to think in terms of the characters emotional state, and generally they break down into being either mad, sad or glad.
Obviously, there's a whole spectrum of choices lying across those three distinctions, but it's still useful to have one in mind as a starting point at each scene. It could also be useful to think of a character's driving forces coming from either their head, their heart or their groin. Just saying the same line with the same logical objective but those three different things in mind will give you different results. When at all possible, be flexible with the actual words themselves be open to the idea of aligning words or changing them if they don't feel quite natural. For theatre actors, especially the can sometimes be a reverence for the word on the page. So sometimes you need to actively give permission to mess things up and make things more believable. Hesitations, gasps, half said words and repetitions are all little things that can give texture to language in a whole new way. Think of encouraging these improvisations even before the actual words begin.
Adele Cutting, a voice director suggests using them as springboards into an actual line itself, which you can cut afterwards. Different actors work in different ways. And if you try and enforce some one size fits all process for everyone, then it's probably going to end up limiting the results that you actually get. But try to describe the stakes in a given scene as vividly as possible using the right transitive verb. The more vivid a transitive verb is, the more stimulating it is to play as an actor. There is the difference between telling an actor to ask for forgiveness and telling them to beg or plead for forgiveness. You want to use language that is going to ignite an actor's imagination, not stifle it. So familiarizing yourself with a book like Actions, The Actors Thesaurus, would be a really great stuff to that process. Boiling down a scene to what it's essentially about is always important, but can be particularly important when we're thinking in terms of genre.
To give a personal example, I was recently working on a scene with a video game director, in which one of my companions was killed. My initial response was to take the subsequent scene very literally, like it was therefore going to be a fight to the death. But after I'd gone in horribly wrong a couple of times, the director actually pointed out that in the context of the game, which was set in a post-apocalyptic world, with lots of zombies being killed all the time, the actual essential of the scene was actually about confronting a bullet, not about a fight to the death. It was a subtle changing of the stakes, as opposed to a lessening of them, which completely changed my playing of the scene as a result.
I think the final thing I want to say is that you should be thinking in terms of how you want the character to make you feel, as opposed to how you want them to actually sound. If you start a session with a very preconceived idea of how things should go, then it's going to be very stifling, and collaborative and also very uninspired. Sometimes lines have to be spoken in a particular way for a particular reason. And if necessary, alone reading can be justifiable if an actor really isn't getting it. But it really should be a very selective approach. You want to be part of an exciting, collaborative, creative experience. And by approaching it with the right preparation, and the right attitude all the way through, it can really be achievable.
Next time I'll be looking at your relationship with the actor after the recording process, which is typically the part most overlooked. If you enjoyed this video, please do like subscribe and turn on notifications and I look forward to seeing you next time.
How to use antithesis effectively in voiceover narration.
Whether performing or directing, it is essential to know how physicality informs delivery in voiceover - and how you can make dramatic changes through small adjustments.
By British Male Voiceover Artist Chris Tester
By British Male Voiceover Artist Chris Tester
Not all voiceover budgets are created equal, and neither are all voiceover actors. There are plenty of opportunities with Blue Yeti mics and pillow for[not clear, 00:17] who will be willing to record your product for absolutely nothing. But is that what you really want? Assuming that it isn't, where do you really start with professional rates? If you know that your budget is low, then how do you negotiate with a VO? And are there any other essential elements that you should discuss as winners price?
Tip one, knowledge is power. Your first point of call should be the Gravy For The Brain rate card. It represents industry, standard fair market rates and breaks them down into different sections and regions, so you will have all the information you need to know what constitutes par for the industry. Obviously, certain details may still need to be confirmed by your project, but they'll still be able to give you a ballpark figure. For the majority of voiceovers, a quote will break down into two sections. There's the session fee and then there's the usage fee. The session fee is essentially the voiceover artists fee for pressing record and stepping into the booth, whether their recording is actually used or not. The usage fee might not actually apply to every project but it basically covers where and how long it's going to be used for. The biggest factor in price is going to be the size of the actual audience, the more eyes that you have on your content than the more you're probably going to be paying a voiceover artist.
The same thirty second animation will have completely different usage cost if it's being used internally for staff training, if it's just being posted on a company website that hardly gets any visitors. If it's being used on social media with thousands of followers, or if it's being used on YouTube, but as a pre roll ad, in which case it could potentially be reaching millions or tens of millions of people. This is one of the many reasons why a lot of voiceovers don't actually publish their rate cards on their website because there are so many multiple different facets that you need to judge. It's difficult to give an exact quote. To name check Gravy For The Brain again, I recommend you check out the voiceover licensing and usage video they did, which explains it very clearly in just a couple of minutes. Tip two appreciate that in perpetuity usage is problematic, increasingly with quite a few projects, clients are starting to ask for usage in perpetuity rather than for a limited time. Essentially, so that they can use the recording for as long as they want.
Now this can be less problematic in one sector as opposed to another, it can still be a very difficult request actually answer. Essentially granting usage rights in perpetuity leaves voiceover artists open to conflicts of interest. For example, I recorded a radio campaign for a pharmacy that was going to last for three months. When the client decided to extend that campaign for another three months, they paid me in additional usage payment as a result, which was great, because I'd actually booked another job with one of their rivals. Obviously I couldn’t voice both at the same time as it would have been a conflict of interest. So I was recompensed as a result with the usage fee but if the original usage had been in perpetuity, then I would have simply lost out. This type of situation is much less prevalent in the corporate sector where buyouts are typically more often requested but it still can be an issue.
So have some sensitivity before requesting it. Is a company really going to be using the same voice for two three or four years? Or are they actually likely to use it for just a year, in which case they should pay the usage for that. Tip three, be very clear about the perimeters of negotiation. A voiceovers rates are a voice overs rate and it's completely their discretion whether they accept or pass on a project as a result. But if you're super clear about the variables that you can offer in a deal, then you can make the process of any negotiation much more straightforward. Ask yourself, can you offer a variable time on delivery? Most projects tend to be recorded within 24 to 48 hours. Would you be in a position to offer some form of retainer? The cliche of a client who justifies a very low rate by the promise of future work that never materializes is a cliche for a reason. But if there is a consistent stream of work that you can offer, then maybe there is a group discount that can be agreed.
For e-Learning and long form projects, can you do the editing in house? Typically for any voiceover project, for every one minute that we're recording, we spend about two to three minutes actually editing. If you take that out of the equation, then the fees might be much lower as a result. In areas such as e-learning especially where the quote is often per word as opposed to per minute, then you might actually get a completely different rate if this is factored in. For video games with no budget, why not offer a percentage of the final profits of the game if it turns one. This would need to be made incredibly clear in any contract, but it's much better than just asking for free work. Tip four be very clear about the process of revisions and rerecord. And just to clarify what those two things are. A revision is a re-recording that is necessitated because the script has been changed after an original recording. So no fault to the voiceover.
Whereas a retake is when there's something in the delivery that wasn't quite right or we’ve mispronounced a word. Communication and information is key. So make sure that you always start with something like the Gravy For The Brain rate card in order to build your budget. And of course if you're looking for a quote for your voiceover project, anything that my voice my Fit, then please just drop me an email at chris@naturallyrp.co.uk.
Thanks as ever for checking out this video. Please do subscribe if you enjoyed it and I look forward to seeing you next week.
By British Male Voice Actor Chris Tester
Voiceover used to be male dominated, but if trends continue as they have been in the last few years, it's predicted that female voice over jobs will actually overtake male voice over jobs by around 2025. The received wisdom has always been to go with someone who sounds like the audience. Voice over typically uses the rule of PLU. We most readily listen to people like us. And then we have quite stereotypical notions of what a male or female voice may offer. A deep male voice has power, aggression and authority and that's the reason why Mark Strong, the man who normally tells you to turn your phone off in the cinema in the UK, is also the man who fronts the UK COVID announcements.
Voice over: This is a message from the government's Chief Medical Officer about Coronavirus.
By contrast, female voices are typically considered more reassuring and soothing. A poll conducted by Harris international found that 46% of people found female voices more soothing than male voices. Soothing voices make people more comfortable. And when people feel more comfortable, then they're more likely to trust the person that they're listening to. That's one of the very good reasons why many Satnavs, computer systems and travel directions are delivered by female voices. Now this is partly scientific study by the Journal of advertising found that products that were aimed at neutral audiences or once towards men, the gender of the voice didn't really matter. But the same certainly wasn't true for female oriented products. Psychologist Phil Maclear at the University of Glasgow found that male voices with a lower pitch were usually perceived as least trustworthy, while higher pitched female voices were perceived as most trustworthy. Female voices and not just perceived as more melodic, but also clearer to by where they're processed in the brain. A study conducted at the University of Sheffield found that female voices were processed in the auditory part of the brain where music is processed, while male voices were processed at the back of the brain in what's called the mind's eye. So how does this all relate to the voiceover that you should choose? Well, Nancy Wilson, one of the foremost voiceover coaches in the world in commercial copy, talks about how copy is generally structured in terms of align, escalate and solve.
