Karen@KarenCommins.com

Karen Commins

Award Winning

Atlanta Audiobook Share-rator™

Archives for 2007

How to lose friends and irritate people

I was talking with a friend today. This friend Don has advanced degrees in multiple disciplines, yet he continues to attend grad school to earn more degrees. Barbara Sher, author of the life-changing book I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was, would say my friend is a scanner because he has varied interests and doesn’t settle on one thing for too long. I also would say that Don doesn’t want to commit to one thing. I’m convinced that he attends grad school so that he can postpone the inevitable time when he must finally make a choice of how he wants his life to proceed.

Today’s conversation got around to my voice-over business. As I talked about recent successes and my plans for the future, Don said, as he has said more than once over the years, “maybe I should look into doing voice-overs.” I tell anyone who asks me that they should explore any serious interest in voice-over work, sheep herding, Italian cooking or whatever. You don’t want to get to the end of your life and wonder “how would my life have been if I had done that?”.

As I have done in previous conversations, I recommended that Don start by reading books on my recommended list of voice-over books and taking some classes.

He asked how I would feel if he took a voice-over class and hit it big. Don is not someone in the incredible ** 81% ** of the Gen Y crowd (18-25 year-olds) who seems to expect fame and wealth as their birthright. Quite simply, Don is yet another person who thinks that making money in voice-over is an easy thing that can be done by anyone. Since he had a few spare hours in his schedule, Don was ready to sign up for the fortune and glory awaiting him as a voice-over actor.

I don’t think he will actually follow through with any action. After all, he is the same person who could never be bothered to even listen to my demos.

Our discussion today reminded me how Don acted when I created my first demo. When you decide to go after your goals, your friends and family will change their attitudes about you. In many cases, that change won’t be a positive one.

Before I made my first voice-over demo, I read books on voice-over, took voice-over classes covering interpretation and technique, and volunteered for 5 years to read for the blind. I ran eBay auctions to save money to have my demo professionally produced. Getting a finished demo in my hands was a monumental step toward my dream that required a lot of time and effort, and I was shocked and hurt by the reaction of several close friends when I asked them about listening to it. I wrote in my journal:

I appreciated Susie’s reaction in part because other people have hurt my feelings with their apparent lack of interest. Randy had seen the artwork and given me suggestions at my request [and did other things like talk to me about recording CDs]. However, Randy acted very bizarre when I asked him if he wanted to hear it. He suddenly remembered something he had to do at that very minute.

Don was no better. I have always been encouraging and supportive of his dreams. I read his novella recently and was the only person outside of his college instructors who understood it. I even made the same comments regarding character development that his instructor made. When I asked him if he would like to hear my long-awaited demo, he brushed me off and said he was too busy.

Even my best friend Erica disappointed me with her lack of reaction. I guess I expected more. If it were HER dream project, she wouldn’t be content with the sparse [comments] devoted to the subject.

Erica had been my best friend for 4-5 years. I felt like she was the sister I never had. We were in constant contact. Unfortunately, everything about our relationship changed in the moment that I created my first voice-over demo and started marketing it. Erica said she felt excluded, and she said I thought that my voice-over career was more important than her. Each time we talked, I felt that she didn’t want to hear about my marketing efforts, equipment purchases and gigs. She even told me that I was spending more time marketing my voice-over demo and playing my harp than I did with her. At one point, in anger that I again was working on marketing when she thought I should be spending time with her, Erica told me that she hoped my voice-over career would keep me company in my old age. Not surprisingly, our friendship disintegrated not too long after that comment.

I didn’t understand until a few years later the reason behind the tremendous negative reactions to my demo and new voice-over career. I always thought that my friends would be true, supportive of my efforts to improve my life and wishing to celebrate my success with me. Barbara Sher alluded to it in I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was. Everything she wrote about a family also holds true about one’s friends:

Almost any stranger would respect our dreams more easily than our family does. If you don’t believe me, try a comparison test. Next time you’re with a group of strangers, tell them the most offbeat idea you can think of. Tell them your dream is to raise dalmatians in the Himalayas, but you have no contacts in Tibet. Watch their interest pick up. They’ll even try to solve your problem.

