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Exercises for Voice Over Actors to Combat Life in the Recording Booth

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As voice over actors, our vocal cords regularly get a hearty workout. But the same may not be true for the rest of our bodies which is why we need special voice over exercises. Even if we consistently schedule exercise into our off-work hours, it may not be enough to combat the effects of spending our days in a recording booth.

Whether we sit all day or stand while recording and then sit for editing, we’re still not moving around all that much. While a combination of sitting and standing can be better for you than prolonged bouts of just sitting, the effects of a largely inactive job can still add up.

Detriments of Sedentary Jobs

When we engage in extended, uninterrupted bouts of inactivity, a number of negative biochemical reactions can actually start to occur. Our bodies become less effective at breaking down cholesterol and blood sugar, which increases the risk of strokes, heart attacks and diabetes.

Being sedentary for extended periods can result in:

  • Higher blood sugar levels
  • Increased triglycerides, which are fats known for causing disease
  • Lower levels of HDL (aka “good”) cholesterol
  • Increased fatty buildup and calcium in the heart’s arteries
  • Increased risk of obesity
  • Higher risk of heart disease and cancer

If you switched your extended hours of sitting for prolonged hours of standing, you can end up with an entirely new set of risks. These include:

  • Lower back issues from constant compression of the spine
  • Deep vein thrombosis, varicose veins and other cardiovascular problems
  • Double the risk of heart disease over people that mostly sit

How to Lower the Health Risks   

Being aware of all the risks gives us great motivation for correcting them, and we have several things we can do.

Maintain Good Posture: One of the most important is to maintaining good posture, whether sitting or standing. We voice over artists tend to maintain good posture when recording, as we know the effects on our delivery if we don’t. But we may still hunch over or slouch when we’re editing or otherwise working at the computer.

Follow the 20-8-2 Rule: Another recommendation is known as the 20-8-2 rule. For every 20 minutes we spend sitting, it recommends eight minutes of standing and two minutes of gentle movement. Since this may be impossible to keep up based on our recording schedules and deadlines, we can at least get up and move around when we get a few minutes between tasks.

Physical Exercises for Voice Over Actors

One more way to help combat the negative effects of inactivity is with exercises specifically designed to work areas that tend to stiffen up throughout the day.

Neck and Shoulder Stretches 

Stretch the sides of your neck by sitting tall and dropping your left ear towards our left shoulder. Keep your shoulder level, making sure you don’t raise it to meet your ear. Hold for five seconds, then repeat on the right.

Stretch the back of your neck by dropping your chin toward your chest, then smoothly and gently rolling your head from one side to the other side.

Stretch your shoulders by shrugging them up towards your ears. Hold for five seconds, then release. Repeat five times.

Upper Body Stretches

Open your chest by bringing your palms together behind the middle of your back. Sit tall, pressing the palms together and holding for at least five seconds. 

Stretch your sides by extending your left arm over your head, then reaching as far as you can while bending to the right. Hold for several seconds, then repeat on the other side.

Do a seated spinal twist by turning your upper body to the right, putting both hands on the arm of your chair. Drop your shoulders and twist to the right, lengthening your spine as you inhale. Look over your right shoulder and hold for at least three seconds. Repeat on other side.

Stretch your upper back by intertwining your fingers with your palms facing outward. Reach your palms upward towards the ceiling as you inhale and elongate your spine.

Lower Body Stretches and Exercise

Do mini squats by standing up from your chair, and then sitting back down 10 times in a row.

Work your calves by standing up behind your chair, holding the back for support. Start with feet flat on the floor, then raise your heels as you stand on your toes. Lower back down slowly. Repeat to complete three sets of 10.

Stretch your glutes by putting your feet flat on the floor while seated, and then lifting your right ankle onto your left knee. Gently press down on your right knee three or four times. Repeat on other side.

Stretch your legs with a knee hug. Bend your right knee, then lift your knee to your chest, wrapping your arms around it to pull it as close to your upper body as you can. Hold for at least five seconds, then repeat on the left.

Although we may still spend hours in the recording booth, these tips can help offset the detrimental effects of daylong inactivity. Moving, stretching and exercising throughout the day, even briefly, can also make us feel more energized while bringing on longer-term benefits.

