 Hey, it's time for voiceover body shop. It's this camera over here, right? Yeah, that one over there Okay, yeah, we got lots of cameras set up here tonight Because we have a great guest who's gonna tell us all about auditioning and that's ever Oliver ever. How you doing? I'm good. How are you? We're we're not too bad. He's a guest worthy of setting up extra cameras That's right getting our green screen working all that stuff because ever it's that's right So if you've got a question for Everett about auditioning throw it in the chat room because I know Jeff Hulman's hiding in there Somewhere writing down every question and making sure we get those questions So we can ask Everett a little bit later on but we got a lot of stuff to talk to him about in the next half hour This could quite possibly be one of the most important guests. We've had on this year because Because he is literally telling you how to get through an audition and sound like you know what the heck you're doing, right? So it's a big deal. I know voiceover body shop right now Voiceover body shop is brought to you by Voiceover essentials comm the home of Harlan Hogan signature products source elements the folks who bring you source connect Jmc demos when quality matters The oh heroes comm become a hero to your clients with award-winning voice over training Voice actor websites comm where your voice actor website shouldn't be a pain in the butt voiceover extra your daily resource for voice over success and by world voices the Industry Association of Freelance voice talent and Now here's your hosts Dan and George Well, hello there. I'm Dan Leonard and I'm George Whidham and this is voiceover body shop or VO B And we are back in our wonderful studio Surrounded by microphones and cameras and all studio version seven Yeah, I guess we've revamped a few times each time because we haven't had a pattern of doing the show here That's so we each time we try things that are a little bit different, right? But tonight we're like I want multiple cams. Yeah, so you know give me the same shot Screen right and a green screen. Okay. See now. There's this. There's the two single Single cam and you know, we finally figured out how to do all this stuff So just in time when why are we doing it because we can because it's fun That's right But been an interesting couple of weeks I of course had it and aside from my boo boo from last week when we were in Toronto Then I had a major boo boo because somebody rear-ended me and then I hit them in the car in front and they both left You were a pinball and a pinball game and a game just drove away, right? And I became an accordion and that's not even I didn't even know what to say other than we're glad you're okay I'm glad I have some boo boo's and you now have a new car because you really had no choice No, yeah, and if you couldn't even buy the same car you owned it was impossible If you try to buy a new car right now, you're going to be shocked at what the Dealerships are charging over the MSRP disgusting it is and they're they're making up for all the money They lost during the the pandemic and the gas companies are making up for all the money lost during Never, I don't think That's another story Anyway, anyway, we want to talk about helping you make some money And the way you do that as a voice actor is by auditioning So we decided why don't we have somebody on who really really really really really understands auditioning and so we figured out I want to talk to avrit So anyway avrit oliver is a 25 year veteran of the entertainment industry He specializes in professional directing for voiceover auditions He has experience as an animation demo co-producer a private coach for commercial and animation as well as a career Building consultant that is a career building consultant. No a career building consultant Just in case you were wondering What tips does he offer to help you book the work you desire? Let's welcome back to our show It's been a while though, and that's avrit oliver avrit. Are you in there somewhere? I am here. Hey buddy. Good. Good to see you. Good to see you You too. Yeah, eventually we're gonna get everybody back in the studio. Of course, I don't know where we're gonna put him Including an audience including an audience. You do remember we had about 18 people in here one night I was there So I so we have a witness that will prove that that actually happened It's pretty fun. I know All right, so you you coach people with their auditions I mean, but let's start now. You've been in the business for like 25 years What brought you to this sort of niche area of coaching? um basically I worked at a talent agency and They basically threw me in the booth and you know, they said listen You need to start, you know directing And helping actors since I came from the casting background I came from the cast inside of animation so When all of my shows ended in animation I talked to my mentor who was charlie adler and charlie adler told me Oh, you need to go ahead and work at a talent agency and be a booth director And I had no idea what a booth director was And then um, I used to work for avio talent. So, uh, sandy schnarr and peter arano They threw me in a booth and so that's how my life started. I just started directing and started understanding actors and Picking up little things here and there to help them book That's how it really started. So it just I just basically fell into it. Yeah So talent would come into into the agency, which doesn't go on a whole lot anymore Not anymore And uh, and so and there was a booth there and you would sit there and and they would audition for things and you're like Slowed out. I would speed up slow down speed up. That's not you get out of your head. I would You know, that's that is that what you have? That's not gonna work I would give them I would give them my honest opinion. Yeah, and the basic honest opinion would be My facial expressions because everybody could read my facial expressions So if it was a smile and go like this, that's great. But if it was one of those Oh, that means I have to do it again. Oh, yeah I You don't have to name names were there people that were showing up in your booths a lot more than others Were there a few that you'd saw far more regular than others? Oh, yes I mean, you know, they came in on pretty pretty regular basis. I mean, we had a full schedule So and I would audition from like 9 30 in the morning until probably 4 4 30 in the afternoon