Here’s the article!

“Seth’s Blog : Habit #7

The habit of being easily persuaded by mass media

The habit of doing it right instead of doing it over

The habit of responding to nastiness with nastiness

The habit of failing to trust people who care

The habit of wasting time in meetings

The habit of being on time

The habit of avoiding things that cause fear

The habit of reading ahead

The habit of doing more than promised

The habit of expanding personal knowledge and experience

The habit of skepticism

The habit of close talking

The habit of generosity…

There’s a million habits out there, some good, some bad, all learned.

Every habit (your market, your family, your organization has) was formed because people got rewarded for it, at least in the short run.

The thing is, every habit is changeable with effort.”

Have you got any tips on good habits that one should cultivate as an entrepreneur?

I’ll start the list off with two:
Discipline and consistency!

Bye for now…

Sent from Samsung Mobile

I came across this blog entry by Susan of the great voice company which offers some very sound advice.

It’s aimed at newbies, but I think there’s useful content in it for all of us no matter what our level! I certainly found it helpful.

Here it is:

How to Find the Time To Start Your Voice Over Career By Susan Berkley

Busy? Me too. Yet if you’re like me, you want it all and you’re always thinking ahead, looking for ways to make your life more enjoyable and productive Problem is, where do you find the time to work on your new voice over career?

In this week’s Inside Voice Over, I’ve got some great advice. It’s from a very busy friend of mine Julie Steinbacher, an elder law attorney and mother of three. Julie developed a method she calls ‘Chunk It’ where she divides her time into focused 90 minute blocks of productive activity.

Here’s how it works.

Face the facts Let’s be realistic here. The day will never come when you’ll have long interrupted stretches of days or weeks to work on your voice over career. To start getting real results, all you need is 90 focused, uninterrupted minutes a day to work on your voice over career. But the key here is that time must be focused and uninterrupted. I believe anyone can find that time. . Get up a little earlier or go to bed a little later. Turn off the TV. Order take out dinner once or twice a week. And then make the commitment to sit down and do it.

Ramp up Time All tasks require ramp up time to get focused and gather your thoughts. When you switch from one task to another, you waste precious time getting ready. 90 minutes is just enough time to get focused and really get some work done.

Optimal Concentration Brain research shows that 90 minutes is an optimal amount of time for your brain to focus. After that it starts to get tired. In fact, researchers recommend that for optimal concentration, we take a short break every 90 minutes or so before returning to our desk for our next 90 minute chunk of time..

No Interruptions When working in a chunk, nothing should disturb you. Don’t go to the bathroom, don’t check email, don’t answer the phone, don’t talk to family members. This is a completely uninterrupted chunk of focused time. According to Julie, anything can wait for 90 minutes. Your productivity will really soar when you discipline yourself this way.

Use a Timer Stick with your task and don’t leave your seat until the bell goes off I’m always amazed at how much I can get done in 90 focused minutes when I concentrate this way.

Hang in there! An author recently completed a book in only 6 months working in 3 uninterrupted 90 minute chunks of time each day. She started early, finished work by 3 PM and still had time to go for a run in between two of her chunks.

And there you are! What tips do you have on managing your voiceover career lifestyle time?

Susan’s website is: http://www.greatvoice.com

Cheers for now!
Stefania

You might have noticed the absence of the fluffy pink borders on this blog page. The colours matched my old website, but that one has been replaced for some time. So it’s time for the energy here to be freshened up, updated and brought into line with my current VoiceOver website. Next in line were the Testimonials and About Me pages. I hadn’t looked at them in some time. Next, it was a visit to my LinkedIn page for some tweaking. Maybe I’ve been a bit too much nose to the grindstone lately. When we make progress in our lives and careers we should mark and celebrate it!

Have you checked out your blogs, websites, and social media pages to make sure that the message that you’re sending out reflects you and your product as you are today?

What kind of tweaking and revamping have you been doing or plan to do?

Another top thing on my list is more VoiceOver training. One can never be too good, and have learned everything there is to know about the field. Things change everyday. Even watching the telly or listening to the radio is often study time for me. I’ve been watching lots of animations and narrative-type documentaries lately. And, in addition to in-person work, there’s distance learning, and there’s the Weekend Workout programme as well. I’ve fallen off the wagon on that one a bit. Time to get back on the horse!

