Away From the Mic

What happens in Vegas

26 March 2010

The catchy TV ads for Las Vegas tourism caution you: What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. A banner at the airport reminds you of that slogan as you head to your departure gate.

What happens in any place I travel stays there…..UNTIL I get home. When Drew and I travel, we never post anything on-line to indicate we’re not at home. Tweets about the trip, Facebook photo updates, and blog posts all have to wait until we get home. It would be too easy for crooks to see our on-line updates, find our house with Google maps, and clean us out while we’re gone.

Now that I’m back from a fabulous trip to Vegas, all bets are off. I had such a great time that a tell-all blog is in order!

Drew and I went to Las Vegas to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary by renewing our vows while sitting on a Harley at the Little White Wedding Chapel Tunnel of Love. Yes, we renewed our vows at a drive-through window! We expected the ceremony to be just a few sentences, like “Do you still take her? Do you still take him? Okay, ride on then!” However, the ceremony actually was very meaningful while still being fun and unique.

Karen and Drew Commins say “I do — again!” at a Las Vegas drive-though chapel

Although our vow renewal ceremony was the reason for the trip, a big highlight for both of us was finally meeting our friend, the dedicated news anchor, energetic Renaissance man, and talented fellow professional voiceover actor Dave Courvoisier. Dave and I have exchanged many thoughtful e-mails, and occasionally, we’ve even surmounted time zone differences between Las Vegas and Atlanta to talk on the phone. It was such a joy to be able to spend a few hours with him in person.

Dave generously invited us to sit in on his 5pm newscast at KLAS-TV, where he anchors the 4pm, 5pm, and 11pm newscasts. Such a grueling schedule would be enough for many people. Dave’s busy, high-profile job is just a part of his work week. For instance, he was an emcee on Saturday, 20 March for the Chefs for Kids Gala, a benefit at which Las Vegas chefs combine efforts to raise money to provide nutritionists and meals at Clark County schools.

Las Vegas KLAS-TV anchors Dave Courvoisier and Denise Valdez in a newscast.
Dave is on the air in this picture.

After the newscast, we enjoyed a relaxing and delicious Italian dinner at Nora’s Cuisine. The conversation flowed easily; we never encountered one of of those awkward, pregnant pauses. We talked about our families and the sadness over losing our parents. We talked about Drew’s recent certification as a Dive Control Specialist. We talked about the technology at the TV studio and Dave’s role as a leader and teacher of social networking among the staff.

Naturally, we spent a good bit of time talking about our voice-over careers. I rarely come out of my studio to talk with another voice talent, so this discussion was quite refreshing. Dave has been in voice-over for about 5 years, and I’ve been doing it for 11 years. We’re on similar paths as we both continue to evolve and grow as professional voice talent. In fact, we’ve both recently completed extensive coursework from celebrated LA voiceover coach and branding guru Nancy Wolfson and created new commercial demos under her direction.

I was impressed to learn that Dave created a second web site solely aimed at audiobook narration. I also have had the same idea, but Dave has actually implemented it. I admire his targeted and focused marketing to one of his niche audiences.

By the way, Dave insists that he DOES sleep 6-8 hours a night, but I still find it difficult to believe that he has time to sleep at all!

Drew and I had a very special anniversary trip to Las Vegas. Spending quality time with Dave Courvoisier made it all the better, and we look forward to visiting with him again soon.

Voice actors Dave Courvoisier and Karen Commins
bask in the glow of the neon light from a tattoo shop.
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!

6 ways to show you respect another person’s time

19 January 2010

Yet another person called me today because of a desire to get into voiceover. While I have always endeavored to provide assistance to people considering a voice-over career, several things about this exchange left me feeling more irritated than helpful. Therefore, I want to turn my negative thoughts into some tips to help others approach me and other voice talent in more respectful manner.

1) If you must leave someone a voice mail, tell them the purpose of your call in your message.

2) If you leave a message and must leave the phone immediately, state a good time to return the call.

