Congratulations to my friend, fellow voice talent and now President of MCA-I New Jersey Liz de Nesnera on her ascendancy to the throne, er, her election to this new and very prestigious office.

In addition to knowing Liz for many years, I had the pleasure of working with the then “North” Jersey Chapter (which has now been properly christened to cover the whole state) when I was on the international board of MCA-I. Through nothing more than concentrated efforts by the full board on unified, key initiatives, this chapter has grown brilliantly.

My personal congratulations to Liz as well as Dave Landau, Dave Hall, Marilyn Avery, Dave Etra, Paul Payton, Dave Sica and everyone else involved in the chapter on its continued success.

It almost makes me wish I lived in New Jersey.

Almost.

Tags: commentary, mca-i, video, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Today’s 5 Questions for a Professional Voice Over Talent are answered by Pat Fraley, a professional voice-over talent based in Hollywood, California.

1. The beginning: When did you know you wanted to be a voiceover talent; how did your career begin (please include what year it started) and then when did your passion for voiceover develop into something professional?

Peter, I began my voice over career in 1974 at the age of 25. The passion for voice over was and is the passion I have always had for performing and teaching. I had that passion from the git-go. Can’t remember not loving performance, whether it was amusing my classmates in school and on the playground or performing out of my garage for the neighbor kids for a nickel a show.

I knew I wanted to pursue voice over after my first job doing a bad Jimmy Cagney impression on a radio commercial for a drapery store in Adelaide, South Australia. I was working at a repertory theatre over there, and an advertising agency called the theatre asking if one the actors could do a James Cagney impression. They said, “Ah yeah, we have a Yank in the company.” Australian all think American’s sit around in bars and do impressions. I went to the studio and did my best, which was pretty marginal. They paid me in cash. $75. I was making $70. per week at the theatre. Hmmm. They said, “Ah yeah, we like you.” I said, “Why?” They said, “You’re so beeg. We can’t get the other actors to be that beeg.” By beeg, of course, they were referring for my penchant for exaggerating. I was off and running. I was like the crocodile in “Peter Pan.” I began looking for Captain Hook’s other hand.

2. What is the one thing you know now that you wish someone had told you when you first started out in voiceover?

During my career, I could have used a lot of advise, as experience in not the best teacher, it’s the slowest. There is so much from which I would have benefited, but one thing comes to mind: “Don’t try to turn humor into comedy. I used to think that humor was comedy that’s wasn’t real funny. No. Humor is a different genre than comedy. It is a catalyst to make emotions connect with a message, hence, very good for commercials. Comedy is amusement. “amuse,” in Greek, means “not think.” Not a good medium for commercials. I spent the first 20 years of my career in auditions trying to punch up humorous commercial copy so it would be funnier. I didn’t book. They don’t want the audience to laugh and forget, they want the audience to smile and remember.

3. What do you see as the biggest professional or personal obstacle you face that impacts your voiceover business and how are youworking to overcome it?

Laziness. Not updating my agent and my promotional tools (demos and website). I’m redoing my commercial demo to represent my personal style. My previous commercial demo was produced in 1914.

4. What personal trait or professional tool has helped you succeed the most in your career so far?

Of the four pillars of business – Advertising, Marketing, Promotion and Public Relations, I have leaned heavily on Public Relations. Public Relations is about establishing personal relationships and loyalty with clients/customers. I am now the King of Mercy Castings. I get called at home. “Pat, would you like to work?” “Yes, (sniff, snivel). Thank you very much.”

5. In your development as a voice over performer, who has been the one particular individual or what has been the one piece of performance advice (maybe a key performance trick, etc.) that you felt has had the most impact on your actual voice over performance and why?

Chuck Blore, the most awarded producer/writer in advertising ever and one of my mentors once told me that performance is “Truth and Tricks.” Truth in performance, gets all the press, but you need tricks to get the audience’s attention every so often. Risk being clever. Just don’t get caught by being too clever, too often.

Tags: 5 Questions for a Professional Voice Over Talent, 5Q:VO, commentary by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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DARIEN CENTER, NY, June 15, 2012 – – With 45 rides – including six world-class roller coasters, the region’s largest water park complete with wave pool and a 20,000-seat performing arts center, families from across New York State, Pennsylvania, Ohio and beyond enjoy spending their summers at Darien Lake Theme Park. To help successfully get out the word on the all the fun and savings to be had this summer, the park secured national voice-over talent Peter K. O’Connell in their newly produced television commercial, promoting Darien Lake’s 2012 Season Pass program.

WATCH THE COMMERCIAL HERE:

About Commercial Voice Talent Peter K. O’Connell

In addition this most recent television commercial for Darien Lake, Peter K. O’Connell’s professional voice-over credits include national and regional voice-over productions for companies such as PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), Shell Oil, Pitney Bowes, U.S. Army, Starz Cable Channel, SunSetter Awnings, Time Warner Cable, New Jersey Tourism, First Financial Bank, N.A., J. Walter Thompson Advertising, Cleveland Browns of the National Football League, Harlequin Enterprises and Pathmark Supermarkets.

