Who would want to settle on one-time voice over projects and squeeze their source of income solely out of jobs taken by chance and with no promise of repeat? It’s sure as hell every voice actor’s business goal — to establish a strong customer relationship and make recurring clients.
1. Earn your client’s trust and confidence
Bear this in mind: Your aim is to not just earn a quick buck. Your ultimate goal is to cultivate a long-term connection with your clients.
Just because you have the best testimonials and big reputation, doesn’t mean you need not to exert effort in focusing on your clients. They do not care about what others say and they won’t be convinced unless they experience your merit first-hand. Therefore, you must earn their confidence and trust that they are in good hands. Reassuring your client from time to time when needed and continuously proving yourself is part of your job to make them feel secure.
2. Exceed your client’s expectation with the voice over value you provide
Perhaps every voice actor is capable of delivering a good output. The battle here is who outstands and exceeds the industry standard. You have to deliver a stellar voice over product that is more than the price paid. You’re not just in the business of providing a mediocre voice over. You are in the business of adding value. If the client sees you thriving to provide more value than what is asked, they will surely get impressed and value you too.
3. Submit your voice over output the earliest you can
Make it a habit to not just meet a deadline, beat it! Everyone loves having something finished ahead of time. So if you submit your voice over product to your client early, there’s nothing you can cause them but happiness and satisfaction which convert to repeating business with you.
If you regularly audition for jobs on P2P and Casting sites, then chances are you’ve come across more than a few job postings that feel “incomplete”.
The client will list some details about their project – the budget, deadlines, etc… but they seem to gloss over what many would say is the most important piece of information – the direction! When the job posting fails to give any detail on the type of voice they are seeking besides “Male” or “Female” – there are still a few things you can do to gain a sense of what they are looking for and deliver a competitive audition.
1. CONTEXT CLUES FROM THE SCRIPT
The most obvious place to look to get a sense of the style of read the client desires, is the sample script. Read the script to yourself in your head and pay attention to the way you read it. Oftentimes your first instincts in the way you read and interpret the words will be correct or at least close.
What adjectives are present in the sample script? Do they give a sense of the tone or mood of the project?
How is the script worded and phrased? Is it a hard sell with words and phrases like “Right Now!” “Call Today!” “Don’t Wait!”
Or is it more conversational and casual, with words and phrases like “Hey, let me tell you something…” or “Look, we all know that blah blah blah….”
Also, look for common script formats and styles that may sound similar to past projects you’ve worked on or auditioned for – some examples are “Meet Jim, Like most smart shoppers, Jim blah blah blah….” or “Desire. Passion. Determination. These are the qualities that make …..”
Those 2 examples are common in scripts and you’ve probably heard similar reads before. How did you read the first example in your head? Upbeat, Friendly, and Conversational? How’s about the second – Serious, Strong, and Inspirational?
If the script is well written, you should be able to extract a pretty decent idea of what the client wants just from reading the words, even without them giving any indication of the style they are seeking.
2. PAST VIDEOS OR PROJECTS FROM THE PRODUCT COMPANY
Another great source of direction for projects can be past projects from the same brand or company.
I was once told a story about the magic spells of the sun god Ra who, it is said, told the goddess Isis that the power of the spells he taught her was not in the words themselves but the sounds of the vowels and the intonation.
The voice is indeed powerful, but in the 21st century, authenticity and credibility trump all, whatever material we are voicing. These days there are so many, many voices out there, and beating the mediocre talent is in part to do with sounding authentic.
I’m Ashley Howard, a professional voice coach: I have an MA in Voice Studies from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, I’m Head of Voice at The Oxford School of Drama in the UK, and I’ve been coaching for over 12 years. I’ve coached hundreds of actors and voice over artists, such as Claire Foy, Babou Ceesay and Sophie Cookson, and I want to share with you my top 3 secrets for sounding authentic.
#1 The ‘Who’ Whatever the script (advert, corporate, character, narrative) there is always a ‘who’:
• Who am I the speaker? • Who is the listener? • Who is the writer?
