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Debbie Irwin

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Debbie@DebbieIrwin.com

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COVID Prepared

Business Practices

Back to School-Back to Life

Best Practices, Business Practices, Coaching

It’s October. Some people are back in school. Some people are back in the office. I don’t know anyone who thinks we’re back to normal. Looking out my window the leaves are turning colors in the Hudson Valley and the Berkshire Hills, and I’m reminded that change is the only constant we can count on.

When I was a student at Brown University, I drove the BCO (Brown Community Outreach) van to the south side of Providence and tutored underserved grammar school students in English and math. Growing up on the south side of Chicago I rode in an Art in the Park van, and we set up arts and crafts activities in playgrounds around the neighborhood. Helping others has always been a source of pleasure for me.

So I shouldn’t be surprised that since I began coaching my “medical students,” (voiceover actors who want to further their understanding of and proficiency in medical narration), a year ago, I’ve found a new source of joy in my professional life.

Coaching, Teaching, Mentoring… All Take Trust

My voiceover career is nearing the 20-year mark. Over that time I’ve had coaches (and still do). I’ve had teachers. I’ve had mentors. Just because someone hangs out a shingle saying they provide XYZ service doesn’t mean they are a great teacher, or the right teacher for you. The first person that you have to trust is yourself– trust that you can make an assessment as to whether this person is a good fit for you. Does this teacher have your back? Does your coach celebrate your wins or is there an undercurrent of competition? Does your mentor know that you are the subject of the lesson and not them? Do they have knowledge that you can benefit from? Can they share that knowledge in a way that you can learn from? Can you trust that they are kind and supportive, even as they push you in ways that may feel uncomfortable at first?

If you’re a parent, you know the deep sense of gratification that comes with seeing someone you are nurturing grow; recognizing when something you’ve said resonated in a way that made a difference to them, whether that learning happens over time or in an “Aha!” moment. More Than One Way To Learn

I always excelled in school, finished HS after 3 years, and graduated college Magna Cum Laude. So when not one, not two, but all three of my kids presented with learning differences, it was a challenge for me to understand why and how they were struggling to learn, to read, to express themselves clearly, or to manage the details of a school kid’s daily life. With the help of The Churchill School in Manhattan, (where not only my kids, but I too got an education by extension), I learned that there are many modalities of learning: Visual. Auditory. Kinetic. Not everyone learns the same way. And to teach in only one way means that many of your students will be left by the wayside.

More Than One Way To Learn
I always excelled in school, finished HS after 3 years, and graduated college Magna Cum Laude. So when not one, not two, but all three of my kids presented with learning differences, it was a challenge for me to understand why and how they were struggling to learn, to read, to express themselves clearly, or to manage the details of a school kid’s daily life. With the help of The Churchill School in Manhattan, (where not only my kids, but I too got an education by extension), I learned that there are many modalities of learning: Visual. Auditory. Kinetic. Not everyone learns the same way. And to teach in only one way means that many of your students will be left by the wayside.

Learning Goes Both Ways
As a coach, my approach is to individualize my instruction to meet the needs of each student where they are. Some progress only comes with time, exposure, repetition, study, rehearsal. For instance, the ear is a muscle that must be developed. You can’t get acute hearing just because you want it. I can hear so much more today than I could 10 or 20 years ago because I have worked my ears every day to hear finer and finer differences.

Experience is a great teacher that comes with time. But sometimes a student’s challenge requires me to be more creative in how I present the issue and various ways to address it. This happened recently with one of my students. Since we began working together I noticed his inconsistency with reading every word on the page exactly as written, not adding or subtracting words in the process. (A pretty important skill for any voice actor. Our scripts are our bibles!)

Although I called this to his attention every time it happened, that was not enough to break through this obstacle. So I thought about tools he could use and tasks he could do to address this. One idea was to point to every word on the page as he read his script. Another was to read his script 20 times (a couple of times silently, and the rest of the times in a variety of fashions- slow, fast, without emotion, with emotion, with an accent, and not.) A third approach was to paraphrase the script so he understood its meaning more organically, from within. A fourth was to mark the script to create a roadmap for himself so he knew how to traverse it as smoothly as possible. I was thrilled beyond words to see the progress he had made after he tried these methods. His consistency was 1000% better and the few times he made a mistake he was aware of it and went back to correct it.

