Should You Change Your Name?
As a coach and casting director I’m often asked, “Do you think I should change my name?” almost as often as I’m asked, “What do you think of my voice?” Listen, I get it. We don’t become actors because we want to “be ourselves.” Never mind that the first thing you hear...
How To Know You’re a Pro VO
To be considered among the best of the best should be the goal of every voiceover and actor. Yet, there’s no real litmus test to determine when, and if, you’re a pro, but there are factors that determine your professional fitness. Frankly, there are a great...
How Less is More When Establishing Your VO Branding
Let’s assume you’re well trained. You’ve invested in proper coaching and creating competitive voiceover demos. And now you’re attempting to complete your branding with an appealing, memorable logo to present yourself as the professional you truly are, because… let’s...
How to Find a GREAT Coach for Acting & Voiceover
Every talent worth their weight wants to improve themselves. However, investing in coaching can be a crapshoot, especially if you don’t know what you’re looking for. The worry is, “What if I don’t learn anything new?” Or, “What could I possibly learn that I don’t know...
The Ultimate Voiceover Challenge
Over the past decade, I’ve watched the rates for voiceover, and frankly for all professional actors, take a massive dive well below anywhere they should be for this or any profession.“The Great Repression” certainly had an averse influence on pay in every sector, and...
Do You Have a Workable Performance Approach?
What do you do when you first approach a script? Think about it. What’s going through your head? Are you thinking, “How should I say this?” Or maybe it’s, “I have no idea what they want from me. I wish I had some direction.”Do you find yourself ramping up into your...
What to Charge as a Voiceover
Probably the greatest learning curve to overcome in this or any business, besides consistently delivering your very best performance, is determining your rate. However, assuming you’ll lose the client if you don’t lowball your rate to sub-basement levels is,...
How to Survive a “Snow Day”
After living in Los Angeles for a number of years, I’m somewhat in awe of those who have never lived through a bona-fide “snow day”. Even now just thinking about shoveling snow makes my shoulder ache. It’s taken years for me to thaw out. I’m only now prepared...
My Top 10 Biggest Voiceover Pet Peeves
Announce-y announcers. I hate being yelled at, don’t you? Especially when I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m convinced that endless loop of infomercials playing in the middle of the night on cable are designed to irritate you into staying up. To add insult to injury,...The SOUND ADVICE VO Podcast
Actors' Sound Advice Podcast:
Auditioning is a Numbers Game