Life happens even to me. While preparing for a weekend trip, I hit my thumb (really hard) and sprained it. What’s more, the sprained limb became infected. With that said, I’ve had a little time away from my blogs and social media writings, or what I call “sprained away.”
I’m keeping the faith and hope to share more voiceover thoughts, ideas, and business tips after July 9, 2018.
Keep voicing and break a lip!
If you’ve worked in various fields and now you find yourself exploring voiceovers in your 50s or older, you may be wondering are you too old to be a voice talent. That’s the farthest thing from the truth. However, success in voiceovers may mean that you have to work a little differently than those under 50 to keep relevant. Getting and being competitive as a voice talent involves preparation and smart work…and is not age based.
Recently, I was listening to one of my favorite podcast, and one of the co-hosts mentioned that new voice talent often asks her how old is too old to be a voice talent. Hearing the question, I had an immediate response. You see, I spent over 20 years working in communication, and in the later years of my career, noticed a change in the way employees over 50 were perceived by younger workers and employers. Many times, I witnessed older workers being labeled as out of touch, over the hill, or archaic in their careers. The funny thing is that most of these same workers were performing at peak or better in their jobs. The assumption of one being obsolete was made strictly based on age. So, I understand why new talent over 50 would question whether there is an age maximum as a voiceover performer.
I’m here to say voice acting has NO age requirement. It’s all about effectively sounding and emoting a particular age group.
Realize that Age is Just a Number: Do you remember “Rocky the Squirrel”? June Foray was the iconic voice of Rocky from “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.” June worked many years over her 50th birthday and had a total career span of 85 years. Now that’s what I call staying relevant.
What about the voice of the first Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer? Voice actor Billie Mae Richards performed Rudolph and other voices and was a working talent in 2004 at the age of 82, just six years before her death.
Solomon Hersh (best known as Paul) Frees started his acting career in 1942 and remained active for over forty years. Frees worked for major animation production companies including Walt Disney Studios, Walter Lantz Studios, UPA, Hanna-Barbera, MGM Studios, and Rankin/Bass. Paul worked well into his sixties. These actors worked into what some would call retirement years, but I call their best years.
Review your Bridges, Keep Some – Burn Some: It may be wise to decide which bridges to keep and which to burn. If you worked in a career or field for several years, some of these earlier associations could lead to future voiceover work. For instance, if you’ve worked in engineering or the medical field, you probably understand specific specializations not known to the average person. That knowledge and experience gives you a leg up as the perfect voice talent for jobs in your former career field. Let your colleagues know that you are a voice talent and available for related projects.
Use Old Profiles to Showcase Your New Business: Instead of combining your old social media professional profiles into your voiceover sites, consider rewording the information. Show how your former work makes you a perfect choice for similar voice projects. Let your voiceover profile stand alone, and let your old profiles link to your new information. This way you keep the same connections and alert them of your unique skill sets.
Embrace Technology (or hire your kids): Most working voice artists have professional home studios. Voice talents must learn about recording software and hardware, acoustics, and other related skills. Every day brings new technology into our mist, so this is indeed not an age thing. Learn what you have to through online classes, YouTube videos, LinkedIn or private coaching. It’s a necessary step, and you can do it. Just take it slow and master one new item at a time. Don’t try to learn everything at once. Master the majors like home recording (a software), editing, etc., and move on to other skills. If you have children or know of others with audio, web, or social media skills, ask them to help you or even hire them to do some of the work. You can also contract out the editing until you are comfortable with your new skill sets. Don’t let not knowing something keep you from getting what you need for running your business.
Embrace a Young Attitude: When you’re home behind a microphone, no one can see or care about how old you are, it’s all in the attitude. This is where your field work comes in. Look for opportunities to hang around younger people and listen and interact with them. Listen to the thoughts and ideas of young adults, Millennials, and Gen Xers. Note their tone, inflections, patterns, and attitude. Look for ways to add what you’ve heard and observed into your voiceover delivery. Experiment with speaking like someone much younger (or older) than yourself and review your performance. By noting the way people talk, how they expressed themselves and incorporated these attributes into your performance, you can keep current and sound almost any age you want. My cousin, who is at least 14 years older than me, has a youthful tone that reminds me of a 22-year-old and not her actual age of 60+ years.
Keep it Healthy and Moving: As we age our body and mind needs to keep engaged and healthy. Make sure to monitor your health. As we get older, sometimes we have to deal with mouth noises or diction problems. Make sure that you are taking time to go to the doctor and keeping up with proper dental care. Lastly, daily phonetic warmups can help with diction and word pronunciation.