I’m finding James Alburger’s book, The Art of Voice Acting – 4th edition, The Art of Voice Acting: The Craft and Business of Performing Voiceover to be quite an interesting piece of work. It makes a good refresher study, and I’m picking up some new ideas as well. The CD that comes with the book is handy to, because I can hear examples of what the book is covering and I’ve put a few bits on my iPod as well.

There’s Money Where Your Mouth Is by Elaine Clark, There’s Money Where Your Mouth Is: The Insider’s Guide to a Career in Voice-overs is a valuable resource as well.

That’s it for today. May you be blessed, prosperous, happy and busy in this new year. Go out and let it happen! Cheers!

Please visit us Facebook for crafts,culture and arts news!

My podcast of storytelling and positive-inspirational messages.

Positive Affirmations and Audio Stories.

I’ll be spending part of this holiday season planning voiceover and crafting strategies for 2013…this includes more training, auditions, and self initiated voiceover projects. The winter solstice events also gave me a good opportunity to align myself spiritually, and prepare to move forward.

A lot of my VO peers – and friends outside of my VO world – have been through a lot of challenges and positive changes over 2012. And they’re still standing tall and strong. Blessings to us all.

Here are some photos gathered thus far – including our homemade Yule log.

Happy hols everyone!

Stefania
http://www.stefsvoice4u.co.uk
http://www.positiveaffirmationsandaudiostories.co.uk

My colleagues James Alburger and Penny Abshire at the Voice Acting Academy in San Diego, California are holding a Voice Acting Performance Intensive Workshop running on various dates from 24 November through 30 December. There are twelve dates on offer at $597 per ticket. It’s a little too far for me to attend from England, but I have some of their teaching materials and have found them very very useful. One day, I’d like to get some coaching from them. [There are other teachers on my list as well like Pat Fraley, and Nancy W., but that's another day's blog entry!]

The description of the workshop that came my way ran thus ” This 2-1/2 day voice acting workshop will take your performing skills to an entirely new level. Whether you are an on-camera actor, stage actor, or just interested in breaking into voiceover, this workshop will give you the skills you need to work as a professional voiceover talent or improve your verbal communication skills. Taught by James Alburger and Penny Abshire of VoiceActing Academy in San Diego. ..”

Go to their website for more particulars, and the latest info on available dates (things might have changed since I received the above news) at http://www.voiceacting.com . Or, you can find them both on Facebook.

Ramble number two.  Many people look way down their noses at USB mics, but I think they do have a place in one’s voiceover toolkit.  They’re good for travel, quick auditions, and a good many actual VO gigs. If that’s what you have, work with what you’ve got and don’t worry about the opinions of others. Just do your best! There are many people with Neumanns and other super duper powerful mics, who haven’t work a VO gig in donkeys (that’s a UK expression for a very long time). But do dig in your pockets and invest in a decent mic. Tinny, weak-sounding voiceovers are not on! Ramble no. 2 done.

App of the week — Daily Affirmations –This is an Android app which I’ve just discovered. It’s very good for keeping us focused. You just write one affirmation several times a day, or for several days,  whilst it sinks into your subconscious. It’s great because you must write the entire affirmation each time. There’s no shortcut copy and paste mechanism. After a while you might find yourself avoiding old behaviour patterns because they’re no longer in harmony with the new vision that you’ve set for yourself. It’s all about persistence and repetition.

What kind of techniques do you use to keep yourself on target with your professional and personal goals and dreams? Feel free to comment and share.

All for now…Happy Thanksgiving…we are blessed…let’s be grateful for that, and for all of the good in our lives!

stefsvoice4youBroadcast Podcast on iTunes.

Positive Affirmations and Audio Stories.

I’m re-broadcasting it here and dedicating it to all the wonderful online and offline friends that I now know, and have known. They’ve been with me through good times and bad.  I shall do my best to continue to be a good friend to you as well. Blessings and thanks to you all!

Here’s the article. You can find a linkbto Edge Studio in my blogroll.

18 Reasons Why You Lose Voice Over Auditions

Don’t be discouraged if you’re not winning auditions that your agent sends you on. Rather ask your agent how many voice actors they send to each audition. If your agency sends 20 talent to each audition, and you’ve only been on 5 auditions, then odds have it that you will have not won a job yet.

