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MOVING ON, PART 2:
In recent days your messages to me about the VoiceOverXtra site retirement on March 12 have been incredibly touching and beyond what I could have anticipated. I thank you so very, very much. I’ll always have the voice over community in my thoughts and memories – and I’ll be keeping tabs on you. Today I’m also thanking many people who have helped me with the evolution of VoiceOverXtra. (If you’re not mentioned, please know that I AM thinking about you and that I’ve appreciated our times together). I’ll also share some lessons learned for VO newcomers. CAN’T DO IT ALONE If you’ve been in voice over for any length of time - even for just a month - you might not realize it yet, but you already know the key to success in this biz. You’re not gonna get anywhere alone. Sure, you bring the idea and your talent. But the team you assemble gets it done. Over 19 years of innovation with VoiceOverXtra and (my gosh), 27 years total in voice over, I’ve had the backing of superior teams. And many of these teams gelled from initial contacts at the first VOICE Conference in a Las Vegas casino/hotel off the Strip back in 2007. Talk about luck: I struck gold there with people. Just as you’ll do for your own career at conferences, and in training and attending events – in person and online. But I’m jumping ahead of the story. Let’s begin here … BACKSTORY: THE ACTING BUG If we go way back, the spark for me that led to voice over was performing in high school plays. They opened the cage of shyness. And I discovered a voice for singing and announcing. Was I to become an actor? Well, maybe something with a steady paycheck would be safer. So after college (broadcasting and film) and four years of travel in the Air Force (including moonlighting on a soft jazz FM radio program), my career tracked to journalism and the editorial side of magazine publishing. For 25 years. That’s when the turn came to VO. Lesson: Accept and appreciate that your career is an evolving mountain of experience, desires and opportunities. Keep your mind open for next steps. CREATING VOICE OVER TEAM A classified ad in a local newspaper challenged the reader to see if they had a voice for voice over. Come to this adult education class to find out. OK, I did that. Followed through with three lessons and … voila! … cut commercial and narration demos that ... displayed my need for more training. But it was a start. Without realizing it, I next began building my team through coaching with pros in the NYC area. Susan Berkley, Dan Duckworth, Ron Knight, David Zema, Jen Duckworth, Randye Kaye and others at Edge Studio – and in particular, Chief Edge Officer David Goldberg. David had me sweating in the hall of his early NYC studio as I and others practiced script reads for his eagle-ear coaching. David later produced my second demo, which led to my first VO job and a stream of locally produced gigs. Lesson: Everyone you meet, train with, and hire becomes part of your career team. Welcome and build with them. Don't assume that you know it all - there's much to learn. MARKETING – TOOK SMALL RISK
Typically, I was invited to mail the demo cassette or CD. Instead, I delivered it in person. Often I got a studio tour and the opportunity to chat briefly with the production chief. And that’s how I got my first paid VO job. It was actually a physical cold call at a studio. I walked into the room as the producer himself was attempting to pack a novel-length commercial script about a local carpet store into a 30-sec spot. He was at the mic stand, exasperated. At a desk nearby sat the ad agency exec. The producer told me, “If you can do this in 30 seconds, you’ve got it.” I stepped up. Sweated profusely for about 10 minutes. And it was done. The ad exec cut a check for $50. Over time, a string of local jobs – especially at the cable stations – produced a small income. I also trained for and found some openings in medical narrations. Lesson: Get your foot in the door with producers and casting directors with a professional approach that makes you stand out. VOICEOVERXTRA WAS BORN The voice over gigs soothed the acting bug. But publishing ached for attention, too. For a few years around then I was also learning the craft of public speaking in local weekly meetings of Toastmasters International (purge those ‘ahhs’ and ‘ums’!). That’s where I met producer and life coach Don Smith (now The Speech Tamer). We got to chatting about how to merge my two career passions – publishing and voice over - and from that, VoiceOverXtra was born: an online CNN for voice over, with industry news, training opportunities, and a vehicle for others to reach voice actors with their VO products and services. Truth be told, Don even came up with the name, VoiceOverXtra. And he stuck around to guide me. Somehow I found Ray Pittman, whose team at Quasar Enterprises created the massive functions of VoiceOverXtra.com. I began packing the website with how-to articles, dripping with anxiety to launch this first-of-its-kind product for the voice over industry. Lesson: Step by step, your career ladder will grow. LUCK AT THE CASINO But would voice actors, agents, casting directors – the industry! – accept the VoiceOverXtra concept? I needed validation before going live. And that came coincidentally as another first for the industry was launched by producer James Alburger and voice actor Penny Abshire: the first annual VOICE Conference. In early 2007 their online marketing brought hundreds of voice actors, coaches and directors to a casino/hotel in Las Vegas to network, socialize and learn voice acting. I arrived with anxiety and business cards, and was rewarded with enthusiasm for my dream, offers to help, a list of first subscribers, article contributors, and pledges to use my growing mailing list for advertisements. Even VO icon Don LaFontaine said to contact him! Lesson: Whatever you do, be prepared. Take business cards to conferences. Know the script. Sign up early and study schedules. GET TO CONVENTIONS As the first VOICE Conference ended, another VO icon – voice actor/coach Pat Fraley – asked how many subscribers I had by that moment. I replied: “About 50.” Pat said, “You’ll have 500 by the end of the year.” He was right. And that list continued to grow, to about 5,000 today. BTW: Pat became one of the first coaches to use VoiceOverXtra to reach voice actors online, and remained with the service every month, 24/7, through December 2025. In fact, many business relationships and friendships forged during that week in Las Vegas continue today. A few months after the conference, with a pack of subscribers, how-to articles and advertisers, VoiceOverXtra officially launched in July. The following year, VoiceOverXtra was an exhibitor at the 2nd annual VOICE CONFERENCE.
