Lauren McCullough

Female Voiceover Talent

717-281-1991‬

LaurenMcCulloughVO@gmail.com

voiceover

Balancing Work from Home Life

Health

Balancing home and work life in this pandemic can be a struggle. So many of us transitioned to working from home, quite literally overnight, and even as things have changed and things have started to re-open, the impact of this new normal means many of us continue working from home, either full-time or occasionally. We have shifted our thinking from telecommuting as a perk to a necessity for many people. At the very least, we may need to always have that option for times when we or our families aren’t feeling well or another flu or disease breaks out. Now that we know that we CAN, and sometimes should, work from home, it is likely to be a more common feature of our professional lives. 

So what does that mean for work-life balance? Yet another perk that’s become a fixture. We used to talk about work-life balance as a sort of idealism that companies or situations offered. You would choose a certain circumstance because it provided work-life balance. 

But now, work-life balance isn’t just a nicety. It’s a necessity. Because our physical work and home lives are quite interwoven. 

As a voice over talent, I’ve been balancing work and home life for over a decade now. I’ve had a home studio since the earliest days of my career. And as my personal life changed, from a single woman living on her own, to a newly married couple, to a mom, I’ve welcomed more people into my home and by extension my work space. I’ve learned a lot about working from home and balancing all those aspects and I have some tips that may help you as you start to settle into this new way of doing life. 

What Does Work-Life Balance Mean? 

Let’s take a moment and talk about what work-life balance means. As I define it, work-life balance is about your health as you juggle the responsibilities, challenges, joys, and weights of both your professional and personal lives. That health is not only your physical health, but also and especially your mental health as well. To do that, you need to be able to create space that allows you to make the most of both of those realms and to enjoy them for what they are. 

Prioritizing Work and Home Life As You Balance

Although we often use the word “balance” to describe this struggle, it may not actually describe it well. It isn’t as though we are using a scale with fifty percent on each side. In order to do our best in each arena, we need to be able to prioritize each. This means giving each realm the time and physical space  they deserve.

Making Work A Priority From Home

  1. The first step is seemingly the easiest, but we all are guilty of neglecting it. Set up a designated space to work. It may be a room all to itself. As a voice over actor, for me that means a studio. Maybe you don’t need a whole studio or maybe you don’t have a room to set aside just for work. That’s okay. A closet, a desk, a corner. Anything that can be distinct from other spaces. Make it a habit to use that work space, and not your bed, your couch, the table where you eat, etc. You need to be able to walk away from your work, and preferably to shut a door behind you too. 
  2. Keep a schedule- and stick to it. This one is hard too. With laptops and mobile devices, work can easily meld into all times of the day, and night. But keeping time distinct is an important factor in maintaining balance, so you won’t feel like you are constantly working. Set office hours and publish them. Make sure your colleagues, and your loved ones, know when you are available and when you aren’t. 
  3. And here’s maybe the hardest one of them all. Get dressed for work. We’ve all heard the stories of the new pandemic work clothes, and the horror stories of Zoom meetings gone awry. As professionals, even when working from home, we owe it to ourselves to dress the part. I’m not saying we need to dress to the nines every day. However, putting together an “office wardrobe” can really help. Then you can put on when you go into work, and then change out of when you’re ready to play on the floor with the kids or go work in the garden. It’s a visual cue to everyone about what’s happening next.

Making Home A Priority 

An equally important distinction is setting time and space aside for home life. It’s easy to just keep checking emails, writing one more report, or processing one more invoice. But pretty soon, those little moments here and there creep into every hour of your day. 

  • If you have a family or friends that you live with, make time for them. Time that doesn’t involve a screen or your distractions. Of course, they deserve it. That goes without saying. But the truth is that you deserve it too. And you need it. You will work better and be better. 
  • Have conversations regularly about what everyone in the home needs, as far as time and space. Be respectful of everyone’s concerns and requirements. And continue to return to those conversations to discuss what is working – and what isn’t.

Physical Health and Mental Health

In light of a global pandemic, our attention is turned to our health and the health of those around us. Balancing our work and home lives can have a direct impact on those factors. When we are taking time away from work, we have time to focus on our health. We can take a deep breath, get some exercise, shop for and eat healthy meals, and laugh more. These are as critical as getting another hour of work in. And especially when there are viruses going around, it’s important that we keep our health up as much as we can, for the sake of everyone around us. 