Eye Health for Voice Over Actors

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Eye Health for Voice Over ArtistsWhile voice over work may not be at the top of the list of professions with on-the-job hazards, we still have a few potential risks to think about. Our eye health is one of them.

Like millions of other folks in this digital age, we’re typically staring at the computer screen for extended periods every day. We might start to get headaches, feel pressure behind the eyes, get dry eyes, blurry vision or neck and shoulder pain. All these are symptoms of what is known as digital eye strain. Voice over actors can have a higher risk of eye strain due to dim lighting and proximity to our computer screens. We’re frequently in dark recording booths looking at a bright screen, and we may sit closer than an arm’s length away from the screen to view it properly.

Being aware of what digital eye strain is and how it affects us can help us avoid it. So can developing new habits to maintain good eye health both in and out of the recording booth.

Digital Eye Strain by the Numbers

Voice over actors aren’t the only folks at risk for digital eye strain. The condition can occur to anyone who spends a notable amount of time in front of the TV, computer or other digital device.

A report from The Vision Council noted nearly 60% of American adults experienced one or more symptoms of digital eye strain.

  • 32% reported eye strain
  • 27% reported dry eyes
  • 28% reported headaches
  • 28% reported blurred vision
  • 35% reported neck and shoulder pain

Voice over talent would align with the 80% of adults who say they use digital devices for more than two hours each day, and we may even match up with the 67% who say they use two or more devices at the same time.

Even when we’re not officially at work, we could be checking our phones, watching TV or continuing screen time in other ways. Nearly 80% of adults say they use some type of digital device in the hour before going bed, and 55% percent use them within the first hour they’re awake.

How Voice Over Actors Can Avoid Eye Strain

Keeping our eyes healthy can start by adjusting our work environment and habits to reduce the risk of eye strain. These tips can help immensely.

Give Your Eyes a Break

Eye strain tends to occur when you’re in front of the computer for an extended stretch of two hours or more. You can start to experience what’s known as focusing fatigue, which occurs when eyes tire out from constantly focusing on the screen.

Avoid it by implementing what doctors call the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, look away from your screen to focus on something at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This gives the focusing muscle a chance to relax.

You can also focus on something in the distance for at least 10 seconds, then focus on something up close for at least 10 seconds. Alternate between the two 10 times. This exercise helps ensure your eyes’ focusing ability doesn’t lock up during extended screen time.

Blink Frequently

We tend to blink much less frequently when we’re reading from a computer screen than we do when we’re reading off a printed page. Blinking keeps our eyes lubricated, helping us avoid irritation and dryness.

Make a habit of blinking 10 times every 20 minutes to keep eyes moistened. If you’re still having dry eye issues, lubricating eye drops may be helpful. Just make sure you pick those designed to lubricate the eyes. Those meant to get the red out only decrease the size of the blood vessels without necessarily easing irritation.

Blink to prevent eye strain

Pay Attention to Lighting

Staring at a bright screen in a dark recording booth can increase the risk of eye strain, due to the contrast between the dimness of the booth and the brightness of the screen. This causes your eyes to put more effort into focusing and more strain on your vision.

You can decrease the risk of eye strain with several tactics:

  • Reduce the brightness of your monitor, adjusting it to more closely match the level of illumination in the booth.
  • Increase the contrast, which makes dark text on a light background stand out better for easier focusing.
  • Increase the font size, which can also make it easier for your eyes to focus.
  • Add a small light source, such as a mini USB lamp, to even out the lighting.
  • Eliminate any glare, which you can usually do by turning the screen away from any light source shining directly on it. If you wear glasses, you can get lenses with an anti-reflective coating to protect your eyes even further.

Adjust Your Work Setup

The layout of your voice over workstation has an impact on your eye health. You want your monitor to be at least 20 inches away from your eyes, with the center of the screen angled about 15 degrees below your eyes. This makes reading it more comfortable and ensures you’re not craning your neck.

If you’re reading from both a screen and a printed page, put the printed pages on a stand next to your screen so you can look back and forth with ease. Use a small light on the printed page if needed, ensuring that it doesn’t create a glare on your screen.