And it was in 15 minute increments so you was receiving about maybe five or six pieces of copy and you literally Had to study the night before So when you came into the booth You had two takes maybe three To get it right and then I would turn around and be like, oh That get out next next character next year because the agents would be out there saying you're taking way too long with them You know, this is not something where they came in and studied. They had to be prepared They were coming in cold on these totally and so now, you know, I try to have my actors, you know me doing it for myself Um, you know try to tell them listen You have to prepare and come at it the same exact way because what's going to happen when you book a job and you'll put on a spot You know and and in the casting people in the producers are going to be throwing things at you and you have to be ready So this is what I try to prepare the actors where I work with Now I'd like to think that people understand the importance of taking auditions seriously And to not keep doing the same thing How do you learn to differentiate yourself and and do something different every time? How do you what what what are your suggestions? Well, you know, you have to come from a from an angle of a point of view I think that a lot of people are basically just reading the copy They're not actually breaking down the scripts or not understanding what's happening in the scripts And or they're following the same type of the directions to say they're following the specs They're not thinking themselves outside of the box So, you know, my suggestion would be is to You've got to be creative There are now thousands of you who are auditioning for the same part across the whole world So do one take That comes from the actual specs that what's they want and then throw in a second take That's going to wow them Don't give them the same acting style, but give them something That's really going to make your personality bring your personality into it Because everybody has different personalities and that's what's going to help you book And you got to keep at it, you know, you can't you know Do voiceovers for two three months and then stop and then Pick back up You know, you got to keep doing it. You've got to keep researching. You have to keep playing You've got to keep coaching You've got to keep doing workout groups This is going to make you a better audition actor Yeah, I mean it I it's amazing how Everybody's seems like they get locked in this mode of imitation Yeah, but I guess that's is that I mean if you're starting from is literally zero Is that where you start? Is imitating Or is that just a natural proclivity of a person who Does voiceover because we love to imitate No, I mean the first thing I tell people is you have to take you have to take acting You have to do improv Those are the first two. I mean I made a lot of people who say I was actually working with somebody today And I could tell that they were imitating, you know, like a co-worker and I was like, no, no, let's go back to basics You have to know The acting it's all about your acting. It's nothing about your voice I'm I can't even tell you how many people are so concerned about that and I have to drill it into them with tough love Yeah, we know That's another gateway that's another gateway in the voiceover, right, which is the thing that everybody hears at least once You've got a great voice. Aren't you doing voiceover? I get that all the damn time right and hear that a lot I'm like, no, I'm not And I could talk yeah, I get it all the time and say, what do you do for a living? I'm a voice actor Oh, I can tell Like it's just the way I sound for crying out loud But you know, but perhaps I talk a little bit more properly than other people you annunciate and I you know Unlike a lot of kids today are just keep talking like this. I have no idea what they're saying Complete sentences. Yeah. Hey, give me the d10 that I'm like, what are you talking about? Tell them to slow down Yeah So I'm and I'm sure you're working with a lot of kids these days and when I say kids I mean anybody under 40 I'm glad you clarified that yeah Who it's just a different culture and and how do you have to work with with folks like that because I mean, all right, you're probably closer to that than we are but you know Let's be clear about that. All right. Um, I work. Yes. In fact, the good news is today. I've been working with Uh, she's gotta be about nine maybe 10 years old and she got she booked something today And I've been working with her for about a good year on learning very conversational Reads that she comes from the theater background So she's been shouting at me for a couple months You have to get to detune her right the little lady in the back row. Hey Pull back the throttle. Right. Yes, but I mean she's learned, you know, I'm One to give, you know, you have to do homework You have to do research You have to keep studying and I've drilled it into her So I was very proud to find out that we got our first She got a call back probably about three weeks ago. She just found out today. She booked So that was my, you know Pride is that a commercial thing commercial? It was an animation. It was actually an animation Um, I guess what so when you so yeah, so when you're talking about you need to do your homework You need to do your research Would you feel like that's more for animation stuff or that's for everything across the board everything You need to be watching what's the kind of research shows? Yeah television shows animation shows Uh, you need to find out what the trends are happening commercial wise You need to find out what kind of animation shows that are out there movies for animation um tv What do promos that are happening? What's going on in the narration world? I mean you need to be soaking up everything like a sponge You know and a lot of people are not doing that and what they're doing is is Hey, I get this audition and then the first thing they think of they think of me And then they contact me and then I'm asking them a whole series of questions and I could tell instantly that They're not going to book this Because the fact is that they have not done what they're supposed to do and they expect me to do it for them and that's, uh, no, no And the same is fine. Yeah, once again where if you're just joining us you've already missed a ton That's important. Everett Oliver is our guest. We're talking about