VO Behind The Scenes

This whisper room review comes from someone who has been recording in one almost every day since the Obama administration. I found mine on Craigslist. A full Whisper Room vocal isolation booth, near Nashville, listed for $1,000. I had been searching using a Google hack that pulls local Craigslist listings across a wide radius.… Read more: My Whisper Room Review: What Nobody Tells You After Years of Actually Using One

The radio to voice over transition is not what I expected. I was 19 years old, standing in the production room at a radio station in Sterling, Illinois, watching a guy named Jay stay late to build music beds from scratch. Jay was the production director. Nobody asked him to stay. He was just… Read more: What Nobody Tells You About the Radio to Voice Over Transition

People ask me all the time what a voice over artist’s daily routine actually looks like. The first voice over class I ever took started with a pitch about that exact question. The teacher walked in, shut the door, and immediately got interrupted by someone walking in late. She was not pleased. But before… Read more: The VO Life They Sold Me (And the Color-Coded Calendar I Built Instead)

My buddy Matt drove down with me. We loaded a vocal isolation booth into a U-Haul and drove the whole thing back to Illinois. That is how I built my voice over studio cheap. Still recording in it today. The booth cost me $1,000. I found it on Craigslist…saving $5K in the process. That… Read more: How I Built My Voice Over Studio for $1,000 (Craigslist, Nashville, and a U-Haul)

I was in the middle of a craft beer segment when my voice over career after a break began. A fun shoot. Low-stakes, laid-back, the kind of gig that makes you remember why you got into this. My phone rang. It was my mom. She said to come home. I finished the segment with… Read more: Voice Over Career After a Break: What I Wish Someone Had Told Me

Who a Voice Over Career Is Right For You have a voice that connects. Not just sounds good. Connects. People actually listen when you talk. You are disciplined enough to work alone. The home studio life is quiet. A lot quieter than most people expect. You need to generate your own structure and your… Read more: Is Voice Over a Good Career? Honest Answer.

Red Flags When Choosing a Voice Over Artist A demo that sounds overproduced. Heavy music beds can mask a read that would not hold up without them. Ask to hear a dry read if you have any doubt. Prices that are dramatically below the market rate. There is usually a reason. Either the work… Read more: How to Choose a Voice Over Artist for Your Brand

Most people answer the question of what makes a good voice over artist the same way. Warm voice. Good microphone. Years of experience. Maybe a home studio. Those things are table stakes. They do not answer the question. Here is the actual answer: a good voice over artist makes the listener forget they are… Read more: What Makes a Good Voice Over Artist? Not What You Think.

Most voice over for commercials sounds like voice over for commercials. That’s the problem. You’ve heard it. The voice that’s doing the thing voices do in commercials. The push on key words. The brightness. The confidence that’s just slightly too much. The listen-to-me-I’m-important cadence. Your brain recognizes it as an advertisement before the first… Read more: Voice Over for Commercials: What Actually Makes a Commercial Read Work

I didn’t know what a voice over artist actually was when I first became one. It was 1995. I was 19, working at a radio station in Sterling, Illinois. A production director named Jay was staying late one night, building music beds from scratch, pushing sound effects off carts. I watched him put together… Read more: What Is a Voice Over Artist?

How long does a voice over take? The honest answer is: faster than most people expect, and it depends on a few things worth knowing before you plan your project. I get this question from clients and agencies fairly often. Sometimes because they’re under deadline pressure. Sometimes because they’re building out a production schedule… Read more: How Long Does a Voice Over Take? Real Timelines From a Working VO Artist

This is the story of getting started in voice over — the session that first showed me what it could be, and why I ignored it for a decade. A salesman set it up. I had no idea what I was doing. It was a real studio. A producer in a booth giving direction… Read more: The $50 Session That Changed Everything (And Why I Ignored It for 10 Years)

What to Expect When You Start Hiring a Voice Over Artist Hiring a voice over artist for the first time can feel murkier than it should. You know you need a voice. You’re not totally sure how the process works, what you’re supposed to send, how long it takes, or what a reasonable rate… Read more: What to Expect When You Hire a Voice Over Artist for the First Time

Voice Over for Corporate Training Videos: What Works and What Doesn’t Corporate training videos have one job: get information from the screen into the person watching it. That sounds simple. The failure rate is not simple. Most training video narration fails quietly. Nobody says anything because the content is required viewing and people sit… Read more: Voice Over for Corporate Training Videos: What Works and What Doesn’t