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A Client’s Guide to Selecting the Right Voice Over Talent

Selecting the Right Voice-Over Talent

As a voice seeker, whether you have a precise vision, general idea, or absolutely no clue about the type of voice you’re seeking for your next project, most voice over talent searches involve a multi-step, all-purpose process. Perhaps you’re new to the game and are not sure what to expect, in which case this guide will fill you in on how to select the right voice over talent. Or maybe you’ve already been through the selection process before, in which case this guide may contribute some helpful hints.

In either case, the best place to start (of course) is with Step 1.

voice-over talent availability is top priority

Step 1: Know the Ground Rules

Before you even begin your search, it’s important to keep a few basic tenants in mind. They’re not really rules per se, but rather useful tidbits of info that can help shape your search for the ideal voice over talent.

The ideal voice-over talent should be:

  • Available when you need them
  • Eager and willing to answer your questions
  • Geared toward making your job easier
  • Out for the same goal, you are: a truly brilliant project resulting from an equally brilliant collaboration

The ideal voice-over talent should NOT be:

  • Available every other weekend, but only when it rains
  • Unresponsive to emails and phone calls
  • Disgruntled when you ask for, well, anything
  • Out only for making a buck, slapping the job together as quickly as possible, or otherwise “getting it over with” so they can move on to something more fun.

searching for voice-over talent

Step 2: Start the Voice Over Talent Search

When you’re not sure how to start your voice-over talent search, nothing can be more intimidating than a blinking cursor on the computer screen that’s just waiting for input. Try inputting stuff like this:

  • World Voices Organization (WoVO): The voiceover.biz link on the organization’s site lets you search its database of union and non-union, vetted voice-over professionals ready for action.
  • Search terms related to voice-over professionals: Think of the type of voice you want, then enter terms that match. Start with the base terms such as: “Professional voice talent” or “Professional voice-over talent” then add details that match with what you’re looking for. Examples include:
    • Gender: male or female – Ex: “female voice over talent”
    • Project type: commercials, explainer videos, infomercials, narration, animation – Ex: “female voice-over talent for commercials“
    • Industry: health care, automotive, beauty, children’s toys, finance – Ex: “female voice-over talent for automotive commercials”
    • Tone/style: sultry, high-energy, sophisticated, authoritative, conversational – Ex: “female voice-over talent high energy”
    • Special skills: British accent, characters, American dialects – Ex: “female voice over talent British accent”

You get the idea. Mix and match search terms to your heart’s content until you find a voice (or five) that draws your interest further. Then move on to Step 3.

voice over demo review

Step 3: Review the Demos

Since they can be re-recorded and edited to perfection, demos are not the end-all for choosing your ideal voice-over talent. But they can certainly be helpful to get a general idea of what a professional voice over talent sounds like.

Whether you’re reviewing an actor’s portfolio on a site like WoVO or looking at a voice-over pro’s own website, it shouldn’t be hard to find their voice over demos. Demos are typically part of the talent’s portfolio of work, providing a variety of projects, styles, and other examples that showcase the best of the best.

request a custom voice over audition

Step 4: Request a Custom Voice-Over Audition

Demos can give you a general idea of voice-over talent’s range and capabilities. Sometimes that can be enough to make your final decision. But if you want a more definite idea of how the actor would sound in your specific project, you can request a custom audition.

Most voice-over actors accept or even encourage custom auditions to give you a sample of what they can do for your script. Send the talent a paragraph or so from your script on a separate attached document. Include direction or not, depending on what you’re after. Sometimes not providing direction results in a nice surprise when a seasoned pro provides an alternate take that may not have entered your mind.

Review the auditions you receive, pick your winner, and then move on to the next step.

nail down the details for your voice-over project

Step 5: Nail Down Project Details

You may have several questions for your selected voice-over actor before the project can move forward…And the voice over actor is likely to have several for you.

Possible questions from the voice-over talent may include:

  • Where and how the recording will be used, i.e. major broadcast with a massive audience vs. a company YouTube channel with 122 subscribers
  • How long the recording will be in action, i.e. one week, one year, forever and ever
  • Length of the script, i.e. 30-second radio commercial, a two-hour documentary
  • Format needed for final recording, i.e. MP3, AIFF, .wav file
  • Delivery deadline, i.e. one hour, 24 hours, two days, one week
  • Interest in using a phone patch that lets you listen in and contribute to a recording session

Each voice-over actor has his or her own rate scale, with multiple factors going into determining price. If you’re curious about the rate scale, simply ask. The same holds true for anything else that may be on your mind. Personally, I use a rate scale as a template, but try my best to be flexible within each client’s specific budget.