auditioning Because that's what we do for as voice actors. We got to audition so people can hear us and Say, you know, that's the right voice for doing that If you've got a question for everett about auditioning or coaching or one of these things that that he deals with You can put it in the chat room and jeff holman is right there and he's going to write it down And we're going to ask ever in the next segment in just a little bit So don't be shy Ask your questions, you know, you're going to think of it like two minutes before we're done and all of a sudden There's like 10 questions, but now we want you to put your questions in so we can answer them next bit Anyway, okay. So what are some I mean, you've mentioned this a little bit You talked about people just doing it the way they you know, they think that they they should do it or just talk their voice What are some of the common mistakes that you see people make when they're they're sending in auditions? They take too long with the audition something that should take them probably 15 30 minutes it's taking them 45 minutes to an hour Oh, that's too long. Yeah, they're overthinking it um Editing they have no editing skills. That's part of it. Um, so the editing is slightly off Um timing pacing like I said, they don't study um They're not marking their scripts up That's a really a major factor. They're not sure what's happening with that. They don't improv um How many is that That's enough that's enough to make a difference. I think with some people You know, they don't have a point of view um I'm trying to think of all the people who have stood today. Um, they're listening to their voice and not concentrating on their acting Uh That's what I can think of right now All right, and that's and that's a ton because that's what every you know And I I hear a lot of auditions too people are sending us audio all the time And we're like, well, they're just reading so we can hear what the audio sounds like and stuff But they all tried they put try to put a performance in for the stuff they send you george Put a performance in like uh, like a long script I mean not a long script, but at least try to you know, sound like an audition as opposed to hi This is my audio and oh, I insist on it. Yeah. Yeah when they send me a just uh, okay I'm talking you know a microphone. I'm like no no, I would you use this microphone. I need to hear Yeah, your technique your how you place the mic how far away how much energy you project right, you know Comes across flat comes across flat reads too Yeah, whatever it is if you read flat that's the way I want to hear it because that's going to determine what we're going to be doing today right exactly so So people make a lot of mistakes And especially people who are new people who have been doing it for a while They still make those kinds of mistakes too I mean after a while I imagine some people feel like they just they can just phone it in because they always book Is you find that common thing or do the people that always book? They are pros and they are always on and they always get it done They get it. I mean the people are pros. Yes, you're exactly right. They know they get it done Um, I think now the thing is is it's about now stepping outside of your comfort zone That's what's going to really help you book and and now I'm working with actors to go Not on a surface level of what I call it But you got to go on a much more deeper level Because of the simple fact is that now that we're all doing stuff from home You don't really know what your competition is That's true. Well, we never know what our competition is we do these auditions. I did we throw Right you heard them all we we never heard what anybody else was doing It was like we're guessing and why did this guy book it? You know, why didn't I and they'll never tell you You probably will I I did. Oh good Once again, if you got a question for ever throw it in the chat room right now, whether you're in facebook live Whether you're on youtube live Where else are you doing this? I don't know Some place else it just goes out into the ether and everybody's watching But no matter where you're watching if there's a chat room there throw the question in there right now um What do you do to help people improve? I mean, I obviously if they're at an agency You know when you were working in an agency you were working with pros people who Agents have said okay. We want to work with these people now. You're working with people who are trying to break into the business How do you get them to improve and I'm sure it's pretty much the same answer that they had to do their homework They I just you know, I drill stuff into them. I mean it's constantly, you know attending classes what I I'll put I'll have on some online classes. I'll bring talent agents I've been casting people in front of them to Um see what they can do in front of a casting person or an agent And then I'll give them personal notes I'll do private, you know, coachings with them and tell them specifically as to what they're doing wrong. So I'm constantly Drilling into them. I could hear patrick questionnaire in my head now Like trying to come up with ways to get out of your head or You know having quotes Insane's in front of you Just so the fact is that that you're going to look up and you're going to see oh, I need to be Succeeding your character or I need to add improv So it's just like a thing. They have to keep They've got to bring their a game For me to go ahead and pull out their performance But the other thing that just hit me too is they also got to be willing to go ahead and play I think that's one of the things that's missing also And actors performances is that they lack of them playing because they're so busy worried about booking the job So they need to be vulnerable For them to be comfortable as to who they are Right and real actors really know Yes, well, I mean they're all actors They all come from acting backgrounds whether or not they're non union or union agencies. I have an agent I don't have an agent But I think the the main consistent thing which is hitting me now is They don't understand who they are And I could pinpoint who they are within probably 30 seconds to a minute Because i'm tapping into them and fully understanding them and that's really one of my unique gifts that I have That I can go ahead and say that's not you that's somebody else So If you're gonna do whatever you're gonna do as a first take