__________________________________________________________________________

As I continue to explore my passion for coaching and helping others succeed in their VO business, I’ve also been preparing a presentation to help serve on a smaller scale that I will be sharing on November 13th and 14th, 2021, at the MAVO online conference. As with all relationships, the healthy ones go both ways. Giving begets getting. So I’d like to give my readers the opportunity to sign up for this online conference where you can get a taste of what my coaching program has to offer. The 60-minute general session focusing on non-broadcast narration will take place on November 13th, 7-8 pm EDT. I will return on Sunday, November 14th, for a 90-minute breakout session, “Medical Narration: Can Anybody Do It?” from 4:15-5:45 pm EDT. Whether you can attend one or the other, or both, I’d love to see you there. And if you’ve made it this far, I’d also like to extend my gratitude by offering you a promo code (Debbie25) for $25 off your general admission or breakout session with me. This offer will expire on 10/22 at 9 pm ET.

Until then, be safe, be kind, and think about how you can share your gifts with the world!

-Deb

Filed Under: Best Practices, Business Practices, Coaching

What Voiceover Artists Need to Know About Contracts + Confidentiality

Blog, Business Practices

We all have to make mistakes to learn, right? So when I do make a mistake, I try to not beat myself up (too much), then I dust myself off and get back in the race smarter than before. In the interest of saving you from any self-flagellation, I’ll share my story about voiceover contracts and confidentiality so you’ll know what not to do when you encounter this situation—and what to do to avoid it in the first place!

When working with clients, you’re often asked to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), sometimes called a Confidentiality Agreement (CA). These are legal contracts between at least two parties that outline confidential material, knowledge, or information the parties wish to share with one another but wish to restrict access to or by third parties. In these contracts, the parties agree not to disclose information covered by the agreement.

Contracts and Confidentiality in Medical Voice Over

I’ve signed them for a wide range of projects—videogames, text-to-speech technology jobs, company re-branding gigs, award ceremony announcements—but it’s the medical arena, in particular, I want to focus on today.

(Medical narration is my expertise and many of the projects I work on are for national and international companies like AstraZeneca, the AMA, Medicare, Blue Cross Blue Shield, GE Healthcare, Glaxo SmithKline, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Boehringer Ingelheim, and more.)

In the early stages of discussion, you often sign an NDA so the client or their intermediary (the casting director, agent, production studio or ad agency) can share information with you about the project. That’s easy enough and I’m always ready, willing, and able to sign the NDA to get on board with the team. Sometimes, however, you have a false start, the project stalls, and it can be months before the script has been signed off on. Other times, the recording session can happen quickly but it could still take quite a while before the animation or video has been completed. With the passage of time comes the lapses of memory.

Lessons Learned

I had a situation where a year after I recorded for a major multi-national client, let’s call them XYZ Company, I was asked to record a new version of the script in the same tone as the original. To help me reference the sound, tempo, and overall original performance, they sent me the finished project from the previous year. With the new script and the old video, I completed the job quickly and to their satisfaction. Thinking nothing of it, I asked my assistant to post the reference completed video on my YouTube channel…completely forgetting I had signed an NDA a year before.

A couple of months after we posted the video, I got a call from the production company saying they heard from the lawyers for XYZ Company who were very upset, that the video had to come down immediately, and that I was in violation of the NDA. Not only was my client (the production company who had worked with XYZ Company) in hot water, but I was in the hot seat. I was questioned by my client as to when it was posted, where it was posted, and how many people had seen it, and had to erase any public reference to it, immediately. Not only had I violated the agreement and jeopardized my relationship with the production company and XYZ company, but I put my client’s long-standing relationship with XYZ company in peril as well.

I lost a lot of sleep during this time and while waiting for the sword of Damocles to fall, I discovered what had happened: a physician-scientist in another country had appropriated the information from the video I posted and was using it to support his own claims and further his own agenda. Not cool.

Here’s what else I learned about why what I did was a big no-no:

>Creatives are posting content they collaborated on to YouTube when it’s not their intellectual property.

>Pharmaceutical companies are worried the content they’re producing is getting on the web before the drugs are approved, so they’re becoming more aggressive about policing it.

>Pharmaceutical companies are hiring external companies to scour the internet to make sure their content isn’t being abused.

>FDA approval processes can become compromised by the sharing of confidential information.

Contracts and Confidentiality Bottom Line

So what do I do now to make sure I don’t find myself in hot water again? I’ve created a dual-filing system for all my projects: public and private. All projects are, by default, private whether I’ve signed an NDA or not. Only if I get permission in writing will I even consider sharing a project.

And while it’s nice to share new work and projects you’re proud to have had an affiliation with, I’ve come to the point in my career where I don’t need the accolades to get additional work or to feel good about my professional prowess.

When you sign that NDA, you’re promising absolute confidentiality. Don’t abuse it or else you may suffer severe consequences!