Enjoy The Benefits Of Working From Home

As with anything, there are pros and cons to working from home, but for me, I see a lot of benefits in being in your own space and having some flexibility. As best you can, try to enjoy the advantages of home life. Take a walk around the neighborhood on your breaks, or even take a walk meeting if it’s practical. Step out of the office space and work outside when weather permits. 

Overall, just give yourself, and those working and schooling at home with you, some grace. It can be an adjustment for everyone and learning what works for you may take some time. Try something new, adjust and find the perfect schedule and set up that allow you to prioritize your work and home life with balance, efficiency, good health, and joy. 

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. 

Breaking Boundaries: Female Voiceover Talent

Casting, History of Voiceover, Voiceover Industry

In a world of voiceover, you’d think all pipes would be created equal if they sounded right for the job, right? Not always. Our industry has often been very male heavy. For instance, most of the ‘voice of God’ type work goes to men. There are many reasons why this is the case, and the biggest one is the typical patriarchal thinking of our society. Studies have been done that show how listeners typically trust a male voice more than a female one. Resonant, lower pitched voices pique this niche well, coming across as authoritative and trustworthy. But an interesting nuance of technology has helped shape these already-existing perceptions throughout the last hundred years of technology’s march. 

Back in the Day

In the early days of radio, only AM stations were on the air. Broadcasters proliferated, and then the FCC came about to regulate frequencies. To make a long story short, the frequencies chosen for these early radio stations were in a particular band that did not transmit the higher parts of women’s voices well. This particularly affected the consonants, making women’s voices sound distorted and unpleasant. In addition, since there was a wide perception of women’s voices being softer at the time, the engineers would turn up the volume when a woman stepped to the mic, causing the distortion to be even worse. Unfortunately, rather than viewing this issue as a fault in the way the equipment was made, broadcasters and engineers of the time simply believed that women’s voices had biological and psychological faults that made them unsuitable for broadcast work. Women at the time were generally given the advice that they should speak unemotionally and at a lower pitch, which made their voices sound stiff and artificial. Even the march of technology has not significantly altered the embedded preferences, since FM radio with wider frequencies available did not become equally popular until the 1970’s. And as various kinds of speakers and compression algorithms affect higher pitches more strongly, continuing to make women’s voices sound thin and tinny. 

This century’s worth of disdain and distortion for the female voice has had lasting effects, and doubtless has heavily affected the proportion of voiceover jobs alloted to women, and probably even the studies that give male voices as more ‘trustworthy’. And if you consider the women that do high profile work, they mostly uniformly have lower, melodious sounding voices-to sound ‘better’ in this atmosphere of distortion and misunderstanding. Voice talents with higher pitched voices often specialize in children’s parts. 

“In a World…”

In the movie trailer world, producers admit that they just don’t often consider women for the parts cast. John Long of Buddha Jones Trailers says “…his company had worked on dozens of campaigns a year, “and as much as everyone talks about wanting to be innovative and do unexpected things, the idea of a female voice doesn’t come up that often,” he said. “It’s really not part of the formula. Maybe that’s our own shortsightedness.” Actress and Director Lake Bell explored this dichotomy in her 2013 comedy film, “In a World…” in which Lake’s character competes for a trailer part with male voice talent and lands the job. Lake’s character Carol delivers a very fine performance, and she is able to use the role as an asset in her coaching career to encourage new students that they can find a way out of the typical gender boxes for voice roles. Lake was fascinated by the preponderance of male voices in trailer work, with the exception of using Melissa Disney for Gone in 60 Seconds in 2000. She was then inspired to write the movie where a woman had a chance to overcome this prejudice and gain a trailer part. 

Although voiced movie trailers are less common than they once were-studios seem to prefer trailers that show the film as itself rather than someone vocally introducing it-there are still plenty of parts that have to do with a ‘voice of God’ type sound. 

Actress/Producer/Casting director Joan Baker weighs in on the nature of our internal biases and how we can all make choices to discard them and move forward in the nature of sound.“All of us in the industry have the opportunity to discard our biases against female voices, challenge the old voice of God assumptions, and look upon all voice actors with open minds. It’s not a matter of forcing an even split between men and women; that would be as arbitrary as forcing painters to use equal amounts of all colors in their paintings. All I’m asking is that we do what we can to eliminate the thorn of bias and let the chips fall where they may.

