Voiceover

Yeah, I Can Sell That House!

March 12, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

Laying in bed at night, I watch HGTV mesmerized by their programing. Even with the magnetic personalities of their hosts, who also happen to be good looking, guess what? There are always professional voiceover actors, typically women, narrating the show. Why don’t they have the hosts or realtors doing the voiceover too? Well, they have a product to sell and it takes a pro to do it!

Would you ever cut your hair yourself? Right. What happens if you need new kitchen lighting? Yeah, I’m not that girl either. What about your teeth? Do you have dentist appointments? I hope! So, in case you didn’t know, voiceover actors actually have multiple levels of training. We are trained actors, typically with years of training, acting classes, improv classes, voiceover coaching, and then continued professional development throughout our careers. We also have ongoing extensive technology to do the audio production necessary for our V.O. work. That is what makes us professionals. When I suggest that you hire a pro, I don’t just mean a creative talent who has booked a lot of work, I am talking about what they bring to the table and why they have the skill set necessary to enhance your real estate project.

On the local level, let’s say you’re a realtor at the top of your game, with a multiple six figure listing who promises excellent marketing to your client. Do you make a youtube video? This video is truly a clients first visit to the home. That is why it is so important not just to have the house look just right, but to have your video sound warm, inviting, and professional.You narrating your own video is the equivalent of a homeowner selling their house without a broker: just like on HGTV, you really need a professional.

According to the National Association of Realtors, 9/10 of buyers rely on the internet. 52% of buyers use the internet as their first step in the buying process, and interestingly YouTube is the most popular video research destination at 51% . Real estate searches on google have grown 253% in 4 years. 77% of first time buyers drove buy a house they viewed a video of online. Even in an older demographic, the internet is crucial for marketing home sales. 75% of senior home buyers now use the internet to search for a home. Clearly it is in your best interest to market the houses you are selling online.

But marketing them online is not enough. Do you think I’m the only one watching HGTV? No. Folks hear voiceover all the time- in the car, watching tv commercials, on in-show narration. So when you present your video, why not close the deal with top notch marketing done by a passionate pro? Draw them in. If the video is good enough and has the right voice, by the time you show them the house in person your buyer should feel right at home. Be a pro- present a well-orchestrated package that shows that you are a listing agent with savvy, marketing know-how, and creativity, and hire a voiceover actor today!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Waju8O3CrSg&list=PLXvMGbEh_w-K583RUGL8bAbOD2NAbWzLW

Using a Professional VO to Narrate Real Estate (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Waju8O3CrSg&list=PLXvMGbEh_w-K583RUGL8bAbOD2NAbWzLW)

The Dream Voiceover Client….

March 12, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

While it’s true that I celebrate every booking with a happy dance,

https://youtu.be/t7qGOG1a8JI

the booking is even sweeter when you have the luxury of that dream client. What is that secret sauce? Well, first they offer you the job without you doing an audition read based on either your demos or finished work on your website. Next, the pay they offer is commensurate with industry standards. That is really huge because we can loose a lot of time with back and forth negotiations.

Another thing that makes a client ideal, whether they be a production house or video game producer, or any sort of audio engineer, is when they are very specific with their specs up front. Telling the talent whether they want a WAV or an MP3 and which spots they liked and want emulated from the demo they listened to enables us to give them the exact sound they are looking for right away. Specificity means everything. The more specific the client is, the better the voice talent can do their job.

Transparency is another biggie. If the client is open and upfront about all expectations at the start of the job everything will go smoothly. If a price has been agreed upon and then the client starts asking for all sorts of extras, like multiple rounds of edits, or sound effects and music to be added it, it changes the terms of the initial proposal and the job must be renegotiated mid-way. Sometimes this can’t be helped, but sometimes the client knows what they need from the start and for whatever reason decides to save it. It is really not a fun surprise.

As a voiceover actress, we work in a field where we often audition for a good part of the day without being paid. In a sense, the audition is the job and what we do matters very much. So when the bookings do come in, and we have clients who maybe haven’t worked with that many talents directly, it is our job to maintain professional industry standards that ultimately benefit us all.

Top 10 Things to Look For When Hiring a Voice Actress

March 9, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

10. A talent who is well connected in the voiceover community will be an asset to you, particularly if you need to cast other voices for your project in a pinch.

