Voiceover Industry

What is audio description?

This not-new-but-growing field is a great one for folks who want to do some good with their voice practice.

The federal government defines audio description like this:

“Audio Description. Narration added to the soundtrack to describe important visual details that cannot be understood from the main soundtrack alone. Audio description is a means to inform individuals who are blind or who have low vision about visual content essential for comprehension. Audio description of video provides information about actions, characters, scene changes, on-screen text, and other visual content. Audio description supplements the regular audio track of a program. Audio description is usually added during existing pauses in dialogue. Audio description is also called “video description” and “descriptive narration”.”

Different from Subtitles

This differs from other types of adaptive services like subtitles, since you need an earpiece or other sort of headset to hear the descriptions that let you know what’s going on.

There is more than one type of audio description, that which is pre-recorded and synched with the audio of the movie and fit into dialogue pauses, and the kinds that go along with live performances and are voiced as the performance goes on.

For pre recorded media, there is one other type of description, called extended description. This is used with media that does not have frequent pauses, or has heavy visual elements that need a great deal of explanation. With this option, you can pause the action in the movie or show to play out the entire description before going on. Libraries will also sometimes have DVDs with recorded descriptions added to borrow.
Other genres of audio description can be found in self guided museum tours or other visual art exhibits. Non-visually impaired people may enjoy this service also due to alternative processing needs when watching a movie, or other disabilities.
Persons on the autism spectrum can use audio description to help understand interpersonal or emotional cues with the pairing of visual and auditory description. This helps them understand challenging areas with increased clarity.
Children developing language can also benefit, since it improves their association with words and visual objects or events onscreen.

Audio for Visually Impaired

Creating additional audio for blind people has an interesting history.

There are a few early incidents of movie theaters doing special showings for blind people with live description as part of the program, but this was few and far between as technology continued to advance. Early media formats hindered the development of the service, since analog signals could only transmit one audio channel at a time. The American Council of the Blind includes some history of audio description, sharing “Credit for the “invention” of audio description in 1981 generally goes to the late Dr. Margaret Pfanstiehl and her late husband Cody, although in independent efforts a man named Chet Avery proposed the concept in the late 60s, and Gregory Frazier worked on the idea on the 1970s.

In 1990, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded Margaret an Emmy for her “leadership and persistence in the development of television for the visually impaired.” In 2009, Margaret received the Excellence in Accessibility Leadership Award at the LEAD Conference at the Kennedy Center for her lifetime commitment and enduring advocacy on behalf of audio description and other forms of information access for the visually impaired community. Over the years, the Pfanstiehls personally trained hundreds of audio describers around the world. Since then, many of those trained describers have gone on to train other audio describers.

Accessibility

Disability advocacy has increased the type of assistive services available across the US, with many media producers making more efforts to include disabled folks in their creation but we still have a long way to go.

The government has moved back and forth on whether or not television stations have been required to provide audio description services. In 2002, it was ruled that the FCC did not have the authority to require stations to provide audio description. Then, in 2010, it was ruled again that the descriptions were within the FCC’s authority to require. Unfortunately, the FCC’s requirements for major stations to provide audio description does not cover all stations and all programming, so you may not be able to utilize this service for certain programming.

Increased Popularity

Over the decades, audio description has become more and more popular as visually impaired people want to consume more television, but in the past they had to rely on friends or family members for description duties. In 1985, WGBH in Boston started providing audio description services for PBS programming due to this. After running tests and reviewing studies, they created an organization called Descriptive Video Services to match up with PBS programming.

As time passed, DVS programming has continued to expand, going beyond PBS services. Not all stations offer it, as the FCC’s requirements only apply to the major network stations and not to smaller stations or syndicated programming. Many stations choose to run a Spanish dubbing track rather than one for the visually impaired. Some of the streaming services are moving forward with offering audio description, but none of them do as of early 2021. There are now also many other companies, both for and non-profit that provide this service to interested media creators.

Opportunities for Voiceover Beginners and Seasoned Pros

Audio description is a great way for beginning voice talent to offer their services on a volunteer basis with non-profit companies while you learn your craft.