Progress is slow, but change is happening

As I said earlier, things are slowly changing. Advertisers are getting smarter about what people want, how they want it, and who they want to hear it from. It’s a slow evolution, but it can be seen emerging as women land roles of mastery, leadership, power, and responsibility. Of course, the voice of God is not gender-specific. In my opinion, the concept is light years beyond the anatomy that produces the tambour of male and female voices. If we want to use “voice of God” as a term, it has to be metaphoric: a voice that moves mountains with the authority of heart, mind, and spirit. It’s the stuff of life, energy, and inspiration. Babies have it when they cry out, long before they can form words. When a baby cries out, you are absolutely compelled to give it your undivided attention. It wakes something up inside you that can’t be appeased, except through your attendance to its call. This is the genderless power of the human voice. It’s bigger than voice acting, but as far as voice acting goes, producers and actors need to catch up to this reality and act accordingly.

TV audiences are ready for a shift

Joan is right, and the industry is changing outside of movie trailers quicker than within. TV is it’s own frontier, and it’s doors are a little wider open. “In television many cable channels regularly aim programming at women, and there has been more latitude in the use of female voices. “We’re all trying to make shows that cut through the clutter and stick out,” said Tim Nolan, senior vice president for marketing at Lifetime Networks. “But for me it’s less about being authoritative and more about being relatable. It’s a big turnoff for TV consumers if they think they’re being sold. Whether the show’s about fashion or drama or reality, it’s about which voice is telling those stories better.”

In testing “One Born Every Minute,” a Lifetime series set in an Ohio maternity ward, the channel found that audiences responded most favorably to a voice-over by Jamie Lee Curtis, even before they recognized her, Mr. Nolan recalled, adding: “One woman said that the voice understood who she was.”

Technology, cultural bias, and the heavy hand of perception has left women’s voices out of certain genre for a very long time. Many of these things have an opportunity to shift now with the trend to look at representation, and relatability as being the cornerstones of good voicing. Let’s hope we can all work together so that balanced representation doesn’t take another hundred years! 

 

Why Consumers Prefer Female AI Voices

AI, Voiceover Industry

For anyone growing up in the last 60 years or so, computer voices are a part of the early media you consume. The computer voice on Star Trek was female. The robot Nanny in the Jetsons was female. Many folks either had or selected female voices for their GPS. Now, for anyone with an iPhone, Siri, another female voice is a button touch or spoken word away. Alexa is another female standard option, and Cortana is named for a (barely dressed) character from the video game Halo. But why are there so many female computer voices, and why in particular do so many assistant type programs have one?

Market Research

The first answer is market research. The companies that have created these voices record many lines with the voice talent in question, and then invite consumers in to listen and decide how well these voices bring out things like sincerity and relatability. Their goal is to make sure that listeners feel comfortable with the voices that are helping them organize their lives. But this is only part of the picture. Where do these preferences expressed by the consumer come from in the first place? And even when the data shows this preference, it’s not so overwhelming as to be a decisive aspect. In a study in this article, women preferred female synthetic voices by a margin of 11%, men clocked in a 14% preference. Given these modest margins, more research is probably needed to discover how universal the preference is, and if there’s any change as AI voices have gotten smoother and more nuanced. 

The impact of television and movies on modern culture cannot be overstated, and many people who are using this technology now grew up with the evil computer voice of HAL 9000. Even the tech companies joke about avoiding the smooth creepyness of this character. “Bajarin, the Silicon Valley analyst, believes that more computerized voices would be masculine if not for the associations with HAL, whose malicious intent in the 1968 Stanley Kubrick film was made even creepier by his soothing tone. “A lot of tech companies stayed away from the male voice because of HAL,” he said. “I’ve heard that theory tossed around multiple times.” Another element in the preference for the ‘helper voice’ being female can also be traced back to the fact that most telephone operators over the decades have been women. 

