Welcome to 7 TRUTHS U MUST Know B4 You Get Started in Voice Acting. If you’re wondering how to get into voice acting, today’s video is essentially all the stuff I wish I had known when I was starting out in voice over, and the stuff that you should know even before you get into voice over.

My goal and hope is that I can help you avoid some of the mistakes I made and learn some of the lessons I learned. My Dad used to tell me all the time, “Paul, you insist on learning the hard way,” meaning I didn’t want to listen to anybody, and I just had to take all my lumps myself. I was stubborn, and arrogant, and jacked full of ego and I wasted a lot of time and effort learning on my own rather than taking council and advice from those who had already learned those lessons.

And while that was true as a kid and a young man, I’ve learned that listening to those that have a little experience can save me a world of heartache and hurt. I like to think that as a voice actor I’ve done a much better job of listening, but I’ve still made my fair share of mistakes and gained some insights and I’d like pass that on to you.

So here are 7 truths you need to know before you get into VO. Or at least when you’re getting into VO.

(I apologize for the focus issues.)

Chapters:
0:00 - 1:23 "If I knew then what I know now..."
1:23 - 2:18 Number 1
2:18 - 2:50 Number 2
2:50 - 3:55 Number 3
3:55 - 4:47 Number 4
4:57 - 5:49 Number 5
5:49 - 7:39 Number 6
7:39 - 9:08 Number 7: The Biggie
9:08 - 10:16 Thanks and Links
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How do you provide an exceptional customer experience? So good that it drives loyalty among your customers and generates repeat business? It all starts with understanding and identifying customer needs. Today, we’re going to talk about understanding customer needs at each level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and how it applies to the business of voice over.

Voice over is, at its best, a business of service. It's not just providing a service as opposed to a product, although the product is crucial. What I mean is, voiceover is a business of service to others. 

When we’re doing our jobs right, we are solving a real, tangible problem for people. We’re doing something for them that they cannot do for themselves. We’re helping them in a very real way.

If clients could solve the problem themselves, they would. But they can’t. Because they’re not trained professionals who do what we can do.

One way of understanding the service we provide it to look at it through the lens of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. 

Chapters:
0:00 – 0:29 Driving Amazing Customer Experiences
0:29 – 2:00 VO Is a Business of Service to Others
2:00 – 4:04 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
4:04 – 5:06 1. Physiological Needs
5:06 – 6:30 2. Safety Needs
6:30 – 8:33 3. Belongingness and Love
8:33 – 9:33 4. Esteem Needs
9:33 – 10:19 5. Self-Actualization
10:19 – 11:02 Links, Thanks, and Close

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My voice over website: https://paulschmidtvoice.com

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For lead generation and targeting - Apollo.io: https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro

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What if we could really change how the P2Ps work? What if we could have a real dialogue with the people that matter, the decision makers, the policy makers, at the online casting sites? What if we could make actual recommendations directly to those people at the very top of the pay 2 plays?

It’s one thing to have an online monologue to someone in such a position, as we did to David Ciccarelli of Voices. But it’s another thing entirely to be able to ask questions of and make honest recommendations to the CEO of a major P2P platform.

As it happens, just such an opportunity is coming up. My friend and colleague, Paul Strikwerda will be leading an interview with Rolf Veldman, the CEO of Voice123 at VO Atlanta 2023.

Chapters:
0:00 – 0:37 What If…
0:37 – 1:16 Paul Strikwerda and Rolf Veldman
1:16 – 1:51 I Have Some Thoughts
1:51 – 2:18 Fair and Reasonable Principles
2:18 – 4:03 The VO Agent Alliance Pledges
4:03 - 4:54 The Call To Adopt These 4 Pledges
4:54 – 5:42 Abolishing Tiered Membership
5:42 – 6:46 These Problems Are Complex
6:46 – 7:51 The State of Our Dialogue
7:51 – 8:06 How to Contribute To the Interview
8:06 – 8:39 The VOFMP, MTI Newsletter, and Close

Questions or recommendations to Rolf Veldman: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnB_EAOO7Wa/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

VO Agent Alliance:  https://voagentalliance.com/

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The Paul Schmidt Pro Podcast: https://paulschmidtpro.com/the-pro-podcast

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For lead generation and targeting - Apollo.io: https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro

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So I thought the first video of the new year would be a good time to lay out the voice over conference 2023 calendar for you, including the big ones like VO Atlanta but also some smaller boutique conferences like MAVO. 

Now, if you’ve never been to a voiceover conference before, let’s start with the central question: Why? Why go to a voiceover conference? Why spend all the time and money, why take time out of the booth, why travel hundreds or thousands of miles? Why step out of your comfort zone and network and go through all the perceived hassle?