Today’s caller left me a message saying she wanted to talk to me. I called her back a mere 13 minutes later and had to leave a message. In my message, I said she could send me an e-mail to cut down on phone tag. (Phone tag is a HUGE time-waster!) As Murphy could have predicted, I was unavailable when she called the second time. Again, she didn’t tell me the purpose of her call. I knew at that point she was either trying to sell me something or wanted to quiz me about becoming a voice talent.

3) Get on-line.

After I told her in my voice mail that she could send me an e-mail, she stated in her second voice mail to me that she didn’t really care for e-mail. Since the entire voiceover industry is increasingly on-line, you will quickly be left behind if you don’t want to communicate through e-mail. When people send me e-mail expressing interest in working in voiceover, I can respond at my leisure — requiring less time on my part — while also offering far more details and links to info than I could give to a prospective voice talent over the phone.

4) Do your own research.

Drew is now working for me in my voiceover business, so I asked him to call her back the second time. He also had to leave a message. (Did I mention that phone tag is a waste of time?) Once they finally were on the phone together, he spent 14 minutes patiently answering this newcomer’s various questions, like:

Since LA and NYC are the big spots for voice-over, can you do it anywhere else? What’s the market like in Atlanta? (Drew’s answer was the same as mine would be — are you currently working in voiceover, or are you looking to get started?)
Who’s a good agent? (I mentioned agents on my advice page on my web site. Basically, you need to have appropriate training, a well-produced demo, marketable skills, and probably a number of bookings before an agent will even listen to you.)
Can you make $50,000 a year? (Yes, but most people starting out don’t make that much.)
Is it possible to make $100,000? Did he know anyone who made that much in voiceover? (Yes, anything is possible. Your earnings are based on a wide number of factors, not the least of which is your audition ratio. A voice talent’s real jobs are auditioning and self-marketing to generate work and consequently income.)
What’s the phone number for Nancy Wolfson (after Drew said I had been studying with her)? How much does Nancy charge? (If you want to talk with Nancy or any other voiceover teacher, look them up and contact them personally.)

Drew referred the caller to my advice page, but she said it looked more like a blog. Obviously, she had not read that page, any of the 100 or so articles on my blog, or any other of the millions of pages on-line that could have answered the questions she was asking.

5) Request an informational interview.

If you want to have an informational interview with anyone currently doing a particular job, send a courteous request for an appointment that has a pre-defined amount of time of no more than 15 minutes. Calling a person and expecting them to take time from their busy schedule just to talk with you when it’s convenient for you shows a total disregard for their time and business. Don’t assume that the person you called can stop their current activity to talk to you.

6) Be prepared with questions.

When I talk to newcomers on the phone, I ask first if they have read my advice page and blog and then whether they have specific questions about the info that I have written. I have a business to run; I don’t have time to man the information desk.

A friend called as I was writing this entry. She summed up the underlying reason for my irritation over today’s events exceptionally well:

Do you want to make money, or do you want to earn it? People who want to make money are out to get rich quick through any means possible and using anyone they can. People who want to earn money are willing to undergo necessary training, proceed methodically, and persistently perform the necessary business aspects such as marketing and accounting to build a career.

A voiceover career definitely falls in the category where you earn money.

A short letter to my loyal readers

7 November 2009

Dear loyal readers of my blog,

You may be surprised to see Twitter updates appearing instead of my normal essays about the topics of voice-over, marketing, and audiobooks. I have not abandoned my style or intention in maintaining this blog for voice talent. However, three life-altering events during the past 6 months — primarily the loss of my mother — have left me with little time to write anything of length.

I also realized that many of the links I have posted on Twitter are often excellent resources for voice talent and audiobook narrators. Even if you’re following me on Twitter (and if you’re not, it’s always a good time to start!), you may have missed some of this useful information.

Therefore, I am including my tweets as a supplement — not a replacement — to my usual writing on this blog. I have more feature-length articles in the works. I also plan to expand my content to include more short entries like this one since I know it can be difficult to make time to read a longer article.

I thank you for your continued interest in and support of this blog, and I hope you are living the life of your dreams!