The voiceover aligns themselves with the listeners problem, then they escalate it so the listener is compelled to act and then you offer the solution with the product. Taking the listener on an emotional journey throughout from crisis to resolution. The female voice seen as softer and chattier most readily fits the aligned part of that equation. Women now drive between 70 and 80% of consumer spending, and the greater perceived emotional intent in their voices helps with that alignment. Demographics are also changing. We're seeing women make inroads, pardon the pun, in a traditionally male sphere like cars with Mercedes.
Voice over: The new A-class range with Mercedes me.
And Alfa Romeo
Voice over: NaVi is no longer blind, Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio.
With 80% of car purchases now being directly influenced by women. Similarly, in entertainment, we're seeing the rise of female protagonists to mirror the fact that more women are getting involved in games as players and as developers as well. But the taste in male voices is also expanding and diversifying too. Often a male voice will simply suit a certain product best. And sometimes you need a Mark Strong to tell you to turn off your phone and wash your hands. But we're starting to explore a more three dimensional concept of masculinity beyond the alpha male. One which possibly even started with the marketing towards stay at home dads. As copy texts in many genres have moved from telling the audience to aligning with them, there are greater opportunities to explore emotional availability, vulnerability, and nurturing tones rather than just being strong and stoic. We're seeing advertisers take a voice which may be considered alpha, like, for example, Tom Hardy, and then disrupting that by making the delivery more ponderous and introspective than you would normally expect.
Voice over: Greatness is no more unique to us than breathing. We're all capable of it. All of us.
You can't even say that makeup is still the preserve of female voices when there's a whole new industry marketing makeup to young men. So as media consumption continues to develop and change and diversify, it's more and more difficult to make any kind of blanket statements about the importance of the gender. The content we consume is becoming more targeted, more personalized, and less binary.
Voice over: This is about more than just keeping a card safe. It's about keeping us safe. True name by MasterCard.
There are more and more brands looking to use non binary voices because it associates them with a more considerate and thoughtful approach to living and workplace culture. So in conclusion, surprise, there's no simple answer. Think about your product in terms of the wider industry and the target audience. Make the emotion that you want the listener to feel be of central importance. Always be aware of gender stereotypes so you can then play to them or convert them. And remember that tone, pace and inflection are going to have the most influence over your voiceovers effectiveness, which is why you should hire a professional. Why not try demoing a variety of talent not just going with what you think it should be, and then seeing what the results are like. I hope this video has been of interest to you.
And thanks so much for joining me. Please do like subscribe and turn on notifications and I look forward to seeing you next time.
By British Male Voiceover Artist Chris Tester
Whether your game is part of a huge Triple A billion franchise, or it's just you as a single developer, getting the right voice actors to be part of your game is particularly crucial. Especially with gamers expecting more believable, authentic performances as standard. In this video, I'm going to talk about how to cast voice actors. The when, the where, the how, and the what. This will be the first of three videos on the subject, with a second looking at how you actually work with the voice actor during a directed session itself. And the third looking at your relationship with the voice actor after the game is released. How they can help with marketing and promotion, and expand your broader network. So let's get started with the where. Where you cast your voice actors will depend on what you're looking for, your budget, and how many roles you need to fill. Recommendations and referrals from other game developers, voice actors or voice directors is a great way to start. It's a way of being introduced to a whole variety of talent that you might not be familiar with, but which has been vetted, been proven in some way. Of course, a pretty standard route is to contact agents, either voice agents and acting agents and ask them about the talent on their books.
If you have a particular talent in mind, then just google their name and an agency and it'll probably pop up. Or alternatively, just google any major city name and voice agent or acting agent and lots of options will come up to. You could collaborate with specialist audio production companies who have their own talent database. You can look on social media, and especially Twitter, where a lot of voice actors are particularly active. And either put a casting call out there directly yourself, or alternatively, reach out to a company or an individual that specializes in casting indie games. You can google search voice actors and find out more about them from their website, which might be quite a long winded way if you don't know exactly what you're looking for. But if you like an actor's previous work, then you may be able to reach out directly. Or of course, you could put a casting call out on a pay to play site or voiceover casting site, inviting lots of voice actors that you may not be familiar with at all to audition for your roles and seeing what the results are. Now there is no best or worst source of where you can actually get hold of the actors that you want to audition in the first place.
But I would say be wary of making your casting call too broad or open. Some of these avenues will result in you receiving hundreds of applications which you'll have to trawl through in order to find what you want, which can be exhausting. So the more selective you are at the front end, the more seamless the whole process will be afterwards. When do you cast your voice actors? Again, it depends on a project by project basis. But typically, if it's a more character based game than the earlier, the better. If you cast early, then it allows your writers to become more familiar with the voice that they're actually writing for, which will result in a greater degree of authenticity. It means you can have less time sensitive meetings with your actors to discuss the role and you can be a sounding board for each other's ideas. These sorts of creative discussions in the early stages could mean that your time actually in the booth recording with the voice actor is much lower as a result. But if the role is more functional than that's not necessary.
[Voiceover: Now, you will suffer our wrath.]
In which case casting closer to the actual recording time may be more suitable, because it ensures an actor's availability. How do you cast your voice actors? The wisest thing to do to start off with is to delegate if you can afford to. Voice directors will often already be familiar with talent, how to direct talent, and it will allow you to pick up experience along the way through observation. Each actor may need a slightly different approach depending on the material. A professional director can save you time and get creative results that you never might have expected.
Voice over[Troy Baker on Director Neil Druckmann]: We start shooting the scene action and I go straight into it. And it feels weird and it feels false. And we do it three or four times and Neil walks up to me in between takes and I'll never forget this and he says I'm picking up on some resistance. And I said yeah, you're damn right, you're picking up on some resistance because we've got it. It's in the can it was take one. And he said let me tell you what I have. I have a man broken, I said guy his fucking daughter just died. He goes, No, I have a man broken what I don't have is what's happening, this is happening. I can fix it. It's not working. She's going she's gone, I’m broken. And that is when I realized that Neil Druckmann was the greatest director I've ever worked with.
It can be argued that not all voice directors are created equal. But the majority may provide a level of expertise that can prove invaluable. But if it is only you and you can't afford a voice director, then I do suggest that you check out a couple of acting books.
Something like Stanislavski’s, An Actor Prepares and David Mamet's True And False. A crucial part of the casting process is creating an actual character breakdown with imagery of the character, their age, their physicality, their accent, their voice description and biography, ideally. When casting you'll be asking actors to read lines for the character that you might want to actually cast them as. These lines are typically called sides, audition sides. And when you write them, it's important to provide as much context as possible. An actor will say a line completely differently depending on who they're speaking to, why they're speaking to them, and where they're speaking to them as well. Try to resist the temptation to copy and paste some of your actual script for the audition sides. You want to hear as many different facets of the character as possible as quickly as possible. So if that's possible in existing lines from the actual game itself, that's great. But if not, then write a scene or an exchange that actually serves that purpose, so that every single different part of the audition is actually helping you to make a choice.
Depending on how in depth you want the process to be, I would recommend having a first and then a second round of auditions. In the first round, have them a sample based auditions, where you provide direction the actor records them, and then you review them. And then you could have a second round, which would be a live directed session. So either you or the voice director would be working with the actor through a set script, and you could see what your relationship is like and how free and open they are to actual direction. If you have reference points to the type of game that you want to make, then share them. If you tell a voice actor that the game is in the style of The Last of Us or in the style of Zelda or in the style of Doom, then we immediately get an impression of what that world is like and how those characters would interact. Even if we don't, if we're not gamers, then we can go on to YouTube, see some of that game footage and get an impression very quickly as well. Above all else, look for people who are voice actors as opposed to voiceovers. If that makes sense. Many voiceovers may have a beautiful voice and it does also require acting, but it's a different kind of skill set. Appreciate that Screen Actors might give very detailed realistic performances, but they also might struggle in being able to communicate verbally what they would normally Express physically, facially.
Voice over: It has been amusing watching your sea-wracked corpses stumble and doddder as you tracked the prey
Some stage actors may be particularly good at bigger characterizations or multi character parts, but some of them could be a little bit too big or performative. And again, depending on experience, some might have quite a lot of mic technique, and others may have none. All of these things will have a greater or lesser importance depending on the type of game that you want to make. So for example, if you put a filmic Actor in a performance capture context, where they're also going to have their face mapped as well, then all of those issues might not be an issue at all. And similarly, if your voice actor is working with an audio engineer during the session, then then being on or off mic is going to be less of a practical concern rather than if they're recording from a home studio and are responsible themselves for gauging their distance from a mic.
