FRONT ROW: Jill Perry, Pam Tierney, Kara Edwards MIDDLE ROW: Peter K. O'Connell, Caryn Clark, Melissa Exelberth BACK ROW: Bob Souer, Rowell Gorman, Alexander Vishniakoff, Debra Webb, Beth Whistler, Robert John Hughes CUT OFF ONLY DUE TO PHOTOGRAPHER ERROR: Mike Stoudt

So I packed a bag on Friday and flew down to Atlanta for the Marice Tobias workshop on Commercial and Narration voice over at the very nice Captive Sound Studios. My friend Bob Souer has been singing her praises for a long time; Kara Edwards and I were talking about maybe attending about 6 weeks ago and since I could see some family while I was there, I decided to pull the trigger.

Kara Edwards, Bob Souer and Melissa Exelberth

It was completely different than ANY other voice over workshop I have ever been to and I have been to many.

I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and learned much. And while I participated in the workshop, I am at a bit of a loss as to how to effectively summarize it because I think unless you’ve been through it, it’s very difficult to understand it. So my first piece of advice would be to take a workshop with Marice.

Rowell Gorman

A lot of internal performer analysis (as it relates to vocal performance) for each student went on during her seminar. I think we all came away with a specific understanding of how effective personal analysis greatly affects the performance a voice talent gives. That kind of analysis helps performers to get out of their own way. The performance improvement was immediately evident and we (each workshop participant) all witnessed it and experienced it time and time again.

Now, you’ve likely just read that and had no understanding of what it meant. Well, some things must be personally experienced, not just read about. I’m not being coy or mean but instead honest.

Kara Edwards, Caryn Clark, Melissa Exelberth, Robert John Hughes

Each voice over talent (as does everyone) learns in different ways and her seminar needs to be personally experienced, not read about. I would recommend you look at Marice’s schedule and if it’s possible for you, take the seminar.

And if you are especially lucky, you’ll get into a class with as many incredibly talented voice over performers as I did. This might be a record because we had 6 of us – about ½ the class – who’ve been long time friends from the VO-BB. There was an immediate and invaluable comfort level learning, working and performing among friends.

Jill Perry and Pam Tierney

When I signed up for Marice’s workshop, I knew Bob was going and I knew there was a chance my friends Kara Edwards and Caryn Clark were coming (they did attend) but what I didn’t know for sure until I saw the list just before I came that the great character voice actor Rowell Gorman would be there, my pal Melissa Exelberth from New York would be there as well as the lovely and talent Pam Tierney from the toddlin’ town of Chicago. What a gift to have my friends there!

Mike Stoudt, Debra Webb and Beth Whistler

The voice talents whom I had never met previous to the workshop really capped off the experience for me and I am so grateful to have been included among them for a few days: Robert John Hughes, Alexander Vishniakoff, Beth Whistler (thank you for driving to the airport!), Debra Webb (who, I found out in setting up this link shares the same agent as me), Jill Perry and Mike Stoudt (who also shares mine and Debra’s agent).

Two VO folks who couldn’t make the seminar but who kindly came out to join our group at various times throughout the weekend were Smith Harrison and Craig Crumpton.

Not to put too strong a point on it, but there were certain voice over suspects who shall remain nameless (Karen Commins (complete with brand new web site), Lance Blair, September Day Leach) who call Atlanta home but had something (anything better) to do than visit with Team Tobias Atlanta after hours at our various pubs, taverns and dives (sometimes known as the mini-bar)! Hurmph!

And finally, my most special thanks to my family in Atlanta who were so kind to let me stay with (or near) them. They had fresh hay in the stable for me to sleep on and let me borrow the mule’s blanket to avoid frostbite.

I hope you get to enjoy a training experience at least once in your career a unique as the one I just enjoyed.

If you’ve trained with Marice, I would love to hear your general impression of the experience. And if you have already with any professional voice over teacher, tell us about it here.