9. A talent who takes feedback well.

8. Someone who takes direction well.

7. Someone who is responsive to calls/emails.

6. Someone with guided session capabilities like ipDTL, source connect, or ISDN.

5. Talent with a clearly stated turn-around time

4. A clear and honest policy on pickups and revisions

3. A pleasant personality that will be a delight to work with.

2. High end equipment in the studio that will enable pristine sound

1. Top notch talent who can do the job you need

Listen for What? What to Look for in a Voiceover Actor

February 26, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

You’re so excited…you’ve made a fantastic video. Great job! You want your client to be as excited as you are when you present it, and a silent film is probably not what they had in mind. So how do you match your creativity with the ideal voice talent when there is a sea of potential candidates? Let’s delve into what specifically to seek so that you can cast someone who is sure to dazzle all involved with the project.

First, when writing your spec sheet, or description of the job to the voice actors posted online, be as specific as possible. When you had a voice in mind when creating a video, you should look for that voice. If you were looking for a happy, young adult female do not request senior serious females. If you want a male with an announcer read, ask for that. Lack of specificity as to the voice sought will get you too many applicants and you will be spending time sifting through bunches of auditions that can’t help your project.

If you aren’t quite sure which voice type you want, you should consider your target audience. Are you trying to reach baby boomers or millennials, and who will draw them in the best? Look for the voice that your audience needs to hear.

Next, your spec sheet is written with the description of the job and the voice that you are seeking. Your auditions will start pouring in. You need to listen to them carefully and decide what really matters. You may have asked for a specific naming convention and for the talent to slate, which is the industry term for stating your name at the beginning of the recording. Other companies do not want slating. In either case, some people seeking talent put a lot weight on the actor’s ability to follow these details. If you are running the show, you should consider how important these details are to you because you will be the one ultimately working with the actor.

Now you are ready to listen to the auditions. You hit play. What are you listening to the auditions on? Are you listening on, dare I say it, your computer? IPhone headphones? Beats? Regardless of the quality, all of these devices alter the way the voiceover actor’s voice actually sounds. The unique components of some of these devices provide added bass or filters that don’t always reflect the voiceover actor’s actual sound.

If you are going to be casting a lot of voiceover actors, consider investing in a pair of solid Harlan Hogan or Senheiser head phones. These head phones, also known as “cans” in the industry, are the best at reflecting the true sound of a voice so that you can hear it the way it will actually sound on your finished product. Once you are really listening, you can hear the voiceover actor and consider several factors. Does the voice fit the spot? Will the voice resonate with your target audience? How is the tone, pace, and overall delivery of the voiceover actor? Hopefully you will be able to narrow down your selection to a final few.

So now that you have some hi-tech equipment, it is time to consider what your voiceover actor is recording on. First, there is a difference between audition quality and broadcast ready samples. If you know what kind of equipment the talent is recording on and what kind of software they use in their studio, you can make better choices in casting. For example, did they submit an audition recorded on a travel USB mic but at home they have a higher end microphone with interfacing? Maybe you can get lucky and the audition quality was actually recoded on what they would give you for a final product.

Because this is so important to the process, let’s break this down a little bit more. In the most simple basic terms, a USB mic plugs directly into the computer. There are some that sound okay but the top of the line microphones are never, ever USB mics. Then there are microphones. There are many many different microphones that vary in quality, that plug into interfacing, which, in turn, plugs into the computer. The interface is converting the analog signal of the microphone to the digital signal for the computer. There are all levels of interfacing.

The more professional the voiceover actor is, the more expensive his or her equipment is likely to be. He or she will also likely have backup equipment and travel rigs when on the road. Typically there is a section on every voice actor’s website where he or she lists what equipment is available in studio and you can factor that into your choice.

Voiceover work can be done on both Macs and PCs. Some editing softwares, like TwistedWave, are exclusive to Mac, but this does not effect the quality of what you get. Some commonly used software programs include Audacity, Adobe Audition, and Protools. The list goes on and on.

What really matters, though, is how proficient your actor of choice is at editing. All of these programs allow us to edit the raw file and make them sound perfect, but you want to pick the talent who has had enough technical training to send you a file that is pristine.

You also might consider what professional memberships and accreditations the voiceover actor has to his or her name. Someone bidding on one of your jobs will not be a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild because, once in SAG, bidding on non-union jobs threatens their union status. You might, however, find non-union voice talents who are members of WoVo, which stands for best practices in the professional voiceover world. So, any one who has been vetted by other professionals and is a member is a good start for you. Further, they may likely have a stamp on their website with an approval number that shows that his or her studio has been approved by WoVo. This means that the voiceover actor has gone through a lengthy approval process and multiple engineers have tested his or her files and certified the quality of the studio. Casting a voiceover actor with such a certification is a guaranty of a high level of quality for you.

