Training/Education | Dave Courvoisier's Blog

VO Yellow Pages

November 17, 2010 By CourVO Leave a Comment

Yellow pages…the iconic, but now seemingly quaint and ancient method of searching for services. They’re having to change like everyone else in the world of digital.

If only there were a yellow pages for voice-overs!

Heh…wish I’d thought of it first, but Edge Studio beat me to it.

THE VOICE OVER YELLOW PAGES, Resources for Voice Actors, is obviously the result of a lot of work…I’m not sure I could say it’s exhaustive, but if it catches on, and grows, it could be one of the top industry resources.

Now, others have certainly done a nice job, too, of compiling compendiums like this. I like to think my blog has a lot of stuff on it…but I’m impressed with the Edge Studio’s initiative. It’s certainly consistent with the wealth of other information on their site.

Take a look around the site, and listen for a big upcoming announcement from the NY-based voice-over audio production and training company. They seem to be on the move these days.

CourVO

Filed Under: Training/Education, Web Resources Tagged With: Edge Studio, VO, voice, voice acting, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover, Yellow Pages

Step It Up

October 8, 2010 By CourVO Leave a Comment

Immersion.

I’ve said it before. I don’t know how else to go about pursuing my dream in Voice Overs without total immersion.

Be, do, say, involve, hear, seek, relate, and otherwise absorb all things related to the field.

I made another move in that direction Thursday night in Las Vegas with Melissa Moats‘ “Step-it-Up” VO get-together.

Melissa is a Beau Weaver protegé, a 10-yr veteran of VO with thousands of credits…and, Oh!…a really nice person. She’s organized a loosely-knit, but highly accomplished and supportive weekly gathering of local voice talent at her house. The attendees take their turns at the mic, help with feedback, generally discuss any and all things associated with the business and have a lot of fun! There’s even food!

This kind of LOCAL gathering is as good as it gets, no matter what your profession…but all the more so for any type of freelancer who works in relative isolation from peers: voice talent!

This could also be referred to as the Master Mind concept…and one of its greatest VO apostles is Doug Turkel, the UNnouncer.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first session with Melissa and about 6 other talents gathered in her studio. Do you have this in your city? It’s not hard to do, and I’m grateful that Melissa took the lead.

Visit her “Step-It-Up” (meet-up.com) site to see more about how this gets organized.

Thanks Melissa!

CourVO

Filed Under: Meet-Ups, Training/Education Tagged With: Beau Weaver, Doug Turkel, Master Mind, meet-up, meet-up.com, Melissa Moats, voice, voice acting, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover, voices

True Tobias Cream

September 26, 2010 By CourVO 2 Comments

You know it when you see it, you know it when you taste it, and you know it when you hear it.

Excellence. Cream of the crop.

This weekend, I heard it…I heard a lot of it…and I’m more the blessed for it.

For two days I shared a close room with 12 other talented male VO artists from three countries, along with VO coach par excellence Marice Tobias, and her producer Paul. It was like Gestalt Therapy…I kid you not.

I know I’m no slacker. I work hard, and I’ve been given many gifts by my creator. These are not arrogant words…they’re the words of someone who knows his blessings and his curses…his talents and his limitations. This weekend I was humbled, and in the best sense of the word.

When you’re around talent, you soak it up…when you rub shoulders with accomplishment, you become inspired. When you’re challenged to be better, it’s no mistake, and who in their right mind wouldn’t answer the challenge? I feel I did. I worked hard. I listened intently. I stepped up….and yet, I see so much work to do.

At Marice Tobias’ Men of Voice Over talent workshop this past weekend in Las Vegas, I felt the shift. The shift from practitioner to professional. Again: arrogance?…no, confidence. There’s a big difference.

To the VO pros I now call friend: I could listen to any of your voices all day long. You have moved me with your time and your talents. I wanna be like you when I grow up. I look forward to the next time we meet.

Thank you Mike Stoudt, Paul Boucher, Tom Chantler, Bill Lloyd, Tracy Spinney, Jon Rivers, James Belliveau, Mark Barbolak, Doug Medlock, Ward Sexton, Tony Banks, and John McCalmont.

CourVO

Filed Under: Training/Education Tagged With: Coaching, Las Vegas, Marice Tobias, voice, voice acting, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover artist, voiceover talent

September is National VO Month…

August 25, 2010 By CourVO 4 Comments

….or Congress should declare it as such.