Veteran talent can also pursue paid projects through companies like Netflix that are utilizing audio description to make their content more accessible to a their audience.

There are a great many companies that provide this kind of services for media creators. Anyone interested can look on this page at the American Council of the Blind with Training or Education resources. There is also a great deal of information on organizations that offer audio description services, and you can look on this page to find out more information. Some of them will offer training or testing programs to get started. This is a type of service that will never run out of need, since not only are there constantly new shows and movies to describe, there are also oceans of older media that needs a run down. Once you are familiar with the voicing process for this type of work, you can also get your name on the list of voiceover rosters that have experience in that area on the ACB’s website.

VO Advice: Finding the right equipment

Voiceover Industry

A thousand and one times in any given week in any voiceover group online, you’ll see one type of question from newbies worldwide.

What kind of mic do I need?
How do I set up my studio?
What kind of equipment should I have?

The equipment side of voiceover can seem really intimidating to the newbie, and it’s importance makes it an area you don’t want to make mistakes in.

Why?

Your sound, your voice, are your product. Going cheap here means that people who hire you are not getting the best available product, and they’re going to notice and remember it if it’s not up to snuff. That will lead to it being harder for you to both get and keep work. And the more you invest in the “wrong” way the more you’ll have to do to make up for it, and to get new work for yourself.

So how do you find the right equipment?

Well, the first thing you want to do is get a sense of your budget. How much do you have available to spend? The second thing you want to consider is your timeline. How soon do you need to be ready to go? The shorter the timeline and the smaller the budget the more difficult it is to make things work, of course.

If you’re trying to get started in voiceover quickly and cheaply, you probably want to find another industry. It’s a great way to make a living, but a poor one to make a living quickly. A good analogy would be to think if yourself as a farmer for business, instead of a hunter.

Voiceover requires developing relationships and trust between you and your clients, and also that requires significant time and financial investment in order to make a good start that you are able to maintain. Newbies can run in the red for some time before they’re able to start showing a real profit. This is why it’s more like farming, because you are planting contacts and doing marketing slowly over time, nurturing your business, and then having many sources of income once they and the metaphor grows.

Consider your Space

The next major question, before you spend a penny is to consider your space. This is the foundation of everything you’re building. The first thing you want to look at is the size of the space. The bigger it is the more challenging getting everything ready will be. Sound bounces, and a larger space will be far more difficult to avoid “bouncing” and sounding bad.

Many people start out their working life in a closet full of clothes or blankets hung to create a “dead” space. This isn’t ideal, and won’t do anything for outside noises, but is a workable place to start. Others have purchased PVC piping and moving blankets to make a small box to record in. As mentioned earlier, this will help you keep your voice sounding acceptable, but you will have to either time your recordings or purchase software to remove outside noises. (Lawn mowers, leaf blowers, trucks, cars, airplanes, air conditioners, and much, much more.)

No matter what space you choose, there are two more key things to consider. One, is what that space adjoins. If it’s a closet next to a busy traffic space in your home, you may want to look elsewhere for your space. That traffic will bleed through the wall. The second is ventilation. It’s unlikely that you would come to any harm, but you will be putting yourself in a small stuffy box for what can be hours at a time. It’s important to make sure that you have some way to cool off and get a breath of fresh air periodically.

Type of Equipment

Microphone

The centerpiece. First of all, no matter what any budget voiceover guides tell you, a USB mic is not ideal. The sound is in general not good enough for voiceover work. With a mic, you also need a stand, shock mount (the thing that keeps vibrations from transferring to the mic) and pop filter to keep your spit out of it. A little googling will show you countless mic comparisons from the top end to the bare minimum. Different mics fit with different voices, genre of voiceover, and the way your space is set up.
If you’re unable to get a good sound treated space put together, a shotgun mic may help you out. This type of mic is designed to only record whatever it’s pointed at (i.e. your mouth), and thus avoids some of the ambient noise that may be picked up in a mic with a larger pickup area. This article from Backstage has some good budget options that won’t break your bank when you’re getting started.