PS. Here is a shot of the WHOLE group, (including and ESPECIALLY Mike Stoudt) courtesy of Bob Souer’s camera:

FRONT ROW: Jill Perry, Pam Tierney, Kara Edwards MIDDLE ROW: Peter K. O'Connell, Caryn Clark, Melissa Exelberth BACK ROW: Mike Stoudt, Bob Souer, Rowell Gorman, Alexander Vishniakoff, Debra Webb, Beth Whistler, Robert John Hughes

Tags: announcers, audio production, audio'connell voice over talent, commentary, community, voice over workshop, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice, voiceover meet-ups by peter o'connell voiceover
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Female Voice Talent and Voice Over Coach Deb Munro

Just got pinged by Deb Monro following her high seas voice over adventure that she’ll be in Toronto on November 7th and 8th with Dave McRae (voice talent and coach I’m told) and Roger King from PN Agency (Roger wasn’t able to make it to our class when I studied with Deb a few years ago).

The two days will cover Selecting Styles & Talking Audio Voice Workshops. The weekend will cost you $395 but she’s told me that you’ll get a discount if you tell her I referred you AND she told me I’ll get $25 for every person I refer who registers for the event until October 23rd.

BUT because I am a nice guy, ask Deb to please credit MY $25 to your tuition on top of the discount she gives you. I do not want price to be a barrier to your training opportunity. Contact Deb via email (workshops@micnme.com), phone (604-459-5559) or web (www.MicnMe.com).

Enjoy your training with Deb, I know I did. And tell Roger I said hi.

Tags: voice over workshop, voice talent, voiceover advice by peter o'connell voiceover
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Two words that have popped up in my on-line reading during the past twenty-four hours are motivation and inspiration. I don’t know why they showed up either…in my web reading, on my social media networks, I have just seen those words so often in the past day I feel like it’s a theme I should address presently.

Possibly I am more attuned to those words having just come off of Pat Fraley’s event on Saturday. There was great insight there, new approaches to auditioning and performing as well as critical reminders that I find so valuable. I put those tools to work right away in my Monday auditions. I was pumped (i.e. motivated and inspired) about that.

My “pumpedness” could be because I made my payment for Marice Tobias’ Commercial / Narration Weekend Workshop in October in Atlanta (in addition to training with Marice, I’m looking forward to seeing friends and fellow voice talents Bob Souer, Rowell Gorman, Kara Edwards and Caryn Clark there as well new friends I’m sure). Bob, Mary McKitrick and Bobbin Beam are just a few of the voices I respect who truly adore Marice; however Marice may quit training altogether after trying to work with me for a weekend, lesser teachers have tried and cried.

Finally, I got to thinking over the weekend about the Voice Over Workshops I hold for voice talents. From the beginning, I have been bugged by me using the words “teacher” or “coach” for what I do with other voice talents. They are great key words (mine is primarily an internet business after all) but I kept feeling they do a disservice to the work that more true and more accomplished teachers like Pat and Marice execute.

The Voice Over Workshop is very informal…the students who work with me decide a session’s agenda, I don’t. They pick a topic or topics and off we go. I offer insight, history, perspective, evaluations, critiques, direction and advice….but not a formal, structured curriculum like a true teacher would (at least in my experience). So I thought about it some more and I think I came up with a better description for what I do that also better respects what true voice over teachers do.

Best described: I am a voice over consigliere, a voice over counselor. I talk, I prod, I cajole, I direct, I motivate and I teach a little bit. The consigliere part is more about marketing, being memorable but I think the counselor is pretty spot on and feel much better about that moniker than coach or teacher…there are folks more worthy of those titles than me.

Tags: commentary, voice actors, voice over workshop, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice, voiceover meet-ups by peter o'connell voiceover
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Sometimes the person offering the kick in the pants deserves a kick in the pants and I’d be a bit of a phony if I didn’t fess that I got kicked Sunday morning for good reason.

In my July 12th post, I was so excited about a wonderful comment I read about taking the risk of going too far in a voice over performance that I omitted a key thought in the post. While you can read the whole post here, the summary of it was supposed to be that reading blogs can offer some great insights into your voice over performance because sometimes time (as is my case) and money (as is the issue for others) prevent folks from getting professional training.

While I stand by my statements completely, it is what I failed to say that caused a dust-up and rightly so. What I neglected to say was that while blogs are valuable they cannot take the place of professional in-person or at least phone training. While I have made that clear on this blog in the past and certainly pointed it out in my free e-book The Voice Over Entrance Exam, I failed to make that point clear in my blog post.