Remember, a professional voice-over actor wants to make your job easier and engage in fruitful collaboration while being paid a reasonable and fair fee for their work. Trust should be enjoyed on both ends of the partnership. Find a voice-over actor that fits the bill on all of the above while providing a voice that makes your project shine, and you’ve found yourself a keeper.

Keep the person in your contact list for additional voice-over projects down the line, or even to ask then for other voice talent recommendations if you or others in your company need a different sounding or type of voice for upcoming projects. That way you can refrain from ever moving on to Step 6, which is to start the search process all over again.

Please contact me if you think I can be of service to you in finding just the right voice-over talent for your next project!

You may also find these articles useful:

“When You Need More Than Just a Voice-Over Actor”

“Key Factors to Consider When Hiring Voice-Over Talent”

“When Hiring Voice-Over Talent, Watch Out for Hidden Fees”

8 Tips for Directing Voice Over Talent – What You Can Do BEFORE the Session

8 Tips for Directing Voice Over Talent

Have you ever felt “over your head” in a VO session while trying to direct voice over talent? Or perhaps you’ve underwhelmed with the final recording from your selected talent, even though you thought you gave them proper direction.

Getting exactly what you want from a voice over performance starts even before your VO talent sits down at the microphone. Here are a few easy things you can do before you get into the session that will help to guide you and your voice talent to the best possible end result.

Experienced voice over talent may not require much directing at all, although it never hurts to cover your bases to ensure your end result is exactly what you’re looking for. Even with more than 20 years in the industry, I typically prefer to do a phone patch with new clients (and repeat clients when they have requests that are outside the norm), just to make sure we’re both on the same page. And getting on that page is easy when clients provide some essential information before the session.

As a bonus, use this one-page checklist to help you remember everything mentioned in this post.

Before Directing Voice Over Talent, Provide This Info

1. Identify the Talent’s Role: Is your talent playing the bold announcer? The knowledgeable educator? The gentle best friend? Let them know the role the voice is playing. Experienced voice over actors will create their own personal back story to get into that role and execute it with conviction.

2. Give a Clear Rundown on Your Audience: What will the VO be used for? Where will it be played? Who are we talking to?  Although these might seem obvious to you, they may not be obvious to the voice over talent. Certainly, announcing speakers at a conference of toy manufacturers would have a different feel versus narrating a video for buyers of a luxury car.  These questions also play a part in pricing, so they need to be discussed before the session and even before the price is set. Share specific details about your target audience to ensure the talent knows to whom he or she is speaking.

3. Describe Your Desired Sound: Use highly specific descriptive words to indicate how you want a script to sound. Good choices are words like warm, friendly, concerned, emotionless, comic, serious, quirky, hip, brassy, sassy, movie-trailer big. Not-so-good choices are words like nice, flat, conversational. These tend to be much too general and open to many differing interpretations. Even though most experienced voice talent will have a pretty good idea of where to start, I often tell clients, I’m not a mind reader, and there can be varying levels of “friendly” which may or may not fit with the idea in your head.

Another ideal way to dial in on what you want your script to sound like is to fill in three blanks with one-word answers:

This read should sound ____ (ex: uplifting).8 Tips for Directing Voice Over Talent Before the Session
This read should not sound ____ (ex: serious).
The listener should feel ___ (ex: inspired).

4. Cite Some Specific Examples: Review the voice over talent’s audio and video portfolio so you can reference a specific voice over demo or sample that your talent has already created. Or, you could provide a link to an audio or video of someone else who has the desired sound. I get scripts sent to me all the time that have minimal direction but reference a particular demo on my website for the vocal delivery they want. That always makes it very easy for me to know exactly how to nail their desired delivery.

5. Video, Slide Show or Music: It helps immensely when the talent knows the visuals and music that will be paired with his or her voice. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then a video is worth 100,000 words and the music is worth about 50,000 (give or take a thousand). I’ve even recorded VO with the background music in my headset, to get me in the proper mood during the session. It’s a great trick, if you can make that available to your chosen talent before or during the session.