And the answer is this: voiceover conferences are the best opportunities available for you to build relationships in-person in the industry that can advance your career and enrich your life. Period. 

Chapters:
0:00 – 1:08 Intro
1:08 – 3:32 Why Go to Conferences?
3:32 – 5:49 VOcation – Feb 9-12 Cancun
5:49 – 8:38 VO Atlanta – Mar 23-26
8:38 – 10:10 APAC – Mar 27-28 NYC
10:10 – 10:57 WoVoCon – May 4-7 Orlando
10:57 – 11:14 One Voice UK – May (Dates TBD) London
11:14 – 12:06 OneVoice USA - August (Dates TBD) Dallas
12:06 – 12:34 VO North – Shut Down – Was in September
12:34 – 13:38 MAVO – Nov 10-12 Washington, DC 
13:38 – 14:37 That’s Voiceover! –December (Dates TBD) - Likely NYC
14:37 – 15:33 Wrap Up and Thanks

Get the printable Voice Over Conferences 2023 Calendar at https://paulschmidtpro.com/vo-conferences-2023-calendar

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In my last video, I Offended Voices.com and Here’s How, David Ciccarelli, the Founder and CEO of Voices, asked me to lay out the facts of my assertion that they put profit before talent. I laid out five facts that detail their history of disregard for transparency when it comes to fees, taking egregious cuts of project budgets, and others.

The reaction was, to say the least, just nuts. Unprecedented. Here’s just some of what you had to say…

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David Ciccarelli's Post: https://www.voices.com/blog/platinum-sunset-and-the-future-vision-for-talent/

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My voice over website: https://paulschmidtvoice.com

GVAA Rate Guide: http://vorateguide.com

Tools and People I Work with and Recommend (If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission.): 

For lead generation and targeting - Apollo.io: https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro

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In my last video, My (No Gear) Voice Over Christmas Wish List, one of my wishes was this: 

“I wish all of the pay-to-plays were ethical, but the chief offender here, of course, is Voices.com, but they're certainly not the only ones that put profit before talent and clients. These companies control a huge amount of work globally in the voiceover business, and it's a travesty to me that rather than seeing themselves as leaders and stewards of our industry, they couldn't give a reindeer turd about anything else other than putting profit ahead of people, clients and talent.”

The next day, I got an email from David Ciccerelli, the Founder and CEO of Voices.com, and he’s NOT happy.

Chapters:
0:00 - 0:40 My Wish
0:40 - 1:24 David Ciccerelli's Email
1:24 - 1:54 A Point I Won't Dispute
1:54 - 3:20 The Joe Paterno Story
3:20 - 5:14 The Facts
5:14 - 8:29 How Voices Can Improve
8:29 - 8:47 Talk Is Cheap
8:47 - 9:08 Thanks and Close
_____________________________

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My voice over website: https://paulschmidtvoice.com

GVAA Rate Guide: http://vorateguide.com

Tools and People I Work with and Recommend (If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission.): 

For lead generation and targeting - Apollo.io: https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro

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Video editing and color correction by my dear friend, Humberto Franco - https://humbertofranco.com/

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Christmas is right around the corner and of course this is the time of year voice actors get the steamy undies for all kinds of gear on their Voice Over Christmas Wish List – mics, interfaces, pop filters, cables, headphones, preamps, compressors, limiters, you name it, we as a group want it.

But I think in this season of gratitude and giving, I’m more about a different kind of VO Christmas wish list. Sure, I love new gear like the next voice actor, but what I want for voice over is not for me. It’s for everyone. Everybody who calls themselves a voice actor.

So, Santa, if you’re watching or listening, here’s my list. I’ve checked it twice. I know you know who’s been naughty and nice….

Chapters:
0:00 - 0:50 Welcome
0:50 - 2:12 Wish Number 1
2:12 - 2:35 Wish Number 2 
2:35 - 3:11 Wish Number 3
3:11 - 4:12 Wish Number 4
4:12 - 5:18 Wish Number 5
5:18 - 7:25 Wish Number 6
7:25 - 8:18 Wish Number 7
8:18 - 10:39 Wish Number 8
10:39 - 11:24 The VO Freedom Master Plan and Newsletter
11:24 - 11:41 Best Wishes for the Holidays
_____________________________
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Say Hi on Social: 
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My voice over website: https://paulschmidtvoice.com

GVAA Rate Guide: http://vorateguide.com

Tools and People I Work with and Recommend (If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission.): 

For lead generation and targeting - Apollo.io: https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro

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Crisis management in voice over is crucial to the continuity of your business. I was seven months into my full-time voiceover career and I lost my biggest and best client, one of the ones that helped me make the leap to full-time voice over.

With that phone call, 50% of my income evaporated instantly. In most cases, if you’re paying attention, you can see it coming. I was and I didn’t. 