If your project is going to involve home studio talent, then ensure that all of their auditions take place using the setup that they'd actually use. Have the recordings vetted by an audio engineer. Because even if something sounds possible, there may be issues with it. Also bear in mind that you're looking for acoustic continuity, you want to ensure that all these voices sound as if they've come from the same place with a minimum of fuss. And also cast as authentically as possible. It's 2020 and there's enough talent out there. It's not an excuse to say that you can't find it. And finally, for what, how much would you actually pay your voice actors. Actors fees typically break down into two things; a per hour fee, called the basic studio fee, which covers their actual recording time. And a buyout that actually licenses their voice for your game, which is normally the basic studio fee again, or a multiple of it. Obviously, as the demands of a project expands, so will the fee.
Hi, in this video, I'm going to talk about goal setting. It's the beginning of a new year and so somewhat inevitably people are talking about goals. How important is setting goals to your progress? Or another way of thinking about it is, how much should you be focusing on the day to day process, and how much on the end target? Now in the book, Atomic Habits by James Clear says that you should focus on your systems rather than on your goals. And this reasoning is quite simple. If you focus just on the destination, then it doesn't actually clarify what you have to do every day in order to get there. And it also puts your mind in a state where it's just a binary of failure or success, which can quite often demotivate you. Now, I would argue that though those are very valid points, you still have to know what kind of direction that you want to be heading in. So you need to have a goal or objective of some kind. And these could be smart goals, which are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bound. So for example, if my aim is to convert this third bedroom into an acoustically treated and soundproof studio that I can work in, is it specific? Yes. Is it measurable? Yes, I'll know from my environment when it's being changed into that. Is it achievable? Yes. I've got a quote from a supplier. And then I've been saving for the last year specifically to fund this. Is it realistic? Yes, I've contacted that supplier and booked a time for them to do it. And is it time bound? Yes, it's going to be happening in the spring, hopefully.
Now, like I said before, not all goals have to be this specific. And they don't need to observe that smart criteria. It may be something quite vague, like, you just want to sleep better. And that's absolutely fine as well. But it's still going in a specific direction. And you know what the result would be in some kind of way. The essential points are, firstly, be very clear and honest about what your goals actually are for the year. Don't look at goal achievement purely in terms of success and failure. Look at where you are now compared to where you were a year ago, a month ago, or even yesterday, not compare yourself to some imaginary ideal version of what you should be. And of course, and this is easier said than done, try and find the balance between self-motivation, and self-acceptance, being a little bit more Zen. Now, of course, all these things are easier said than done. But in terms of how I approach my goal setting, specifically for 2021, well, firstly, I started by making a mood board. This is a whole collection of all the things that I would like to achieve in voiceover by the end of the year. And then my intention is to reverse engineer aspects of it to find my actionable, what I can do every day in order to achieve them. So if we take my target of a six figure income, one way of going towards achieving that is to get more commercial auditions, because that's where the best paid work is. And one of the ways to do that would be to update my commercial demo. So in order to update my commercial demo, I would research and select demo providers. I would find other people's demos that I like as a reference, and then I would book a recording session. Or an additional way towards that overarching goal will be a marketing campaign aimed at estate agents in the UK. So one step would be to find out who the estate agents are, in other words, lead generation, maybe I could hire a virtual assistant to do that for me so that I'm more time effective.
Then I would do some research on what makes great real estate promotions. How does the sector feel about video tours, especially during the time of COVID. Then bearing all of that in mind, I could create an actual video showcasing my voice doing different styles of that kind of real estate narration. And then I can work out and compose an email chain. So I can directly market and follow up effectively and systematically. This approach helps me to find the balance between being ambitious, wanting to daydream and find out what I really want, but also kind of focus in on the little practical things that I can do, so that I don't have that perennial anxiety of what should I be doing and am I doing it? I know because I've worked it out. I hope you found this video about goals of some use. If so, please do comment, like and subscribe to check out future content as well.
Wishing you a great start to the new year and look forward to seeing you next time.
In this video, I provide an overview of all the different ways voiceover talent can be hired - and what’s the BEST way… SPOILER - you’re already on the right website, and there’s a step by step process detailed here.
In this video, I'm going to show you the best way to hire a voice actor. If you've never worked with voiceover talent before, it can be a bit overwhelming to know where to start looking. A lot will depend on your budget, your timeframe and exactly what you need. So it's important to keep these three things in mind when you make a decision. In the next few minutes, I'm going to go over the four main ways of hiring voice over talent and the advantages and disadvantages to each option. Throughout them all, I think it's useful to keep in mind this diagram. Any service land at some point in the spectrum, and the same is definitely true for voiceovers. Option number one, voiceover agents. If you go into Google and type in voiceover agents, then you'll get a list of the most high profile agencies in your area. Are all voiceover agencies created equal? No, but they are typically the first stop for the best high profile talent, because the agencies themselves would have already cherry pick the best in the field. An agent's job is essentially to curate the best talent from a diverse range of the industry.
Depending on the agency, a lot of the talent represented might actually be actors who also do Voice over on the side, so they might not have access to recording facilities themselves. But they'll either be able to use the agency's own studio or an external one. Especially since COVID, a lot of agency talent have also moved to get home studios as well. And these will have all been vetted by the agents in advance. Essentially working with an agent to result in a high quality product with a cost that reflects that as well as paying the talent. The agent will also be taking a commission of between 15 and 20%. So rates will be on the higher end. Thanks to an agent's knowledge and expertise, you'll be given a number of very credible options and the turnover time will be relatively quick. But there is inherently an extra layer of correspondence within the transaction, which means it's not necessarily the fastest. And it also means that you're often not talking to the talent until the session itself. Option two, pay to play sites. Pay to play sites are essentially voiceover casting sites, where talent pay a subscription fee, in order to play, essentially audition for your project, or someone posting a job. The fee for actually using the platform is often conflated into the overall voiceover fee. But there's often quite a difference from site to site on how ethically that this is done. Some are very ethical, and some really aren't. Pay to plays are extensively fast because you can set the deadline, you can also set the budget which could be well below industry standards, the barrier of entry to the site is very variable.
Essentially, if you can pay then you can play, which means that you will be inundated with auditions that you'll have to go through which will take a lot of time, listening to countless readings of the same script can get very tiring very fast, especially when the performance levels are very variable, but also the actual quality of the recording itself. It adds an unwelcome degree of technical uncertainty into the mix. But if you do have the time to trawl through everything, then it can be a more budget friendly option, if time doesn't necessarily equate to money for you. Option three, freelancing sites are something that I'm just going to touch on very briefly. Imagine all of the complications and potential issues of a pay to play site but with no barrier to entry. Pay to plays at least have the barrier of entry of a subscription fee that the talent must pay. Whereas on a freelancing site, anyone can have a go. So while turnaround times may be quick and rates often extremely low, finding anything that's actually usable is like finding a needle in a haystack and will require a lot of patience on your behalf.
And finally option four, hiring freelance voiceovers directly. Returning to Google again, if you search for the type of voice you're looking for, and the word voiceover, you'll be presented with a huge range of talent to choose from. Any voiceover artists who has spent time building up their online presence, recording a range of demos, done their SEO and constructed a clear brand has to be dedicated to their job. If they've managed to get on the first or second page of Google, then they likely know what they're doing. They'll have invested in their own professional studio, which means that they'll be able to turn over recordings quickly, that you won't have to deal with a third party in order to speak to them. And that you won't have to wade through lots of auditions in order to get what you want. You'll be able to immediately check out their work, find out where they're based and make contact with them. And thus the whole process will be conducted directly. There'll be no commission involved, rates will be more competitive, while still respectful of the industry. And just as a side note to that, if you don't know what the proper going rates are for a voiceover, then I recommend you check out the Gravy For The Brain rate card. If you've already got a pretty clear idea of the voice that you want, then you can find a few different talents, ask them for a demo. And they'll usually turn over it in a couple of hours. If you've got much vaguer ideas about the talent that you actually want to use, then probably having somebody like an agent to bounce ideas off would be more useful. But another huge benefit of working with voiceovers directly is that we're a community, which is partly the result of us talking to ourselves all day. The best voiceovers will be very clear about what they can do and also what they can't and be happy to recommend you if someone's more suitable.
I make personal recommendations to my clients pretty much on a regular basis because it's part of me building a relationship with them. The best voiceovers want to be a resource to you, not just book a job and are in it for the long haul. So don't be afraid to ask them. So there you have it. Each job is a balancing act and no budget or timeline is going to be created equal. But I've hopefully given you a clear idea of the options available to you and what their various pros and cons are. If you enjoyed this video, please do take the time to like, subscribe and turn notifications on so that you don't miss any of the future videos. Thanks so much for watching, and see you next time.
