Join Voice Over Expert Pat Fraley in his podcast, "Accuracy VS Authenticity." There is a marked and important difference between an accent that is accurate and one that is authentic. Being accurate means that something is free from error, especially due to care, and conforming exactly to truth or to a standard. Accuracy, with dialect, will never get to you where you need to go... you must achieve authenticity! Authenticity has to do with being worthy of acceptance or belief as it is based upon fact. A truly authentic dialect has more to it than learning and delivering the words. We must never forget that our objective is to present a dialect for an effect during a performance. Learn how you can quickly go from generic to standard to authentic.

Download Podcast Episode 103 »

Links from today's show:

Pat Fraley
Pat Fraley Free Lessons

Your Instructor this week:

Voice Over Expert Pat Fraley

Patrick Fraley has created voices for over 4,000 characters, placing him among the top ten performers of all time to be cast in animation. He has produced dozens of award-winning audiobooks, such as, Adventures of Tom Sawyer, A Very Easy Death, and The Light in The Piazza. Pat produced and performed all 100 voices on the award winning audiobook, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which People Magazine hailed as, "The best yet of this evergreen." Patrick teaches events, workshops, and seminars on various aspects of voice over across the country, and has created a variety of instructional books and CDs, all available at PatFraley.com. He is a member of The Voice and Speech Trainers of America, and holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Professional Acting from Cornell University.

Did you enjoy Pat's episode? Leave a comment with your thoughts!

---

Join Voice Over Expert Dave DeAndrea in his debut podcast, "The Necessity of Social Networking." Dave gives you a number of tried, tested and true tips that will help you to expand your presence in a professional way online. If you think social networking isn't for you or is a waste of time, take a few minutes to listen to this podcast!

Download Podcast Episode 102 »

Links from today's show:

DaveDeAndrea.com
KillerVoiceDemos.com

Your Instructor this week:

Voice Over Expert Dave DeAndrea

Dave DeAndrea, winner of the 2009 Voicey Award for Best Male Voice, is a multi-faceted Voice Actor and Producer who's credits range from commercials, presentations and animation to jingles, imaging and trailers. He's also the driving force behind the soon-to-be-launched killervoicedemos.com, a great resource for voice actors to have professional demos made at an affordable price. Dave lives on the beautiful southern Oregon coast with his wife, Kristen, and their 4 children, the youngest of which was recently adopted from Ethiopia.

TRANSCRIPT:

THE NECESSITY OF SOCIAL NETWORKING

I've eavesdropped on a few conversations between Voice Actors regarding social networking and something I commonly hear is, "That's such a waste of time." I'd mention these people by name ...but I'll refrain. Know why? Because you've never heard of them. They're not on "the grid" of social networking.

Question: Is it possible to be a successful Voice Actor without utilizing social networking?

Answer: Absolutely. But let me offer 4 reasons why I believe that social networking is worth the investment of time.

1. RECOGNITION (FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! IT'S FREE EXPOSURE!)

There are lots of ways to get your name out there and most of them cost money. Why not take advantage of the many ways to connect with other actors and clients that don't cost you anything but a little bit of time between auditions and sessions?

2. RELATIONSHIPS

When I finally got the Jeep Wrangler I always wanted, I quickly learned that I had inadvertently become a member of a secret society. Other Jeep People would wave a friendly acknowledgment as we passed each other...an unspoken understanding that we shared a common interest (by the way...this NEVER happens when I drive our minivan).

As Voice Actors, we're not likely to spot others that share our common love of VO outside of workshops and conventions. Most of us don't walk around with a microphone, so it's great to have places online to go where we can meet people who "get it". And that leads to...

3. RESOURCES

Social networking sites can be wonderful places to learn and find solutions to problems. More often than not, there's a tech guy lurking in the "logged in" list who's more than happy to help you figure out where that annoying high-pitched noise is coming from...a VO Veteran who'd be willing to offer advice on your demo...a fellow actor of the opposite sex who'd love to try that 2-person conversational audition with you. And who knows? You could be a great resource for someone else.

4. REFERRALS

This one is HUGE! I've been on the giving and receiving end of this key career component.

A client may have already hired one of your VO buddies, but it's a multi-voice project...so the client asks them if they know anyone who might be good for one of the other roles. I know I'm over-simplifying this, but they can't recommend you if they don't know you.

And what about securing an agent? Maybe you know an actor that the agent already represents. You can have "referred by (insert name of Voice Actor whom the agent represents)" in the subject line of you email inquiry or you can put "seeking representation". The former will get you listened to...the latter will get you deleted.

Side note: Be sure to talk with the Voice Actor before you use them as a referral and talk with them about the agency, etc.

-------

---

Join Voice Over Expert Bettye Zoller in her podcast, "Improving Your Delivery of Printed Texts." Bettye expresses the importance of using your voice with sincerity, how to infuse it with freshness, and gives a number of practical suggestions that you can apply immediately when interpreting and delivering copy.

Download Podcast Episode 101 »

Links from today's show:

Bettye Zoller

Your Instructor this week:

Voice Over Expert Bettye Zoller

Bettye Zoller is one of American's most-heard voices (Bravo and Weather Channel Promos, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, PBS, Seven Eleven Stores U.S. and Canada, Lionel Trains and other toys to name a few). This is her 30th year as a voice actor. She's also an educator who has served on faculties of many universities and now accepts guest professorships. This year, she guest taught at Lansing Michigan and is the Feagin Guest Artist in Theatre at Tulsa University, Oklahoma. She presents workshops and lectures nationwide. A degreed voice speech improvement coach, she works with on-air personalities and actors at two national cable networks (non-disclosure agreements prevent naming them!) and has clients from all walks of life. "It's exciting and every day is different. I love the variety."

Bettye has started hundreds of students in careers.Home base is Dallas Texas where she owns a recording studio and is a skilled audio engineer known for demo creation and audio book production. She is a Simon and Schuster audio author, reader, producer. "Speaking Effective English" with Foreword by TV Film Star Edward Asner (2 CDs) is a recent release. "Commercial$peak" (1 CD featuring many voice talents and special interviews) was nominated for an Audie Award when published several years ago and is now a favorite worldwide. Her website is http://www.voicesvoices.com

---