When You Do A Lot Of Live Sessions, What Makes One Standout?
As a full-time, professional voice over actor, I typically have multiple live sessions every week. Most of my clients prefer Source Connect, and in truth I am so used to that at this point that I do too. On Monday morning, my first session of the week, with new clients, was over Teams. That was fine, so that was the first item that stood out. The second was that I was the only one with my camera on. Next, we were all in different countries. I was in the United States, and they were scattered from Italy to the UAE to Bahrain to India. I believe there were nine of us on the call, but possibly more. This session was different because this group was very chatty and wanted to talk amongst themselves a lot. They also wanted me to hang out while they edited their video, which is not standard, but luckily I had time on the other end and I could accommodate. So, from the get go, this session was different in all kinds of ways.
Why I Was SO Excited About this One
Well, if you know me you know I love chocolate. If I had to have one food on a deserted island, it would be chocolate. This commercial was for Ferrero Rochet. Not only do I particularly enjoy their delicious candy, but I also love that it is a brand that is eaten all over the world. This spot will run in the entire GCC, in places like the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and more. I think it is pretty awesome that this little candy also serves as a cultural bridge of sorts. When I think about many of these places that will view my spot, none of which I have ever had the privilege of visiting, and I think about their culinary traditions, I confess that I never imagined this decadent chocolate as part of it. I was delighted to know that we share this.
We Have More In Common
At the start of the session, the creative director wanted to make sure that I understood both the branding and the traditions surrounding Ramadan in the region. While I had, as I always do, done brand research in advance of the session, I was very pleased to learn about the traditions surrounding Ramadan, like the way that they decorate their homes with twinkle and fairy lights, in the importance of gracious hospitality in this festive holiday season. He also spoke of the emphasis of the changing and more egalitarian roles that their footage was clearly depicting. As I watched the footage and listened, I was struck by how many common shared values our cultures shared, especially with all of the spring holidays coming in the States. I was delighted by what I learned and it certainly informed my read.
The Technical Stuff
The trend for almost all my commercial bookings of late is the conversational read. Clients always want the reads to sound authentic, like I am talking to a friend. Well, authentic and relatable were not the sought after tones in this session. And don’t forget, that when taking direction, it is about giving the client exactly what they ask for. I happen to know the brand well as I often transcribe their scripts when coaching. Yet, the direction that I got went well beyond what I anticipated. The clients wanted every word of every line to be measured. In the VO coaching world we often say that if everything is important then nothing is important. But the client wanted every word emphasized the same way, and he gave precise readings for how he wanted each line broken down. The pacing was not conversational. He did not want the rhythm and the cadence to vary. He wanted every. Single. Word. Measured.
Pronunciation was another interesting part of the direction. Even though the team specifically wanted a voice actor with an American accent, certain words were non-negotiable. One of those words was “Ramadan.” They instructed me to pronounce it like rum-a-done. Next, the word “sweeter” was very important. They wanted me to hit the “ter” hard. We never do that here, but that is how they wanted the word said. So, that is how I did it.
Don’t Sound Happy. Umm, What?
Perhaps the most confusing bit of direction was the “don’t sound happy.” If you don’t already know, my tagline used to be “The Sound of Happy.” So, my voice sounds pretty happy, just on its own, without doing anything, this is how I sound. This bit of direction was tricky. I’m sitting there reading a script about a product I love, with a care bare hanging over my head (because it makes me happy) trying to sound, basically, unlike myself. I decided to flatten out the read and just try to be void of all emotion. I had to stop smiling, which is also hard because I am a smiley kind of gal. I did, in that moment though, question their casting choice.
Conclusions
Not all live sessions are the same. Give yourself the grace and time to listen to what the clients want. If they want a live session, it is either because the really want to direct you, because they are legally obligated to have someone on the team present when you record, or because they cannot please the commercial script without being there. All of these things matter, a lot. So make it great for them. Don’t talk money during the session, ever. This session ran over in time which almost never happens with me. Most of my sessions are pretty short. My instinct was to say nothing and smile while they chatted about their choices and options. Afterwards I spoke with the producer and he confirmed that it never goes well when the VoiceOver actors start talking about money and time with the end users, who typically have nothing to do with our rates. In the end, smile and breathe and hope that they have the courtesy of sharing the final cut with you to promote!
Just like other genres of voice over, when you are new to audio books, you need to build your street credit. The more titles you have under your built, the more experience you gain. It is hard, however, to book work without titles to your name. A great way to do this is to narrate books that are already in the “Public Domain.” That means that these books have been published more than 100 years ago and are free for anyone to work with. The other good news is that every January more books become part of the public domain! I had gone to Karen Commins’ site Narrator’s Roadmap, which can be found here 
You will want to upload your public domain book for kindle. In order to do this you need to do a few important things!! First, you need to create a separate and unique email address, different that the other address you use as a narrator on acx. Make sure that it is something that you can remember.
audio. So my audio was immediately flagged as being insufficient for their needs. You get a little orange or red, depending on the screen settings of your monitor, triangle with an exclamation point in it.
