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Q & A About Recent eLearning Trends

November 22, 2020 by Laura Schreiber

A Lot of eLearning Trends In 2020

Whether it’s because of the Covid 19 Pandemic or the industry just continues to boom, there is more eLearning work than ever! The demand for female voice over roles is continual, and as a full-time professional voice actor, every time an eLearning job arrives in my inbox I am delighted. I have always loved working with the instructional designers and project managers to bring their content to life. Before I became a voice actor, I was a teacher, so perhaps that it was I feel so at home with this genre. At the moment, there is a huge amount of eLearning content and based on the work coming in I have noticed a lot of trends in the type of work being sought, rates, tech needs, and what books the work. If you are looking to expand your eLearning bookings or to work more in this genre, these are questions you should be asking:

What gets your foot in the door with eLearning content creators?

The Demo MattersYou need a solid demo that represents both a range of your abilities and your understanding of the industry. My vocal range is from teen to middle age, and that is demonstrated in my eLearning demo, which goes from tech industries to pharma to medical. My demo switches gears from upbeat and engaging to serious and professional. My demo is set to music, which is controversial is often eLearning is dry. I wanted my demo to standout and by pleasant to listen to, and I believe it meets that goal.

What are you typically asked for when cast in an eLearning role?

You need toIt has been a while since I was cast as a generic third person narrator in eLearning. Instead, for the last sic months, ever booking to land on my desk is a character role, where the instructional designer wants an authentic, genuine role that is believable for their training. For example, this week I was cast as a college student who had gone down the wrong path and had a drug problem and was now in recovery. I had to be sensitive and relatable. It had to be believable. I was telling this girl’s story in this university’s training scenario. Last week I was a caller in a pay roll company’s HR training. I was the good caller this time, but in the past I’ve been the bad caller. In both instances the character had to be believable, authentic, and sincere. As a female eLearning narrator, this is a big responsibility: to continue booking work for clients you have to be able to switch gears and maintain whatever character you are playing for them that day. The character must be consistent throughout and must have nuance.

What Rates are you booking at?

Maintain Industry Standard RatesRates are really important. My bookings typically range between $0.25/word and $0.45/word with a $150 minimum and $1 per split. I charge for splits if there are more than 10. I prefer to quote the price per word and not per finished minute as I speak quickly. Last week I had a potential client reach out and ask me if I was on Upwork. I told them I was not. They wanted to know if I would honor Upwork’s rates, and I explained that at this point in my career I could not work for those rates. I then referred the client to GVAA and Gravy for The Brain, in hopes of keeping the conversation going. They did come back to me that if they had flexibility they would let me know, but in the mean time it is important to be willing to walk away. The next day I had a job come in that was 617 words and paid of $400. It is important never to settle.

What technological requests do you get from clients?

The Tech MattersMost typically, my eLearning clients want MP3s that are split and fully edited. I typically add EQ, compression, and a d-esser. If you are booking eLearning work for big companies, it is expected that you should have a professional grade studio at this point. Especially because they often do not have music or effects behind their training, the quality of the audio that you provide matters more than ever.

Final Thoughts:

There is a lot of eLearning work for voice actors at the moment. If you intend to be booking it, you need to have great sound and be able to maintain a character consistently for the duration of the script. Your demo gets you in the door, but if you can’t sound as good as that on every single job, then you are not ready to work.

Filed Under: Elearning Tagged With: authentic, believable, character, demo, elearning, eLearning demo, Fully edited, genuine, industry standard, instructional designers, MP3s, narrator, project managers, rates, real person, role, sincere, Specs, studio, teacher, VO, voiceover

