Hey! It's the Motel 6 voice over dude. He'll leave the light on for ya (and how he got sober)

 What an amazing voice over career Tom Bodett has had. CBS Sunday morning did a really cool profile of him.  There's no way you haven't heard his folksy vocal delivery. For a while, his voice was everywhere. Besides the bucket loads of money he made for his "We'll Leave the Light on for Ya" radio and TV commercials for Motel 6, turns out he's an accomplished author and wood worker. He says his love of woodworking helped him to get sober. He can't woodwork and be drinking at the same time.He never sells any of his woodwork; doesn't want to get caught up with selling. His home recording studio looks killer. (OK. As a fellow voice actor, I'm a bit jealous). All these years I've heard him on the Motel 6 spots but never knew what he looked like. At 69 years of age, he seems happy doing his woodworking and writing. Loving sobriety. Good for him.

Here's a link to the very entertaining interview on CBS. It's short and well worth your time. He's an inspiration to me. Now that the interview has aired, I hope he's an inspiration to many. We need more Tom Bodettes in the world. Nice guy. Modest. Down to earth and helpful! Hey, he'll leave the light on for you. Thank you Tom.

When renowned voice over coach Marice Tobias speaks...people listen (or should)

 I first became familiar with voice over coach Marice Tobias many years ago. I heard she has an amazing background, not just in voice over, but many other things as well. She has a reputation for being a no nonsense coach, and from what I hear, is very selective about who she'll coach. For one... no beginners. She doesn't candy coat when teaching a talent. Some in the VO world call her "The Voice Whisperer." I would agree, although I've never had the good fortune of having her coach me or meeting her in person.

Quite a few blog posts back, I recommended, when possible, taking your headphones off when you're voicing copy. Voice actors who come from an on-air, radio background, will most likely scoff at the idea as they're so use to hearing their "wonderful, melodious voices" in their headphones with the volume jacked way up. I once followed a radio deejay when I was on-air in Charlotte who had the volume in his headphones so loud it was ear splitting, as I found out one afternoon, when he was leaving his airshift and I was plugging in my headphones coming on to do my show. I had no idea how he could work like that, but he did. By the way, how are you "Bob B.?" Any hearing loss?

In my humble opinion, taking your headphones off is one of the best things you can do for a natural read. And "natural and "believable" is always in demand for voice over jobs.

The other day on You Tube (where else?), I found some videos of Marice being interviewed in studio. She gladly offered her top 3 tips to voice over folks. Here's that very short clip that I think you'll find beneficial when you're in the booth recording. You can thank me later. Scroll down after clicking in to see her 3 VO tips.