Your overall posture plays a role in your eye health, as well. Sit up straight, and keep your chair at a comfortable height that lets your feet rest easily on the floor.

Try Computer Glasses

If you wear glasses, you can look into customized computer glasses that are designed to work at the exact distance you sit from your computer screen. These can be particularly helpful if you have bifocals or progressive lenses that would normally make you tilt your head to get just the right focus through a specific band on your lens. All that head tilting can eventually lead to a sore neck, back or shoulders after extended periods.

Computer glasses instead give you an entire lens that’s adjusted for optimum viewing of your computer screen. You can also get an anti-reflective coating to cut down on glare, along with photochromic lenses that darken to shield your eyes from harsh indoor or outdoor light.

Just put the custom glasses on when you work at your computer, and then switch back to your regular glasses when you’re done. My husband normally wears progressive lenses, and he has a pair of custom computer glasses that he says makes a huge difference in his comfort and ability to see the screen clearly from any angle.

Additional Eye Care Tips for Voice Over Actors

It’s important to pay attention to eye health even when we’re not at work, and a few tips can help. Getting regular eye exams is always a good idea, as is wearing sunglasses to protect our eyes from bright sunlight. Regular exercise and a healthy diet likewise contribute to good eye health.

Even though our voice may be our greatest asset as voice over artists, our eyesight is equally important both on the job and off. Not only are these tips are easy to follow and add to our daily routine, but they can make a big difference in the long run.

What You Need to Know About Voice Over Coaching – Part 2

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Many factors contribute to a successful voice over career, and one of those can be good voice over coaching. Voice over coaching has become more popular than ever, something I looked at in the first part of my voice-over coaching blog. This second part dives deeper into the VO coaching scene, with input from three highly respected and successful VO coaches:

  • Kim Handysides is a voice over coach with 25+ years’ experience as an award-winning voice actor, with a stellar reputation built on her talent, creativity and relentless work ethic. More at www.kimhandysidesvoiceover.com/coaching.
  • Julie Williams is a voice over life coach with 40 years’ experience as a voice over pro. Her coaching guides clients through every aspect of their voice over lives. More at www.juliewilliamscoaches.com
  • Marc Cashman is Voice President of Cashman Commercials, with over 40 years of experience as an award-winning voiceover talent, casting director, copywriter and producer, where he offers V-O coaching in commercial copy, narration, promos, trailers, e-learning, animation, videogames and audiobooks. More at www.cashmancommercials.com.

As you’ll note, all three are established voice over actors who offer professional voice over as well as coaching services. I sent several questions their way, and they responded with the valuable insights below.

What Can Voice Over Coaching Do for Clients?

Marc:

V-O coaching gives voice actors tools they can use and apply for the rest of their career. It helps bolster their strengths and diminishes or eliminates their weaknesses. It gives them confidence in their abilities and helps put those abilities in perspective. It exposes them to many different genres of V-O, and challenges them in areas they weren’t sure they could tackle.

It breaks them of bad habits and fosters good ones. It lets them make mistakes while training so they don’t make those mistakes in the workaday world. It holds their feet to the fire and gives them constructive feedback. And by listening to a recording of their coaching sessions, it gives them an objective view of their progress.

Julie:

It can make the difference between whether they can actually get work or remain a “wanna be.” As a Whole Voiceover Life Coach, I guide clients through all aspects of their VO careers, both by myself and by referring them to others with different areas of expertise.

What Makes a Client a Good Fit vs. Bad Fit?

Marc:

I know if a V-O coaching client is a good fit for what I offer when I hear if they’re able to listen, to take constructive feedback, to apply that feedback quickly, to understand that I’m here to support them with best practices – and if they have a great attitude and sense of humor.

Julie:

The students who are a bad fit are the ones who think they already know it all.

Can You Tell if a Client is Primed for Voice Over Success?

Kim:

Yes, especially after the first session. Sometimes even before. A successful client has to be able to identify any emotional roadblocks and be willing to remove them. Emotional roadblocks can be external, like a demanding family or day-job situation, or internal, like not being able to handle rejection.

I coached one very talented client who will not succeed because their fear of failure is greater than their willingness to try. And that’s sad.

