Voiceover Coaching

The Importance of Having Outside Interests

We read a lot about, “How to make it in VO,” consuming content voraciously in an effort to get a foothold in the business. Eventually, however, many voice actors will put the pieces together and develop a thriving business. Success rarely comes without a good amount of sacrifice, hence the importance of having outside interests.

Unfortunately, sometimes being the dog that caught the car comes with challenges of its own. Once a VO talent experiences some steady success, it can be a struggle to look at the studio as anything other than a little ATM machine, and time away from it as lost opportunity.

Look, being an entrepreneur is no cake walk. And being an entrepreneur in an industry that is always changing and highly subjective is even tougher. Wearing every hat from talent to marketing to bookkeeping to HR can take up a lot of time, money, and mental space.

But if you haven’t seen the sun in weeks, and weekends are something you vaguely remember having once, but aren’t sure, OR you start every conversation with “I was just narrating a piece about…” OR your kids are starting to fear that “hunched over troll that used to be mom” who lives in the small room in the basement… you may need to take a break, because burnout is real.

We’ve heard a lot of messages in this past year about taking time for self-care, paying attention to your mental health, and slowing down to focus on what’s important. I would add, find outside interests that have nothing to do with voice over (and bonus points if that something is FUN.)

This career is a long game, full of rejection, trial and error, and jagged roads to success. Your primary workload involves putting yourself out there, handling no’s and coming back for more. You don’t do yourself (or the quality of your work) any favors if you don’t allow yourself some distractions and give your brain some time away from constantly obsessing over your next audition.

No one will be surprised that my own outside interests include finding incredible dining experiences and travel, (when the world is normal.) But what some of you may not know is that I’m a trained political scientist and a devoted student of history (World War II era especially.) Those interests led me to read every New York Times newspaper cover to cover starting from January 1, 1930. I’ve read every one through December 15th, 1934 so far and I have plans to read at least a decade more. Not only am I completely fascinated by what I’m reading, but it gives me a mental break from voice over work. It gives my brain something new to focus on and enjoy.

Planning blocks of time into your schedule for marketing, auditioning, and recording are all very important to maximize the efficiency of your work-time management. But don’t forget to schedule-in periods of time to step away and recharge. Pursue something other than voice over. Allow yourself to have fun.

Be interested in more than one thing. Your sanity will thank you.

How to Beat Imposter Syndrome

by J. Michael Collins 11 Comments

The Wikipedia definition of Imposter Syndrome reads as follows: “Imposter syndrome (also known as imposter phenomenon, fraud syndrome or the imposter experience) is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a “fraud”.”

At some point in every career, a VO talent is going to experience this, and not only at the beginning of the journey. Plenty of experienced voice actors will confess they’ve felt like this repeatedly. But less often does anyone offer up a suggestion for what to do to make it go away. I’d like to suggest a way to beat it, for good.

But to get there, we have to go back to elementary school for a minute. From childhood, what do we focus on in school? The stuff we don’t yet know and can’t yet do, right? And that works for a while to get the basics down, learn to read/write/add, learn history, and maybe some languages. But a great majority of the time, we’re taught to identify what we’re not good at and work hard to get good. Work harder, we’re told. Deficits are highlighted more often than talents.

But does this ultimately lead to success? Do truly successful adults spend all their time focused on the stuff they don’t do well? No, they don’t.

Take football. To be a great football player, you need a knowledge of the game and some general high-level skills (strength, speed, endurance, etc). But no one with the talent to be an NFL quarterback is focused on how he’s not such a great linebacker. If he did, he’d feel like an imposter. More specifically, if a player tried to be good at EVERY position, he’d never get to the NFL. To be truly great, no time is spent on any skills not related to the player’s best talents and one specific job.

So how does this relate to Imposter Syndrome in voice over? Many people decide to join the voice over industry with little to no real knowledge of what is required. So, a lot like schoolchildren, they need a basic education in voice over – how to record yourself, mic technique, what genres are available, how to set up a VO business, etc. At this point in their career, they’re not feeling Imposter Syndrome as much as feeling new, unsure, or just getting ready to start working.

But because this industry is so vast, with such varied opportunities to work, coupled with the need to have a demo for every specific genre you want to compete in, along the way many VO artists get bogged down trying to do it all. And that’s where our good friend Imposter Syndrome comes in.

It’s pretty common to have many interests in voice over (who doesn’t want to do it all, really?) so when pressed, voice over actors are likely to give you a laundry list of what they “do”… explainers, eLearning, commercials, audiobooks, animation, etc. Often they’ve spent time improving their skills in each of these different areas. Often they’ve spent a great deal of money and time focused on the areas where they are NOT booking in order to START booking. And often they suffer from doubting their skills, talents, or accomplishments and feel a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a “fraud” (basically lookup Imposter Syndrome in the dictionary, and you’ll find a picture of a voice over actor).

