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• VO-BB Video: Twas The Night Before Christmas

  Are your stockings hung by the chimney with care? The professional voice actors of the VO-BB.com set the stage for St. Nicholas with a dramatic, on-camera reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas."... Are your stockings hung by the chimney with care? The professional voice actors of the VO-BB.com set the stage for St. Nicholas with a dramatic, on-camera reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas." A Visit From St. Nicholas "A Visit From St. Nicholas," also called "Twas The Night Before Christmas," is a treasured yuletide poem shared by families around the world on Christmas Eve. Although there have been a few changes to the wording of the poem over the years, for instance, "Just settled down for a long winter's nap," instead of "settling our brains..." the spirit of the tale remains the same. First published anonymously in the Troy, New York Sentinel on December 23, 1823, the story was reprinted frequently thereafter with no name attached. Authorship was later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore (although a debate rages on) and the poem was included in an 1844 anthology of his works. Credits Regardless of who wrote this poem, I think the folks from DB Cooper's VO-BB did a smashing job! Participating narrators, in order of appearance, include: Philip Banks Bob Souer Todd Ellis Bobbin Beam David Houston Peter O'Connell Bruce Miles DB Cooper Donna Postel Michael Minetree Mandy Nelson Dave Courvoisier Andrew Frame Jeffrey Kafer Justin Barrett Connie Terwilliger Pam Tierney Tony Impieri Do You Narrate This Story For Your Family on Christmas Eve? Comment and let me know! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight! Warm wishes, Stephanie

• Vicki Amorose Encourages You To "Lighten Up, VO Community!"

  Has the bleak midwinter got you down? Are you taking voice over too seriously? Enjoy some laughter and holiday cheer in this contribution from voice over talent Vicki Amorose!... Has the bleak midwinter got you down? Are you taking voice over too seriously? Enjoy some laughter and holiday cheer in this contribution from voice over talent Vicki Amorose! Winter Solstice, Time to Lighten Up! By Vicki Amorose During the holiday season, you'll hear how it's time to do this and time to do that. I suggest that it is time to pause and have a good laugh--at ourselves. In this dark month of December, let's lighten up. How many voiceover talents does it take to screw in a light-bulb? Just one. But that one talent has to audition to book the gig, negotiate the fee, understand the client's light-bulb needs, rehearse, take direction, screw it in, do re-takes, edit out imperfections, send an invoice, make sure they get paid, try to secure the client's future light-bulb screwing, blog, tweet, podcast and post about it, then make up a joke and send it to Vox Daily. Yes, we must work hard to keep our businesses moving forward. But honestly, what we do is not all that important. We don't cure illness, clean up the environment, or prevent planes from falling out of the sky. Of course I appreciate everyone in the VO community who seeks meaning in what we do and contributes service where they can. Offering help and seeking meaning are always worthwhile endeavors. But must we take ourselves so seriously? I think not. Last night I was at a party and someone told me what cool job I have and how they've thought about getting into voiceover themselves. Instead of going in my usual direction with that comment, I replied, "You mean you want to talk good like me?" Everyone laughed. Consider the following bit of wisdom. I don't know who introduced the concept originally; I heard it from a friend and I've been thinking about it ever since: When you laugh, you are outside of your ego. During the time when you are genuinely laughing, you are fully in the present moment, connected to the bigger picture and divorced from your own repetitive thought process. You are not connected to your ego during that moment of joy. Take what laughter brings. Create laughter everyday. Give your ego a rest. This is what I wish for all of my voiceover community during the holidays--may you truly BE MERRY! Vicki Amorose

• What Do You Want Audio Recording Engineers To Know?

  If you had the chance to shape the future of how audio recording engineers worked with voice over professionals, would you take advantage of it? What if you were to receive that opportunity today? Make a difference in your future... If you had the chance to shape the future of how audio recording engineers worked with voice over professionals, would you take advantage of it? What if you were to receive that opportunity today? Make a difference in your future and in the futures of countless voice over professionals and audio recording engineers by commenting now! A New Line of Communication Opening Up I have an opportunity to speak before a class at OIART (Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology) and was wondering if you had any tips or insights you'd like to share with them via my presentation. Part of my lecture will address working with voice over professionals in the context of a recording session. What Does an Ideal Studio Session Look Like to You? By sharing your thoughts as comments on this article, we'll be able to set the stage for how present and future audio engineers interact with voice over talent. You may not realize it but the recording engineer can be your greatest ally in the booth. In the absence of a voice director the audio engineer is responsible for leading you through a session and ensuring that the best performance possible is achieved. When things go well, working together can be a satisfying experience for both the engineer and talent. On the flip side, sessions can be excruciating if you and the engineer do not see eye to eye or are unaware of what your expectations are of each other. We covered this a bit last month when I published some audio recording engineer pet peeves. Opportunity Knocking! This is your opportunity to help shape the minds of the next generation of people you'll be working with in recording studio sessions. Do you have anything you'd like these people to know, be sensitive to (or think that they'd find useful) about working with voice talent BEFORE they start their careers? Looking forward to hearing from you, Best wishes, Stephanie ©iStockphoto.com/Wolfgang Amri

• Does Recording VO For Nonprofits Mean Less Profit For You?

