In honor of All Hallows Eve, here’s a fun little voiceover radio spot I recently completed for a client in Antigua. Promoting a Halloween Party at a local area club… The return of Madame Gincha, which is a character you may recall from my Characters Voice Over Demo. Audio mixed with a few character pics of me over the years.
Archives for October 2012
Professional Voice Over Videos & Female Narration
Part 1 of an Interview with Marketing Expert, Cindy Malouin of Malouin Marketing
Professional Voice Over Talent Debbie Grattan chats with Marketing Expert Cindy Malouin about how professional voice over videos can be used to enhance overall marketing and improve visitor engagement with voice over talent websites.
Professional Voiceover Talent, Debbie Grattan: I know you have written on this topic before, but let’s review what are the top reasons for having professional voice over videos on your web site?
Cindy Malouin: The most important reason is that people engage with video. By having video on your web site, people are able to get a sense of your personality. And you can have a personal conversation with the visitors who are coming to your web site—it gives you that opportunity. There have been studies done about different learning styles and it’s estimated that 60% of people are visual learners. So it means that they retain and they engage more if they’re presented with something in a visual manner, such as a video. If you’re able to do that on your web site, you’re going to be able to engage your visitors to hear more of your message.
Professional Voiceover Talent, Debbie Grattan: Which would explain the popularity of sites like Youtube.
Cindy Malouin: Yes, exactly. Right now, the first instinct for a lot of people is to go to Youtube to watch “how-to” videos and get more information that way. There truly is a prevalence of people going to those types of sites and learning in that manner.
The other important reason to have video on your web site, specifically on the home page, is for search engines. Search engines love video content. So you actually rank higher with search engines if you have video on your site.
Debbie Grattan: I thought that search engines just searched for written content.
Cindy Malouin: Video content, specifically links to Youtube and other video sites, work great with search engines and help you reach higher in search results.
Debbie Grattan: Is there a bit of trepidation for people to go into video—how hard it is for people to actually put something together to have on their web site?
Cindy Malouin: It’s really not that hard at all. People can be very intimidated by creating a video and thinking it has to be a big production, but it doesn’t have to be. Honestly, anyone who has a video camera can produce videos. If we’re talking about professional voice over talent or someone who focuses on doing a lot of female narration voice overs, it is important to portray yourself in a very professional, polished way. You don’t want it to come across as amateurish, so whether you decide to shoot a video on your own or actually hire a videographer or production company, the bottom line is that you need to make sure that you’re coming across polished and professional.
Debbie Grattan: Can you speak more about that: professional versus casual? With video we’re trying to put our personality forward, so how formal should we be, especially as a female narration specialist trying to gain clientele?
Cindy Malouin: You want to be formal in the sense that you want to demonstrate your capabilities as a female narration voice over talent. You want the audio to be clear, you want to present your personality and your persona, and you also want to come across as friendly. It’s an opportunity for people to get to know you without actually having a sit-down meeting with you. You want to have your personality shine through.
Read Part 2 of this interview, “Marketing Your Voice Over Services With Video.”
On Breaking Into Radio and TV Commercial Voiceovers
Radio and TV Commercial Voiceovers
People often ask me about how to break into radio and tv commercial voiceovers. Lately, my standard tidbit of advice has become “google it” because you can find all kinds of good information on the internet about how to get into the radio and tv commercial voiceover business. But, when I first got my start in the voiceover business, the internet didn’t even exist (as far as most people knew), and “google” was just a really big number that I vaguely recalled from a high school math class I often snoozed through.
The truth is, just like in any business, it takes a significant amount of time and effort to build and maintain a career as a successful voiceover actor. This holds true for radio and tv commercial voiceover work, as well as most types of narration jobs. Looking back over the years, I see many, many in-person connections that were made with recording studios, production companies, talent agencies, and clients. And, even before that, there was the training, in both stage acting and as a voiceover actor specifically, that allowed me to get to a level where I could be hired repeatedly to deliver my voiceover services.
Talent Debbie Grattan offers some helpful suggestions
But, like most things in life, just because something looks (or sounds) easy doesn’t mean that it actually IS easy. I wish I had a dollar for every time someone called me during the past 20 years and said, “My (pick one… friend, spouse, neighbor, dog) thinks I have a really great voice and that I should get into the voiceover business as my new profession. Can you tell me how to go about doing that?”
I was trained as an actor on stage starting in college and later performed in many productions in and around Southern California over a 15-year period (all back in the 80s and 90s). Add to that several television appearances, commercials, and even movies. I believe that my acting skills are really the foundation that has allowed me to make a pretty good living as a female Voiceover actor through the years. Here is what you can do if you’re interested in getting into the voiceover business:
Starting Place: Find a Good Radio and TV Voiceover Acting Workshop
I feel the key to getting started in the radio, and tv commercial voiceover business (and this is always what I tell any aspiring new voice talent) is to take a good quality professional voiceover acting workshop like those offered in the major markets of LA, Chicago, and New York. I studied with Kalmenson & Kalmenson and Voicecasters in LA, two of the best around at the time (and I believe still to this day).
Not only will you learn some of the fundamentals of the craft of voiceover acting, but you’ll get to find out what’s involved and required to be successful in this type of business. It’s important to learn this early, so you can decide if you are really up to putting forth the investment of time and effort it will take to truly make it long-term.
There’s a lot more to it than most people realize, especially in this day and age, with our new technology standards. I probably spend less than 20% of my time actually recording audio tracks these days. The rest of the time is devoted to running a business, editing projects, marketing, submitting auditions, invoicing, updating my website, doing social media networking, keeping track of clients, returning phone calls and emails, and simply taking care of all the little details that one must take care of as a business owner. It’s a full-time job just to do all of that stuff! Luckily I have some help from my husband, who has pitched to varying degrees over the years and is currently keeping my website high in the search engines and implementing internet marketing strategies to bring in even more business.
Many people naively think that just because they have a good-sounding voice, they can buy some equipment, build a decent home recording studio, and break into the business. While that may still be possible for a lucky, talented few, most just don’t have the foundation to do this work and create a lasting successful income. It sounds easy when you hear a voiceover actor in a commercial and think, “I can do that!” But, to actually be able to give a director exactly what they want in a session, and get to the sound they are looking for with no reference to copy or imitate, and get it in the time needed, and do that over and over again for many different clients… That takes a skill set that can only come (except for those very talented few) through hard work, dedication and experience.
Just getting to a point where you are in a position to book a job, with all of those foundational elements handled and in place, is enough to allow only those that are truly motivated and equally talented at making a go of it.
If I sound a bit discouraging, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to rain on anybody’s parade. I’m just very aware that there are an awful lot of websites and slick promoters out there who will tell you that becoming a voiceover actor is easy. That anybody with a good voice should go for it, and if you just pay this nominal $1000 (or $4000) fee we’ll get you all set up with some classes and a great demo that will allow you to make scads of cash in no time at all!
As the saying goes…”If it sounds too good, it’s probably been voiced by a pro voiceover actor.”
Making decent money in this profession (consistently) will require a great deal of commitment, training, dedication, and luck. It’s a tough business. Even tougher now than it was ten years ago because there is so much competition. If you are up for that challenge, I say, “best of luck, go get ’em,” and I’ll wish you much success. And maybe I’ll “see” you at the next audition.
Debbie Grattan is a professional female voiceover actor who has been doing voice over work for over 20 years. She’s been a “go-to” artist for many production companies and recording studios across the US for several years. Check out Debbie’s Radio and TV Commerical Voiceovers Demos and request a Custom Voiceover Acting Audition or Quote for your upcoming project.