Voice Actors Rebecca Davis, Barri Tsavaris and Peter K. O’Connell at WOVOCON The Voiceover Unconference, 2025

I’m going to write this voiceover blog post about WOVOCON 2025 – the Voiceover UNconference in New Orleans now because I am on the plane home having just left the event.  So obviously I have a few hours of free time up here at 33,000 feet.

Also, the thoughts are fresh. At my age – that’s important ?.

I don’t want to write this from the position of “here’s what you missed” and thus make anyone feel bad. And I’m not really interested increasing any voiceover FOMO (fear of missing out) for next time.

But I do want to write it for the WOVO members who were not there and those voice talents who have heard about it and may want to look into it the future.

This post has a bigger purpose – a business purpose. Your voiceover business.

YOUR NEW VOICEOVER BUSINESS GOAL

If you like (or even love) what I tell you about this exclusive voiceover event-  (there are other perfectly fine VO events – NONE like what WOVOCON is today) – I want you to do something.

I want you to set a very specific business goal for your voiceover business – no matter what stage you are at.

That goal is to create a budget item or business savings account for you to attend the next WOVOCON.

Post this goal on your booth wall, post it in your business planning folder. However you do it, take it VERY seriously.

Deal? Ok here we go.

WHAT YOU MISSED AT WOVOCON – AND IT WAS ALOT

With a maximum of only 120 people allowed at this voiceover unconference – it already stands apart from all the others. You WILL get to know almost all the participants, which leads to amazing business conversations inside and outside of the sessions.

I cannot be specific because there was lot of company specific information shared and the rule of WOVOCON is what happens at WOVOCON stays at WOVOCON. But what I can share should give you a fairly clear trail that what I and other learned over the weekend would likely have positively influenced your business immediately.

As an example:

• I’ve been doing live announcing (Voice of God) and emceeing since about 1983 – but when Dan Hurst and George Washington III lead a presentation and discussion on live announcing, I took many notes and listened to the input of many other respected live announcers in the session. Sharing, sharing and more incredibly insightful, immediately impactful (for my business) sharing. Other voiceover conferences? Not like this.

One of WOVOCON’s other point of difference is that the agenda for the meeting is set BY the attendees AT the event. This takes customized learning to the next level. Especially because it becomes so clear from the topic suggestions that many of us have the same questions and interests.

As an example:

• What are the hot and cold business interaction buttons creative decision makers among different generations? Can you call up a Gen-Alpha the same way you call a Baby-Boomer? Are there texting shortcuts that will freakout a Gen-Z? Tom Test and Matt Jackson had those questions, they had some answers and the rest was opened up to a wide ranging and insightful discussions. Many notes, even more epiphanies.

The hours I have spent in voice acting classes are numerous so naturally I know everything about voice acting…not! There are thoughts and direction that I need that I don’t even know I need and I got a good portion of that new direction came at the 2025 WOVOCON Voiceover Unconference in New Orleans.

As an example:

• Do you know who offered this acting insight: ‘make sense of the script and the words will take care of themselves’? It was a very famous person. Do you understand the rules for making said sense? I know who said it and I understand the rules a bit clearer now after Hugh Klitzke’s session.

There were many more sessions than just these three examples but I think you now understand the wide scope of what was covered for the professional voice talents in attendance and likely how your business could have greatly benefited by your being a part of the weekend.

BACK TO THE GOAL

I hope you will take serious the goal I put before you. That the uniqueness, the intimate group size and the depth of knowledge immediately available to you – with no selling or up charges – is a really worthwhile investment in you and your business.

I hope you’ll start saving and I hope to see you at the next WOVOCON.

Tags: voice over training, voiceover advice, WOVOCON by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
Comments Off on WOVOCON ’25: What You Missed & Why Voice Actors Can’t Miss Next Time

Some weeks ago my voiceover friend (and fellow Buffalo Bills fan) Tim Powers created an idea to help promote WOVOCON The Voiceover UnConference, produced by World-Voices Organization and scheduled for October 17-19, 2025 in New Orleans.

His idea was he was going to interview a bunch of past attendees about their WOVOCON experiences and turn them into one minute video shorts for social media like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.

So Tim and I recorded our interview in about 15 minutes and he got the content he wanted for the socials.

This week, I got to thinking about the interview and I kept thinking – ‘there’s more stuff there that folks might like to know’, because we talked about a lot of stuff.

So I pinged Tim and asked for the footage to review it. I couldn’t recall my answers to all the questions so I had no idea what – if anything – I was going to do with it.

