 Hey, guess what? It's time for voiceover body shop. Yay. All right, and our guest tonight is Ellie Ray Hennessey We are gonna have a great time plus other stuff to talk about So join us right now Two men, twin sons from different mothers with a passion for voiceover recording technology And the desire to make recording easy for voice actors everywhere Together in one place George Whittem, the home studio engineer to the stars, a Virginia tech grad with an unmatched knowledge of all the latest gear and technology in voiceover today Dan Leonard, the home studio master, a voice actor with over 30 years experience in broadcasting and recording and a no-holds-barred myth-busting attitude for teaching you how easy it is Together To bring you all the latest technology today's voiceover superstars and Leading the discussion on how to make the most of your voiceover business This is voiceover body shop Voiceover body shop is brought to you by voiceover essentials.com home of Harlan Hogan's signature products Source elements remote connections made even easier Vio to gogo.com everything you need to be a successful voiceover artist J. Michael Collins demos award-winning demo production voice actor websites.com where your voiceover website won't be a pain in the butt and voiceover extra your daily resource for Vio success And now live from their super-secret multimedia studio in Sherman Oaks, California Here are George Whittem and Dan Leonard I'm Dan Leonard and I'm George Whittem and this is voiceover body shop or Vio Well, we're not gonna be rocking and rolling tonight like we were earlier this week now It's just hot here in Southern California. That's right. You know, and we're okay Yeah, I'm sitting on the couch over there and suddenly everything starts going Is this an earthquake My girlfriend was in her car in West Hollywood freaking out Yeah, she was genuinely freaked and scared and I'm in Topanga outside working on my bike She's like What it was the second one there was nothing no to pay guy had no sense of an earthquake No, I was a much my front lawn and my neighbor is like holding on to a sign. She's going earthquake earthquake And I'm like what I don't feel anything. You know, it's it's seven point one earthquake Yeah, well, it's a little sampler of what it's like to live in SoCal. Yeah, and then it becomes the question of blizzard or earthquake Which would you choose? I think that's all Anthony Mendez post something to the regards of I'll take the blizzards Over the earthquake because he's just moved out here Alrighty, well, if you're just wondering you're tuned into voiceover body shop and it's time to introduce our guest Good, we're gonna have a great time with her because she's a fun lady Joining us from Toronto, Ontario Canada. Those of us from Western New York know to say that Toronto Toronto Toronto Actually, I think it's the right. Yes. This lady is an accomplished actress and voice actor and a great coach And we have lots of fun stuff to talk about. Let's welcome back to our wonderful show Ellie Ray Hennessey, welcome There she is Talk about an earthquake. Yeah, really. Boom. Get ready for it So so we hope anyway, so yeah, well welcome back after such a long absence You I think the last time you were on you were like in some remote location and Like it's your father's cottage or something. I was I was up in panitangu machine Try and say that three times really and a tango. She wasn't aware panitangu machine. Don't you know how to speak? First nation Canadian I can speak gosh hoppin and concha Hawkins and Manny Yonk. See I do That's Pennsylvania native Americans Or anyway, so what you know, you're you know, you're you've been doing this stuff for for a long time now And you're up there in Toronto and here in Southern California and across the US People aren't really familiar what what goes on up there unless you like live in Buffalo and you know, you're on the border But what what is the voiceover community like and what's voiceover like up up in Canada and specifically in Toronto? Well, you know Dan Canada's a place to be And why is that? Cuz there's I work non-stop 40 years and I'm still doing it and it you know, it's about what's available to you and what's being offered in the industry and You know Canada is a big country like the United States and we get a lot funnily enough We get a lot of American work up here because our dollars worth a lot less than yours. So Generally, sorry to say but the big jobs the big animation series and stuff they come up here to record Yeah, now you do a lot of you've been doing live theater, too I do live theater. I do film and television. I write I Direct I produce I cast I teach I kind of I'm a jack a Jackie of all trades A Jackie of all trades. Yeah, Jackie of all trades. Yeah, so you don't sleep in other words. Well in this business, it's like It's I think you're worth the greatest thing about what we do and how we do it is that No one knows how to value themselves. So, you know, everybody's constantly dealing with what their worth is and from the most part I get a feeling that Storytellers don't know what their self-worth is and I think that's key to Working in the business whether it's Canada the United States or Europe because I have agents in all all kinds of countries and I think that's where your abundance lies It's not about the place itself. It's about you valuing what you have to give and Then you know, I think everybody will thrive once they recognize that I feel like most of the people that I work with Don't value themselves and don't know what their worth is and I think if they can adjust that Boom, you can work anywhere as much as you like. Yeah, well, you and I had a mutual friend Well, George was friend. We were all friends with them a good friend Pat Sweeney passed away last December Yeah, and you're you're helping with a project. I mean the guy was you know All he would do is call you and nag you to do the right thing Yeah, and So I take it there's He wrote a lot of stuff I don't think a lot of us knew that he was taking so many notes on on all the stuff that he did Well Pat was you know, I just wrote a book called fly with Eagles and when I first met met Patrick Sweeney about 15 Maybe a little bit longer years ago The first thing he said to me who goes, you know what Ellie you're an eagle and you've got to fly with Eagles I said, oh, that's so funny. That's something my father always has said to me since I can Remember and he was driven by a Desire to crack the business this business like he was a pharmaceutical