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When Passion Meets Timing

December 15, 2011 By 10 Comments

Karen Commins lives and works in Atlanta.  For 30-some years, she’s held a “regular” job with a government agency, and worked her passion (VO) in her spare time.  No more.  She’s made the leap. (Read about it in her blog — excellent analysis of her decision)

Bob Souer lived and worked his faith for years as part of the Billy Graham Evangelism organization.  When the time was ripe, he talked to his family, made a tough decision, and took the big step into full-time VO. (BTW, he still lives his faith in a big way!)

Top pros Beau Weaver, Joe Cipriano, Connie Terwilliger, Randy Thomas…all ex-broadcasters.  In their lives, there came a time.

The list goes on…you probably know of several you could add to the litany.

On the other hand, just as many successful voice actors continue to work in other areas..Derek Chappell and Robert Sciglimpaglia are attorneys, but ask ‘em what their passion is.

Amy Snively comes from a legacy of female comediennes.  How does she spend her time?  Voice acting.

And then there’s the niche voice-actors are passionate about.  VO mentor and fellow Southern Nevadan Craig Parsons is the king of commercials.  He couldn’t imagine doing long-format.  Scott Brick has narrated, what?…800 books?

What’s your marketing passion?  Terry Daniel likes FaceBook.  Trish Basanyi prefers Twitter.  Maxine Dunn is a cold-caller.

Then there are the rare talents, who have found an even greater passion that performing:  coaching.  Pat Fraley, Deb Munro, Bettye Zoller.

All of the above successful.  All of them passionate about the way they approach voice overs. No one person like another, no one approach even CLOSE to being a clone of a peer.

Like your auditions, bring YOU to your voice over career. No one else has your passion, your strengths, your talents.

I don’t have the impish charm of Peter O’Connell.  My voice doesn’t come close to the urban cool of Anthony Mendez.  I can’t offer tri-lingual services like Liz de Nesnera. I’m not half as savvy as Nancy Wolfson.

None of that matters.

I have CourVO on my side….and he’s passionate about pursuing VO in his time, with his talents, and with his unique approach.

YOU?

Dave Courvoisier

 

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Grateful…

November 23, 2011 By 8 Comments

…for the relationship I have with you.

Whether you drop in once in a while, stop by every day, are a subscriber, or just got lost in the internet and ended up here, please know that I value the time interacting with you.  Engaging others, building relationships, and currying friendships may be among the most important things we do in life.

 

Dave (CourVO) Courvoisier

Filed Under: Ruminations

THANKS

November 22, 2011 By 2 Comments

There’s no escaping the humbling feeling that I’m blessed beyond what I deserve.

I have a job (two, actually), a loving wife of 28 years, 3 gorgeous and talented daughters, my health, a little savings, and a new puppy.

My cup runneth over.

Sure, I complain about this ‘n’ that from time to time….but really….I’m just blowing hot air.  Why God has seen fit to smile on me this way is beyond comprehension.  I’m certain I’ve disappointed him/her more than once.  But, if you’re Christian, and you understand the concept of Grace, then you know there IS no comprehending it.

So, and the risk of being sappy, and even a couple of days ahead of myself…let me offer you a simple mnemonic for remembering to say THANKS to the things that make me grateful.

HOSE who have gone before.

You didn’t just appear on the scene all successful.  There were parents, teachers, coaches, mentors, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

Many people invested in your over the years, and you’re the better for it.

 

ARDSHIP.  Metal shapes Metal.

Adversity makes you stronger, smarter, more determined, agile, and resilient.

The lessons you learn here serve you well throughout life.

 

MAZEMENT…or wonder of all the things of this world that inspire me.

From this deep well of creativity reflected in the natural world around, I draw my talent.

Without this, I’m little more than a well-designed machine, but WITH it, I’m driven and unique.

 

UANCE. Finesse. The turn of a word. The hint of an attitude.

Without nuance, life is peanut butter without the jam, a car with no radio.

Nuance makes the moribund special…the wallflower a rose.

 

KANOODLING.  Fun, laughter, smiles, mirth, and humor.

Life is not worth living without it.

When the voice-0ver business gets me down, I seek something to smile about.  It works.

 

 

PIRIT.  There’s two ways to look at spirit:  Liveliness or mettle — and — the principle of conscious life.

Either way, I need it.  I need the life-force endowed by the supreme being who created me.

I also need the outward expression of that…me.  My essence, attitude, and approach to life: exuberance.

 

What are YOU thankful for?