6. Provide a Script That’s Really Ready: Read your script out loud, noting any tricky words, uncommon names or desired pronunciations. Phonetic spelling is good, and showing rhymes for a specific word or syllable is even better. You might even catch grammatical errors, which will save time during the session. Outline direction for:

  • Numbers, including phone numbers (5500 = five-five-zero-zero OR fifty-five hundred OR five-five-oh-oh)?
  • Words with multiple pronunciations, such as “either” or “neither”
  • Pronunciation of people’s names if the name is difficult, unusual or strays from typical pronunciation
  • Unfamiliar words, foreign phrases or other items that could benefit from clarification

Get additional tips for readying your script from my blog on Voice Over Mistakes to Avoid.

7. Be Clear on Timing Specs: If the voice track needs to be timed to a video or fit a specific timeframe, make sure you give the talent a head’s up in advance. Most pros work with stopwatch in hand and are extremely aware of how to fit copy into the desired timeframe. But also, make sure that the copy can fit into the timeline.  It can be frustrating to talent when they get a :30 spot, that’s way over-written.  Do your best to provide an accurately timed script.

8. Use Brackets for Direction: If certain parts of the script require voice over acting moments, use brackets to outline specific emotions and tones to hit at those points. Remember to keep those emotions and tones very specific, avoiding the too-general terms like “nice” or “conversational.” Try terms like “happily surprised,” “shocked and angry” or “unemotional and stoic” instead.

Regardless of the type of direction you’re providing, it’s important to be clear, specific and concise. Ambiguity, contradictions or way too much direction can only lead to frustration and confusion on both sides of the fence. Our goal as voice-over actors is to deliver the best possible performance in the shortest amount of time.

Proper direction ensures that “best performance” happens in every session!

Download: “The Voice Over Talent Director’s Checklist”

Be sure to also read Part 1 of this series: “How to Get the Best Voice Over Talent Performance: Choosing Talent“

Why You Need a Pro Commercial Voice-Over Artist for Your Next Commercial

Professional Commercial Voice-Over Artist Debbie Grattan offers her thoughts on the advantages of hiring a Pro Commercial Voice-Over Talent versus someone who is newer to the voice-over business.

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Being a full-time commercial voice-over artist, I always have my ear tuned to commercials. Whether it’s on tv or radio, I find it amusing how just as many listeners are taking their attention away from the program (as it goes to commercial break), I am unconsciously tuning in.

Living in a relatively small media market in the Midwest, I see and hear a wide range of quality in the radio and tv commercial spots. Occasionally, I say to myself (or my husband if he’s in earshot), “What were they thinking? Who approved that read?!”

Commercial Voice-Over Artist Debbie Grattan

Perhaps I’m overly sensitive because I grew up in the monstrous market of Southern California, where nearly every single spot (in prime time anyway) is extremely well crafted. And where radio commercials are perhaps even more important than television commercials in attracting listeners and customers, since capturing the ear of all of those drivers on the freeway is essential. I find that a good commercial voice-over track and script can make up for a lot of subpar stuff that may be happening elsewhere in the spot.

So, choosing a quality commercial voice-over talent and making sure you have a well-written script are of paramount importance when you’re trying to make that strong, positive impression on your audience. This holds true for both radio and television commercials when choosing which pro voice talent to hire.

As I’ve mentioned in other commercial voice-over business articles, there are a whole lot of voice talent newbies out there who have jumped into this business thinking they’ve got what it takes to do this for a living. What they usually fail to realize is the subtlety and nuance involved in reads, and how one little change in inflection can completely change the meaning that is conveyed to the audience.

I find that without some solid acting training and script interpretation skills, it’s very difficult to have the foundation to be able to provide the array of vocal options that clients often want to hear, so they can choose the best take. Most of the time, that foundation comes only after years of experience.

If you’re going to the cost and effort of producing a tv or radio commercial, I strongly suggest you don’t cut corners in the voice talent selection part of the process. The voice talent can make or break the success of your advertising spot.

I know not everyone realizes this. Some people are very visual, others are kinesthetic and still others are auditory. It’s essential to cover all three bases (and look/listen) to your spot from all combined perspectives, to make sure you are sending the desired message on all channels

is a professional commercial voice-over artist who has been in the voiceover business for more than 20 years. She’s been the “go to” artist for many production companies and recording studios across the US. Check out her commercial voice-over demos, and request a commercial voice-over audition to hear what kind of quality Debbie can deliver.