salesman For years and he just decided I'm you know what I'm getting out of this and I I want to story tell and He made it his business unlike anyone I've ever met to literally learn everything about Voiceover that he possibly could and in the 15 years or so that I knew him he went traveled everywhere doing conventions and workshops and private teachings and listening to podcasts and creating his old VO and to it was called a Meetup group that had I forget how many members but many many members that he started with Jody Crangle He was always involved in the business Itself and he made it his business to know everything that he possibly could and so what I'm doing now with his wife Leanne is she Has about 30 notebooks filled with information and we're decoding it I'm healthier because I she can read his writing and I understand the lingo that he's He's using and I mean it's a wealth of knowledge. It's a it's it's incredible when you see it all together It's kind of fascinating and so we want to Because he's documented so much of it to give it to the world I think that that's great and it's probably great for Leanne to be able to work on something like that too And I think it was in wove all that and I'm not sure who but wove all somebody created Pat on the back a sticker So because that's on our microphones here. Yeah, right? So that's I it's like I'm we're thinking of naming it something along that book give yourself a pat on the back I think that's totally appropriate and that's a and that's a tradition We're gonna continue it at the the wove will cons is if someone gives you a good piece of advice Yet slap one of those stickers on their back, you know, yeah People give you a heads up because he was always helping everybody because we're a team You know every voice over every storyteller, you know, we actually are on the same team So when we recognize and understand when I thrive It's my business to help you thrive it, you know Because I can't thrive without you in the business that I'm in so I think he really understood that So he was quite helpful. Yeah on so many levels, you know, and we really miss him. He was a great friend I went to a lot of conferences with them and we room together and you know, I really do miss him Oh, I still go to call him. I still like and I go oops. I mean, it's it's yeah Yeah, I got to know I'm sorry. I got to know him by designing a studio for him. So that was the way I got to know him And his studio is stunning like his Leanne That's another thing that I'm trying to facilitate right now is whether I do open mics there or do workshops there Leanne wants to keep his studio alive because Gorgeous studio and he has great equipment and top of the line stuff And it just she wants to see it housed and people using it So I would like to create a bursary for budding voiceover professionals through using his studio for workshops and That money that I Create from doing workshops or whatever. I'm in the midst of trying to figure it out We'll go to awards of bursary in his name for both voiceover professionals that are just starting out that that's great Yeah, if you're wondering you're tuned into voiceover body shop and our guest tonight is L.E. Ray Hennessey who is a an actor voice actor and coach up in Toronto, Canada and If you've got a question for and I know you're gonna have a few questions You can throw it in our chat room or in the Facebook page depending on where you're watching the show live right now And we'll get to your questions and I know you're gonna have questions for because she says a lot Yeah, absolutely. So anything. Yeah, right. So you do a lot of things up there I mean you're talking about you do live stage and you do Television and screen acting and voice acting and you coach which one do you enjoy most? Oh, that's such a hard question Dan. I asked the hard questions here, you know what? I I'll tell you what I I adore communication whether that is In front of a camera at a microphone or with student singular students plural. I can have One student five students twenty students five hundred students. I go to conventions and I teach large large numbers of people For me, it's all about communication Which is the human connection and as soon as we lose touch with our ability to communicate That's where we run into trouble. So I haven't made I love everything I do is communication based Because it's always for an audience So if I stand on the microphone There's an unseen audience that we must remember to be authentic because as soon as we remember We're speaking with a bunch of people at the microphone It you the announcer disappears and we become uniquely authentic in the way that we communicate And the same with the camera if I'm doing film or television I just remember there's millions of people that are watching me Try to inspire them so how I communicate is important and I you know when I the people go What's your favorite and I go there's something wonderful about not having to memorize lines So when I'm on stage, I I have to memorize lines when I'm in front of a camera. I have to memorize lines but when I'm at the microphone or Teaching I don't have to memorize lines. That's the only thing that Becomes an easier road for me, but once you've memorized the lines, it's still it's still fantastic It's that sitting down and having to memorize the lines and I've got a couple of one-woman shows coming up with a Lot of lines so I go That's difficult because once you're in studio with like an audio book or whatever You don't have to memorize those lines. You can just like free fall with it. So it becomes awesome Yeah, I found that actually kind of difficult when I when I started doing you know after after you know I was like a nightmare to me to be honest Well, I mean I think an actor but yeah But I did a lot of live theater for years and didn't do it didn't do it for like 25 years And then you know you spent all this time looking at copy It was difficult to learn how to do your lines again and then get it back into the conversation as opposed to what's on the written page Very very difficult and you want to be authentic. So like I you know you embellish and you improvise I know everybody says you're not supposed to do that, but I do and I still do it I say every word that's on the page But I also embellish because that's the playfulness that is me and my authenticity lies in my ability to Sort of color outside the lines and that's where I think you can stamp any any script you want You know people would always say to me. Oh my gosh