Hence, I was completely freaking out.

What in the hell was I gonna do? Well, here’s what I did and it will help you if you’re ever in a similar situation. This is your VO Crisis Management Plan.
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My voice over website: https://paulschmidtvoice.com

GVAA Rate Guide: http://vorateguide.com

Tools and People I Work with and Recommend (If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission.): 

For lead generation and targeting - Apollo.io: https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro

Way Better than Linktree: https://pillar.io/referral/paulschmidtpro

Video editing and color correction by my dear friend, Humberto Franco - https://humbertofranco.com/

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I was in a dark place. I had been through a series of jobs for about a year each. I had largely failed at each one of them. I was a single Dad. I was paying my bills but just barely, living paycheck to paycheck. 

Near the end I was working for people I didn’t respect. I didn’t believe in the company. I wasn’t enjoying any success at that job I was sure I was going to be fired in a year. I was approaching 50 and was just thoroughly sick of working for other people, sick of doing jobs I had no passion for, sick of at-work politics, sick of it all, but I had no real options. Or hope. Plan A was find another sh*tty job and do the best I could to put food on the table.

Now, just to be clear, I was not suicidal. But I was moderately depressed. I dreaded every day at work. I loved my son, but I hated my life.

But there was one bright spot and that was voiceover. 

Chapters:
0:00 - 0:18 Call 988
0:18 - 1:29 A Dark Place
1:29 - 2:07 A Bright Spot
2:07 - 2:45 Could I Do This?
2:45 - 3:12 The Plan
3:12 - 4:15 Execution
4:15 - 4:42 Freedom!
4:42 - 5:46 Mental Health Improves
5:46 - 7:14 Anxiety and Treatment
7:14 - 8:06 Life Is Good
8:06 - 9:24 Why the VOFMP Exists
9:24 - 9:54 Close and Thanks
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The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/988

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My Move Touch Inspire Newsletter for Voice Actors: https://paulschmidtpro.com/newsletter

Say Hi on Social: 
https://pillar.io/paulschmidtpro
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https://www.tiktok.com/@paulschmidtpro
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulschmidtvo/

My voice over website: https://paulschmidtvoice.com

GVAA Rate Guide: http://vorateguide.com

Tools and People I Work with and Recommend (If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission.): 

For lead generation and targeting - Apollo.io: https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro

Way Better than Linktree: https://pillar.io/referral/paulschmidtpro

Video editing and color correction by my dear friend, Humberto Franco - https://humbertofranco.com/

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So, you’ve decided you want to get into voice acting and learn to do voiceovers and maybe even become a professional voice actor one day. Great!

As the song says, yes, there are two paths you can go by. First, maybe you just want to make a few bucks, have some fun and maybe make voiceover a hobby. You can jump on Fiverr or Upwork and find a ton of jobs to audition for and that’s great. 

But if you think you might want to go pro one day, or even if you don’t know, but want to find out, don’t go the Fiverr route. Fiverr, Upwork, and the freelancer sites can actually damage your career if you ever want to go pro.

If you want to get started on the journey to professional voice acting, it all starts with good coaching. “Coaching?!?!?” you say. “But why do I need coaching? I can talk! I do it every day!”

Here’s the hard truth…

Chapters:
0:00 – 0:42 Getting into VO
0:42 – 1:14 Why Train?
1:14 – 3:05 Performance Coaching
3:05 – 4:31 Research: Podcasts and Coaches
4:31 – 4:51 Listen, Lurk, & Linger
4:51 – 5:30 Vet the Coaches
5:30 – 6:08 What’s It Cost?
6:08 – 7:35 Getting Demo-Ready
7:35 – 8:21 Which Demos?
8:21 – 9:04 It’s About the Acting
9:04 – 9:27 The VO Freedom Master Plan
9:27 -  9:59 Thanks and Close
___________________

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SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@paulschmidtpro?sub_confirmation=1

The VO Freedom Master Plan: https://paulschmidtpro.com/vo-freedom-master-plan
My Move Touch Inspire Newsletter for Voice Actors: https://paulschmidtpro.com/newsletter

Say Hi on Social: 
https://pillar.io/paulschmidtpro
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https://www.tiktok.com/@paulschmidtpro
https://www.clubhouse.com/@paulschmidtvo
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulschmidtvo/

My voice over website: https://paulschmidtvoice.com

GVAA Rate Guide: http://vorateguide.com

Tools and People I Work with and Recommend (If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission.): 

For lead generation and targeting - Apollo.io: https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro

Way Better than Linktree: https://pillar.io/referral/paulschmidtpro

Video editing and color correction by my dear friend, Humberto Franco - https://humbertofranco.com/

Send us a text

Support the show