In this video, I provide an overview of ten things that can be adjusted to make a voiceover sound more conversational.
My name is Chris and today I'm going to look at why so many people are asking for voiceovers to be conversational. And how this can best be achieved. It's probably easiest to start by what isn't meant by conversational voiceover. And that's typically known as the announcer voiceover. This is when someone is talking at you, as opposed to, to you. Like this.
Voice over: And claim free notice this week in an American fight over thousands truckloads of living room furniture, seven piece living room groups that include a sofa, loveseat, coffee table to end tables and two designer lamps.
Over the last decade especially, there's been a clear shift from talking at someone from a place of authority to talking to them from a place of authenticity. Essentially, it's about being a real person, about sharing your personal testimony. And this is why the analogy of talking to a best friend is often given when trying to direct a voiceover to be more conversational. Because those friend conversations that we have with our friends are most trustworthy, most authentic and most credible. It is a personal offering of experience and advice, not a transaction. Check out this advert for right move.
Voice over 1: This is the place we are happy. This is where we, and you..
Voice over 2: This is where we bring home.
Voice over 1: And where we bring home.
Voice over 2: This is where we grow up.
Voice over 1: And where we go.
Voice over 2: This is where she.. and where we are at.
Voice over 1: This is where we are at.
Now I'm currently in the process of actually searching for a house myself. So this probably did strike a particular chord for me. But essentially what I'm talking about is completely borne out by this advert. There is no authorial voice telling you how great the platform is, instead, it's understated, it's almost confessional, it’s heartfelt and it's real. If you think of voiceover as a spectrum, with the hard sell being on one side then the other extreme isn't conversational. The other extreme is completely flat without any intonation or emotion whatsoever. So it's a balancing act, but you have to navigate from project to project. So rather than asking a question is a script conversational or not, you've got to place it somewhere on that spectrum to some degree. So let's start by ten tips on how to get a more conversational delivery. Tip one, don't get too loud. If you're talking to loads of people, then obviously you're going to be projecting to a certain degree. But if you're actually having a conversation with a friend in a pub, or any kind of similar scenario, then you're rarely going to get too loud unless you're particularly angry with them.
So if you find yourself getting loud or projecting too much during a conversational read, you know that it's something that you'll need to adjust. The essence of a conversational read is sharing information with someone, engaging their reaction and responding organically. Then if you're being very loud, then you're not really monitoring their response to what you're saying in the first place. So if you find yourself getting loud and you're not supposed to be angry, then it probably means that you're pushing too much. Tip two make a clear choice about who you're actually speaking to and I don't just mean a friend. Quite often a voiceover will be told to imagine they're talking to their best friend about a particular subject. But the problem with that is that the voiceover’s best friend might not actually be interested in the subject of the project. Instead, it is much more useful to imagine that the person that you're speaking to has a vested interest in the subject that you're talking about. Tip three, have an emotional state. And I don't mean a heightened emotion, but have an opinion about what you're talking about and how that makes you feel. The vast majority of scripts, set up a problem, and then introduce the product or service or brand as the solution. And you need to have a very clear idea about how each one of those stages makes you feel, you might start frustrated, and then feel relief, you might start angry, and then feel ecstatic. The important thing is to be clear about those emotional stakes and invest in them.
Tip four, speak from your throat rather than from your diaphragm. Especially if you're a trained actor, you quite often want to get on voice and start projecting. And that's fine if you're actually acting on stage. But generally, and this combined with what I was originally saying about volume, it'll end up being too much on a microphone. Instead, you really need to imagine that you're speaking very, very close to the other person next to you, like you're in a pub, for example, in real life heartfelt conversations, we tend to speak from our throat, because otherwise really resonating from the diaphragm becomes a bit too forceful. It essentially goes back to projecting at someone rather than talking to them. Tip five, if you're listening through headphones, then take them off, or at least take one of them off so that you can actually hear your own voice. Listening to our own voice through our headphones, as we're speaking makes us even more conscious of the sounds that we're making.
So conversely, if you take the headphones off, you'll have more energy and focus to spend on the person that you're actually talking to, rather than how you sound. Obviously, during directed live sessions, you can't completely take your headphones off because you're going to be getting feedback live from the person on the other end of the line. So rather than being dependent on taking the headphones completely off, just try taking the one headphone off during your day to day recording. Tip six play with Elisions and contractions. Sometimes the script really does need to be incredibly clear and specific and that's absolutely fine. But sometimes that runs the risk of sounding a bit robotic. And that's not how we sound in real life. That's not how we sound in real life. So it's always worth checking with a client in advance if you can make little adjustments like changing as you are into you’re to make it all flow a little bit better.
Tip seven, play with rhythm. If the authoritative voice the announcer a voice is generally quite consistent in tone and rhythm because it knows exactly where it wants to go. Conversational voice has a lot more ebb and flow to it, generally. Sometimes we know exactly where we want to go to make a point but often we're searching so you have all of these suspensions and stumbles. I wouldn't recommend just inserting lots of uhms, and aah to try and represent a form of authenticity. But I would say be aware of the ebbs and flows of normal speech and try and replicate that rather than just being consistent and definite. Tip eight, think in terms of thoughts rather than words. Quite often, especially in announcer reads, we're thinking about the how rather than about the why. In other words, how we're sounding rather than why specifically, we're speaking. In more conversational reads, the focus is really on the why, why we're sharing this with our friend? It's not about the exact words that we choose the how.
So having a clear understanding about the actual ideas that you're trying to communicate is much more important for a conversational read. Tip nine, try a lead in. Sometimes you can be so concerned about sounding right from the very first word that you can barely even speak when you get to the microphone. So try improvising a bit of the conversation that you might actually be having with the person that you're speaking to, so that the copy comes organically from that exchange, rather than just starting. And Tip ten, physicality. When we're talking to our friends, then we gesture we express ourselves through our hands and our physicality, as well as with our words. Essentially, you're sharing your emotional state, and therefore you need to be expressive both physically and vocally, rather than instructive or objective. Going back to Tip three about having an emotional state, this must be reflected in how you are whilst actually delivering the text. Even if it's a very simple imagined activity, like the frustration of putting on a watch that doesn't quite fasten, or the relaxation of lying back and having a cigarette. These will all subtly change the way you actually engage with the listener without you having to focus on how you're sounding. Even thinking in terms of the different clothes that you might be wearing could influence your physicality in a useful way. For example, if you're wearing something quite formal and restrictive, then that could give you a certain sense of status and authority as opposed to just sitting in a T shirt. All of these things might adjust your performance only fractionally, but they're useful to be aware of. Just to give us an example, I'd like to share two different readings of the same script, one which has a bit more weight to it, and one which is closer to a more conversational tone. First, let's try a quite standard corporate read.
Chris Voice over: Work. Life. Balance. Three tiny words. An impossible a question that humankind is trying to solve for centuries. What would it mean to your life if you could achieve all of your goals? If family, fitness and personal finance could come together with career progression and big promotions? introducing Wequilibrium, a productivity app that seamlessly brings together your personal and professional goals into a streamlined schedule that puts your dreams within reach. Download it for free at wequilibrium.com today.
So physically, I'm going to think about being less on voice, taking one of my headphones off speaking from the throat rather than going down into my chest resonance. Rather than speaking to a generalized audience, I'm going to imagine that I'm speaking to someone who shares exactly the same problems as me, that they're struggling to get the work life balance, right. As a result, maybe the physicality is going to be a little bit more fidgety to begin with.
I'll try and play with the rhythm a little bit more as if I'm discovering these thoughts as I'm actually having them. And I might also try a couple of lead ins, which can then be cut out in editing.
Chris Voice over: I’ll tell you. Work. Life. Balance. My God, they're just three tiny words. An impossible equation that humankind has tried to solve for centuries. What would it mean to your life, if you could achieve all of your goals? If family fitness and personal finance to come together with career progression and big promotions? Well, there is something that work for me. Introducing Wequilibrium, a productivity app that seamlessly brings together your personal and professional goals into a streamlined schedule that puts your dreams within reach. You can even download it for free at wequilibrium.com today.
Okay, so I'm not saying that one right is better than the other. But I am saying that there are some very clear variables that we can adjust, depending on how conversational we actually want the script to sound. Thanks so much for watching. If you did find this video useful, then please do like and subscribe, and I'll bring you something new next week.
How to Direct a Voice Actor
When you take the time to organise a directed session, either remotely or in person in a studio with a voiceover, then it's important that you use that time as effectively as possible. So in this video, I'm going to give you Twelve tips to ensure that the voiceover and yourself are best prepared to get the most out of the session that you possibly can. And by the way, this video will be mainly dealing with corporate narration and commercial direction. But a lot of it also applies to video games. But I will be doing a separate video about directing a video game session as well. So look out for that. So let's get started with my 12 tips on how to best direct a voiceover in a live session.