Female vs. Male Voices

Google has an interesting bit of history behind it’s earlier generation of female voices. At the time the company began its signature voice, they originally intended to create both a male and female option. However, an engineer at Google says, “…He explains that part of Google’s older text-to-speech system, which stitched pieces of audio together from recordings, used a speech recognition algorithm that would place markers in different places in sentences to teach the system where sounds and words began and ended.” This system was trained almost exclusively on female voices, and the engineers had a more difficult time setting the markers for male voices. This led to the function of the earlier Google assistant working better with female voices. The same engineer also voiced the opinion that female voices are easier to hear because of the higher pitch. Other studies have refuted this idea, but it’s given in some places as an explanation as to why the voice assistants are so often female. With recent developments in technology, Google has since upgraded it’s system and added 11 different options for the type of voice you can hear. 

But what can you draw from all these factors? Is having mostly female assistants kind of sexist? Not according to this professor. “Not necessarily, said Rebecca Zorach, director of the Social Media Project at the University of Chicago’s Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality.

“I think they have to be understood in a broader context in which they’re one small piece,” she wrote in an e-mail to CNN. “Voices intended to convey authority (such as voice-over narration in films) tend to be male. So yes, probably these compliant female robot voices reinforce gender stereotypes, not just because they serve the user but because the technology itself is about communication and relationships (areas that women are presumed to be good at).I wouldn’t automatically claim any sexism in individual companies’ choices, though. Most such decisions are probably the result of market research, so they may be reflecting gender stereotypes that already exist in the general public.” Zorach listened to some sound clips of Siri online, then e-mailed back again. “What’s interesting to me is how they seem to intentionally make her speech sound artificial – they could choose to make her speech more seamless and human-like, but they choose instead to highlight the technology,” she said. “That makes you aware of how high-tech your gadget is.”

Societal Influences

Obviously there are many factors involved in how these voices are put together. But it’s important to consider the sociological and historical factors when evaluating where the preferences come from. Objectively speaking, choose whatever voice you enjoy the sound of, of course. However, there is more than just market research involved here. When it comes to voices of authority, the chosen voice is often male. This works for announcer voices, movie trailers, and other similar applications. For many decades, most radio announcers were male also. Early audio recording equipment was created in such a way that female voices were often distorted or shrill, which led to the preference for male announcers. Women were coached to drop the pitch of their voice, and to speak without emotion, which is why many female leaders or voice personalities have low, smooth voices. At the time, it was considered to be a psychological and biological issue contained in women themselves, rather than being a factor particularly related to recording equipment. In addition, due to the stereotype that women spoke softly, male engineers would often raise the levels when a woman came to the microphone, further worsening the distortion and unpleasant sound. Doubtless this contributes to the roles given to female voices, in that they fit the general stereotype of ‘womanly’ roles. 

In addition to these other factors, it’s also important to note that it’s not universal. Many countries do have default female AI voices, but the UK, Germany, and a number of other countries have a default male voice. In particular, male German drivers complained to BMW in the 1990’s about receiving directions from a woman, and demanded a male option. 

So when you put all these factors together, it’s fair to say that the preference for female voices is extremely common, but not universal, and some of it has been led by the manner of technology creation and understanding. Other parts have been influenced by the decades of radio and television voice gender choices. We would probably have different preferences if women had been given a fair shake in those early days. But there’s culture too, since voice preferences aren’t the same from country to country. So is it sexist? Probably, but the most important thing for the AI assistant that you prefer is that you prefer their voice, and there will only be more options and nuances to create the robot helper of your dreams as time marches on. 

8 ways to Stay Positive during a Dry Spell

Business

We’ve all hit a dry spell here or there sometime along the way. Sometimes it just comes out of nowhere, totally unexpected. You’re humming along and then all of a sudden things slow way down. 

Sometimes, you face a quiet season with others in your industry, when certain sectors take a hit. 

And sometimes, the whole world faces something like a pandemic and everyone across the board feels the stress of it all. Even as we start to come out of this one, the reality is that dry spells happen. No matter what you do for work, you’re likely to hit a drought again. Whether it lasts for a few moments of mental exhaustion or for a longer period of drain and stress, here are a few tips to get you out of a rut and get you back in the groove again.  

1. Reach Out to New Clients

Sometimes exactly what you need is one of the hardest things to do. When you aren’t cranking out work, you have more time to get some marketing done. If you’re feeling like you’re in a funk, reaching out to new potential clients can re-energize you and get you motivated again. 

