Speaker 1: Do you need a voiceover director? That's the question we'll answer this morning on the voiceover at all. What's going on? Welcome my voiceover friends. My name is Bill DeWeese. I'm a professional voiceover talent. I've been working full time in voiceover since 2006 and um, let's see what else do you need to know about me? I'm a voiceover coach, voiceover demo producer, written a couple of books. My latest is get paid using your voice, get found, get heard, get hired. I wrote, this is really a great introduction into the business or for people who feel like they've kind of lost their path or don't know where the path is because this is the compass. It's, it's, it's the roadmap. You open it up and it walks like a nine step process. And that's what this book is about. The digital version of this is below in the description. You can click that. Uh, let's see here. I also wanted to share my, my sympathies with those of you who live in the Phoenix area. I was just listening to the news this morning. I had no idea that it has been 100 degrees or above for the past 100 days. Wow. Wow. Wow. Um, I remember visiting, Alex used to live in Phoenix, my son and Vicki and I went out to visit, you know, on several occasions. And, and I remember just how oppressively hot it was. Although I, you know, you've been around me for any length of time. You know, I love summer. I love heat and I love that, but it's, it's a whole, it's next level down that way. So you guys have are in my thoughts right now. And I hope you're finding ways to say, stay cool and comfortable during this very hot time. And hopefully relief is on the way now that we're into, uh, we're into September. Well, I wanted to mention to you guys, I want to talk about a topic that I don't know that we've talked about all that much, but it's an important one. And is, do you need a voiceover director? And the answer to that is yes, but let me qualify that a little bit here. This would be, this would be ideal that there would be somebody like in your studio with you all day long who could give you objective feedback. That would be awesome, but it doesn't work that way. So we have to work with what we have. Uh, back when Mallory worked with me full time, she used to help me out with that. And now, you know, of course she has her own booming voiceover business and a growing family and, and all of those, those obligations. But the reality is we need a director for a couple of reasons. Um, one is that we don't have any objectivity. Trying to direct yourself as like trying to give yourself golf lessons or piano lessons or any other kind of lessons. It's like being you're trying to be your own therapist. You just don't, you can't see the situation objectively. And so as voiceover talent, it's not that we can't be successful. I mean, obviously, I mean, I've done it primarily without somebody on the outside helping me on my, on my auditions so we can do it, but it takes, it's not easy. We'll put it that way. It's not easy, but when it comes to your demo specifically, it's really, really important to have a director. And now you've heard me advocate for making your own DIY demos when you're first getting started. Yes, you should do that. If you don't have the money, uh, to pay a producer, to do a professionally directed demo. But when you're in the position where you can do that, it makes, and for those of you who've been through the process, I know you'll vouch for this. It makes all the difference in the world because here's a, here's look at it this way. Here's, here's a bit of a picture for you. Imagine that, um, your voiceover performance is like a highway. You're driving on the highway in life that high in that highway represents a range of scenarios, contexts, and the way that you respond and react within those different contexts. The highway of life is easy for us because we don't, I mean, we use our heads, but we often operate from our hearts. So it's a combination of what we think and how we feel. And so if we're at a ball game rooting for our favorite team, we go into that lane and we're very excited. And you know, we don't, we don't, we're not, we don't hold back. We yell, we scream, we have fun. We do all the things we want to do when we're hanging out with our friends, we shift over into that lane and, and we behave appropriately there. If we're, uh, if we have a family tragedy, we shift into that lane because we feel and operate in a different mode. And we don't seem to have, we naturally know how to gravitate over to the proper lanes to express ourselves authentically the way we are. What happens when we go into a studio, we're isolated from the external world world, and there's a microphone. And then somebody puts a script in front of us and says, okay, here's the script. And we have to determine what lane that is and how we operate within it. What tends to happen is we tend to get into a lane in the middle of all, imagine a seven there. The other day we were driving home from Cleveland and coming through I-80. There's a place where, uh, as you're getting closer to Chicago, it actually goes as it's seven lanes wide. So it's 14 lanes in total when you're going east and west. That's a, that, you know, that's a lot of lanes. So, so we're trying to, so we step into this booth, the sterile booth away from the rest of the world. And we were trying to decide what lane to go in. Well, we tend to go into the middle lane, the one that's, you know, where it's, that it's most comfortable for us. And what happens is regardless of the script and what the script calls for, what the context is, what the emotion is, we tend to stay right here. We, and if we start, if we start to, to try to move out of that lane, our psyche, that voice in our head says, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you're, that sounds a little crazy. We need to move right back to the middle of the lane. So regardless of what the script is and really what it calls for, we tend to do the same thing over and over. It may sound different in our heads, but in reality, it stays virtually the same. We might read a little faster. We might read a little slower, a little louder, a little