Cables

Thankfully these are one of your simplest purchases. XLR cables will work–although be careful how you lay them out. Cables laying over one another can cause a buzz in your recording that is difficult to remove. Also, cables can eventually “go bad” and need to be replaced, so if you’ve got a clean layout and noise or problems still exist, you may want to consider swapping them out.

Interface

This is another area where you can ask 100 talents what interfaces they use and get 100 opinions on what the right one is. There are a few more common interfaces that are popular like the Scarlet 2i2, but when you’re choosing this piece of equipment, in addition to the budget questions I mentioned above, you also want to consider your level of technology understanding.
If you’re not all that familiar with audio equipment, don’t buy the fanciest thing on the market. If you don’t have tons of equipment that needs a million plugs, you don’t need something that has that. (And make sure whatever kind of connections it has are the same ones that are on your computer. This article by Gravy for the Brain highlights some of the most popular choices and includes audio files for comparison.

Computer

No matter where you are or how you are recording, you will need some sort of computer to work with. The key elements that you want to look for here are noise–does this computer come with a big honking fan? Not a good idea to have in the booth with you, because your mic will pick it up.
It is possible to use an iPad or other type of tablet in the booth to carry your script and keep your computer outside your recording area, but this is some additional work/cost to set up.
The next consideration you need is a good amount of ram. You want at least 4 GB of ram, and preferably 8 to make sure that you can move around sizeable files and save them often. A better processor and a good sized storage drive are also good investments. Many talent choose to save their work, since if a client comes back to you needing a minor revision, you are then able to find references and add to them, rather than re-recording.
Better yet, buy an EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE to store your recordings on so your computer processor doesn’t get slowed down.

DAW

This is short for Digital Audio Workstation, and it’s the name for the software you use to record into, and generally edit on. There are quite a few types of software available, and you will find people who are die hard fans of this or that kind.
Audacity is one that many people start with since it is free and has some good basic tools. (Avoid garage band if you buy an Apple computer, it is not good software for voiceover though you can make any software work if you really want to)
A simple and affordable option for Mac as an alternative to Garageband is TwistedWave.
Other options out there include Quebase, Reaper, and ProTools
There is a pretty hefty learning curve with most types of software, so watching some videos and spending some time learning the ins and outs of your DAW will help you have a quicker and more efficient workflow.

At the end of the day it all comes down to what suits your needs best. Thankfully there are lots of FREE RESOURCES out there that can help you make your selection process easier. Break a lip!

10 Tips for Directing a Voiceover Talent

Casting, Voiceover Industry

So you’re gearing up to record a live session with a voice talent! This is a great way to improve the visibility of your product or service and humanize that commercial or narration in such a way that can help you for weeks or months to come. But this can be kind of intimidating, especially if you’ve never taken on a directing role before.

The first major choice you have to make is whether or not you want the talent to record in an outside studio, or at their home space. The major advantage in recording in an outside studio is an environment that you control completely–you know that the recording space is top notch, and you have an expert engineer on hand to sort out any hiccups.

The big disadvantage here is the additional cost, since you have to pay for the space and time in an external studio. If the talent is recording from home, you gain a great deal of flexibility, since the talent doesn’t have to travel, and you don’t have the additional cost, but there can be more hiccups with technology or the recording space than otherwise.

Luckily, home studios have really benefited from the huge leap into remote working over the last 2 years, and all the technologies that talents were using have become even more stable and easy to use.

Helpful Tips

Once you sort out that issue, below are ten tips to work through before you record to make sure that your experience is as smooth and effective as possible. It can be a truly rewarding journey to collaborate with a voice talent and it can only benefit you and your company in the long run.

Minimize adjectives

When figuring out how you want a talent to voice your script, it can be easy to get a little too enthusiastic with the description words. Less is more here. For example, “Super conversational, like you’re talking to your best friend” or “Professional, Clear, Confident.” You want to use specific language, but not pile on the words until it becomes unclear for the talent, and makes it harder for the session to go smoothly. Too many words (especially if they start to conflict) make it harder to get the read you want.

