Debbie Grattan

What are the secrets behind being a successful professional voice over talent?

This is a question I am asked regularly, and I also see it often in online voice over talent groups and forums.

Of course, there are no real secrets. The idea of  a “secret” anything is usually just a tactic used to sell more books, seminars, etc.

In my experience, I’ve found there are only one thing you can do to become a successful professional voice over talent and that one thing isn’t the same for everyone.  Do things that work for you and take you closer to your goal of being a successful professional voice over talent.  Do things that don’t work for you and take you further away from your goal of being a successful voice talent.

I’ve shared my own tips and “secrets” before, and I know that nothing that I share will work for everyone who applies it.  Well, almost nothing…

That’s because the art of voice over is just that—an art, not a science. It’s also a business, and there ARE many tried and true business practices that DO work for nearly anyone who uses them.

How I became a Successful Female Voice Over Talent

As I read voiceover stories online, and hear about people struggling to book voiceover jobs or find an agent, I recall my own struggles that were part of my path in the early years. It wasn’t easy, but I was enjoying the journey, so it didn’t seem like a struggle to me.

Believe it or not… I actually didn’t set out to become a female voice over talent. Having  a career as a “voice over talent” wasn’t even on the map back then (early 1990’s) as a possibility for more than a tiny few lucky people. Generally, the only people who could make money doing voiceover work were people who had direct access to professional recording studios or connections and/or agents to get into those studios to record actual paying gigs. This was all before the days of home recording studios and the internet.

I remember when I was sent on my first voiceover audition, I didn’t really know what to expect or what it was about at all. But, being a young, passionate, hungry-for-work actress in Southern California, I was up for anything (well, almost anything) that might lead to more opportunities to hone my craft and make a few bucks. Most of my work was for on-camera jobs, live spokesperson gigs, stage work, and the traditional actor jobs that I knew existed.

I had an Agent who encouraged me to audition for Voice Over Talent and I soon discovered after a couple of successful voiceover jobs that I had a natural aptitude for it. So I started intentionally pursuing more opportunities in voiceover auditions and workshops, asking my agents to send me out on more of those kinds of gigs when they came along. Over time I got to know many producers and studio contacts in Orange County, Los Angeles and even San Diego. That’s how it all started for me. But that path to success isn’t even an option in today’s world.

How to make it as a Voice Over Talent Artist

If I were to write a book about how to make it as a voice over talent, and rely on my experience of how I made it as the blueprint, my book would be irrelevant for anyone wanting to become successful today.

In fact, back then, when I told someone what I did, they looked at me with that head-cocked look you see puppies make: “A what…?” So, then I’d explain  “You know when you watch a TV commercial or listen to a radio commercial, there is someone speaking but you don’t necessarily see them or know who they are? Well, I get paid to speak the words for situations like that.”

Now when I mention that I am a female voiceover artist, what I usually here is: “Oh yeah, my friend/cousin/neighbor is doing voice overs! Maybe they could call you so you can give them some advice about how to be more successful?”  Ah, Sure… but there is a nominal $350 per hour “brain-picking fee.” I take checks, credit cards and PayPal.  Joking aside, the advice I always give to anyone thinking they should go into this business is simple…

• Take a few workshops from reputable voiceover casting companies or agencies in large metropolitan areas, and notice how you feel after you do that.

• Determine how much authentic natural talent you have, and how much heart-felt desire and willingness you have to hone and perfect your talent and ability over the next 10+ years.

The truth is, being a voice over talent isn’t the right job for most people—just like being a doctor, an insurance agent or florist isn’t the right job for most people. We each have to discover which jobs are the right fit for us as individuals with our own unique strengths, talents, abilities and interests.

If after reading all that, you’re still saying, “Ok, I get it… But how do I become more successful as a voice over talent??!” Keep reading for my tips, but don’t get your hopes up too high because they are very common sense things that often get ignored.