You were you were making up some of that stuff and I go no no no those lines are all written down. Oh, yeah, of course But that's where you get to play the instrument like that. I mean where you Legitimately played this instrument, which is a great long big fabulous instrument But absolutely most of us don't play it. We just kind of present a Very singular part of it So well and that transitions to what I really wanted to talk to you about because one of the things You're known for is getting people out of their comfort zone because you know when we when we get a piece of copy It's like, okay, how are we gonna do this and then it's like But how am I gonna do it differently? How am I am I gonna do it? But you know and then there's the style I have or the style somebody else has and you got to reach beyond that and why is that so hard to defeat these You know these these safety filters that we have do it safe do it safe and not really take a risk Why is that so hard to do? well because our Authenticity lies in what we've already heard so the specificity we long to give in our opinion We don't allow ourselves because our ego says I've heard it on the radio and television And it's got to sound something like this Whereas our self-expression when we're intimately involved in conversation is cheeky and irreverent and sensual and rye and dry and Sarcastic and witty and many many things but when we come to copy We negate our personality To be what we believe to be the professional inside of the read and nobody's interested in the professional I don't know what that means But it's like doctors who don't have a bedside manner Your audience is longing for Personality and here's where we forget our personality And you know with most of my students I go okay, we're have we have to start at ground zero I need you to go backwards because you've learned how to read allowed and You're speaking in spoken thought that is perfect and no one in the world speaks in both perfect thoughts Yeah, I know I don't but it when it's written down We just deliver it as if it's perfectly formulated and coming out of our mouth perfectly. Well, that doesn't exist. So how do we? Normalize communication, that's the big trick and it's all base I've got a couple of tricks that I do with my students all the time So Dan described to me what described to me? What's in your living room in my living room? Describe to me. What's in your living room a long couch the TV the stereo my dog Sitting on the couch usually my wife sitting on the couch next to the dog a couple of Ottomans my easy chair and Nice jute rug and a view of the kitchen Okay, so you could have said a view of the kitchen first, but you didn't you could have talked about the couch and your wife sitting on the couch First but you didn't the dog the jute rug it like you had to think about everything, you know, what's in your living room, right? But you have to think about all The things that you wanted to tell me but when we come to copy which is generally Listing all the things that are great about something or we're selling ideas Or we're selling an emotional truth or all the things that are going to change things We talk as if it's perfectly thought What you did you repeated the question you said what's in my living room while you thought And I went yeah, and you went um But we can't do that in copy But what we can do is we can elongate on a vowel to show that we're thinking What that does is when you just speak perfectly at an audience you patronize the audience When you discover and respond A question asked of you You are going to include and engage your audience. For example Every single Bit of copy that I ever look at I can sit there with the student. I'm working with and I can say Well, does it work? Well, you know, what's how much does it cost? How long is the sale on for? Well, what are the ingredients in it? And if I ask them the question they will respond But if I don't ask them the question, they'll read statement statement statement statement statement The trick is there's always going to be a statement and a qualifying statement that you discover Because of a question asked of you And this is the big trick as you've got to hear it's all about listening. So voiceover is all about listening It's not about talking It's about listening and responding the big trick is where do I respond if you look at the line that I wrote down I think I wrote something down for you to do Dan. Can you see the Advil line? No Okay, so I wrote it on the the it's here on so I'm going to write it again Is you can't see it there all that we're looking looking I wrote it again. So I just sent it again. Okay Got it. Okay. Advil is 99 percent more effective than Tylenol. Awesome. So let's say you're going to audition this line Let's say that's the only line that you need to audition for so give it to me in your best audition There's no right or wrong in this Dan. You're already fabulous. Okay. Thank you. I feel far more confident already Um Advil is 99 percent more effective than Tylenol Exactly. So, you know, when I go to I just came back from Russia. I was in Germany I I teach voice worldwide to all different english-speaking people And they I'll tell you honestly Lines like this or something like this. I'll give them to and 99.2 of all people will go Advil is 99 percent more effective than Tylenol. So they will state it We don't want to do this I'm going to show you how not to do what 99.2 of all people are doing Which is announcing and they don't know that they are they're trying not to but they don't know how else to do it I get accused of that all the time Well, so does everybody because they nobody's teaching anybody how not to announce So If I said you Dan Dan. Oh, oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god I have got the worst headache. My head is Freampounding just tell me what you use the first word. What do you use Dan for a headache? Advil Why well because it's 99 more effective than Tylenol There you go So that's how you want to say that line rather than Advil is 99 percent more effective than Tylenol Advil is 99 percent more effective than Tylenol. The statement is that the response is Advil It's 99 percent more effective than Tylenol Right, so inside of that there's always going to be a response And then we're going to get to the point that discovery is key you your thought Like we were discussing before on the listing of the things that I say it's just so what did you have for breakfast this morning? Nothing Okay, I see how you went you thought