INTEREST IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF RESPECT.

You don’t love these strangers, and they don’t love you, but we are all captivated by each other’s visions. It’s in our nature as humans to be intrigued with any new idea — unless we have some personal reason for not doing so. Our families have plenty of personal reasons, but a stranger is a pure soul. It’s possible that one stranger in twenty will react negatively to you, for his own reasons, but you’ll find the other nineteen will say something like, “Interesting idea! My cousin raises dogs!”, or “My neighbor’s been to Nepal! Do you want to talk to her?”

Now, to complete the comparison test, go home and tell your family the same kind of fantasy….How did your family like that? Did they drop their forks before or after they scrambled to talk you out of your “folly”?

When I analyzed the reactions of Randy, Don and Erica, I realized that people have a vested interest in keeping you the same.

If you dare to create goals and attempt to reach them, you make other people think about what’s missing in their own lives. They will take out their frustration over their own lives by directing it at you. Like my former friend Erica, they express their irritation with you about your pro-active activities, when, in fact, they are irritated with themselves for sleepwalking through their lives.

Steven Pressfield illuminated the issue perfectly in his amazing book The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles (a book that should be on the must-read list for every creative person):

Resistance by definition is self-sabotage. But there’s a parallel peril that must also be guarded against: sabotage by others.

When a writer begins to overcome her Resistance — in other words, when she actually starts to write — she may find that those close to her begin acting strange. They may become moody or sullen, they may get sick; they may accuse the awakening writer of “changing,” of “not being the person she was.” The closer these people are to the awakening writer, the more bizarrely they will act and the more emotion they will put into their actions.

They are trying to sabotage her.

The reason is that they are struggling, consciously or unconsciously, against their own Resistance. The awakening writer’s success becomes a reproach to them. If she can beat these demons, why can’t they?

If you decide to pursue a voice-over career — or take up sheep herding, or Italian cooking, or whatever — I can guarantee you that your relationships with others WILL change. Some relationships will evolve, while others will disappear. You have to ask yourself who you’re living life FOR, and what the good opinion of someone else actually means to you.

Working on your goals fills your life with purpose and makes every moment meaningful. You have to decide whether you are going to live the life you were meant to lead or sit on the sidelines, watching it pass you by. Waiting to get the approval of friends and family about your plans for your dream life is a guaranteed way to ensure that your life will remain exactly as it is today.

Of course, if you can’t decide on a course of action, I have a friend who can recommend several grad schools that will keep you busy!

 

The Secret to getting up the hill

I’ve been working and traveling so much lately that I have neglected to update my blog. Happy anniversary to me! I’ve been writing blog entries for a year and hope that you have found some useful tidbits in them to help you live the life of your dreams, especially your dreams of a thriving voice-over career.

I recently bought the DVD and book of the best-selling work The Secret. I do believe in the Law of Attraction and attempt to live my life according to its principles. I have read many books on the topic and find something meaningful in each one. Since some of my writing on this blog relates to ideas and processes described in The Secret, I decided to add a category for The Secret to make those types of posts more readily identifiable.

My knowledge and application of the Law of Attraction are sort of like learning to use your microphone and editing program. At first, you don’t know how to do it. Once you get comfortable with the principles, you practice and continue to learn. Even when you’re competent or even at authority level, you still want to learn and apply more so that you will always improve.

I was on a cruise recently and had an epiphany. Drew and I were seated around some loud, obnoxious people. We looked at each other and said, as we have said in many similar past circumstances, “We must be magnets for this type of behavior.” I realized at that moment that we were indeed MAGNETS! By constantly saying and reinforcing the idea that we would be seated next to rude, noisy people, it’s like raising our hands to the Universe and saying “bring ’em on!” I now say that I am a magnet for peace and quiet, with respectful people around me. 🙂

Hurricane-ravaged Grenada was one of the islands we visited. While the country has rebuilt much destroyed in hurricanes of recent years, nature’s damage was still very evident. Roofs were missing from the 3 churches that we saw. Some building still looked ramshackle and uninhabitable. Looking around and seeing the people scrambling for every dollar made me once again feel extreme gratitude for the bountiful blessings in my life.