I know there are always workshops and conferences and meet-ups going on EVERY month, but for some reason September seems to be a veritable cornucopia of opportunities.

First and foremost, there’s FAFFCON. Ho, boy! Have you signed up for this yet? Do. Be part of the first-ever VO UNconference. Portland. 2nd weekend in September. Click on the logo for all the info.

Then, there’s THAT’S VOICEOVER, Septemer 22nd. Hosted in NYC by David Letterman’s Alan Kalter and created by Rudy Gaskins and Joan Baker. This is an event that just keeps getting better.

And then, there’s Marice Tobias — that elusive, but coveted coach holding an “Established Men in VoiceOver” event in my own hometown of Vegas on the last weekend of September.

Will I make all three? Nope…but 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.

Sleep?

It’s so unnecessary…don’t you think?

CourvO

Filed Under: Training/Education Tagged With: Alan Kalter, conference, Faffcon, Faffcon.com, Marice Tobias, That's Voiceover, voice, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover artist, voiceover talent

The VoiceOver Class

April 6, 2010 By CourVO 2 Comments

You’ve seen ‘em a million times in this day of networking affiliates, spam newsletters, and hyped promotional ads.

A pitch that runs the full length of the carpet down your hallway.

Roll this video to watch as I scroll down the page:

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Normally, I’d say (and HAVE said) run as fast as you can the other way! when you see promotional ads taller than your back yard Elm.

Only this time, the guys putting on the VoiceOverClass are top notch.

You don’t find any better coaches and genuinely experienced guys in the this business than Harlan Hogan and Dan O’Day.

Click HERE to see the whole pitch….just….couldn’t it have been said in one page, guys?

You dont’ need the hype…your reputations precede you!

CourVO

Filed Under: Training/Education Tagged With: Dan O'Day, Harlan Hogan, voice actor, voice artist, voice coaches, voice over, voice-coaching, voiceover, voiceover coach, voiceover talent, VoiceOverClass

Voice Coaching

April 1, 2010 By CourVO Leave a Comment

Voice coaching is something to approach with caution. Usually the best way to know whether it’s worth the time/money is through a referral from a trusted friend, and even then you should qualify whether your needs are the same as your friend’s.

Some coaches are so way off-the-charts in demand that you have trouble getting on their roster (Wolfson, Tobias, Horvath). OK, I shouldn’t name names, but there’s no shortage of VO coaches, and no shortage of debate about the efficacy of some operations, and whether they are a conveyor belt, flooding the market. Ya know, I’m not here to get into all that in this article.

I just wanted to throw out the following link for those who may be considering an alternative. VOCareer.com.

All I know is Gabrielle Nistico is on the staff, and one of the founders, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about her. They’ve been around for quite a while, which is a good sign. Call ‘em up and ask questions. It’s the only way you’ll get answers.

Right now VOCareer is sending out the ACCELERATE flyer, and you may find something of interest there for you.

CourVO

Filed Under: Coaching, Training/Education Tagged With: vocareer, VoCareer.com, voice, voice actor, voice artist, voice coach, voice over, voice talent, voice-coaching, voiceover, voiceover talent, voices

In Character

March 26, 2010 By CourVO Leave a Comment

The folks over at the VoiceOverDirectory have put together another great teleseminar…this time on developing believable characters.

Voice over artist, casting director, voice coach, and producer MJ Lallo will be the focus of this session. She’s the best. I keep running into her at VOICE conventions, and her material is always right on the money…a great person to get to know, as she can open doors for you.

VoiceOverDirectory.com set me up with a teleseminar back in November, and their product is everything it’s advertised to be…speaking of which, their ad for THIS event can be seen by clicking HERE.

This teleseminar is Saturday, so now’s the time to move on this.

CourVO

Filed Under: Teleseminar, Training/Education Tagged With: MJ Lallo, voice, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover talent, VoiceOverDirectory, VoiceOverDirectory.com

Voice or Teach?

March 21, 2010 By CourVO 7 Comments

More and more I’ve been thinking about all the great voice-actors who are teaching: Pat Fraley, Deb Munro, Marc Cashman, Hillary Huber, Bettye Zoller, Harlan Hogan…

Why?…

I mean, is teaching VO more lucrative than DOING VO?

