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 k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Pat Fraley\’s “Everything They Expect You To Know But Nobody Teaches” event in Buffalo, NY 2009

Well it was more like just a Saturday but the hardest working teacher in voice over was in the Nickel City this weekend as Pat Fraley presented his at Crosswater Digital Media.

It was hosted by my primary voice acting teacher, my agent and, best of all, my friend Toni Silveri who has run The Voice Actor Workshop of Western New York for many years (in addition to All Coast Talent). Toni and Pat worked together on voice over projects often when she lived in L.A.

It should be noted that one of the first things Pat spoke about Saturday was how incredibly fortunate we are here to have Toni as a teacher as “she is on par with the best voice acting teachers anywhere in the country.” I know that to be true.

The class was sold out and I wasn’t going to attend having been to a number of Pat’s courses, all of which I enjoyed immensely (as I have often noted here). Toni, however, needed some “day of” help which I was glad to provide cause these events do require some leg work (and I have fantastic legs…they are both short AND stumpy).

Voice Teacher Pat Fraley and Crosswater Audio Engineer Dan Innes

Quite unexpectedly and very graciously, Pat included in me in the class when I wasn’t tending to my primary support duties. As usual, there was a ton of good stuff with some great voice talents (and wonderful people) from across New York, Ohio and Canada. The day’s basic theme (specifically regarding the “tricks” section) was how to stand out and be different in auditions and performances. It’s not a new concept to most but then again most of established voice talents aren’t executing these tricks enough on a regular basis and the new folks are still figuring out where to stand so this is valuable insights for everybody.

My favorite takeaway from the day (and there were many) was the Series of Three Techniques in which Pat discuss the smartest (my term but it fits) way to give a variation on your performance, often request by directors as “series of three”.

Male Voice Talents Dan Nachtrab and Peter K. O\’Connell

One of my other favorite parts of the day was getting to meet up with male voice talent Dan Nachtrab who drove up from Dayton, OH to be a part of the class. Dan and I have known each other for many years via the VO-BB.com so it was a real treat to visit with him not only about voice over but about Dayton, home of the University of Dayton Flyers, the college of my youth that didn’t say “no!”

Tags: commentary, community, university of dayton, voice actors, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice, voiceover meet-ups by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Male Voice Talent Bob Souer

Of course that’s nothing more than a humorous title because anyone who has had the pleasure of knowing Bob Souer knows he rarely shows any emotion close to ranting.

Bob is so laid back (how laid back is he?) he’s almost horizontal (ba-dum-bump, thanks folks, I’ll be here all week, please tip your waitress).

Bob’s posts are very often brief posts with informative links to other sites (he generously shares news and offers credit magnanimously which is one of the reasons he’s so beloved in the voice over industry).

Today of special note on Bob’s blog is his insight about the support we all receive within our careers.

When I write many paragraphs on this blog, you get eye strain (like on every post). But when Bob starts typing, you need to stop and read.

Tags: commentary, voice actors, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice, voiceover blog by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Professional voice talents Peter O'Connell & Kelly Klemolin

Tuesday I was in Packerland, WI, also know as Titletown (most outsiders know it as Green Bay) for a quick in/out meeting. So I pinged that fact and saw a note back on Facebook from female voice talent Kelly Klemolin who I hadn’t met before and who lives only 30 minutes away near Appleton, WI.

We were able to set up a lunch at the Titletown Brewing Co., and I got to hear all about her voice over career and her business. Super nice lady and very talented. Kelly was very generous to share her time and great stories with me.

Kelly then introduced me to Carl Romey who is basically THE voice of Green Bay (pipes so deep, seismologists in Green Bay have to call him occasionally to see if he’s recording or there’s actually an earth quake). His studio was very nearby our lunch place. Great set up and a very kind man indeed.

None of this planned and all of it because of my social media status updates. That’s just one type of opportunity that social media offers business people who know how to use it.

Tags: commentary, facebook, peter o'connell, social networking, voice actors, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice, voiceover meet-ups by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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My dear brothers and sisters in voice over,

There comes a time in each person’s life when they need to use their blog to bloviate, purge and otherwise sound-off on urgent pressing matters of state. Today is that day for me and I hope for you too.

