Voiceover

Packing My Bags and Conference Bound

September 19, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

Time to Pack the Roll-y Bag

After three days in Atlanta I was on the airport shuttle back to the airport. In truth I had never gone very far. I spent the entire time at an airport hotel, for VO Atlanta, one of the biggest voiceover conferences of the year. First, it should be noted that I get terribly car sick and was dreading this shuttle ride. On the shuttle I immediately noticed a gal that looked really familiar but I had not actually gotten to spend time with at the conference. It was the one and only Shelley Avellino. We spent the entire time on the shuttle chatting away. They after clearing security we had lunch before I flew back to NYC and Shelley was off to Vegas. You see, that’s how voiceover is, we treat each other like family. Shelley and I now have weekly chats and I don’t know what I ‘d do without her. That is the magic of these conferences.

One of the biggest reasons that I was confident enough to pursue voiceover years ago was that I did not want to leave my children, Emma and Jack, and commute to New York. I wanted to work from home. So, it seems quite ironic that last year I went away six times to various conferences. Six. S-I-X. I packed my black Tumi bag, and off I went. In truth I feel terrible when my car picks me up for the airport, as if I am leaving my right arm behind. So why do I do it, and so often? Sometimes it’s necessary to leave the foam booth both to meet clients and for professional development opportunities.

ELearning Conferences

As a professional eLearning narrator, I have made some wonderful connections and ultimately gotten great clients from attending conferences including ATD and eLearning Guild conferences. I have had an opportunity to narrate training modules for some of the best known brands, including Ace Hardware, PSE&G, and Walmart to name a few, all based on connections made at conferences. I have met independent instructional designers and large content providers, but I think leaving the comfort of my padded foam booth and making a face to face connection makes all the difference. Whether I am in Orlando or San Diego, the location is irrelevant. I show up at these conferences to listen to what potential clients’ needs are, so that I can better understand what they are looking for in a professional narrator. I also come so that I can introduce myself in person and let them know why I am different than my peers and how my broadcast ready studio sets me apart. The next conference I will attend is Dev Learn in Las Vegas in October, 2018. If you’ll be there let me know!

Radio Summits

Radio Imaging is another big piece of my professional voiceover business. I have a passion for it and am the female voice of multiple Top 40/AC, Classic Hits/CHR, and Christian Top 40 (REL) stations. From sweepers to station promos, this is a genre that I love from format to format. When my mentor Randy Thomas suggested that I fly out to Los Angles last May for the World Wide Radio Summit at the W Hotel in Hollywood, I was one of about 50 voiceover actors who was there. Not only did I meet top radio industry professionals and talent agents, I learned so much about the inner workings of radio both from attending the sessions and from talking to other attendees. I was actually amazed by both how many people I met and how much I learned in just a few days. As a professional voiceover actor who does a lot of radio imaging, this conference was well worth the cross country flight.

Professional Voiceover Conferences

I have had the opportunity to attend multiple voiceover conferences. Not only have I learned so much that has helped me stay current in my industry, but I have had the opportunity to connect with folks from around the world that I otherwise only know online. I am going to go point by point about what I love on this, but I could right multiple blogs about each conference below, so this is just a very brief summary:

WoVo Con: Located in Las Vegas, I attended as a professional talent, but now non pros can attend as well. I loved the seminars that were offered! I did not attend any master classes but the practical skills that I learned I use every day. I also liked the size of the sessions and felt that it was comfortable enough that I could absorb everything.
VO Revolution: In Kankakee, IL. One piece of advice- fly into Midway!! I loved the small intimate setting. I learned so much about marketing and was very inspired. It was a great setting to share ideas and ask questions. This is a great conference for folks starting out or for folks who need a business jumpstart.
VO Mastery: In Studio City, CA. This workshops stands out because of the amazing amount of master classes with top industry professionals and the level of access talents have to interact with them throughout the conference. The panels were also outstanding.
VO Atlanta: In Atlanta, GA. Last, but certainly not least, VO Atlanta is the biggest VO conference of the year. Voiceover professionals come from around the world to attend this conference. I think I enjoy this so much because it is a great opportunity to connect with other talents. So many themes in voiceover are covered that you could focus on what ever topic you are trying to improve on and attend panels and master classes in that field. From voiceover technique to business tools, everything is covered at this conference.