Tip Number One, read the script yourself. Read it out loud most importantly. Make sure that it sounds as if it makes sense. That the grammar is all absolutely correct. And obviously that it fits the timings of whatever spot, it's supposed to. Be sure to have a clear idea about how certain words might be pronounced. For example, if you say, our company as opposed to our company, then it's a lot more formal as a result. And these are decisions that really should be made prior to a session rather than during it. Or at least you're aware and then you can record an alternate.
Tip Two, clarify pronunciations. Whether or not that's a person's name, whether it's a company name, which is always very, very important, or whether or not it's an abbreviation of some sort. A voice actor might need to practice these pronunciations again and again in their own time prior to a session. So the sooner that they get all of that information, the better.
Tip Three, think about how you're going to divide the session before you actually get to it. You're going to spend 10 to 15 minutes chatting about the approach that you want to take with the script before you actually record. How many takes do you ideally want? And other alternate takes that you have in mind. Thinking about these things in advance, we'll ensure that there's a good balance between productivity and creativity in terms of different alternate takes you can make. And if you've never directed a voice session before, then why not ask the voice actor themselves how they would normally conduct a session and take their lead.
Tip Four, have an agreed way of marking takes. Either verbally or technically in some way. In commercial sessions, especially, where you've got a lot more time to do a small amount of takes, that usually means that you do a lot more takes as a result. And you need to have a system in place to ensure that you don't get lost. So if it's marking takes verbally, before you do each take, or whether it's actually putting it down on a piece of paper, make sure that something is in place so that you don't get lost in the Edit.
Tip Five, what is the status? By that I mean, whether it's B2B or B2C, what is the actual status of the person speaking and the audience that they're speaking to? It's really good to have some very clear variables which you can play through throughout different takes. So if you give the speaker a status of one to ten, and the audience has status of one to ten, then you've got some clear things to play with.
Tip Six, give the voiceover a clear role. Are they the educator? Are they the parent? Are they the best friend or the next door neighbour. If you talk to a voiceover in terms of their role, as opposed to how they should sound, then they've got something a lot more tangible to be able to creatively respond to.
Tip Seven, share reference materials. Whether it's a soundtrack, whether or not it's a particular read from another commercial or corporate project. These are a fantastic shorthand to make sure that you and the voiceover are on the same page.
Tip Eight, be clear about who is giving the direction. In a directing session, it might be one on one, you might have an audio engineer, or you might have an end client or multiple end clients on the line as well. If this is the case, though multiple inputs are always welcome. Ensure that you operate as the filter to the voiceover otherwise, they might get conflicting direction and become confused. Obviously, people in the creative team might have very different takes on how a particular word or sentence is said, but you need to be the arbitrator in the process. So the voiceover isn't put on the spot having to choose between one or another direction to do next.
Tip Nine, be specific as possible in your direction. Terms, like conversational are both incredibly popular, but also extremely vague. If you can talk in terms of the voiceovers perspective and their emotional state and the audience's emotional state, then that gives us a lot more stimulus to be able to work from.
Tip Ten, Avoid line reading, unless it's absolutely necessary. Your time is money. So if you need to make a line reading, then ultimately that's absolutely fine. But preface it by saying I want to try some line readings if that's okay, rather than subtly inferring that they're getting it wrong.
Tip Eleven, Ask the voiceover to do one take for them. At the end of a session hopefully you have everything that you need. But if you do have the time, then it's useful to invite the voiceover to just read the whole script straight through from start to finish. The benefit of this approach is that the notes that they got at the start of a session will have had time to bed down in their subconscious. And now they'll be invited to just give it a natural flair. It's essentially a free hit, but you might be pleasantly surprised by the result.
And finally, Tip Twelve, Be very clear about the delivered format. By that, I mean, do you want the whole session? Or do you want editing takes? Do you want it raw? Or do you want the audio processed in some kind of way? How do you want the different files labeled? And what kind of file do you actually need?
If you have an audio engineer present, then they may already be able to supply all the answers. But if not, make sure that the voiceover knows exactly what it is that you need, so that there's no confusion further down the line.
Okay, so that's my twelve tips to get the most out of a directed session with a voiceover. If you found this video useful and you're interested in more content like this, then by all means, please subscribe. I'll be able to upload every week or two.
Thank you for taking the time to check out this video which I'm sure it's very rough around the edges and also to honey my cat who has been asleep all this time.
Have a great day and see you soon.
"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should”
- Jurassic Park
Having done the training, continued to coach, learnt how to edit, made a home studio, recorded top-class demos, built a website, co-ordinated a marketing strategy, and started making a proper living for yourself… you could be forgiven for getting a little annoyed at all of that being placed in jeopardy. The last decade has witnessed the biggest shift in the voiceover industry to date, with huge swathes of work migrating to home-based talent.
Within the voiceover community, you still see the dying embers of this change occasionally flicker. Talents who were used to driving from studio to studio and only working through their agents lament about the good old days. Some still rail against having to learn how to edit and master recordings.
By contrast, home studio talents revel in the opportunities advanced technology has afforded them - gaining ‘broadcast quality’ equipment at a fraction of its past cost, and being able to learn how to edit and create a recording space through a glut of free resources. I’m a living embodiment of the latter. Having recorded half a dozen voice jobs in my first eight years as an actor, and then hit a glass ceiling guarded by voice agents who never responded, recording from my home studio became a full-time job for me within a matter of months, allowing me to go directly to source for the work.
If anything, the Covid pandemic has accentuated this process, acting as a catalyst for many producers to ‘transition’ to home-studios faster than expected. And many studio-only talents have been forced to build their set-ups quickly, encouraged by their agents and supported by audio-engineers, in order to maintain their previous income streams.
But time doesn’t stand still.
TTS (text to speech) and AI voice has been with us for years, and has gradually crept into everyday use since the turn of the century. Somewhat inevitably, this is starting to make in-roads into the voiceover market - and to ignore this reality as a talent would be irresponsible.
For many years, computer-generated voices were laughably robotic. Then, the advent of Apple’s Siri into mainstream use started to change public perception. And since then technology companies around the world have been working hard to make them more and more credible, more human.
Affordable TTS systems that might actually be confused with real people are now on the market (see below) And whatever you think of the product, the implications are clear. As the technology continues to be rapidly improved and iterated on, certain genres of voiceover will be profoundly effected.
The biggest sector is obviously e-learning. An area that requires vast amounts of words to be recorded, to a consistent quality, which might often deal with highly complex terminology, and often needs regular updating. The ‘churn-rate’ of the material is high - which is partly why the market has boomed during Covid, as businesses and organisations have rapidly had to retrain and reorganise their workforce. And it requires a particular skill - a subtle enough variance of tone to resist becoming monotonous, while keeping the overall style consistent across thousands of words.
For this work, high quality TTS services used on a subscription basis seem like a logical next-step. The production of recording will be a daily process, and by eliminating the human risk factor (inconsistent availability/acoustics/delivery), the product would be even more flexible in the long run. If you can change the gender or tone of 300,000 words at a key stroke - AND at no extra cost or time - then these producers will be carrying these savings to their end-clients. The product may not be quite there yet, but it’s a matter of time.
The corporate sector is certainly exposed to this risk in a similar way, though it depends a lot more on a project to project basis. The shorter-form nature of some work means that the attention and specificity to detail may be increased, and micro-managing AI-algorithms might take just as much time as directing a ‘live’ talent, thus negating some of the savings. But in certain markets, the balance between quality and cost will definitely shift sooner rather than later. Importantly, an audience’s knowledge the the voice might be artificial plays a bigger factor here - associating the public voice of a brand with artifice would inherently detract from the credibility of messaging. But over (perhaps considerable) time, as our engagement with AI continues to develop, this may change.
Audiobooks, which have never been the highest paid work, will probably only be significantly effected in the business sectors. Celebrities, authors and well-known voices will still be highly demanded for the foreseeable future, and obviously the myriad storytelling skills involved means a rapid switch to TTS would seem unlikely. Audiobooks trade deeply on the narratorial voice, and the skills involved vary hugely from book to book, so the potential for a ‘rollout’ approach is significantly diminished.
Commercials, again, would probably be considered safe for now - with reads being short, and exact skillsets on how to deliver such copy being at a premium. Great voiceover talents pay a lot for coaching to be as flexible, nuanced and responsive as possible. And tastes change - in a way that an algorithm might struggle to accomodate quickly. Again, associating the public face of a brand with AI would diminish its power. But the mid to low-level commercial projects might be chipped away at sooner rather than later, as TTS won’t be charging anything like the usage for extended campaigns. To a lesser extent than the corporate sector, the lower end of the market will be chipped away at in time - and going rates might gradually be eroded as a result.
