What kind of voice talent are you or want to be?

Obviously, the working kind :P
But in my two decades of training others, hiring others and working as a voice talent for others, these are the few things I have noticed, picked up and found out.

Voice talents are people. And as such, they come from different venues of life and have their own character and personality. We all put our working mask when it comes to clients, but between us, Voice artists, there is no such thing as a mask.

So here is what I have picked up. Please keep in mind these are generalizations.
Voice artists, do not like agencies or P2P sites. Why? Because they feel that the agencies or sites are taking a cut for THEIR work. And that may apply for certain sites that do absolutely nothing, except maybe create a funnel fro ongoing clientèle, but some agencies actually do the work. Non billable hours of putting a portfolio of sometimes 100- 200 samples for the client, in hopes he will accept and chose the ones he wants. Negotiations and phone calls to Europe, Asia, Usa, with people that may speak or may not speak English. Tracking of offers and names and audio files, checking for quality. And that is only the part before any deal is done. So, agencies, true agencies, should get paid for providing openings to clients.
Of course there are sites that not only take a cut, but also charge Vo artists to be in their rosters, and in return they do not provide any client, or too few to explain the registration fee. And these, are bottom feeders and loathed by the VO community. But more about sites and agencies in the future.

Another problem is humility. Either there is too much of it, people willing to work for nothing, totally destroying the market, or there is none.
Some VO artist keep looking at the pocket of the client and say things like "The client will make thousands of dollars with my commercial, it's only fair I get paid adequately". The problem with that way of thinking is that the VO artist is not realizing two fundamental things.
a) No one is that unique or irreplaceable. A Danish woman living in Thailand, will ask far less than a Danish woman in Denmark. A French artist living in Denmark or Greece, will ask far less than a French artist in Paris. It is a big world, with lots of gateways and lots of people willing to work for less, so focusing on ones true needs and value is important, and as my mother always used to say "Regarde ton assiette", which means, look at your own plate and do not look on what others have, with envy or greed. If  Coke will make millions, it will go on making them, with or without you, you are not a key component to its success. Ask for a logical price, put the brand in your resume and be happy for doing a great job that allows you to have your schedule.
b) Big companies spend lots of money for an ad, that includes writers, translators, film-makers, directors and producers, social media specialists, radio and tv stations and the voice over comes last in the food chain. Once the budget is decided, a chain reaction starts, with the ad agency hiring the writers, the producers, then the voice overs. If as a voice over you think your voice, again is the main component, you need to realize that for an ad that you get to voice, usually 6 to 20 people are involved and get paid from the prearranged budget.


Then there is the union one's. The ones that try to keep the job alive, and with decent pay and I have nothing but admiration for them, because they are passed by, many times. But on the other hand, they work in different venues.

And this is what it is all about, isn'it?
To find your niche, what you are good at. To exploit and market it.
For example, my English is Neutral. For years people told me I had an American accent and I agreed, until someone pointed out it was a global, undefinable accent that was very in demand.
I exploit my French and Greek.
I am very good at emotional readings, at portraying attractive feminine sultry or maternal characters. That does not mean I say no to e learning material, or applications, but  my ability to convey vulnerability and a certain je ne sais quoi, has allowed me to work on tv commercials, a lot.



If you are just starting in this business, you will need to read the guide. (coming shortly)
And with practice, you will find out who you are, what you are good at, and what your voice overs are worth.

Moving to Denmark, working in Denmark

I can tell you, it was not easy. moving here.
First off I had to get married. Not that I did not love my husband. I adored him. I had to be head over heels in love to try for a second time to move to a man's country, and believe me, I was adamant I would NEVER do that again, for any one under any circumstances.  The first time,- in my stupid 20's-was a disaster and I even fought with a good friend of mine  a few years back when she decided to follow her sweetheart in the states. I berated her about everything she would encounter and of course she got mad at me.
 I don't blame her.
But when I followed my husband I had to eat my own words. She was classy as ever and not even gave me a  look. You know, those looks that imply you are a hypocrite or a moron.
I was honest in my beliefs. I believed moving to someone else's country puts you at a disadvantage. When you fight, you go out, blow some steam, go to a friend. If things are bad, you go back to your apartment or your parents, depending on what is available. When you are in someone else's country you have no where to go, no one to talk to. And if things were not bad enough, the other person KNOWS it. And that changes everything. No more apologies required. No more efforts. You lose your value in their eyes, and then you lose your value in your eyes.
But... as any woman in love will tell you, "my baby is different, I hit the jack pot, he is wooooonderful".
So,  after losing my steady job, and having huge problems with my ex, I decided it was a sign, packed my dogs, my child, my life and my personal history and moved to Denmark.
But it was hard. I could not read anything in the supermarket. I needed my husband for everything. I felt I had to be a home maker, to compensate the fact I was not earning any money, which is something that I hate by nature. I was raised by a man who felt women were only good for the kitchen and the bedroom and that had an impact on me. I was NOT going to be a Steptford wife and I was going to do something  with my life. Something meaningful.
I landed a job as a presenter in a Tv channel. I became an executive producer, and a producer. I dabbled with subtitles and I interviewed celebrities of my time. Real ones, realities did not exist and being on TV was no easy task.
I wrote two books. Not self published.
I had a good singing career for most of my life and had no day job to support me.
I was a successful columnist.
I think I had proved I was doing ok. Or, that I was pretty. The verdict is still out on this one.

Working in Denmark was not an easy task. I started teaching Languages privately as I did since 1989. I tried to reach out to the Greek and French community but left pretty quickly. I did not really fit in either. I baby sat, and pushed cinnamon buns in a school kantine. I taught in a school in French and English, the beauty of pop culture, arts, and poetry. Dance and kinesiology.
I worked as a voice agent and thought I had found my niche. As a voice artist I knew how to speak to my peers, when not bring them an offer that was beneath them, and they felt they could trust me. Of course I would have to deal with the occasional pompous ass that thought he was still living in the 80s, time of his peak, but I learned pretty fast to avoid them and work with the ones that were good and humble.
Clients appreciated the budgets and my explanations as to what they should expect. All in all I was good at what I was doing, so, in January 2015, I opened my own agency.I earned my living as a voice artist, but I felt that I needed more "partners" in several languages, in order to get to those clients I could not get for myself. Indeed, I voice in French, English and Greek but my Danish is not voice over material.
To my surprise I realized most  voice artists do not own their own studio, which was limiting them in time but also, sky-rocketed the budget. So, I decided to offer my own facility to my talents. That would reduce the price considerably and make the talent more available for the client.
The idea took off and I had actresses coming and going, and business was slowly picking up. I went to a sporgskole, where I met several people from Portugal, Brazil, China, London, Germany... Some of them had amazing voices, but needed some form of training. So this was the moment I realized I could help them and help myself.
I created a seminar.
A simple 2 days program where I show them the basics of sound engineering, and where I teach them how to read and how to discern the differences between a narration, a commercial, an e-learning  material, an application, or a video web.But more about this seminar at another time.