The Other Perks….

So, I love meeting clients in person. I also love meeting other voiceover professionals. But the truth us, I have also gotten to go to some beautiful and fun places when going to these conferences. Last year I was in San Diego for an eLearning conference. If you have never been to San Diego, it is really beautiful. I was also in Las Vegas and had a special evening out with friends from Europe and from the West Coast. We ate at a truly decadent restaurant with an incredible view atop the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

In April I attended another conference in Orlando. I had lunch with other voiceover talents and stayed at an amazing hotel with a lazy river! While I am highly motivated to grow and maintain client relationships, and stay on the forefront of the voiceover industry, I confess the travel perks ain’t half bad either!

A Girl’s Best Friend: Blessings of the Voiceover Studio Dog

September 12, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

My Fur Baby

Years ago, when I was early in my pregnancy with my twins, I remember my aunt pulling me aside and saying that as much as I loved my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Barclay, I would love my children so much more. Well, once they were born I realized that I loved my precious Barclay the same way that I loved Emma and Jack. Barclay, and now Violet, have brought such joy and love to my life and they are part of the family. When the twins were little and in their stroller, Barclay was extremely protective and would go off like an alarm to keep strangers away from them. When we lived in our Upper West Side apartment, if the twins went anywhere near the kitchen, Barclay always barked to let me know. As they got older, his protective instincts continued to sharpen and from snuggling when they were upset to loving and training our precious Violet, living with dogs is one of my greatest joys. Over the years, I have watched my elderly grandparents smile with joy as they held my dogs. I have savored every second watching Violet and Barclay gently kiss and play with my nieces and nephews, always careful not to be too rough. My own twins have such a special bond with their “doggy brother and sister.” There is a reason why so many folks, from producers to professional voiceover actors have animals in our studios: our furry friends enhance the quality of our day and because we, as artists are happy, these animals ultimately ensure a quality finished product.

The Snuggles Help

As a solopreneur, full-time professional voiceover actor, I can get lost in my work. Having such a precious, happy, calm girl by my side is a blessing as Violet, a now five year-old Blenheim Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, is always with me in my studio. There has been a lot of scientific research about the calming effect of canines. A great article in Frontiers in Psychology in 2014 they explain“Dogs are known to have stress and anxiety reducing effects. Several studies have shown that dogs are able to calm people during cognitive and performance stressors.” For me, by having Violet by my side in my recording booth, I can leave my every day stress outside my booth, and concentrate on the script in front of me. Whether I am working on a new audition or a booking, it is a benefit to be calm and composed so that I can be present in the moment. The only time that I do not have Violet in the booth is when I have a live session via ipDTL, Source Connect, or ISDN. It would be terrible to have the audio ruined because she yawns or shakes her collar!

I Work In a Padded Foam Booth…

I LOVE my work, but spending hours a day working in a padded foam booth may not be as fun as it sounds, so having a precious furry friend inside is really nice. I have made my booth as pleasant and comfortable as a gal can make a booth, but it is so nice to have Violet with me. She has a double layer cozy bed and a fe quiet toys. She occasionally kisses my leg at random. She also sporadically gets up and rearranges all of her belongings. It is very precious. I always record standing up because it is really important for the sound quality. I regularly have very long eLearning sessions. Every now in then, if I am editing a lengthy eLearning project, I sit on the stool in my booth. The very second I sit down, Violet wants to sit on my lap. She is, after all, a lap dog.