about it. You went nothing now in voiceover you'd go Mmm, nothing so the the vocal assist would be because I can't hear your eyes going thought to the left right nothing You'd go Nothing right. So what we don't ever do is allow our breath to inspire And express So what we do is we hold and we go Blah, I'm only going to state from here But when we think and emotionally connect with people will always go It's it. Well, I you know, it's called it's called what I call messing it up a little bit So when we talk about rhythm tone pitch speed volume and emotion, which is basically the musicality of expression That is where we have to go. I mean he So if the line is he really disturbs me Everybody's going to go he really disturbs me because that's what the line says instead of exploring the line and going He Really disturbs me right or whatever, right? That's going to but we think if we just say the line the way it's written It'll be fine. Now if you look at I'm going to give you another little trick Do we have time for a little we have whatever you want to do down? Okay, so we know that response driven dialogue is key We know that you've got to respond to questions that aren't written down This is what makes it difficult for the voice actor Because the the questions aren't there. You've just got statement statement statement statement statement No, they're always there the questions are always being asked and you are an alchemist and you are a magician And what you have to do is see and hear the questions being asked And then you take the words and you become the alchemist with the words And you make it phenomenally yours Unlike everybody else. Okay. So if you look at that, do you see the it was big line that I wrote Can you say that line for me? It was big. It was really big. Okay. Awesome. Now In the same way that Advil is 99 more effective than Tylenol line is shown Everyone does 99.6 of all people will do This line exactly the same It was big It was really big. Okay. You go around my room. I can do it for 30 people 50 people whatever now One of these is the statement and one of these is the qualifying statement. Which is which The second one's the qualifying statement. Yeah, thank you, George smarty pants. That's his job Right. Okay. So I had to say something. I've been quiet for five minutes. Okay jump in You be doing these don't these lines to George because I'll you would see that you do them similar, right? I'd go around the room How would you do it? It was big. It was really big. Yeah. See it's same rhythm tone pitch speed volume and emotion It's the same. There's nothing going on blah, blah, blah, and it's not your fault because you're just saying the line Right cares our job is not to just say the lines That's not our jobs. We're magicians. We're alchemists. We're storytellers We get people to sing and dance around fires and share fable gone are those days But not with us because our job is to re-inspire the world that has gone dead It's fallen asleep and there's ai's running everything like syria and the rest of them. No Okay, so let the rest of the world go. It was big. It was really big. How dead could that be? That's pretty good. Yeah. Well, it's not your fault Because nobody's telling you how it what what's possible. Do you want to be your own authentic Picasso's? Yes Yes, you do. So I need you to color color outside the lines Color outside the lines the words are not your friends They're not going to help you. You're going to help them. Do you get me? Yep, the writers for any of the writers out there. I'm sorry The actors the voice actors are the ones it's their job to make it communicable. All right, but You've got to have an opinion So here's the test You're always going to state the statement I'm going to say how big was it and you're always going to state in your signature It was big the same but then I'm going to direct you how to switch it up Does that make sense to you go for it? I'm always going to say how big was it and I'm going to direct you How to do the qualifying statement? Okay, Dan? Yeah, I want you to do the qualifying statement as an aside Do you know what an aside is? Yeah It's a stand-up comedian thing that nobody ever uses anymore, but it's a really great technique. Okay. How big was it? It was big Really big Okay, so you're always going to say the statement the same and you're going to do the qualifying statement Like an aside out the side of your mouth because there's a lady sitting next Guy, so It was big It was really big I don't want to hear her what you're talking about, but yeah How big was it? It was big. It was really big Okay, good now if we really definitively do it it would be It was big. It was really big Okay Try it Try it It was big. It was really big Okay, good George a secret the qualifying statement is a secret But not the statement always do the statement normal. How big was it? It was big It was really big Now you're going to do it as a secret. It was really big Try it again It was big It was really big Good, exactly. Okay, Dan sing song But not this statement stays the same always do the statement first so the switch up is in the qualifying statement How big was it? It was big. It was really big Good, it was really big. It was big. It was really big. So, okay, that's called sing song Okay, George, I want you to compress down bear down like you're taking a poop on the Qualifying statement. How big was it? It was big It was really big Okay, good exactly. All right Dan, I want you to pitch really high falsetto on the word big in the qualifying statement. How big was it? It was big Really big Okay, listen you you always say the statement in your signature How big was it? It was big. It was really big Okay, I love that he's pitching in both the statement. Okay, so what I want you to do is go it was big It was really Okay, be more specific with me It was big it was really big Okay, good George a valley girl always speaks in question marks So I want you to only do the qualifying statement As a valley girl. How big was it? Yeah It was big It was like really big Yeah, exactly. So it's going to be it was really big. It was really big Exactly. Okay. So now, uh, It wasn't big at all Dan, how do you let me know That it wasn't big using the same words. How big was it? It was big Really big I love that you're doing this, but I can't see when I'm listening to the radio. So What this is where I'm going to help you Okay, you can embellish the words with a sound and maybe another word Why not because this will make you authentically you So