 

Before You Hire Voiceover Talent, Ask These 5 Questions

Female Voice Actor Debbie Grattan offers 5 Key Questions that anyone who needs to hire voiceover talent should ask themselves before moving forward with a project.

In this age of technology, it is all too easy to achieve the appearance of being a quality voiceover talent even though you’re not quite up to snuff. Seemingly, all that is needed is a good microphone, a decently sound-proofed room in which to record, some editing software, a slick website, and presto… you’re in the voiceover business!

Living now in a relatively small media market in the Midwest, I see and hear a wide range of quality in the radio and tv commercial spots. Occasionally, I say to myself (or my husband if he’s in earshot), “What were they thinking? Who approved that read?!”

Need to Hire Voiceover Talent? Ask these 5 questions first

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’m all for helping people get started on their path of living their dreams and discovering their purpose in life. Everybody has to start somewhere.

But, when I explain to the prospective newbie voice over actor just what is involved in terms of training and experience, I can almost feel them starting to squirm as they try to find a way to politely end our conversation just as soon as humanly possible.

People don’t like to hear the truth when the truth feels uncomfortable: What looks so easy, is in reality, a whole lot of hard work, persistence, luck, and years of experience required in order really make being a paid voiceover talent into a full time career.

And I realize these folks are out there in cyberland competing for the same jobs I’m trying to win.  The slew of voiceover websites now offering voiceovers for “as low as (pick a ridiculous, rock-bottom amount)” bring in even more batches of folks, working at deeply discounted rates, to compete for a single gig.

I can imagine what happens to producers who suddenly discover (a few minutes into the recording session, with the client sitting in the control room or on listening in on a phone patch somewhere) that this voiceover actor who had such great demos and the appearance of real talent just does not have the “chops” to deliver what is needed.

So, here’s my short list of how to separate the legit voiceover actors from the “not ready for prime time players.”

1. Does this voice-over actor have the vocal range that is needed? Can they deliver the nuance?

Do they have any specific training as an actor in how to deliver a professional read? Do they have some awesome God-given ability that supersedes actual voiceover acting training? Maybe they’ve just got an ear for it, or a combination of all three. Whatever the source or their voice talent, make sure you can hear a wide range of vocal ability in their voiceover demos. Or, before you hire voiceover talent, take your prospective actor through some paces on the phone, just to see what they can really do — Kind of like a test drive.

Ask for a custom voice over audition for a few differing styles, if possible. Beware if they are unable to answer your calls or emails until after normal business hours as this could suggest they have a full time job other than being a voice over actor, and may not be the perfect choice for your project. Especially if availability is an important factor.

2. Does this voice-over actor have a high quality recording studio?

A low quality studio can really detract from the end product. This seems fairly obvious, but still is something to look into. Key elements include, a high quality microphone, sound-proofed recording environment, professional grade studio monitors, and a good computer setup (software, quality soundcard or firewire connection, ISDN, SourceConnect, etc). I think that every voiceover actor should post their home recording studio equipment and specs on their website for all to see. Look for it. And don’t just assume their voice over demos were recorded with that same studio setup. There’s a good chance they were recorded somewhere else.

To be safe or if there is any doubt, you can ask for a sample recording done in their home studio so you can get an accurate idea of just what kind of recording studio quality you are dealing with.

3. Does this voice-over actor have real experience as a working voice talent?

Nothing takes the place of experience. The more experienced the voiceover talent is, the better job they will probably do for you. Depending on the job, I highly recommend working with voice-over actors who have solid acting experience, or at least some extensive voiceover acting training from a reputable teacher.

There are many fine workshops in the voiceover services industry, and if you don’t see any credits listed on a bio or voice over resume of where or with whom they studied, ask them. If they don’t have a good answer, then it might be a good time to move on.

Hiring an inexperienced novice to handle your job can only lead to disappointment, frustration and potentially loss of revenue for you and your client. And of course, since you are trying to please your own client, you don’t want to be the one who gets the blame when the voice over actor is less than satisfactory for the job.

4. Has this voiceover actor worked with many quality clients?

If they’ve been in the voiceover business for years, then they should have worked with many clients. I recently tallied up all of the clients I’ve worked with in just the past 5 years, and it totaled over 400 unique clients. Most of those clients used me for multiple jobs. That kind of volume speaks volumes!

Ask them who their current clients are, where you could hear them on TV or radio, or if they have some links to websites where their voiceover work is featured in conjunction with a corporate client. See if the names they provide are nationally recognized names, or local businesses.