Filed Under: Blog, Business Practices Tagged With: Business Practices, NDA

One in Ten: Trust or Caution

Blog, Business Practices

Blink, and you’ve made an assessment about someone, Malcolm Gladwell writes, in his book by the same name. We do it all the time–whether consciously or not; we size up people and situations, evaluate the pros and cons, assess the risks and rewards. Is it trust or caution? In business, as in life, before investing in a company, or buying a home appliance, for example, we perform due diligence, the act of making sure it’s wise to move forward.

But in our hustle and bustle world of…

*I found you on the Internet.

*How fast can you turn this around?

*How many others are competing for the work?

*This sounds like an exciting project.

…it’s easy to forget the importance of crossing T’s and dotting I’s.

I’m the trusting type. Maybe I shouldn’t be, but I give people the benefit of the doubt, trusting that they won’t use my recordings without paying for the right to do so, and after nearly 20 years in the business, this is the first time I’ve been stiffed.

One in ten ain’t bad, right?

The person turned out to be a real con artist— trading on the semblance of a relationship with a bona fide professional to convince me of his own legitimacy. In turn, I referred him to colleagues to provide services for a project that was beyond my domain, and naturally coming from me, they trusted that this ‘client’ was legit (though I disclosed that my own relationship with him was nascent.) Through this process, he gets people to provide services and a whole lot more from what I’ve since heard.

It’s hard not to feel foolish for not heeding the warning signs. Were there red flags? Yes. Did I heed them? No. Have I learned my lesson? Yeah, but I’d rather continue to trust in humanity rather than become rigid with fear of the next super Duper.

Filed Under: Blog, Business Practices

Kondofied – Bringing Joy and Order

Blog, Business Practices

Have you been Kondofied? Originating from writer Marie Kondo, a career organizer, it means to purge everything in your life that does not spark joy in you.

I’m about ready to surrender. But it sure is hard to let go. ANGST What is it I’m clutching? Paper. I’ve got a huge file cabinet filed with folders for every voiceover project I’ve ever had, every client I’ve ever served, with scripts, notes, invoices, and pay stubs. Not only do I feel a sense of maternal pride and protectiveness (these are my babies who I tended to after all), but I also appreciate having resources to refer to when clients come back to me weeks, months, or sometimes years later, to work together again.

And there’s the wonderful feeling of flipping through the files and being reminded of people and projects that have dotted my career. It’s like looking through an album of photographs, something fundamentally gratifying, versus the scanning we do of tens of thousands of photos when looking for that one image we’re trying to get our hands on.

Over the years (I’ve been at this for 15 now), I have culled the folders, tossing thousands of pages of eLearning scripts, medical narrations, and audiobooks, but there are some projects I can’t seem to cast aside— like the many museum audio tours I’ve voiced. But here’s the good news. I’m willing to try. So I’m conferring with colleagues who have blazed the trail before me, cut ties with paper, and forged digital systems for managing their businesses.

I’ll keep you posted on how I do. In the meantime, if you have any suggestions, I’m all ears.

Kondo-me, baby!

April 25, 2019

As if providence knew that I had taken on the challenge to clean up my act, two books came into my life: Organized Enough by Amanda Sullivan, and Outer Order, Inner Calm, by Gretchen Ruben. They both spoke to me in meaningful ways and made me think about my behavior in various areas of my life: work, home, and travel.

Here are some of the key ideas that resonated with me:

Kondified Flow

Forgive yourself for accumulating all the stuff— clothes, files, your kids’ artwork from the time they were old enough to hold a crayon, magazines, digital files, conference swag, travel moments, business cards, emails, etc. Let go of anything you don’t need, haven’t used, doesn’t fit, or you have multiples of and doesn’t really serve you. Organize what’s left.

Weed out on a consistent basis since it’s easier for things to come into our homes/computers than it is to throw them out. And here’s an interesting question to ask yourself as you sift through your items:

Is this me now, or is this who I was in the past, or who I hope to be in the future? As I asked myself this question throughout the day over the past couple of months, it seemed I have a ton of things to let go of everywhere in my life.

200,000 Emails.

I started with my emails. Since I had to change hosts from Go Daddy to G Suite, it only made sense to clean up as many unwanted emails as I could before porting them over to the new platform. If you’re moving from one house to another, who needs to pack up and schlep unwanted things? So I, rather aggressively, got rid of lots of emails from the past decade.

I scanned them in blocks of 500 to isolate any that seemed important, and I’m sure some slipped through the cracks, but I feel lighter for having done it. Sadly, I can’t delete new ones as fast as they come in, but I’m trying.

