What advice can you give me when I’m preparing to create a voiceover demo?

Don't do it until you're absolutely ready! This is going to be your calling card. It's one of the biggest mistakes that beginning voice actors make - they either make a reel that's unprofessional that one of their friends helped them put together, or they spend an enormous amount of money and get a banging reel that sounds and looks professional, but the problem is that those are tiny snippets of characters that you might have to sustain for four to eight hours at a time at a recording session, or over the course of 26 episodes of a cartoon show. If you are not prepared to do that, if you don't have the proper training underneath you to sustain those characters, then you're misrepresenting yourself and can damage your reputation before you even get started.

What are some things studios will look for while listening to a VO demo reel?

Studios are looking for what you bring to the table. They’re always looking for new talent, so don’t copy other’s work – do your own take! Your reel is going to be the first impression that casting directors have of who you are and what you’re capable of; what your skill set is. The question you need to ask yourself is “Can I sustain these voices for up to 4 hours?” because that is what some sessions will require you to do.

How often should a voice actor update their demo reel?

very artist develops and evolves. So listen to your reel every 3 months to a year and see if there’s anything on there that you can do significantly better now. If you find that you can be better represented with an update, DO IT! Otherwise – be aware of market trends i.e. animation styles, current commercial campaigns, tv promo styles, and make sure you have something on each reel to reflect the current market.

How do I get help producing a professional voice over demo reel without getting taken advantage of?

Well, first, you need to make sure you’re really ready. See the answer to question #2 for more on that. If you are ready then you need to do your research. Look at reviews for the demo producer you want to work with. Find people who’ve had their demo produced there and ask them! The best way to avoid being taken advantage of is to do your own due diligence in hiring the right person.

Is it ever worthwhile to have multiple voice acting reels, depending on the jobs I'm applying for? Or is it better to have everything on ONE reel?

Absolutely! Ideally, you should have separate Animation, Video Game, Commercial, Promo and Narration reels if you’re interested in working in all of those areas. Some people even isolate more specifically ie. Creatures, Live Event Announcing, Movie trailers, etc.

How do you build a voice over character demo if you’ve only ever done commercial work?

Learn how to do Animation work first by taking classes and studying! Never make a demo before you’re ready without knowing how to actually do the work!

When is a good time to get a voice acting agent?

When you’re ready to accept work and be able to perform it at world-class level. You’ll be put into the mix with some of the best, most established actors on the planet, so your chops have to be in order. An Agency is only as good as you are. The more you can bring to an Agency, the more invested they’ll be in you. You’ll still need to market yourself, so knowing how to do that is going to be important for you anyway, (See #9 on the 10 Free Tips for more on Marketing). Whether you have an agent or not, a huge part of this business is being available and ready when the opportunity comes.

How do I find an agent without getting taken advantage of?

A proper Agency will get paid by adding an extra 10% on top of whatever job/gig they negotiate for you. That amount is paid directly to them by the producer. When you do well, your agent does well. You should NEVER have to pay an agent out of pocket.

Do you have a preferred model/brand microphone for those starting out? What’s your favorite Mic of choice?

Steve has a Recommended Products page on our website that can be found at: https://www.blumvoxstudios.com/steves-recommendations/ .

Where do I start? I’m not close to any major voiceover cities like LA or NY. What resources can help me in my area?

t can be a challenge not to feel isolated when you don’t live in or near one of the major centers for voiceover. That said there’s a ton of resources available online, and people DO find work there. If you join our Facebook Group “The Blumvox Studios Community” (www.bvsfb.com) you’ll find that we collated a Master Resource List for members, pinned up in the Announcements. You can also start at the beginning on our website www.blumvoxstudios.com! Steve offers a mini-master class highlighting his 10 Free Tips on our Home Page that will be delivered right to your inbox.[/showhide]

There are very few gigs in my area. Something tells me I need to relocate, what do you suggest?

If you’ve exhausted all the local avenues for work, and are seriously feeling the pull to move, it may be of benefit to relocate to one of the major cities for VO work, like LA, NY or Dallas. But PLEASE don’t do this before you’re ready and/or have a financial backup plan. For many years I worked several other jobs to support my VO habit. It takes time and hard work, so be prepared to do both, no matter where you live!

How do you move on from an audition where you give it your all but don’t book the gig? How do you stay upbeat in order to try again on the next audition?

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received in this business (about rejection) came from a guy named Jack Angel. He’s famous for his brilliant voice work in shows like G.I. Joe, the Smurfs and the feature films A.I. and Toy Story. The first week I signed with my agency he told me "The audition IS the job." If you have the opportunity to audition in the first place, there really is no way you can feel rejection unless you choose to. Not if you truly take it from that perspective. If you treat every single audition as though that was the final gig, you’re actively doing the thing you say you want to do!. Treat it as if it’s the only time you're going to have with that character or that line or that script and then: let it go. If you book the job later on—great! Bonus! This really helps to alleviate some of the pressure that you might put upon yourself. I audition FAR more than I book, like at a ratio of 30-50 auditions per each booking, and I’ve been doing this for decades! Do the best you can do. Do a great audition and then let it go.