My most successful VO clients take the work very seriously. They make plans and follow through on them. They work on their craft, their marketing, their knowledge of equipment every day. They are consistent. They try. They take risks. They study ones who’ve succeeded and learn to bring their own special something to the mix.

Julie:

I can only tell if a client is likely to succeed once I start working with them. Some are great naturally but haven’t developed any skills. Others just don’t learn well. There’s only so much I can do with them.

[Indications of likely success include] taking direction well, being open to listening, and having a good attitude. 

Marc:

I can tell if a V-O client has the skills necessary to be competitive in the industry, but I can’t tell if they can be successful, because that depends on so many variables: timing, connections, self-promotional abilities, luck and myriad others. I’ve worked with many talented voice actors who’ve dropped out of sight, and others who’ve made huge strides. There’s just no telling how successful someone will be in this anonymous side of show business.

Can You Tell if a Client Has Little Chance of Voice Over Success?

Kim:

Yes. You need talent, a keen observation of the human condition and to be able to keep people’s interest when telling stories. You also need discipline, flexibility, an open mind (and heart), a strong drive, and the ability to communicate well with people. Unfortunately, a lot of people are under the misconception that all you need is a “great voice.” That is such a shallow view of this industry.

Others who may have little chance of success include people who are too busy or disorganized to do the work, or not committed to the reinvention of oneself we need to undertake to ride the waves in the industry. There are some instances where the client may literally be chasing an impossible dream. Someone who speaks a language other than English as their mother tongue, or has an unmarketable accent.

More often though, clients who don’t seem to have what it takes are the ones who aren’t willing to do the work. And the work is extensive, especially if you’ve come from something other than acting or a broadcast background.

What do You Tell Clients Who Don’t Seem to Have What It Takes?

Marc:

I tell them if they really want to pursue V-O, they need to be competitive, which takes skill, dedication and relentless focus. I also remind them that V-O is an anonymous side of show business and that not everybody who wants to be successful can be.

But I also remind them of the mantra of the used car business: There’s an ass for every seat. Somebody is gonna get the part, and it could just as well be you. I’ve worked with students who I thought were marginally talented who’ve gone on to make a career of V-O because they were diligent and tenacious.

What’s One Piece of Advice You Wish Every Client Knew? 

Kim:

It takes work. A lot of work. You have to be disciplined and set goals and strive to reach them, then set more. This is not an easy profession. But if you’re willing to work hard and diligently, you may succeed and be able to make money doing something you love. And that’s a dream come true.

Julie:

Realize that you’re starting a business.

Marc:

Don’t do a V-O demo until you’re ready. Don’t put the cart before the horse. Understand that anything you want to do well takes time and practice. Understand the 10,000-hour rule of competency. Double that to achieve proficiency. Triple that to achieve greatness.

Summing Up Voice Over Coaching

As you can tell from the responses of these three VO pros, dedicated voice over coaches are equipped to help you learn a lot about the business – and yourself. I’ve worked with several good voice over coaches over the course of my own career, and it was particularly helpful during my early years in voice over. While much has changed since I got my start in the early 1990s, great voice over coaches will always be an asset to the business.

Thank you to Kim Handysides, Julie Williams, and Marc Cashman for taking the time to respond to our questions and share their knowledge with the world.

A Scary Thought for Voice Over Artists and Other Solopreneurs

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Scary Thoughts for Voice Over Artists and Other Solopreneurs

With Halloween heading our way, you may be expecting goblins, ghouls, ghosts and other scary costumes. But there’s something even more frightening that could sneak up on you at any time of the year, and you may never see it coming.

This is something we first became aware of a couple of years back, when our health insurance provider mentioned the subject in an email notice. And we decided to write a blog post about this topic now, after reading about the very scary situation that fellow voice over artist, Paul Strikwerda has been dealing with over the past six months. Be sure to read his post, “Losing My Voice” to get his full harrowing story and why it relates to this post.

Unlike the very direct threat to health and career that Paul has been dealing with for the past several months, the threat I want to talk about is a threat for which you may think you are fully covered by your health insurance – but in reality you probably have very little or no protection against it. And, because of that exposure, you are vulnerable to a potentially catastrophic financial event.