Staying home is lovely, but it is even more critical for you to get out and move your body. Keeping it moving is whatever gets you moving. Walking is a great exercise. Don’t forget about weekend getaways. A change of scenery is also a great way to keep it moving and recharge your mind. Don’t take the fun out of your life, add a little voice acting to it.
Remember, as you age be timeless not timed. Break that lip!
Voice acting can be a wonderfully fulfilling career field. Most self-employed voice actors work alone and have to manage all aspects of their business. For those first starting their own business, transitioning from employee to employer can be a bit of a challenge. Without a boss or supervisor tying a salary and raises to performance, one may not be as driven to work as structured in a self-employed venue. But with a little hindsight, many employee job practices can be applied as sole-entrepreneur business practices. For long-term success, apply employee work practices as a self-employed talent to keep your business on track. Below is a list of best-practices for full-time employees that perfectly fit the independent voice talent.
Report to Work On Time
You don’t have to punch a clock to start working, but it’s a good idea to have regular daily work hours. Developing a routine will get you up and moving as if you were commuting into an office, but now it’s your home office. You can even make your coffee at home.
Schedule Lunch and Breaks
Most companies like to know when employees are on break or at lunch. You’re the boss now, so schedule when to break for lunch, run errands, etc. If you have to take an extended break from your home office, schedule make-up time that day or on a Saturday just as if you ’d taken leave as an employee.
Attend Operation and Progress Meetings
Many businesses have regular Monday staff meetings to check accounts and status, review sales, and practices. As a voice talent, have your own Monday status meeting to review your marketing, client follow-ups, billing, social media progress, and anything forwarded from your last week of business. The session can help you narrow your focus and limited wasting time in your upcoming week. TIP: Record your free flow of ideas or thoughts and add to your to-do list if needed.
Attend Regular Training
To keep current, many employers require regular refresher training for their staff. As a self-employed voice actor, you need to stay current too. Proper ongoing training can include listening to podcasts on all things voiceover related, attending conferences, and working regularly with a voice coach.
Interact with your Co-workers on New Ideas
Full-time employees often share updates with their colleagues. Voice actors are no different. Facebook groups and Twitter postings provide alerts to new tricks and tips in the home studio recording. YouTube and other direct streaming broadcasts from voiceover experts are excellent for discovering new ways to work smarter and not more laborious in the booth.
Set Regular Hours
Most jobs have regular hours of operation. Set the hours you plan to work your voiceover business. Try to consistently work for a fixed number of hours and days (full-time or part-time) and remain faithful to those times. If you have a big project, work at that time, then as a reward, try to give yourself some time off for your overtime work. Also, setting regular hours allows your family and friends to know when you are available for time away from the VO business.
Leave the job at the job
Working for an employer can bring many challenges during the day, and the same can happen in voice acting. You will lose some jobs just because you are not the one the casting director needed (or liked). Try not to take it personally. It’s usually not a talent matter, but you will probably never know the real reason you didn’t get a gig. So, leave the VO job at the job. Do the best you can, come back the next time, and keep working your business.
Take Time for Vacations
Most of today’s top managers and business gurus tout the importance of vacation time. Americans are known for being the hardest working people in the world. When it comes to vacations, CNBC’S MakeIt reports, … a whopping 49 percent of Americans won’t be taking one this summer… .
Take time off and do something non-voiceover related. There is no shame in taking your traveling recording gear just in case you get that big job while on the road. (You’re in business so be prepared). Let your clients know you’re taking time off and when you will return. Still, be prepared in case a client needs you for a job while you’re on vacation. Also, don’t forget to change your voicemail message so callers will know when you will be available and back in your home studio.
Let’s face it, if you’ve ever worked for someone else, most of these points are nothing new. That’s a great start. Now, use these points in running your daily business to establish and maintain a solid groundwork for long-term voiceover success.
Break a lip.
A few weeks ago, I blogged my thoughts related to age and voiceovers. We know that you are as young or as old as you sound. You can use marketing to locate the clients that need your voiceover tone and skills. But what about if you’ve retired from a career and want a voice acting career with time for other activities? What if you want time to travel, write a book, volunteer, or other activities? I don’t believe you have to hang up your microphone and dream of becoming a voice talent. It’s all in the time and commitment. Practically plan your voiceover business for enjoying your retirement life.
