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Your VOAT Please

August 31, 2011 By 32 Comments

This is big.  You have no idea how much time I’ve spent on this project, so please humor me and follow along.  :)

VOAT stands for Voice Over Awareness Today.  It’s the follow-up to last year’s highly successful NVOAM or National Voice Over Appreciation Month.  (this from a guy who HATES acronyms!)

The problem with National Voice Over Appreciation Month is some voice actors didn’t “appreciate” it.  They offered feedback.  I listened.  VOAT is the outcome.

All those who found NVOAM a pleasure…something much needed for the VO community…a chance to be more proud of your profession…an opportunity to spread the word — will also hopefully find VOAT to their liking.

BTW, the 2010 NVOAM site is still there with all the logos from all those voice-actors showing support for the inaugural event.  Go to http://www.nationalvoiceovermonth.com.  The site also allows listening to and downloading the 3 collaboration PSA’s everybody helped with last year.  I’ve been posting those all over Social Media sites, ’cause I think they’re a great way to show others what we do.

But back to VOAT.

Of course, there’s a NEW website.  VOAToday.com.

Here’s the deal: when you visit the site, there will be a question for your to answer, (in other words, you VOAT/VOTE–get it?)…a new question each week for the entire month of September.  The questions are simple, and all the answers will be threaded on the site, so you get to see everyone else’s answer and collectively everyone learns a little!

Why would I do this, Dave?  I mean…ANOTHER voice-over site?!!

Well, there is the matter of prizes.  I’ve been able to obtain seriously-valuable offers of subscriptions, consulting, demo-work, teaching, webinars, etc from the following sponsors: (no particular order)  Voices.com, Voice123.com, SweetWater, VoiceOverXtra.com, Edge Studio, and SaVoa.org. In addition, I’m personally throwing in a brand-new Alesis iODock for recording on the iPad.

Hopefully you won’t need the cheap incentive of prizes to coerce you to join in the community of people offering their collective wisdom.   ;-}

There’s lots more information on the site itself.  Everyone who comments on the question for that week gets a chance at the prize for that week (I do need an email for prize verification).  The prizes are listed on the website.

For those of you who are still scratching your heads as to my motivation…well…I just get a kick out of this…I enjoy giving back/paying forward…whatever you want to call it.  So like I said — humor me — this is big — you have no idea how many hours I’ve spent on this project!

CourVO

 

Filed Under: VO Community Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

JJ DID TIE BUCKLE

August 30, 2011 By 3 Comments

This may be the first worthwhile thing I’ve gotten from the folks who’ve jammed our emailboxes with fluff about BranchOut.

I’m still on the fence about this service known as “FaceBook’s Answer to LinkedIn”.

It’s just an app!  But I must admit it’s made a splash.

I’ve connected with a few heretofore unknown friends…written a few endorsements…gotten a few endorsements…and I’ll admit…I really haven’t TRIED to make it work as a marketing tool for me, yet…so no judgements here.

BUT.

The other day someone on BranchOut sent out an email with this acronym:  JJDIDTIEBUCKLE.  As a mnemonic:  “JJ DID TIE BUCKLE”.  Each letter is meant to remind you of “…fourteen leadership traits and they are true and effective whether you are a marine, a choir teacher or anything in between.”

At the risk of sounding like a chain email that you’re supposed to pass on to 10 other well-meaning apostles, I’m reprinting the list of 14 traits below.  Call me a sentimental sap, but I actually think they nicely summarize an ethical standard that will serve you well as a business leader.

JUSTICE
Justice means being fair. Treat others equally. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you and so forth.

JUDGMENT
Judgment is the ability to effectively assess the situation. You must be able to accurately understand the implications of the situation you are in so that you can make good decisions. Judgment is also known as common sense.

DEPENDABILITY
Dependability is nearly self explanatory. People must be able to depend on you to provide support, accurate information, guidance and motivation. People must be able to trust in your honesty as well as your competence.

INITIATIVE
Initiative is your tendency to approach your responsibilities in a proactive manner. A leader with initiative will not wait for direction before taking action. If you see something that needs to be done, do it.

DECISIVENESS
Decisiveness is the ability to make solid decisions quickly. With sound judgment, you will have enough information and with confidence in your information, you can make the decision now without hemming and hawing about.

TACT
Tact is a skill that enables you to communicate with people in a direct and effective manner without spurring conflict. This goes back to people skills. You need to be able to give direction without making people angry. Tact will help you inspire confidence in your leadership abilities and gain trust and loyalty.

INTEGRITY
Integrity is essentially honesty, which is crucial to being able to lead people effectively. Without honesty, there is no trust. Without trust, others will not truly follow you and support you’re motives or efforts.