O’Connell’s voice-over productions have been heard around the world in radio and TV commercials, medical narrations, television infomercials, political commercial voice-overs, TV network promos, e-learning narration projects (computer-based training, internet-based training and web-based training), public service announcements, message on-hold as well as other video and media productions. Peter K. O’Connell owns audio’connell Voice-Over Talent.

About Darien Lake

Darien Lake’s wide variety of entertainment has made it “destination fun” since 1964. Located 45 minutes from Niagara Falls between Buffalo and Rochester, N.Y., today the park boasts more than 45 rides, including six world-class roller coasters; dozens of family rides; several world-class entertainment shows right in the park; the region’s largest water park complete with wave pool; and a 20,000-seat performing arts center, operated by Live Nation, that hosts some of the hottest music artists. The park is open May to October, and welcomes overnight guests in a wide range of accommodations — from a full-service hotel and modern cabins to rental RVs, and RV and tent campsites.

– 30 –

NOTES TO EDITORS

Company Media Releases ON LINE:
http://www.audioconnell.com/media

Company Name Pronunciation:
au·dio·o’·con·nell (awe-de-oh-oh-kah-nel) or au·di-o’·con·nell (awe-de-oh-kah-nel)

Company Name Spelling:
Use lower case letters- audio’connell or audio’connell Voice-Over Talent

Company Web:
http://www.audioconnell.com

Company Blog:
http://www.voxmarketising.com

O’Connell Voice-Over Resume:
See resume here

Tags: media releases by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Today’s 5 Questions for a Professional Voice Over Talent are answered by Connie Terwilliger, a professional voice-over talent based in San Diego, California.

1. The beginning: When did you know you wanted to be a voiceover talent; how did your career begin (please include what year it started) and then when did your passion for voiceover develop into something professional?

I never wanted to be a voiceover talent. That part of my career evolved. I also never got the kids in the neighborhood together to put on a show – moved too many times to develop friends. But I did have the good fortune in retrospect to work at a broadcast radio station in college doing both some DJ work and public affairs programming. That was in 1972 or so. My double major in Art and Psych resulted in a job at a TV station as a graphic artist. That led to grad school to learn more about television, where I did a little announcing because of the radio experience. But my goal was much more “lofty” than “talent.” Obviously my tune has changed, but at the time, the voiceover work I was doing was not what I thought I wanted to do. I wanted to produce, write and do some on and off-camera talent work. I was lucky I guess. I did all of that for a long time. Eventually, I decided that I didn’t want to produce anymore. And in the late 90’s, I decided to build a studio in my house and focus on voiceover work.

2. What is the one thing you know now that you wish someone had told you when you first started out in voiceover?

This is actually a hard question to answer, because things are very different now than when I first started. When I started doing voiceover work, I was a staff TV announcer at an AFTRA station. Because I didn’t sound like an announcer, the door kept opening and people handed me commercials to record. I got an agent and was, for a while, one of the top female voice talents in the city. So my voiceover work at the time was under union contracts. The rest of my time was spent as a free lance producer, writer and talent for corporations and production companies. A full-time job was offered at a major corporation where I was able to wear all my hats. After nearly 9 years there, my free lance voiceover work was pretty much non-existent. Despite being able to sneak away to do VO work as it came up, after a while it came up less and less – no time to do the marketing, networking and follow up. I went back out as a free lance everything after the company closed its doors – until the light bulb went off and I stopped producing. At that point I started to actively pursue voiceover work as my full-time job, with scriptwriting as my fall back.

I guess if I had to pinpoint one piece of advice it would be the fact that you need solid business skills to make it. All of those things I mentioned earlier, but with negotiating and bookkeeping thrown in. Oh, and technological skills! Today you need to know enough about hardware and software to make sure that you can compete with the other pros out there.

It is not just about your voice anymore! And there are no bread crumbs.

3. What do you see as the biggest professional or personal obstacle you face that impacts your voiceover business and how are you working to overcome it?

I still have a hard time with the basic day to day business activities – keeping up with invoicing, negotiating rates, following up with current and previous clients. I keep my eyes and ears open looking for easier options for bookkeeping and CRM. Damn it Peter, I’m an actor, not a bean counter…

4. What personal trait or professional tool has helped you succeed the most in your career so far?

Longevity? Versatility? Early adopter of technology? Curiosity? Initiative?

Just the fact that I have been doing this a long time helps I think. For one thing getting online with my domains in 1996 was a help. I network in my community and take as full advantage of social networking as I have time for.