like if it wasn't big you're gonna go or like Something like that. Okay Try it Try it again Who's turn is it? Who's turn? Oh, it's my turn. I want you to get it right. So yeah, it stands turn. Okay And make the but embellish and prove to me. It's not big Prove to it's not big. Yeah Oh It was big It was really really kind of big Okay, good. So watch this. Why couldn't you do this? It was big It was really big not I could have okay Now this is where I need you guys all of you guys that are listening to this You're not thinking outside the box. You're trying to get the words to help you. They're not going to help you You've got to help them. I'm going to say it again, right? What happens george And nobody ever does this nobody ever Would you ever think of doing that line the any of the ways that I've showed you? No, because you don't think to do it You just want to say the line and say it the way it's written Yes, I've left to my own devices. I would not have come up with so many variations on the qualifying statement. Thank you Oh, well, I could sit here all night and keep doing it, but here's a really good one for you Staccato is it what's really big you wouldn't do that. You wouldn't go You Unless you were martin short What happens if you what happens if you aspirate in george? And you breathe in and speak on the qualifying statement. It was big. It was a really big so She cheater so it would go like it was big. It was really big It was really big Okay, because I'm like it was so big that it made my breath go backwards. Okay One last trick before I leave this is Change the punctuation. So the period is now it was big period I want you to put the Period after it was big. It was after that So the period's going to be there. How does the statement change? What does the statement become? It was big it was No, it was big. It was no no that you said move the period over I yeah, but you're not making it a statement. You're making it a comma Ah Big it was it was big. It was big big Watch this. This is how our brains are so Locked into what we think we're seeing and I need you guys to break this break it down Learn the alphabet backwards read backwards do stuff to help get you out of your head because it could be it was big It was You see what I'm saying. Yeah, but we would never think to do that. The period is not your friend There's if I did it was big. It was really big Okay, you could you could do whatever you wanted, but nobody thinks to play in that way So our job is to find out what the qualifying statements and the statements do rhythm tone pitch speed volume and emotion wise And that's not something anyone thinks about because they just deliver words from a perfect place, which It's not real. That's not real Absolutely If you're just joining us our guest is ellie ray hennessey if you're wondering what unearth is going on We're talking about getting outside your comfort zone If you've got a question for ellie ray about some of these techniques Throw it in our chat room right now either in our chat room on our home page or on facebook Wherever you happen to be watching this and we will relay that question to her in just a couple of minutes Yeah, all right. So we'll be right back with ellie ray hennessey And surely and and surely right after this This is bill ratner and you're enjoying voiceover body shop with dan lennard and george widham v obs dot tv Well, hello there I bet you weren't expecting to hear some big voice announcer guy on your new orientation training for snapchat. Were you? This is virgin radio. Well, okay. We're not that innocent There's genes for wearing and there's genes for working Dickies because i ain't here to look pretty. She's a champion of progressive values A leader for california and a voice for america. It's smart. It's a phone. It's a smart phone But it's so much more. It's a the files are ready. Don't forget to pick up the eggs. What time is hockey practice? Check out this song. It's the end of the road for rig This is your miracle when hope is lost the i8 from bmw Who said saving the planet couldn't be stylish Hey, it's j michael collins. Bet you think i'm gonna try and sell you a demo now, huh? I think they speak for themselves, but I will give you my email. It's j michael at jmc voiceover dot com Now if they will stop waxing this mustache for a minute, we'll get back to the show Imagine mandatory retirement at age 57 and j rodney turner wasted no time when he got that news He decided what the next act in life was going to be for him voiceover And fortunately for him he chose the one form of acting voice acting for which the demand far exceeds the number of available performers audiobook narration He worked hard and smart and j rodney turner's name is now on the cover of over 100 of those audiobooks For sale right now on audible which he produced in just the last four years or so Want to know a secret? Here it is for free David h. Lawrence the 17th has just released the first episode of a free video training series devoted to audiobooks and it tells just how j rodney turner did it in vivid detail Visit vo to go go dot com forward slash Vobs to see it if the idea of getting paid to tell stories appeals to you Or if you're already doing audiobooks, but aren't having the success you know you're capable of achieving This video is a must-see Check out the video here visit vo to go go dot com forward slash vobs. That's vo to go go dot com forward slash Vobs As a voice talent you have to have a website But what a hassle getting someone to do it for you and when they finally do they break or don't look right on mobile devices They're not built for marketing and seo. They're expensive You have limited or no control and it takes forever to get one built and go live So what's the best way to get you online in no time go to voice actor websites dot com Like our name implies voice actor websites dot com just does websites for voice actors We believe in creating fast mobile friendly responsive highly functional designs that are easy to read and easy to use You have full control no need to hire someone every time you want to make a change And our upfront pricing means you know exactly what your costs are ahead of time You can get your voice over website going for as little as $700 So if you want your voice actor website without the hassle of complexity and dealing with too many options Go to voicehactor websites dot com where your vo website shouldn't be a pain in the you know, what? Minus far we had minus four db. We're at minus four db on v lbs And we're back