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Debbie Munro, Deb Munro, DebsVoice.com, Education, Voice Acting, Voice Acting Classes, Voice Acting for Film, Studying, Learning

Transcript of Voice Acting Education Matters

[Opening Music]

Julie-Ann Dean: Welcome to Voiceover Experts brought to you by Voices.com, the number one voiceover marketplace. Voiceover Experts brings you tips, pearls of wisdom and techniques from top instructors, authors and performers in the field of voiceover. Join us each week to discover tricks of the trade that will help you to develop your craft and prosper as a career voiceover talent. It's never been easier to learn, perform, and succeed from the privacy of your own home and your own pace. This is truly an education you won't find anywhere else.

This week Voices.com is pleased to present Debbie Munro.

Debbie Munro: Education, now that something I had to learn about the hard in some ways. In the beginning when I started my career, I thought I was a natural and in fact in theater I was. Every single play I audition I got the role, so I just assume I'm a naturally gifted actress and I'm going to get everything I ever apply for and then I grew up and learn that there was other revenue.

My career started in broadcasting and theater, and in broadcasting it was a little different. I took some education to learn who to be a broadcaster but I didn't understand was as trained as a broadcaster you tend to read everything in a sing song fashion, sound something like this, "Today on the next episode of blah-blah-blah, we've got this and this and this" so we're almost thought to read cheesy if you will but they have the same rhythm.

Some on-air personalities are breaking that habit and they're sounding a lot more conversational which is fantastic for all us but there's still those odd few left that, they don't think they need an education. First of all they have a full time job, why would they need anything more. I go so far to say, "In the world of freelance voicing it's worth getting educated for". I was grateful for the education I receive and let me tell you about for a minute. I started of in broadcasting as I said, making a really long story short ended up landing a role in animation. I really thought it was natural gifted actress and I got the lead role in this first animation audition I'd ever done. I haven't even thought about animation at point of myself but definitely watch stood enough.

In the beginning I landed tons of different roles with that animation series, when you work what's so called, Prelay in Canada. When you work a prelay animation in Canada where you voice first and they animate after you, you end up doing a lot more roles because it's cheaper for them to have you to do more roles. My understanding is that in the state, you're mandatory in an animation to do two roles. I think that's a little different in Canada. I was getting role after role after role and it was fantastic for the first six months and this is one year contract. All the sudden six months later I'm getting nothing, no roles and they're starting to bring in people and I'm an actor. Unfortunately, we're very insecure people and if anyone tells you different, I don't know, think about that for a minute.

Someone one said actor is the most insecure people I know and I fought that to have announced said "Hey, I'm a really confident person. What do you mean I'm insecure? And they said, "It's the only job in the world where you need constant reassurance of how good or bad of a job you do" and that's the true. So, as an insecure actor, I question the casting agents and said, "What am I doing wrong like what I can do to fix this situation?" "Oh, you're doing nothing wrong, nothing at all", that's kind the why I started teaching. I learn through some education what I was doing wrong.

Now, what I had to start from me was to actually realize I needed some education. Again I thought it was a naturally gifted actress and I was going to get everything but the animation meant a great deal telling me in I wanted to do what I ever I could to do it right. The animation that I work for they offered a workshop and I took three of the workshops and they were very successful and I learn quite a lot but I still didn't know I was reading everything in a sing song manner. The very first animation I did was a role for Benjamin Blümchen which is a big series in German or in Germany which has gone now to a European audience. Now, Karla Karumba was my role and she was the roving news reporter, everything is simply sensational, "Hello, this is Karla Karumba reporting live with live breaking news". So, everything was okay to read in a sing song fashion but even when I voice kanga, the kangaroo, ("ay-ah-ay-ah") first kangaroo in the world who oinks like a pig but I voice kanga I two voiced in sing song fashions.

Again, still didn't know this information then I meet a colleague of mine and she convince me to take a film acting course. Now, when I took that film acting course it change my entire world and I didn't even know it because I started getting addicted to workshops or addicted to education if you will and I certainly couldn't afford the courses but let me tell you, if you want something bad enough. You'll find away to make it happen, that's the bottom line. I mean how much do you spend on coffee everyday? How much do you spend on cigarette? God help you.

There's always an option to be able to provide yourself of what you need, it's just a matter of how bad you really want it. Sure there's a lot of really expensive courses out there and we can't afford to take them all but the more I invest the more I am worth and so that in turn gives me higher paychecks. So, I take the film courses and I started taking more film courses and then I start taking some voiceover courses and in Canada there was a lot of option for voiceover courses this is about six years ago. So, I started looking into the US where I meet my mentors and have really grown immensely in my education process from James Alburger and Penny Abshire with voiceacting.com and Bob Bergen who's the voice of Porky Pig and Tweety and there's so many more, Pat Fraley and there's just a numerous amount. Rodney Saulsberry, Joyce Castellanos. There just so many great instructors out there that really help to guide me in the direction I needed to go.