What other certifications might you look for? You can look for Small Business Association certification. A voiceover actor who has taken the time to do this has likely met with a local PTAC officer or has spent a lot of time on registering the business with SAM, providing it with a certification from the federal government. A talent who has gone through these steps is likely to be reliable and someone you can depend on longterm. Talents are often members of local Chambers of Commerce, the E-learning Guild, and other professional organizations that require different certifications. These memberships not only give you a glimpse into the voiceover actors values and interests, but also give legitimacy to the voiceover actor as a small business owner who you can trust for your booking.

Another consideration when working with a voiceover actor is whether or not they offer guided sessions or phone patch. Particularly if you have not worked with this talent before, a guided session or patching in for several minutes can be extremely helpful. Essentially, these interactions are the same as if you are live and in the booth directing the session. The voiceover talent can hear you in his or her head phones but your voice is not picked up on the microphone.

Typical methods of phone patch include but are not limited to Skype, ipDTL, Source Connect, and ISDN. Skype is the most basic and often international clients choose this as they are not familiar with ipDTL or Source Connect which offer much clearer sound. When a talent has either ipDTL, Source Connect, or ISDN, you can assume that they are professional and working with a certain level of sophistication. IpDTL and Source Connect are quite similar and are both in a race to replace, ISDN, the original method of phone patch requiring copper phone wires. For you, though, as long as the talent that you hire has any of these options, you can ask for a guided session.

Some voiceover actors have a minimum session fee to have a guided session, others do not. Consider how much direction you feel the talent needs before committing to additional cost. The other important thing to understand is that, in voiceover, a live session equates to final delivery so there are usually no revisions or script changes after that point and there will be an extra charge.

Next, it is time to review the voiceover actor’s proposal. You can learn a lot by a talent by looking at the proposal. Just from the proposal you will get a sense of how pleasant and accommodating the voiceover actor will be. Some proposals are thorough and it seems like he or she will move heaven and earth to make you happy and includes revisions in the quote. Other proposals are very brief and it is difficult to tell what they include. You can always dig deeper but you have already gotten a glimpse into attitudes toward customer service. You also should be considering turnaround time. Some people offer rush service and others simply do not. If you need your project right away it is important to know a talent’s availability.

Even if you have thoroughly looked at the proposal, there is still so more to consider. Before I hire a talent, I would go to his or her website to do some due diligence. Here, as mentioned above, in addition to checking out what equipment is in each studio, you can learn who the client list includes, and view testimonials from past clients. You should factor all of this into your final choice. After all, you are making an investment into this person. You want to enjoy working with him or her, you want your client to be happy, and, in the end, you want to find someone that you can book again and avoid this entire search process.

Once you pick your final choice, you will give the good news to the happy voice actor. At this time, let him or her know if there was something on the audition that you were really pleased with or if there was a spot on the demo that you want your read to match that. It makes it easy for both of you if you communicate clearly. Making a spreadsheet to compare these details, including key deadlines, can be helpful putting everyone on the same page.

Imagine, just by listening carefully to both the auditions and the proposals, you can find the ideal voiceover actor. And from that, your video will soon have the perfect narrator voicing it. And then… do you know what comes next? That email from your client telling you what an amazing job you did!

Are you curious about studio equipment that voiceover actors should have or what their policy on pickups and revisions should be? Look out for the next blog post!

Further Reading:

“Home Studio Monitors are Much Better Than Headphones to Catch Noise”

“Selecting V.O. Home Studio Headphones”

“VO Proposal Basics”

“WoVo Approved Studio”

“Help for Government Contracting”

“Certificates of Competency”

Are there Voiceover Emergencies? Why Yes, We Call it a RUSH job…

February 19, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

So every single voiceover job is important, both to the person casting it and to the talent booking it, but a RUSH voiceover job typically implies that the producer or creative directer needs it back right away, some times with in a three to four hour window, sometimes in one hour. Can I do this? Absolutely! Is it safe to assume all voice talents do this? No, some voiceover actors cannot do this, so it is really important to check when booking your talent.

Sometimes it’s a rush on a Telephony job and the client or a commercial or an E-learning module that needs to be in right away. Does this mean that anything should be sacrificed in terms of delivery or production? No! You should expect the same service on a rush job that you would get if you had a 24 hour turn around. You should be absolutely thrilled with the final delivery, because typically talents only offer rush services if they can actually meet your needs.

Can you still ask for a guided session or a phone patch if you are asking for Rush service? Of course! The voiceover talent either has the time for the job or they don’t, bur if they can accommodate your hasty schedule, then doing a guided session should not be a challenge, it’s just part of the job if that is what you asked for.