However, my spriritual side was not the only part of me that had a boost in knowledge during the trip. I also noticed something that could apply to my voice-over career. Drew and I were about to cross a street in a narrow intersection at the top of the steep hill near the old fort. He started to walk, but I stopped him. A car was zooming up the hill, and the driver wasn’t going to stop.

Our house sits on a hill. Prior to building my gorgeous, soundproof recording studio, I was constantly interrupted in my voice-over work by the cars that were zooming up the hill. At a certain point — in fact, just as they are at my house — the drivers in my neighborhood hit the gas to give them an extra push to get up the hill.

As we stood on that street corner in Grenada, we commented that the car had too much momentum going up the hill to stop for the wayward tourists in the intersection. If the driver stopped the car, it might roll back to bottom or even past its starting point. It could careen into a building and crash, or, in a worst-case scenario, swerve and hit us.

Momentum can be defined as the tendency of an object to continue to move in its direction of travel.

I immediately thought how this priniciple applies in my voice-over career.

I always intend to move my voice-over career in a forward direction. I know what the top of the hill looks like, and I am eager to see it in all its glory. I constantly think about being where I want to be and gratitude for all the material things that I have and and all that I have accomplished. I take action every day to ensure that I maintain my momentum. Sometimes I step on the gas by doing things like sending mail-outs and attending conferences where my prospects gather.

Even while completely relaxing with a long-awaited vacation, I still am taking action to maintain momentum in my voice-over career. For instance, during my recent cruise, I continued a postcard campaign that I started before I left home. I also loaded my iPod with Pat Fraley’s latest offering 56 Slick Tricks for Voice Over . Pat is one of my favorite teachers, and every product and class from him has proven valuable for my career. I already have made changes to my auditions as a result of tips from his book.

My iPod also contained my copy of Hillary Huber’s outstanding audiobook Field of Darkness, which has been nominated for an Audie Award. As I listen to audiobooks, I listen not only for entertainment but for learning purposes. Hillary’s voice is a perfect match for the main character, and her voices for the other characters are distinct and believable. Like Pat Fraley, Hillary is another favorite and excellent teacher, both in leading workshops and in her own work.

On other trips with more stable — and faster! — Internet connections than those found via satellite on cruise ships, I might take my portable studio so that I could create auditions and recordings. I also always take books that I may want to pitch to an audiobook producer.

The drivers in Grenada and the ones in my neighborhood have taught me how to face a hill in my voice-over career. First, you see the top of the hill in your mind and picture yourself there. You make sure you have the appropriate equipment and are prepared for the journey. You pack whatever you need to help you get to the top. Once you start the climb, your concentrate on reaching the top of the hill. You step on the gas if you need an extra boost. Throughout all of these actions, you achieve a continuous, forward motion.

Looks like a road map to success!

 

No such thing as a free lunch or demo critique

In the United States, tax day this year is 17 April. The normal deadline of 15 April falls on a Saturday, and Monday 16 April is a holiday in the District of Columbia. You therefore have a 2-day extension to file your return.

I don’t pretend to be an accountant, nor can I recall providing the voice for one. I would never offer advice about income tax except to say that you can claim a refund this year of a telephone excise tax. I leave my tax return in the hands of my very capable CPA.

I was thinking about my CPA today because I wouldn’t ask him his professional opinion of my tax situation without expecting to compensate him for his time. I wouldn’t think a lawyer would help me with a legal scenario if I didn’t pay that person. I created my first web site but paid professional software engineers to develop the current site. When I take my car for service, I expect that I will be charged for any diagnostic work by the technicians. In any professional situation that I can think about, I would think that I needed to compensate the person who is spending their time to provide me with the value of their experience and education.