Also, when I first started I was “different” so I stood out even when all I was doing was staff announcing. But I am also versatile, so as I was building back my voiceover career I dipped my fingers in practically every voiceover genre, from straight announcing to role playing to characters to concatenation. And ironically, I finally have learned more about my own natural voice and find that I am using that more and more in my work. I don’t have to pretend I am someone else. I finally know who I am and it comes across in more believable reads. I still love the character parts and they do help me find myself when a read just isn’t “right.”

5. In your development as a voice over performer, who has been the one particular individual or what has been the one piece of performance advice (maybe a key performance trick, etc.) that you felt has had the most impact on your actual voice over performance and why?

I never had a mentor to speak of. I listen listen listen to everything and that is such a great way to learn what works and what doesn’t. Of course, applying that to your own personal eye-brain-mouth is the challenge. That is where some good distraction techniques help me.

Inside my brain are a bunch of silly and/or extreme characters that are fully formed with value systems, accents, personalities and speech patterns. If I feel that a read just isn’t connecting, one of them will bubble to the surface and wrench the copy out of my hands. The script is now being interpreted by their brains – with all of their warts coming through. My own brain is doing battle with them – desperately wanting that script back, because now, suddenly the real meaning of the script has surfaced.

One big factor in improving my voiceover performance has been teaching an introduction to voiceover work at San Diego City College. I started teaching this class more than 10 years ago now and while it gets harder and harder to carve out the time 2 days a week to get down there for a couple of hours, it is my own personal voiceover class. I learn more and more about what I am doing each time I teach the class.

Tags: 5 Questions for a Professional Voice Over Talent, 5Q:VO by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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If you live in New York State, you likely have heard of Darien Lake, which is the Empire State’s largest theme park. Rides, shows and some amazing concerts in addition to multiple hotels, lodges and camp sites.

Oh and a very nice water park.

It’s really quite a place so I was very pleased when I got the call to be the voice of their 2012 Season Pass campaign. It was fun and unique recording session that you’ll have to remind me to tell you about sometime. A brief hint, I was in Missouri at the time.

So in case you are out of state, here’s their nifty spot with a little voice-over boost from yours truly.

Tags: advertising, commentary, commercials, tv, video, voice talent, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Today’s 5 Questions for a Professional Voice Over Talent are answered by Amy Taylor, a professional voice-over talent based in Connecticut.

1. The beginning: When did you know you wanted to be a voiceover talent; how did your career begin (please include what year it started) and then when did your passion for voiceover develop into something professional?

I think if I knew voiceover could be a career, I’d have done it decades ago. I did my first spot in 1995 while working as a news anchor at a radio station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I REALLY wanted to voice spots. There was some discussion about whether a newscaster should be allowed to do spots, so when they let me voice my first one, I was elated and instantly hooked. I loved the creative process of commercials and I think I stayed on the radio path so I could continue my true passion- voiceovers!

By 2005 I had built a studio in my closet and had gathered some regular VO clients. My “ah-ha” moment came in 2006 when I was racing to finish my voiceover work so I could get to the radio station on time. It was then that I realized my voiceover income grossly eclipsed my radio income. I gave my two weeks notice and never looked back.

2. What is the one thing you know now that you wish someone had told you when you first started out in voiceover?

I know that just because you have a great voice, it doesn’t mean you can make it in this field. I learned to get out of my own way and not even think about how the words “sound” coming out of my mouth. Once you can do that, you’ll improve significantly. If I can listen to a spot and not think about the person’s voice but rather the story being told, I can tell they are a pro. That’s the kind of voice talent I strive to be.

3. What do you see as the biggest professional or personal obstacle you face that impacts your voiceover business and how are you working to overcome it?

Amy: “Hi. I’m Amy and I’m a recovering DJ.”
Crowd: “Hi Amy.”

I suffer from the same syndrome as many ex-radio jocks do. Call it what you may, the “broadcaster” or “announcer” sound gets in the way of my ability to be real, conversational, non-announcery, etc. Working to correct this is a daily process for me.

4. What personal trait or professional tool has helped you succeed the most in your career so far?

I’m the worst liar ever. I really, really am. I think somehow it comes through in my reads. The specs for gigs I’ve landed usually include a variation the adjectives trustworthy, reliable, dependable. I think clients want to hire someone who believes in their product/service. They want someone that listeners/viewers will believe, too. That said, I don’t do political ads or things I’m not comfortable with. That would be *gulp* lying.

5. In your development as a voice over performer, who has been the one particular individual or what has been the one piece of performance advice (maybe a key performance trick, etc.) that you felt has had the most impact on your actual voice over performance and why?

I’ll tell you a common thread that almost everyone I’ve studied with says- from voice coaches to agents, casting directors to fellow voice actors. They all agree on the following.

“Talk to just one person. Don’t broadcast, just pick one person to talk to and commit to that.” If I can remember to follow this simple rule, my reads are much better.

Tags: 5 Questions for a Professional Voice Over Talent, 5Q:VO by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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