Maybe you ask yourself these questions and answer them, but do those answers actually manifest in your voice? Are you flexible enough vocally and imaginatively to bring the nuances of these answers to life on mic?
We may think that asking ourselves ‘who am I the speaker?’ is simple, right? If we have a sales script, we might be the happy customer or the friendly salesperson. If we have a corporate script explaining a new process or aspect of the business we might be the educated voice of the organisation. Or with a character script we are simply the character.
But just finding the ‘happy’ voice of the happy customer ain’t gonna cut it with your listener. It’s like a stock photo next to a testimonial on a website – we smell the lack of authenticity (or in our case, we hear the lack of authenticity in the microtonal qualities of the voice).
So who is this happy customer? Why are they happy? What makes them want to come onto the radio and broadcast to the world their satisfaction? What’s in it for them?— Ashley Howard
We might start with a reflection about the last time we felt genuinely happy about a customer-service experience. Maybe there is something in that memory that might change the tone and nuance of the voice to bring that quality to life with the script?
Then there is ‘who is the listener?’. Personally speaking, talking to my mother is a very different experience than talking to my daughter or a stranger or someone in authority. Talking to a stay-a-home dad is different from talking to a hard-nosed business type or a social worker or a group of kindergarten children. Talking to one person is different to talking to many.
And these differences are a product of the way we feel about that person or people and how we feel about ourselves in relation to them.
Are you strongly connecting to these qualities when on mic? If in our minds we can call upon the physical image of those kindergarten children as we speak, or we bring into our bodies the feeling of addressing a group of children, that information is going to supercharge the voice with the tone of authenticity and credibility. Couple that with a sense of how they are looking at us and what their state may be, is like jet fuel!
And then there is ‘who is the writer?’. I don’t mean the actual person who wrote the script. I mean, from the vocabulary, syntax, grammar and layout, who do we imagine the writer to be and does that affect the voice or our choices? Do the word choices suggest something about the intellectual image of the writer? Might short, direct sentences suggest something about their attitude to what they are writing? Might endless repetitive questions or statements suggest something about their attitude toward the listener? The thinking and feeling behind the writing, if discovered, automatically enriches the voice with meaningfulness, and this captivates the listener.
In the article “Voice Actor’s Guide in Choosing a Microphone”, we have covered the major types of voiceover microphones and the comparison amongst them. After thorough research and based on the experiences of our voice actors, we have compiled and narrowed our top picks on the best microphones taking into consideration many factors especially the price tag.
Here’s what we recommend for the best USB Microphones:
Small and light enough to carry on the go, the Apogee MiC Plus is a USB cardioid condenser microphone designed to provide easy setup and high-resolution audio for singers, podcasters, video bloggers, and musicians in home recording rooms, project studios, and portable setups. Its cardioid polar pattern attenuates the signal from behind the microphone to minimize room reflections in the recording. The internal A/D converter supports resolutions up to 24-bit/96 kHz. This is one of the best choices if you are podcasting outdoor.
One of the popular USB microphones that is of high quality and affordable is this handy mic that has a built-in desktop stand to fit nicely on your office desk, mix and volume control, a headphone jack on the unit itself, as well as easy plug-n-play capabilities. The audio resolution hits up to 16-bit/48 kHz with its built-in A/D converter. This one is highly rated by many voice actors for its overall quality for a very affordable price.
The Snowball iCE is a cheap USB mic with decent quality to get your job done. It comes with a sleek size and adjustable built-in mini tripod. This type is travel-friendly or can fit nicely in an existing office or laptop setup. The specs include a mini custom condenser capsule with a cardioid polar pattern, resolution of 16-bit/44.1 kHz and a small weight of about a pound.
What is the future of voiceover rates? That’s a very big question. It is in fact, the biggest question of our time. This blog post tackles that very subject and also what Gravy For The Brain is doing about it. We have exciting news…..and have potentially solved many of the industry rates issues.