Violet is Part of My Healthy Life Plan

As a working voiceover actor, leading a healthy lifestyle is extremely important to my success. My voice is my instrument, so fitness and food choices very much effect my voice. In addition to pilates, I love taking walks with Violet. In fact, Violet is a great wellness companion, she does it all with me. Apparently this is extremely common. In Science Direct, in an article called “ Understanding dog–human companionship”, “pet owners, particularly dog owners, are more physically active than non-pet owners.” I also want to do as much as I can for Violet so that she lives a long and happy life, so that is incentive for me as well.

The Benefits

My dog, my precious Violet, keeps me happy and calm. Having this special girl to share my days with is not a gift that goes unappreciated. Her gestures, her adorable sounds, her sweet snuggles- all are noticed and loved and adored. They also all feed my soul as both Violet and Barclay are a childhood dream come true. Vi, in turn, fuels the success of my voiceover career, another dream, and I know that so much of the success is because of the happiness that she brings. As the great Elizabeth Taylor said: “Some of my best leading men have been dogs and horses.”

How a Lifetime of Preparing Family Dinners Trained Me to Be a Momtrepreneur

September 5, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

The More the Merrier

Several years ago we moved from a lovely 1950s split level to a 1923 Georgian Colonial. To call this home a fixer upper is being kind, money pit seems more accurate. But we fell in love with this house because we knew we would have the space for the big family meals that we so enjoy. We have a really close knit family and on weekends and holidays we are all together, and this house, even with its leaks and floods, gives us the space to be surrounded by the people we love most. This house also had the space for my dream voiceover studio. For many years I had the luxury of taking a break from my teaching job and staying home with my twins as a full time mom. My years at home as a full time stay at home mom provided valuable, real like skills that I use every day in my voiceover business.

Managing Expectations

As a full-time, professional voiceover actress, nothing could have prepared me better for working with international clients with different customs and expectations than having 35 people in my dining room, an array of food allergies, and some pretty active kids, AKA the Schreiber family! I am a typical Pennsylvania girl who grew up eating meat and potatoes dinners and married a slick New York guy, with a super health conscious family! So for starters, every time I have the entire family over, I have to prepare a blend of food that both sides expect. My side would be shocked to have a meal without green bean casserole, my husband’s side would be shocked not to have simply roasted veggies in nothing but olive oil.

After years of happily meeting the varied expectations of a growing family that was pretty large to begin with, I happily meet the varied demands of voiceover clients. It begins with my voiceover proposals. Some clients love to begin with a friendly phone conversation. Other voiceover clients prefer a proposal with multiple options in an email form. Whether they are a video production company, a casting agent, and advertising agency, or one of the myriad of other possible voiceover clients, I am happy to discuss the terms however they are most comfortable, as being flexible is quite natural to me! From providing invoicing in different formats, to providing delivery of files as they like, to offering all differing kinds of guided sessions including Source Connect, ipDTL, ISDN, and even Skype for those who insist on it, I always try to do what the clients prefer and what is easiest for them. I have learned to accommodate by planning and being organized, skills that serve me well in voiceover and as a working mom!

Ready, Set, GO! Prepping for the RUSH!!

Years ago I realized that I married into a family of folks who plan last minute! My family likes to make reservations and plan meals well in advance, but my husbands rather large family is pretty relaxed. So, I might think it will just be the 4 of us for dinner and suddenly we are going from 4 to 17 with less than an hours notice. This has been great prep for VO rush jobs! Just as I want my family to feel that the door is always open and I always have a seat from them at my table, I want my clients to know that my booth is always open. I understand that they have a client waiting for them on the other side who has a deadline. A client would never ask me for a rush job if they did not actually need the work right away. Just like I would never have my family over and not serve a regular meal, I would not provide rush service and offer any less than I do on a typical job. The terms regarding performance errors, pickups, and delivery would all be the same. I just simply understand that they have a rush job.