Reasons to Trust a Female Voice in Voiceover

April 1, 2019 by Laura Schreiber

https://youtu.be/PEtlJ0I0LgU

Reasons to Feel Enthusiastic

Some Mondays it can be easier to get into the groove than others, right? But today, just back from World Wide Radio Summit 2019, I am feeling about as motivated and enthusiastic about my work as a gal can feel. Laura Schreiber Female Voice Over Talent WWRS Panel ShotThis is in large part the consequence of a panel that my friend, fellow voice talent, and Radio Imaging trailblazer Kelly Doherty AKA “K3” ran. There were hundreds of people from around the world, from Europe, South Africa, all over the US, and Canada, and all week everyone waited for Kelly’s panel. The energy in the room was amazing. You could feel the joy, the love, the pride, and the creative power. For the women in the audience, there was another element though. Kelly was running the show. Not that this is anything new for our beloved K3 as she has voiced the top stations around the country for more than a decade, but here, at this industry event, she was setting the standard and guiding what Radio Industry Imaging protocol was for everyone. So when she asked her highly selective panel of guests if a female voice can be the main voice of a station, Kelly’s question was met with a resounding “YES”!!

There were two sessions specifically targeting radio imaging at WWRS2019. K3 included several other amazing women as panelists, among them Melissa Thom, Issa Lopez, and Ashley Cavalier. These women, unique, bright, and talented share an enthusiasm and passion for our industry. They are also all incredible talented. So I was incredible proud not just to be their to learn from them but to feel that they were representing us. And to clarify the “us” is both the women who are in imaging and at the conference, and those of us who plug away daily in our booths to contribute to an industry that we adore. To be sitting in the audience amongst power houses like Taylor Kaye, Rachel McGrath, Amanda Madi, Heather Walters, Heather Foster, Nicole Britton, Jenn Sweeney, Roberta Solomon… I could keep going but our presence fueled the message of the panel. It used to be they our voices were only used to compliment the mail voice on any given format. Now, as women we have an opportunity to take the lead. So, it is apparent that audiences across genres trust female voices and our moment to shine has come.

Trusting Female Voiceover Actors

While I could go on and on about my radio imaging work this morning because I just got back from this amazing conference, in truth I am super enthusiastic about my voiceover work across genres. I settle in to a commercial read or a telephony project with just as much passion. I try to always consider who I am speaking to and why my client need my voice. According to the Daily Mail, “two studies have revealed that both men and women preferred female voices – which were found to be ‘warmer’ and ‘understanding’.” While I am often asked to be upbeat and conversational, I know that in essence the folks casting me want the listener to connect, and that connection will only happen if the read is believable and the listener trusts the voice they hear.

Apparently, even in the growing world of AI, the shift to women voices is a huge trend! Have you noticed that Siri, Alexa, and often your GPS all sound like women? In an interview of Amazon executives in PC Mag, they were asked why they often use women are for AI voices and Amazon explained “We tested many voices with our internal beta program and customers before launching and this voice tested best,” an Amazon spokesperson told PCMag. “However, for our objectives—building a helpful, supportive, trustworthy assistant—a female voice was the stronger choice,” according to Mr. Redmond. So, it is not only in radio imaging that more doors are opening for women.

Correlation Between Women In VO and Women in Workforce

As the trends for hiring women in voiceover start to shift in our favor in recent years, which I can assure you was not the case when I entered the industry years ago, I can’t help but wonder if this is directly related to changes in the work force in the United States in general. I found some hard facts that lead me to believe that it is. According to WBENC (Women’s Business Enterprise National Council):

  • As of 2018, there are 12.3 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. Compare that to 1972, when there were only 402,000 women-owned businesses, representing 4.6 percent of all firms.
  • Women own 4 out of every 10 businesses in the U.S.
  • Industries with the highest growth rates in terms of number of women-owned businesses include utilities (151% growth), other services (126%), construction (94%), accommodations and food services (85%), and administrative, support and waste management services (70%).

So it is within this setting that women in voiceover have begun to sparkle. And my hope is that as women entrepreneurs continue to expand exponentially, so will their confidence in the women of voiceover!

Filed Under: Client Relationships, Voiceover Tagged With: Alexa, Amazon, K3, Kelly Doherty, Radio imaging, sincere, Siri, trustworthy, warm, WBENC, women, women in radio, working women, World Wide Radio Summit, WWRS2019

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