Most pro voice-over actors do a combination of all of the above, but if their biggest jobs include Sam the Barber, and Papa’s Hardware store, that might be a clue that they have pretty minimal experience as a working professional voiceover actor.

5. Is this voiceover actor going to deliver what you need in a timely and professional manner?

When you have a hard deadline, or a finicky client, the last thing you need is a voiceover actor that isn’t up to the challenge. Today, there are many different formats used for audio broadcasting. Does your VO talent know what a CCITT u-Law, 8.000 kHz, 8 Bit Mono format is? This is often needed for IVR and telephony voice jobs. Do they have the knowledge, equipment and software to make this conversion for you?

Do they have a phone patch, to allow you and/or your client to listen in on the session with you in real time, to direct and offer assistance with pronunciation, etc? Is your voiceover actor really a pro?

Do they respond to your inquiries quickly and professionally? Do they offer a custom voice audition of your script to present to your client for approval beforehand? Do they sound knowledgeable when quoting rates, and are they in line with other professional voiceover talent rates for the same job? Are they available to speak to you during your regular business hours?

These are just a few of the probing questions you can ask before you hire voiceover talent. Do your homework and you’ll be very glad that you did.

And, the best way to avoid having to constantly go through this process (if you frequently need to hire voiceover talent) is to build your own group of “go to” voiceover talents. Get a few male and a few female voice over actors who are versatile, professional and meet all the suggested requirements mentioned above.

Then, whichever voice over talent you need for a particular job, you can relax knowing that you’ve got a top notch talent who can always deliver a high quality service.

is a professional female voice over actor who has been doing voiceover work for 20+ years. She’s been a “go to” voice talent for many production companies and recording studios across the US. Check out her voice demos, voice actress bio and studio specs for more information.

Voiceover Career Success Helped by Attitude and Perspective

Female Voice Actor Debbie Grattan shares why attitude and a positive perspective are critically important when trying to build a successful voiceover career.

In reading blogs from other voice actors, I’m noticing that lately I am hearing a good deal of complaining. Discussions about the negative state of the economy, how the market is flooded with “wanna-be” voiceover talents, and that those who used to be able to make a good living as voice actors, without a lot of effort, are now having to either work much harder, or settle for a smaller piece of the pie.

All of these points are valid and true to some degree. However, I have learned that in order to stay on track, I have to align myself with a truth that allows me to feel good and keep moving forward in my voiceover career.

Voiceover Career Success Helped by Attitude and Perspective

The perspectives and points of view that sound like complaining will actually cause me to become stuck in a whirlpool of negativity, because the way I see the world is how the world will be reflected back to me.

Another saying I’ve found to be true is, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

Change the Way You Look at Your Voiceover Career and Your Voiceover Career Will Change

I truly believe that attitude plays one of the most important roles in being successful in anything one chooses to pursue, not just in having a voiceover career. I believe if there is something “unwanted” in my experience (a perceived problem), the best and most effective thing for me to do is usually to NOT give it very much attention, but notice it, allow it to be, and move forward toward what I want. Perhaps there is valuable information contained in this unwanted experience.

For that reason, it is always worthwhile to look at the problem long enough to see it clearly. But, once I’ve “mined the gold out of it,” I have no reason to keep thinking about the problem. This too shall pass, as long as I don’t get fixated on it and cause it to hang around longer than it needs to!

Indeed, by focusing on the things that we don’t want (i.e. “The economy stinks”, “there aren’t enough jobs out there”, “I’m not making enough money”) we put ourselves into alignment with a state of “lack,” and we actually become creators of the very things we are attempting to avoid.

Positive Thinking Alone is Not Enough

There is a lot of New Age thinking in the world today, which gets labeled as “Pollyanna-ish.” I agree that positive thinking alone is not enough. Beliefs and thought patterns can be ingrained very strongly within us, and are often extremely resistant to change.

My husband has worked for several years as a life coach helping people to dismantle their limiting beliefs, and choose to have the lives that they dare to dream. It’s entirely possible to achieve a more desireable life experience, but the thinking and beliefs need to get lined up properly to support that outcome.

I find that: What we focus on, expands in our awareness. Where our attention goes, energy and consciousness flows, and the object of that attention grows. Energy and consciousness has awesome creative properties which we are only beginning to understand.