Then I saw it…it was the big secret that really only a WOVOCON Voiceover Unconference can unlock – because of it’s format, because of it very limited attendance limit (the comradeship of the event) and because of the very nature of the event which is unique to ANY other voiceover event.

WATCH THE VIDEO, learn the secret then make your reservations to join us in New Orleans this October.

TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO:

Hi, I’m Peter K. O’Connell

and I’ve been a voiceover actor for about 40 years.

It’s so important that people understand that with an unconference, probably one of its most unique features, aside from the format, aside from the attendees creating the agenda and supporting the agenda by what they know and sharing what they know, probably the most important thing that you learn is an unconference is a safe space for everybody.

Some people understand what that means. Some people don’t. I’ll explain my version of what a safe space is. A safe space is where you can go ask questions, where you can be vulnerable. Whether you’ve been doing it for 40 plus years or for months, whatever it is, um that you can look to this event and know that people are there. They’re not judging you. It is a judgment-free zone.

So, when you come in there as a voice actor, we know that you don’t have it all worked out. Do you know how we know that? because you’re not retired off the riches of your job. You’re still doing it on a day-to-day basis. While we all look, well, how he must be a star or celebrity, stop it!

I will tell you that I know some of the well-known (VO) celebrities and well-known (VO) folks um that people follow on Instagram or have heard on network promos and all the rest of it. And I can tell you for a fact that they don’t know everything either. They’ve had some great success and they’ve built careers, but the more you build your career, the more you can be put on an island unto yourself. And so you don’t feel like you can always ask questions.

Well, no matter what level of career you have at a WOVOCON Voiceover  Unconference, you’re safe to ask your questions. Whether you ask it in a session, whether you ask it one-on-one in a hallway conversation, whether you ask it on the questions board, there is a questions board at a WOVOCON Unconference where you can put a question and somebody will come come to you with an answer at some point during the weekend.

Whatever your thoughts, whatever your concerns, whatever your vulnerabilities, you will probably have a chance to share them with somebody, get an answer with it, or just feel like you’re not the only one.

That maybe for some folks, that’s the biggest thing. Oh, I’m not the only one that thinks that way. Oh, I’m not the only one that’s unnerved by that. Oh, I’m not the only one who didn’t understand what they meant by that, and everyone else seems to get it. At a WOVOCON Unconference, it is so valuable to know that you are among a tribe, a community, a class. Your WOVOCON Unconference will be a class unto itself. The mixture of people will never be like that before or after. It will be there. And it’s very special for people to understand that and to know that you will have that connection likely for the rest of your professional life.

Tags: social media, video, voiceover advice, WOVOCON by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
Comments Off on WoVOCon and the BIG Secret for Voiceover Talents

There are many great things about WoVOCon The Voiceover Unconference coming up October 17-19, 2025 in New Orleans.

The energy, the education, the networking and the friendship are the first great things that come to mind. Plus I am very honored to be asked back to serve as Emcee in New Orleans.

Unfortunately, this job also means I have to do some promotional work — which I don’t mind at all, except they ask me sometimes to do videos.

As you well know, I have a face for radio.

But they asked…and I am a loyal volunteer glad to help as the leadership sees fit. Plus the video is less than a minute long. Feel free to close your eyes and just listen.

Most importantly, I hope you join us!!

 
VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION

Peter K. O’Connell speaking:
Hey, how are you? I may be a little early on this out of studio message, but I wanted to let you know October 17th through the 19th, I will be out of Raleigh, North Carolina, and in New Orleans, Louisiana enjoying WoVOCon The Voiceover Unconference, October 17th through the 19th. I hope you’ll join us. WoVOCon is unlike any other kind of voiceover conference you’ll ever attend. That’s why they call it an unconference. a unique format, a great group of people, and very, very impactful for your voiceover business. Performance, marketing, technology, we cover it all, and we cover it with experts. Nobody’s selling anything. They’re just there to help your business. WoVOCon The Voiceover Unconference in New Orleans, October 17th through the 19th. I hope you join us.

Tags: emcee, live announcing, WOVOCON by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
Comments Off on WoVOCon Voiceover Unconference 2025 Promo Video featuring Male Voice Actor Peter K. O’Connell

Voiceover Talents Natalie Stanfield, George Washington, III, Mike McGonegal and Peter K. O’Connell at WoVOCon – the Voiceover Unconference in Chicago, 2024

The question I get asked the most by fellow voice actors: How do you grow your voiceover business?

Right behind that: How do I land more voiceover jobs?

And of course: What’s the best voiceover microphone?