Time Well Spent. As a retiree, you may have a regular income and not need your voiceover business to pay for all your basic needs. But that doesn’t mean that your business should be regarded as a hobby. Your company should provide a valuable service in exchange for fitting compensation.
To keep the big picture in mind, develop a list of goals for your voiceover income. For example, do you want to travel to a faraway country, or would you like a professional booth for your home studio? What about saving to purchasing the car of your dreams or a camper to see the sights? Develop a list of voiceover profit goals to help you remain focused on your activities. If possible, note your time frame to recall as you work toward your goals daily.
In an article from Forbes.com on the 5 Pitfalls of Starting A Business in Retirement, retires are cautioned of “Misaligning your goals with your lifestyle.” Forbes continues, “Often, retirement entrepreneurs decide to start a business out of boredom and only later realize there are other things they’d rather do with their time.” Make sure you are ready to commit for the long haul.
Days of Our Lives. Let’s say you prefer not to work a 40-hour week as a retiree. I can understand that. So, decide your work days. For example, you may want work 3 to 4 days during the week and leave 1 to 2 days for enjoying other activities. Plan to work your voiceover business 5-6 hours on your work days exclusively performing your voiceover business and no other actions. Also, give yourself the flexibility to move your off-day or days to accommodate any short-notice voiceover projects. The point to make sure you’re actively working your business no less than on a part-time basis.
Wise Learning. The fast pace of technology has not left the voiceover industry on the sidelines. Keep up with the changes in the sectors, trends, styles, and marketing techniques. Make sure you have a good grasp of social media and a strong web presence to remain viable as a business. You want to make sure that although you’re making time for family and perhaps a fishing date, you are still a working voice talent with office hours, products, web postings, and a business plan.
Likewise, use any free or downtime to learn more about the business. Take a couple of voiceover books, podcasts, or videos with you when you travel. You may have downtime at an airport, or while waiting for dinner, etc., to catch up on voiceover tips and skills that you can utilize the next time you’re in your office (so to speak).
As a side note, another essential item to address is mouth clicks. As we age, eliminating mouth clicks can be an uphill battle. Learn how to deal with those pesky clicks and breaths by applying software plugins. The iZotope RX 6 is an excellent tool to address these vocal issues and can significantly reduce your editing time, which saves you time overall.
The Road to Sundown. Remember your business’s timeline. There’s no shame in working your business for just a few years. But remember, it can take five years or more to build up your business and reputation to achieve the voiceover success you desire. So, decide how long is long enough for your voiceover career. See my blog on the Endgame for tips on how to tactfully and professionally close your voiceover career. It’s better to have worked consistently for a few years than to run your voiceover career more as a hobby haphazardly.
Be about your business and make it as fun and rewarding as you’ve imaged. You’ve worked hard to reach your retirement time, so you deserve the recognition. Moreover, make sure you’re operating your new voiceover business like a business. Don’t let your voiceover career fall into your retirement hobbies.
Use proper time management skills and goals for a prosperous voiceover career and favorable time in retirement.
Break a lip!
Social media is a great way to communicate what you want the World to see and know about you. We have the luxury of being whoever we want and as perfect as we want others to believe. But we all know no one is perfect, so don’t let human failure be the end of your strive and desire for success. Learn to keep moving after a failure; it’s just a sign that you’re human.
As a member of several professional communities on the Web, I love to read about my colleagues’ new jobs, big clients, and other great voiceover successes. However, I rarely see postings about the lost jobs, voiceover communication that didn’t go well, or the missed goals. Life happens, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of, but we need to keep failure in the proper perspective. I don’t recommend you note every loss on your voiceover website, but you can appropriately share how you dealt with your loss and how you keep moving toward your success.
Pick up from Failures
No matter how hard we try, mistakes, missteps, and failures will happen. Voiceover has its own unique set of challenges. The business is very competitive and can feel like jumping off a diving board into 12 feet of water after only a hand full of swimming classes. When we are on the other side of what we know was a failed voiceover audition or the loss of a big job, we may feel the loss personally. Moreover, if the event is the result of our mistake or wrong business decision, there’s no way to feel right about it. After a debacle, new talent often question the purpose of their business efforts. A seasoned talent may also think that years of experience can insulate him or her from flops. A major loss may cause them to question their ability as a voiceover performer.
Failure is not usually fatal. The best thing to do is to remind yourself that you are doing your best and sometimes you will miss the mark. Examine your efforts and see what you can learn from the experience. Be a little nice to yourself and keep the loss in perspective. In life, we make many mistakes from the time we first learn to walk through our Social Security years. It’s a part of life not a determiner of life.