Gaming is often thought of as the obvious ‘safe place’ for live talent. With such a rapidly expanding industry - not just in VO but also performance capture - and the necessity of acting skills and live responsiveness to direction, it will take another huge leap for live performers to be replaced. At the very top level, there will always be the demand for ‘prestige’ names - either deeply embedded in gaming already (your Laura Bailey’s and Dave Fennoy’s) or parachuted-in movie celebrities (looking at you Ben Kingsley).
But ALL of the above pertains to the AAA market. For indie developers, voice acting is still regularly put aside altogether because of the related costs. Choosing to voice all your characters is a huge design decision, and hiring VO talent is still often the biggest single cost. To these level of developers, who may only want to dabble and/or might have left VO talent to self-direct in the first place (“just three of each line please”), cheap subscription options that might offer something useable may prove a viable alternative - at least in the earlier stages of development - providing a ‘placeholder’ before real talent is recruited. Sonantic (responsible for the video on the right)) are making particular inroads in this sector, and the development is significant. Currently, they market their AI service as ‘complimenting’ a voice actor’s career, enabling talent to effectively outsource their voice for a percentage of profits. That this would ultimately result in much lower fees, and less actual work for ‘live’ talent goes without saying - but the issue hasn’t been directly debated… yet. Their pitch is one entirely orientated around developers workflow, but will inevitably eat into actors sessions from a variety of angles such as multi-character work, pick ups, additional lines etc.
So - what to do?
Isn’t writing about the rise of AI on my website - where I SELL MY HUMAN VOICE - tantamount to professional suicide?
I’d argue not.
I think the technology still (some) way to go, though the pace of change is fast.
I think that in a lot of genres, as I’ve hopefully indicated, the value of human talent is still hugely signifiant.
As the aural embodiment of a client, authenticity, creativity and technical proficiency are key.
I pride myself on being able to give my clients what they want, but I often try and provide my own take as an alternative. The best work if often a surprise, where brief and inspiration intersect - when I get feedback like “that’s totally not what we expected, but it works!”.
Believing in the importance of that, combined with professionalism and continued development, is central to my approach. Ensuring that all the infrastructure built around the talent - from a technical and marketing perspective - is of the highest quality, is non-negotiable.
Knowledge is power - so being clear on what you REALLY offer as a performer, rather than ignoring the developing landscape, is the only responsible act. Actors need to pitch ourselves not just as ‘good’ or ‘capable’ performers, but as potential collaborators that gave give suggestions, insights and creative variety in the response to material.
Otherwise, we’re just waiting for Skynet…
Though the majority of projects I voice are commercial or corporate, what first got me into voiceover was a love of performance - specifically through video games. As technology has advanced from cassette-based computers and half hour loading times to fully interactive cinematic experiences right in your living room, it’s been fascinating to see how the role of the voice actor has changed drastically in that time.
So I thought it would be worth looking back at the fifteen games that really shaped me growing up. Not a list of the ‘best games of all-time’ - but my personal favourites combined with one’s that I think have been significant in the medium’s development. Here is the first five - the listing is purely chronological. But if there are other games of this era that are particularly significant to you, let me know - I don’t need much of an excuse for some 8 or 16-bit nostalgia.
LASER SQUAD (1988)
Growing up as a bit of a loner, one of my early friendships was heavily based around playing roleplaying games with a neighbour. It was he who first introduced me to Laser Squad, a turn based war game where squads of futuristic marines do battle on a huge map. It was essentially a digital version of my favourite boardgame Space Crusade, and all the better for it. The graphics looked amazing for the time, the automation of so many calculations was a revelation, and it played entirely to my taste for all things sci-fi. But most importantly, it demonstrated how social gaming could be - playing campaign after campaign together cemented my first meaningful friendship having just moved to a new area, and that was essential in making me feel more confident socially.
ROBOCOP (1988)
This definitely qualifies as a personal favourite, because their was nothing about this early film-licensed game that was particularly innovative. Indeed it didn't even try to include any of the source material's satire or emotional heft. It was quite simply a back to basic scrolling shooter - but done surprisingly well. And as a huge fanboy of the film - that was enough!⠀
It was also an absolute beast to load - coming on three cassettes which tool 15-20 minutes to boot up each. But the reward was something close to an arcade experience, had a remarkably good soundtrack (google the game title music and have a listen) and featured quite a few mini-games... which I like to think of as an early version of today's side-quests. Being able to play as Alex Murphy was it, though.
CASTLE OF ILLUSION starring MICKEY MOUSE (1990)
I probably spent more time with Mario and Sonic when I first got my own console at home, but Castle of Illusion was my first ever game for the Megadrive. Finally, the graphics and sound quality of the arcades I used to frequent in Bath & Yeovil (sorry Mum) came into my home, with gorgeously designed levels and character art.
Essentially the mechanics of the game were more child friendly than the major platformers that would succeed it - slower paced than the blue hedgehog, and far more forgiving than the Italian plumber. But it leaned into the whole Disney nostalgia very well, and actually rivalled the looks of the cartoon source material.
It was also the first game I had that loaded immediately, with no cassette or disk swapping involved, which turned the actual process of gaming into something far more accessible. For the first time, I could LITERALLY "pick up and play". A slippery slope…
STREETS OF RAGE (1991)
The scrolling beat em'up, in all its button spamming glory, was one of my favourite genres growing up. With a simple catalogue of moves at your disposal, I found they gave me time to enjoy the actual aesthetics of a game more rather than demand all my focus in how to pull off a dragon punch. And while Final Fight was an early favourite, no game's aesthetic and soundtrack made more of an impression on me than Streets of Rage.
The whole mise en scene of a big American city at night drenched in neon was exceptionally stylish. But coupling that with Yuzo Koshiro's amazing soundtrack, a fusion of house, techno and dirty synthesizers took it to another level.
Streets of Rage was also one of the first two-player co-op games I ever got, and I loved the opportunity to team up with friends for some (safe) fighting after school was out. As wasted youth goes - I loved it.
PGA TOUR GOLF II (1992)
"A good walk spoiled".
Prior to discovering the theatre, golf was my No. 1 activity as a child who was pretty useless at sport . Being less directly competitive and something I could practise and get better at on my own, I had a natural affinity for it - which was cemented by the release of PGA Tour Golf II.
For the first time in my life, I was able to play a game that informed how I should approach the real-life activity - from the club selection to shot types - and to a lesser degree, the hideous attire. But this was my first real 'simulation' experience - with nothing but the chirping of birds and the sound of club meeting ball for company.
It's a testament to how good the mechanics of the game are that they've remained essentially untouched for two decades, other than Tiger Woods becoming the face of the franchise. Even in 2020, the changes that have taken place - with multiple fantasy modes and gamification touches - are being stripped away for PGA's spiritual successor, PGATour 2K21.
Ultimately, what fascinated me about the game was the same thing as the actual sport - that you were competing only with yourself... there was no end of level boss. That and the structure of the game meant rather than a linear experience, it was one that I continually hopped back to for years after its release.
Twenty six.
Twenty six in just under two months.
That’s the number of people who have contacted me about getting into voiceover since lockdown commenced in the UK.
The questions are typically the same.
What equipment do you use?
What recording software do you recommend?
They might even go so far as to ask how do I actually get the work?
But none have actually asked if I thought it was a good idea. So I’m writing this now.
And the answer is ‘no’.
Now there are caveats to that.
If someone is determined, talented and intelligent enough, and voiceover is something they can devote themselves to - then now is better than never. You never win a race you haven't started.
And a lot of people have time on their hands, for sure.
But it’s not easy. And in the midst of a pandemic, where businesses are struggling to survive and recession is imminent, the situation is… not ideal.
So to the question not one of those 26 has asked me - either because it hasn’t occurred to them, or because subconsciously they don’t want me to answer it - is nope.
It took me a few weeks to get my head around the technical aspects of recording from home, and a few months more to refine my workflow. But even years later, it’s a process I’m continuing to adapt and refine.
Today, studios and audio engineers seem to have an increased tolerance with inexperienced talent - coinciding with almost every VO agency pushing their rosters to have a ‘home studio’. But as the dust settles, only those adept at editing, recording, engineering and marketing will be able to transfer that momentum into a consistent source of income.
I was making a living purely out of voiceover within four months of setting up my home studio - but that was partly because of necessity (as previously blogged here), when no obvious alternative was available. It’s taken me years to get my head around marketing, establish an online presence and brand, and translate all that into a relatively consistent income. And even now it’s a machine (the business side of it) that needs constant maintenance and upgrading.
I’m not saying it’s impossible - because I did it.
I’m not saying don’t try - because it’s rewarded me hugely.
But I will say this is a particularly tough time for talent already established in the industry. And the sector is full of self-proclaimed gurus who have a vested interest in persuading you otherwise.
