Debbie Grattan

Quality, Quantity, Sanity – Finding the Balance as a Working Female Voice Actor

January 10, 2014 by Debbie Grattan

As a mother, wife, homeowner, engaged theater community member, and, oh yes, a busy professional female voice actor, I find myself nodding in agreement at Paul Strikwerda’s November post on “overdoing.”

Each day, it seems we’re confronted with an increasing number of things to do, processes to manage, opportunities to pursue. At this point in my career, I feel blessed to be in a position to choose work that fuels me, both creatively and financially. But staying balanced amidst the demands of my personal and professional life as a female voice actor is both a challenge and choice, one I face anew each day when I sit down to work.

The “Buffet Impulse”

I can remember all too well the feeling of walking into a reception and seeing a generous spread of complimentary bites. I know I’ll be in good company if I confess to taking full advantage of those free little cheese cubes during my lean years as a struggling actor. After all, who knew when I’d get my next shot at free food, let alone a gig that would pay me enough to buy my very own brick of cheese.

That impulse to take as much as you can when it’s offered seems a fair comparison for any working actor in their first few years seeking paid acting work. You build a portfolio and book as many acting gigs as possible while the getting is good. Obviously, to turn down work means turning down a paid electric bill, a decent meal, or a chance at another professional contact in your database.

Now, with decades of experience and a solid base of repeat clients, I find myself in a position to balance quantity and quality, and, ideally, achieve professional sanity. This means occasionally turning down voiceover gigs, often because there are simply too few hours in the day to take on every project that comes my way. As Paul so clearly articulated, a tireless schedule can quickly reach a point of diminishing returns.

Know What Fuels You as a Voice Actor

In choosing the work I take on, I’m grateful to have a loyal clientele I can rely on who keeps the “faucet open” so to speak, with a strong flow of projects. I still have to make the time to grow and brand my business, that work is never done. This means being present in social media spaces to make new connections and spending time each day to respond to emails from both new and established clients.

Selecting work that matches my skill set and appropriately compensates my time is important, but I also like to make time for projects that fuel my creativity and remind me why I do this work in the first place.

I’ve written before about collaborating on student film projects. The time spent on these creative, narrative driven projects is meaningful not only because it lets me tap my experience as a stage actor, but also because it feels like I’m giving back to an artistic community.

In today’s world, it can feel like we have an unending to-do list of things to take care of for our family, our home, and our business. In the midst of meeting deadlines, recording scripts, editing and polishing my material and staying in contact with my female voice talent clients, I still always strive to find balance and ultimately do what I love without the workload overwhelming me.

And, I like to remind myself that the success I’ve achieved as a voice actor was helped along by the many acting industry professionals who gave me their time, talent and valuable advice when I was just starting out, hovering around the buffet table and discreetly stuffing my pockets with cheese cubes.

Debbie Grattan has been a working female voice actor for more than 20 years. She has recorded over 10,000 projects while partnering with hundreds of production companies, marketing and advertising firms, commercial voice-over recording studios and corporate/business clients around the United States and abroad. Check out her Female Voice Actor Demos and request a Complimentary Custom Audition for an upcoming project.

How to Create Warmth and Connection From Cold Copy in Voice Acting

December 20, 2013 by Debbie Grattan

When I begin a voice acting job, the questions I ask myself aren’t too different from those I would ask if I were starting a role for film or stage: who am I, what am I trying to get across, and who am I talking to?

As a voice actor however, I cannot use my eyes, my body, or my face to communicate my identity and my intentions. I only have my voice, and, more often than not, a page of informational script that is more procedural than character driven. So how do I create the kind of emotional connection that “is what it’s all about” in voice acting?

Voice Acting Should Feel Personal

Creating an emotional connection with a script is essential to being able to clearly communicate the client’s message. When I sit down with a page of copy, it’s important for me to be clear on the purpose of the material.

For instances where I’m tasked with narrating a corporate procedure or some other form of employee training, I try to imagine how I would speak to those listening if I were right there in the room with them. I like to picture myself as a friend sitting beside their computer telling them exactly what they need to do, not some robot delivering a monologue.

Sometimes, with material that’s particularly emotionally resonant, I imagine a person from my own life and pretend that I’m talking directly to them, to their hopes and needs and wishes and fears.

I did this recently with a piece of advertising copy for a hospice that had contacted me to promote their caring approach for families looking to make their loved ones comfortable during the last days of their lives. I was reminded of the experience of suddenly losing a friend, a colleague of mine who I’d enjoyed many years with as a performing peer. This man was still young, and he’d kept the details of his illness private until his passing was imminent. A mutual friend of ours gave him the ultimate gift of comfort and set him up in a house near the beach where he could see the sky and the sea, and spend his last days in the company of friends in the sort of natural setting that he’d always loved.