In fact so much so that I absolute taking in courses, so much that I started teaching them. Now, that I'm teaching them I take a course anytime a course comes my way, if I can I mean time restricts me, not such much budget anymore but now time restricts. I don't have time to take all the course that I'd like to take but the more courses I take not only do I advance as a student or a as talent but I also advance as a teacher to be to teach you. It's very important that I stay up to date on what's current not only as a talent but as an instructor. If I'm going to guide you in that direction I better know my stuff and I'd better care what I'm doing.

So, through the film courses I really recommend film courses and no matter you're doing, I don't care if you're doing narration, animation, websites, message on hold, broadcasting. The film courses will teach you who to internalize because voiceover kind work like this, it's a combination of theater where more is more and you have to go big and bold and physicalize everything and then film were less or more. In film visually you don't want to more around to much which for a people like myself is very difficult but you do want to internalize everything, you want to mean very word you say.

The one great thing that I get for feedback in a lot of podcasts and teaching that I do is that I am genuine, that they really believe me that I care about what I do and I'm so grateful to get that feedback because that is my intention. It's not purposeful, I really do care and I really do feel I'm genuine teacher and I do feel genuine about the information I possess and I'm willing to share and try and help everyone along their way. I find ironic when I meet people that's say, "Hi, I've told all myself that I have a great voice, yes and I like to produce a demo. Can we do that?"

Now many, many year ago that would be actually sensible and you could get way with an amateur demo but now a day it doesn't work that way. You have one chance to make a first impression. Demos in audio are very fuzzy because you can't lie an audio, you can't pretend you are something you're not in the sense of pretending that you understand the read when you don't. Let's say, I record your demo for you and I line read you in other words, I give you the reading and you repeat it back to me and I piece all that together. I can make you sound fantastic, so can many of the instructors and sound engineers and producers that put demos together.

The problem is can you produce that actual read when the client brings you in and says, "I really love take two of this read, can you do that for me? And then it takes you 15 million takes to get it. You're not ready for your demo. Let me tell you when you're ready for your demo, when you don't have to ask the question, "I'm I ready to make a demo?' with the rates, if you have to question what your rates are then you will know - sorry let me put that in a different way, you will know what your worth when the more you invest. The more you invest and the more talent you've get because that's what the investments is, is becoming more talented that's when you know what your worth. You get to a point in your like where you just go, "Oh, no sorry I just don't have time to do something like that" and that okay, that's where I'm finally at and I start evaluating myself in a different way.

Okay, let's go back to the education, a film versus theater. Voiceover is that happy medium of the two because you do need to physicalize in voiceover, I constantly, constantly talk with my hands whether in class, whether on the microphone, I'm always talking with my hands and you may not realize it but you probably do it in everyday conversation, the challenge is you probably stand hold, be stiff on the microphone. The more you physicalize, the character and moments that you're trying to get across will follow. So, you're trying to be frustrated physicalize it with your face and everything else.

Education is going to teach how to combine film, theater and broadcasting because we're still in need for yesterday Johnny radio, so you want to have a little bit of knowledge of everything. It's hard to sacrifice your dollar value into something you don't every know about but If you don't try that at least once, how are you ever going to know if that's something you want to pursue. Very long time ago you could it without any education, you could make without the demo even really or an amateur demo at home but that's not the case anymore. I'm going to repeat myself probably a few times here, the more you education the more you are worth. Think about that for a second.

The more I put in to my business the more I should be charging because the more it costs me and the more time I put in someone should pay for that in the end, it's not just me. As actors we're in the position where we have to pay a lot owe, we have to invest so much into our craft more than a lot of other businesses but lets think about that for a second. If I always star a business today, let's say I have an invention I know that - let's just go with around about guest, okay? I know that about $50,000 will initiate my business that will give me a 10 play to go by and maybe start some marketing. So, $50,000 investment is worth it, isn't it? If you feel you have a great idea.