Filling the top of your sales funnel is a really efficient use of your time when things are slow. Marketing our own work is so often overlooked when we are busy. Take the time now to return to your old lists and make those connections. 

2. Update your demos

When was the last time you updated your demos or portfolio? Sometimes life, and business, just gets so busy, and it’s not long before our marketing materials become outdated. Do your materials reflect your current work? 

In every business and art, we evolve and grow every time. With every new project, we learn more and our craft develops. If you’re a voiceover talent like I am, your range may have changed as you work with new clients and on different projects. And your own voice may have changed over time as well. Do your current demos still sound like you?

Even if your demos are an accurate reflection of your voice, are they a full interpretation of your work? Now’s a great time to make sure you include all the industries and types of projects you are involved with. YouTube is a great place to keep your demos updated and relevant. 

3. Batch plan your marketing

You know all those blog posts you’ve been meaning to write and all the YouTube videos you’ve been meaning to create? Use this dry spell to batch plan, and create, your marketing content. 

Dry spells can certainly be disorienting in their lack of deadlines and open schedules, but that cleared calendar may be just what you need to finally crank out all that content you’ve been wanting to get to. 

Start by getting organized and making a plan. You can write out an editorial calendar or social media plan. 

4. Network with your community

Many of us have grown accustomed to working solo, remote from any teams. For those of us in the freelance world, that’s nothing new. We’ve been working from our home studios and other home set ups, even before the whole world went virtual. Even though it has worked well for me for a large portion of my career as a voice over actor, we all miss interacting with people. 

I look forward to getting back to my favorite voice over conferences, even while they are virtual. Here’s a list of events happening in 2021 if you’re looking for great places to connect with fellow voice talent. 

You don’t have to wait for an event or conference to roll around to connect with your community. Go through your inbox and email address book and start sending some messages. Who have you not talked to in years? Who have you grown apart from professionally? 

Another way to get out of a funk in business is to get outside. Start visiting some local shops and restaurants and start talking with people. Actual people. Say good morning, ask how business is going, start a conversation. Maybe you’ll land some leads, or maybe not. But maybe just the act of interacting with people will help bring a fresh perspective.

Not sure where to start? Head on over to LinkedIn and start saying hello. Are we connected there yet?

5. Take classes/coaching

Sometimes our dry spells come along with feeling stale or stuck in our business pursuits. Maybe you’re feeling worn down or burnt out by the pace of your industry lately. Or maybe your business has taken a hit and you need to pivot a bit 

During those dry spells, sometimes the best thing we can do is arm ourselves with more information. Learn a new digital skill or take your expertise to the next level. 

If you’re looking for more foundational changes, try out a business or life coach. Sometimes that outside perspective can help us see our business and our routines with better awareness and focus. 

However you choose to empower yourself, education in any form can help you unlock new doors, mentally and practically, to get back on track. 

6. Revisit your yearly goals

When’s the last time you looked at your goal list? Did you write one in January? Or maybe you created a vision board or a five year plan. 

Slower times in business is just the right time to revisit those goals. How well is it going? Are you on track or have the realities of business derailed you a bit?
You can use this time to make some plans. Break down your goals into smaller chunks. WHat can you do this quarter? This month? This week? Today?

Taking the time to plan out a path to your big goals takes time that you may not have when business is hopping. Use this time to strategize.

7. Read up on trends in the industry

When we’re head down in business, it’s easy to lose track of what’s cutting edge or up and coming in our industries. Using your down time to get caught up on what’s going can set you up to come out on the other side better prepared to meet market needs and stay ahead of the competition.

It can also help you feel empowered and in charge of charting your course, rather than just sitting back and waiting. You may even find something new you love. 

8. Schedule a vacation and enjoy it!

Yes, I’m going to say it. Take some time off. I know, it’s so countercultural. And really? Business advice that essentially means stepping away? That’s just crazy. But in reality, we so rarely take the time to do this. We never step away. We never unplug. 

And we need to. Use this downtime as a sign that it’s time to just relax and enjoy life. Spend real time with the people you love and get back to the things that really matter. You can return refreshed and ready to tackle business out of a place of rest. 

We always refer to being busy as a good problem in business, but sometimes those slow downs are just inevitable. And that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.