Reference a demo sample

If possible, this can be a great reference tool to find out what you want your talent to do. Talent generally have several different reads on their demos, mixing a variety of scripts and styles, and one of them might be close to or exactly what you’re looking for in your read. Referencing this can cut the explaining short and give you both a shortcut to your goal.

Know your message and audience

Make sure before you get started that you have a clear description of what the message and feel of the script is, and also who the target audience will be. This helps the talent align their skills and craft your perfect read, and makes it easier to dial into exactly what you need.

What’s important?

Are there certain lines or words that you need to have stand out? Are there sentences that need to carry a specific emotion? Create this map for yourself and the talent to give them another tool to make a great read.

Read it aloud

Many times scripts have to go through multiple revisions before being ready to record. Finalizing your script before hand is crucial to saving time in the long run. The last thing you want is to be making re-writes on the fly during a session, especially in a situation where they need to be approved by legal.
There’s a simple, vital step that you need to take before you put the script in front of your talent. Have someone sit down and read it aloud. It won’t work if you don’t read it out loud, and here’s why: this is the fastest way to identify trouble spots in the writing. Perhaps there’s an awkward phrase, or something could be made a contraction to flow better, or anything of that nature. It will probably feel a little awkward, but the benefits all around outweigh the minor discomfort.

Audio Quality Check

This tip specifically applies to talent recording in their home studio. It’s unfortunate, but some people choose to get a demo that does not accurately represent the work they are able to do in their home studio. Audio software in the hands of an expert producer can create a hot rod out of the proverbial lemon pretty easily. A short test recording from the talent will give you a quick and easy idea if they can deliver on the promise of their demo. This may already be covered in whatever audition they do for you, but if not, you should be able to negotiate a couple sentences to make sure no one is promising something they can’t deliver.

Be ready for your ABC’s

Requesting ABC’s from a talent means asking them to read something three different times in three slightly different intonations. This can be very useful if you have any parts of your script you’re not totally sure about the read of, particularly the tag line. Time equals money so it’s good to get a few different reads from the talent to make sure you have more than you need just in case. Having extra makes it much less likely that if you have to switch anything around or alter a tone you have to call the talent back in and pay for an additional session fee.

Too many cooks

In a directed session, it’s natural that many people in your company may want to listen in. It’s very easy for that type of situation to get overwhelming for everyone, and make the direction and recording far more difficult. It’s natural for different people to hear sound in quite a variety of ways, and your colleagues may have their own ideas for direction or alterations in tone. This will slow down the recording, drive the cost up, and make it harder to get the perfect recording. If you aren’t able to slim down the invite list, establishing someone at the beginning of the session as a point person who will convey directions to the talent after the group has taken time to mute and discuss changes will make everyone’s session go more smoothly and will ensure everyone feels heard.

Get your music ready

If music is part of your final product, have it ready to play for the talent if at all possible. Music is a great way to get across the mood and tone of what you’re looking for and will help the talent dial into your needs. If you don’t have the specific piece yet, get as many descriptors as you can about genre and attitude to help set the idea and space for your talent.

Don’t forget to have fun

This might sound silly in the business world, but it’s an important part of your session. Everyone has experienced a work environment that is a little too serious and it can be a real drain and drag for everyone. Making sure that everyone involved knows that it’s okay to be human, flub a line, or laugh at someone’s joke can help everything to go smoother. And the positive energy can make a significant difference to the overall energy and read from the talent.

Whether it’s an internal training, a telephone system, your latest commercial, or simply a scratch track, collaborating with a voice talent for a directed session can be easy and relaxed with the right preparation. You and the voice talent will hopefully be working together for years to come. Keep these ten tips in mind, and you’ll get that recording session polished off in no time flat.

Business Advice: Requesting Referrals

Business, Marketing, Voiceover Industry

Referral marketing is often thrown into lists of great marketing ideas, but have you taken the time to explore how to set up a referral program for your business?

Referrals are one of the best ways to market yourself. Let’s be honest, people trust recommendations from people they know. When you’re trying to get the word out about what you are selling, sharing real recommendations from those who are happy with your product or service can help you build rapport and make sales a little faster or with more consistency.

