free answers on “how-to” voiceover
So I was on Facebook today and I saw that voiceover coaching/demo mill Voice Coaches is coming to Raleigh to present their seminar “Get Paid To Talk”.
The first thing I thought to myself was: ‘Oh great, try and make money off the voiceover industry by insulting said industry with one of the great slurs against it!” (That slur being: ‘how hard can voiceover be, it’s just talking!’).
However, the ad that I was presented with was kind enough to include the topics this $40+ seminar will cover over at some area hotel.
I don’t begrudge people teaching others about VO. There are maybe 10 really talented voiceover coaches out there who I have studied with or about whom I have heard raves that I would easily recommend to folks at any level. These folks will teach you AND inspire you.
My personal bias is that, except in very certain circumstances, I generally don’t like the idea of coaches also producing demos. Voiceover coaches should coach and demo producers should produce. The grey area is when coaches direct the recording talent, sometimes that works. Sometimes.
And coaching companies – companies that have a bigger staff, don’t make their money on coaching – they make their big money on producing demos…many times whether or not the person is actually ready to make a voiceover demo (sometimes they really are not ready).
It should be noted that Voice Coaches isn’t the only company that does this…they are just the only ones who (by now, regrettably, in their minds) advertised on my social media feed this morning.
I will save you the forty bucks and possible half-truths about your VO future as well as the 4-5 mortgage payments this company might like you to replace with their demo production fee and answer all those burning VO questions this seminar will cover right here in this blog.
So ignore the hype of “this workshop tends to sell out” or getting a “behind-the-scenes look at how people make money every day with their voices” or receiving the “opportunity to record a short script under the direction of your instructor” let’s go right to the MEAT of the hotel presentation (which will take place in the meeting room right next to the Starving Artists Painting Show – another “don’t miss event”).
“What a voice-over is…”
Voiceover is an acting or performance career specifically involving the human voice.
A voiceover talent is a person who spends about 80-90% running a business and the balance recording auditions and VO jobs…unless you’re doing audiobooks which keep you recording a lot but not often getting paid as much as other VO work.
People who record audiobooks love it. Personally, I like money better. But there is a true art to recording audiobooks and if you can read to me like Edward Herrmann, I will listen to everything you record.
I digress.
Voiceover involves running a small business more than it’s recording with your voice. It’s sales, marketing, accounting, training and taxes. If running a small business is something you would loathe or makes you break out in hives, do not start a voiceover business.
You know what it is not? Voiceover is not getting paid to talk. Pithy title, bullshit message. If a company has that much disrespect for the industry it’s introducing you too, that to me is a RED flag.
“What it is like on the job…”
This is where a seminar like this I believe would sell the sizzle. I’ve not been to the seminar so I don’t know for sure. I’m thinking this is where one talks about walking into a recording studio, seeing the big mixing board, meeting the engineer, talking with producers or directors and then heading into the booth. What the voiceover booth sounds like, what it smells like, what kind of microphones they use, headphones too. Squuuueeeeeal!!!! Thrilling!
“Which voice types are most in demand…”
They say in their promotion “sincerity wins the job”.
Um, no.
I hear many sincere voice talents every single day who don’t get the job. Good, hard working voice talents who go days without recording.
Everything that makes any small business successful: business plans, marketing plans, networking, hard work – all that and more gets you the opportunity in most cases to compete for the job, get an audition and maybe win it. Harder work will allow you to establish multiple client relationships directly that you nurture and foster and result in repeat clients or even retainer clients.
You better be able to produce more than one voice “type”, by the way. The more versatile you are, the better.
“What a professional voice demo sounds like… “
“You get one chance to make a first impression”, their ad says.
Their ad doesn’t say “so pay us scads of money and we will make your demo sound passable but you personally may or may not have the real voice over talent to perform in a studio the way we made you sound for 7 seconds on the demo we produced for you.”
Here’s a nasty, sad voiceover truth: even the most untalented voiceover talent can be made to sound ok, even good for sixty seconds among 7-8 different cuts on a commercial voiceover demo. BUT (and this is a big, enormous but) once that talent gets on mic in a new studio for a job, they likely won’t remember how to recreate and hold that sound they had on the demo nor will they be able to show any versatility in their voice because they haven’t developed any.
How’s THAT for a first impression?
The problem demo mills often set these unsuspecting voiceover newbies up for is either they haven’t given them an honest voiceover assessment (like maybe some shouldn’t pursue their VO dream) or that the newbies haven’t received the best possible training.
Sometimes it’s both.
There is a difference between training someone new to record a voiceover demo and training someone new to be a professional voiceover talent.
Training to a demo is quick…you only need 7 seconds of good audio per track. Training to be a voiceover talent can easily take months…assuming the coach is honest enough early on to tell a person who sucks at VO that they suck at VO and not to follow that career path and keep their money.
“Where to look for work opportunities…”
It’s only a guess, but I’m picturing a power point slide (just one) that lists places that might use voiceover. Wowee! A real voiceover MBA there.
Suffice it to say there is a lot of work that goes into prospecting, marketing and developing business relationships. I hope some hard truths are shared here but I am skeptical.
“How to avoid common mistakes…”
One might be to not spend $40 for an introduction to voiceover class.