Reboot Failure – Success Groundwork
Okay, now that I’ve covered the low point, let’s look at the power of your comeback. A voice actor is like a traveling salesman. We spend time and effort training and getting to know the craft (our voice product), but we can still experience many closed doors (lost auditions or opportunities). Many letdowns may lead to procrastination. We may not fully focus our marketing and auditioning efforts.
But you must continue. Reboot failure by examining the failure and learning lessons from it. Moreover, by sharing your failures and lessons learned with others, you make the failure a part of your success journey. Once again, I don’t believe posting all your faults on social media is wise, but you can tactfully phrase your learned lessons to others as you share your experiences in the voiceover business.
Make your voiceover business fiascos into stepping stone and not brick walls. Remember your most admired voiceover talent and other mentors have made many, many mistakes. Failure can help with the climb to eventual success. Keep moving toward your voiceover goals, especially after unexpected glitches. It’s a good sign that you’re learning, growing, and moving toward your personal development and potential long-term success.
You know…break a lip!
As changing temperatures make their way across the North American landscape, many residents are experiencing fluctuating personal lives. Voice actors can be sensitive to environmental changes as well, mainly since heath and surroundings can affect an actor’s performance. Make sure you’re anchored in good habits to keep your voiceover business adaptive in all seasons.
During the fall, many voice actors must take extra precautions to maintain good health. A seemingly small cough can lead to a sore throat or even loss of one’s voice. No voice means no voiceover revenue. Moreover, an unexpected financial challenge can drastically interrupt the flow for a working talent or eat away at efforts to end the current year in the black. A prudent voice talent must accept the fact that life will have its challenges. No one is living a problem-free life. The best way to address inevitable changes are to prepare for them.
Wear a Hat
Sometimes, the most obvious things can slip right by us. I once met a singer/songwriter who believed that a serious artist should always wear a hat when outside temperatures fall below 55 degrees Fahrenheit (or about 12 Celsius). His thought was that we must cover and protect the entrance ways into the body. Go ahead and treat yourself to that Fedora, Deerstalker, Gatsby, or Sunbonnet; it’s your first line to defend against the outside elements.
Maintain Your Health
Practicing good health is not a guarantee of staying healthy. However, good health will help make a recovery from sicknesses a lot faster and better overall. Practicing habits like getting yearly checkups, staying current with health shots, eating balanced meals, and exercising regularly can help keep you at your best. My suggestions are not new information, but over the long run, the tips could mean the difference between being ready or not for that long voiceover project requiring your best stamina and health.
Be Voiceover Business Current
Make sure your billing and communication are updated each week. If you’re unable to communicate with potential and current voice clients for a week or two, you will wish you were up to date before the unexpected happened. If you remain current in your regular business practices, your voiceover business should be there or not far away when you’re able to return where you left off.
Be Ready for Change
With the seasons of life, some changes are permanent. Maintain associated voiceover and other skills that can help fill the gap if you cannot perform vocally for some period. Many good seasoned voice talents become coaches, marketing advisors, or perform business-related services that help fill-in revenue during times when the voice is healing for whatever reason.
Consider swapping services with other talents to keep afloat during challenging times. As a successful business owner, a little forward thinking and preparation for keeping your voiceover business running during changes times can lead to longevity and keep you in the minds of your current and potential clients.
The time is always right to plan for your seasons as a voiceover pro. You’re the best, so break that lip.
No matter the business genre, verbal communication needs to flow smoothly. As a voiceover artist, clear communication is a must. Slurred words and incomprehensible sentences will not only lose auditions but severely stunt the growth of his or her voiceover business. Voice talents must be aware of articulation to make sure words are impactful and transforming. With a little practice and preparation, one’s verbal articulation can be a no-brainer.
Why Articulate
Dictionary.com defines articulation as, “an act or the process of articulating: the articulation of a new thought. While the adjective is defined as “uttered clearly in distinct syllables, capable of speech; not speechless, using language easily and fluently… .”
Proper pronunciation starts with having a good grasp of one’s message. In “Readers Digest, How to Be More Articulate: 8 Must-Follow Secrets to Improve Your Speech,” Tatiana Ayazo writes, “Know what you’re talking about. Having a clear idea of what you want to say will allow you to organize your thoughts into a coherent structure. It’s that simple.”