with ellie ray hennessey And shirley and shirley It's important to love our pets It's important to love your audience And we love our audience and we love you too and it's great having you on the show You know, I I take instruction like that that you were just giving us and it's like It is so hard to come out of the safe zone And you know What really is it that what is it that you'd really do that? It's like well, you're just nuts anyway, but Well, it's true though, but I've never had a filter and I've never I've never my job is to authenticate inspired communication and I believe that we as People on this planet are desperately in need Of an authentic voice. We need to hear it And the you know the thing that we have to we have to recognize inside of ourselves that Your unique authenticity is required, but we our self-worth is so caught up in You know doing the job right and our ego says so many things about what is required of us I'll tell you what's required of us is to love more joy more and risk more So that when you come to any kind of copy that weird ego filter of Expressing in the right way which literally takes away Your goofiness your cuteness. It's like farting on your baby's bum That's pure, but we don't want to fart into anything because it's not professional But you must because to reach an audience You've you you've got Color outside the lines. I say that all the time and I think I think you know, we're too afraid to risk it because we we We don't know what will happen when we laugh unconditionally When we allow our hero to show up rather than our sidekick or our villain Because we're kind of miserable and the world has allowed us to have these attitude chips Which we bring with us when we Come to the microphone. So, you know people go you're so you're so kooky and quirky Uh, and it's like yeah I am and that's me and I'm not I I don't apologize when I bring it to the microphone and who know who knew everybody Hires me because I don't apologize for because I think it's meant with Your truth, you know what I mean Because I believe you can only be authentically you when you say your opinion of me good bad and different is none of my business My job My job is to make you feel special That's my job to feel that you are my most intimate partner to feel like so my audience every single one of them has to feel moved by Something because eventually I believe that we will never speak to anyone again I believe we'll have devices and I I can't believe I'm even saying this because I don't want it to happen But I've watched a world in 40 years of of uh voicing and performing change Exponentially and we're losing one another and the last hold out Honestly is voiceover and film and television And live theater. Uh, that's the last hold out where we come together and we share ideas and We inspire Our fellows because as soon as we lose that guess what no, we're not required to show up with one another Absolutely. Well, we got a couple of questions Well, more than a couple of questions people who are watching intently because I told them to be here tonight And they're watching and they're about to ask these questions Mr. Witte first one came from Jen Henry I Believe she's a fan based on Everything she's saying uh ellie ray you mystic wonder When are you again in the states? I'm gonna be in ohio on thursday There you go. Ohio. There you go. That's all head to ohio swing at ohio. I'm gonna be at a my little pony convention Hey right on I was actually in uh, oh, this is a quick little shout out. I god. I love Jen Henry. You are the awesome, you know The united states is phenomenal only because every state is so different from the other state and I was in Texas When a couple of months ago At another my little pony convention god bless my little pony because it takes me all over the world But um, and I was teaching voice and doing stuff as part of the convention as part of my deal And there was a bomb threat And a little pony convention on it they wanted to kill the my little pony people because it's true It's true and you know like 30 SWAT people came with they are 15s and the hotel was evacuated Yeah, so that was galloping out of there. That was my excitement. Yeah, and they're rainbows You know, they've got their unicorn horns and their rainbow Wigs and you know It was poor bronies. I know the bronies were like just mind in their own bronie broniness. You know It's not fair Um, ryan l he says hi ellie Ellie ray. What advice this is ryan l ryan l Yes, and a lot of this Love love. Yeah, that's his last name today. Uh, what advice would you share with your past your past self? When you were just getting started What advice would I shoot? If you could if you could go back in time 35 40 years and see yourself at another time in your career What would you have said to yourself to get it together? You know to lift yourself up? Eat more cake You know, I wow it's really interesting that is such an awesome question ryan because you know, i'm thinking What would I have said to myself? I don't that that's I would have I don't think there's anything I would have said to myself that I didn't already believe I had such great mentors in my life That uh, I was I'm one of the few lucky ones that really had a strong network of support and love for my Everything for my adhd my autism my Tourette's my my hyperactivity my Insanity they called me retarded. I had so many things that were Sort of wrong with me that um, and in the midst of say you are special and you are fantastic in my world that it never It wasn't a limiter so To go back would be I I think if I I would say listen Listen more talk less Hmm But you know That was the little that I did listen to I believed Right, but I lived in such a world of fantasy that I I I wasn't listening to too much outside of It through you know, so I've been doing this for 40 years, but then before that I was still doing theater for 10 years so You know, I've been doing it my entire life as a A performer and to go what would I have done differently? I You know what? I maybe would have gone to the I was invited to the Juilliard school of acting in the United States and to The neighborhood play house when I was 18 and Brandeis University for acting all three of them And I was like, oh no, I'm going to go to the University of Windsor in Canada because I really didn't kind of understand that the world was such a big place and That might be something I I I wish I had have had someone say no no go to go to Juilliard Yeah, you can see that one two more Devox Devox is a regular