How
to Avoid the Most Common Mistakes
That Cause Voiceover Careers to Crash and Burn
copyright 2006, The Great Voice Company | All Rights Reserved
Ever since I began coaching voice talent in 1987 I have had the
opportunity to observe many careers. Interestingly, I have often
noticed that those who had the most "talent" were not
necessarily those who became the most successful. A career that
looked promising would crash and burn before it ever got off the
ground. In taking a closer look at this phenomenon, I noticed
there were seven factors that surfaced again and again. They are:
1. Lack of training
2. Poor demo
3. Poor attitude
4. Unrealistic expectations
5. Poor organizational skills
6. Giving up too soon
7. Lack of professionalism
Take a closer look at each
of these:
1. Lack of training
Successful athletes, singers, and actors all have coaches, even
(and especially) when they are at the peak of their career. It's
no different for a voice actor, though sometimes a beginner with
a certain degree of natural talent might think they can go it
alone. It is very difficult to hear yourself as others hear you.
And it's very hard to both act and direct yourself at the same
time. A good coach will help you turn your raw talent into bankable
skills. They will teach you how to move beyond simply reading
a script to making the words your own. To succeed in voiceover
today, you need much more than a good voice. You need studio skills,
acting skills, marketing skills and the self-discipline to keep
from beating yourself up when the going gets rough. A good coach
can shorten the learning curve by years and give you the support
you need to go for the gold.
2. Poor demo
Nothing is as important to your voiceover career as a good demo.
Sadly, this is the one place where many beginners cut corners
and fail. Your tape must give the illusion of real commercials
(or narration samples) that actually ran on the air. You do this
with copy that is appropriate for your voice type and vocal age
range, up-to-date background music and high-quality audio production.
Your demo should be a short compilation of 5 or 6 selections -
no more than 90 seconds long, and it should grab and hold the
attention of the listener. A good director and a studio with experience
producing voiceover demos can help make this a reality. A demo
that is home made, badly acted or poorly produced will get tossed
in the trash. The most successful voice actors train for months
before making their tapes. It can be expensive to produce- anywhere
from $500 to $2500 dollars. Do not do it until you are ready.
The average price is about $1200
3. Poor attitude
In the voiceover business, or any business today, good social
competence- the ability to work well with others- is a must. There
is no place for prima-donnas or actors with attitudes. You have
to be able to take direction graciously, put up with fickle clients,
and take rejection with equanimity. I have been to too many auditions
where the actors sat in the waiting area grumbling about the business
or putting their competition down behind their back. I have also
seen actors try to "pull rank" and barge ahead of others
in an audition because of time constraints. Such negativity has
a way of catching up with you and is the fastest way to undermine
a career.
4. Unrealistic expectations
People often ask me how long it will take before they will start
to make money in voiceovers. That depends of many factors: the
quality of your demo tape, your talent and training, the amount
of time you spend on marketing yourself, and your persistence.
An agent (if you can find one who will represent you) will not
do it for you. At most, you'll be lucky if an agent sends you
out on more than a few auditions a week. You must be willing to
market yourself and that means finding casting directors, ad agencies,
producers and recording studios who are willing to listen to your
demo and consider you for future jobs. This can take months or
even a year or more to do. But it can be done. I did it and you
can too.
5. Poor organizational
skills
I suggest getting 300 demos to targeted prospects during your
first year in the business, at the rate of about 5 demos per week.
Each of these demos must be followed up on and this typically
takes about 7 phone calls to each recipient. That's 2,100 phone
calls a year! You'll need a good computer data base and good organizational
skills to keep track of your follow up efforts.
6. Giving up too soon
I once regularly called a prospective client, a large Cable TV
network, once a month for two years in a row. They were very nice
to me but never hired me for anything. They complimented me on
persistence and follow up skills and apologized, telling me they
had just contracted with a male voice talent to do all their voice
recordings. The next day they called and asked me to come in to
work. "What happened to the guy you signed to contract?"
I asked. "Oh, he's on everything," they said. "We're
tired of him!" Go figure! They then became a regular client
of mine for many years. Had I given up I would have never had
this wonderful opportunity. I have also had many students who
made their demo but then lost their nerve and never sent them
out. They sabotaged their careers before they even got started.
7. Lack of professionalism
Showing up late for sessions and auditions. Arguing with the director.
Not being prepared. Showing up drunk or under the influence. Letting
a bad mood show. Spreading gossip. Bad mouthing other talent at
every opportunity. Not caring for personal hygiene (sounds incredible,
but my agent swears he has clients who smell like they never bathe).
Not following up on opportunities and leads. Being late. Sending
work that contains mistakes or mispronunciations.
Take the next step now