Cordially,
Karen Commins

Photo credit: Akirastock/iStockPhoto

6 things swimming teaches us about voiceover

4 October 2009

Karen’s narration of this entry

It was such a gorgeous day yesterday that Drew and I wanted to go swimming. We called our gym, hoping that the outdoor pool might be open. Most outdoor swimming pools closed Labor Day weekend, and the gym pool was no exception.

I have always loved swimming, especially outdoors in the sunshine. Not only is swimming fantastic physical exercise, but it’s also a wonderful meditative activity. I can’t think about too much other than the present moment if I want to keep track of my lap count! Since voiceover is always on my mind, it’s no surprise that I began thinking of parallels between swimming and voice-over during a recent swim.

Sunny summer day at the swimming pool at Lifetime Fitness, Duluth GA

Warm up

If I don’t warm up with some stretches before I get in the water, I will find it a greater struggle to get from one end of the pool to the other. In addition, muscles that I didn’t know I had — like around my collarbone — will wait a day before complaining about my lack of preparation.

Warm-up is also necessary before voicing copy. If I don’t warm up my vocal chords with some cold reading or tongue twisters, my voice will not be at my natural pitch and will gravel out in the lower range.

Build and maintain stamina

When I started swimming again, I was breathing hard and completely worn out by the time I finished one pool length. Like other things, I’ve found that the more you do, the more you can do. If I stop swimming for a week, I lose some of my endurance and have to work up to my previous level.

The same is true with voice-over. I need stamina to narrate long scripts or audiobooks. If I don’t practice everyday, including while on vacation, I can tell that I’m breathing heavier when I return to the recording booth. Yes, this is another plug for daily voice-over practice because it will help you with your breath control.

Isolate the sound

I am easily bothered by noise, and I hate hearing all of the shrill shrieking of kids at the pool, especially when we swim in the indoor pool at our gym. I was shocked to discover from a friend that you can listen to music under water! After she told me about it, Drew searched for products and found the H2O Audio Waterproof Case that houses my iPod Shuffle. The Shuffle housing has changed swimming for me forever! Now I listen to music as I swim, which helps me concentrate on my exercise rather than other people. I’ve also thought that I may use my swimming time to catch up on voiceover podcasts.

Like me, my Neumann TLM 103 microphone is very sensitive to unwanted noises. Due to my house’s location, I had serious and continuous interruption from a wide variety of outside noises when I was recording. As a result, I had to take extreme measures and add a room to my house for my voiceover studio. My studio is custom-built for recording with special soundproofing measures. The room has no windows, 2 layers of ceilings with added insulation, 2 sets of doors at each entrance with barrier space and 2 layers of 5/8″-thick drywall covering the walls. I installed a WhisperRoom sound isolation booth inside my new room, which raises me up from the floor and provides greater soundproofing. By investing in the construction of my soundproof studio, I am able to concentrate on what’s important — my script interpretation and vocal delivery. I’m not distracted by external noises like lawnmowers because I don’t hear them. While you may not need to build a special room for your voiceover business, you do need to isolate the sound to produce a recording as pure and clear as a chlorinated pool.

Focus on your goals

The endless repetition of swimming from one end of the pool to the other is far from exciting. On a day-to-day basis, it can seem like I’m doing the same thing for no reason. I can talk myself out of going to the gym for any number of reasons like weather, errands, or a desire to relax. However, I am working to make swimming a natural part of my daily routine. I have big health and fitness goals I want to reach, and exercise will help me get there. It’s important to do something I like. I create little goals each swimming session, like swimming more laps or improving my speed. I can’t see much incremental improvement, but I do notice improvement over time.

The voiceover audition process is equivalent to swimming laps. It can seem monotonous to perform endless auditions and win few, if any, of them. On a daily basis, it may even seem like your voice-over career is standing still. As with exercise, it can be so easy to become frustrated with gradual, incremental change. I’ve learned that feelings of frustration or disappointment only block me from moving forward.

I’ve also learned the hard way that every time you criticize yourself or bemoan your current status, it’s an act of self-negation and stops the good from coming to you. If you constantly focus on what you DON’T have, the Universe has no choice but to keep serving up more of the same to you. It’s therefore ultra important to maintain a positive, “keep-the-faith” outlook, and keep doing things you like. If the auditions aren’t working well at the moment, turn to some other aspect of your business where you can exert positive energy such as contacting prospects and clients or creating your own work. By always focusing on what you WANT, you will get a steady stream of inspired ideas for action that will bring you closer to your goals.