What Are The Benefits Of Referrals?

Before we dive into some hows, let’s look at the whys behind referrals. Why should you look into gathering and showcasing referrals? Why are they worth your time?

Referrals Are Powerful

Referrals are about trust. When potential customers hear about you from those they trust, some of that trust rubs off on your brand, so to speak. Referrals carry the weight of the relationship between the one sharing and the one receiving. Because they trust each other’s recommendations, your brand is seen in a more positive or trustworthy light, than it would without that referral.

And that’s why they are so powerful. With a referral, you instantly get a leg up on the competition with that loyalty and authenticity behind it.

Referrals Are Personal

Here’s the thing about referrals, whether they are for a pizza or pediatrician, they are deeply personal. Often built out of at least some level of relationship, referrals can develop out of a very custom need for your brand. People don’t tell others about brands they don’t think the other will care about. Instead, they tell them about things they know they need or want.

And that recommendation often comes with a why. “I think you’d love this pizza because they overdo it on the cheese.” or “I know you need a pediatrician who understands gluten-free diets and other restrictions. Definitely check out ours.” That personalization is part of what makes them so powerful as we discussed above

Referrals Are Easy

Let’s skip trying to think of the next great marketing scheme or a compelling new campaign. Referrals are a simple step to build up your reputation and get the word out about what you do, without reaching for a lot of creativity.

Too often when we try to get snazzy, we lose a sense of authenticity and forget the people behind why we do what we do. Referrals keep us grounded and remind us of why our clients come to us in the first place, and even more so, why they stick around.

Who Should You Get Referrals From?

Do I have you convinced that you should start referral marketing? Unsure where to start? You need to know who to ask for referrals. That’s the first step.

Everyone

This is the most basic answer, but the reality is that the power of referrals is multiplied by the numbers of clients who are willing to share your brand with others who may be interested. Setting up a system to automatically ask or taking the time to personally reach out to all your clients can help you reach those numbers faster.

Your Most Loyal Clients

With the obvious answer aside, let’s talk about your loyal clients and customers. You know the ones. They always provide raving feedback. They are eager to purchase from you or work with you again. They are the ones to spend your time with. They may be eager to refer your brand already. They are likely to be excited to help you get the word out.

Your Target Clients

Another angle to consider when narrowing down your referral request list is your target audience. This can probably be informed by your loyal clients and customers, but may be slightly different. Your target clients reflect the demographics that you are trying to reach with your brand. Referrals from this group can be very useful because the way your brand helps them and the way they talk about your brand can be very persuasive to more members of your target audience, helping your brand to reach an audience you are trying to connect with.

Influencer Endorsements

We don’t need to spend a lot of time with this one, but it’s worth mentioning. It’s often alluring to reach out to influencers or online celebrities who will talk up your brand, but try to remember everything we talked about above. Real effectiveness of referral marketing comes with authenticity and genuine connections.

Helping Referrers Refer

Now that you know who you want to ask for referrals, how do you go about getting those referrals? The key is in helping them make those referrals. Taking the guesswork out and helping them refer you to their family and friends.

How you help your customers or clients depends on your own business. Try to get inside their minds. When are they likely to tell others about your brand? How would they want to do it? Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Marketing Collateral

Sometimes good old fashioned print marketing can help. Anything from brochures or one-page documents to postcards and stickers can give your loyal followers something to tangibly share with others. This is especially great if you have detailed services you provide or are a visual artist and can show off your skills.

Shareable Online Content

When you are creating online content, such as educational videos or blogs, make sure they are easily shareable. And create content your target market loves. It gives them something to share with their friends when they refer your brand to others.

A Referral Program

We’ve all used them. Referral codes from brands we love that give others a little discount, and us too, when they use them. It’s a great way to incentivize people to get the word out, but keep in mind that these kickbacks can sometimes take out a bit of the authenticity.

Just Asking

Let’s just keep it simple. Sometimes the best way to get a referral is just to ask. Just real conversation. It seems so novel in our overly digitized, constantly automatized world, but a simple ask can be as effective as any gimmick you try to employ. It brings the humanity back to the system.