When I read my script for the hospice ad, I thought specifically of my friend and allowed the personal memory to wash over me and inform my voice acting delivery of the copy. I thought of what he and his close circle would have wanted to hear while making tough decisions about comfort and care, and this connection made the finished product more believable, relateable, and emotionally true.

Let the Client Drive Your Voice Acting

Forging a strong emotional connection to copy from personal experience is something I can now do, after decades of acting on stage and as a voice talent, almost immediately. It’s like driving; I get into the seat, look over my script, and like a map I know by heart, I can get a quick read on where I’m going and how I’ll get there.

But it’s important to remember that as someone who does voice acting for hire, my impulses must ultimately translate into a version of the copy that best suits the client’s needs. Two different clients can use the word “conversational” to describe their desired tone, but they might have two completely different ideas of what that actually sounds like. As with so many aspects of this business, it’s important for me to communicate and connect with the client first, and get a clear sense of their direction before I get into the seat and start off on the road.

Published by Debbie Grattan on 12/20/13.

Debbie Grattan has been Voice Acting for more than 20 years, completing well beyond 10,000 voice acting projects along her journey while partnering with hundreds of production companies, marketing and advertising firms, commercial voice-over recording studios and corporate/business clients around the United States and abroad. Check out Debbie’s Voice Acting Demos and request a Voice Over Services quote for an upcoming project.

Voice Auditions – Shooting in the Dark With An Actor’s Intuition

December 13, 2013 by Debbie Grattan

The very funny writer/entertainer Amy Sedaris writes in one of her tongue-in-cheek books, “I think it’s good for a person to spend time alone. It gives them an opportunity to discover who they are and to figure out why they are always alone.”

In the case of voice actors, we often find ourselves professionally obligated to be alone for hours at a time. We ply our trade in the studio, respond to emails from potential leads, and read over scripts for voice auditions to decide how to best approach our next opportunity.

This time can feel isolating, especially compared to more social types of acting work such as film, television or stage acting. But a healthy dose of solo studio time can also help us develop a clear sense of what we love about the work we do, as well as an accurate assessment of the individual strengths we each bring to our voice acting profession.

Voice Auditions and an Actor’s Intuition

Having worked in this field for decades, I feel fortunate to have a clear sense of what I think will work for my particular set of skills and interests. This self-knowledge is hugely important when it comes to approaching voice auditions. When a new opportunity crosses my path, I run myself through an internal checklist of sorts:

– Is this a job that feels like it’s in my wheel well?
– Is this the kind of job I do all the time?
– If not, does it seem like something I could master quickly and handle well?

It’s wonderful when I can find a job that fits like a glove because it means that I can complete the audition efficiently without spending a lot of time on unpaid work. But seasoned voice actors know that familiarity isn’t always enough to nail a gig. Voice auditions are always a bit of a shot in the dark; my ability to self-assess and figure out if the gig seems like a good match is just one way to improve my odds, but it’s certainly not a sure-fire guarantee of a slam dunk.

Finding “The Spark”

Another important bit of criteria is that elusive “spark” you get when you read certain audition calls. When I decide how much time to spend on voice auditions, I try to be realistic and pragmatic, and pursue work that feels familiar and within my current capabilities, but sometimes a job comes totally out of left-field and leaves me with that emotion that screams I gotta go after this one!

Those moments of excitement make new work worth pursuing. I love that “zing” that makes my heart beat a little faster and pushes me to ignore the practical voice inside my head that says, “this job isn’t for me.”

Self-knowledge isn’t just about skills, it’s also about knowing what gets your pulse going and what pushes you to move outside of your comfort zone. Sometimes you simply have to separate your logical, practical thinking from the intuitive gut impulse that says to go for it.

Even if it doesn’t pan out in the long run, acting on your intuition keeps you on your toes and engaged, and that’s exactly what you need to keep returning to the studio day after day. It’s the fuel you need to continue chasing that ever elusive spark.

Published by Debbie Grattan on 12/13/13.

Debbie Grattan has been delivering professional Voice Over Services for more than 20 years, completing thousands of voice auditions and voice over projects along her journey. She has worked with hundreds of production companies, marketing and advertising firms, commercial and corporate/business clients around the United States and abroad. You can request customized Voice Auditions or Quotes for Voice Over Services on Debbie’s website.

Voice Over Acting and How to Truly Guarantee Your Financial Success

December 4, 2013 by Debbie Grattan

I get a lot of emails and an occasional telephone call from men and women who think they want to get into voice over acting. Usually it’s because someone (friend, family member, co-worker) has told them that they have a great voice and that they should look into voice over acting. Or, they read somewhere online that voice over acting is a super easy way to make loads of money, just for speaking words into a microphone.