So, with voiceover specifically, if I'm spending $350 a year in a workshop, $800 a year in a workshop, 800,500, $2000 for the demo etcetera, etcetera. We'll, then I can start learning how to charge more so I can start paying that initiation back but I'm investing that kind of money that's my business, the difference is with the student loan, let's compare it to a lawyer or a doctor. You would have, well maybe you wouldn't want to but you would no problem going to a university especially high-end university, paying tens of thousands of dollars to educate yourself to become this lawyer or doctor. Would you want to have a doctor who had now education? Would you want to have a doctor or a brain surgeon cut your head open within knowing exactly what he's doing? No. Voiceover isn't brain surgery but it's still a profession. It's a professional industry and a professional industry means you need to be a professional. The only way to be an expert in anything is to educate. You've got to find how to do it. Quit fighting the system there's nothing to fight. It's great to educate in fact workshop specially are the funniest setting ever. It's a ton of people like your personality in one room acting like kids, I'm sorry but I think that's an excellent time and worth every amount of my dollar.

In fact every the course that I took at once it's so great. Let's say, there's a still a value to my educational system and a value to the style that I had developed, I've taken a little bit from there a little bit there and little bit there and a little from here and I've created my own style making me the only unique me. I teach but I don't tell you to educate because I want you to just take my classes, I would encourage you always to take a numerous amount of classes not just mine. You need a little bit from everyone, I tell you about education because it's important. You need to know what you're doing and know how to do it right and more willing to start that map out for you. You've done the trial and error, we've through at all and we want to help guide you in that right direction.

There is a lot of us out there who really care how you go and what way you go and how you get there and we want to help you every step of the way. Trust in us. We will set you in all the right directions. I know there a fabulous list of instructors on Harlan Hogan site as Stephanie is pointed out with Voices.com. James Alburger at voiceacting.com also has a great list of instructors and coaches but please feel free e-mail me or contact me to ask me about coached in your area. We're more than happy to promote each other, most of are. So, give us a ring, I mean I cover a lot of the Canadian area and I'm working my way in a few other areas speaking in the U.S and things, I of course happy to come to your city but someone need to bring you there.

So, do yourself a favor and take education, find a way to invest in you. The more invest the more you are worth. How much are you willing to invest in your? Are you going to be stubborn and pretend you don't need it? What makes you any better than anyone else? Find a way to find value in education. Keep doing it, don't ever stop taking classes. You don't have to take them every weekend. You don't' have to spend every dime you make but if you made a little profit this year invest it back in, it will all pay off. It will all pay off. You just have to keep at it and as you all know probably by now persistence. We don't get into this industry for money and if you think you're in this industry for money, well that's a hard road follow. It takes years, years of training and investment to get to a good stature of good financial return but in the beginning you'll get, you just have to keep persistent. Keep going at it and don't give up.

I hope you'll entrust in us to guide you in the right direction because we don't have to, we don't need to teach the competition as my teacher fear, I don't fear that because there's a right voice for every single job and voiceover is the most wonderful of all the industries in the art industries as far as I'm concerned. There's a lot of opportunity out there because of sites like Voices.com, we're in a position were there's a lot of work therefore the ego's and the bitterness isn't there as much as it can be when there's a lot less work to fight for.

Don't worry about competition guys. It's the right voice for the job. Worry about educating yourself, finding the right way to get yourself ready to that you can start the demo. Don't with the demo first please. If you talk to any really high-end instructor, they'll tell you all the same things. Okay, that's me for now. Thank you so much for taking time to listen to me. If you have any questions please e-mail me info@debsvoice.com or you can check out my website at anytime, www.debsvoice.com. Thanks Voices.com. Take care.

Julie-Ann Dean: Thank you for joining us. To learn more about the special guest featured in this Voices.com podcast visit the voiceover expects show notes at Podcasts.Voices.com/VoiceoverExpects. Remember to stay subscribed.

If you're a first time listener, you can subscribe for free to this podcast in the Apple iTunes Podcast Directory or by visiting Podcasts.Voices.com. To start your voiceover career online go to Voices.com and register for a voice talent membership today.

[Closing Music]

Links from today's show:

Debbie Munro
Debbie Munro's Voices.com Website

Your Instructor this week:

Voice Over Expert Debbie Munro

By employing over a dozen years wisdom in voicing and acting, Debbie Munro puts her talents to work to meet the challenging demands of today's fast paced voice market. Tired of not receiving constructive feed back on how to improve her craft, Debbie set out to make a difference for actors by creating, The MIC & ME Workshop Series. Keeping focused on the Global Freelance market, Debbie has combined her extensive Voice Over, Acting and Off Camera training into a series of practical, exciting workshops that will take you to that next step, no matter what your level.

Fueled by experience, talent, and unbridled enthusiasm for doing what she loves to do best - getting behind a microphone and speaking her heart out, Debbie is proud to share her insights, techniques and secrets with you. She works very hard to create courses that shed an honest look into the world of voice acting allowing you to work at your own pace, know if this is the industry for you and how to keep working. Her passion alone will engage you and give you the encouragement you need.

Enjoyed Debbie's episode? Leave a comment with your thoughts!