If you are one of these people, welcome to a large club – and now here’s how to beat it.

While you may be good at a lot of things, what are you REALLY good at doing? Are you capable of commercials, but medical narration lights you up? Do you have to resist adding your animation characters into every audition for e-learning? Are you really good at multiple characters and long form narration but spend all your time trying to get better at IVR? Where do you absolutely shine? It’s okay, this is a safe space, be honest about where you rock.

Once you’ve answered that question, to quote Steve Martin, be so good they can’t ignore you. If you are great at commercials, find the best commercial coaches, practice your commercial skills even more and work to be the best commercial actor the world has seen. If you are great at medical narration, find those coaches and get even better. If you live and breathe animation or audiobooks, spend all your time in improv and acting classes to get even more skills. Find what you are great at doing, and devote all your time to doing that thing. Practice it. Spend your marketing efforts focused on it, and seek out the auditions from agents and buyers in that space.

Because here’s the thing. When we know we are good at something, when we have our abilities solidly in hand, when we are in our zone, doing what we are best at, when our talent is out there on display to those we work with (and, importantly, to ourselves) when confidence fills us up, we won’t feel like an imposter, because we won’t be one.

That’s not to say you should never coach on something new or never improve in other genres of voice over. But the surest road to confidence and success is the one paved by what you excel at doing. And trust me, the rest of the stuff that you’re not as good at will come with time and experience. Many VO skills (including marketing) are transferable between genres, so becoming excellent at one, and then adding a new one will be easier.

Embrace your talent, and acknowledge where you shine. Then be so good they can’t ignore you. Be so good Imposter Syndrome has no place in your studio.

The Formality Scale

by J. Michael Collins 6 Comments

If you’ve attended any of my classes or workshops, you may have heard me mention The Formality Scale. This is something that I use in any genre of voice over, in both auditions and bookings. I developed it as a scale of where I’m going to go with the read. What diction, enunciation, and clarity of speech I feel are appropriate. It affects my choices about speed, and in general what formality I’ll apply to reads. And I’m a numbers guy, so quantifying the range into a numeric scale makes my brain happy.

The Formality Scale numbers 1 to 10, with 1 being the least formal and 10 being the most. I imagine a 1 as a couple of buddies leaving the bar together in search of good tacos. They’ve probably had a little too much to drink, so their diction is a bit slurred, their speed erratic, the emphasis a little off perhaps, maybe they mumble. Basically, you’re lucky if you fully understand what each one is saying the whole time. This is the most conversational I can be without paying any attention to enunciation. This is 1. It is very rare a read will ever be a 1, but it’s good to know where the absolute limit is and work up from there.

A 5 on the scale is my Baseline read. If we were having a conversation about just about anything, this is where you’d hear me speak. Since you’re a reasonably intelligent person and I like to think I am as well, there’s more clarity to my delivery than there would be at level 1, and in this 5-ish area, sometimes I might be a bit more formal, maybe a bit less, but generally, a basic, normal conversation with family and friends would be a 5.

A 10 on the scale is Symphony Orchestras, 3-star Michelin dining, and the Ritz Carlton. This is where you bring out the big guns of enunciation and precise (and slightly affected tone). Think Thurston Howell III and you’re getting close. As with a 1, a read is unlikely to be a 10, but luxury reads often get close.

So any time I’m doing any kind of voice over read, be it corporate narration, e-learning, and even commercials, I’m trying to intuit from the script, the direction, and what I know of the client and the audience I think they’re trying to attract, what formality is called for in that moment. For example, Corporate reads will never be a 1 because they’re never that casual. They might be a bit informal, but more often than not, the floor to that informality is a 5 and the read formality only goes up from there. Explainers, on the other hand, are generally more casual, but they still have to be informative, so be careful not to drop much below a 4 unless the client is asking for that. Commercials can fall just about anywhere on the formality scale, so I really pay attention to the script, specs, product or service, and intended audience.

For me, wrapping choices like pacing, diction, intensity, and enunciation in a formality scale helps me dial in on appropriate reads and pivot quickly if the client wants a little more or a little less in the delivery. Analyze the information you have, and see if thinking of the Formality Scale helps you take the right approach on your next read.

Why I’m Not the Right Voiceover Coach or Demo Producer for You

by J. Michael Collins 8 Comments

Strange title, right? Maybe, but it could very well be true, and if so you need to know why I may not be the right voiceover coach or demo producer. Everyone learns and communicates differently, and sometimes styles of communication and learning aren’t the most compatible. Just like love, opposites attract, but they can also repel and lead to unsatisfactory relationships. Before you choose a coach or demo producer, you need to learn more about their process and style.