How do you get past fear of speaking in front of others, even though you’re passionate about voice acting?

Was it Nike that says, "Just Do It?". You’ve got to just do it, especially if it makes you feel uncomfortable. Know that you will make mistakes. Know that you will sometimes “fail.”. Know that everyone that exudes confidence is also very familiar with being afraid. The only difference between them and you is that they’ve “done it” more often. They’ve done it, despite the fear of failure. You cannot have success without failure. Every successful person will tell you they fail way more than they succeed. There’s a piece we did on Toonami called "Fall down seven times, get up eight”, if you haven’t seen it check it out on YouTube, https://youtu.be/A0172tnHSxg. It’s a definitive way of describing the power of failure and how you can actually use that to your advantage. I fail every single day, but fortunately in voice-over they I can do another take.

What is the proper way to lubricate and take care of your voice?

If you go to my Blog called “Vowel Movement Challenge” on our website, you’ll find a really cool warm-up exercise that I taught in our Facebook Group (www.bvsfb.com). While it’s not MY exercise (I learned it along the way and honestly can’t remember where!) it was so much fun, that we wanted to make it available to everyone. https://www.blumvoxstudios.com/vowel-movement-challenge/.

What are some mic techniques that are specific to voice acting?

One of the things that I use is what I call “standing a Welker away from the microphone” (named after the great Frank Welker). Take your hand and make the “hang loose” sign from Hawaii. (thumb and pinky finger extended – middle three fingers folded) Put your thumb up to your lip, and the pinky finger to the microphone and (generally speaking), that's how far away from the mic you should be before you start. The engineer will tell you if they need you to come closer or farther away, but at least that's a really great baseline of where you need to place your face in front of the microphone to get the optimum sound when you're creating a character. From that, you don't want to deviate too much. You don't want to go to the left or to the right because you're going to do what we call “off-mic” or “off-axis”. You need to stay completely stable in front of the microphone so it doesn't change the performance.

What are some ways I could connect with people if I want to do voiceover as a full-time profession? Where can I start?

LinkedIn is a great place to network with other voice actors. We also have a Facebook Group called The Blumvox Studios Community, which you can access at www.bvsfb.com. We require that you answer all 3 questions to get into the group (following direction is an important skill!). There’s a Master Resource List in the Announcement section of the Facebook group that lists VO learning sites, books, blogs, podcasts, etc… It was put together by our Team and fellow VA’s in the Blumvox Studios Community. It’s very helpful! Make sure that you also check out Steve’s 10 Free Tips mini-master class available on the Home Page of our website: www.blumvoxstudios.com

Do you have any advice for creating individual voices?

Building characters begins with you being available to inspiration. Inspiration can be found in all things, mostly living things but inanimate objects also. Information on how to be another character always begins with you. I talk a lot in class about finding your Authentic Neutral, your natural you, your natural state of being. This is the way you normally speak in conversation and in your day to day living. Your Authentic Neutral is all about finding your base line, discovering what your normal way of being is, and really getting in touch with that. From there is where you find all the intervals to start building your characters. Pay attention to the world around you. Become present with your surroundings wherever you are, inside, outside, it doesn’t matter. It all starts with awareness.

How did YOU get into voiceover? How long did it take you to become a full time voice actor, and how long did you have to work a second job?

Back in the late 80’s I was working in the mailroom of a low budget sci-fi film company as a driver and production assistant to support the R&B funk band I was playing in at the time (opening for heavy metal and hair bands). Our boss was a buddy of mine who happened to be casting for what he called a “Japanimation” show. We always goofed around with stupid voices, and I had the deepest one in the room, so he asked if I’d be interested in giving dubbing a try as a monster ripping the limbs off another monster. It meant free breakfast and lunch on a Saturday, so being a starving musician, I risked it. I was the only non-actor there, completely terrified and thought I was awful, but apparently I did ok! They hired me on the spot. I worked 26 episodes on that series (The Guyver), at first doing creature voices, but soon I graduated to actual English speaking roles. I had the benefit of watching some of the best actors in town and took mental notes of everything they did – and used a ton of their tricks! I seemed to have a natural knack for it and I’ve been going ever since. I think my ability to sync with the lip flaps of the Japanese characters came from years of playing music. Language and phrasing of speech is a rhythmic and melodic thing. It simply made sense to my weird brain. The acting was the hard part. That took years of work before I felt confident. I had no idea that voice acting could ever be considered a “real job”. For years, I had three other jobs to support me so I could do VO for fun and food on the weekends!

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What advice can you give me when I’m preparing to create a demo?