And by state I mean the state of voice over auditioning in our world. Too often we are given mixed directions on how to submit auditions by our various talent representatives. From useless cattle call auditions, to slating to file names and so much more, we are forced to suffer the indignities of reading directions and following through.

Suddenly, voice over has become like a real job and this is completely unacceptable. We are sloth-like, we are sleepy, we are….voice talents!

Join my ridiculous crusade to make our lives better and more importantly to make our lives easier when we audition for new voice over jobs.

Sign your name in the comment section of this blog and begin your path to an easier auditioning experience for all!

Thank you!

Dear Voice Over Agents,

On behalf of all voice talents (none of whom know I am writing this letter which will never be mailed) who are pleased to work in partnership with you to deliver sacks of cash to all our front doors, thank you for your efforts on our behalf. It is appreciated!

We would like to address an administrative (thinking of the right word here….challenge, problem, nope…wait) opportunity that we think will help make all our lives (yours and your voice talents) much simpler and certainly more organized.

Following a week long summit of all the world’s voice over talent at a resort in the Poconos, where there were speakers, group meetings, break-out sessions and even a few make-out sessions, the following document was contrived and entitled:

The World-wide Audition Completion Keys Enjoinment (WACKE)

The root of this WACKE idea is to establish universal standards and formatting rules for each and every voice over audition that, once implemented on the professional level (between professional voice talents and professional voice talent agents), will eventually become the standard for every organization requesting voice over auditions from talent (not that we ever get any leads from anyone other than our agents, of course).

Item 1: No More Customized Voice Over Auditions Ever – It was unanimously decided that we as voice talent have either personally produced or paid ridiculously large gobs of money to have produced voice over demos that clearly outline our individual vocal skill sets and that jonesing by a client to hear his/her brand name melodiously uttered by hundreds of voice talents just so the client can ultimately pick his cousin Morty as the voice talent because he/she owes him a favor. This clearly makes customized auditions a fairly antiquated process.

Item 1, Subsection 1: Because we’re all pretty much voice over strumpets, we will agree to do a customized audition…occasionally!

Item 1, Subsection 2: Cattle Call Auditions Terminated – The practice of emailing an audition to every man on an agency roster because the specs include the word “male” (same for female) must immediate cease and desist. Agents are required to know all the voice types on their rosters and request auditions ONLY from the voice types that fairly match the description set forth by the client.

Item 2: Audition Voice Slating: All auditions will require a voice slate identifying the voice talent performing the audition. The current trend where some agents require a slate and some do not needlessly confuses small minded voice talents (which practically describes all of us on our side of the microphone).

Item 2, Subsection 2: It must be universally agreed upon by the agents where to place said slate on the audition’s audio file. Voice talents will not place the slate at the beginning of an audition for some agents and at the end of an audition for others. Front OR back, pick one and ONLY one from this point forward.

Item 2, Subsection 3: The text for every voice over audition voice slate henceforth will be as follows: “For (Agent Name) and (Client Name), this is (Voice Talent Name).” There will be no variations in text as any character names that might be needed can be included in the file name (See Item 3).

Item 3: Audition File Naming: Henceforth, all voice over audition files shall be named thusly: Client Name, Character Name, Agency Name, Voice Talent First Initial_Last Name.

Example: McDonalds, Announcer, All Coast Talent, P_O’CONNELL

Item 4: Audition File Format: The standard file format for all voice over auditions will be MP3 until such time as voice talents reconvene to recognize a new file format industry standard as dictated by advances in audio technology, assuming there are any.

Item 5: Transmission of Audition to Agent: Forthwith all agents will establish one email address for the receipt of all auditions and it will read as follows: auditions@agencydomain.suffix . Please note that any agent using a public email domain currently (like @gmail.com or @yahoo.com) needs to man-up (or woman-up) and get a professional email domain like most grown-up companies. It’s not that expense…even voice talents have them, THAT’S how cheap email domain extensions are! 🙂

Item 5, Subsection 2: Acknowledgment of Receipt of an Audition: Agents will set up an auto-responder that will issue an email back to each voice talent who has submitted an audition to them.