CourVO

 

Filed Under: Fun Stuff, Ruminations

Groundwork Greatness

October 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In 2003 I bought a tablet computer from Gateway…operating system made by Microsoft. It did much of the same stuff the iPad does today…even some other things the iPad STILL doesn’t offer. Why did Apple’s offering become an instant overwhelming success, and a similar product by Microsoft 7 years earlier, achieve only anonymity?

Almost three years before the Kindle took the e-book world by storm,  Sony launched the Librié book reader licensing the same E-ink screen technology, and a similar set of functional features as the Kindle.  Why did  relative upstart Amazon (at the time) blow off the doors…and mega-media and electronics giant Sony fall by the wayside?

The answer is not simple, and brand loyalties notwithstanding, there is a strong underlying thread in these two examples: groundwork.

Steve Jobs had already mustered all the relationships he ever needed to bring CONTENT to the iPad before the first one ever left the production line in China. Sure, the iPad itself is a feat of elegant engineering…but what’s a great screen without oodles of content to display ON it? Microsoft had the gizmo…but ZERO content to make it’s 2003 tablet desirable. Jobs laid the groundwork, Bill Gates laid an egg.

Similarly, despite Sony’s vast holdings in all sorts of popular media, it was Amazon’s Jeff Bezos who grasped the true magic of a hand-held e-reader:  making Amazon’s book content brainlessly easy to access through Kindle.  It was the easy facilitation between the two that made it work.  Want a book?  Shop the store through a wireless connection, and the download is virtually instanteous.  Bezos had done the groundwork that made the Kindle a portal to books of every kind…something Sony overlooked.

WHAT MAKES UP YOUR V-O GROUNDWORK?

Voice acting is more than a voice or a perfunctory delivery.

When you shoot your audition across the internet, what groundwork have you laid to support the effort?

Are you doing voice work, or seeking a voice over career?

What content are you marrying to your mechanism to put value to the read?

A few things that “BRINGS” your content.
1) Allowing your life experiences to bear in your interpretation.
2) Discovering your signature sound.
3) Practicing through your ego until the practice iteslf produces a new echelon of ability.
4) Thinking through the copy and your approach to it, instead of defaulting to a comfortable (and cliché) delivery.

A few ways to lay your groudwork
1) Tweak your audio chain and your recording space endlessly until your sound is clean, pure, and reliable.
2) Get coaching, get coaching, get coaching.
3) Network, learn, relate, engage with your peers
4) Work smart, plan, organize, and set goals

See?  Do the groundwork (the nuts and bolts), so that when you’re called upon to deliver the content (your talent) you’ve got all the support and preparation in place.

What’s the old saying:  Luck is what happens when opportunity meets hard work.  There is no such thing as an “overnight sensation”.

Do the groundwork…then go be great.

CourVO

 

 

 

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Do You Commune?

September 9, 2011 By 4 Comments

My wife says she doesn’t recognize me sometimes.

She knows that at heart I’m an introvert…given to long weekends in a cave, eschewing public appearances, and preferring my own company to anyone else’s.  (this largely results from my isolated upbringing on a farm, and being the only son of a German mother and Swiss father)

Yet, there’s something about VO that’s changed me.  I’m all over social media.  Most days, she finds me on a conference call, or contributing to a webinar, banging out a blog, or responding to email.

“Who are you and what have you done with my husband!” she says.

Believe me, I still DO find quiet time.  And my other job as a news anchor will not let me recede into the woodwork.  I’m often called, and willingly go to MC Galas, Moderate Debates, Host Town Hall Meetings, and so forth.  Yes, my saving grace is that I’m an introvert in an extroverted job.

But…there’s still something about VO that has intrinsically changed my approach to  RELATIONSHIPS & COMMUNITY.

The Voice Over community has made me appreciate that:
1) I can’t do it alone…or at least that I do it much better with help.
2) My life is richer in association with others.
3) When I give unselfishly, I get that and more in return.
4) Others have similar struggles as I.
5) Together, we’re smarter, stronger, faster.
6) Being an island is lonely.

I could go on.  You get the drift.

Helping others, engaging associates, making new friends, giving freely where I can, and accepting help when I need…it’s all invigorating and enabling.

We voice actors joke about working in isolation…being locked in our booths…toiling in solitary confinement.

But community is there.  It’s there big-time.

It’s at Faffcon.  It’s at VOICE.  It’s at the other end of my internet connection, the phone line, in comment to my blog, in FacBook Groups, Twitter lists, and in an EWABS session.

It’s almost like you couldn’t be a loner if you wanted to…the community DRAWS you in…and says…”Hey watcha doin’?”

For all that, I’m grateful.  I could almost say that I’m more fully alive in my life now than I’ve ever been.