softer, but in terms of emotion and the way it impacts those who are listening, we tend to stay right in the middle. A director, the director's job is to take you out of that lane when appropriate and put you in the proper lane so that you can respond the way that you would naturally in real life. I hope that connects. And I hope that makes sense. That's the value of direction. And simply by understanding that hopefully it will help you in your self direction by knowing that the tendency is to stay in that middle lane. And if you start to swerve, remember your mind is going to fight against you and bring you back to that middle. So that's why it's a bit of a battle, especially earlier on in your career in the studio, because you know, here's a script that calls for maybe a super over the top excitement and passion. Well, it's hard to do when you're, you know, you're not sitting in a crowd of 50,000 people. It's just you isolated in a booth or it's a script that calls for you to feel insecure or afraid or to grieve or to love or to whatever. Again, you're in this isolated booth. So, but just by knowing that, and by knowing how, how you have to separate from this, which is trying to pull you back into the middle and get more into here, a big part of voiceover, the successful performance is getting out of here and moving into here. And you've heard me talk about the formula for voiceover performance success before. And that is to win auditions, to get work, you have to make the person listening to you feel something. Otherwise it's unbelievable. It doesn't sound real. It doesn't sound authentic. You can never sound good enough to be successful. You have to connect on an emotional level. How does that happen? Well, before they can feel it, you have to feel it first. And for you to feel it, you have to connect to something very personal in your own life. So that's the chain of events that has to happen. And as you understand that, you can begin to, to move more easily into these different lanes of the highway where you need to, which will allow you to be more effective because this is how you would actually operate in real life. Coming up, I've with all of that said, I've put together a class. I wanted to let you guys know about it's coming up. The next one is this coming Tuesday, and it's only for six people. We, we do it online and I keep it very small because what I do is I direct you through three scripts, which you record in your home studio. You can select the scripts or I've got plenty of scripts. I can select those for you. And within this class of six people, I direct you so that you can record on your end so that you can have directed material that you can use to update your current demos that you can use for a new demo. However you want to use that as a chance to be directed professionally so that you can give your best read to take you to a different level where you've never gone before. That's the purpose of it. And by being in that class with a few other people, you're able to watch and listen and learn from them because you'll have full objectivity, object objectivity then. So when you see somebody else being directed, it'll be more of an aha moment. Like, Oh, okay, now I see now I get it. And it will help you also to better express yourself genuinely when you are being directed. Um, again, this is, it's next Tuesday, the 10th, it'll be in the afternoon. I've got a link below in the description. You can get all the information, but if you think that would be beneficial for you, remember it's only for six people. So this is a very small class. So if you're interested, go below and check the link in the description and get all the details there. But direction is important, but understanding why can begin to help you expand your performance because I, I hope this resonates the idea of feeling like you're kind of in this lane and you can't get out of the lane. Like it's, it's almost like, remember bumper bowling. You know, when you, sometimes, uh, when you're a kid and you're bowling, they'll put the bumpers in the, in the gutter so that the ball bounces out of, it won't stay in the gutter. It's that way. And voiceover often, oftentimes where we're trying to move to another lane because, you know, maybe we feel we need to, but our mind is fighting against us. It's like it's put these guardrails, these bumpers, and it tries to keep us in the same routine over and over and over again. And the, the end result is just not authentic. It's not believable. It's not real. It doesn't generate any kind of emotion for you or for the person listening, which makes it really difficult to book work that way. So we got to get you out of that. Um, Hey, thanks for being here this morning. I appreciate it. I see that many of you have checked in on the live chat already. If you haven't, I'm about to do a little roll call here. I like to shout out and give my appreciation to you guys. Uh, so let me know where you're watching or listening from this morning. And we've got 57 on right now of which 25 likes. So I want to thank you guys. Many of you have subscribed to the channel. I appreciate that. And every time you like a video, and I'm not asking you to like videos that you don't like, but if you feel they resonate with you and they offer value to you, when you give it a like, what it does is it, uh, it juices the YouTube algorithm to share this video with other people who are searching for good voiceover information. That's, that's what ultimately that does when you like the video. So thank you for that. And we had Joe from the UK was first in this morning, of course. Now, Joe, we, you've had the advantage of the afternoon. So you didn't have to get up early like Johnny did in San Francisco, where it's like right now, it's like five 41 is a five 41 in the morning. Yeah, it is. Holy cow. But Joe appreciate you. And thank you for being here. Hey, Corey, what's going on in Wisconsin, Johnny and San Francisco. Thanks for, for getting up so early to join us. I appreciate it. Nephi what's going on in Knoxville, Paul in Kentucky. Good morning to you, Ethan in Toronto, Mark in Montreal, Jason in Nebraska, uh, David in Kansas. Vincent