However, I have observed that people who hope to enter the voice-over profession don’t seem to have the same thought process. I have received countless requests from newcomers who ask me to evaluate their demo and/or give them personal guidance about their career. I give all of them the same answer: No.

My stance on this subject and, indeed, in writing this post, may seem a bit harsh, especially when compared with my other writing and my overall helpful and encouraging attitude. I’m grateful for my experience and training in voice-over, and I have shared information on my web site and blog. Anything that I would say to a new talent about a demo would be only my opinion. Another voice-over actor could hear the same demo and give conflicting advice. Inevitably, the talent would want to incorporate some suggestions and would expect the person giving the suggestions to review the changes. I tell the aspiring voice talent that they really need to work with a reputable voice-over coach who could help them craft and tune a demo so that it is the very best presentation of their skills and abilities.

One thought that I have never shared with aspiring talent is this:

If I personally assisted everyone who asked for my help,
I would never have time to do any work of my own.

I’m running a business. While I feel that part of my mission on earth is to help people in pursuing their passion for voice-over and living their dream lives, all the good feelings in the world don’t pay my mortgage. Among all the people who have asked for demo critiques over the years, I remember only 1 person who offered to pay me for my time and knowledge.

Newcomers to the voice-over industry seem to have the notion that voice-over is not a business. They call me and send me e-mails whenever it is convenient for them, including the person who called at 10pm one Saturday night and the person who awakened me in Paris at 4am. Both just wanted to ask how to get started in voice-over. Since I love working in voice-over and have provided so much helpful information on my web site and this blog, almost everyone who has contacted me seems to expect me to provide personal instruction simply for the joy of being helpful.

These people do not realize that more is involved with a voice-over career than just talking. In the time that it would take to listen to a demo and write comments back to someone who expects my free advice, I could do any number of things that would move my business forward, such as research or contact prospects, write a blog entry, practice recording, learn something new about my software, or submit an audition.

A cardinal rule of marketing is to remember your audience and answer the question “What’s in it for me?” Those who have approached me with requests for demo critiques and advice about their careers have not addressed that question. Until such time as I start coaching people on a individual basis for a fee, I will hold to my policy of turning down requests for demo critiques and personal advice on voice-over careers. I hope that readers of my blog find useful advice and much-needed encouragement in my entries.

If you want a free opinion of your demo, some of the voice talent on www.vo-bb.com will evaluate your demo in one of the forums. Be patient if you post a demo or marketing materials there as the voice talent are professionals who must first take care of their own business. Read and abide by the critique forum rules. While it isn’t a rule, I would also suggest that you express your thanks to anyone who responds to you. Finally, I think that if you’re asking for professional advice, you should be willing and prepared to provide compensation for the assistance that you receive.

Since I started this post by writing about taxes, just remember that you have to work in order to gain income. Much of your work in a voice-over career is going to be in managing the business aspects of the job, which starts with your good demo. I recommend that you consult only a few trusted advisors in whom you have confidence; otherwise, you can get too much input and spend too much time perfecting your demo and not enough time marketing it.

 

Is audiobook narration hard?

I saw a post on another blog a few minutes ago that compelled me to respond. Someone else had commented that they were wary of authors reading their own books for the audio version because reading aloud is hard to do properly. The podiobooks blog author asserted that reading aloud for audiobooks could not be difficult since that person’s mother read to him/her when s/he was a child. Before I answered, I guess I should have noticed that the post was filed under Rants. Anyway, I’m including my comments about the difficulty imposed by audiobook narration here on my blog for your comments and discussion.

*****
As an audiobook narrator, I agree with the original post and Tim’s reply to this message. Reading aloud is not hard in the sense that lives aren’t hanging in the outcome or the balance of world power won’t shift with every utterance. However, lifting sentences off the printed page and breathing life into them so that they flow effortlessly while maintaining the author’s perspective is an acquired skill.