The GFTB Rate Guide V2 is now live, and comes with many new concepts and new features.
But before we look at the V2 voiceover rate guide, let’s look at what the actual problems of the industry are regarding voiceover rates.
1. What are the Problems with Voiceover Rates in the Industry?
Over the last half decade we have seen global voiceover rates spiral downwards in what has become known as the ‘race to the bottom’. This has become a circular problem and in the main has been caused directly or indirectly by the advent of the Pay To Play (or subscription) sites, like Voices.com, Voice123, bodalgo, Mandy and so on.
The main reasons that the P2P sites have caused this issue with voiceover rates and their degradation, are as follows:
The P2P sites have not educated the hirers with regard to the average rates that are charged for average voice jobs within the industry, nor have they educated them on why the rates are traditionally averaged as they have been; it’s been left purely up to the hirers who use the sites to decide what they want to pay
The P2P sites have actively encouraged the voiceover artists applying for the jobs to engage in a ‘bidding’ process. It’s a natural progression that VO’s are motivated to ‘bid lower’ voiceover rates to be able to get the work.
As the industry has grown and expanded in recent years, the P2P sites have not educated the newer voice artists as to what normal/average voiceover rates are/were, and are presenting opportunities with much lower-than-normal pricing as good opportunities.
Many P2P sites are heavily weighted in favour of the hirer because without jobs they cannot sustain their main income, which is the subscription fees paid by the voice artists; there is the weighted temptation to offer cheaper and cheaper rates to hirers in a hope to attract their custom.
Some P2P sites are offering ‘end-to-end’ services to the hirers to cast and manage the process, so that the hirer doesn’t have to get involved, and therefore taking a much larger portion of the hirer’s budget in doing so than is paid to the voice artist doing the work-for-hire.
With that all said, we can’t blame the P2P sites for everything! While they are a key component in the reasons for degradation of current voiceover rates, there are other factors at play:
The internet century is booming; there is an ever-increasing demand for content and part of that is voiceover. The vast majority of companies who did not traditionally use voiceover in their history simply do not know what ‘normal’ voiceover rates actually should be, and simply make guesses. We see here, again, a lack of education on voiceover rates.
Audible Approved Producers are the best of the best on ACX. Qualifying Producers have a proven track record of dynamic performances and superior-quality audio. They’ve been around the block a few times and learned a thing or two about compelling narration, pristine sound, and how to make the whole production process run a like a well-oiled machine. We checked in with a few of our newest AAPs to get their advice on producing like a professional.
Q: WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST PRODUCTION TIMESAVER?
Paul Stefano: OUTSOURCING. I hire out nearly all of my editing and proofing. This allows me to work on several projects at once as I focus on what I do best: the narrating. Plus, it’s always good to have a second set of eyes (or ears, as it were) on your work. If you made a mistake once, you are likely to do it again, so doing your own quality control as a narrator is generally a bad idea. Once I made this switch in my career, it was like the heavens opened up to a whole new world.
Heather Masters: I keep a file in the folder of each book I produce, which is titled ‘Voice Profile.’ Each time I record a new character, I highlight a few lines and copy [the audio] into my voice profile. This way, even if I don’t see the character again for days, I can jump right to their voice and refresh my memory, ensuring my characters are consistent. It’s an invaluable tool with a series!
Travis Baldree: Know your software, make shortcuts for anything that can be short-cutted, and constantly be on the lookout for ways to optimize your time or reduce repetitive actions that slow you down or introduce problems.
Aven Shore: I maintain my progress notes on an online document, so I can reference them anywhere. Even better, it’s shareable, so I use it to communicate with my sound engineer and proofer so we don’t have to email each other constantly. We can all log in to the document and see deadlines, pickups, file names, where I’m at in the recording, upcoming books scheduled, special treatment notes, and more (we use Zoho Docs, but there are similar alternatives, like Google Docs).
