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Archives for August 2022

Speak your Truth as a Voiceactor 

Personal VO Views, VO Business Tips, Voice over Training, Voiceover Bussiness Tips

Should your individual opinions affect your choices in voiceover projects? I recently read a blog related to truth, or should I say, statements reported as news in the American news media. The post was about how some people shrewdly use social and news media platforms to develop messages. These messages may contain misleading or belief-based information to sway receivers to a particular point of view. If accepted, the persuasive message may convince receivers that an opinion-based report is a fact.

I wondered how voice actors cope with questionable information they must communicate through scripts and projects. For example, how do you deal with voicing projects where you believe the information is askew? It’s one thing to listen to the news and read social media, but what if you’re voicing a message that is contrary to your values? The wrong answer can affect one’s finances. As a talent, define your standards of truth as a voice of integrity.

Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”   Oscar Wilde

Set The Standards

To run a successful business, you must have standards within that business. Those standards govern what you can and should do to please a customer. So, first, become clear on what you prefer to voice as an actor; the rest is follow through. For example, I know actors specific on the types of reads they record and only voice those types. The actors are not biased in any way; they have simply decided what kinds of projects they will perform.

Times and thinking have changed a lot in the past five or even two years.  Your standards should be top of mind throughout your daily business life.  In Focusing on Your Core Values as a Small Business, Matt Wilson says, “And if you started your company a week ago or 10 years ago, I urge you to spend a bit of time considering just who you want your company to be and make sure that it is living up to your standards.”

Live With The Choices

When a voice actor hangs out the “For Hire” sign, they tell the world they are available for almost any project. But before a voiceactor is ready to work, they must be clear as to the tone of the business. Producers may not just judge you on your demo, but your previous projects and affiliations posted online may also be reviewed. You don’t have to pen a statement of values per se, but if you note on your public profiles the types of projects you enjoy and the work you want to voice, it’s a subtle way of letting others know your choices.

You also show your choices through social media followers, posts, and support. It’s a given today that someone will review your social media pages to see what you’re really about. So, make sure your post and support align with your principles.

Distance yourself from causes and pages that can give a bad and incorrect view of your business and who you are as a voice actor. Sometimes, it’s best not to participate in publicly bashing elected officials or celebrities. While you can have your point of view, making political statements as a voice actor and offending potential future clients may not be suitable for business.

Voice Integrity

You are the most intuitive as a voiceactor when you participate in projects you can agree with or believe in the message. Don’t take any job because money is slow. Your voice recording could be heard indefinitely, and you may become the talent that supports a particular position. In addition, if you believe in what you’re saying or selling, your read will go much better because you can connect with the message and why it’s important to others. Moreover, if you want to connect with a message, know what you want the listeners to feel, and that will come through in your voice.

I’m not saying you have to love aftershave cream or hard tack screws, but if the message is one you can believe in, such as the importance of aftershave cream and hard tack screws, you can voice the script with meaning and conviction.

Know What Fits For You

I know from experience that sometimes we get asked to do projects that don’t align our values even though the position is popular in the media. Going against the social media influencers or the messages in the news may seem like walking into a windstorm headfirst. But you cannot compromise yourself and still be an effective, emotive voiceactor.

Seek projects that you can proudly stand behind and would not be embarrassed if your parents or children recognized your voice. It may seem hard, and that’s because it is. You may have to walk away from some big-dollar jobs, but in the end, you’ll have done what’s right for your future.

Speak your truth at a voiceactor, and you’ll never have to lie about who you are or how you feel. Your feeling matter as a voice actor. No do what you do best as you break that lip!

It’s About Worth Not Cost

Personal VO Views, VO Business Tips, Voice over Training

Person Looking to trust and know their worth
Know your worth and trust your view.

We want our business to be successful.  And voiceactors wish to be appreciated as talents and exemplary business people.  As such, voice actors must be careful not to take it too personally when people try to use our emotions during negotiations.  No matter your profession, knowing your worth will help you set fair  business practices that will eventually grow your company and grow your self-satisfaction.

Recently, my brother brought a great revelation to my attention.  I shared with him a story of how I was trying to get a job with an organization I greatly admired.  As such, the producer offered me a rate for a project that was significantly lower than my normal rate for similar projects.  Since I believed in the organization’s overall message, I decided to take the offered rate.  But then, the producer returned to me with additional requirements and directions without offering additional funds for my extra work.  So, I tried to develop the best re-audition I could for my go-ahead to start the job per all the specifications.  Later, I mentally waited for hours and then days for what I hoped would be the final approval to begin the work.

When I shared this story with my brother, I assumed he wouldn’t understand my predicament because, after all, he’s not a voiceover talent.  But, almost cutting me off in telling my story, my brother nicely scolded me pointing out that I was not being truthful the producer.  It started with the me dropping  my voiceover rates and then accepting other musts.  For a moment, I stopped and thought, was I so concerned about working for the organization that I had compromised myself as a businessperson?  Then, as my brother pointed out, being a voice talent doesn’t mean you don’t need to eat.  I had forgotten my worth. Ouch!

Well, I came to my senses and thought, I have an intelligent brother.  But also, accepting low rates from potential clients does not serve me as a voice actor or businessperson.

Negotiation is Everything

M.J., a famous female Black American voice talent, told me years ago that negotiation is everything.  M.J. pointed out it’s okay to ask for what your business needs to provide the best projects for clients.  However, accepting low-ball rates only sets you up for a continuous cycle of lower prices that, in most cases, can hurt your business and keep you from growing your voiceover career.

Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”  John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Be Reasonable

While working with the client, I think I should have let them know the rate and requirements were outside of my business tenants.  That way, the client could have moved on and searched for another voiceactor.  Sometimes, it’s better to cut one’s losses and move on.

Moreover, being too reasonable can translate into being seen by others as of a low quality or not very talented.  If one only accepts low rates, a potential client may think a voiceover actor is cheap and must not be any good.  As a voice talent, I invest in my training, studio upgrades, and the like to continue providing my clients with the best products.  Without charging reasonable rates, my business cannot grow, nor can I grow as a talent.  The quality of what I provide would suffer, and my business could go under.

It’s about Business

My story reminds me that while I enjoy voiceacting, I must run my business like a business. Compromising the fundamental canons of my company does not help my current or future clients.  This incident reminded me of how important it is to work with budgets to help my clients, including negotiating the best rates and benefits for all involved.  Keeping these basic tenets will lead to developing successful projects and relationships.

Self-Satisfaction from Self-Respect

Walking away from a job that is not a good fit is not giving up.  On the contrary, the act of walking away is affirming one’s standards and best practices. We feel the most validated and affirmed when we stand our ground, trust ourselves, and our standards.  Acts of courage feed into our spirit and are a setup for even better projects and successes in the future.

Now, go and break that lip!