Prepare your Chops
The next step is to prepare your vocal instrument. Just like a musician tunes up his or her instrument before a performance, a voice talent must warm up the voice. Warming up the voice makes it possible to perform well in one’s range and vocal tone. Voiceovers can prepare the chops with “tongue twisters.” Tongue twisters and vocal warmups are words or groupings of words designed to improve pronunciation and to gain fluency in performing voiceovers or in daily communication.
Rodney Saulsberry, a major voice-over artist, based in the United States has authored “Rodney Saulsberry’s Tongue Twisters and Vocal Warm-Ups.” His book includes a wide assortment of handy tongue twisters to help get your voiceover work day off to the right start. There are also other tongue twisters available on the Internet and can be easily found via a Web search.
Prepare your Body
Of course, voice actors rely heavily on their voice, so time for vocal and body rest are essential. Moreover, tension and stress from life often hide within the human body. Since voice acting is a full body experience, exercise and stretch can help reduce anxiety in the mouth and body and allow for needed rest. The well-rested and limber voice talent will find it easy to articulate with a more natural flow without having to overstress the mouth muscles.
Time Out at the Start
Taking a moment of awareness before voicing a project will also help with articulation. Focusing on the meaning of the script, one’s body placement, and position will help center one’s whole being on performance. The brief meditation allows the mind and mouth to prepare for speaking. Focusing the mind on what is about to be said and its overall meaning gives clarity to the mouth; articulation is almost automatic. This time out can be moments or minutes depending upon how long it will take to ponder the script and how the words will flow from the body. The short timeout is a crucial step and should not be missed.
Applying these tips will not only make for better articulation during voiceover performances, but better overall connection by the voice actor to effectively convey passion and purpose.
Break a lip.
This week, we approach the traditional time for the United States’ Thanksgiving Holiday. You may wonder what Thanksgiving has to do with voiceovers? Thankfulness is a heart emotion. A successful, compassionate voice talent with a thankful heart applies the passion to scripts and performances to touch his and her listeners. Take time this week to consider the importance of being grateful and let the feeling radiate through your voiceover performance.
Why being thankful is Important
Today, thankfulness is considered old-fashioned. We demand our rights, to be seen, and for justice. While we have the right to seek what we feel we need, that constant aggressive assertiveness can drain our spirit. When we take time to be thankful, it allows us to examine our here and now. While no one has a perfect life and there is more than enough real suffering, we all can find at least one thing to give thanks. This brief appreciation helps to calm our spirit.
What’s more, we usually can easily find someone who does not have what we have or any possibility of a better existence. If we take the time to count what we have, we can always find something to appreciate in our lives. Perhaps we landed an excellent voice-over job, made a new friend online, or are still among the small pool of working voiceover talent in a very competitive field. Being thankful helps you see your life in a better light.
Thanksgiving is Infectious
When you appreciate others, not just your clients, it spreads. For example, if you say thank you to someone who holds open a door for you, bags your groceries, etc., you usually receive a smile from that person. With so few expressing appreciations for the smallest gestures of kindness, your recognition is almost unexpected and even more appreciated.
Likewise, sending voiceover clients’ thank you cards, emailing your voiceover coach a note of appreciation, and letting others in and out of your business circles know of your gratefulness helps others develop a good opinion of you as a person. Thankful people are usually “nice” people. People like doing business with nice people. Sincere niceness is a real fruit of gratitude.
You Get What You Give
Have you ever dined in a restaurant with a group of people and noticed the way customers treat the wait staff? Most waiters try hard to provide excellent service, but sometimes he or she may be having a difficult time or day that may be evident in their service. Instead of lashing out at the waiter, look for ways to express kindness and patience. In most cases, you will receive appreciation from the wait staff for your understanding. This, in turn, will give you a good feeling, especially if you take the time to notice if the person is doing their best to correct or improve the service.
One day, you may be having a bad day with a live voiceover audition or in a directed session. This may also be the day when someone shows you understanding and patience like you’ve demonstrated to another. While it may not make sense, look for ways to express appreciation and thankfulness. It will surely come back to you.
From the Heart, the Mouth Speaks
Your thankful attitude has a way of calming your spirit and relaxing your whole body — thankfulness effects all your joints, mussels, and even your thinking. Voice acting takes the entire person. The foundation of a thankful spirit will help you reach your best potential. The heart does speak through the mouth. With a grateful heart, your mind can connect with others for a dynamic vocal performance.
Happy Thanksgiving!