Rich Miller: I think it’s probably Punch & Roll recording [a method of recording that involves rolling back a short way into a recording, playing, and then punching into the record at a set point to record over errors]. It doesn’t feel like it in the moment, but when I’m done recording I’m pretty much done. Once you get the rhythm of stopping, setting the cursor, and recording again, it doesn’t take much time at all.
If you’re interested in pursuing a career as a VO Talent, it can be tempting to be a perfectionist and want to have everything just right before you get yourself out there and start looking for work. It can also be daunting and confusing to even know where to begin.
When I first started entertaining the idea of pursuing VO work, I did some research and came across tons of other talent who had impressive VO training backgrounds, years and years of experience, and huge lists of credits. It was super intimidating and made me question how I could ever compete for work against these people when I had literally zero VO experience or coaching.
I decided to take a shot anyways and despite my limited experience, self-produced demo reel, less than stellar performance skills, and empty credit list, I was actually able to land a gig after a few weeks of auditioning, and another a couple weeks later, and then things snowballed from there. All of that led me to where I am now, with years of experience, several demo reels showcasing actual work I’ve done, vastly improved performance skills, and a long credit list of my own.
The point I am trying to make is that I started. Sure there are a few things that you should get ready before you launch (which I’ll cover in this post) but it’s important to not fall into traps of perfectionism and over-analysis. You don’t need to be world-class when you get started, you just need to get started where you are, and take comfort in the fact that it’s ok to learn and grow as you go.
This post has also been formatted as a free e-book which you can download as part of the Resource Package by clicking the button at the bottom of the post!
THE BARE ESSENTIALS
While the overall theme of this post is to get started where you are and not fall victim to perfectionism or over-analysis, there are still a few things you will need to get squared away before putting yourself out there, both tangible and intangible. First let’s look at the tangible items you will need to have.
Equipment
In the current state of the VO industry, it’s pretty much mandatory to have a home recording set-up. You’ll want to make sure you have a:
Microphone (Ideally not a USB mic, but a more professional Condenser or Dynamic)
Mic Stand (Unless you plan to hold your mic in front of your face at all times and have crazy arm strength, you’ll probably want one of these)
Pop Filter (This will reduce plosives in your recording, professional VO recordings don’t have audible plosives, so you’ll want one of these)
XLR Cable (To plug your Mic into your interface)
Recording Interface (A piece of hardware that takes the signal from your Mic and gets it into your computer)
Computer (You’ll need some sort of computer, be it a desktop, laptop, or tablet to run your audio recording software)
Recording Software (The software that will run on your computer and allow you to capture and edit audio)
Recording Space (A treated space where you can record in that will provide an acoustically “dead” sound)
Starting where you are with Equipment
While the above list may look a little daunting if you have no prior experience with audio or recording, the good news is that you likely have some of those items already or can put them together yourself. For the ones you will likely need to purchase, you can start out with lower end equipment when your are starting out. I’ll give you some typical price ranges to expect. Let’s take a look at each one and see how to get started with the least expense:
I’ve been giving the whole voiceover-business-incorporating question some thought.
I see that question online almost every day and it’s become even more pressing for many voice talents ever since the new tax code passed. For a long time I have held that most voice talents are incorporating for two reasons:
Because somebody who knows nothing about the voiceover industry tells them to
It makes them feel professional and/or important
Clearly, neither of those are good reasons. I’m also sick & tired of seeing new voice talents asking the same questions over and over and over when all of the information is already out there. See my rant from a few weeks ago. With that in mind, here is an incorporating Q&A. A big thanks to Rob Sciglimpaglia and Hal Peterson who spoke at APAC 2018 for their new and insightful data. While I won’t relay all of the info they shared (it was a panel that people paid good money to attend), I will fold in some of their insights into what I already know.
Q: What is a corporation?
A: For the purposes of this conversation, a corporation is an entity designed to protect your personal assets in case bad things happen to your business.
Q: Why does a voice talent’s business need incorporating anyway?
A: Because sole proprietors have zero legal protection in case bad things happen.