Momtrepreneurs Just Get It

I was lucky to learn so much from my Mom and my Mommom (Philly speak for Grandma). Is my house always perfect? No. Do I have dishes in the sink? Some times. Do I iron? Never, or not well! But I have a happy house where we all help each other. We all have chores. We all support each other. We all help take out the recycling and we all take care of the dog. When I have a recording session late in the day and I can’t cook dinner, either someone else cooks or we get take out. But the warmth in my home, the joy that trickles into my booth for every single job, and the spirit with which I have raised my family, I pour that same spirit into my voiceover career. It’s the only way I know.

Acting Like I Don’t Have a Migraine: Having to Push Through the pain to Follow My Dream

August 29, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

Amy’s Mom

When I was growing up, I had a good friend Amy. I was over at her house all the time. Her mom was really sweet and she kept chocolate chips in the freezer because she new I liked them. Amy’s mom had migraines. I did not know anything about them and I did not have anyone in my family who suffered from them. Her mom was often in bed in the dark when we came home from school. She could not get up to make dinner. It was really sad. When I was little, I did not understand the problem and I just thought there must be something really wrong. I’m Jewish and my mom is what we describe as a ballabusta, she did everything in our house for all of us every day and was amazing! And by everything I mean our house was always perfect and she made the most incredible food constantly and nothing, nothing was out of place. In contrast, Amy’s house, which still was full of love, was a mess, and her mom was suffering so that she could not handle the most basic of tasks.

Well, since I have had my twins, I too have been afflicted with migraines. According to https://migraine.com/migraine-statistics/, I am one of 38 million people who suffer from migraines and “Some migraine studies estimate that 13 percent of adults in the U.S. population have migraines, and 2-3 million migraine sufferers are chronic.” Unfortunately, I am not my mother, and I think those clean and cooking genes might have skipped me. Thankfully I have been able to get medical treatment and function better than Amy’s mom. Even on days that it is hard to pick my head up or it would not be safe to drive, I have to go into the booth and sound like an upbeat, cheerful, and conversational functioning person.

Short Commute

Thankfully I don’t have to drive to work, my recording booth is in my house. As a full time, professional voiceover actor, I am one of many in a growing trend of solo-preneurs who work from home. According to the New York Times, in an article by Niraj Chokshi from February 2017, “Last year, 43 percent of employed Americans said they spent at least some time working remotely, according to the survey of more than 15,000 adults.” My recording booth, filled with broadcast ready equipment including a Neumann TLM 103 microphone and an Avalon M5 preamp, is in my house. When I decided to work from home, it was based on my desire to be available to my children. I did not want to miss out on school events like science fairs and art shows that I never would have made it to if I were commuting to New York City. I now realize that with chronic migraines, working from home is the best choice for me. I often do not feel safe driving when I take migraine medicine prescribed by my physician. I also do not have to exacerbate my migraine suffering with the stress of the commute. Working from home has so many benefits!

Pursuing Wellness

The healthy lifestyle that is essential for success in voiceover is also necessary if I hope to prevent migraines. According to the American Migration Foundation, they advise “Eat a carbohydrate with a protein or a good fat to stay full longer. Don’t eat or drink anything that you KNOW triggers your migraine. Some common food ‘triggers’ are alcohol, aged cheeses, caffeine, and chocolate. Drink water through the day instead of sugary drinks like soda or juice.” I typically avoid gluten, dairy, and eggs. I maintain a low sugar diet. I do Pilates and walk a lot. Sometimes I go two or three weeks without a headache and sometimes I have one or more a week. If I new what the magic recipe was, I would do it consistently forever! All I can do is try my best and stay calm when the headaches come.

Pushing Through- The Headache Doesn’t Win!

I did not choose to get migraines. They stink. But, I love my family and I love my job. I would be devastated it I had to turn down work or change my bookings because of a headache. As a voiceover professional with years of experience, I have persevered through live commercial sessions and long eLearning jobs while I have a migraine. I have completed rush jobs for clients and edited large narrations. I try to take it one job at a time and not think about the discomfort. I am thankful for the work that I have and I will not give in to these darn head aches. At the end of the day, the head ache does not get to win!