of ours. I think I believe he's in japan Hi What are a few outside the box exercises voice actors and narrators can do on their own? Maybe one for the sake of time You know what always have someone ask you questions So that you can find the response in your work because That's key that we're not responding. We're announcing or we're narrating lines the other thing that I would I would urge everyone to do that We don't do ever is we come to our copy with a sense of serious professionalism And I would urge you to laugh until you cry or pee your pants Every day children laugh 400 times a day and we laugh 12 to 15 times a day Usually at the expense of someone else And I feel like what's happened is that Outside the box is actually someone who joys more and to joy more joy is not outside of you coming from someone who's You know, I've had three nervous breakdowns. I've had like I know that I am I must Connect to my limitless well of joy inside of me It's not something outside of me that somebody gives me or I get a job and I'm joyful or I do It's got to be a constant and I think for us as storytellers to remain connected to a world that is feeling Singular alone depressed sad angry poor sick old whatever is going on, but there's a lot of you know I feel just lethargy of spirit and for us to sort of Work outside the box is to reconnect with our joy And just live right there like as soon as you can just Got laugh and I mean until you spasm and milk pours out your nostrils and Every single day and get to the point where when you come to your copy Is just there's something inside of that inherent Joy that people need to hear And you know, love is the same thing and love has to cost you something But we're so embarrassed by our own Emotionality rather than celebrating what we're capable of with air moving through this instrument if we can love more love Takes it's so big And we don't know how to whisper. I love you hon. I'll see you later Like we're always like love we don't get that our world needs to be loved And you've got to be the hero in every story if it's 15 seconds 30 seconds a minute That love has to be real And when you talk to someone that you love there's an intimacy and a And a gentle ridiculousness and a beauty that we don't share inside of our copy And you should want to cry you're so happy Because of the ability to speak with your fellows and share ideas It should be so much bigger than us and it has to cost you something Outside the box thinking we need to push ourselves to the emotional truths that actually lie inside us We don't have to fake them. They're actually there, but we have to allow them Well, I'm going to cry just because we're almost out of time One last question here from Earl Fisher, uh, Earl Fisher voices I assume you're teaching this approach for use in certain situations. What voiceover genres does this apply to and not Does like this does this work for narration? I would imagine it does absolutely yes Absolutely, it works for everything because As i'm speaking to you right now I know what i'm talking about, but I don't know exactly what i'm going to say and when you come to your copy It has to remain such so there's always going to be Something that is either Quick and then slow or slow and then quick or I will make a point Or I will have an irregularity where I go. Why I'll have an I'll have an explosion inside of me That's useful in everything you do So if you're a singer or you read music, which not everybody does but it's too bad that we don't because When you sing The song has notes that you follow and rests and crescendos and decrescendos and pianissimo And it basically tells you exactly how to do the melody of it and As we approach copy it should be the same way where the statements and the qualifying statements and the entirety of the Script has a beginning middle and end And the climax even if it's only 30 seconds And if you don't know what the beginning middle and end and the climax is then you don't know what a story is And you don't know what your accelerant rating towards And so you don't know the melody so if I go it's a quarter note quarter note quarter note eight eight eight 16 16 16 whole note half note half note rest You would follow that and you would go man. Oh, I know how to do this song So I it's kind of up to us to create The musical notes without them being d f f c b whatever that you give them A weight Yeah, it's your own scale In a well in a in rhythm. Yeah, so it would be You know, so it's not Which is a lot of what we do We stay pretty close rhythmically if you look at how we look at copy We don't move it around so we've got a trick ourselves and these little tricks where you Aspirated we don't use our breath. We don't fuel the instrument. We don't accelerate We don't reach a climax and I mean that literally you've got to Unhinge and get excited because hopefully when you're speaking with an audience and you always are It's the only reason we open our mouth to speak Is that I get excited about sharing ideas. I don't sit there and go to this place Advil is 99 percent more of it like that's called the dead zone and the dead zone is not liberated It's not authentic. It's not real and its opinion is not being shared. It's being read well Alley rate it is always a pleasure to talk to you I miss you since you know, since moving from western new york and not being so close to toronto But thanks so much for being on the show tonight. You guys are awesome. Thank you for what you do Thank you for like liberating, you know, voiceover work all to everybody On monday nights, you're just awesome. You guys, thank you so much Ellie ray hennessey everybody. All right All right, georgia. I'll be right back right after this You're watching v obs dot tv I don't know why it's crazy what they do here. I think i want to go somewhere else and have a cheese Your dynamic voiceover career requires extra resources to keep moving ahead Now there's one place where you can explore everything the voiceover industry has to offer That place is voiceover extra dot com whether you're just exploring a voiceover career Or a seasoned veteran ready to reach that next professional level Stay in touch with market trends coaching products and services while avoiding scams and other pitfalls Voiceover extra has hundreds of articles free resources and training that will save you time and help you succeed Learn from the most respected talents coaches and industry insiders when you join the online sessions bringing you the most current information on topics like