Monitor your form

One reason that I like swimming in the sunshine is because the sun casts strong shadows. By observing the shadows of my hands as they enter the water, I’m reminded to keep my fingers together.

Along with a shower and brushing my teeth, part of my morning routine includes narrating a daily spiritual guide and recording it into my digital voice recorder. Nobody hears this recording except me. It’s just one of the ways that I practice and monitor my narration form, which makes me better when I’m in my recording booth. I also record my sessions with my coach (with her permission) so that I can listen to the playback and hear how I modified my approach based on direction.

Make course corrections

One afternoon at the outdoor pool, I noticed it was difficult to swim a straight line from one end of the pool to another. I first thought I was tired, or maybe I couldn’t see due to the sun in my face. I soon realized the problem was the water current. You see those 2 big water slides in my picture? When they are running, a steady flow of water rushes from them, and an erratic flow of people of different sizes come through them, causing splashes of various sizes. The lap lanes nearest the water slides have the greatest fluctuations in current. I could either keep fighting against the current or make a course correction and have a more enjoyable time. In this case, a course correction might mean moving to another lane, going to the indoor pool, or waiting until the lifeguard break when the water slides don’t run.

Your voice-over career will also require you to constantly observe current conditions and make course corrections. We wish it could be a straight and quick line from never voicing the first word to being the rich and famous voice actor beloved by millions of adoring fans.

However, our paths rarely follow a straight and simple line. You may have identified a niche where you want to work, only to learn that the target market is difficult to contact. Sometimes the market doesn’t want your voice in a particular area like commercials; it wants you for something else like phone systems. Don’t fall in the trap of condemning your past action as a failure; just gently think of your next action as a course correction. Being flexible and open to opportunity allows the Universe to act on your behalf and fulfill your dreams in a way you didn’t expect.

Balance your life

Voice-over is a huge part of my life, but it’s not the only thing in my life. When I swim — especially outside on a sunny day — I’m reminded of the big, beautiful world that awaits me outside my house and away from my computer. I’m also proud of myself for taking action on fitness goals. I need my health as a foundation for everything else in my life, including my voice-over career. Even superstar swimmer Michael Phelps made time to do other things, like go to school.

Some days, I work 10 hours in my studio, barely taking time for anything like eating lunch or retrieving the mail from the mailbox. I’ve read messages from other talent for whom 15-hour days seem to be normal. Honestly, I don’t want to be someone who consistently works 15-hour days. My life would be completely off kilter, and my voice would reflect the stress and strain. I’m more relaxed and productive in my reads by making voice-over work ONE of the things in my day instead of the ONLY thing in my day.

Although fall is upon us, I’m happy that I can continue to swim at my gym’s indoor pool. In addition to getting good exercise, I find that I get creative ideas for my voiceover business in the process. I’ve read that something about the ions in the water increases creativity….but that’s probably another topic for another day! Does your exercise routine help you improve in your voice-over career? I’d love to read your comments on this subject on the blog.

Recreating my web site

3 September 2009

Refashion. Reorganize. Remodel. Repair. Revise. Reinvent. Reshape. Reform. Rearrange. Repurpose. Revamp. Renew. Revitalize. Rejuvenate.

No matter which word you pick, you now know what my web site designer and I “R” doing, which explains why I haven’t posted a blog entry in over a month.

No worries. I have so many ideas about voiceover and marketing still to discuss! I appreciate your patience during my web site renovation and promise to return with new content later in the month to reclaim my place in the voiceover blogosphere!

Photo credit: Skip ODonnell/iStockPhoto

Voice-over career requires time and energy

26 July 2009

Karen’s narration of this entry

Nothing lasts forever.
The most unforeseen circumstances will swamp you and baffle the wisest calculations.
Only vitality and plenty of it helps you.
–WASHINGTON A. ROEBLING
Washington Roebling’s name may not be familiar to you. He’s not in the voice-over industry. In fact, he has nothing to do with voice-over or entertainment. However, I recently read about him and his monumental accomplishment, and his quote applies to anyone pursuing a big dream, including a career in voice-over.

