Female Voice Talent Bettye Zoller
Courtesy this morning of Dave Courvoisier’s blog is news that Bettye Zoller has entered into the voice over blog world.
Bettye was nice enough yesterday to offer me some voice care tips via my blog post yesterday that she read on Plaxo.
Voice is doing a bit better today, thanks Bettye.
Maybe because I have spent today mostly silent except for whispers because of a vocal beating I caused myself last night talking over a really great band at a black tie affair (while still not fully over a cold), I am more attuned to vocal strain information currently. I HOPE all I caused myself was Laryngitis.
But I came across two things that voice talents should be aware of to keep their money machine out of harms way. This in addition to the information I came across about the new VOICE 2010 sponsor.
First was this Backstage article entitled Vocal Investments.
The other was the web site voiceproblems.org.
BEFORE taking any advice from a web site, PLEASE consult your personal physical first.
James Alburger was speaking with me recently about the VOICE 2010 conference and he said “we have a new Premiere Sponsor for VOICE 2010.”
I was thinking maybe it was going to be a microphone company or audio software group. He said it was the Osborne Head & Neck Institute Voice & Speech Division.
Long pause. Then it clicked!
What a fantastic market for these Doctors to be fishing in and how fortunate are the voice talent who are attending that the Doctors will be “in”.
So many of us in voice over take the care of our throat and vocal chords for granted….or worse, we ignore it.
On paper, this sponsorship is a win-win. The Doctors are introduced to new patients and the voice talents have an important opportunity to learn more about one of their most important body parts.
This could be very cool.
A couple of pings to my email box to pass along if you are so inclined:
Marice Tobias has announced her spring sessions for her “The Shift” voiceover training for commercials and narrations.
– St. Louis, MO – the weekend of May 15th
– Washington, D.C. – the weekend of May 22nd
– New York, NY – private sessions from May 24th – June 1st.
For information on Marice’s events, contact Stacey Stahl at 503-246-2239.
Pat Fraley is presenting “Making the “A” List: An Acting for Voice Over Event” featuring Pat, Ed Asner and Scott Brick on Saturday, May 22nd at World Famous Buzzy’s Recording in LA. To secure your spot call 818-400-3733.
I have been taught by both these individuals and while both have issued restraining orders against me because of my lack of performance skills (the way the both individually screamed “don’t ever back here” was kind eerie) , I’m sure you’ll fair much better. They are great teachers.
Andre, Greg and John at Babble On Recording Studio in Minneapolis have published a fairly unique blog post that I think is worthy reading for producers, clients, engineers and voice talents.
I don’t know these fellas, I just subscribe to their blog – I’m also pretty sure they don’t know of me.
As engineers in a recording studio, and no doubt as producers themselves, they participate in a great many voice over sessions with clients or 3rd party producers. Some of these sessions don’t go well because the communication between the producers and voice talent doesn’t seem to click. If you’ve been in the VO business any length of time, you’ve likely been directly involved in one of “these” sessions – as the talent, it can resonate in your head for days.
What Babble On presents in this post are ideas on how to better communicate with voice talent based on ideas and insights from voice talents…what type of direction gives them the ability to offer a better performance.
I thought it was a really great read and terribly insightful. I hope you do too.
Thanks gentlemen.
That is just one quote from one of the many ‘can I be in voice overs too?’ emails I get each week. All of them sincere.
I’m honored that these folks think I’m somehow worthy of the note, thinking that I may be able hand over the magic keys to the voice over kingdom. I’ve not the heart to tell them that no one has yet told me where the bathroom is in this kingdom let alone handed me the kingdom’s keys.
What I always do is direct them to my free e-book “The Voice Over Entrance Exam” which discusses what I believe are the real keys to beginning a career in voice over. It is rarely a fast turnaround career and it is mostly not a highly lucrative business for the thousand who practice it in earnest…it takes time and patience and that erases most of the newer contestants early on.
If today, this is you…you think you’d like to try your hand at voice over…OK.
1. Read my e-book, read other people’s books (there’s a list of some in my book) then decide.
2. If you are serious (and please read and think about those words again) you have options. One of many options is this one.
3. If you’re not serious about being in voice overs, now is the perfect time to realize and admit that – you are obviously an honest and courageous person if you can.
If you are currently a voice talent, feel free to reference this book and share the link with those who inquire to you if you feel the book is worthwhile.
If you would like to become a fan of the book on Facebook, click here and thanks.
As always, I hope this helps.