Broadly speaking, coaches and demo producers fall into three distinct categories:

1.) The Didact

The didactic coach or producer is extremely detail-oriented. Often very type-A on a personal level, the didact will have you thumbing through workbooks as frequently as you are on-mic, will deconstruct scripts by diagramming sentences and infusing every word with meaning, and will expect you to be attentive, studious, and every bit as engaged with minute points of voiceover academia and philosophy as they are.

The didact is a teacher at heart, as are most coaches, but they aren’t afraid to rap your knuckles with a ruler when they deem it appropriate, and what is intended as constructive feedback can often seem harsh or cold to those who aren’t prepared to be held to rigid account for each decision and choice they make.

Didacts work very well with people who have backgrounds in academics, science, logistics, and senior-level corporate management. They sometimes struggle to connect with talent who are more right-brained and artistic. Didacts are efficient, effective, good at what they do, and they know it. They have little time for those who can’t keep up.

Didacts rarely let people into their inner sanctum, but once you have been allowed beyond their outer armor they can be a champion for life.

2.) The Technician

Technicians teach from an analytical perspective that incorporates the, “why,” of a piece of copy as much as the, “how.” Technically-minded coaches expect you to learn how to intuit what a scriptwriter was thinking as they crafted their work, how the buyer or client anticipates the audience receiving the piece, and how to adapt your read to that intent.

Technicians tend to be patient but will expect you to understand the fundamentals of grammar and broader industry trends, as well as the tastes and peculiarities of various target demographics.

Technicians work well with people who enjoy the adventure of learning and the thrill of the light-bulb going on when they start to, “see the Matrix,” as the messaging and purpose of scripts become apparent to them.

Technicians tend to work well with most talent as they blend elements of detail with creativity, but may struggle with talent who are rigidly on either extreme of the left-brain/right-brain divide.

3.) The Creative

The creative coach is all about the more ethereal and spiritual elements of a performance. They are far less concerned about the details than they are about your personal connection to the copy. Are you authentic? Are you real? Are you feeling the truth of your performance or that of your character? That’s what speaks to the creative coach or demo producer.

Creative coaches and producers tend to be very extroverted, extremely patient even with talent who are frequently late for sessions or somewhat disorganized and will be much more willing to hand-hold than Didacts and even Technicians, while still peppering their feedback and advice with a dose of reality, important truth about what the industry will expect from you, and the rare stern correction if needed.

Creative coaches and producers tend to work very well with right-brained artistic types who think in abstract and non-linear ways and sometimes struggle with Type-A personalities and rigid left-brain talent who expect them to sweat every single detail.

When choosing your coach or demo producer, you first need to do some self-analysis. Are you strongly right-brained, left-brained….somewhere in between? Are you super Type-A and sensitive to the slightest sibilance or click in your audio, or do you trust your performance to carry you through and focus on the art first? Then, do your research on the coaches and producers you want to work with. How would their students describe their style and methods? And you can always ask us directly as well.

Me? I think I’m a hybrid somewhere between a Creative and a Technician. To me, details and analysis have their place and inform the fundamentals of voiceover, but the thing that books is how connected your soul is to your performance.

Does that mean I’m the right coach or demo producer for you? Maybe….but also, maybe not.

The Joy of Coaching, December Edition

by J. Michael Collins Leave a Comment

The holiday season brings so many reasons to be grateful. The joy of coaching is just one of many. As my family and I prepare to celebrate Christmas this year, I’d like to take a look at some incredibly talented folks I have had the chance to work with as a voiceover coach and demo producer over the past few months.

ELLIOTT LOWE www.lowevoice.com

Elliott has one of those voices with the power to actually blow your hair back a little, (which would have been an issue if I had any hair to speak of.) Equal parts Don LaFontaine, Sam Elliot, and Tim Allen, Elliott combines classic rumble with the ability to find conversational tones that paint pictures in the mind. Whether you are looking for a promo to get your heart racing, or a calm, believable voice to tell your audience about your newest investment options, you can’t go wrong with Elliott Lowe!

JIM ELLIS www.jimellis.us/voice-over.html

Jim is the consummate guy next door. With a voice age that defies definition, moving easily from late twenties to late forties, Jim has that neighborly presence that casting directors are going gaga over these days. His insightful ability to interpret a script, coupled with tones of credibility and authenticity, make him a perfect solution to the question: “Where do we find someone who just sounds real?”

KRYSTA WALLRAUCH krysta@krystawallrauch.com

Krysta is the definition of the word dynamic. From excitable girl next door, to supermom, to a voice of competence for your e-learning project, Krysta has a smooth but natural sound combined with genuine talent. From day one, Krysta made every script come to life, instinctively knowing where to add emphasis and where to back off. Already consistently working as a professional voice actor, Krysta has just scratched the surface of what will surely be a long and successful career. Hire her now!