Real-Life Tragedy

Radiologist Dr. Naveed Khan found out about this high-cost exposure the hard way, as told in a story published in the October MASA newsletter. Khan was taking his first ride on an all-terrain vehicle in Texas, eventually taking the wheel from his pal. While driving in circles in the sand, the ATV tilted and then tipped over on its side, landing on Khan’s left arm.

Although lightheaded, the 35-year-old doctor was able to extricate his arm, tie a jacket around his massive arm wound, and right the ATV to drive back toward the street to call for help. His 911 call resulted in an ambulance ride to the emergency room of the nearest hospital, but his wound required immediate treatment from a more advanced trauma center if there were any hopes of saving his arm.

This resulted in a helicopter ride to the nearest trauma center, which was more than 100 miles away. After immediate emergency treatment, Khan was forced to endure weeks in the hospital and a grand total of eight surgeries to try to save his arm.

Obviously, you would expect the medical bills for an accident like this to be in the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. But, that is why we buy health insurance, right? To protect us from big financial setbacks due to one bad accident. Well, in Dr. Khan’s case, his health insurance did cover most of the costs involved in his accident. However, there was one bill which was not fully covered.

The bill for the air ambulance flight alone came to $56,000, which Khan’s health insurance carrier initially refused to pay. His carrier, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, eventually covered about $12,000 of the air ambulance bill, leaving Dr. Khan responsible for the remaining $44,000.

High Costs of Emergency Transport can wreak havoc on a voice over talent business

High Cost of Emergency Transport

Khan’s story is a tragic one, but the Medical Air Services Association (MASA) says it’s not at all uncommon. Americans have a one in 12 chance of needing life-saving care within our lifetime, according to Mutual Aid Ambulance Service, and a one in four chance of needing an ambulance for non-emergency transport. Stats from the Association of Air Medical Services note that more than 550,000 people across the U.S. end up using air ambulance services each year.

The odds that you or someone in your immediate family will need emergency air transportation are much higher than you may think. Yet, up until now, health insurance providers do not include coverage for this potentially massive expense.

Air ambulances are not regulated as healthcare, but instead as part of the aviation industry. That gives them the freedom to charge what they want. Insurance companies have caps on the amount they are required to reimburse, if they reimburse you at all.

The cost of emergency transportation is not cheap, regardless of the type of vehicle, and non-emergency medical transport isn’t much cheaper. Most health insurance policies don’t cover the bill for either one and, if they do cover part of it, your deductibles or premiums may increase.

MASA notes what you can expect to pay for different emergency transport services:

  • $2,400: Ground ambulance
  • $30,000+: Helicopter transportation
  • $20,000+: Medically equipped non-emergency air transport (with payment required before liftoff)

Medical evacuations while on vacation are another high-cost area, with Allianz Travel Insurance outlining typical costs at some popular vacation destinations.

Typical Costs to be medically evacuated in other countries:

  • $15,000+: Mexico
  • $50,000+: France, German, other European countries
  • $90,000+: Russia
  • $100,000: South America
  • $220,000: Australia, Asia, Middle East

Keep in mind these are only the costs for getting you to the hospital in the country you are in at the time. They don’t include the cost of treatment or the cost of getting you back home to the U.S. If you’re traveling home on a stretcher on a commercial flight with a medical escort, you would need to purchase eight airplane seats to accommodate the stretcher, along with paying about $25,000 for the nurse traveling with you.

These costs can be particularly devastating to voice over artists and other self-employed professionals, with a high enough medical transportation bill having the ability to wipe out our savings – or even drive us into bankruptcy or financial ruin.

Peace of Mind Solution

Thankfully I can get these scary thoughts out of my own mind now and we have covered this exposure thoroughly with a supplemental coverage. As my husband became aware of this gap in coverage a couple of years ago, he investigated several different options. He ultimately came across a company that offers emergency medical transportation coverage for our entire family of four, whether we’re in the U.S. or outside the country, for only $60 per month.