Just Asking For Referrals

How do you ask? Just ask. Ask your longest or most loyal clients. Ask them upfront “Would you be willing to share my name?”

A great way to start is with a real conversation.

Ask about them and their family. Be real.
Ask how you can help them.
Tell them what you’re looking for, such as a type of customer or industry. Would they be willing to share your name?

People like to help other people they like. You may be surprised with the results.

You can also create automated messages with your invoice or after a sale, asking people to share your name, if they are happy with your work.

Referrals can seem difficult or intimating, but at the end of the day, they are about relationships. The relationships you have with your clients and customers and the relationships they have with others.

And the key to referral marketing is nurturing those relationships. Asking for help in spreading the word and making it easy for your friends to do it. And don’t forget to ask how you can help them too.

5 things every voiceover website needs

Business, Marketing, Voiceover Industry

The website is a staple of most online professionals, and voiceover pros in particular. Your website is your business card and central info depot for the digital age, and the best place to give people a good first impression. Your potential clients may not recall your face, but your name and website are your opportunity to cement your voice and persona in their mind.

Readability

The single biggest thing you need to make sure to center in your website building is readability. Fonts and fun colors are awesome, but many people find certain color combinations or font choices difficult to read. Sometimes these choices are even headache inducing, especially for older folks. People who have vision correction can also find funky colors and fonts a challenge also. Be sure that you source people on different computers, using different browsers, on mobile and whatever other types you can think of to make sure that everything displays correctly and is easy to follow.

Professional Design

Speaking of mobile-mobile browsing, it’s a trend that only continues to grow. Make sure that your site not only has a mobile version, but also displays correctly on all devices. It’s better to avoid sites with inexpensive designers, since they may not have enough experience to follow all the way through on your project, or to be able to handle everything in a timely manner.

A great way to find a good designer for your site is to look for sites that you admire, and ask for their designer’s name. Fellow talent are a great way to get recommendations. One good reason to ask fellow talent for ideas is because whomever they’ve gotten a site from will have direct experience putting together the types of things a talent needs–like making sure that demos display correctly, or creating a video sample page. Avoiding the inexperienced designer can save you time, money and headaches.

Value the Time of the Viewer

More important than the fancy branding and ‘standing out from the crowd’ is making sure that your reader can find the essentials on you as a talent quickly and easily. Unless you have a particular need to do so, avoid impersonal elements like contact forms for your site. The easier you are to reach, the more naturally the connection will follow. Here are 5 essentials that you want to make sure your website viewer can get to and get through as quickly as possible.

1. Demos

Most talent have several different demos relating to the various genres of voiceover that they pursue. There are lots of options for players that can integrate with your site to allow the viewing of several of these demos at once. Ranking should be based on what your most hired genre is, or the one that you want to pursue the most. You should also make sure that the highest ranked ones are the professionally produced cuts. Sometimes if you know what you’re doing, you can get away with making a demo for elearning or audiobooks, since those genres are dryer and don’t need music. But you want to make sure your best foot is forward.

2. Video Samples

The single best way to show your voice in action.

Demos are very important, but aren’t always as evocative as a project video. Examples of your skills in action will show off your range, and more importantly, give it the context to inspire someone who might want to hire you for a similar voicing or parallel venture. Just make sure you get permission from your client before you display these! Many talents have lost both gigs and reputation due to rushing ahead and not checking with their client first. We don’t always have the whole picture on legal wrangles, NDA’s, product launches and other wrinkles. It’s better to take the extra time and make sure and take care of your relationship with your client. But a well timed ask can be beneficial for both you and your client, giving your voice a showcase, and them another link back to them and their products.

3. Contact Information

You’d think this would be a given, but there are sites out there where it’s nearly impossible to find out how to contact a particular talent. Don’t hide your contact info at the bottom of the page in faint text, get that info out there loud and proud! If you’re not comfortable with your home or cell number being visible online, there are many services like Google Voice that allow you to create an easy free forwarding number. And it’s no challenge these days to create a forwarding email if you want to give yourself a step removed from any spam you might get. Contact info for your agents can be useful here too if you typically book work through them. Avoid contact forms unless you have a particular need for them, since they seem really impersonal, and you are making your potential client jump through another hoop to reach you.