Kondofied Closets

I don’t know where the term “clothes horse” comes from, but I have way more than I need and many items waiting for me to lose 5 pounds so they can fit again. I’ve always donated clothing to Good Will and the Salvation Army over the years, but I’m being more aggressive (and honest) about what I just don’t want to wear and need to get rid of. Some of the items are beautifully made, and I’ve started giving to family and friends— with great success! They’re happy, I’m thrilled and the clothes have found new loving owners (so I assume they are happy too).

Who Doesn’t Love Swag?

Everybody loves free stuff. Makeup samples, conference bags, branded coffee cups and water bottles, you name it. Here’s a radical thought: If you wouldn’t pay for it, don’t take it. Let me tell you, I’ve started asking myself that question and the answer has me saying “Thank you, no thank you,” a lot more often. And you know what? It feels good!

Does that shirt from 10 years ago that you rarely wear (because it doesn’t fit, has a little stain, or is out of style) reflect who you are today, or is it something you hope to someday fit your body and your life? Does that check stub from a project you completed years ago have any importance to you now?

May 13, 2019

As I am sorting, sifting, and selecting, there’s an “Incredible Lightness of Being” that I feel. Letting go seemed scary, and sometimes still does, but afterward I don’t feel a sense of loss. It’s good fuel to keep me on this path, which is taking a lot longer than I thought or hoped it would. I remind myself, little steps, big victory, and don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good enough.

June 9, 2019

  • What’s still left to do?
  • More email tossing
  • More file tossing
  • More clothes donating
  • More book thinning
  • More dead shrub removing

Ready to Get Kondoified?

Filed Under: Blog, Business Practices

Be Good. Be Willing. Be Gone.

Blog, Business Practices

Just finished a session with Tag Creative for some ‘Chocolatey’ radio spots, airing now, just in time for Easter. Present were a producer from one company, the writer from another company, and the sound engineer at the third company, Flavorlab, the studio we were working at. It turns out I had worked with one of the guys before, and shame on me when I checked my contacts I couldn’t find a record of him in my notes.

But, I recalled his style of directing, and although we tossed a few projects out to see if that’s where we had collaborated, the clincher was at the end of the session when I handed him my chapstick. “If we worked together before, you’ll remember this….” I said, and indeed he did.

This is a photo of one of my chapstick. My audition for this project was filled with alternative reads (also known as ‘alts’), amongst three reads, and they liked that.

The producer was so sure that I was right for this job that they were tempted to create the spot from what I’d sent them and send that to their client for approval. Instead, we had a quick live session. But it’s an incredible feeling knowing that your interpretation of the copy was spot on, (no pun intended), and the quality of the audio from my studio was perfect. Guess what; the studio had the same mic that I record on, the Sennheiser MKH 416.

They were clear on what they wanted the radio spot to sound like:

“Kind, warm and friendly, but NOT down-to-earth or folksy. Teacher-ly, smart & confident, but not pushy. Quality and upscale, but not cold or affected. A voiceover not too young sounding (20s) or too old (60s) — NOT: whispery, cosmetic-y, accented, cutesy, ditsy, fragile.

Note: we have a full 30 seconds of copy, so we’ll need a pro who can make it feel not rushed.”

I gave them what they wanted, even when the direction was to “have 2% more fun”. And there was a 15-second spot that also needed recording, where I had one extra second of time to ‘romance’ certain keywords in the copy. All that training with Joan Baker many years ago — of drilling 10-second and 15-second reads so that I would know how to shave or add a second or two wherever necessary, paid off. It’s a good feeling to know you’re good, and have the creatives know it too.

When they sent a version to their client, I willingly waited. The response never came, but they felt they had enough options recorded that they’d be able to insert a different take if the client had any comments. I offered to hop back in the booth to reread a line they were swapping out, but they said no thanks, they had plenty of alts to work with.

While we waited and shared small talk, the engineer worked on the sound design — adding music and sound effects to bring the spot to life. As soon as they were confident they had what they needed and ‘released me,’ I was gone. No lingering around, no further small talk. I’d managed to give them my card and chapstick while we were in holding mode, so it was time for me to vamoose!

But not before thanking the studio director, and making sure she had my card and chapstick too.


This is the front of my business card.

Being friendly comes easily for some people. I’ve worked on this skill, which is just a matter of being open and being myself with no veneer (more on this topic in my next post). I’m happy to report that I’ve seen great improvements and can feel how it makes interactions easier for other people as well. So, be good, be willing, be gone, and most of all, Be Heard!

 

Filed Under: Blog, Business Practices Tagged With: commercial, flavorlab, radio, tag creative, voice over

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