Anyone who works in the voiceover business is familiar with emergencies. Actually, I don’t know if I’ve ever done a voiceover that wasn’t an emergency.

 

Late nights, early mornings, weekends and even holidays, you’ll find me in my studio working on emergency voiceovers.  Phone prompts, radio spots, narration, are all needed PRONTO.  Sooner than later. But that’s OK by me.  I thrive on the challenges of meeting tight and sometimes almost impossible deadlines. 

 

Of course, on occasion my batteries start to run low, my creativity dries up and I may even get a tiny bit cranky. 

 

Which, is exactly what happened a few weeks back.  I needed a break.  Even my husband Jeff thought I should get away.  (He is a saint, by the way). 

 

I was thinking Mexico sounded like a place that didn’t do emergencies and would be the great place to decompress.  Hot sunshine with the Sea of Cortez as the backdrop, a good book and a couple pineapple margaritas were calling my name. 

 

So, a week ago last Sunday my girlfriend Dana and I hopped on a plane and headed to the tip of Baja, Mexico. Our agenda was simple:  do as little as possible. 

 

Surprisingly, we were able to do next-to-nothing remarkably well.   Adjusting our lounge chairs from flat position to upright was about the most work we did.  We read good books, watched whales and met great people from all over the world.

 

Dana was even serenaded with a soulful rendition of Happy Birthday by 4 handsome 25-year old men from south of Chicago. Thank you  Nick, Ryan, Darren and Marty!  Making it even more special is the fact that Nick was on Season Four of American Idol so you know that this was no ordinary birthday song.  Even Simon Cowell would of loved it.

 

 I told them I’d say HI to them in this blog and that I wouldn’t mention all the tequila shots they were drinking. Hahahhaa.  I know, Darren…..you were NOT drinking tequila shots.   Actually, they were some of the nicest people we’ve met in a long time. 

 

After 3 days of fun in the sun both Dana and I were feeling antsy.    Could it be true?  We were ready to go home.  We missed our families, American food and, dare I say it:  even work.  Am I loco????

 

No, I realized that I love my life, with all of it’s insanity, just the way it is.  One of the things we only learn when we go on vacation. 

 

By the way…….I am teaching FREE voiceover classes at the Sacramento-area Borders Books in April.  Check it out!

 

 

It started when I was a teenager. People would comment on what a great voice I had. My involvement in theater during high school seemed to spur a lot of the compliments. Teachers, friends, family and complete strangers would make a point of telling me, “wow, you really have a great voice”. I even got compliments when I answered the phone at home. After a while I began to think that I should probably do something with my “great voice”.

With such a remarkable voice surely I could become The Donald Trump of the voiceover world. In my mind’s eye I could see myself sitting in the back of my personalized limo, sipping champagne cocktails while being shuttled to voiceover sessions.

OK, back to reality.

Being a farm kid from South Dakota means I didn’t have a clue how to break into the voiceover field but I was confident it would be pretty easy because, as you know, I had a great voice.

It was a surprise that my attempts of impressing ad agencies with my great voice on the phone didn’t seem to work. They wanted a demo. And before I could say another word the phone would click and they were gone. I wondered why they couldn’t hear the greatness of my voice like my friends and family did?

What I learned was this: a great voice without a voice demo is a voice who doesn’t get work. So, I had a voice demo produced. I was now on the road to making the big bucks as a full-fledged voice talent!

Or, so I thought. I quickly learned that success in voiceovers has absolutely nothing to do with having a great voice.

Let me elaborate on that. My first professional voiceover job was at an ad agency in Omaha, Nebraska and I was feeling confident that I would nail the read in one take and I’d be out of there in 10 minutes flat. Remember, I knew that I had a great voice.

In actuality it took 2 hours and 15 minutes. And on top of it, the director was mad at me because I cost him an extra hour’s studio time because I didn’t know how to take direction. “Pick up the pace, smile after the pause and punch the tag line, bring my pitch down, end that sentence on a downbeat” were requested by the director and NOT delivered by me. I heard what he was saying, but I couldn’t get my great voice to deliver the goods.

To add insult to injury I started sweating. My mouth went dry and I felt like I was sinking in quicksand. Try reading  when you’ve got Sahara Desert sand up to your neck.

The worst part was when, after an hour and a half of maddeningly little progress (all my fault), the director asked me if I was OK? Of course, I WASN’T OK, but I was not going to tell him that. But, my quivering voice gave me away when I tried to say that everything was just peachy and then that shuddering breath-thing happened.

It started with a single tear and before I could stop them Hoover Dam broke.

A root canal without anesthesia would have been less painful than what I went through behind the mic that day.

Thankfully that happened a long time ago, though it is still somewhat painful to think back at how over-confident I was when I first got into this business. Still, even after that humbling experience I was determined to learn and grow and become a “great voice”. And, after 25+ years I’m still work at it!

Here’s what I believe makes a voice talent a great voice talent:

1. First and foremost it’s having a voice that has been trained in delivery styles and proper breathing.

2. A voice that knows how to take direction. You should be able to deliver exactly what the director wants.

3. You can accept criticism with professionalism and learn from it.

 4. You realize that becoming a “great voice” is a lifetime journey and that you’ll always be learning and growing.

Interested in getting started in voiceovers? Check out the March workshops held in my downtown Sacramento offices in My Blog.

In my next blog: true stories from the trenches of the voiceover world........