ENTHUSIASM
Enthusiasm deals directly with your ability to motivate. It is about maintaining and putting forth a positive attitude. Enthusiasm expects success and drives us closer to achieving it. It fosters optimism and inspires others to follow your lead.

BEARING
Bearing is a trait that is often not discussed in civilian organizations but is none the less critical for good leadership. Bearing is the way you conduct and control yourself. It is your appearance, your posture and your manner that reflects self confidence and self control. Stand straight and exude a demeanor of leadership and authority. Bearing lets people know that you take your role seriously. Do not slouch about or goof off. These things do not inspire confidence in others that you can lead them.

UNSELFISHNESS
Unselfishness is another that is self explanatory. A good leader is looking out for the good of the team. A leader is not selfishly seeking his or her own best interest. Leaders have no ulterior motives.

COURAGE
Courage is the trait that is paramount in all good leadership. You must first have the courage to lead, to expect success, to accept responsibility and to face challenge. Leaders do not fear failure, they embrace it and learn from it in order to minimize its impact and the likelihood that it will occur again. Look fear in the eye and grin. Courage is the chariot that carries us to victory.

KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge is another important component of good leadership. You must have the experience, training and information necessary to see the operation to a successful end. Without knowledge, we are merely guessing our way through life. Without knowledge, there can be no judgment or sound decision making.

LOYALTY
Loyalty involves being devoted to the task or the goals of the organization that you are a part of. It means that you make the goals of the team your own. The loyal leader stands behind his people and supports them. He truly believes in what he is doing. Loyalty in leadership promotes a loyal following.

ENDURANCE
Endurance what keeps us going when the going gets tough. Endurance encompasses our dedication and tenacity to see the job through to completion regardless of obstacles or challenges along the way. It embodies both our mental and physical stamina as well as our will power.

As a leader, carry these ideas with you wherever you go. Commit them to memory and put them to action. People will notice and your leadership skill will improve tremendously. You will be well on your way to being the best leader you can be.

(posted on FaceBook by Lalit Ranka)

CourVO

Filed Under: Advice Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Don’t Look Now…

August 29, 2011 By 2 Comments

…but the year is seriously catching up.

Why is the year divided in “quarters”, instead of “thirds”?  Well, if we DID have 3RDS…this is the end of the second one!

I call it the advent of the -EMBER months. (with the exception of October).

Regardless, the end of Summer and the onset of the busy fall season always brings two emotions for me:  excitement and mild panic.  I love the change of the seasons, and September signals the end of what can typically be doldrums of Summer business.   When school starts (as it does here in Vegas today), people for some reason get more serious about their enterprises, and the  marketplace always seems to heat up.  That’s the excitement.

The mild panic is in recognition of the fact that there are only four months left to the year, and my procrastinations are mounting!

The ole “to-do” list is too long…and it’s the 3rd or 4th to-do list I’ve started!

Here are a few suggestions for countermanding the unfinished items piling up in your VoiceOver business:

  1. Who among your clients are dragging their feet with payments?  Maybe a gentle reminder is in order.
  2. Are you keeping up-to-date with accounting?  Better done incrementally now, than all-at-once next tax season!
  3. Time to dust-off the demo?…maybe upgrade it to something with more modern content?
  4. What cold-calls, emails, mailers, or other prospective-client approaches are left undone right now?
  5. Have you engaged with ANY coaching this year?  There are still plenty of opportunities to reserve a place.
  6. Needed Software upgrades?…and when’s the last time you backed-up your hard drive?
  7. Have you reached out in service lately?…volunteering your time, talents, or resources to a pro-bono cause?
  8. Is this when you will finally update that head-shot, bio, and newsletter?
  9. Are your Social Media profiles current?  Nothing will peg you as “clueless” than to have something out-of-date with THAT.
  10. Have you asked a trusted sound engineer to evaluate the quality of your day-to-day sound lately?

I could go on…but you probably have your OWN list of neglected duties.  I hope this may have jogged your mind a little.

Share.  What have I missed that we could all benefit from?

CourVO

 

Filed Under: Ruminations Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Of Mics and Men

August 26, 2011 By 2 Comments

[No offense to the female gender of course...but the play on words just doesn't work any other way.  :)]

No other iconic symbol overshadows our business more than the microphone.  Even the most satisfied Neumann or Lawson or Peluso Microphone user has a nagging suspicion somewhere in the back of his/her head that there just MIGHT still be a microphone better suited for their use out there somewhere.

Endless forum threads attest to the fact that the search for the perfect microphone is a highly personal decision, and that it is often an extended tale of trial and error…listening and learning.

Blue Microphones has a new offering called The Reactor.  (~$500 most places)

Their website states: “…Reactor fuses an innovative pattern selection method with a swiveling capsule head for perfect positioning, and features Blue’s premium condenser capsule, fully discreet Class A solid state components, and proprietary preamp for simple live switching between patterns (Cardioid, Omni or Figure-8).”