Let's do that as a first take. Let's lay that audition Down as a first take because that's what you came up with now. I'm looking for you And let's go let's go even deeper depending on what the kind of copy is And stop worrying about Freaking out about oh my god. I gotta pay my health insurance or I need to book this job because You know, they're gonna tow away my car and I think people get caught up in everyday life And this is why they don't book So people I mean I've had people book When people are just not feeling well I've had people that book because they're not thinking about it. They're vulnerable. Right, right Oh, oh my gosh. That's interesting. So you book you book you book when things are happening in in your personal life You know that you go and do some sort of trauma That way because you're like, you know, especially women who are women who are about to give birth or You know guys who are just you just go in there and they just do it because they don't care That's you had a loss. Maybe uh, Some some tragedy something really tragic and you're kind of raw and you're a little on the edge Right, but I do is I feel out the care I feel out the actor In the in the atmosphere. So I have a sense and I have a wear of Once I kind of understand the dynamics of whatever situation is happening because Then I could tap it and then I could go in and say listen like I had for example, I can do it from example I had a little girl who was sick and um I could tell she wasn't feeling well and her mom was like, um If you're just gonna let her do it Her mom I was like, okay I'm not gonna worry about mom. I'm gonna worry about her She's just gonna come in the booth and I sit there. What's wrong with you? She says, oh, I'm not feeling well I said we're gonna do two takes. God bless you. We're gonna read two takes right exactly We're gonna do two takes and that's it. She did two takes and she wind up booking the job That's great. She knew about it. Yeah, and then of course she was feeling much better when she actually did the job And it's like no, that's not what we want. You want you sick No That's that's what we like to hear. Well, what's gotta be interesting is that she would have heard that performance later Like I would think and she would hear the I mean because how much time between the audition And the day you do the gig how much time elapses sometimes It depends animation animation it could wind up being like Like probably three months maybe six months. It depends on the production schedule if it's commercial, you know The turnaround is going to be a little quicker. You know promo is going to be a little quicker um Every other general narration medical all that stuff takes You know, maybe a couple of weeks So you definitely have to real replay or play back what it is. They did what they did job Exactly what you sounded like that day Yeah, so let me take this a little bit more in the macro How do you help someone find Their voice and I know you know what I mean because everybody has their voice But everybody seems to want to sound like somebody else We certainly see that in the tech world. It's like, hey, you got to make me sound great and stuff like that How do you find help people find their authentic voice? I listen to them as a person and I listen to I get this kind of a sixth sense or a feeling and I listen to Who they are And whether or not their wall is up. I get a lot of actors that are walls up And Once I'm able to go ahead and either send them to someone or pull their wall down That's how I can find who their actual voice is It's about them being confident And I'm looking for the confidence. That's how I help them find their voice I've got to get them to be confident. I got to get them to be able to play It's silly and as fun as I am I need them to be just somewhat like me and that is insane as I am per se Yeah, that's going that's going a bit a bit far But that's what I do because I bounce around if you've seen me in person. I'm bouncing around. I'm moving Yeah, you're like ticker You sound like my little brother seconded to me But it's once I once I get them in a comfortable Level and once they feel comfortable with themselves, then I pull out I can hear their voice then I say that's it. That's you Now read the copy I just automatically go ahead and get them in a state of read the copy and read the copy now before you lose it Right, right now. You've been working with a lot of kids lately. I mean like as you were just saying You know little girl little guy, you know people under 10 Is it how how do you direct them? Is it a little bit different than dealing with adults because you know, you can't really throw the emotion in there the same way It's about who it depends on Who the child who the little kid is so I have to understand them and then I have to understand the parent And so that's an important part is that the parent is a very important part And the part and the parent is there so I have to Allow the parent to be the parent for that the same token. I'm here for the child So I have to understand the kid's personality. I tell me about what what what you like You know as far as your subjects in school. What do you like to do for fun? What are you doing your off time? I need to know everything about the kid once I Get to understand their acting understand who they are and then I can go ahead and push the parent aside Then I'm able to go ahead and dig down In you know and pull performances out of kids because kids just want to go they just want to do it They're not thinking about it. So for me, I sometimes have to throw in a laugh or a joke Here and there Get the kid to calm down And then you know make it fun Yeah, all right. Yeah, we're talking with Everett Oliver once again If you've got a question throw it in the chat room I'm looking forward to lots of questions in the next segment. So So get those in there. We're looking at them in youtube and facebook by the way So whatever thing you're on you can type it just you know if you can type and jeff will grab it That's right. And so anyway, we're gonna take a quick break right now. We'll get back to some of those questions So stay tuned. We'll be right back with everett oliver here on voiceover body shop. Don't go away This is the latin lover narrator from jane the virgin anthony mendez You're enjoying dan and george on the voiceover body show 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. 