I know how to write words. I can use a pen and paper to form words, or I can type very fast on my computer in a word processing program. I constantly use this ability to write in order to produce a variety of things: proposals for voice-over projects, blog posts, letters to friends and family, etc.

Yet I would say that writing a novel is hard. (There’s that word again.) Writing a novel that becomes a published work of material seems even more difficult. How many people say they would like to write a novel, and how many people actually DO it? To become a published novelist such as Mr. Gaiman, one must have tremendous energy and focus. One must be able to take an ordinary skill that most people possess, like the ability to write words, and be able to string those words together in a fashion that would interest other people enough to want to pay to read them. I haven’t been able to do it. Writing a novel therefore seems like hard work to me.

I can understand the original poster’s view about being wary of audiobooks performed by the author. Audiobook narration is a performance, that, like the printed book, will last forever. It’s not like a child’s mother reading a bedtime story where the main goal is to lull the listener to sleep. Neither the child nor the mother care about the quality of the reading.

Audiobook listeners, on the other hand, DO care about the quality of the narration. Audiobooks are an intimate medium. The reason people enjoy reading so much is because their imagination is running the movie of the words in their head. A good audiobook narrator can make the audio version of a book seem like a movie, where someone who is not as adept at this type of performance can ruin the experience for the listener.

A good narrator will make the performance transparent and SEEM like the easiest thing on earth….just like talking. However, good narrators usually have completed professional training in voice-over and also have thoroughly prepared the material they are reading by researching pronunciations and determining characterizations before they ever walked into the recording studio.

 

Some advice about unsolicited advice

A few weeks ago, Drew told me that he found himself critiquing the voice-over actors on local radio commercials. He said he could recognize voice talent who need more training because they haven’t learned how to sound conversational in their reads. Among other things, he astutely detected that amateurs invariably let their voices trail off at the ends of sentences.

That same day, I called a major entertainment venue here in Atlanta to learn information about an upcoming event. I was rather shocked to hear a voice message in which the events and ticket prices were read in a choppy, uneven manner by someone with an accent. While some local commercials are produced by people with limited budgets, this complex has revenues in the millions each year. Its operations department unquestionably could afford to hire professional voice talent but has not.

In both cases, a professional voice-over artist like me could be tempted to offer her services to these businesses to fix their problems. However, both the people producing the commercials and those at the entertainment venue don’t think that they have a problem. My efforts therefore would fall in the category of unsolicited advice and most likely anger the people that I most wanted to impress.

I learned this lesson the hard way. As I was beginning my voice-over career, I wrote an e-mail to a local car dealer who runs a lot of radio ads. With my infinite wisdom, I explained that the dealer’s ads about Jenny in the office making a Bundt cake for all of the salesmen was offensive because it presented a very sexist and condescending attitude toward women. Mind you, I sent this message in the late 90s or early in this decade. The ad WAS sexist, but as a new voice talent who had no connection to this advertiser, it wasn’t my place to point out that fact. Naturally, I happily identified myself as a voice-over talent and offered to assist the dealer with future commercials.

I have auditioned for that dealer’s spots on numerous occasions but have never booked one. I have listened to my auditions against the ads that ran on the air. My vocal qualities and copy interpretation are eerily similar in many cases. Since I’m a positive person, I believe that maybe the producers knew the talent selected for the ads or perhaps never heard my auditions. I have to be honest, though, and acknowledge that an equally likely scenario is that my unsolicited advice was considered criticism and destroyed my chances of booking work with that advertiser.

“If I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it”

is an old adage that holds true in business. Bob Bly, a well-known and highly respected copywriter who has written many books, wrote a story with that title several months ago in the Early To Rise e-zine. He details valid reasons that you shouldn’t offer unsolicited advice.

When I feel my unsolicited advice could be perceived as criticism, I will keep it to myself, as Bly suggests. For instance, a nearby restaurant opened in the location of a previous restaurant. They changed the name and menu, which gave the customer one set of expectations, but kept the interior furnishings from the previous owner. The result was a hodge-podge of a poorly conceived restaurant with no unique identity.