You see, Washington Roebling was an engineer — not just any engineer, but the chief engineer behind the famous Brooklyn Bridge. I recently read David McCullough’s fascinating and extremely well-researched novel The Great Bridge, which describes the people, risks, relationships, political environment, and long processes involved to build that bridge. It’s the sort of sweeping, satisfying book that I would love to narrate, but these historical books are usually about men and therefore narrated by men in the audiobook. But I digress …

Part of the story that is so remarkable is that Roebling fell seriously ill and wasn’t even on-site during much of the construction, yet he pressed on until the Brooklyn Bridge was completed and his dream realized. With his wife’s admirable and steadfast assistance, Roebling wrote such an incredible collection of notes and designs that his assistant engineers were able to complete the work to his specifications without his supervision.

The on-line Merriam-Webster dictionary defines vitality as physical or mental vigor especially when highly developed. I can’t agree too much with Roebling’s assessment that vitality is necessary to accomplish anything of importance, especially a voice-over career. However, I would also add time to the equation.

Many people jump into voiceovers with the expectation that a lucrative and easy career awaits them. Unlike an engineer, they don’t study the landscape or make calculations about the best way to proceed. They may give up before achieving the level of success that they seek.

I have often heard that entertainers and sports stars who are considered to be an overnight success usually have been working diligently and learning their profession for 10 years or more. This passage in John Maxwell’s book Put Your Dreams to the Test: 10 Questions that Will Help You See It and Seize It better explains that theory:

Author and speaker Jim Rohn points out, “The twin killers of success are impatience and greed.” I believe they are often the killers of dreams as well. Most people want results that are quick and dramatic. However, the reality is that most dreams are achieved very slowly, and the results come about unspectacularly. If you have achieved any major goals in your life, then you already know that realizing goals can be less thrilling than imagining them. That’s why you need to learn to take satisfaction in the journey and find fulfillment in the small steps along the way.Drew and I visited New York City for the July 4th holiday, and we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. Although I’ve seen it many times, I could only fully appreciate its immense size, strength, and beauty while actually standing on it.

Karen Commins walks across the Brooklyn Bridge 7/4/09The construction process took 14 years, which was 2-3 times longer and at a far greater cost than the original estimate. Had Roebling not maintained his vitality and persevered through unimaginable obstacles over long stretches of time, this masterpiece of American architecture would not be standing.

I thought again about the time and energy needed to complete a dream while we watched Macy’s July 4th fireworks on the Hudson River. We were treated to a spectacular 30-minute show, but the tremendous planning and coordination, including the actual fireworks manufacture and testing, must have started as soon as the festivities were finished last year, or perhaps even earlier. I created a short video of some highlights from the fireworks and added music from my royalty-free library. I am posting the video here for your viewing pleasure.

[KGVID width=”480″ height=”272″]http://www.karencommins.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/NYC-Fireworks-7-4-09.m4v[/KGVID]

Time and vitality have been necessary ingredients in my voice-over business since its inception. Like anyone, I have had and continue to have personal challenges, like the losses of my dad in 2003 and my mother just 2 months ago in May. In the past couple of weeks, Drew and I were shocked to learn that his position as a lead software engineer has been eliminated after 12 years of employment with his company, so we unexpectedly are starting a new chapter of our lives.

I don’t bring up my personal obstacles to gain your sympathy but to point out that vitality is needed to sustain the momentum in my voice-over career while time marches on. You may have noticed that even my blog entries lately required an unusual amount of time and energy to complete. Many days, I have to judge my progress on my voice-over dreams based on incremental forward movement. However, like Roebling and his bridge, I continue to focus on my vision of success, counting my blessings and victories as I go along.

What kind of correlation do you notice between time and energy in pursuing your voice-over goals? I’d love to hear from you with comments on the blog!

Karen Commins

Award Winning

Atlanta Audiobook Share-rator™