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I'm I'm assuming that we are Yes, anyway, everett oliver is our guest our good friend who is an audition director And we have a pile of questions, which is that we do fabulous You look if your voice actors, you can't be shy and ask your question What do we got? We'll start out with an easy one that came in email from sarah switek And her question is thank you so much for hosting the show with ever oliver tonight. She says to dan and I My question is again How long should a voiceover resume be? I'll ask first. Is there such thing as a voiceover resume? I have one You you demo You demos your resume you some people have a list of credits that they've worked on list of coaches Um, it should probably be a page If you're gonna go ahead and and break the Shows that you've booked um the coaches that you've worked on Um What context would you use a I just never hear that would resume thrown around talking? But what's a context where a voice a resume would be useful like for video games for video games if you you know for anime um, not so much um Uh animation they really don't care, but I would say for anime and for video games For sure, especially if they have new directors Especially young directors that people who have been you know, who are new to that field and people who've been doing it for a very long time um And your demos your calling card That's an important part now Here's the thing that I that I'd always wonder about Because we all have demos, you know, some of us have more demos than others But generally people get booked off of their auditions. Don't they I mean, does that how important how important is your demo really to the whole production process? Don't then things have changed now in 2022 Now everybody gets booked off of their auditions anymore. They get booked off of their demos So yes, so it's very it's very important that you you have your demos current Um, I would say probably within maybe two years. You probably want to go ahead and go ahead and get a new demo um I think it's kind of insane to have a demo for per category um, you know for each genre, but You definitely I mean animation and video games you should use those as to separate demos Maybe have a narration demo commercial and a promo um Maybe a medical narration demo for sure. You'll need one for that e-learning Um, I don't necessarily know you need to e-learn a corporate narration But people are gonna, you know, if you're doing two separate things, sure you need a demo for that Maybe if you had more of a body of work in those different units Different genres than you might want to do a real a cut reel of them, right? Because it's so you know that thing or no, I mean they used to do that years ago probably You know 2015 16 17 8 they would have that but now I mean, it's a short time span Yeah, you know, so when people are listening to stuff they want stuff really quick short to the point and and The thing that drives me insane is you need to have your telephone number On your website kind of not to have your email. Yes And not be looking for it Oh, you know, so that that's one of the fascinating things about people, you know having a voiceover website It's like it's got to be animated and it's got to do that. Nobody cares. Nobody cares. That's your name your demos And I'll find you and you're in your um logo your branding That should all be able to stick out stand out right Alrighty a question from patricia. Andrea. She says, uh, I have one thing for the guys So I've been Booth i've been in the booth been practicing got a bit of voice coaching still looking for a voiceover coach But i'm stuck in the types of samples to make as new And do I start on fiver? How long has she been coaching see when I do career consultations This is what it's stuff that I need to know. I need to know how long you've been coaching. I need to know if um How long what kind of acting classes if you're taking what kind of improv classes? Have you taken where you located? I need to know basic foundation work for me to go ahead and answer her question Right. Well, perhaps she should contact you And And how would she and how would she do that? We'll give you the chance again later, but how would they do that? Oh, my initial eo at voice acting director All right Let's again, we're talking with everett oliver. We're talking about auditioning for voiceover work and and you specialize In animation and in gaming right? More animation I would say um, I specialize in commercials So I've you know, audition wise I cover all genres because it's all acting to me You know So it's just a matter of me hearing How well you connect to that piece of copy that you're reading and bringing yourself to it But really my main focus is animation is top priority and video. Um commercial is my second All right, you know, and if we're talking about improv, we got scott park and coming on in two weeks You know, oh, yeah, his rib is healed. So he knows he's actually going to come back He's ready. He's ready right and if and if it's still sore, he's still going to bring alcohol Which is the most important thing Which apparently he thinks is great for improv Anyway, next question from terry brisco Terry asks ever when you give that second take Uh, give us some things to focus on to make it pop for instance pay for instance pacing Raising or lowering your voice different accents Etc. So you guy the first take down You're happy with where do you go from there? Uh, depends on what the copy is you want to go on a deeper level? Yes, it has to do with pacing Um, bringing it depends if you didn't have a point of view on your first take you need to bring that to your second take Um accents only do an accent that you feel comfortable with that an accents from a region of where you come from Or heritage if you're putting on a funny accent, I would not do it because they're gonna know right away um Second take um, you don't want to emulate the first take as far as your acting style So, you know, I say go for it, you know Stepping outside of your comfort zone If you think it's going to be over the top a lot of people who think they're Who think that going over the top is going to make them really over the top, but it's not You know, which means to me is is that they've never able to They don't know how to get out of the comfort zone. They don't know what being like over the top is so they're scared They're afraid to even go there. And so what I do is I push them so you need to