"Everybody tells me I have a great voice!"

 Seems everybody and his brother is getting into voice over these days. There's the promise of making some good money and the cost to set up a home studio is quite modest. Decent microphones are not expensive. And setting up an OK/acceptable studio is not going to break the bank. 

But here's the thing. If I were to teach voice over and somebody came to me for instruction, my first question before we even started reading practice copy would be "So why do you want to get into doing voice overs?" If the answer is "I want to make a lot of money and be famous;" I would more than likely pass on giving that person instruction. The harsh reality is even if you have the skills and talent, making a lot of money at voice over is questionable at best. The vast majority of people doing voice over work do NOT make the big bucks. (six figures on up). As for the fame part, well, there are folks making really good money and have been at the craft a long time and if you ask them if they are famous, they might fall down laughing. If you're getting into voice over because you want to be famous, good luck with that. Many successful veteran voice actors will tell you they like the anonymity of doing voice over work. They actually love going unnoticed in the supermarket or on the street. "Fame...Shmame. Just make sure my check clears."

I sometimes hear, "everybody tells me I have a great voice to do voice overs." You can have a so called great voice but it's what you do with your voice that matters. Do you have a marketable voice? (i.e. is your demo competitive?). Do you have the skills needed?  Are you willing to forgo a weekly paycheck? How do you deal with a lot of "nos" and rejection? Are you willing to put up with the peaks and valleys of the business? I can go out and buy a shiny new set of quality golf clubs, but unless I have the skills and have practiced and trained, those fancy clubs aren't going to help me. It's unlikely I'll be bragging to everyone in sight about my amazing 76 I shot at my local golf course.

I love doing voice overs. But it can be a tough go. You'll be auditioning a lot and not landing any jobs. That's the way it goes. If you're not recording a job, you'll be looking for work. (or should be). Don't let anyone sugarcoat things and tell you how easy it is to make big money in voice overs. Bull. Or as we use to teasingly say as kids,"You're full of it!" There's a well known lady pitching her voice over classes online and I actually cringe when I see her because she makes it sound like winning great paying jobs is a breeze. (Her first name is Susan). And let's not forget the folks who "inflate" their income when asked how much they make doing voice overs. By the way, I would never ask a voice actor what they make. None of my business and, in my opinion, poor form.

I'm not throwing a wet blanket over anyone's dreams and aspirations. I'm just telling you it's a very tough, competitive business and getting into it because you want to make lots of money and be famous is not good motivation. Or realistic. It's not a get rich quick industry. Feel free to prove me wrong.

Personally, I think the way to go is keep your day job and explore voice over on the side. You'll know when it's time to go full-time with voice over. Or, maybe you have no intention of going full-time at all. Either way, good luck!

The Nicest Couple I Ever Met (an unlikely friendship)

 My radio broadcasting career took me to lots of places and allowed me to meet many wonderful people. Not just recording artists, but "real people." As any well traveled radio deejay will tell you, there's no shortage of invites from listeners... home dinners, birthday parties, summertime swimming pool get togethers , graduation celebrations and beyond. You became a sort of local celebrity. And yes, I attended some invites I wish I hadn't, but those are stories for another time. 

I was on the air in West Palm Beach one day when a phone call came through on the listener line while a song was playing. I answered it with my standard hello..."W-I-R-K! Who's this?" I immediately heard a very low, smoky, senior citizen, female voice on the line when she blasted, "Is this deejay John? Are you the one on the air right now?" I wasn't sure I wanted to answer that thinking she might have a listener complaint. (she sounded like a nun I had in grade school!). I paused a second and said "yes it is." She told me that from time to time she would hear me on the air mentioning my Ohio roots and the Cleveland Browns. She said she too was from Ohio and along with her husband Kenneth had moved to Florida to get out of the cold. (all of this chit chat was going on while a song was playing). At one point, she lowered her voice a bit and said, "we like you the most of all the deejays on your station John because you play the best music." I chuckled a bit inside. I didn't have the time to go into details with her about how all of our deejays played the songs from a prepared, paper music "log." The songs were hand-picked for us. In short,we played what the program director or music director told us to play;we had no choice in the matter. I thanked her for the compliment nonetheless. She told me her name was Doris and we wrapped up the call with a friendly goodbye. I told her to call anytime she wanted to. There are a lot of lonely people that call in to radio stations, so I was always open to a little chat while the songs played...my good deed for the day.

Fast forward a few weeks. I was on air when Doris called me again with her unmistakable, husky voice with an invite to join her and Kenneth for a breakfast at Farmer John's restaurant. I couldn't resist, as I'm a HUGE breakfast fan. Besides, she seemed nice. We set something up for a Saturday morning and we would eventually meet in person after exchanging appearance descriptions over the phone.  ("I'll be wearing a cowboy hat with boots"). As I approached them at a table (she was very short and pudgy) she eyeballed me and said, "Are you John?"I told her I was and we sat down at the table to get acquainted and order some coffee and food. She said something to me that every radio deejay has heard at some point in their career; "you don't look a thing like you sound on the radio." I would love to counter with, "you don't look a bit like you sound on the station request/listener telephone line." The look I got was always good for a chuckle. Kenneth was an extremely soft spoken, kind and respectful man;very attentive to Doris. They told me they had been married a long time. You could see how much they truly loved each other. Maybe I should say, "you could FEEL how much they loved each other." None of it was put on. Authentic and true... not fake like you see with some couples.

We would go on to have future visits at Farmer John's for breakfast, and whenever a Cleveland Browns game was on TV (this was back in the 80's) I would pick up a 6 pack (or 12) and head over to their house and we'd watch the game together. It was great fun! I'm sure they've passed on by now, but I often think about my unlikely friendship with Doris and Ken. Many fond memories and much admiration. So glad I took them up on their invite.