When I’m asked if it’s as simple as getting a mic and emailing agents, my head drops.
Particularly when it’s posed by people who know the grind of the acting profession, and how having great representation is still no guarantee of auditions, let alone jobs or a livelihood.
All the content is out there to make it as a voiceover.
If you’re good at it and willing to train to get even better, have a strong work ethic, then it’s a totally viable career.
But you need to act clever.
And the first clever thing you need to ask yourself is, are you really up for the level of commitment involved?
There’s not a straightforward answer to that, of course. Everyone’s journey is different. And essentially the VO community is an incredibly generous one - far more mutually supportive than the acting one, I’d venture
But essentially you really need to put the hours in - to your VO skills, your demos, your set up, your brand, your marketing. And that will take hundreds of hours. Thousands.
So if you’re still stuck in lockdown for the foreseeable, and were at risk of being number twenty-seven, I recommend the following:
set three hours a day as non-negotiable time for voiceover for the next month. That’s the minimum amount you need to spend each day getting yourself up to speed as quickly as possible.
What will you fill this time with and from where? Gravy for the Brain have a free trial on. And basically everything you essentially need is on Youtube in some form or another.
See if you can maintain this without excuses.
Rinse and repeat for the month. That’s it.
That may sound ridiculous, simplistic or extreme, but you’ll find out soon enough if you have an affinity for the reality of it, rather than the romantic idea of it. And then you can either embrace your newfound passion, or save yourself some time knowing it wasn’t for you after all.
During a typical week, the one excuse I always have to leave my studio is going to the gym.
I know, that's pretty sad.
But it’s not entirely surprising that I’ve started to see parallels between my approach to exercise and my approach to voice over.
I certainly don’t claim to be a veteran in either field, having switched to VO full-time just over a year ago, but I think there are some fundamental principles that the two share. And if you read this and think ‘that’s crap’, please do comment or send me an email, as I’d really be interested in people’s thoughts!
Be clear on your goals
For years I went to the gym sporadically - hitting it hard for a few weeks and then not going for months. And with voice over work, sometimes I would make it a priority; getting a new voice reel done, going to any classes that were running and reaching out to as many voice over agents as possible - but would then burn out relatively quickly when I didn’t get a response.
Training at the gym only got serious for me after a major life event forced me to take a look at who I was, who I wanted to be and where that disparity lay. My self esteem was at an all-time low, and as someone who liked having an element of control, I was struggling with the arbitrary, feast or famine nature of life as a professional actor.
Getting serious about physical training started by setting out SPECIFIC short, medium and long term goals. By setting them clearly, I could achieve the short ones, work my way gradually towards the medium ones and ultimately feel that the long term ones might one day happen. Throughout, specificity was the key. It was never just “I want to get stronger/faster/bigger/ smaller” - but that I needed to get to x weight/rep/speed by y date.
Similarly with voice over - being as specific as possible about your short, medium and long term goalsmeans progress can be measured and placed in the context of a body of work. I started with the simple short term aim of booking my first professional voice over job - nice and general. But from there, (advised by Guy Michaels), I set myself a financial target of what I wanted to earn ‘per hour’ over the next three months, and then gradually built expectations from there. Having this attitude isn’t revolutionary, but the short term satisfaction of winning the daily battles helped retain momentum, momentum that was fundamentalto contemplating bigger challenges.
Get started today
I go to the gym four days a week now, but as I’ve mentioned before, there was a tendency to go ‘all in’ for a few weeks and then burn out. When I started getting serious about exercise, I reset my mindset and asked myself what was the minimum I was willing to commit to consistently. I started by going to the gym for no more than 40 minutes twice a week, and over time the workouts have got more frequent. It was re-programming my attitude to make exercise just part of what I did every week, rather than an exceptional event, that was key.
In voice over, when you’re just starting out - take the pressure off! Be honest about what you feel you can consistently commit to and say ‘This is the minimum I can do every week, but I will do it”. After a few months, this ‘minimum’ isn’t charged with a desperate need to make stuff happen, but becomes the foundation to a methodical approach. Incrementally, two hours a week can become three or four, as you amass little victories and see small progressions starting to build up to actual, irrefutable results.
Pick an approach and COMMIT to it
The internet will overwhelm you by the amount of work out programmes. Where do you start? The answer is to not overthink, but pick a programme that interests you and commit to it for a sustained period of time. I’d never properly got into weight training but it interested me, especially I was quite skinny. As a result, I was sometimes seen for more geeky acting roles that I had no interest in playing.
Starting out with a simple weights programme, based on body splits and progressive overload, gave me a structure and reference point from which I could build. Rather than turning up to the gym and hoping I was doing the right thing, I committed to a programme that interested me and did it for twelve weeks straight, always making sure I did just that little bit more than the last time. This is the simplest way of seeing progress happen, rather than spending time worrying if what your doing is 110% the most effective workout you could be doing, and ending up pinging from programme to programme as a result. A great example of this in weight training is CT Fletcher, whose catchphrase "It's Still Your MotherF**king Set" cuts to the chase - when you do something, COMMIT TO KEEP DOING IT.
So, with VO. If you’re going to try out the pay-to-play sites, properly commit to updating your profile, to actually doing all those auditions, to offering alternative reads and learning the intricacies of clip-based auditioning. If you’re going to try cold calling, then collate a list of leads at the beginning of every week and commit to calling at least ten every day for a few months. If you’re going to try freelancing sites, do the research on how to make your ‘gig’ as inviting as possible, how you can best upsell your work and making sure that you get those positive reviews that will lead to more orders. But don’t get stuck in the middle, trying to do all three to little or no effect. Only by properlycommitting can you see how an approach works for you, what the results are going to be like over a sustained period of time, and whether that programme is the best personal fit.
Work on your technique
In weight lifting, there’s a lot written on the perils of momentum - ‘cheating’ the weight in the concentric part of the exercise, which in turn reduces the strain actually placed on the body part being exercised. Only by being taught, understanding and observing proper formwill all that time in the gym actually lead to results. So it wasn’t a coincidence that my most productive period of training started by working on such fundamentals with a personal trainer. She observed all the little things I was doing wrong and helped me to become aware and address them - basically, to self-direct.
In voice over, everyone will tell you that it doesn’t really matter if you have a good voice - it’s how you utilise it that counts. Appreciate that different reads (narrative, corporate, commercial etc) require different approaches and techniques. You may be able to obtain a certain level of success through pure instinct - and with the number of professional actors that transfer seamlessly into VO work, you’d like to think that that skill set was entirely transferable. But only by working with a good voice over coach can you be truly aware of your strengths and weaknesses, obtaining an objective perspective on your skill set. Just like with the personal trainer, me hiring a VO coach wasn’t because I wasn’t making progress - it was because I knew I could be more efficient, but didn’t know how to get there. Getting the job or executing it efficiently depends on being able to ‘self-direct’, but that is a skill that needs to be cultivated .
Think investment rather than cost
We’ve all heard of (or been) the person who signs up to a gym with the best of intentions, only to visit a handful of times before hastily cancelling the direct debit, usually down to a combination of guilt, frustration and “just not having time”. It was only when I started to think of my monthly gym fee as an investment in myself (both in terms of health and self-confidence), that the money I paid ceased to become an exorbitant amount I struggled to justify, but rather an investment in my general well-being.
In voice over - the purchase of decent equipment, tuition, marketing etc needs to be thought of as investments in your VO career. You can still be canny with those investments - I’ve blogged before about how my original home start-up came in at under £400 - but you need to be conscious of when it’s useful to budget, and when it’s best to invest. I could pay less and go to a cheaper, more basic gym - but I know that this will demotivate me spending any time there if there’s going to be long waits for equipment, I’m going to feel rushed and the environment is horrible - so its justifiable to invest in a nicer environment.
You don’t need to rush out and buy a £1000 mic, but neither should you rely on a bargain basement USB to do your pro work. Lots of working VO’s love using Audacity to record and edit, especially as it’s free - but I chose to switch to Adobe Audition because the interface is clearer and nicer and I’m spending hours looking at the programme every day. Even with tuition - yes, some of the best VO’s tutors charge ostensibly large rates, but the improvement you will see and likelihood of being able to pitch for better paid jobs increases. It’s all down to a subtle but necessary change in outlook.
Keep track of progress
I mentioned previously the importance of having a programme while at the gym - and a vital part of every programme is making sure you log and assess your progress. If I find that I’ve reached a ‘plateau’ on a certain exercise (when I’m lifting the same weight for the same number of repetitions), I need to identify that plateau so I can stratergise how to overcome it.
