VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[SoundsGreat-Elaine Singer]

A neighbour of mine, an older woman, called me today. After a bit of friendly chit chat, she asked me how business was. I told her okay. And then she asked if I could please give her the phone number for voice talking...

I was stumped. I asked for clarification but she kept repeating voice talking and was getting quite worked up about it, like I was holding back. Finally she said - you know, what you do. I said, you mean voiceover. Yes. She wanted the phone number for voiceover. A man at her church has a nice voice and he is retired and he'd like to do it.

She was bowled over to learn there is no company, that it is free lance, that you have to market yourself - and a nice voice quite often isn't enough, that once in the studio, you had to be able to take direction on how to read a line, for instance.

While I did get a kick out of it, it certainly drove home how little people really understand our business.
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Elaine
The Youthful Mature Voice (Emeritus)
Senectitude is not for the faint of heart.

[mcm]

LOL. I wonder if your neighbor is at the extreme end of not understanding.

Can't decide whether I hope so or not....

[BenWils]

I think we as a group of 300+ strong should make a strong push to change it to "voice talking"....it just has a nice ring to it......and we SHOULD just have one phone number to call to become a member or part of this grand bizzness.

"Hello, thank you for calling Voice Talking...would you like to become a member"

That would be great! We would have it so easy when these people ask us to give them info for their "barber that has a nice speaking voice" or their buddy at Wendy's who works the drive-thru but sounds like a DJ....we could just bust out a Voice Talking business card and be on our way. Man, that lady is on to something I tell you!!! I am such a wiseguy.
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Ben


"To be really good at voiceover, you need to improve your footwork and hip snap."

[dhouston67]

I think the "all you need for VO is a nice voice" mentality is the same one that causes people to gasp in shock when we ask for decent wages. Just maybe.

There's a discussion on another VO board which references those instances when corporations have employees perform narrations with no extra pay; some feel it's exploitative, others opine that it's part of the job duties. My $0.02: It's one thing to have radio-station on-air talent knock out a :30 promo here and there, especially certain station promos where their voice needs to sell the event/product/etc; Moving from the on-air mic to the production mic is not an unreasonable leap for someone who's already a broadcaster. It's quite another thing to ask someone who doesn't (necessarily) talk all day for a living, and ask them to narrate an entire presentation.

Ultimately, though, if the impromptu narrator is happy performing this assigned task for no extra pay, then more power to them. Most often, an employer who hires a narrator at a cost of $0.00 has gotten their money's worth.
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Great Voice. Great Choice. For Voice Talking and stuff.
http://davidhoustonvoice.com
Do That Voice! - The DHV Blog

[SoundsGreat-Elaine Singer]

David, I agree.
_________________
Elaine
The Youthful Mature Voice (Emeritus)
Senectitude is not for the faint of heart.

[Bailey]

So Elaine... You did give her Banksey's phone number... Right?

_________________
"Bailey"
a.k.a. Jim Sutton
Retired... Every day is Saturday, except Sunday.
VO-BB Member #00044 .gif" alt="W00T" border="0" />
AOVA Graduate 02/2004 ;
"Be a Voice, not an Echo."

[Deirdre]

[TC]

I had a friend recently ask how my "talkover" career was going.

[dhouston67]

Holy Twilight Zone, it looks like we've all got one of these stories. An e-mail I received this spring:

[asnively]

OMG-- I am wetting myself.

A neighbor of mine has a niece who identifies herself as a voiceover actor (I would use the term "cashier"). About 5 years ago, my neighbor sicked her niece on me.

She brought her demo for me to hear.

It was a homemade cassette containing 20 minutes of Maya Angelou read in slow-mo. Sans any discernable inflection.

I wish there had been a voice talking number to refer her to. I, on the other hand, was trying to remember the one for the suicide prevention hotline.
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federal grants

[Deirdre]

Thank goodness I live in Maine, where only a handful of people know what "voice over" even IS.
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DBCooperVO.com

[CWToo]

[Deirdre]

Yeah-- but what if they ask you to come and fix their sink?
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DBCooperVO.com

[Dan-O]

He'll read a DIY instruction manual out loud to them, charge full VO rate, and they will still feel they got a discount in comparison to a real plumber's fee.

[bobsouer]