Of course, if you’ve been on more than 20 auditions, then read on, as there are a number of issues that could be at play:

1. You’re nervous and making it painfully obvious to everyone! Some jitters are natural, but don’t let it show. Do take deep breaths in through the nose, out through the mouth (be discreet about it) and remember to relax and have fun! This is fun, not the end of the world! **For a stress reliever and to help your voice – do breathing exercises: Breathe in through your nose – exhale through your mouth. Practice deep breaths.

2. The agency is testing you. They’re sending you on as many auditions as possible (even if they know your voice is not the correct type for the script) to build up your confidence, experience, and / or contacts. If this is the case, consider yourself fortunate, as it means that the agency believes in you (and your voice)!

3. You can not perform as well as your demo sounds (a common problem). In other words, you are misrepresenting yourself. If this is the case, you’ll spend your life auditioning…for nothing. This could happen for many reasons: Perhaps you are rusty. Or perhaps you don’t “cold read” well. Maybe you are nervous at auditions (this produces a high-pitched, contrived, and un-relaxed voice quality), or lack confidence in your delivery. We can help you with any of these.

4. Maybe you do not read with enough variety. For example, every time you read the script, it sounds the same. Think about making different applications for the script. Be open-minded to doing it different ways. When possible do 2 or 3 takes but say upfront regarding the versions.

5. Don’t assume you know the style or tone the script should be read in. There can be many ways any one script can be interpreted. Do ask before you begin “What type of delivery would you like?”

6. Perhaps you do not follow direction well. For example, when the casting professional says, “Do XYZ.”, you do not. In fact, we hold a LOT of casting calls – and at least a third of talent who submit auditions have NOT followed our directions. For example, we ask for a slate, but the voice talent does not slate their audition. Or we ask for two takes, but get only one. Sometimes we request a specific file name, but the file we receive is not named the way we requested. Come across looking smart – ask smart questions.

7. Maybe your agency is sending you out on the wrong types of auditions. This could be to fill up the roster. For example, if the agency’s client wants to have 10 voice-over artists audition, but the agency only has 8 voice-over artists who match the desired voice-type, they may send some incorrect voices to the audition.

8. Could you just be unlucky?

9. Do you ask too many questions? Act unprofessionally? Show up late? This will certainly not help win the job. Don’t be late. Do be courteous and punctual, perhaps arriving a few minutes early to relax and look over the script. Be sure to thank everyone.

10. Don’t be a show-off! Bragging about past work you’ve done, commenting on the studio equipment, rattling off all your accomplishments or ways that you could read a script are all signs of an insecure beginner. Just keep quiet and let your read speak for itself. Say thanks before and after: “thank you so much for this opportunity”

11. Don’t tap the microphone, say “testing 1-2-3″, fiddle with the equipment. Let the engineers do what they do best.

12. When the producer cues you to start, don’t say “now?” or “anytime?”, just focus yourself and begin.

13. Don’t ask for feedback – don’t ask how you performed.

14. Don’t get flustered and apologize profusely if you made a mistake and don’t make excuses like, “I’m really tired today” or “I have a cold”. Do stay calm, keep a sense of humor and try again.

15. You are so worried about capturing the style that your client wants, that you don’t infuse your own style. The irony is that clients hire voice-actors because they like their style, and often welcome the voice actor’s help in shaping the script and other suggestions.

16. Don’t assume you’ve lost the job just because they dismiss you right away or cut your read short. It may mean just the opposite! Producers know what they’re looking for and can usually tell very quickly if you’re right or not.
17. Perhaps it just takes you too long to “get it.” This industry moves fast, and if you require an hour of hand-holding and producing to read the script correctly, you will not get the job. If you have a question, such as how to pronounce a certain word, ask it up-front rather than midway through the read.

18. Don’t be upset if you don’t get the job. It’s not necessarily a reflection on your talent but may simply be that your voice wasn’t quite right for the material. Do stay positive and keep auditioning!

Thanks gang, for reading the blog. Hope it’s useful. Do you have any tips to add to Edge Studio’s list? Feel free to share!

Sent from Samsung Mobile

It’s a mini post of sorts, but the picture says it all.