During our one meal there, I told Drew a number of marketing ideas I instantly had for the establishment as soon as I walked in the door. I often have marketing ideas for businesses but usually don’t say anything because I don’t know the people. I didn’t say anything in the restaurant. It closed after being open less than a year.

If I am merely offering ideas for some new marketing twist, I don’t think the case against unsolicited advice is so clear-cut. When I am working with my clients, I feel that one of my value-adds to them is my marketing mind. I ask them if they are open to suggestions to changes in copy. If I see a way to promote their services, I enthusiastically point it out to them. My clients know that we have a collaborative relationship, and they always seem appreciative and excited about the leads, tips and ideas that I give to them. Certainly, when I am pitching an idea like an audiobook to a prospect whom I have targeted, providing a list of specialty marketing channels may be the key piece of information to seal the deal.

I still wonder what to do about those people who are in the category of potential clients. If I have a marketing idea for someone with whom I’d like to work, should I share it with them when we have no prior business relationship?

In three cases dealing with multi-million dollar corporations within the last month or so, I decided the answer was yes. The ideas had nothing to do with voice-over and nothing to do with me, but everything to do with the brand enhancement of the companies involved. (In keeping with Bob Bly’s recommendations, I wouldn’t have submitted the ideas if they could have been viewed as self-serving.) I suggested that 2 companies could partner on a promotion which would benefit both of them as they share the same target market, and I proposed a niche advertising campaign for a third entity.

I carefully researched the recipients so that the ideas would have the best chance of landing with the right decision-maker, but I can’t say whether anyone read my letters. The companies may not like or be able to implement my ideas. Like Bob Bly stated, these companies didn’t pay me for my ideas, so they might not find them valuable.

It’s one thing to approach somebody saying, “Will you hire me and pay me some of your money?” That line of inquiry won’t win you any friends when you continue with a recitation of perceived defects, like the web designer profiled in Bob Bly’s article or my letter to the car dealer. It’s another thing to approach somebody and say, “Here’s a way that you can make money!”

I think what you put out in the Universe comes back to you. If I was of service to someone else, the Universe will be of service to me. I sent these ideas freely, without any expectation of reward. I truly love all 3 companies and want to see their continued success and market domination. Of course, if any of these 3 businesses ever wants to engage me to voice commercials, point-of-sale and trade show presentations, training programs or anything else for their stellar organizations, I will be more than delighted to join their team!

 

How many languages does a voice talent need?

A musical instrument can produce melodious notes in any key playable by the instrument and known by the musician. If my voice is my instrument, why should I limit myself only to the words available in one language?

The world view of an American is someone is only knows one language. Foreign languages are not required school subjects here, so many people do not choose to learn them. English has become the global language for business and computer systems.

In 1994, Drew and I took our first trip abroad. Our destination was Germany, with a weekend in Amsterdam on the end of the trip. I had studied German in high school and college, but I had forgotten much of it since I had not had an opportunity to practice it. Don’t worry about the language was the advice of a friend. Everyone in Europe speaks English.

We discovered that the German people spoke German, at least on our first day in Munich. While our remembrances of that day now make for funny stories, the language barrier caused one of the most frustrating days of our entire marriage.

As a side note, I believe that the fear of the language barrier is one reason many people don’t travel internationally. This post and several others have been inspired by some trips, but this blog is not about travel. However, I will point out that if you attempt to speak even a few words in the native tongue of the country where you’re standing, you have just made a huge step forward in making your trip an enjoyable one.

In Germany, I found that I started remembering more of my German as I continued to hear it. I could speak sentences half in German and half in English to people. After the first day, more people started speaking English, even ein bisschen (a little) to us. When they said they could speak ‘a little’ English, they usually were fluent.

Two trips abroad this past year brought me in contact with students at language schools.