4. Studio Specs

So what have you got in your little padded room?

Make sure to give your prospective clients a good run down of all your equipment and available connections. Letting your client know that you have professional level equipment shows them that not only have you put the time and money into becoming professional, they’re also going to have to worry less about fixing you in post. Do you have Source Connect? IPDTL? ISDN bridge? If you don’t have one of those personally, do you have access to an outside studio where you could take advantage of it if needed? Your clients then know what their options are, and that makes things faster and easier for everyone.

5. Client List and Testimonials

To round off the context you’re giving your website reader and prospective clients, testimonials and a client list are a great method. As much as it might seem tempting, don’t embellish here. In the modern age, it’s very easy to figure out if you really are the voice for this or that product, particularly for a larger brand or campaign. Not only will you look fake if you do this, you’ll also damage your reputation, and make people less likely to hire you. People don’t forget this kind of thing, in the voiceover community. And if there’s one thing clients want to avoid these days it’s liability. If you’re lying on your website, what other false information might you share and to whom? The best way to get a good client list and testimonials is to do the best job you can with every job you do. Be kind, prompt, gracious, and you will stand out all on your own. Many of your client contacts will be happy to give you testimonials, especially if you have a good relationship you’ve already built by your actions.

How to Ask for a Testimonial

If you feel intimidated by asking for a testimonial, here is an effective way that I’ve used in the past:

Give before you ask for something in return. Write one for your client first!

Dear Client,

I wanted to take it upon myself to write you a testimonial that you can use where ever you like:

<<INSERT SHORT 3-5 LINE TESTIMONIAL OF YOUR CLIENT HERE>>

Then ask:

If you don’t mind, I’d love to feature you on my website/on my LinkedIn Profile/on Google reviews and get your feedback on my work in a testimonial. Would you mind writing a short 2-3 sentence review for me?

Feeling a little stuck on what to write? Here are some questions you can answer!

What made you pick me over someone else?

How did I positively add to the project?

What’s one thing did I do that made the end client super-happy?

Or what does it feel like working with me?

There are many things to consider when you’re putting together your voiceover website, but it, like many things in life, can be a case of keeping it simple. Worry first and foremost about keeping these essentials front and center and you will be ahead of the game. Combine that with a solid work ethic and quality work, and you’ll be at the head of the class in no time.

Will AI Overtake the Voiceover Industry?

AI, Business, Voiceover Industry

Do you talk to Siri? Bixby? Alexa? Google? Your car GPS? The rise of AI voices in modern life is everywhere, and growing every day. We’ve come a long way from the early times of Speak-n’-Spell toys some of us remember from childhood.

VO vs. AI

It’s not surprising that this has caused some concern in the voiceover industry. You’ll see group and forum threads all over the place sharing articles and worries about whether or not voice seekers will automate, sending us all out of business.

Some people are up in arms about AI voices, especially after the news broke of actor Bev Standing finding her voice stolen by the app giant TikTok, where users could make her voice say anything they pleased. Bev was rightly very concerned about her personal brand, and also wanted to be fairly compensated for use of her voice. She’d recorded speech audio for another company in China, and it was then transplanted for use of the app.

You’d think HAL-9000 was shutting the doors on all of us, given how some people are acting.

Will AI Voices take your job away?

But let’s take it down to brass tacks. Do you need to worry about AI voices taking your job away? The short answer is no.

The first thing to know is that in many cases, AI voices will create jobs, because in order to create the speech, technology has to begin from recorded phrases from a real person.
The second thing to know is that AI voices are not capable of the kind of nuances most of us are. There are demonstrations that have shown sound-alike voices for various people. But the time intensive modeling needed for that is not going to be used for your average voiceover project. So for audiobooks, commercial work, and most genres, breathe easy and keep on keepin’ on. You’re not in any danger for quite some time to come.