Basically, the timeline of the job should not effect the delivery. When I work with my clients I want them to be overjoyed with the final project so that they are thrilled and can’t wait to work with me again. Rush or standard delivery, pristine quality is guaranteed with a smile.

Sometimes the difference of being able to accommodate rushed work or not is what sets one talent apart from another.

Going “Fan Girl” over some of the Biggest Names in the Voiceover Industry!

February 12, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

I’ve never been one obsessed with meeting celebrities, although I will confess that years ago I was having dinner with my husband at Niko’s on Broadway on the upper West Side and A. Martinez was sitting at the table next to us. I first knew of him from Santa Barbara when I was young and he had played Roy on General Hospital while I was growing up. I’m a pretty chatty girl and I literally could not speak to Harlan the entire meal. Cruz/Roy was next to us for heavens sake!

When I went into voiceover, there were many successful folks that had made good names for themselves that I really admired and I hoped that my career would reach the pinnacle that theirs had. That list could go on and on and would be more of a book than a blog post, from Anne Ganguzza and Kim Handyside, Lisa Biggs and Tracey Lindley, Sophia Cruz, and Cristina Milizia to Marc Scott, J. Michael Collins, and Jody Gottlieb. My list like this could be quite long and it really does go on, these are just a few that come to mind right away. They are regular folks like me who with talent and a lot of hard work have built solid careers. I also love that there are so many women supporting their families and making it work.

With the Bill DeWees and Dave Fennoy in Chicago, IL 2016

Then for some reason in my mind there are some others that I just get super excited to meet. Perhaps in my mind they are booking work that I would love to book, or perhaps it’s because they have been at voiceover consistently for a while. Perhaps it’s their gumption. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it is somewhere in between admiration and the A. Martinez/Oprah reaction in terms of how excited I get just to be in their presence.

One of the first “big names” I got to meet was Dave Fennoy. The BAFTA nominated legend known for his many video games including “The Walking Dead,” happened to be one of the presenters at a marketing conference I attended called Voicover revolution in Chicago last year. Not only did I get to meet Mr. Fennoy, I sat with him at lunch! We talked about printing scripts versus using ipads to read and we talked about travel rigs. We also talked about his SAG centered career. I loved every minute.

With Randy Thomas and J.Michael Collins in Studio City, CA

Another exciting moment was when I met Randy Thomas this fall in LA. Randy is heard regularly on promos and radio imaging across the country but is probably most known as the announcer for the Oscars and the Grammys. I came to meet her by way of a colleague J. Michael Collins. J. Michael had produced my new radio imaging demo and said that I should give Randy a call if I really wanted to pursue imaging. He sent an email of introduction and next thing I knew I was talking to Randy! She suggested that I come to LA for VO Mastery which was truly an excellent experience. I met this amazing genuine, authentic, kind, and extremely talented women in person and loved her conference.

While at VO Mastery I met Elize Jane Schneider of “South Park” fame!!! I had wanted to meet Eliza since I started my training as Eliza trained my first character coach Fred Frees and did his demo. Eliza is nothing short of brilliant. She is a dialect specialist and seems to have a photographic memory and the best ear of anyone I have every met. She can compare someone in rural Alabama to someone in Australia as she has traveled the world talking to common folks and neurologists alike all in the name of amazing voiceovers. As if that isn’t enough, she also sings. So on a Saturday morning in October, I sat next to her at breakfast and drank coffee. It’s a miracle I didn’t spill it on myself I was so excited.

I also got to meet Bob Bergen this year. The current voice of Porky Pig and a sitting member on the Television Academy’s Board of Governors was presenting the lifetime achievement award to Lily Tomlin at the SOVAS (Society of Voice Arts and Sciences Awards) at Lincoln Center this year. I knew that he would be there and I was so excited just to be in the same room as Bob. Shock of shocks I would myself face to face with him and we actually had time to chat at length. We had a substantial conversation about rates, giving up work to wait for the right gigs, and going for union bookings. It was far from small talk and I was so thankful to have the thoughts of someone with so much industry experience. Wow. It blew me away. All that and a photo…

My list of industry folks who I have met that I look up to is also quite long, from Debi Derriberry to Joe Cipriano- the existence of these folks is an inspiration to me every single day. They set the bar high and they make our industry community great. When I was a little girl and my mom told me I could be anything I wanted if I just tried really hard, I am pretty sure a career in voiceover never once crossed her mind. Now, I can’t imagine doing anything else for the rest of my life!