Last week I encouraged you to take Peter O’Connoll’s Voiceover Entrance Exam and you’ve returned! That tells me that you believe you’re suited for this business; so let me help you #BeHeard. For this installment of #VOnow I’d like to share a few things Dave Courvoisier, a friend, super VO talent, and Las Vegas Newscaster, recently wrote about coaching:
- A good voice is not good enough. It’s not even a basic criterion, really.
- Can you read out loud, and make it sound like you’re just talking to someone? And say it in 20 different ways? 10 different dialects? And PERFORM at the drop of a hat?
- How well do you handle rejection? Even when you know you’re better than your competition?
- Are you willing to accept criticism, swallow reality and keep coming back?
- Get ready to go back to school. Voice Over 101. Coaching and education are ongoing necessities.
As you see, the first thing we need to do is work on your voice. As a seasoned voiceover artist, I now offer coaching — feel free to contact me for further details. But let’s start with a few things you can do on your own:
- Figure out what kind of voiceovers you would like to explore. Because there are so many genres, it’s a good idea to start with what interests you. Each genre requires slightly different skills, and you may not be suited for all of them. Until you learn what you’re good at and where your voice is most marketable, it makes sense to focus on the area you like— commercials, documentary narrations, promos, audiobooks, video games, corporate narrations, medical narrations, etc.
- Listen to a ton of examples on TV, Radio, YouTube, and corporate websites, so you can begin to exercise your ear and learn what the people who are booking these gigs sound like. Styles of VO change and your ears are muscles, so the sooner you start flexing them, the better you’ll be able to identify what other people are doing, and ultimately what you are doing when you’re voicing a project.
- Read out loud every day — from printed material in whatever area interests you — magazines, ads, product labels, transcribe documentaries, search for text online.
Before you go, here are the names of some top VO industry coaches whom I’ve worked with in the New York Metropolitan Area:
And top VO industry coaches that travel and host workshops around the country:
Your homework for the week? Work on your voice. Next #TransformationTuesday we’ll get into what equipment you’ll need and more. Until then, #VOnow ☺