Why Diversifying a Voiceover Business is so Important

August 23, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

Unexpected Lessons

The weekend after the Chicago Cubs won the World Series in 2016, when the ticker tape parade was happening and overjoyed fans were pouring into the city from all over, I landed at Chicago O’Hare for Bill DeWees’ Voiceover Revolution Workshop. Knowing little about Chicago, I did not realize how far Kankakee was from Chicago and my first mistake was that I should have flown to Midway. I ubered 90 miles to get there! I had studied with Bill When I first started in voiceover and watched a lot of his youtube videos, so having the opportunity to learn from him in person was really exciting. I did not realize that Dave Fennoy, a voiceover celebrity, was also going to be presenting for the second day of our workshop. I could go on and on about how much I learned from Bill and Dave and what it meant to have this time with them. Something struck me about Dave. When most people think of him, they think of his video games, especially since he was BAFTA nominated for The Walking Dead. In working with Dave, however, I learned that he does all sorts of voiceover work, from commercial, to narration, to promo, to eLearning. Like the rest of us, Dave also has to update his demos and works on professional development. This really had my wheels turning. As professional voiceover actors, we are never to big to diversify our revenue stream. If all of your business comes from one place and that client disappears tomorrow, you essentially have to start over.

Do What You Love

Even if your business plan is to diversify your voiceover business, you still have an opportunity to do what you love. Since the beginning of my business, I have booked a lot of commercial work. That is just how my cookie crumbled, but I also happen to LOVE doing commercials. I happen to do more radio spots than tv spots, but I enjoy them all. I also love the new genre: the bumper. When auditioning, especially on pay to plays, I tend to scan the list and submit for commercials first as I have a high booking ration with commercials. I also tend to submit substantially higher auditions for commercials. As a professional female voiceover talent, I have worked hard to keep my reads conversational and relatable. Whether my client needs millennial, teen, or middle-aged, I try to work with them so that every new client becomes a repeat client. Even though I have been doing this for years, I am still excited for every single booking.

Focus on Other Skills That You Are Good At

Another way to diversify is to think about what you love and pick skills that align with that. The first area this led me to was eLearning. Before I became a full-time, professional voiceover actor, I was a teacher. When I discovered the joy of eLearning, it was the perfect fit for me. It seemed like the natural segue from teaching to voiceover. All of the skills that I used from years in education now had a place in my voiceover career. As a more professional, polished sounding voice, I immediately felt comfortable working in eLearning. I also found that I really clicked with the people at eLearning conferences. At places like DevLearn, ATD, or the Focus on eLearning conferences, I easily connected with everyone from instructional designers and content creators to the folks who worked on the LMS.

The other field I naturally fell into was telephony. My parents would joke about how much I loved to talk on the phone. Little did they know I would be paid to be on the phone some day! Whether it is an on-hold message or a greeting, I am so proud to be the voice of someone’s business. I have also found a lot of similarities between the on-hold messages I do and the scripts for the commercial work that I do. It may be my approach, or it may genuinely be the writing, but I am very passionate about my telephony work.

Discover New Passions

When you try to diversify your business, don’t be afraid to try something new. Since I knew I love commercial work, I tried to think about everything that fell under that umbrella. A light bulb went off in my head and I thought that since I have A LOT of energy and do a lot of radio commercials perhaps I should try radio imaging. This part of my business has been one of my greatest joys. I have worked with different stations all over the country and gotten to know some fascinating folks. I particularly love the work.

Diversifying is Essential

Back at the VO Revolution in Kankakee, Dave talked about hitting rough times, after having great success. It can happen to anyone. It does not matter how many commercials you have booked and how well you are known in the industry. Business strategy is so important. One of the major takeaways I got from the conference was to live each day is if we are just starting out.

It’s Always Sunny In my Studio Even When It’s Raining in my Dining Room and Kitchen

August 15, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

The light fixtures over the kitchen and the patched ceiling.

But Why Wouldn’t I be Happy All the Time?

