Yesterday I was looking through my Facebook news-feed and came across a video that fellow blogger/voice talent Paul Strikwerda posted that showcased one of the recent jobs he did for a real estate agent. He mentioned that “I never thought I’d be pointing out granite counter tops and open floor plans as a VO.”
I think that is part of what I like about the voiceover business. Yes the fact that you work for yourself (unless you are even luckier than that and work for one of those companies like Discovery Channel or National Geographic or Disney for that matter). But the variety is a huge part of what I love about the business.
This reflects in my day job as a creative talent. Everday brings new challenges and we work on a different project… but the context is always healthcare because that is what the advertising company I work for specializes in. Some voiceover professionals are quite content finding a niche and embedding themselves in it. I guess the late Don LaFontaine did just that with the Movie Trailer business. Maybe that was what his voice was best suited for.
Some VOs have a medical background (might have been doctors or nurses before deciding to pursue a career in vo) and so stick to narrating videos about medical procedures or conference videos for pharmaceutical companies. It kind of makes sense.
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Wendy Edwards, a good tweep of mine, recently interviewed me for her podcast : The Wendy Edwards Show. Wendy works out of Charlottesville, Virginia and was intrigued by the recent events in Egypt.
In this Podcast Wendy Also kicks off her latest project, a contest called “The Next Voice Over Star!” of which my Directory Site The Voiceover Pavilion is a sponsor
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I haven’t written in a while and if you have been following global news at all you would know that part of it is because the country I currently reside in just went through what they have fondly called here the Lotus Revolution.
This is not unique to Egypt (where I reside) rather Egypt was the second country in what seems to be a cascading domino phenomenon going through the region. It started with Tunisia and with their success the youth of Egypt realized that they too can live free or die trying to achieve that goal.
Tunisia’s leader had been in power for around 23 years. The Egyptian president was in power for 30 and the threat of his Son inheriting the proverbial throne was a real one. It had already happened in the region. Syria’s Hafiz El-Assad left Syria to his son Bashaar and people in Egypt were on edge because if Hosni (the current president back then) was bad… his son (Gamal) would be 1000 times worse.
I have always scoffed at the idea that the Middle East was a dangerous place. I mean I was more in direct danger in Michigan USA than I ever was in any country in the Middle East. I have been in fights in the Middle East… but never been mugged or Burgled (alhamdullilah… Thank God) so its kind of an eye opener to find myself part of the Community Protection Patrol that was setup by my neighbors. Protecting our property from thugs and hooligans the old regime had let out of prisons on purpse to cause havoc and terror.
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Hello Folks, Taji here letting you know all is well here in Egypt and that if you want to read about my experiences during the revolution that is happening as I write this then head on over to VoiceOverXtra and read my Article on the matter. The article below is by a good tweep of mine and I've been hounding him for the past few months about completing it so you folks can get the benefit of his experience. Enjoy! ___________________________________________________________________________ So, about six months ago now, I realized that to make recording voice at home less painful, I wanted a silent PC....
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A journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.
I think that is a very fitting analogy for a voiceoverist’s career.
One has to have a starting point and one must consciously strive to move forward. As is the case with many journeys you might reach a hill or a mountain and have to exert extra energy to elevate yourself. So moving up requires more effort and more work. Moving down on the other hand … well you get a little help from gravity… and if you are a little too careless you end up tumbling down and can find yourself at the lowest point in your career faster than you can say… ooops!
The new year to some always marks the time for self evaluation. A time to revise what you did wrong or right in the past year and think of what you can do better.
What I wanted to do is share with you guys how I evaluate my year and maybe that can give you a guideline for how you can come up with your own review process.
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