In voice over work, when you’ve committed to a particular task, make sure you keep tracking your progress. If you’re hitting the pay to play sites hard, then how many auditions are converting to bookings and is this ratio going up, down or stabilising? If you’re cold calling, how many leads are turning into bookings? How many bookings are turning into referrals? You need to have a handle on these numbers so you can make objective assessments on your progress, not just blindly put the hours in and hope things steadily improve. If something isn’t working, or isn’t working as effectively as you think it could, you need to be aware of it.
Embrace alternative methods
As a follow on from tracking progress - you need to research alternative methodologies, to grow your reference of problem solving strategies. When I hit a plateau in the gym and identified it, I started to research more advanced techniques and began incorporating them into my work outs. Pyramid sets, super-sets and negative reps are all different ways of pushing through boundaries, which might be overwhelming for a beginner to incorporate but are vital to continual improvement.
The VO marketplace is rapidly expanding and evolving, where traditional points of reference on best practise are subject to alteration even more than changing styles in vocal delivery. You need to be aware of what other VO’s are doing so you have as many tools in your armoury as possible. There are large numbers of VO’s out there waxing lyrical about subjects as varied as social media marketing to cold calling, from great portable set-ups to the intricacies of email marketing. It’s your responsibility to get as educated about these subjects as possible, so that you can be adaptable in a competitive market.
Acknowledge the fallacy of comparison
Combining exercise and social media is pretty much a one-way ticket to body dysmorphia, especially when photo-shopping seems to be increasingly prevalent in widening the gap between appearance and reality.
As an actor too, I’ve long learnt about the dangers in comparing yourself with others - it’s an exercise that can prove just as self-destructive as it is inspiring. Social media amplifies these disparities - when you become overly conscious of other people’s achievements and simultaneously oblivious to their struggles. So while social media can be a vital tool for marketing purposes, be sure to take it all with a substantial amount of salt. I’ll tweet about booking a triple A video game, but I won’t tell you anything about the five pretty low-rate explainers I managed not to book the day before. So be careful who you follow, and if you do follow fellow VO’s in an effort to forge relationshipsand foster support, don’t underestimate the value of the ‘mute’ button when necessary.
Take gurus with a pinch of salt
As the online fitness market has expanded immensely through platforms such as Youtube, so has the number of self-styled fitness gurus generating questionable content. Magical programmes offering a ‘six-pack shortcut’ or a revolutionary supplement (clinically tested by… no-one) are aimed squarely at the newbie market looking for a quick fix.
I’ve already alluded to the wealth of free voice over content available - both on youtube and elsewhere. A lot of it is extremely useful. But as the demand for such content grows, so have ways in which it has been monetised. Exclusive webinars, Facebook groups and voice sprays continue to emerge, and while a lot of these things can be useful, it’s healthy to be sceptical and do as much research as possible. Talk to other people about their experiences and what they would personally vouch for. Do your due diligence and research. Work out what you can afford, and ask if your money can be more safely invested elsewhere. Be aware that there are people out there looking to exploit a rapidly growing market, and nothing should be taken at face value - including this blog ;)
Know the importance of rest
As the gym bug truly started to bite and I actually started looking forward to working out, I began to struggle with the concept of ‘resting’. It wasn’t until I scaled back from five workouts to four, under the advice of a personal trainer, and saw my results improve, that I had to believe it. Unsurprisingly, the body needs time to properly rest and recover - indeed with weight training, it is while ‘resting’ that any gains or improvements actually have a chance to develop. You physically need time to heal after a proper workout (around 48 hours for specific body parts), otherwise you will get diminished results.
A huge problem with working from home is that it can prove impossible to truly ever disconnect. There could always be another take to record, email to send or Instagram hashtag to mine. Though this can sometimes be wonderful for a workaholic like myself, you still only have a finite level of stamina - and the quality of work will ultimately suffer over time, let alone your personal relationships and actual life. So set some ground rules for yourself about working - whether that’s weekends being completely sacred, no email checking after 6pm or whatever. Decide on a structure and stick to it - it will benefit you in the long term.
Apologies for the rambling nature of the blog - I appreciate that none of these points are particularly new. But I think it can be valuable to touch base with these ideas in a slightly different way, and hopefully it's provided a little food for thought - wherever you are in your own voiceover journey. To conclude, I'd recommend one final post by Jamie Varon that fellow VO Esther Wane recently shared. It's about being fine about where you are, and not letting the to-do lists and competing motivation quotes overwhelm you.
Enjoy, and thanks for reading.
Wearing my actor hat, I've increasingly become sceptical about organisations that offer workshops. They seem to roughly divide into two categories - ones which are basically an opportunity to introduce yourself to a director or casting director, but are billed as tuition (usually in something like camera, audition or cold reading technique which you really should have learnt already if you trained), or exploratory workshops on a given text or technique (in which the learning is primarily incidental, the barrier for entry is non-existent, and therefore the quality is variable). This is a gross generalisation (some of the stuff offered to actors via the Actors Guild and directors such as Bruce Guthrie are definitely worth checking out) - but the exceptions tend to prove the rule.
And so it was with some hesitation that I originally signed up to the Voice Over Network about nine months ago. I knew I had a lot to learn, but having felt, after countless actor workshops, that the transaction had really only been for a certain casting director's email address, I was wary. Or basically, cynical.
Gradually, the balance shifted as I started to imbibe the considerable amount of content that VON produces for its members. The weekly webinars it holds gave me a lot of valuable information on a number of topics, spread across the 'core' skills of performance, technical expertise and marketing. But I still held out on booking for any of the workshops, having been somewhat chastened by my actor experiences.
VON's second 'Get Your Game On' event was a way of easing that transition. A day of talks and workshops which offered the opportunity for some networking, but was as much if not more about educating all of the participants and fostering an environment of mutual support. This was neatly combined with VON's first 'Voice Over Jam' event - where teams of VO's would devise a one minute game trailer in response to a breakdown over a 48 hour period the week before. And then there was an opportunity to spend a weekend learning from Dave Fennoy - one of the standout leading VO's in interactive entertainment today.
The experience as a whole - from my first Skype meeting with my other Game Jam comrades all the way through to wrapping a recording session at Coda Studios - was an absolute joy. The talks - from Yvonne Morley, Adele Cutting, Mark Estdale, Steve Brown and Dave Fennoy - covered a myriad of subjects much more articulately summed up by Sam Hughes (aka The Sound Architect) . The workshops (I chose Stephane Cornicard’s character workshop and a talk with Mark because I'm a huge Horizon Zero Dawn fanboy), offered valuable insights into character work and marketing yourself to game devs respectively. The results of the Game Jam (which fellow teammate Katie Flamman brilliantly reports on here) saw the victory of my team Gataroto despite an exceptionally high standard from all the teams involved. And then I spent two days properly learning from Mr Fennoy. What was great about that weekend was the shear amount of subjects he covered, from the history of video game performance to where it is now, what makes a good gaming reel, seeing other members of the group tackle a huge variety of genres and characters, and then actually working in a proper studio on pieces where every take you did was professionally recorded.
Fundamentally, what struck me most was the atmosphere of support and encouragement that infused the three days. People were never in competition, and were full and frank in their opinions almost immediately. There was rarely a sense of anyone 'playing the game', partly because of the aforesaid atmosphere and also because the hierarchy that seems to overshadow so many acting workshops I've done was almost non-existent.
Perversely, this may come down to the nature of the work. Whereas actors generally need other actors in order to work, the career itself is fundamentally nomadic. You spring from temporary surrogate family to temporary surrogate family, with indeterminate periods of unemployment in-between. People you've never met become best friends, and then (if your as poor at socialising as I am), can disappear for years. Conversely, voiceover is (on a day to day basis), quite a lonely profession. Having spent the majority of the day talking to yourself, there seems a greater pull to counterbalance this by fostering the feelings of a true community whenever there's an opportunity to be in the same room. Any feelings of competition are dispelled by the principle that what 'sells best' in voiceover is simply your unique authenticity, while with acting that same principle can only be held up to a point (how your look, your agent, your connections and your number of Twitter followers start properly coming into play). Maybe as a comparatively fledgling growth area, this feeling is bolstered by some naivety - but I doubt it. VON gave me the most wonderful experience a few weeks ago, and emboldened me to do better like no other event - for which I must give special thanks to Rachael Naylor and Leisa Fisicaro, who made it all possible.
As a freelance voiceover, creating content is a crucial aspect to marketing yourself. 'Content' in this case can include pretty much everything, from examples of your work which you share on social media and direct with clients, through to blog posts, videos and vlogs. But as a beginner navigating countless voiceover websites, it's especially good to be aware of 'passive' content and its role in others marketing strategies too.
I'll be totally honest in confessing that when I graduated from drama school, I thought I knew most of the basics for voice over acting. Though the actual amount of tuition we received probably amounted to around a week, we got to work with industry professionals on a number of different scripts. On reflection however, we'd only scratched the surface...