VO professionals’ tips from Edge Studio’s Tips Jar at WoVOCon

Our business is a wonderful combination of communication skills and the arts, with a strong sense of community and professional relationships. True of almost any business, but especially in our line of work, people realize that by helping others, they help themselves.

So at WoVOCon last month, we put out a “Tips Jar,” inviting people to contribute whatever gems of advice or inspiration they have for their fellow voice-artists. We were very excited to receive so many VO tips, and here we’ll share them …

While we’re at it, a further thank-you. We had a great time at WoVOCon, not the least as we served coffee and tea at the Edge Studio Cafe. In an industry that requires us to spend so much time behind the scenes, we are grateful for opportunities that enable people to step forward and come together.

As we observed awhile back, in our article A Strategic Approach to Voice-over Industry Networking, face-to-face conversation is important for a variety of reasons, including:

• By connecting with other voice-over talent, you may eventually be referred for a job that another voice actor isn’t right for, or doesn’t have time for.
• Almost anyone might have an eventual opportunity.
• Being at events demonstrates that you’re a committed professional.
• Visibility makes you more than just another name in their address book.

So you might recognize some of the names, faces and voices of the people below. They’re in random order. Help yourself!

From the Edge Studio Voice-Over Tips Jar

• Anonymous: All skills are 80% psychology and 20% mechanics. Master your psychology = Master VO.
• Pat Sweeney: Surround yourself with a reliable, trustworthy support network. Good coaches, a quality demo producer and web designer, writers and friends that provide valuable/constructive input that can benefit your career.
• Larry Hudson: When performing a script, MEANING trumps everything.
• Alita Bruce: Don’t take it personally when you don’t get the gig. Your voice is great, just not what they had in mind.
• Diana Birdsall: Stay hydrated. Take small sips of water as you narrate — avoids mouth clicks.
• Laura Schreiber: Double check what you upload in your client’s drop box!
• Anonymous: “Reverse engineer” job leads off of LinkedIn/Indeed.com job postings (for elearning especially).
• Sheely Avellino: Don’t be afraid to market outside the USA. Google.co.uk, Google.ca, Google.hk, Google.sq, etc. Work your magic in the rest of the world.
• Liz Denesnera: Don’t be afraid to ask your clients questions about the job (length, usage, format). It makes you look professional.
• John Kuehne: For the best reads, lose the cans.
• Anonymous: Let your passion explode.
• Daniel Dorse: Read all the words aloud and listen to yourself repeatedly to determine all the ways to say them and why.
• Brian Doucette: Cold calling is good.
• Lyssa Graham: Once you figure out who you are – be that!
• Julie Williams: The key – The secret to medical narration isn’t the big words. It’s about telling the story even when you don’t understand the story.
• Peter Bishop: Edit in reverse — from the back of the file — and you’ll save so much time.
• Dan Lenard: Use your indoor voice at conferences.
• Alex MacDonald: TwistedWave will record any audio playing on your computer (YouTube, CNN, TV, Netflix). Go to preferences, devices, channels, and drag channel 8 to the top of the input list.
• C. Couper: Stay positive and proceed. Even if it looks like it’s not going to work.
• Vanessa Trice Peter: Always bring H20!
• Jack De Golia: If you can’t do “punch & roll”, just click at misreads & keep going.

Do you have a comment or suggestion? Please send to [email protected].