It IS  techno-geekoid-looking gizmo that obviously has precision-manufactured lines.  How much does the LOOK of a microphone influence your at least trying a mic on for size?

Do you understand all the terms? Cardioid, Hyper-Cardioid, Polarity Patterns, Condenser, Large-Diaphragm?  I confess I’m weak in this area.  Is it important to know all that?…or just find a mic that works well for you…and sounds right for your voice?

In just a few days, I’m going to be revisiting this topic in a big way, and asking for your input in a forum that might benefit others.  I hope you’ll be willing to help.

CourVO

Filed Under: Mics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

If you can hear it…You can record it

August 25, 2011 By 12 Comments

How handy is this software!

Virtually anything you can play and hear on your computer, this software will record into a format you can use in your DAW.

The Mac version is from Rogue Amoeba and is called Audio Hijack Pro

The Windows equivalent is called: Total Recorder and can be found on the High Criteria site.

Audio Hijack Pro License is $32

Total Recorder Standard Edition is $17.95

…so neither of these apps will not likely break the bank.

When you visit these sites, you will see any number of add-on utilities, or improved packages of discounts for extra licenses, etc.  That’s up to you, but I can think of any number of uses for software like this.

Let me know if you have any others you like to use!

CourVO

Filed Under: Software Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

A Year Ago…

August 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

…I was hatching a crazy idea to declare September “NATIONAL VOICE OVER APPRECIATION MONTH”.

You’ll notice, I didn’t give myself much time.

With the urging and help of VO Pro Peter O’Connell and the graphics savvy of Amy Snively, I quickly cobbled together some resources, a little assistance from my VO friends, and the whole enterprise gained some momentum.

The remarkable result was an enthusiastic response that lasted a whole month, prompted a busy website, and led to several compilation :30 and :60 PSA’s.  Remember?

That website (well, most of it) can still be found at http://www.nationalvoiceovermonth.com.  There, you’ll also find the compilation spots.  They’re really good, if you haven’t heard them in a while…or not at all.

You’d think with a whole year to plan a sequel, I’d be able to build the Titanic.  That wasn’t the case, necessarily.  A few people had…well…reservations about the need for such a “holiday”.  A number of seasoned pros made valuable suggestions, and I listened.  I listened and I thought.  I listened and I thought, and I asked for ideas.

Finally, frozen by indecision, I just began to move forward with…something.  I grabbed a domain name…played with some designs, concepts, configurations, and sheesh…it all started coming together.

In the coming days, I’ll be revealing this new campaign.  It’ll have a different look, theme, concept, logo, website, outlook, and result.

I’ll say this much…it’ll be interactive, community building, social, and involve prizes.

There.  I’ve already said too much.

Regardless, I hope you’ll continue to watch here for updates and launch information.

Oh, and if you didn’t get the chance, here are the PSA’s from last year:

Voice-Over PSA – Compilation of Voices by CourVO

Voice Over PSA 30-sec dialogue spot by CourVO

Voice Over PSA 30-sec compilation spot by CourVO

 

CourVO

Filed Under: NVOM Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

At the risk…

August 23, 2011 By 2 Comments

…of threatening the limits of your patience, let me just beat the drum ONE. MORE. TIME for Wednesday’s 3rd & final portion of the “Super Socials” series of webinars hosted by VoiceOverXtra.

Before you slide that mouse up to click on your next website, let me just offer up a quick “teaser” tidbit of info — a tiny taste of a morsel of information to show you what you will be hearing for AN ENTIRE HOUR during the webinar loosely titled:  “Everything Else” in Social Media…meaning: NOT FaceBook or Twitter.

There’s other social media besides FaceBook and Twitter???!!!  Ho-Boy…is there!  Ever hear of LinkedIn?  YouTube?  Google Plus?  Skype?  Blogging?

OK…TWO tidbits:

TIDBIT #1  How to post your demos on your LinkedIn profile.  LinkedIn is much stronger than FaceBook or Twitter in many ways.  I’ll show you a few.

TIDBIT #2 Why Google Plus is better than Skype for video conferencing.  This is Google’s 3rd atttempt at a successful Social Networking platform, and it’s got Mark Zuckerburg looking over his shoulder.  I’ll tell you why.

HONORABLE MENTION TIDBIT  Many of you already use Skype for an easy phone-patch.  I’ll be going over that, but I’ll also show you how to set-up Skype with your own phone number, so people on a land-line or cell phone can call you on Skype.  The other party does not need to have Skype.