push yourself to go over the top and nine times out of 10 It's not going to be over the top because your personality doesn't fit that depending on who you are And sometimes, you know for animation you have to do stuff that's over the top. That's what's going to make you stand out Yeah, and that's an animate. I've learned animation is always over the top. It's like, you know, it's not Normal reserved. It's always right But video game is the opposite, right video game is more about realism It's real. It's a moment of realism of cinematic, right? It's really pulling those layers and really connecting and bringing Bringing your like her depending on, you know, some cast and directors like to hear your heritage Bring some of your background foundation To the read from where you come from where your family comes from. So, yeah Here's one from From grace newton. She said asks as a booth director when you were a booth director What is the most challenging thing that you face in a day? um Auditioning one person with six piece of copy and trying to get it did it done in 15 and 20 minutes Trying to get too much driving crazy little time trying to get used to it, right? And it was the constant, you know being at the agency was great It gave me the foundation and even to the state of me moving people in a fast quick pace But that was the challenging part. It really is the deadlines We have to get the deadlines out and you have you guys have to be ready and be prepared And rather than just coming in like it's uh, you didn't study like you would do in high school in college I'm thinking of one of my students right now They're trying to do it off the cuff, right and they know it works for some people it works for some people You know some people good Yep, that's why they mentioned your name Now here's an interesting question and George and I are gonna look at this and go what uh from dan alpern He says Do you want to know if I audition from the road or a hotel room but have a better sounding home studio? Should you tell them? That's actually an interesting question. Yeah, yeah, I mean, but I always find that people are like I got to audition from the road So I'm unless of course they're in the road company of hair or so he's worried that his audition He does from the road isn't representative of his home studio. Right. So I guess I'm saying why bother Should should you bother? I wouldn't I wouldn't mention. Well, I think you should I mean You know, you're you're submitting something. I don't think in this day and age unless your sound quality is that bad that you Shouldn't but I think you should you make those preparations when you're going on a trip You should bring all that stuff with you. I bring my stuff with me when I'm traveling So why not, you know, but I wouldn't let the client know that I'm auditioning You know from the road at home. I wouldn't say that You know, you make sure your sound quality is just as good at home as it is on the road So you need to pull it off what you're saying is you need to pull off a really good make it work Road make it work. Mm-hmm. Make it work All right. Do what you have to do. You're you're a professional So do what you have to do And that requires knowledge of how to record on the road and don't just like You know, you can't wing it. You got you have to know what sounds like it's advanced Absolutely. Well, it wouldn't be voiceover body shop unless j. Horace black had a question for us. So Jay j you go for it. Yeah, he said I just want to say thanks again for facilitating the connection with With elli representation apparently that happened. Um, can't tell you how pleased I am appreciate you bro He's been getting a lot of auditions lately that only asked for one take What's your suggested approach for these kinds of thing? And are they just doing that because they're just Yeah, they're probably on the time they're probably don't want to listen everything if you're going to do one take go for it Don't hold back Bring every nook and cranny and j stop worrying and stop thinking because you tend to worry and think A lot of questions Stop asking just do it just whatever it is because j there's too many people are auditioning for the same thing you have to My thing is is this you have to go to a conference Once you go to a conference and you see how many people is at a conference that's going to tell you what your competition is Okay, so I don't know what else to say. You just need to just do it And go for it You know, you guys have to also I had notes here too. You guys have to network You have to put yourself out there Some of you think guys think that you're gonna actually book from just doing an audition not in 2022 not in 2023 and not in 2024 People there's so many of you you have to put yourself out there through marketing through You know having a relationship with your coach Through going to conferences. This is how you get seen and this is how you get noticed Bullying at home sticking at home and being your booth is not going to get you noticed I've set my peace tough love's coming. All right If we can't if we don't hear it from you, what's it? Jay jay is a j. I mean jay's awesome and we all take oh, yes He asks really good questions, but it does show you that jay's he's a thinker. He's serious. He's serious about funny things Yes, and and he should not think he should just let it go and just Do whatever comes natural and trust yourself and trust your instincts You know, if you're playing it too safe and you know, you've been playing this safe and it's not working out Then the other way of doing it is okay. Let me just go for it You know meaning go big Easier said than done for a lot of people I mean, of course if if you really can't add lib or you really can't be relaxed Voice over perhaps is not the profession for you You've got to be able to you know look outside the box and those sorts of things How do you help someone relax and and Do that kind of thing it's it's not easy. I mean it's it's still hard for me, you know, except that I make them You know, I've been doing it for years and it's like No, I mean I may I Do off the wall stuff. I you know, I get in their heads. I make them laugh I I do stuff to just relax them once I get them relaxed and I go ahead and I Approach them approach to get into copy. You just have to just uh, you know, I tell people actually to you know Go jump on a trampoline. I tell people to go exercise mean running go running go biking go