I’ve written several voiceover business articles on this topic, so I recommend you check them out as well. Of course there is a ton of information on the internet from a range of reputable sources as well as people who don’t have a clue about what they are writing. Part of the learning curve is figuring out who’s accurate, and who’s not.

As I said earlier: if there were ever any voiceover “secrets,” they are out of the bag by now and someone has found a way to get paid for sharing them.

The business suggestions are still very important to remember and often overlooked. Assuming you have reached some level of talent, a desire to do the work, the ability to interpret copy in multiple ways, and so on, then here is my short list of, “What works for me and helps me be a more successful voice over talent.”

It’s all about connecting with the Voice Over Client, and then becoming extremely valuable to them.

So, how do you that?

• You always do what you say you’re going to do. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.

• You always are professional and courteous to people you are dealing with.

• You always return emails and phone calls quickly.

• You are always pleasant to work with.

• You always deliver your voice files on or ahead of schedule.

• You always under-promise and over-deliver.

• You are available to discuss the style of the voice over, or hold a phone patch session with the client to give them what they want.

• You are always focused on giving them what they want and being of service to their needs. It’s not about you. It’s about them and helping them get what they need to complete their project.

• You always follow-up with your clients afterward, to make sure they were satisfied with your work, and ask for a copy, if possible, for your library of work. You ask them for permission to add them to your database, so you can stay in touch.

• You compile a database, which you continue to update with new contacts. This is your most valuable marketing resource.

• You have an actual marketing strategy in place, to maintain your connections with your contacts.

Those last two bullet points are a big KEY to building your professional voice over business, and are probably the most overlooked by voiceover actors.  Anyone can voice one commercial spot, if they are invited, or have a connection.  But keeping business flowing to keep up a flourishing career takes time, energy and smarts.  You have to be up to the task, and keep pushing. It’s never-ending.

Great connections lead to referrals, which are critical in this business. It’s all about connection and relationships.

From time to time, I receive requests for female voice oves from student filmmakers. For some reason, I’ve gotten more requests from students in foreign countries than from here in the US. I really don’t know why that is. Often, I’m not sure what country they are from, but they usually speak enough English to email me, and write a script for me to record. I would guess most are from Europe.

My willingness to take part in these voice over projects usually depends on my availability, the length of the script, and frankly, my mood at the time. If I feel an instant connection with the person writing the request, and feel that they genuinely are working towards an artistic goal in their education that I can be of service to, then I try to fit it into my schedule.

I do also ask for a copy when the film is complete, since I usually don’t have the opportunity to see any sort of visual, or even have a description of what they are going to do prior to recording the voice tracks. Maybe it’s better that way.

When I see it all put together, I am often astounded at the quality of the film and the emotion that it can create. I’m usually always thinking that if I had another chance, I would do something different/better with the voiceover. I suppose that’s the mark of a perfectionist, but also truly someone committed to their craft.

I think that it is easy to forget that acting and voice acting is really a “craft”. In our very commercialized, capitalized society, where everything is just a commodity, that comes with a price tag… That there are things that are just there for beauty… For contemplation…. For experimentation… And for education.

Maybe that’s why I enjoy getting a chance to do these projects, once in a while. The filmmaker is always so grateful for the donation of services, and it makes me feel good to collaborate, in this very tiny way, with a fellow artist. Even for little or no pay, it’s rewarding to help them meet their goal and create something original.

And who knows…maybe one of these film students will continue, and become the next Spielberg!

Here is a recent female voice over talent project that I was involved in.  Check out the video directed by Eskild Krogh and let him know what you think.

You never know what a client may want from voice over auditions.

This job came from an audition on a P2P site. It was listed as a VO for a “Bee” character, that was going to be in a recurring campaign for the Visitor’s Bureau in Butler County, Ohio.

I love bees! In fact, my name “Debbie” comes from the root “bee” – as in “busy as a ….”

Now everyone immediately assumes that a bee character would need a little buzz in the voice. Maybe, there would even bee wordzzzzz that could be drawn out, to indicate the particular character voice of a bee. Or maybe, if you’re Jerry Seinfeld, you would just use your own, very recognizable voice to become your bee character (check out Bee Movie if you haven’t seen that one yet, funny stuff) .