And I didn’t do that.

You did.

Thanks,

CourVO

Filed Under: Ruminations

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

 

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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

 

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8 VO Clichés We Love to Hate (…and why we could be dead wrong)

July 27, 2011 By 8 Comments

Do you know what “jaded” means?

It means:  “worn out or weary”…as in: we’re too close to VO, and so immersed in it the culture that we’re over-exposed to it.  We view as — tired — the very things that identify us to our non-professional audience.  Those identifiers become trite or cliché.

But are they cliché to the people we need in our work?…the clients, the prospects, the listeners?  Probably not.

Are they cliché to producers, agents, studios?  Maybe.

(Using my best Rod Serling imitation)
Submitted for your approval:

8 VO Clichés We Love to Hate (…and why we could be dead wrong)

1) NEVER use a microphone in your branding logo or on your website.  Really?  What is the first thing someone visualizes when you tell them you’re in voiceover?  Yup.  A microphone (or headphones…the 2nd most cliché image)  CourVO comes clean:  I don’t use one in my marketing materials.

2) EVERYONE TELLS ME I HAVE A GREAT VOICE…can I make it in voice overs?  The knee jerk answer is:  “It takes more than a good voice to make it in voice-overs.”   It’s a good answer…but let’s face it…Everyone’s FIRST reaction to Ted Williams was “he should be in voiceovers.”  A great voice WILL get you in the door…but without anything to back it up…you’ll not succeed.

3) Male VO’s have predominantly blues, browns, and blacks on their websites, and Female VO’s use predominantly pinks, purples, and pastels.  9 out of 10 times.  Seriously.  Go look around.  We all revert back to the colors of our infancy when we design VO websites.

4) More/Better equipment will not make you sound better.  Ahem…yes it will.  But…to be honest…only to a point.  So spend no more than $300 on a mic, and use the rest to build a better booth.  Your ROI is much higher.

5) You’ll never go anywhere in VO without being Union or have an Agent.  That’s only true if you have the singular focus of national radio/TV/promo/film work.  In which case you should add:  You have to live in L-A or NYC…and even that’s becoming more of a myth.  There comes a threshold where unions and agents become a serious consideration.  Until then it’s a wash…or not:  SAG/AFTRA talks could result in the most compelling argument yet for joining a union.

6) You must constantly stay COACHED. Well, the coaches would surely like you to believe this, and their is an undercurrent of this wisdom in almost every known profession.  But the bottom line is:  Are you getting work?  Are you staying busy?  Are you making enough money?  If so, then you’re probably OK….until the bookings stop.

7) No need to post a photo of yourself on your voice over website.  (see #8)

8) You must post a photo of yourself on your website.  (see #7)

Honorable mention:  Having ISDN will not bring you more jobs.  Yes it will… if you’ve lined up a bunch of ISDN jobs…your agent sends you ISDN work, you can afford it, and you’re in demand.  Accept all those caveats, and yes, ISDN will bring you more work.

Did I miss something?

CourVO

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235 years

July 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Call me a sap, I don’t care.  I’ll take the ridicule.  I’m an unabashed American. Today I celebrate….and wish you and yours the best on this special anniversary of the birth of our country.

I’d like to say I can imagine what things were like 235 years ago.  That’s difficult.  But what I know with certainty are the things I see before me in 2011, and I am blessed beyond what I deserve.  So is this country.

The best thing I can do to honor the sacrifices of the revolutionaries of 1776 is to be a great steward today.

Below is my recording of a short poem written by Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1904.

Blessings!

CourVO

CourVOisier Reads July4th Poem by CourVO

Filed Under: Ramblings/Off-Topic, Ruminations

VO’s Grandest Illusion

June 23, 2011 By 2 Comments

We’ve all been there.  Years of practice, coaching, voicing, speaking, reading…over and over and over again, and we start believing our own newspaper clippings.

We start believing everybody wants to hear us speak.  They actually enjoy hearing us.  Who wouldn’t?  We’re so…practiced.  So accomplished with the spoken word.

But the illusion doesn’t stop there.  Not only do people want to hear our voice, but they actually want to hear what we have to say!…as if our pleasant voice makes our words important!

Luckily, rejected auditions, non-replies from clients, and frowns from voice coaches keep most of us on the straight-and-narrow.

I also have the added experience of having read news for 30 years, which has trained me in brevity and a concise delivery.

Attention spans today do not brook much patience with long drawn-out personal stories.  Even story tellers need to be frugal with their words too.  Most people just want us to get to the point.  Get the point?

OK, rant over.

CourVO

 

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