skateboarding I tell people to go do something fun and then go do your addition So that way you're in a really playful mind. There's tons of people are doing that Go have a conversation with Whoever just to distract you Go do gardening go swimming um, you know, go walk your dog um Do something fun before you go ahead and you're going to go tackle tackle those auditions That's going to help you get into a mood You know, because you're in a playful mood. You're not thinking about it and again It should only take you 30 minutes if it's taking you longer You're wasting your time as one of my agents would tell me Wasting your time. They're not going to book it. They're overthinking it when somebody gets a script And they're what what is the prep process that you would like them to do when they they first see it? You know, there's the specs. There's the copy You know, then you know and the spec sometimes can be much longer than copy We tend to see an awful lot What what process would you like to see them do? Read the script three times Read the script enough three times that they're understanding what is required from them Then after they read the script three times, they should go ahead and they should start marking the scripts They should put in there where their emotional turns are going to be they should With their where they're going to probably improv um Where you know, certain buttons that they're going to go ahead and get then Go ahead and read the copy at least once on mic Just to kind of see where their true point of view is going to come through You know, just read it, you know read and act for the first take Then read and act again for the second take where they're not thinking about it Walk away for another 15 20 minutes just to go ahead and clear their head and then go bad and read for the third take They have three days they should have three different takes. They should be done in a half hour And then when they're done Stop thinking about it. Check the labeling because that's important And leave it alone. Don't don't don't Think about it. Don't call me. Don't think after thoughts Don't email me and say, oh, I need you to re-listen to this before I send it out If you want me to listen to it, let's go as go calls Oh, no, because my actors are actually my actors are bold enough. They will send me text messages. It's like, hey, I need you to see this I'm like, okay I'm listening Yeah, people need to let it go every now and again, you know, you send it out I mean, I I've gotten I've done so many auditions in my lifetime. It's like go You know, just shove it down the pipe and like, you know, I gotta go walk the dog But it's right be the dog or something But you have to remember too is it's more than just these auditions. That's what I was saying earlier It's about you really have to network and put yourself out there and meet people This is how you're gonna find work You could keep auditioning to you blue in the face, but if nobody knows who you are That's gonna be a problem You know, this is when you're doing it for years and years and you're wondering why You know, maybe you're coaching with people who are not connected with you who don't understand you You know, that could be an issue. Maybe, you know You totally you're getting bad advice from people. Maybe you're not going to these conferences You know, maybe you're an introvert and you're trying to you know I meet tons there's tons of people who are introverts in our industry And it's like you have this emotional wall up and it's like, well, how do I get my emotional wall down? It's like I'm not a therapist per se. Even though my colleague Uncle Roy always says we're all a therapist if we're coaches Yeah Yeah, check out even tech people a therapist exactly But it's like I send people as people to somebody to really work with them to getting their wall down But it's a thing of you know, you've got to be comfortable in your own skin To do this work. You really need to know who you are And once you understand the dynamics of who you are And how you tick You're going to put that towards the copy whether it's a character or whether it's commercial company And once you understand that dynamics, that's what's going to help you book But if you're sitting here, if you it's like if you can't make a decision in the grocery store Whether or not you're going to have tuna for dinner or this for dinner Then and and that's that's a problem going on in your everyday life Then that's going to be a problem in your and your voice over your voice over career We got one last question here. Yeah, we got one last question here from max golberg from youtube This is when receiving an audition script with no specs whatsoever What ways or steps are there to determine how one should self direct and then proceed with recording I would just bring you I've never heard of anybody not having specs. I've that's never happened to me in my I've seen it. I've never seen that but I would say if that happened I would say just bring yourself to it. Whatever the copy is Look at the copy and bring your true authentic truth to it Yourself to it No, all right. Let's find out a time to throw something crazy against the wall and see what sticks Right, just be that should too what you're playing true and use that as a second take Oh, there you go. That's your second take. That's your second take. Good job, george. You've learned to listen I've only heard you say that about 400 times. Yeah, so it's patrick kushner This man This man says names on this. Oh, I'll call you out. I'll call you out I Already well effort as always Aside from just hanging out with you It's a pleasure having you on the show and offering your Your expertise on on how to audition better again if people want to work with you Where can they get a hold of you? Eo at voice acting director calm And voice acting director calm is my website Um, I won't give up my telephone number because some of some of them already have my cell phone number Yeah, oh, there's a lot of people I have it and when I see it come up That's that's why I'm the only one in america that has a landline queue Well, every thanks for being with us tonight. We really appreciate it and thanks so much guys Good luck in the future and all that I will see you soon. All right George and I'll be right back to wrap things up and re-rack it for tech talk right after this. So don't go away You're still watching vlbs Your dynamic voiceover career requires extra