So, they eventually arrive at the question of how to start “doing” voice over acting as a new part time job or full time career. And after some googling on the subject, a few of them land on my website and recognize me as someone who might be able to answer a few of their voice over acting queries.

Voice Over Acting Isn’t Rocket Science – How Hard Could it Be?

It’s funny how when it comes to most other potentially high-paying professions, people realize they can’t just rush into it and start making gobs of money in a few short months. But, for some reason, people think voice over acting is different. That it’s much easier than “real” professions. I suspect there are folks on the web who make it sound just that easy and are selling services to help people make it happen!

I recently shared some of my personal reflections on how my career as a professional voice over talent got started and has developed over the years into a successful business.

Over the weekend, I came across this article about guaranteeing financial success in your business and it really resonated with me. I think it is spot on in it’s assertion that to “love the journey” of entrepreneurship is the key to guaranteed success. This applies in any entrepreneurial endeavor, not just voice over acting, of course. It’s the journey and not the destination that you’ll be living for the duration.

Do we ever really reach the destination? And when we do, isn’t there just another destination waiting in the wings? It’s the journey – the day to day – the planning, the execution of the tasks, etc. that is where you spend the vast majority of your time. The destination can change during the course of the journey, so best to be open and joyful in what you’re doing day to day.

I know this is not a new idea, but always bears repeating because it’s so easy to forget and get caught up in thinking “I’ll be happy when I reach what’s at the end of my journey and I’m making lots of money” rather than focusing on finding happiness and contentment all along the way.

Published by Debbie Grattan on 12/04/13.

Debbie Grattan has been “doing” Voice Over Acting for more than 20 years, completing over 10,000 voiceover projects along her journey while partnering with hundreds of production companies, marketing and advertising firms, commercial voice-over recording studios and corporate/business clients around the United States and abroad. Check out Debbie’s Voice Over Acting Demos and request a Voice Over Services quote for an upcoming project.

Creating Voice Over Accents for Language Dialects and Fun Characters

November 29, 2013 by Debbie Grattan

As a professional voice actress, I’m often tasked with creating accents ranging from foreign accents and regional dialects to fun and crazy characters. Just this past week, I had requests from clients for a variety of voice over accents including European accents, a Texas accent, an Asian accent, and a voice like the computer in 2001 A Space Odyssey.

Some of my voice over clients have even told me that research has shown that the buying public will give greater credence to a speaker who has a British accent, than one with an American accent. And even more so, if it’s a female voice actress with a British accent.

And that’s good for me, because speaking with a British accent is something I can do well.

British Voice Over Accents Come Easy for this Voice Actress

Coming from the stage world, I’ve practiced my fair share of accents. I also grew up with a best friend whose mother was from England. As a child, I had an ear for listening to her very closely and picking up her accent. So when I got the chance to play roles in plays by classical British playwrights like Oscar Wilde, Noel Coward, and even William Shakespeare, I already had the British sound in my mind. Working with coaches throughout the years, and just on my own with audio tutorials and even YouTube, it has been fairly easy for me to hear and replicate sounds that give a credible representation of someone who speaks English but is from a foreign country.

It’s funny how we tend to stereotype regional dialects; Valley girl, surfer dude, Da Bears guys, NY cabbie, etc. I even thought that the Canadian accent was lampooned in Bobby Moynahan’s version of Toronto mayor Rob Ford on SNL recently. UNTIL I saw an interview the following Monday on the Today show with Matt Lauer and the real mayor. After that, I thought Moynahan’s interpretation was pretty accurate.

Until I saw Matt Lauer interview the real mayor on the Today show this morning:

Using Voice Over Accents for Characters

So, when does the line from an exaggerated character blur to a true representation of a real person?

We hear the phrase, “Truth is stranger than fiction” and I often think that to be relevant in creating characters as well. Even when, as actors, we go to what we think are the outer reaches of a characterization through voice, we can still find REAL people, who reach beyond the boundaries, and seem to be a caricature of themselves.

What about the guys from Duck Dynasty, or the family in Honey Boo Boo, any of the “real” housewives, or everybody’s favorite celebrity family, the Kardashians? Reality TV seems to have shown us that real folks can be far more interesting to the mainstream audience than some character made up by a playwright or TV sitcom writer. And certainly terrific fodder for late night hosts, and SNL to parody. All in fun, right?

I find creating voice over accents for characters to be one of the most enjoyable tasks I have as a voice over professional. I’ve done my share of silly voices and playful characters, and right now, I’m even playing a Southern Belle, SuperHero Duck on an animated series, targeted at financial literacy for children, called “The Centsables”.