If you can do both, then, of course, more power to ya!…but all I EVER wanted to do was VO…not teach VO.

Do you reach a point in your VO career where you want to teach more than voice? Don’t you just want to put all your waking energy into getting better VO jobs?…wouldn’t that pay better than putting all your energy into teaching VO?

Do you reach a point where teaching VO is more FUN than doing VO?

I’ve been anchoring local TV news for 30 years, and I’ve never reached a point where I want to coach TV newscasters for money. I LOVE mentoring others trying to get a leg-up in the business… but coaching people to be better broadcasters? ‘Doesn’t appeal to me in the least. I’d rather just anchor.

So I ask…why teach?

The only variable I keep coming back to is money. It must be more lucrative to teach than to voice. Maybe ego. That would motivate some, I guess.

Of course, you can’t just set up shop and teach VO without having DONE it to the point of respect. THEN you can legitimately hang out a shingle, and expect to get students. Right?

Maybe the pros who are teaching are just more naturally drawn to teaching or suited for teaching rather than voicing….

This is just stream-of-consciousness thinking-out-loud, here…

I’m trying to understand this.

I’m doing a session at VOICE2010 on social networking, but it’s not because I really want to. I was asked. I’m not getting paid. People say they’re interested in what I might have to say. Maybe I can help. I could see where ego comes into it. It’s nice to be wanted…but I’d much rather spend that time voicing a sweet national network spot at union rates.

Could it be that picking the low-hanging fruit is too irresistible? I mean, there’re all those eager newbies who say “…I’ve always been told I have a good voice…could I do commercials?…” Do they make it more lucrative to teach than to voice?

Anyone?

CourVO

Filed Under: Coaching, Training/Education Tagged With: Coaching, teaching, voice, voice actor, voice actors, voice artist, voice artists, voice over, voice overs, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover talent, Voiceovers, voices

Social Media: Got Time?

February 26, 2010 By CourVO Leave a Comment

At 3:54am PST, I ponder this issue.

How much more of my personal time can I afford to give over to Social Media?

That simple question begets a rash of other questions that belie the complexity of the issue.

First of all is the question: “Can I afford NOT to give that time, if I want a successful freelance Voiceover business under today’s new internet paradigm?”
Secondly: “Is it really a burden if I’m having fun?”
Thirdly: “Is it really a waste of time if it’s bringing me clients?”
Finally: “If I DO draw a line…WHERE do I draw the line?”

(There are even more caveats, but again, you have to draw the line somewhere.)

RETURN ON INVESTMENT

I’ve been especially pondering this issue on behalf of the upcoming attendees of June’s VOICE2010 conference in LA. Along with voice-actor Terry Daniel, I’ll be expounding on the ROI of Social Media for VO’s in a morning general session, and I hope to have some darn good answers for people who paid good money to learn something.

‘Trouble is, Social Media is such a moving target these days. There’s a lot of flailing around in a pushing-the-envelope environment that sees trial-and-error success and failure in weeks, days, sometimes even hours.

Yet, in this new frontier, there are gold mines to be found. Luckily there are also volumes being written daily…mostly in the blogosphere…to help.

RESOURCES

HERE is an extremely helpful, informative article entitled 10+ TIPS FOR USING TWITTER TO GROW YOUR FREELANCE BUSINESS.

And for those of you brave enough to take on Google’s latest Twitter challenge called BUZZ, HERE is a primer for getting around, called HOW TO DO EVRYTHING IN GOOGLE BUZZ (INCLUDING TURN IT OFF).

Will you be there in June? It really will be fun and worthwhile. I hope you try to make it. See the registration site HERE.

CourVO

Filed Under: New Paradigms, Social Media/Networking, Training/Education, Twitter, VOICE 2010, Web/Tech Tagged With: social Media, Twitter, voice, voice actor, voice actors, voice artist, voice artists, voice over, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover talent, Voiceovers, voices

Take Two…

November 29, 2009 By CourVO Leave a Comment

…on my audio during the recent Teleseminar conducted by VoiceOverDirectory’s Mark Davidson. The topic was “Leveraging Social Media for Your VoiceOver Business”. But how embarrassing to hold a event for vocieover people, and the audio quality is below par! We’re…uh…blaming it on the phonelines for now.