AI will continued to be used throughout industries

The long answer? If you’re in arenas where emotion and nuance are not the first worry of what you’re voicing, you may want to keep your eyes open. AI voices will find a home here sooner than anywhere else. Once producing them becomes cheaper than it is now, as the ‘libraries’ of recorded voices increase enough, some of this type of work will probably go non-human. IVR and e-learning are two easy examples of places where the conveying of information is the most important quality. It won’t happen tomorrow, but it is probably a good idea to broaden your base of clients.

Change happens in voiceover as much as any other industry, and although these genres are the likeliest to be first affected, it doesn’t hurt to have back up plans no matter where you are. Many talents are old enough to remember the digital revolution, and the vast changes that were forced on the voiceover industry. In almost all genres of voiceover, most people work only from home, and no longer go to the studio for all their work.

Protect YOUR voice and usage

Overall, the biggest thing you want to watch out for is what you’re signing when you’re looking into larger voiceover jobs. When, how, and for how long does the company you’re working for get to use your voice? Are they going to be able to sell it to another company, one that creates AI? No matter where your feelings are about the subject, make sure that you know what and where your voice can be used. Unfortunately, these technology developments are likely to bring out people and companies operating in a unethical manner to gain voice prints.

Enter Clubhouse. This audio chat app has exploded onto the pandemic scene, giving socialization starved people a place to chat with others. It’s made a lot of waves, since you can’t record your rooms through the app, but the app can record you. The TOS claims that this only occurs when there is a problem reported in one of the rooms, and that the audio is deleted either after the room closes, or when an investigation concludes. But given the gleeful data-scooping activities of every tech giant in existence, whether or not you can trust Clubhouse remains to be seen.

Also, it’s good to note that even if you don’t use the app, they may have your information. Since the app is invitation only based, and it requires users to upload their entire contacts list in order to send out invitations, anyone you know could have already given the app your data. And, although the app has sent out news that they’re working to protect the privacy of their users, people are very inventive in their ways to circumvent these kinds of restrictions. In addition, more of Clubhouse’s TOS says that they are allowed to track and share your information without telling you and in whatever way they please.

Technology is all around you and continues to evolve

But the reality is, Clubhouse is not the first to do this. We’re all giant data mines to the tech giants, including your smart devices at home. If you have an Alexa or a Google dot, they record you too. Be careful what devices you purchase and what you connect to. Be aware that you’re giving your voice and your data away for free, which is something that may contribute easily to the rise of AI voices. Whether or not you want to download that app or buy an Alexa is up to you, however, it’s important to know the real impacts of the technology that you’re buying. We are all passive products to the tech giant industry.

Although AI voices are in no way an immediate threat, and will certainly generate new voiceover jobs as companies build their voice libraries, it’s important to keep in mind that we can help control this flow of voices by choosing with our dollars as well as what jobs we take. Another important aspect for those touting only the inflow of jobs into our industry is that once these libraries are built, the jobs will slow down drastically.

Yes, companies may want to add new voices, or update the existing ones, but once they have enough data to build from, they aren’t going to need your input again. This is something that cannot, by definition, be a ‘repeat client.’ In addition, these libraries are not likely to be subject to use rules the same way audio from a commercial might be. Companies looking for voice libraries are not going to want to come back and pay for use so they’re going to be looking for perpetual rights.

Real people can not be imitated…yet

Nuance, emotion, and realism are our best defenses against the AI revolution. The human ear wants to connect emotionally to those they listen to, and that’s not going away. This is our biggest protection against brands building artificial voices for their work, since it is not something they are able to duplicate, and will not be for a long time to come.

Nurture authentic relationships with your clients, and emphasize the human connection. You are the sum of your experiences, and this is reflected in the unique take your voice is simply by existing. You can help tell a brand story and connect customers to a feeling far better than any computer generated voice can.

Just make sure that you’re keeping your eyes open, your business dynamic, and carefully read anything you sign yourself up for, and the AI revolution won’t rock your business boat for years to come.

Lauren McCullough

Female Voiceover Talent

717-281-1991‬

LaurenMcCulloughVO@gmail.com