The monthly premium is reasonable, particularly for the generous amount of coverage we receive. Any and all emergency transportation costs for anyone in our family is 100% covered by this insurance, with no deductibles involved. If we have the need for emergency transport, we don’t have to worry at the time of the accident about who to call or how much it’s going to cost. Whatever emergency transport bills we receive afterward will be forwarded to MASA and they pay them on our behalf. Having this type of coverage replaces the potentially frightening scenarios in the back of my head with total peace of mind.

For more information, please visit their website: https://www.medairservices.com  We receive no benefit or financial reward for recommending this company.

While we like when Halloween is filled with scary goblins, ghoul and ghost costumes, we can definitely live without the real-life scary thoughts. Hope this helps bring awareness to the issue so that we can all have a very safe and happy Halloween.

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Your Voice Over Success Requires This Key Soft Skill

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Voice Over Success requires the ability to delay gratificationThe journey toward your voice over success and a fulfilling voice talent career requires many skills, talents and qualities. And one of those qualities is becoming more elusive than ever in this digital age of instant everything. It’s the quality of delayed gratification and it is truly a life-changing skill if mastered and utilized in your everyday existence. So, let’s dive into this topic and if you make it all the way to the end of this post, you’ll get a special reward.

Delayed Gratification Explained

Delayed gratification is the capacity to wait for a reward that promises to be bigger and better than the instant gratification you’d get from a lesser yet immediate pleasure. The concept of delayed gratification was explored years ago in The Marshmallow Experiment, as James Clear brings up in his discussion on the topic.

The Marshmallow Experiment involved bringing a child into room where a marshmallow beckoned from the table. The researcher told the child he was going to be left alone with the marshmallow for a set period, during which time the children were given a challenge.

If the children could refrain from eating the marshmallow until the researcher returned, they would get a second marshmallow to enjoy. Kids had to pick between:

  • Immediate pleasure from a single marshmallow
  • Delayed gratification with double the rewards

Results were mixed, and the children’s lives were subsequently tracked over a 40-year period. The kids that were able to choose delayed gratification ended up more successful in many things across the board, from SAT scores to social skills and reactions to stress.

Where Delayed Gratification Fits in with Your Voice Over Success

Delayed gratification plays a huge role in your voice over success, as long-lasting positive results do not come instantly. The promise of the big reward of a full-time voice actor career is down the line, but only for those who have the capacity to wait it out while paying their dues.

Those dues can be pretty hefty. Starting any business as a solopreneur involves a lot of moving pieces that need to be put together to complete the puzzle. These include setting up a website, creating your branding and marketing plan, strengthening your talent and skills with training, putting together a voice over talent demo, finding agents to represent you, constantly seeking out audition opportunities, and otherwise doing all those things to get a new business up and running.

Sometimes it may feel like the only reward at the end of the day may be the ability to finally move away from the computer and get some sleep. But the bigger reward of living a dream job is only possible for those willing to wait for the delayed gratification.

Voice Over Success demands you be able to fight off the many distractions and stay focused on most important tasks

Things Fighting You Along the Way

For the younger generations now in or near the workforce who grew up in the digital world, delayed gratification may seem like a totally foreign concept. That concept gets even harder to grasp, for people of any age, with the number of distractions in society today.

Even when you’re at work at your computer, emails urge you to check out the latest sales at your favorite shops, the instructional YouTube video you’re viewing ends with links to dozens of other intriguing videos, one article you’re reading links to a handful of others, and social media alerts exclaim that three more people commented on your latest post.

Add personal responsibilities that may include daily chores to complete, errands to run, children and pets to tend to, and that thing called eating dinner, and sticking on the patient road toward delayed gratification can feel like an impossible feat.

With so many things calling for your attention, and so many tasks that need to be tackled when you’re first launching a business, the whole process can feel overwhelming. Overwhelming can turn daunting and even frustrating when there’s not a lot of early success at the beginning of a career.

The choice between delayed gratification down the road and the instant gratification of throwing up your hands in despair as you go to watch TV can be a tough one indeed.

Why Stick it Out

Don’t give up. Even if you’re used to instant results, instant gratification, and pretty much instant everything, challenge yourself to stay the course for the delayed gratification that hard work, passion, and dedication always brings.

Even if your own delayed gratification doesn’t bring the voice over success as you envisioned, putting all that positive energy out into the universe is going to bring on rewards. Perhaps all your hard work will lead to new relationships, new ideas, or a new path that results in a career even more exciting than the one you imagined.