That omission got noticed by of all people my voice teacher. And she was pissed! As she wrote on my facebook page:

Ouch Peter! In my 25 years as a voice actor, I have never taken a Voiceover Seminar with a reputable teacher that has not come back to me with manifold rewards (and monetary ones). Blogs are great for sharing opinions and occasional bragging rights, but to pack your parachute with skills in this competitive biz, it takes an investment in training that should never cease, no matter what the cost. I’ve sacrificed, paid the piper and reaped the rewards.

Oh dear. This was not good. I made a mistake, I left out an important part of the blog post and the woman who’s been teaching me voice acting the longest now rips me a new one on Facebook. Well my axiom has always been if you’re going to fail, fail big!

Actually that’s never been my axiom, I just made that up here.

My response, made on bended knee when typing on a i-phone (which is no easy task):

Toni,

Your point is well taken so let me clarify (and I think you know well my belief in this from my book): nothing replaces personal voice over training. The interaction is invaluable so that would always be my preference.

But there are times when life’s priorities get in the way…at least in my case. So reading is a supplement.

BTW one of the teachers who first taught me to go farther was YOU.

Thank you for that and your (as always) wise input.

Best always,
- Peter

It’s a lesson learned but likely a mistake I’ll make again anyway: re-read your blog posts 12-13 times before posting; find your mistakes then or else you’ll piss off your voice teacher. Sorry Toni.

Tags: commentary, kick in the pants, voice over entrance exam, voice over workshop, voiceover advice by peter o'connell voiceover
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Voice over talents who subscribe to voxmarketising or who train with the Voice Over Workshop occasionally receive a free e-mail from the Voice Over Workshop’s owner (who also happens to own audio’connell voice over talent and this blog/podcast) with his advice on how to earn billions of dollars in voice over (which none of them ever do). Nonetheless, subscribers saw this first…so if you’re seeing it for the first time now, you are at the end of the line. Subscribe now to fix that.

If you’re like many of my voice over friends heading into the last month of the first quarter (Q1 for the “suits” in the audience) you’re either enjoying a feast or experiencing famine.

Some folks have got a ton of voice over business in Q1 and others have called the phone company numerous times this quarter to check if the ringer on their phone is broken (it’s not).

In January’s Kick in the Pants, I mentioned putting together a marketing plan. Some of you have done this, some have you have called me for help and some of you are still on hold with the phone company about your possible “ringer” issue.

THE VOICE OVER DEMO
Well let me assume for a moment your marketing is under control. How are things on the demo front? You know, your REAL business card – the voice over demo!

Voice talents are usually in two camps on this issue:
1. Produce it themselves
2. Have someone else produce it for them

Now because I run Voice Over Workshop I need to make clear it is NOT my goal to solicit demo work from Workshop students ever. I produce only a few demos a year for people (primarily not with Workshop participants). Some Voice Over trainers focus on voice demos as a key revenue source, using training as the bait. I don’t care for that business model personally.

Having clarified that (I hope) I do think it helps to have a third party produce your demo and it’s usually worth the money. My primary thought is that you are too close to your work and you need a fresh perspective. That opinion offered it’s not the point of this KITP.

What I DO want to talk about is who listens to your demo BEFORE you put it out into the marketplace. I have some suggestions.

YOUR EARS ARE NOT BIG ENOUGH
As an example, let’s talk about your commercial demo. Say you’ve had a really talented producer put it together and you both feel it’s great. It very well may be but I’m sorry to tell you – you’re not done with your demo’s production (or you shouldn’t be).

My advice is that you seek the ears of about three other qualified people to critique your demo. You want to know from them their honest take away from just one listen of your demo. You are looking for trends.

Listen – if you ask 3-4 people their opinions you’re just as likely to get 3-4 different opinions…so what should you hope to take away from this exercise? If you get 2-3 people noticing the same sort of thing on the demo or all agreeing on an issue without having spoken to each other (and reviewers should never speak to each other or even know who the other reviewers are during this exercise) then you know you have a demo issue (or if its all positive….you’ve got a great demo!) Better to know now!

WHAT ARE THE QUESTIONS?
What are the demo elements about which you want feedback? There’s a ton but since you’re likely asking a favor, start with these primary areas:

• “What did you think of the first 15 seconds of the demo?” Sadly for all the work done on all 60 seconds (on average) of a demo, producers often make up their minds on a voice in the first 15 seconds or less. Your “money voice” and your finest performances need to be there. If your reviewers consistently say your best work was not up front…well then Houston, we have a problem.