In February, I went to Brazil for the fantastic Inner Game of Voice-Over Workshop taught by my voice-over coach Susan Berkley and her co-instructor Rich Jones, an award-winning voice talent from Canada who now lives in Brazil.

Susan and Rich both speak fluent Portuguese. The workshop participants certainly were grateful for their translation assistance when we were shopping in the small countryside towns where English was not widely spoken! One of the most memorable uses of language was our studio session in Sao Paulo. Susan directed the talent in English and immediately gave production instructions to the engineer in Portuguese.

Rich also teaches English at the Millennium Language School in Sao Paulo. I was delighted in recent months when Rich asked me to voice some tracks for an instructional CD to be used at the school.

When I was in Brazil, the Brazilian students loved to talk to the Americans as it gave them ample opportunity to practice their English. I loved talking with the students as I was able to interact with people in another country on a more personal level than I normally do when I travel. The Brazilian students were all adults in a wide spectrum of ages.

When Drew and I recently visited Alexandria, Egypt, we saw a language school that was letting out for the day. The students ranged from small children to kids of high school age. They all appeared to be carrying books with English titles. We saw one boy carrying books labeled Chemistry and a SAT preparation guide. Those children and/or their parents see English as a necessary component to a bright future.

As an American, it would be easy (and somewhat arrogant) to think that I have no need to learn another language.

I have observed and read that more people around the world are learning my language. When I travel, I notice that more signs are in both the native language of the country and English. People usually switch to English when they learn I’m an American.

As a traveler, I have a goal to be multi-lingual. I declared this goal in my journal a few years ago when we were staying at a hotel on the tiny island of Bonaire near South America. One day, I watched the concierge fluidly and easily converse in 5 languages with the swarm of guests who approached her. I decided that day that I will speak German, French, Spanish and Italian. Being able to converse with someone in their own language emphasizes our similarities as people rather than our differences.

Most importantly, as a voice-over talent, I have a need to be multi-lingual.

Even without fluency in several languages, I at least need to be able to recognize, understand and correctly pronounce foreign words when they appear in literature so that I can perform audiobooks effortlessly. In addition, studying other languages always can improve one’s English since many of our words are derived from another language.

Even now, I can understand some German through hearing or reading it better than I can spontaneously speak it. I have recorded a voice mail system in German for a client who wanted continuity of voice-over for both English and German. I think that in most cases, though, my opportunities to perform scripts in a foreign language would be limited. If an organization wants to hire a voice talent who speaks a certain language, plenty of native voice actors exist who could execute the script flawlessly. I realize I would have the easiest time of first regaining my skills in German, but I have taken the challenge of learning French.

I am continuously adding foreign language programs to my reference library. I currently own language CDs in Spanish, French, German, Italian and Japanese. These CD sets are usually packaged with pronunciation guides, lesson books and/or pocket dictionaries. I am in the process of loading all of my language CDs on my iPod so that it becomes an incredibly useful tool to my voice-over career. I can quickly find and listen to the speakers with authentic accents, which helps me prepare proper accents for character parts.

A terrific source of these programs at low-cost is Costco. I also have found college dictionaries for foreign languages there. My philosophy is: the time to buy it is when you see it! Costco and similar shopping warehouses are notorious for having limited quantities of a product and not restocking them.

Of course, in this information age, we have almost unlimited opportunities to become armchair travelers and listen to the dialects and accents of those from other countries. In addition to the abundance of travel shows on TV, you can download podcasts and radio broadcasts from the Internet. You can play your favorite movie with the soundtrack from another language. I’ve read that audiobook narrator Kate Reading (Anna Fields) would go to ethnic restaurants as part of her research for books. I also know voice talent who have contacted embassies for particularly tough pronunciation questions connected with audiobook research.

Perhaps the typical American only knows how to speak English. I hope that statistic is changing. However, this American voice talent wants to know how to speak fluently in 4 other languages. In the meantime, I’ll be happy if I can retain the flavor of the accent enough to sound convincing to listeners of my recordings.