Well, professional voiceover actors are real people with real families and real lives. So those voices that you love on cartoons and your favorite video games, they too have mortgages and taxes and bills. Like everyone, we have great days, and we have days that seem like life is out to get us. This May, I was in Hollywood staying at the W Hotel for the World Wide Radio Summit. I do a lot of radio imaging work and there were other professional talents there, agents, and a lot of folks from the radio industry. I was thrilled to be there. On the second day of the trip I got a hysterical call from my cleaning lady Cristina. I had paid her extra to go look in on my precious dog Violet. Thankfully Violet was fine, but an upstairs bathroom had flooded the kitchen. While I was amazed at how much water my light fixtures over the kitchen Island could hold, there was little I could do from across the country. I called my contractor Pzermek (pronounced Shemek) and asked him to go turn the water off. I was so upset at the myriad of unappealing possible outcomes from this scenario. Yet, I had flown across the country and had to make the most of this opportunity in radio imaging. As a professional voiceover actor, no matter how glum our day is, we have to act like everything is just peachy. Like doctors and lawyers and accountants, we have to carry on as the professionals that we are. The difference with voiceover actors is that no matter what is going on in our personal life, we have to SOUND as if everything is just fine.

And then of course — there’s the stress that was caused by the rain and documented in this video!

https://youtu.be/2dy328XawsA

Just Breathe

One technique for managing the stress is breathing. As a professional voiceover actor, breathing from my belly and using my diaphragm is always extremely important. When times are stressful, using this type of breathing can be therapeutic as well. I find that doing pilates several times a week actually really helps me with my breathing. My pilates instructor tells me when to breath with each exercise throughout our session. When I leave, I feel refreshed, refocused, and I feel like I am using my voice as best as I can. I also do not find that I take gasps of air in the middle of scripts, so the pilates really helps to reduce stress.

The Booth as a Refuge

Last week my friend Shelley Avellino, a brilliant voiceover actor in Las Vegas, posted a picture of a cat that she has in her booth on Instagram and asked what people have in their booth that makes them laugh. This really stumped me! I do not have anything in my booth that makes me laugh, but I do have a lot of item that calm me down. First, I have pictures of my family who I love all around me. That makes me smile often. I love that they add color, brightness, and cheer into my space and I love seeing their spaces as they remind me why I work so hard in the first place.

I also have some items that are supposed to be zen, and on a day when your house is caving in, that really helps. I have a salt lamp that gives off a warm and lovely glow. I also have a beautiful shell filled with different stones and each gives off a different energy or vibration. They also happen to be beautiful to look at.

As a professional voiceover actor, you can make a lot of jokes about working in a padded foam booth, but when I step over the threshold I often think of something a former spin instructor used to say: I try to leave all of my worries on the other side and keep that space in my booth free of everything from the outside world.

Rely on the Training

Some days, like when it is pouring rain inside your dining room, are just rough. Those are the days that I dive deep and rely more than ever on my extensive training. I go through the scripts. I try to remove myself from my outside world and really connect with the copy as if there is no Laura, I am just the role that I am playing. Depending on whether I am working on a commercial or telephony or an eLearning job, I will have a different approach with how I engage with the job. Clients often hire me because I sound warm and upbeat. If a client seeks you out because of your happy, reassuring voice and I were to instead sound like a drained, nervous person, that would not work out so well! So, on my worst days, I simply lose myself in my work and try not to think about real life concerns while recording.

It’s All About Relationship Building

Ironically, one of the most important values or ideals for my business is also what helps me survive the stress of all of these home renovations. Since I started my voiceover business, it is extremely important to me to build and maintain relationships with clients. That is why every single week I have so much repeat business. When I was in LA, the reason I was able to get my beloved contractor to come to the house right away is because we have developed such a good working relationship. I very much value his work and his contribution, and we also have a friendly banter that is meaningful to both of us. He is also in my house all the time like Elton, the painter on TV’s “Murphy Brown.” At the end of the day, having meaningful interpersonal relationships is the cornerstone in anything that we hope to build.