• “What did you think about the order of the demo elements?” This too goes to the question of “is my strongest stuff up front?” But it also highlights if one or more demo elements seemed out of place or – to their ears – stopped the demo in its tracks (in a bad way). The demo flow you and your producer hear may not be the flow a hiring producer hears.

• “What did you think about the pacing of the demo?” With this question you’re searching to learn if they heard a demo that was “too slow” or “too fast” or that had “too many different cuts” or “not enough vocal variety”. Admittedly, this question will likely give you the most varied opinions of all but it are good to get those too. A different perspective is not a bad thing for voice demos.

WHO SHOULD YOU ASK TO LISTEN?
Not your Mom and not your spouse. Nice people both but unless they’re hiring VO’s, they offer nothing to this party.

Certainly in this instance if you can find a broadcast producer at an advertising agency who you know, that would be valuable…even more so if they share it with their department to solicit opinions. Sure, if it sucks, it could cost you a few credibility points but you wouldn’t have been hired by them anyway and if you retool and it sound better in round two…they’ll be impressed by your growth.

A video production company producer or commercial producer for a TV station would be another good choice for what I feel are obvious and similar reasons.

Should you ask another voice talent? That’s not as easy a question as it seems. You would want to solicit the opinion of a voice talent with some strong producing credits in both commercials and demos. Maybe a good way to judge is to listen to their demos…if you thought it rocked, give them a call. The worst they could say is no.

INDICTING THE PRODUCER!
Every producer of voice demos has their own way of doing things…indeed; this all is part of my way of producing a demo. But I also think probably not surprisingly that it makes the most sense because even third parties can get too close to their work to consistently be omniscient.

It is important to note, however, that if changes or alterations are required following this kind of listening party, it should not be a poor reflection on your producer…be it you or a third party.

The hiring of voice talent is a completely subjective process. One person’s opinion – based on their client knowledge, professional experience, personal opinions or bias, momentary mood, trouble at home…all that junk…is what colors the selection process for voice over candidates on any given day. All that stuff also goes into the listening of a demo too.

I liken it to panhandlers sifting for gold – the sand is all the different opinions and mood stuff the demo listener brings to the table. The gold is the feedback that either strikes a chord with you or that joins the chorus of demo reviewers, offering you consistent feedback.

FOR DEMO PRODUCERS
There are some very talented demo producers in our midst and on this list and I would invite them to review this blog post and consider my invitation. I’d love to hear your opinions on the Top 5 elements that go into producing a commercial demo. Blog it on voxmarketising.com and maybe we’ll get you into the podcast’s roundtable.

Enjoy the ride!

Tags: kick in the pants, voice over workshop, voiceover advice by peter o'connell voiceover
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I was working with a great voice talent friend of mine over the weekend in my Voice Over Workshop. This person has wonderful talent and experience but a real brain cramp about calling agents. In this talent’s world, this performer feels somewhat unsure about whether she will be accepted or rejected by an agent and this has become a road block in the advance of her career.

Tired sports analogies are both obnoxious and accurate (in fact their accuracy may be why they become so darn obnoxious). But anyway, what I said as a way of helping encourage action in this case was: “you miss 100% of the shots you never take.”

The issue here really isn’t about an “agent” so much as it is overcoming our imaginations…imaging and over preparing for the worst to the point where our fear leads to inaction.

What I also pointed out in the Workshop is I have brain cramps too. Not on this particular topic but on other ones. We all do and we’re all absolute idiots for not being able to get past ourselves.

We are afraid or intimated by the possible “no”. It’s the high school date dance all over again. We’ll she go with me? If she says no, will everyone learn of my embarrassment?

Will we all ever grow up? Are we all 45 going on 15?

Let’s make a promise to each other right here that for the next 30 days, we’ll focus on our personal brain cramp issues and tackle them head on until they are resolved.

My sense is once we address them, they won’t be nearly as difficult as we expected them to be.

Will you dare to achieve with me?

Tags: commentary, marketing, voice over workshop, voiceover advice by peter o'connell voiceover
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