Adopted herein this Twenty-Fifth Day of August in the Year of our Lord two thousand and nine by the undersigned who are silly (and yet hopeful) enough to believe that such specifications could ever be universally agreed to by….anybody!

Tags: commentary, rants, silliness, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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While the voice over trip to New York City was a bust a few weeks ago because of weather (what are ya gonna do?) the non-voice over trip to Miami had some wonderful voice over highlights.

I had brief hopes Sunday of connecting with voice talent Mike Elmore (winner of the Unofficial Jimmy Fallon Announcer Faux-ditions) while in Miami. Mike caught my arrival update in Miami off of Facebook. Alas he had familial commitments that precluded that connection and I fully understand; hopefully next time.

Caryn Clark and Kara Edwards were also going to try and come over from the Tampa side of the state but that didn’t work out either and would have been a crazy drive just to see me.

Male Voice Talent Doug Turkel - Unnouncer

Monday night I was able to grab dinner with the Unnouncer, Doug Turkel. I really feel sorry for waiters who wait on the two of us when we’re at dinner cause it’s hard for them to take our order. We’ve got so much to talk about between voice over, social media, new equipment, family and other stuff, the wait staff can’t get a word in edge wise. Doug is such a great friend and peer, I always feel fortunate to spend time learning from him.

And, he said making his segue, one of the things I learned from Doug at our dinner was that he had done as he said he was going to last time we visited. He started up a Voice Over Master Mind Group in Miami.

What’s that you ask?

Well, a brief and incomplete answer is it’s a concentrated networking, education and quasi-support group for voice talent. The idea came to Doug from his brother (the same brother who helped Doug coin the Unnouncer moniker) who formed a very successful Master Mind Group for his connections (though his group his less industry based and more C-Level in its focus.

The monthly Voice Over Master Mind Group that Doug formed allows participating voice talents to talk about all aspects of their business. For example, each person starts out by talking about a recent success and a recent challenge or miss they experienced in their business – this offers a great way to share in the wins and help give ideas and insights into how misses might be avoided next time….all in a totally professionally supportive way.

The group then focuses on a topic they had agreed upon at the last meeting; this way they can look up some helpful information on the voice over related topic to share at the meeting to keep the discussion moving and credible. Tuesday’s topic was the always, thrilling, exciting and dicey topic of voice talent rates. It was truly insightful to have an honest roundtable about rates, how to deal with clients on rates, how to have some spine when dealing with them on rates and how people make use (or don’t make use) of pay-to-play sites.

The other great thing about this meeting is that each person speaks about something they want to accomplish in their careers by the next meeting and the group holds them accountable…that is huge! When we are accountable, we execute and the members of the Miami Voice Over Master Mind Group each gets’er done!

The icing on this already delicious cake (oh, and yes there actually WAS cake at the meeting, as if you thought it couldn’t get any better) was that I got to meet some talented and truly nice people – peers in the voice over profession.

Female Voice Talent Mindy Baer

In addition to the aforementioned Unnouncer, also in attendance was Miami morning radio legend and now full time voice over talent Mindy Baer

Female Voice Talents and On-Camera Talents Mary Chamberlain and Jackie Bales

Jackie Bales a former news anchor and now a lovely on-camera spokesperson and voice talent; the equally beautiful on-camera talent and voice actor Mary Chamberlain

Male Voice Talent Doug Turkel and Female Voice Talent Lisa Lupari

The Voice Babe – Lisa Lupari-what a terrific branding moniker that is! That brand name says it all!

Male Voice Talent Zurek

The fast rising voice star Zurek – he of Voiceover Universe, new SBV client, video seminar pal of Joe Cipriano, promo voice for BET and the voice of a new national spot for Sports Illustrated.

It was a real treat to be invited in on this group’s very special meeting and I think it’s a terrific idea for other voice talents in other markets to create something similar to build their network, their educational resources and possibly save their sanity by getting out of the sound booth once and a while.

Tags: announcers, commentary, facebook, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice, voiceover meet-ups by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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