Lessons: Get to voice over conferences and events! In person or online. You’ll network. Learn skills. Meet friends, trainers and casting directors who will encourage and support you. It’ll build your confidence and speed up your career. The VOICE Conferences ended after a 5-year run, yet opportunities abound today, for instance, with mega VO Atlanta, One Voice USA (Dallas) and MAVO (Mid-Atlantic states). Also join the industry’s excellent organizations for events, networking, training, and to give back to the industry that supports you: NAVA (National Association of Voice Actors), WoVO (World Voices), SOVAS (Society of Voice Arts and Sciences), and APA (Audio Publishers Association). And volunteer! It's a great way to meet people. FREE ARTICLES BUILD HUGE ARCHIVE Articles posted on VoiceOverXtra are a mix of voice acting and tech how-to, news about industry trends and events. Early on, they also featured voice actor interviews and glimpses into home studios. By now, the archive boasts over 2,500 articles (but hurry to see them!). The free access articles were, quite frankly, a lure to visit the website where advertising might catch the visitor’s attention. I wrote mainly about industry trends, and asked others to contribute advice about voice acting and tech – either with original articles or reposting with permission their recent blogs. Over the years, the bylines read like an honor roll of industry authorities – voice actors, coaches, tech experts and observers. Frequent contributors included Las Vegas TV anchor/voice actor Dave Courvoiser; voice actor/attorney Rob Sciglimpaglia; voice actor/coaches Tom Dheere, Marc Cashman, Pat Fraley; home studio expert Dan Lenard; and my gosh, we just enjoyed episode 165 of voice actor/coach/producer Joe Loesch’s MO-JOE Friday Video series. TRAINING WEBINARS BEGIN In 2009, VoiceOverXtra was among the first to offer online training through webinars. While in-person workshops and events were wonderful, voice actors worldwide now had the opportunity to be trained in group sessions by the industry’s top coaches. Sessions that focused on voice acting typically offered personal coaching, as well. Dan Lenard, the Home Studio Master, was our first trainer. In later webinars he often appeared like a TV weather personality, standing before an enlarged screen displaying recording and editing controls, to demonstrate how to record, edit and process voice overs. The webinar schedule was soon packed with two per month, hosted by me, and taught by the experts. That’s 17 years of quality training! Lesson: What can you initiate that serves the needs of your clients? If you succeed it will be noticed and heartily supported by the voice over community. (Copied, too.) ‘VOICE OVER LEGAL’ – BECAUSE VO IS A BUSINESS
Introduced in 2012, Voice Over LEGAL quickly became the industry’s comprehensive guide to voice over business and legal matters. The paperback and e-book versions were available through the VoiceOverXtra website, and paperbacks were a hit at VO conferences. The e-book became – and still is – an Amazon bestseller for entertainment law. Rob is now working on an updated version to help everyone through the evolving world of AI challenges. Lessons: Learn how to operate voice over as a business - or in time, you won’t have one. Also, if you have something unique to share, do it! Grow with the industry. FIRST ONLINE VO CONFERENCE Say, major magazine publishers and corporations were avoiding the mega expenses of in-person conferences by moving their events online. So why shouldn’t we? And besides, it would be fun for all. Of course, my dream to create such an event for voice over was a bit grand. I saw what the big guys were doing and wanted it.
Emcee Dave Couvoisier welcomed all in the plaza with a recorded announcement. Nearby was the Voice Plex Theater, where more than 50 coaches presented hour-long recorded training. Across the campus were two exhibit halls where attendees could click on a company logo to see product info and connect live with a company rep. Other buildings hosted meeting rooms with live connections to coaches and trainers, and hang-outs for video chats. The only plan that did not come to be was the Food Court. The national players of on-demand home delivery food at that time didn’t want to bother with us. The event was so popular that what started as a one-week affair stretched for another three months! And of course, it was accomplished by this amazing team:
Yes, this was indeed grand and fun. But also exhausting. And the graphical campus format was expensive. In the end, the first annual Voice Over Virtual conference broke even for me financially, and was not repeated. I was too early for Zoom. Lesson: Have fun innovating, but keep a mind on expenses and business. THANK YOU, ADVERTISERS! All along, VoiceOverXtra was an avenue for voice over coaches and marketers of products and services to reach voice actors in their homes via rotating ads on the website and monthly email messages. As Marketing Director, Martha Kahn tirelessly met with and helped people and companies to showcase their events, training opportunities and products to the VO community. Those emails surely were opened and clicked on! And the support of advertisers greatly supported the website’s bottom line. Thank you! Lesson: Providing a service that supports your client’s bottom line also supports yours. NOW, WHAT TO SAY? Thank you for your tremendous support and good times over the years! Best wishes for your career, life, and all your projects. I’ll be watching you. Stay in touch. |
By John Florian
With demo literally in hand, I called local production and cable TV studios for name of the person in charge of hiring voice actors. Back then, sometimes the call was even transferred to my potential employer.
And that’s where I met everyone’s friend, charming voice actor Martha Kahn (pictured). In time, Martha spurred VoiceOverXtra’s success as Marketing Director, helping trainers and marketers of products and services to reach our growing audience with website ads and monthly email messages.
In the early years, Rob Sciglimpaglia – the voice actor/coach/attorney – wrote so many features for VoiceOverXtra on business and legal issues that it seemed a natural to propose that he write a book on the topic. For VoiceOverXtra to publish, of course. Voice actor/accounting expert Elizabeth Holmes joined the project as editor.
In September 2013, the Voice Over Virtual conference ushered attendees into a sprawling graphical campus of training, video connections and massive online exhibit halls.
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