Be yourself…as you are (not including personal self improvement) is good enough! You CAN make your dreams come by recognising and celebrating your own personal value, and what you “bring to the party!”

I love this poster. I found it on Facebook!

Cheers!

http://www.stefsvoice4u.co.uk
http://www.positiveaffirmationsandaudiostories.co.uk

Retakes usually are needed for a few reasons:

Technical Issues (feedback, low gain, static, etc.)
Background Sounds
Script Errors
Me Being a Doofus (I mispronounced a word, inadvertently changed a word, inserted a word, flubbed an accent, or stressed the wrong word)

These are all common errors, many of which you can minimize.

TIP OF THE WEEK: Here’s what you can do to minimize the amount of retakes needed:

Read the script. I know that sounds obvious, but I mean REALLY read the script. I try read it three times before I record. Once to enjoy it & understand the story, once to break down the characters, and once to review spelling and grammar.

Ask questions. If I’m not sure about something, I ask the publisher. If he’s not sure, he contacts the author and gets back to me. Once in a while you may get to talk to the author directly, but I’m not always sure that’s best. Writing something and reading it aloud are two different disciplines and it’s the publisher’s job to bridge them.

Take notes. I always build a pronunciation guide. Sci-fi stories tend to have a lot a big real words and even more fake words, some of which don’t feel organic. Get the correct pronunciations and practice them. Also, I like using accents so I track how each character speaks and make sure I get the subtleties right.

Have fun! If you do your homework and enjoy the session, your acting will shine through.

Thanks Tom!

Cheers!

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A-Z of Voiceover Revisited

Here’s my new updated A-Z

A- analyse your copy before beginning to record. There’s a time for rip and read, but it’s really best if I know where I’m headed and where my transitions are.

B- baseline. I have a baseline in terms of investments/fees that I require for any given job. I’m open to negotiation, of course, but if the offer is quite a bit less than the baseline, I use the “delete” button or refer the talent seeker to another source.

C- courage. If you’re not making the progress that you want to in your have the courage to ask for professional help to see where improvement is needed, and follow the advice received. A little coaching can go a long way.

D- diction. Get some tutoring if you need to. Tongue twisters are great. There are even apps for that!

E- effort. Put love and your best effort into every transaction.

F- friends. i love my online friends and the offline ones too. We don’t have to go it alone.

G- gratitude. every day is a blessing!

H- happy. stay happy. if a home recording session gets you tied in knots – take a break and raise your mood, then give it another go. works for me (most of the time).

I- interest. keep interested in many things. i never know what subjects i’ll be asked to voice. so it pays to learn to pick up the big picture of a subject quickly.

J- joy. even a small project can be a blessing. so be joyous.

K- kind. be kind to everyone, even voice seekers who offer ridiculous sums of money which we have to turn .

L – life. put life into reads. let it reflect our own individual personality.

M – money. it’s a very good thing. keep on top if monies due to you. Set fees according to your needs and goals.

N – Not a problem! Within reason, be willing to go the extra mile for your clients.

O- Optimise – get the optimum quality that you can out of your sound system. Get the optimum out of your website too. Google SEO for more info.

P – Perfect …edit your recordings to the best level of perfection that you can manage.

Q- Respond quickly to audition requests and client or prospective client queries.

R – Relax. when times are slow keep a determined but relaxed attitude. It’ll get better eventually. Multiple streams of income help life go a lot more smoothly!

S- Smile. Peeps can hear it in your recording, and a colleague advises that it’s good for clear “s” sounds.

T – Train. Always keep training, learning and sharpening your VO skills.

U – Keep your contact details up to date.

V- Voice. Keep your voice in good shape with exercises, practice and warm ups.

W – website that’s mobile device friendly. move with the times!

X- Xtra. Voiceover Extra run by John Florian, is a fabby site with great and helpful articles by industry experts.

Y – You Tube is great source of inspiration with lots of interesting voiceover interviews, tutorials and other good stuff. There’s a lot of nonsense there too so discriminate!

Z – Zest. Enjoy your voiceover career, enjoy your life with Zest!

Cheers!

P.s. Artsy craftsy all the way, that’s me! http://facebook.com/BeadedDelightsByStef

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