Here’s been my answer for the past year—go to WoVOCon The Voiceover Unconference and get real answers to those questions, plus the ones you didn’t even know to ask.

I went to WoVOCon in Chicago in 2024, and it helped me in all facets of my voiceover business.

WoVOCon – the Voiceover Unconference, produced by World-Voices, is a peer-to-peer voiceover conference built for professional voiceover talent. The attendees are the presenters—working VO pros who’ve built careers in voice acting, voiceover performance, business, and tech.

It’s also intimate, capping out at 125 attendees…so you WILL get to know a lot of people quickly. To a person, they are all at WoVOCon to share knowledge and learn, not sell anything.

Yes, voiceover talent reading this—you, the small business owner of your own VO studio—this is where practical voiceover training, industry insights, and next-level connections actually happen.

The upside? You learn from everyone. The downside? It only happens once a year.

This year it will be held in New Orleans, October 17-19 at The Embassy Suites by Hilton.

Nope, I don’t make a cent from promoting WoVOCon. I just believe in it.

I’ve got my reservation. I’ll be there. You should be too—and if growing your client base, improving your skills, and mastering the voiceover industry matter to you, there’s nowhere better to be.

Tags: commentary, voice over training, voice over workshop, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice, WOVOCON by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
Comments Off on Smart, Simple Advice for Growing Your Voiceover Business – WoVOCon

It was NOT on my voiceover radar as I walked into the WoVOCon Voiceover Unconference 2024 ( #wovocon2024 ).

Sure, I’d thought about marketing my live announcing and emcee work in the past — but I got distracted by other shiny voiceover objects and never really focused on it.

Even serving AS the Emcee of wovocon2024, I wasn’t thinking about marketing those very services – because I had a show to execute!!

But as I *wasn’t* thinking about my talents in that area and as I was not planning for promoting them…it happened.

Right in the middle of WoVOCon 2024.

As Emcee and from the podium, I was talking about some of the questions / help people were posting about during WoVOCon. I improvisationally mentioned (from what must have been the far corner of my subconscious marketing brain) that if anyone had any ideas or could help me focus on my live announcing and emcee work, that would be great.

I believe I brought it up as an example to help those the audience to understand what questions could be asked of their fellow WoVOCon’ers and to also let people know (and feel more comfortable) that everybody can use help in their VO careers, even the old guys (that would be me).

That was it. I didn’t think too much more about it after I said it and WoVOCon ended.

Except it didn’t end.

I had forgotten about my Live Announcing mention at WoVOCon and was focused on other stuff from the conference. But about a week after I got home, I got an email from my friend and fellow voice talent DEBBIE IRWIN.

Her email, titled “Live Announcing” said “I heard your request for help in this arena… I don’t have a magic wand, but I do have a few ideas and am happy to bounce them around with you.”

We were on the phone the next day…plenty of good and generous ideas from Debbie, many insights and more than a few live announcing war stories….all which led to me getting off my butt. Within the next week and a half, I’d producing a sparkly new (Debbie-approved) Voice of God – Live Announcing voiceover demo.

Marketing is underway and will continue for sometime.

A demo. A marketing plan. Execution.

All 3 came from my WoVOCon 2024 experience in Chicago. A very unique experience meant to build and inspire the business and creative actions of professional voice actors via other professional voice actors.

Mission accomplished.

Tags: commentary, Demos, live announcing, voice of God, WOVOCON by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
Comments Off on A strong example of how WoVOCon helps voiceover careers

Just a few voice actors and audio professionals who will be at the WOVOCON Voiceover Unconference 2024 – L-R Top Row: Peter K. O’Connell, George Washington III, Jodi Krangle; Bottom Row: Liz de Nesnera, George Whittam & Natalie Stanfield

For the coming days and weeks, you’ll likely see these faces and other faces within your social media feeds.

They are the faces of the WOVOCON Voiceover Unconference 2024, taking place in Chicago on October 18-20th.

To create awareness of the unconference (which can be attended by WoVO members and vetted non-members, we’ve created the “I’ll Be There” campaign. It features just some of the attendees of the conference who are posting on their social media.

We’ve also crafted a very short video featuring just a few of the faces from the WOVOCON Voiceover Unconference 2024 “I’ll Be There” campaign.

Most all of the posts (on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook) should have the hashtag #wovocon2024 – so you can search to see all the great faces (who also have great voices). They will be sharing their voiceover knowledge this October.

For more information on the WOVOCON Voiceover Unconference, click HERE.

Tags: social media, WOVOCON by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
Comments Off on WOVOCON Voiceover Unconference “I’ll Be There”