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CAREER Toss Half-Baked Notions About Voice Over Career Success. Here's The Real Recipe ...  By Debbie IrwinVoice Actor & Coach
Ask before you assume. It's hard to get started - with anything. And depending on your
temperament, it may be harder for you than for most. Why? Because ...
In a word, will. If you have it, there's a
way. FIRST STEP IS A DEMO? (SIGH) A young woman, 22 years old, trained as an actress in musical
theatre, asked if I could help her get started "doing voice overs" in
NYC. She's a dear friend of the family and I said yes. Eager-eyed, she asked, "So, I guess the first step is to make a demo?" I sighed, knowing all too well that that's the farthest thing from the first step.
Getting an agent is usually mentioned as one of the top 3 things to do "to get started," which is also a fallacy. 'I WAS SO GREEN' Boy, did I make a big mistake years ago. I had 'cut' my first demo, and
through a friend of a friend, managed to get a 5-minute meeting with one
of NYC's top VO agents. The agent quickly and politely told me that she had
"lots of horses in her stable just like me," thank you very much. The
fact is, I was so green, which she could see - and more importantly,
hear - from a mile away. You don't get a second chance to make a first
impression, so even though over the years I tried, by staying in touch
and by training with that agent, sadly she only ever saw me as "that newbie." So remember: make sure you're ready for the A team with your A-game. UNDERSTAND THAT VO IS A BUSINESS What most people don't understand, when they're exploring the
business of voice overs, is that it's a business. Even though I came to
the VO party later in lif (after having been an actress in NYC, then
working in PR at the Guggenheim, then making money as a stockbroker on
Wall Street, then leaving for 'Sesame Street' when I decided to be a
full-time mom and raise a family), with everything I'd learned about
myself - rejection, motivation, sales, client services, building a book
of business, being self-motivated, juggling many tasks simultaneously,
writing, the arts, finance, and the unpredictability of stock markets
and children - even I didn't fully appreciate the complexity of what I'd
need to do to make this dream a reality, and furthermore, the reality a
success. So here's what it takes:
Plus, business acumen in
marketing, sales, accounting, IT, audio engineering, networking,
prospecting, writing, and the soft skills that are harder to define - like:
SMALL ACTS MAKE BIG DIFFERENCE What about handshaking? Eye contact and a smile?
Does anyone teach that? These are simple skills, but you'd be surprised
by how many people don't do them well - or at all! And after years of my
mom harping on me to "Acknowledge!"
I learned to write thank-you notes for gifts I'd received -
pen/paper/envelopes/stamps - totally old school. In our digital overload
world, our virtual jungle of thousands of connections, friends of
friends in networks of networks, these small acts make a big difference. BEFORE YOUR DEMO ... Absorb before you act. Creating a demo to showcase your voice talent is certainly important:
it's your calling card, like your website is your online brochure. When searching for a professional to produce your demo, do
you want to hire someone who has created the shell but has no experience
to back it up? Doctors don't say, "I'm a surgeon, where do I find some
patients?!" In the OR, you want to be sure they've learned their craft
before they lay a hand on you, and are familiar with the process, the
procedure, the tools, the team members, and the best RX for
post-operative care. IS THIS SCARY? How can you know if you're really suited for a voice over career without
trying it? That's a dilemma, I agree. For starters, if none of the above
sounds scary, that's a good sign. Then start reading books
and blogs (of which there are a plethora), listening to whatever genre of work is of interest to you,
practicing scripts out loud (volunteering at The Lighthouse for The
Blind was how I spent a lot of time in my early days), and taking
classes (acting, voice, voice over, improvisation, business). MOVING ALONG ... Open your
wallet. The funds are going to start flowing - out! If the lights are still flashing green, it's time to invest
money in your ability to record and edit yourself. That means a
microphone, recording software, a soundproofed or treated space,
and more classes to learn how to be your own engineer, how to 'work the
mic', how to label audio files, and how to listen to your work
critically. At this point it's also smart to start building the infrastructure of your
business systems for CRM (client relationship management), and accounting
and filing for projects, to name a few. These components will be uber
helpful to have in place once you start doing business. Getting a website built and business cards made should be happening at this point, too.
(Hear the stampede of dollars out the door yet?!) You can also
become a member of the Pay-to-Play (online casting) websites, which will allow you to
create a profile where your work can be shared and you can
audition for projects. PUT IT ALL TOGETHER So, how long have you been training? If you're working with a
reputable person or company, they won't let you create a demo until they
have confidence that you're ready to market yourself with solid skills
that you'll be able to reproduce on your own when you step into the
booth to audition and/or record a project. And then you are on your way… to climb the next mountain: welcome to the world of auditioning - it's your new career! ----------------------- ABOUT DEBBIE Debbie Irwin's experience as a female voice over artist ranges
from highly technical and complicated medical narration to intimate
storytelling in documentaries, becoming characters - large and small,
young and old, nice and nasty - in video games, to being an engaging
teacher for kids' language development, corporate e-learning, and the
ubiquitous commercial found on TV, radio, Pandora, the web, in stores,
on planes and anywhere else you can imagine. She brings decades
of experience as a professional voice over talent and businesswoman into
the virtual classroom as well, offering medical narration coaching
sessions for talent who would like to hone their voice over skills and
learn the ins and outs of medical narration, script analysis, how to
market yourself, and more. Web: Voice Acting: https://debbieirwin.com Web: Medical Narration: https://debbieirwin.com/medical-narration Web: Medical Narration Coaching: https://debbieirwin.com/medical-narration-coaching |
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Excellent advice. A clear path for me to follow. I have already done a few of the steps in your article, and it is nice to have you reinforce my efforts so far. I will be following your advice in this article, and checking off the steps as I go. Thank you.
Bruce >