And one of the most fun things about playing with characterizations for voice work, is transferring that enjoyment to my 12 year old daughter, who has also been working as a professional voice actress for the past few years. We’ve actually created characters on the Centsables together, playing mother and daughter in a recent episode, in addition to her turn as a “villain” on an earlier episode this season.
Passing on the tradition of play, through voice acting is a real gift to me. I am truly a lucky lady.

Published by Debbie Grattan on 11/27/13.

Debbie Grattan is a Voice Actress who has been in the business for 20+ years, racking up well over 10,000 completed voice over services projects while partnering with hundreds of production companies, marketing and advertising firms, commercial voice-over recording studios and corporate/business clients around the United States and abroad. Check out Debbie’s Voice Actress Demos and request a voice over services quote for an upcoming project.

Voice-Over Actor vs. Leaf Blowers: This Year the Actor Wins

November 22, 2013 by Debbie Grattan

The glory of fall in the Midwest still feels fairly new to me, which makes it particularly awesome. Since I’m originally from Southern California, where leaves pretty much stay the same color all year round and generally refrain from disembarking their respective limbs, I never really got the full gist of what autumn was all about until I moved to our cozy home in the Southwest corner of Michigan. We really lucked out with a house nestled neatly on 1.5 acres of beautiful wooded terrain.

In a word: Wow.

In three words: It’s absolutely fabulous.

My mouth is still agape, at least figuratively, over the brilliant kaleidoscope of changing colors. Blazing reds mingle with burnished golds and yellows, contrasting keenly with the pert green still peeking from the lawns and evergreens.

It’s the perfect mix of beauty, peace and tranquility… And an excellent environment from which to work as a voice-over actor.

What? There’s a Downside?

And then I discovered the downside. Two downsides, actually. All those deliciously colored leaves don’t stay neatly tucked in their places. They instead flail not-so-neatly across the lawn, roof and gutters.

Thankfully, this voice-over actor doesn’t have to deal with the first downside, which is cleaning up all those leaves. My hard-working husband does that — although every year he swears that next fall he’s going to hire someone else to handle the chore (or move back to California)! No matter how brilliant the colors, collecting and disposing of all those leaves is enough to send a person to the chiropractor, or massage therapist as my husband prefers lately.

But I did have to deal with the second downside. The curse of the constantly droning leaf blowers. While leaf blowers are loud and invasive enough to make anyone a little buggy, they can be the death knell for voice-over actors trying to create pristine recordings in their home studios.

The Sworn Arch Enemy of the Voice-Over Actor

Since many of our neighbors also work at home or are retired, it’s not as if they confine their leaf blowing or other noisy landscaping activities to weekend hours only. Any day, any time is fair game to be accosted by the insidious low rumble of small-engine lawn equipment.

I blogged about this issue three years ago in my article “Voice Acting and the Battle of the Blowers” when avoiding the noise was contingent on being smiled upon by the Leaf Blower Gods, and an occasional personal request of one of my neighbors — “Um, I hate to ask this but could you pretty please hold off on doing this until I finish my ISDN session with my LA voice over client?” I got a lot of blank stares with that approach, but it worked for awhile. What was needed, however, was a much more permanent fix.

This year I’m armed with a fool-proof solution… It’s called Studio B.

This ingenious inspiration began a couple years ago when a little voice inside my head suggested I actually move my recording sessions to a new location in my home during the heavy noise pollution seasons.

Fortunately, I have a fairly spacious house so there were several options to consider. One room in particular was the logical choice. While I still enjoy the same high-tech goodies as Studio A, such as the must-have ISDN phone patch capabilities and excellent acoustical accoutrements, Studio B comes with an additional advantage.

It’s outfitted like Fort Knox (if Fort Knox was meant to protect silence instead of gold). To get to the heart of Studio B, I walk through not one, not two, but FIVE doors, deep into the bowels of a wholly soundproofed haven where not even the rumble of a low-flying small aircraft can penetrate. I know this may date me a little, but I actually feel a bit like Agent 86 on his way to speak with the Chief every time I head in to my own recording booth (watch the clip to see what I mean).

So let the leaf blowers rumble, the snow blowers growl and the Midwest be tidied unto the highest. I shall rest comfortably knowing I now have my serene workspace in the solitude of Studio B.

In a word: Wow! In three words: It’s absolutely fabulous.

Published by Debbie Grattan on 11/22/13.

Debbie Grattan is a Professional Female Voice-Over Actor who has been in the business for more than 20 years, racking up well over 10,000 completed voiceover projects while partnering with hundreds of production companies, marketing and advertising firms, commercial voice-over recording studios and corporate/business clients around the United States and abroad. Check out Debbie’s Voice-Over Actor Demos and request a voice over services quote for an upcoming project.

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