I was thinking this morning (sometimes a scary thought!) when I was walking outside enjoying Asheville’s really crisp, super cold, sunny day. I was thinking about what to chat about this week on here. Here’s what I came up with. It involves YOU, the successful, working voice talent. I was wondering if you’d like to give tips to those who are just starting out in voiceover careers. Here’s some ideas to get the conversation started: How did you get started doing voiceovers? What made you decide to go for it full-time? Is it hard to do? What’s your favorite type of read to do? What’s your most memorable session? How long have you been voicing? Did you start in radio or come from a theatrical background?
You get the idea. Let me know what you think about this. I’d like to get some dialog happening here. This blog just started and your participation will make it more than just one guy on a soapbox.
If you’re reading this and thinking about getting into voiceovers you should review our voiceover resources pages on SunSpots site. We’re the only place on the net to find everything you need to get books, cds and even equipment to start your voiceover career.
So let’s share our success stories with others here. Drop a line and I’ll post it up. If you’re currently a SunSpots voice talent I’ll put a link to your demo on your response posting.
Have a great Sunday. It’s cold as ice here today, but beautiful as always.
Peace-
Tom
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Hi Thomas,
Congratulations on starting a blog! I’ll be sure to pop by to read your entries.
Up here in Canada, we had an enormous amount of snow and needed to shovel three times just to get through Saturday! I hope it is not nearly so bad where you are.
Take care,
Stephanie
Voices.com
Hi Stephanie,
No major snowfall here in NC and of course not even a teensie bit down in FL. YOU had to shovel all that snow? Isn’t what the neighbor’s kids are for?
Thanks for saying hi!
Tom
Hi Tom,
Just Googling my way around the web and found your blog. Here are my answers to your starter questions:
I did my first vo about 10 years ago for CBS/ThirdAge.com, and started taking narration and commercial gigs as they came up, to supplement my radio and theatre work. I started to get some great work, and loved the fun and flexibility. Now that my little ones are in school, I have my own vo business and I love it. I love doing e-learning and other non-fiction formats, but also can’t resist the occasional “hyper and oblivious” comic characters. My most memorable session was for a gig I found through Craigslist for an Ohio sherriff’s re-election campaign…the client wanted me to present the guy as the Second Coming…I really wanted to meet him to see whether he looked like Barney Fife!
Best wishes with the new blog,
Andi from Shenandoah Valley, VA
Hi Andi-
Thanks for stopping by the new SunSpots Blog. I think my favorite my things to voice are the over the top characters too. It’s a great way to be able to really act like a nut and..not get locked up for it!
Happy Voicin’
Tom
SunSpots Productions
I got started when having a wife and 2 kids sapped up all the time I used to spend in theatre. So after doing a ton of research, I found VO to be the creative outlet I was looking for.
Totally by accident. I direct and produce commercial VO. Running a casting session we had a partner bail on one of our top improv guys. I went in just to help him out. Turned my mic off, just slated him, made it plain I was just a reader.
The creatives liked our read the best. Even though I didn’t even have a mic on me, they booked us together.
Them – Wow you’ve got a great voice.
Me – Really, you think so?
Them – Yeah, you ought to be on the radio!
Me – WOW, ok!!
Fast forward from 1986 to 1997, and from being a radio DeeJay …. “Hey everybody, here’s another hit from (insert artist name here)” …. to being a production guy at radio stations …. to being an “audio engineer” at the countries top radio and tv commercial production company, SunSpots Productions …. to jumping in the voice over booth whenever I could …. that’s how I did it at least.