Like I said…there’s much more…pluse we’ll be interviewing the founder and sustainer of VoiceOverUniverse (VU) “Zurek” right off the top of the hour…

Again, here’s the link to sign-up.  It’s Wednesday, August 24th, 2011 Noon PST / 3pm EST.

C ya there!

CourVO

Filed Under: Webinar Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Expert vs. Student

August 22, 2011 By 6 Comments

Which one are you?

Oh, you’re an expert?…you know absolutely everything there was, is, and will be about your specialty!  Wow!

  • You could write the definitive textbook, and speak off-the-cuff at virtually any venue on the subject for which you’re an expert?
  • Furthermore:  you obviously feel comfortable with people calling you an expert.  (BTW,  I’m treating the word “guru” synomously, here).
  • You unabashedly accept speaking engagements, paychecks, and invitations to do teleseminars, webinars, and write books in your area of expertise.

I’m being sarcastic and cynical here to make a point.

Later this week, I’ll be contributing my part to a 3-part webinar on the value of social media for voice actors.  I am no expert.  I doubt there are ANY experts in social media, although many like to say they are, in promotional materials.

I more like to think I’m a STUDENT of social media.  It teaches me.  In fact, to my way of thinking there is one immutable word that stands between expert and student.

HUMILITY.

Sometimes I like to think I’m an expert, and then I get blindsided, T-boned, or undercut by someone or something from out in left field that shows me how little I really DO know.  Ever had that happen?  Uh-huh.  ‘Thought so.

So if you are so wonderful that you’ve actually paid money to hear what Terry Daniel, Trish Basanyi and Dave Courvoisier have to say about what they THINK they know about Social Media…then it is my responsibility to do all in my power to tell you all that social media has TAUGHT me.

But expert?  Huh-uh.  Student.

CourVO

More info on the webinar at VoiceOverXtra

 

Filed Under: Ruminations, Webinar Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Need a Critique?…for Free?

August 19, 2011 By 10 Comments

Here’s the magic of shopping around your demo or audition:

Play it to ten different people, and you’ll get 10 different opinions.

But somewhere in that mix, something will ring true, and confirm a sneaking suspicion in your own mind that he/she is right.  Or maybe there’s enough in all 10 opinions that you’ll want to start over….or realize that you’re ready to send it — just like it is.

That’s the wonder of letting ears besides yours hear your work.  They find things to which your ears are deaf.  Those extra ears — and the opinions attached to them — also help you see things you didn’t think of before.

Great, Dave…but my friends are getting REAL tired of me bothering them every time I have a new recording I want them to hear!  Where can I go to get fresh, free, educated and seasoned opinoins about my stuff?

Edge Studio’s FeedBack Forum

The folks at Edge have been refining this portion of their service for a few months, now, and it’s impressive.

Submit your demo, audition, practice recordings, or even paid jobs with a copy of the script.  The file uploads and resides on the Edge site according to any number of categories, or searchable parameters.  The script is visible.  Then, anyone can stop by, play the file, listen, and comment on what they hear.

The cool thing here, is that quite a few people are stopping by, and giving great feedback.

All the comments are threaded, and anyone can see what earlier visitors have contributed.

It’s the kind of thing you need, often when you most need it.

You can also search for any entries by the same categories, even by script genre.. Everything’s dated, names are included, and everybody’s civil.

Listening to these offerings either tends to make you feel like you’re ahead of the crowd, or you need lots of work, or anything in between.  It’s a great barometer of what’s out there, especially those who are posting the work that they got paid for…THAT’S what clients are buying!

As I said, it’s free, but does require you registering with the site.  Trading your contact info for a service like this — I think — is a pretty darn good deal.

Give it a whirl….what’ve you got to lose?

CourVO

 

Filed Under: Referral Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Next Up….

August 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Terry & Trish in better times

‘Hope you were able to catch Terry Daniel‘s webinar on FaceBook for VO’s last night on VoiceOverXtra’s “Super Socials” series.

Tonite, Trish Basanyi takes the stage, and she’ll be sharing some great tips for finding work using Twitter.

Then, next Wednesday, I’ll be bringing up the rear, talking about YouTube, LinkedIn, Google +, Blogging, and I’ll be interviewing Zurek live.  He’s the founder/sustainer of the highly popular Voice Over online community VU, or VoiceOverUniverse.

There’s still all the time in the world to sign-up, and if you are a SaVoa member, please tell John Florian at the VoiceOverXtra site, and you’re eligible for some SaVoa promotional materials as an extra incentive.

Click here to see all the details of the 3-part “Super Socials” webinar series.

I, for one, am so lookingn forwrard to Trish’s webinar tonite.  Not only does she have more Twitter followers than any VO I know, but she knows how to make hay out of her contacts.  If you’re like a lot of people, and Twitter has you scratching your head, then this webinar is for you.

CourVO

 

 

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