Whatever the case, I’ve found the success that comes from the pain of sticking with it over the ease of distraction is worth the wait. You can even train yourself into a pattern of delayed gratification by setting up smaller, daily rewards – like the delayed gratification of finishing everything on your to-do list if you stay focused on your work throughout the day.

Remind yourself that you do have the capacity to wait, and the rewards will definitely be worth it. There’s no reason to sell yourself short with one marshmallow now when you can double your rewards down the road.

Now, on a little tangent (and I’m putting this at the end so that I don’t distract you from finishing my post), last weekend I got to finally see Hamilton in Chicago. And, as I was doing my final edit on this blog, the song “Wait For It” kept going around in my head! So, for a little entertainment and reward for making it all the way to the end of my post, please check out this awesome 360-degree video of the original Broadway cast. Be sure to grab the screen and rotate to see everyone around you.

My Voice Over Experiences from the Weird to the Scary to the Sublime

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My Voice Over Experiences from Weird to Wonderful

An out-of-the-blue email really caught my attention a few months back, and it continues to puzzle me today. The email was from someone who said they worked for Cracked.com (formerly Cracked Magazine) and wanted to interview me about some of my voice over experiences in the biz. My first thought was: “Cracked Magazine? Don’t they write funny, satirical cartoons and stuff?”

But, I took a look at their site and saw a wide array of articles on many topics – topics that would generate web traffic. Since being or becoming a voice over artist is a popular topic on the internet to some degree, it made sense that they were trying to tap into an interested readership.

My website probably had come up high on a general Google search for voice over artists, and that was how they found me. Made sense.

I don’t get asked to do many interviews, so I was excited to work on this.  To make things easy, the author sent me a few questions he (or maybe it was a she, hard to tell by the name) wanted me to answer in writing.

We had a little back and forth by email and I fine-tuned my answers over several revisions. After a couple of weeks, I sent off the finished interview and waited to hear details of when it would be published.

No reply. No acknowledgement of even receiving the document.

I followed up a few times by email and even tried to reach the person by phone and still nothing.

Guess I’m Not in Kansas Anymore

Was I suddenly living in a different parallel universe? Or maybe the author got hit by a bus (God forbid)! Very strange. Like having one of those “Wizard of Oz” moments where you wonder if you dreamed the whole thing.

Nope, I had the emails to prove it. Had I just been scammed in some way? No money was involved and all I had provided was a few answers to some questions. If it was a scam, it was a pretty pathetic one!

It was like this person had just dropped off the face of the planet. Maybe they suddenly left the company or got fired and the ball never got passed to someone else. That seemed like a possibility. Anyway, despite other attempts to get some contact from the company, nothing worked and I never got a reply.

So, rather than never having this interview see the light of day, I decided to post it here on my blog. Enjoy!

What would most surprise someone starting a career as a voice over artist today?

I think what would most surprise a person coming into the business today would be that the amount of time they will spend actually recording their voice for paying gigs is a relatively small percentage of their time (about 15% on average).

The modern landscape dictates a voice talent’s day is largely consumed by marketing activities, such as auditioning for agents and online casting sites, communicating with clients and prospects in social media and email, and staying in touch and top of mind any way you can.

Then there are all of the day-to-day chores you have to do when you run your own business. These include accounting, managing your technology, updating your database, and many other little things that all take significant time and attention.

I am fortunate to have my husband working full-time in my business, and he actually handles the majority of the marketing and business chores so I can stay focused on recording and the logistics of job requests and auditions. The percentage of time I spend on paid work is more like 85%, but that is only because I have a full-time employee. If you are running your business solo, which I think most voice talent are, then you’ll have to wear many hats and spend a lot of time on these other essential tasks.

How has doing voice overs changed over the years?

Many things have changed, mostly due to the presence of the internet. Home studios did not exist when I got my start as a voice actor back in the early ’90s in Southern California. The only people who could work in the profession lived around major cities that had a lot of recording studios. Los Angeles and New York were the dominant hubs in the U.S.