  I received a question from a voice over talent recently asking what I thought they should charge when doing work for a non-profit company. Their assumption was that a discounted rate should be offered to companies who have not-for-profit status.... I received a question from a voice over talent recently asking what I thought they should charge when doing work for a non-profit company. Their assumption was that a discounted rate should be offered to companies who have not-for-profit status. Not knowing offhand, I decided to take a poll on Facebook and received a number of replies that insisted a regular fee be levied as opposed to a discounted rate! Hear more from professional voice actors who have experience working for non-profits in today's VOX Daily. Opinions On Working For Non-Profits Does working for a not-for-profit organization mean you have to charge lower rates to serve them? According to numerous sources online, including Wikipedia.org, the main difference between nonprofit organizations and for profit organizations is that nonprofits don't pay dividends to shareholders and spend all of their revenue on activities that their organization supports, operational costs and promotional materials. In light of the holiday season celebrated at present by many different faiths and religious groups, this topic of charging organizations set out to do charitable works regular fees may appear somewhat taboo... however what we need to remember is that work is done at all times of year and budgets are set aside well in advance of Christmas, Chanukah, Eid or Kwanzaa, be the budgets sizable or small. I posed the question from earlier in my article to some friends yesterday on Facebook for the purposes of getting an answer for the talent who asked and also to write an article on the subject with knowledge from working voice talent, both union and non-union, regarding their views on quoting for nonprofits. Your Feedback The conversation as it unfolded has been detailed below regarding non-profit companies and whether or not a discounted rate is necessary or encouraged: "I think that just because the client may be a non-profit, or not for profit, doesn't mean that you shouldn't charge scale. Working for a non-profit doesn't mean you should become non-profit yourself." -- Chris Wagner "I'm with Chris. You're in business to support yourself. Your time is money, whether for a profit or non-profit." -- Scott Fortney "Another 'race to the bottom' issue. If memory serves there is a website that tells you how effective non-profits are vis-a-vis how much of each dollar goes to their cause. If they are really frugal in their administration then I might cut them some slack. If their CEO is making half-a-million dollars a year (no matter if USD or CAD) then I would be less likely to relent." -- Glenn Carella "To attract top talent Non-Profits have to pay the going rate to attract qualified professionals, voice over should be no exception. Charity Manager's national survey of US Non-profit administrators puts the AVERAGE salary of a non-profit manager at $160,000. The guy who runs the Charlotte NC, YMCA makes over $400,000. (I know, I have served on the boards of a few non-profits and have approved the salary of many a manager)" -- John Taylor "I once worked for a PBS affiliate where the President made a 1/4 million or more, the CFO $160-grand or more, chief engineer and IT people all in the 6 figures. Non-profit?? Come on! If that's non-profit, I'm leaving the for-profit world. Charge them the same - in many cases, it should be more. Sorry, but that is my personal take." -- Scott Fortney "I agree with Chris as well. Indeed your time is money. Donation does not pay the bills... it's a business transaction and with that being said, dollars need to be in the equation." -- Scott Lee Cupp "A PSA for Broadcast Television the charge would be around $426 for one years use. That is a great deal." -- Randy Thomas "A not-for-profit entity is granted that status, not because they make no money, but because the nature of their work qualifies them for tax-exempt status. They have budgets and overhead just like anyone else and everyone is paid a living wage. You should charge your normal rate and do your best work." -- Deborah Sale-Butler What Are Your Thoughts? From where I sit having been part of church councils, ministries and involved in choirs that were nonprofits, discounted rates or donations of time, talent and treasure do help to offset costs and allow these organizations to use limited finances in other areas to continue doing good works. Perhaps it depends on the size of a nonprofit and how much of their revenue goes directly to the people or communities they are serving... I'd love to hear your thoughts. The majority, if not all, comments I received were from one particular point of view. Do you treat non-profit clients any differently than your for profit clients with regard to your fees? Join in the conversation! Best wishes, Stephanie ©iStockphoto.com/Deborah Albers

• Keys to the Kingdom in 3 Simple Steps

  How can you work toward getting an increased number of opportunities and booked voice over jobs? I've got a few ideas for you on what seems to be working for a number of talent experiencing success at Voices.com... that, and... How can you work toward getting an increased number of opportunities and booked voice over jobs? I've got a few ideas for you on what seems to be working for a number of talent experiencing success at Voices.com... that, and some bonus tips and hints that may change the way you attract business for the better. How Prepared Are You For Success? What does it take to get work at Voices.com? Whether you're attracting clients to your Profile or auditioning for jobs, you want to be putting your best foot forward and presenting prospective customers with your brand and how you can serve them. Every time you audition, there are opportunities to do this is a very unique way, however, most people forget that their Profile is more often than not the source of work opportunities from clients interested in your talent specifically. What 3 Things Should You Be Doing to Achieve Success? You'll want to make sure that you are: ๏ Keeping all fields in your profile current and complete ๏ Making use of all the tools available for promoting your voice at Voices.com ๏ Auditioning regularly The keys to the kingdom and your subsequent success all directly relate to how well you've optimized your profile, showcased your demos and how you approach auditions. We covered a lot of this in our teleseminar on Power Profiles. What Are People Who Book Regularly Doing in Their Auditions? Based upon what I've heard, these talent: 1. Were the right voice for the job 2. Quoted an amount that the client is prepared to pay 3. Customized auditions (both demos and proposals) 4. Made the client feel at ease and reassured them of their professionalism 5. Added value to the customer and had a Unique Selling Proposition 6. Were able to identify and relieve their customers' "pain" When you get right down to it, people who book as their own agent have mastered the arts of communication and marketing and are able to meet the artistic and technical needs of their clients. Attention to detail is another quality that can earn you someone's business. Want proof? Check out this glowing testimonial from a client (Avalanche Multimedia Productions) that Michelle Falzon worked with at Voices.com: http://www.voices.com/feedbacks/MichelleFalzon If you are an annual Premium or Platinum member at Voices.com and wish to access the Power Profiles audio recording and PDF materials, email support@voices.com or contact us through this online form and let us know. Have These Ideas Helped, Inspired and or Affirmed? I love to hear from VOX Daily readers! What do you think it takes to book regularly as a professional voice over talent online? Best wishes, Stephanie ©iStockphoto.com/Marianna Bettini