Interestingly, an early morning text from my nutritionist got me thinking about why positivity matters so much. At the end of her text, which happens to be the first text of my day, it said “No effort is too little in the big picture. It ALL adds up to progress. Keep your eyes on the goal and have a glorious day!” That is how my day started. Who wouldn’t feel great after such a message? And this got my wheels turning about the importance of what I put out to my own VO students. I am someone who has always responded well to positive reinforcement. More than that, I thrive on it. Feedback with a positive spin is something I can run with. Conversely, when I feel criticized or scrutinized I do not perform well. I have studied the psychology behind this in graduate school and in professional development workshops as a teacher, and I try to bring all this with me pedagogically when I coach. I do believe that for voice over students to get the most out of their experience they need positive reinforcement.
Before working in voice over, I actually taught middle and high school history at an all-girls school in New York City. For one of our teacher in service days, we had a neurologist come and talk to us about positive reinforcement. Did you know that there have been studies that prove that people respond better when their papers are marked with green pen than with a red pen? Further, students to respond better to encouragement to improve and build
I cherish building close relationships with people I work with. In the past few years, I have been come close with a “client” named Steve. First, I got to know Steve when he owned a production agency in Portland. Then, he opened a boutique talent agency. Over time, Steve became a close and cherished friend. When Steve opened his agency he actually decided to refer talents who needed coaching to me. Why? In addition to the curriculum I developed, he liked my positive way. Even recently, while in a period of transition onto a new path in life, Steve asked me if I would direct a session for a client because of my positive way. The point is that people need this kind of support and vibe, it makes it easier to work together. 
When I was in graduate school we also spent a lot of time learning about Howard Gardner and his theory of multiple intelligences, that different people learn and absorb material in different ways. I can tell you that as I get older I think the way that I myself learn has changed. But, the way that I relate to people and connect with people has only changed in degree and not manner. I would say that I am perhaps more sensitive now, than when I was young. I am a delicate soul, and especially something as personally as our art, well, we are all unique and while there are industry standards and benchmarks we need to meet, I would like, myself, to learn about it in a meaningful and engaging way that brings out my best, and is not belittling.
When I first heard about the sales funnel for voice over, I was elated. Basically, their funnel drew me in and it worked instantly. I had several thoughts. First, I loved the idea of paying less for pay to plays. I thought by starting a funnel I could change my pay to play strategy. To be clear, I do not think there is a voice over reality in which pay to plays cease to exist, I simply wanted to be less dependent on them. Next, I loved the idea of positioning myself to be found by the people who were hiring me. In all my years as a full-time actor, I spend A LOT of time doing direct marketing, and we all know this can be a craps shoot, a big roll of the dice. The sales funnel was appealing because I had hoped that through the marketing expertise of the folks I hired the people who needed me would find me and I could focus on what I love to do most, recording and coaching. It sounds great, right?
While working with Rob and Mary was as expected in terms of their bed-side manner, and they were responsive and kind, Rob over-promised and under-delivered in terms of the result of the funnel. It was actually shocking. We would look at the same numbers, and they would have a completely different analysis of them. Keep in mind the funnel was supposed to bring in dream clients with large budgets. It was supposed to weed out the undesirables. This was NOT my experience. My experience with the opposite. My dream clients were no where to be found. I had multiple people sign up for calls and not show up. I sent follow up emails and texts to those no-shows. 
I had an experience recently and after the fact realized that dog painting is actually a great analogy for life as a voice over actor. If you follow my blog, then you know that I have two precious studio dogs, Violet and Daisy. Last week were were invited, with the dogs, to a charity event at my brother-in-law’s temple. The event was in support of our local food pantry, and we were going to do dog painting. Yes, that’s right, dog painting. Felix, my BIL, works with a guy named Jason to run the arts committee. Inspired by a Jackson Pollock painting done with chicken feet, they opened it up to community pets. The plan was to have people paint with their pets, make a group mural, and bring pet-specific donations for the food pantry. Often those who cannot afford food for their family, also cannot feed their pets. My daughter Emma signed us up and we brought dog food and treats to contribute. Even the morning of the event, I was very unsure of what we were walking into.
So, I see many parallels between dog painting and VoiceOver. Like the event, in VO there is no roadmap. We wake up each morning not knowing what to expect. We walk into live sessions and we don’t know how long they will be and what the folks will be like. Like the dog painting, there are no guarantees in voice over, no promises that things will work it. It might be fine, but everything could also have fallen apart completely with no hope of salvation. We have no crystal ball and we have to be prepared for any outcome.
I never thought I’d go dog painting. But I did and I loved it. Not only did I have fun with my pooches in the moment, but I gained valuable life insights and a refreshing perspective on being willing to try new things. Sometimes, even if you have doubts, as longs as what you are considering is safe, it’s worth trying!
