GENUINE STORYTELLING
Five Reasons to Get Out There Today
It's been a while since I've postedl. I know, not great for business consistency, but amazing for my soul. My family kicked off the summer with a wedding in Norway. We spent most of our time in the Arctic Circle, on the island of Tromso, then onto Sommaroy for...
A Little More Human: Voiceover and AI
“The report of my death has been greatly exaggerated.” – Mark Twain The same can be said about the demise of real human actors in voiceover. Despite lots of handwringing about voiceover artists losing careers to AI, there’s reason for us to be optimistic about the...
The Power of the Pause
Alan Alda says, “It is the space between the lines that make it a great performance.” Never underestimate the power of the pause. This is true in acting as well as in speaking and music. A message, for instance a radio commercial or an eLearning module isn’t just...
Give Your Book a Voice
Congratulations. You added 'author' to your list of bonafides. Despite marketing and promoting your paperback or e-book, it's being ignored. What to do? Just add audio. Audiobooks are one of the strongest ways to hook readers. In the last decade, audiobook have...
Can You Sound Taller?
We can often tell a lot about someone by the sound of their voice. We detect warmth, intelligence — or lack thereof — status, often regionality. But can we ever really judge or know someone by how they sound? For over 15 years I’ve been a professional voice actor....
Use Your Voice to Serve
One of a multi-part series on how our voice can serve, move and influence. The sound of our voice and how we use it are important and make us feel good. A 2012 article in Evolution and Human Behavior reported just hearing the voice of our loved ones versus a text...
Replace Your New Year’s Resolutions
Happy New Year! Sick of New Year’s resolutions that fizzle up by January 31? Go for a fresh start instead. Have you heard of the ‘fresh start effect’? Research states occasions like New Year’s, birthdays, holidays or even the beginning of a week or month are...
Want Better Conversations? Get a Dog.
As a voice actor, I receive a lot of auditions that request a ‘conversational read’. The style requires voice talent to sound relatable, likeable and empathetic. It’s the voice of a good friend or trusted adviser. As if you’re in, you know, a conversation. It strikes...
Banish Fear and Comparison, and Lead
Pauline Cheung is a confidence coach works with people to transform the fears that can hold one back to the unwavering confidence to move forward in life and career. From an early age, Pauline herself unconsciously picked on messages it was not safe to be herself. It...
Let’s Embark on Something New Together
For years, as a Boston broadcaster, I shared stories from NBA coaches to politicians to authors, in weekly radio interviews. When I later became a full-time voice-actor, I also pursued my first passion, writing. As a presentation coach,I help professionals tell better...
In Defense of #Procrastibaking
When I was in college, I approached projects as any self-respecting student would: I waited until the last possible moment to start my research, then craft a lengthy essay on the lesser-known works of Chaucer, or argue the merits of Kant’s moral theories. It did not...
V-Yoga: Spring Edition
At the start of each new year, the number of attendees in my yoga class doubles from the usual 25 devotees. Swarms of earnest wannabees clutch sticky mats, and aspirations for inner peace. Welcome to January, that aspirational time, when we re-commit to the virtues of...
VO Atlanta’s Dirty Sock Talk
Conferences are like a ‘box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.’ The reviews are in for last weekend’s VO Atlanta. Outstanding! Moving! Better than ‘Cats!’ More than 600 voice over actors, producers, agents and managers assembled in one hotel....
The Care and Feeding of Your Voice
About ten years ago, I awoke with two things I never experienced before: a sinus, and ear infection. Neither my PCP, nor even an ENT could see me, so I drove to Emergency Department of my local office. There was no quick remedy or pixie dust cure -- In fact dust was...
Must Be Present to Win
Trigger warning: This post is packed with sports analogies and clichés. “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.” Wayne (The Great One) Gretzky This past weekend, an audition came through my email which demanded my attention. It was for a high-profile...
Eight Ways to Transform Your Business in January
Silence is always beautiful.* Said no business owner ever. The absence of a ringing phone, or pinging email means: A. You’re in a remote location – perhaps against your own will– severed from your electronic lifeline. Or, B. It’s January, the season that inevitably...
The Voice That Keeps On Giving
Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning. – Maya Angelou Looking for that perfect, one-of-a-kind gift for someone special? How about: your voice? Our ability to employ speech to express human...
Work Your VO Sweet Spot
You can’t be everything to everybody. A truism because it’s, you know, true. In life, we are many things to a variety of people: Spouse, partner, parent, sibling, employee, manager, cook, athlete, artist, voice actor. It’s exhilarating. And exhausting. Why do we...
The Thrill of Victory
“I found these in the front yard.” My son, grass stained, and sweaty from mowing the lawn, dangled a heavy set of keys, and dropped them into my hand. Among myriad car and house keys was half of a small plastic bar code card, its other half probably chewed away by the...
Voice Over by the Numbers
If you’re one in a million, there are at least 7,500 people just like you. So goes the joke/factoid. I thought about it as I recently perused a P2P site, which advertised access to ‘over 200,000 voice actors.’ Still feel like buying that Powerball ticket? If mere...
Starting Up – Again
In 2004, after working years in radio, I decided to become a full-time voice actor. A perfect solution to creating work-life balance, the career allowed me to record several hours a day, and be home when my two sons returned from school. My talented and generous...