Audio books auditioning casting home studio setup and equipment marketing performance techniques and much more It's time to hit your one-stop daily resource for voiceover success Sign up for a free subscription to newsletters and reports and get 14 bonus reports on how to ace the voiceover audition It's all here at voiceover extra dot com. That's voice over x t r a dot com Because today the 15th is the first day of prime day Voiceover essentials is going to put both of their portables on sale on amazon today and tomorrow Tuesday only They're taking ten dollars off the portables plus and twenty dollars off the portables pro They're both prime eligible so prime members get fast free delivery Same or one day delivery in some cities and two day delivery everywhere else in the u.s And even if you're not a prime member amazon offers free shipping if you're willing to wait a few days and just a little bit longer All you have to do is go to amazon.com and search for portabouth and they'll come up as the first two items Remember that's only today and tuesday july 16th But if you're watching this after that harlan tells me Ah, we'll just keep the savings going until next monday voiceover essentials dot com get your portabouth plus and pro now Also voiceover essentials now accepts all credit cards and paypal This is bill ratner and you're enjoying voiceover body shop with dan lennard and george widham v obs dot tv Everybody this is the point where we get to talk about our wonderful sponsors source elements the creators of source connect And something else for source connect a new feature That's been around a little while but not been talked about that much called source stream If you're traveling out of the country if you know you're going to be working Way off of your normal home network somewhere where network traffic is going to be a big problem a lot of hotels for example Other countries anywhere where there's big time firewalls, whatever you want to know and make sure you have access to source stream What source stream does is it punches a hole through the internet so that your source connect connection Gets all the way through to the studio on the other end and vice versa. You know, it goes both ways It gets you through firewalls and everything else to have source stream All I have to do is have an active support contract to source elements. Then you have it It doesn't cost any extra. It's just there So you want to make sure you have your contract up to date and make sure the studios you're using also are on the same page And if they do you got source stream and you have a far more better chance of your connection Connecting and uh getting you through that session. It's a very important feature Check out something called source stream. And if you haven't got source connect yet, just go get a demo right now Just go over there source dash elements dot com get a 15 day free trial And get up and running whether you think you need it or not be ready. So when you do you've already got it Thanks source elements. We'll be right back Hi, this is bill farmer and you are watching voiceover body shop. It's correct and we're back to say goodbye Goodbye. Yeah, who are well next week, by the way Tech talk number 13 will be on which we're just about to do so don't go anymore We're gonna tape that here, but you'll watch it next week. Who are our donors of the week I've got on the list here a couple new names. Actually, which is kind of cool. I got abram edwards uh, joseph harrison christie burns brian roush atland productions uncle roy old name Michelle blinker hi michelle and a new one to me is cool print usa. Who are you cool here? Plug in there nicely done. Yes, absolutely. Hey, we want people to join our mailing list too We're up to 603 people on our mailing list. Hey, you know what mailing lists are back If you hadn't been paying attention, man This is big social media revolt and mailing lists are happening. Yeah, so good one. Yeah Go on our website. This is join our mailing list click on that You'll know what's going on on when we do the show live and and what's coming up Let's see. Show us your booths. Whose booth is this? This is uh, this one is joe zizia. Oh, joe zizia This one is something I did help design recently my friend. Cory right installed this one and uh, Yeah, it came out really nice and it sounds good. That's the most important and it's big It's a pretty good size room. You'll believe in the big rooms Well, I mean when the client has the space in the budget go to go big This is about six by 10 for rooms. Nice size. Yeah, if you want to show us your booth The matter what it looks like send it to us in Landscape not portrait right uh and send it to the guys at vobs.tv We love it. We want to have it behind us and it'll be like we're in your studio like we'd like to be anyway Uh, if you need help with your home studio if you want to work with george you go to What's my website? Oh george the tech dot com or the short version right down below here, which is george the dot Tech All it's on there. It's all on there. Go take a look. Please Dan's also on the web I am he's going on the website sits over there at home voiceover studio dot com Nobody knows more about the stuff than we do You've obsessed over this. We know this different sounds backwards All righty, uh, we need to thank our sponsors like harlan hogan's voiceover essentials dot com voiceover extra source elements Vo to go go voice actor websites dot com and j michael collins demos and also the dan and marcy lennard foundation for the betterment of live Webcasting our producer katherine kurden who's going to be back one of these days on hiatus. Yeah, um, Mike merlino who hasn't been here, but he feels it on chat room from time to time occasionally does And our magnificent director who just totally has her act together Sumer leno Appreciate that and of course lee pennie for being lee pennie because we know lee is watching tonight. Hey lee lee get down here man Let's have lunch. Uh Also, uh, we've got tech talk coming up So tune in for that Hey, this is not an easy business. That's why we bring you cool people like ellie ray hennessey To give you those things that you need to make your voiceover business succeed and remember it's a business It's not a hobby. We'll talk about it. That's all for us tonight. Uh, stay tuned. Like I said for tech talk I'm dan Leonard. I'm george widdum and this is voiceover body shop or vo Be and remember if it sounds good, it is good. Alrighty. Take it easy. We'll see you next week Don't go anywhere