resources to keep moving ahead There's one place where you can explore everything the voiceover industry has to offer That place is voiceover extra calm 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 Audiobrow's auditioning 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 It's all here at voiceover extra.com. That's voice over x t r a dot com It's that time on the show where we thank Source elements the creators of source connect the most predominantly Widely used remote recording tool in the voiceover business Completely has taken over for i s d n if you don't know what i s d n is don't worry about it But it's gone. It's gone But i s d n was how studios tended to connect to their Best and most well-loved and highest paid clients Um because it was easy for them to get great audio now with source connect It's even easier for producers to get great audio straight into pro tools Which is what they are going to be using most of the time probably at the studio The workflow is efficient and that is why they love it So you want to have this tool in your toolbox? You want to be proficient? You might even consider paying them. I think it's 75 dollars for the certification Which isn't just like paying for a little badge. They actually Teach us stuff. They will actually Go through your system. They'll make sure your system is set up properly They will if there's some issues with the sound they actually will give you some advice to make it better It's it's a very worthwhile expense to make sure that your quality is where it should be for source connect So just another way they provide great service. So you can go to over to source dash elements.com Get yourself a demo poke around watch the videos spend some time And then when you're ready subscribe or pay for your license Outright and own it for life. You can do that right over at source dash elements.com. We'll be right back In these modern times every business needs a website when you need a website for your voice acting business There's only one place to go like the name says voice actor websites.com Their experience in this niche webmaster market gives them the ability to quickly and easily get you from concept to live online In a much shorter time when you contact voice actor websites.com Their team of experts and designers really get to know you and what your needs are They work with you to highlight what you do Then they create an easily navigable website for your potential clients to get the big picture of who you are And how your voice is the one for them plus voice actor websites.com has other great resources Like their practice script library and other resources to help your voice over career flourish Don't try it yourself. Go with the pros voice actor websites.com where your via website shouldn't be a pain in the you know what Hi, this is bill farmer and you are watching voice over body shop. It's great All righty. Well Like I said Scott parkin's gonna be here in a couple of weeks You know, which we missed him last time he was here But yeah, I know which will be a lot of fun not next week the week after that Okay, and then we have a two week You know our cycle will have scott parkin and then we'll do tech talk again And then i'm gonna be gone for a couple of weeks, but we're all I think we're only gonna miss like one week Okay, maybe two we're doing our best to not miss it between all the travels the holidays everything Yeah, I mean it was you know, it's kind of kind of weird trying to fit it all together But anyway next week on this very show there will be tech talk number 88 88 It is it's gonna be 88 88, but we're gonna record that in just a minute So stay tuned if you got tech questions. We want to hear the your tech questions. Yeah Uh But we do have People would help us do this show and that is the donors of the week. Yes, sir And they are robert leadham steven chandler kasey clack jonathan grant tom pinto Greg thomas a doctor voice ant land productions martha con 949 designs. All right jonathan grant christopher epperson jonathan grants in there twice lucky son of a did he make a double donation? I may have done that. He no, he's just a smart dude. That's why he's in there twice All right, uh chris epperson Sarah borges philips appear brian page patty gibbons rob rider shana pentington baird don griffith Trey mosley downer birdsall sandra manwheeler I love saying all those names. We say them all the time because they're subscribers They didn't just make a one-time payment. They're they're subscribing and you can do that for those a buck That's right a month. You know, it's all takes to get your name read every every show, right? But it's because they're supporting our show Yeah, because they they believe the great stuff that we do here at voiceover body shop I guess so or they just want to hear the name right at the end of the show That's right. Yeah. All right. We need to thank our sponsors harlan hogan's voiceover essentials voiceover extra Soros elements vo heroes dot com voice actor websites dot com jmc demos and world voices dot org the industry association of freelance voice talent Just come sort of flows off my mind when I say that because it should at this point by now it should It's a job. Yes. It's my other job. Anyway, our thanks to jeff holman for getting all those questions to us in the chat Well tonight, we really appreciate it. He's like his career is just taken off. So glad to hear it. Yeah I mean he was in that that you know He's doing a ton of on camera stuff. I know it's great stuff. We got to get him in here so we can hear what he's doing Sumer lino In the studio tonight It's actually here tonight. It's about time we're all together I guess we're gonna have to do some drinking after this or something Anyway, thanks sue for a great job tonight and of course lee penny for just being lee penny Anyway, well, that's gonna do it for this tech talk is coming up next live So if you want to ask your questions That would be a good time to throw it in the chat room because we're gonna do all that stuff And we got some cool stuff to talk about tonight, but in the meantime This is not an easy business. There's so many things you got to do it be able to do right But when it comes down to it, you know, high audition and you're you know, your tech Technology and all that stuff It really comes down to if it sounds good. It is good. I'm dan lennard and i'm george woodham and this is voiceover body shop or vio B s see you next week