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Hey, there!

I spent some time recently in San Francisco with some of my students, and self-perception versus the perception of the casting director came up.

I listened carefully to the students’ answer to this question: “How do you figure out what the producer/writer/casting director wants, so you can give it to them?”

Right off the bat, that sounded like there were no right answers, because it was the wrong question to be asking.

And the answer to that very wrong question is very, very simple. Continue Reading →

Hey there!

You’ve no doubt heard me prattle on about storytelling, and how important it is to your VO career to develop and hone your storytelling skills.

It’s essential.

So, every so often, I like to roll out items from this list from Emma Coats, who used to work at Pixar as a story artist, and who serially tweeted Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling.

I’m going to give you one of these rules every so often as we move through the next several months, along with how you can apply the rule to your VO artistry.

Today, Rule 1… Continue Reading →

Hey, there!

For the longest time, I’ve had conversations with both regional American and non-American actors about their accents.

Almost to a person, they are fairly desperate to find a way to stamp out their native accent and replace it with a General American accent.

Big, big, BIG mistake.

Here’s why. Continue Reading →

Hey, there!

My fellow VO artist Gary Terzza has posted an awesome article on his blog about something I see as a crisis in our business.

And it’s one that can be addressed, but it’s going to take some personal energy.

But if you suffer from it (and you probably do), you can fix it.

Here’s how. Continue Reading →

Hey, there!

One of my lovely clients wrote me the other day in a panic:

“Hey, all of a sudden, something weird is happening when I record in Audacity.

I’ve always had my input level set at .6 or so, and have never touched it. But now, AS I’M RECORDING, the level is changing on me. I see it moving on the level slider!!! WHAT??”

I wrote her back and said that she shouldn’t worry, it’s nothing she’s done to Audacity, and that we can easily fix it.

Here’s how. Continue Reading →

Hey, there!

I get lots of reasons, from the students and clients I encounter, for wanting to come to me for voice over training.

Some are really direct, such as acting and storytelling as a passion, for some VO artists.

But there’s another, extraordinarily beneficial reason to get voice training.

Here’s Harvard’s reason. Continue Reading →

Hey, there!

This falls under the category of defending the success of your VO career via technology…keeping your passwords safe from malware that is out to steal them.

You’ve probably heard about (or maybe been affected by) any number of malware attacks that place software on your machine, and intercept your communications – supposedly safe, encrypted communications – including your passwords.

Every site that has contacted their users after one of these attacks has had one message: change your password for our site.

Every site, that is, except for one – because they were completely protected. Continue Reading →