So, to actually achieve success with a VO career, and the manifestation of thing we WANT — to be a successful, constantly working voice actor, it is important to have the proper positive perspectives, and eliminate the obstacles that can derail our thinking and ultimately our actions.

It’s a lot easier to think of ourselves as a failure, than to actually achieve success, so it’s critically important to disregard the limiting thoughts that roll around in our heads. They’re just thoughts, after all.

Tips for Changing Your Focus

In addition to focusing on what you WANT instead of what you don’t want, you can get your thoughts headed in a positive direction by using few techniques noted by SourcesofInsight:

  • Ask yourself questions instead of making statements. Rather than telling yourself “Don’t focus on the gig I didn’t get,” ask yourself something like, “What do I want to go for next?”
  • Ask HOW rather than WHY. Instead of asking, “Why don’t I get these gigs?” try asking, “How can I improve my auditions?”
  • Ask questions to change your frame of mind. If you catch yourself wondering things like, “What was the worst voiceover workday I’ve ever had?” turn the tables to wonder “What was the best day I’ve ever had?”

I believe that universally, there are laws and principles in place, that will support us, and allow us to materialize the life and reality that we choose on this physical plane, regardless of any circumstance we can point to, that appears to be in the way – i.e. the economy, overpopulation of voice over actors, computer generated voices taking the place of actual voice actors, etc.

But, we must live in alignment with those laws and principles so that they can act as a tailwind rather than a headwind. And we must be willing to adapt to the constantly changing environment we now live in and step into the opportunities that are presented to us, even though it sometimes feels a little uncomfortable to take that step.

is a professional female voiceover actor who has been building a successful vo career for over 20 years. She’s been the “go to” artist for many production companies and recording studios across the US. Check out her voiceover demos, female voice actor bio and home recording studio specs for more information.

Voiceover Acting and the Battle of the Blowers

Female Voiceover Acting Talent Debbie Grattan shares the challenges of recording in a Home Voiceover Recording Studio when outside the leaves are a-fallin’!

At last we are nearing the time of year when the leaves have almost all fallen safely to Mother Earth and the roaring chorus of leaf blowers and lawnmowers has reached its climactic finale.

What does this have to do with being a female voice actress, you ask?

Well, here’s the connection. I live in the Midwest now, where they actually have a season called Autumn. Being born and bred in southern California shielded me from events such as this. I used to think the seasons had more to do with location (you go to the beach for summer, to the mountains for winter) than the tilting of the planet and extreme changes in temperatures.

When you make your living as a voiceover actress, working out of your home recording studio (even a well sound-proofed one), you need to pay attention to things like this because all it takes is one landscape crew on a mission to rid somebody’s yard of every earthbound leaf remnant… Well, you get the picture. It can really mess up a full schedule of voiceover acting recording projects.

I’ve been pretty fortunate this year. The Leaf Gods have been very cooperative with the timing of the “the fall” so as not to interfere with my often jam-packed recording schedule. I live in a neighborhood that has many folks who really like to take care of their property (which is a good thing) and somehow some way, we’ve all managed to co-exist quite peacefully. Sometimes just in the nick of time, with John or Bill (keeping this anonymous) finishing up their cleanup just minutes before I am set to do an ISDN voiceover session. It can get a little nerve-racking at times! Not that I escaped these types of scenarios when I lived in California. I can remember more than one occasion when I sent my husband out to “pay off” the landscaping crews so I could complete a phone patch with a very high profile client.

Last year, my husband (he’s a Lifecoach btw) taught me a little saying (or prayer perhaps) called The One Command, and it can be used anytime you are trying to get a specific outcome and it seems like a bit of a stretch to achieve it. I admit, I used this command few times this fall.

“I don’t know how it is that I have total peace and quiet for this voiceover acting session at 2pm today, I only know that I have that and I am grateful and fulfilled!” Then I would relax and take a few deep breaths feeling the way I will actually feel when that reality shows up just as I requested it.

I was very pleasantly surprised at how well that statement worked most of the time.

So, now I’m breathing a relaxed sigh of relief knowing that the worst of the “noisy season” is behind me. At least until the snow flies and the snow blowers come out of hibernation!

Be sure to also check out a more updated article about this topic, “Voice-Over Actor vs. Leaf Blowers: This Year the Actor Wins” for my present day solution to those pesky blowers.

is a professional female voiceover actor who has been doing voice over work for more than 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 Voiceover Acting Demos and request a Custom Voiceover Audition or Quote for Upcoming Project.