But when dealing with voice over auditions on a site with lots of competition and only a few words of written direction, it’s sometimes very hard to know what the clients are really looking for.

Now, of course, the idea in going into voice over auditions is to apply the best “Me” to the copy, since I am the unique feature in the equation. Oftentimes, if one just attempts to give the client what they “think” they want, (clients sometimes don’t know it until they hear it) it becomes a cheap imitation at best, and may be doing a disservice to one’s own talent as a voice actor.

For this particular audition, since it was a short commercial type piece of copy, my strategy was to give 2 versions of the spot, allowing for some variation in vocal delivery, and then putting what I thought to be the strongest version at the beginning of the file submitted. So, I did a version that had a cartoon style voice, with animation and energy, and NO real buzz, and another version where I exaggerated the “zzzzz’s” that I could find in the spot.

What I found out after winning the job, was that everyone was sending in the stereotypical exaggeration of the buzzing of words, and that they liked my read that DIDN’T have that extra sound.

So, the moral of my story…..? BEE careful to NOT try to second-guess the client. Give ’em your best shot of YOU and hope that it comes across as sweet as honey!

Published by Debbie Grattan on 06/12/13

Debbie Grattan is a Female Commercial Voiceover Talent who has been recording professional voice-overs for more than 20 years. To date she has worked on over 10,000 projects and has partnered 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 Commercial Voiceover Video Demos and request a custom voice over audition for an upcoming project.

In my experience, Pay to Play (P2P) sites are a great way for voice artists to find new voiceover clients.

If you’re not familiar with the terminology, “pay to play” refers to websites where there are rosters of professional voice talents who pay an annual fee to have the opportunity to peruse and audition for specific jobs, posted by voiceover clients. These jobs range from production companies, advertising/marketing agencies, and often, end clients.

Two P2P sites I’ve used are:

• Voices.com
• Voice123.com

…and there are more out there but these two keep me plenty busy with auditioning and booking jobs.

Find a Range of Jobs and Voiceover Clients on P2P Sites

The kinds of jobs one can find on a P2P site range from a voicemail recording for a business with a $100 price tag, all the way up to national commercial spots. Voiceover clients run the gamut from users who hire professional voice talent all the time, to one-time users, who may want a professional talent for something like recording their outbound phone message.

I created this video with a client I metd on a P2P site.

 

The client had a clever idea in mind: take what would have typically been a rather dry and boring topic (how to get your manufacturing plant running more smoothly), and spice it up with some creative silliness around how there’s a scary element skulking about the plant floor, ready to wreak havoc at a moment’s notice and without warning. The video offers a great solution to assist with this… Ta da!

You can probably find all kinds of articles about how to take full advantage of a P2P voiceover site. For voice talent who are not represented in markets by voice talent agencies, or who do not have a stable of regular voiceover clients, sites like these certainly offer the opportunity to practice auditioning skills—and hopefully book a job from time to time.

Cultivating Long Term Voiceover Clients from P2P Connections

The success I’ve had with P2P sites comes mostly from finding a client, and then continuing to work with them well past the one job they’ve booked me for via the P2P site.

Just last week I was chatting with a long time friend and owner of a production company I had worked with many moons ago… He is now doing voiceover work and he asked me if I’d take a listen of his demo and share some feedback. I get that request a lot and, quite honestly, usually the demos of new voice talents are not so hot. But, in this case, his voiceover demo was excellent! He mentioned that he had landed a few rather high profile clients just by doing the P2P approach.

Contrast that story with a blog post I read this week by friend, colleague and successful voiceover talent, Paul Strikwerda, about how he was leaving a major P2P site because it just wasn’t working out for him after over 3 years of trying.

So, it just goes to show you… what works for one person doesn’t work for another person. We each have to find our way on our voiceover talent path. The road is winding, and P2P sites might be a welcome rest stop or even destination for aspiring and also veteran voiceover artists.