ANGEL BURCH www.femalevoicetalent.net

I’ve really been blessed this year to work with so many naturally gifted talents, and Angel is one of the shining stars of the group. A true actor’s actor, she jumps in and out of a myriad of characters in ways that will delight any listener. Highly proficient at classic and polished deliveries, Angel bursts to life even more when she gets to step outside of the corporate and predictable, and become someone else entirely. If you are looking for a finished product that will WOW any of your clients, and a fun time to boot, give Angel a call!

MELANIE GRANFORS voice123.com/melaniegranfors

Melanie is the talent you call when you want it done right the first time. Few coaching clients have ever been one-take-wonders as much as Melanie was during our time working together. Her strong and classic voice can cut right through any mix, taking you from the runways of Paris to the local coffee shop, to a house full of crazy kids, and beyond. An ideal choice for business narration or e-learning, Melanie also has the quintessential TV Narration delivery, bringing a national market presence to anything she touches. If you are looking for a true pro, Melanie is your voice!

ANTHONY POWELL www.anthonypowellinc.com

A former college athlete, vigor and authority define Anthony’s sound, with a healthy dollop of competence and authenticity thrown in for good measure. A perfect fit for industrial narration, e-learning, and anything that requires a voice of strength, Anthony also slides comfortably into more casual reads, getting into character and becoming the friendly dad next door. Looking for a voice when your project means business? Anthony is your guy.

The Bliss of Coaching, Summer 2016 Edition

by J. Michael Collins Leave a Comment

It’s time again to look at some of the fantastic folks I have been working with as a coach recently. Due to time constraints, I only get to keep a handful of talent on my coaching roster at any given moment. It’s always great to experience the bliss of coaching and watch them develop the skills needed to consistently book work, and these examples below are getting ready to take the industry by storm. Hire them now!

JON NOLES, voice123.com/jonnoles

Jon has a warm resonance that evokes equal parts the sophistication of George Clooney, the friendliness of Tim Allen, and the authority of Mike Rowe, with ability to pivot between each on demand. His capacity to inspire confidence and trust is exceptional, and instantly puts the listener at ease. With an acting background and a tremendous ability to adapt to direction, John brings warmth, gravitas, and a trustworthy note to any script he reads.

ERIN FREEL, erinfreel.com

Erin IS the girl next door. Her voice is like liquid sunshine, filling every read with brightness and smile. With a natural ease that makes the conversational read a breeze, coupled with just a touch of flirty sass, Erin makes the listener want to hear more every time. With remarkable vocal control, Erin can also switch to a more polished and corporate sound on a dime, and bring credibility to any industrial or e-learning project. Erin booked her first job after just four auditions, and you had better hire her soon for your project……before you can’t afford her!

STEVE HAMILTON

Steve’s voice reminds me of that friendly dad I used to encounter when dating teenage girls in high school. The kind with a glad hand and an easy manner which suggested that you could become buddies…..but which left no doubt that there was a shotgun in the closet if your behavior called for it. Mixing easygoing charm with Deadliest Catch-style authority, Steve is the voice of reassurance in a crisis. A natural fit for medical, legal, and financial pieces, Steve is also a gifted storyteller with a flair for explainer videos and other fun VO genres. Demos and website details are coming soon! Watch this space!

MICHELLE FERGUSON

If you could bottle, “happy,” that would be Michelle. Possessing a dynamic vocal range that allows her to read for everything from young adult to grandma, Michelle’s versatility and perky personality make for a very bright future. Transitioning effortlessly from genuine and natural to more formal, Michelle goes from sexy to thoughtful to boundless enthusiasm without missing a beat. If you are looking for a voice that will leave your audience smiling, you can’t go wrong with Michelle. Demos and website are coming soon! Watch this space!

ROBIN LAREE BERRY, robinlareeberry.com

Robin defines energy. Filled with a lust for life that comes through in every read, Robin’s robust speaking style is a fantastic fit for multiple VO genres. From commercial to explainer to industrial, e-learning, telephony, and beyond, Robin offers an articulate and fluid sound that brings class, professionalism, and a bit of bounce to any piece. A pleasure to work with in the booth, Robin’s physical and spiritual involvement with every script guarantee that she is always dialed-in. Hire her today!

ROSE SMITH
I had the pleasure of meeting Rose at the 2016 Midwest Voiceover Conference in Columbus, Ohio. Gracious and humble, I’ve enjoyed watching and listening as Rose, (who is a poet,) has developed into a capable voice actor. Her ability to walk the listener through a story with wit and charm is top notch, and her friendly and kind voice makes you regret when whatever she is reading comes to an end. Watch this space for demos & Rose’s website in the near future!

Voiceover Coaching

1.) The Didact

2.) The Technician

3.) The Creative

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