Now, thanks to the internet, you can have a home studio anywhere as long as you have a fast broadband connection. That development leads to what I see as the biggest change directly impacting how I run my business, and that is: The amount of competition has gone way up.

For most of my career, very few people outside of the business even knew what voice over was. Whenever someone asked me what I did for a living, I would have to explain it. Then I would still get a lot confused looks from people.

Now when I mention that I’m a voice over talent, I get, “Oh yeah, my friend/sister/neighbor is doing that, too! Can I have them call you so you can share some of your best tips?”

While there is a much larger supply of voice over opportunities in the world, there is also an exponentially larger number of voice talents all trying to win those jobs. You have to be much more strategic and thoughtful in how you get business these days.

What is the scariest thing that has happened in my voice over business

What is the scariest thing that has happened to you in the voice over business?

There have been many scary moments along the way, which is probably true for any entrepreneur running a small business. Almost all of my most memorable scary moments involve technology failing at extremely inopportune times. It’s rare that this happens because we keep everything updated and well-maintained, but sometimes hardware or software just stops working and you have what feels like milliseconds to figure out what is going on and how to get it fixed.

Last year, my recording software abruptly stopped loading, ultimately resulting in a switch to a different software program with a significant learning curve. This happened right at the start of the year, with a full lineup of jobs waiting to be recorded. It was pretty stressful for a few days as we figured out what we needed to do to get back up and running while ensuring clients received everything they needed on time.

For a voice over talent, if you’re not recording, you’re not making money. So you have to be able to troubleshoot things quickly and come up with a solution. Beyond my husband, who has some good technical experience and know-how, I have several techs and audio experts I can call on when necessary.

Without those kinds of resources, things can get very scary very quickly. If I can’t deliver what my clients need on time, there’s always the chance they will look for someone else who can.

What is the weirdest voice over job you ever had?

My vote goes for the sexy weather forecaster gig. Several years back, I was hired on a project which involved attractive scantily clad women presenting weather forecasts for online subscribers. Subscribers would see still photos of attractive bikini models motioning to portions of the U.S. map while a voice over talent recited the day’s weather forecast.

I was hired to provide the voice for one of the models. The service was a bust (haha), but the client did pay me for several recording sessions that we completed as part of the launch.

What was the happiest voice over job you ever landed?

My happiest thing is definitely being one of the voices at the Happiest Place on Earth – Disneyland. When I was living in Southern California, I was recording some of the park announcements for Magic Music Days, holiday celebrations and special events. Then, when they opened Disney’s California Adventure (DCA), they offered me the role of being the Voice of the Park, welcoming guests with pre-recorded announcements for various activities.

I had to give up the gig when I moved away from So Cal, but for a few years it was fun being recognized by friends who heard me on their visits to DCA.

Where have I heard your voice?

That’s one of the first questions I tend to get when folks find out I do voice over for a living. While I do a good deal of TV and radio spots in local and regional markets, the most widely played spot was probably the one for the original Pillow Pets.

Many of the projects I’ve completed are for internal use by companies and not heard by the general public, although I have cultivated a niche over the years on television as the voice for many children’s infomercial products.  I’ve recorded a few dozen different kids’ products and toys, as well as other direct-response advertisers, marketing everything from make-up to teeth whiteners to exercise equipment.

You might also hear me narrating a web video, directing you on voicemail options on a company’s IVR system, or teaching you something profound and useful in a continuing education course.

While I may never find out what happened to the person who sent the initial email, at least I know the interview has been put to use. In addition to providing info that could be helpful or entertaining to someone else, it also gave me a chance to think back on my happiest, scariest, and by far weirdest moment in the voice over biz.

Please feel free to share some of yours down below! What were your weirdest, wildest, scariest, and happiest experiences so far in voice over?

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Debbie Grattan is a top-rated professional female voice over talent with more than 25 years of experience delivering voice over services worldwide. She regularly records commercial voice overs for radio and tv as well as infomercial voice overs and direct response marketing for children's toys, health, fitness and beauty products. Other specialties include female narration voice overs for corporate narration, web videos, tutorials, explainer videos and technical medical narration. Debbie also provides phone-related voice over services including phone prompts, messages-on-hold and outbound phone marketing for companies in the United States and Canada.

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