says, good morning, Bill from Vincent Palm Bay, Florida. I just found your channel and I'm learning a lot. Even after 40 years in the radio biz. Well, Vincent, welcome. I started a radio 1980, 45 years ago. And so that's my, you know, that's my, uh, was my learning ground as well for the first 24 years, got out, did some business consulting and worked in the corporate learning space for a while before getting into voiceover in 2006. So that's, that's my journey in a nutshell. And Vincent, I'm glad you're here. Rusty, what's going on in the upper Peninsula of Michigan. Theo says, howdy Bill and huddlers from the kitchen table in lovely Palos Hills, Illinois. Hey Theo, professor Tracy and Rochester, Minnesota, Robert in Indianapolis, John in Denver. Theo says, can I get a ring of the bell yesterday? Well, first of all, yeah, Theo, sure you can get a ring of the bell. That is the voiceover bell of success right there. We only ring that for special occasions. Now let's find out what the occasion is. Theo says, my day job employer asked me if I could do the live announcing at a big company meeting next week. Interestingly, on my birthday. So glad I took the class. Theo was in the live announcing class. With Rob writer, um, last month. And, um, that is fantastic. Theo, I am so excited for you. That's wonderful. Let us report and back and let us know how that goes. That is wonderful. I'm so glad to hear that. Hey, Gailen, what's going on with you in Carrboro, North Carolina, Marla in Texas, Jim in Memphis, Sandra in Dallas, Fort Worth, Robert, checking in from Atlanta, Sirius in Charlotte, Josh in grand Rapids, asking y'all to smash that like button. Bob says, good day from beautiful Brantford, Ontario, Melissa in San Diego, John in Memphis, Wayne Port Orchard, Washington, Scott, wishing everyone a good morning from Brockville, Ontario, Canada. John, good morning from San Diego. Scotty says great fiber session yesterday was some great direction that helps. Good morning from Brookings, South Dakota. What Scotty's referring to. Scotty is a student in my voiceover blueprint program. That's my training program. And, uh, we have coaches and mentors, faculty basically in the program. And every day, every weekday, we have a live coaching mentoring session where you can go and learn. It might be a Monday might be marketing. One day might be audio tech, uh, performance. Mallory does a class on Fiverr. And, um, that's what Scotty's referring to there. And by the way, link below in the description to find out more about the voiceover blueprint. Thanks Scotty for the feedback. Appreciate that. Kirk in Greenville, South Carolina, Aaron in Columbia, Missouri. John says, Bill, when I was 12, when I got my first job on my own $10 a day with CBS sports, 15 opens and three Superbowls, John, that is mind boggling. So when you were 12, you got your first job 10 bucks a day with CBS. Now, how John, how long were you with CBS sports? Three Superbowls and 15 opens. That is, that's unbelievable. That's fantastic. I love that's a bell ringer right there. I love that. Uh, let's see. Jim says it isn't important to always be putting out the same level of perform. Oh, but isn't it important to always be putting out the same level of performance? Okay. I think what, what Jim is getting at is, okay, if you direct me, I'm going to sound better than I would otherwise. Well, sure. In theory, I mean, and that's the idea of, you know, professionally directed demos. You want to be directed because it will make your demo sound better to help you get work. But here's the byproduct of that is that you will learn you will be better as a result. It's not just to give you a better product. It's to make you a better performer. And so you have to become better to be more competitive and that's the way you do it. So, you know, to follow that, the comment to its logical conclusion would be to say, okay, well I'm not going to use a director because you know, I don't, you know, I don't want to put out something that's better than what I've, than I'm creating myself or you want to get better so that you can put out something that's better. And this is how you do it. I remember I, I recorded my first demo when I first started, went out to LA, went through the whole process. And, and I remember the, you know, my expectation was that I would get a great demo, but what I ended up, in addition to that, I learned so much. I became a better performer as a result. Hey Sky, what's up in Salt Lake City, Joy, Southfield, Michigan, Eddie and I in San Antonio, Dennis in Pasadena, Merrill in Northern New Jersey, Tim in Altoona. Let's see here. Oh my gosh. So many of you guys on here. Thank you. Jay in Georgia, Mary in New Jersey, Wally in Annapolis, Joe Lee, Tech Talk was terrific last night. Alex filled in and had great information. Again, another voiceover blueprint daily session. Thank you, Jolie. I appreciate the feedback on that. I know Alex really enjoys those. Phil in Tokyo, what's going on? John says, getting out of your comfort zone feels uncomfortable. Boy, it does, doesn't it? And that's why we don't do it. I mean, who wants to be uncomfortable? Nobody wants to be uncomfortable. And that's why a lot of people don't progress in this way. You've got to be willing to get uncomfortable. That's how you grow. I know, you know, that just reminding all of us, including myself, Zanna, good morning from Rancho Cucamonga, California. Zanna or Zanna, my, my apologies if I didn't get that right. Thank you for being here, John. Good morning. Marie in Texas, Kirk, for those who don't know, Bill is an excellent live VO director. He can help you get out of your own way. Kirk, thank you for that very kind feedback. I appreciate that. Hello from Dan in Cumming, Georgia. Jolie says voiceover blueprint is the only reason I've succeeded in voiceover. Jolie, thank you for the kind remarks. Rebecca says, this is so true. By the way, Becky was in the last performance class that I did, which we actually did here in my home. It was following the big live event that we did here. She says, this is so true. I had a client that wanted a powerful read. I read through the script a few times and thought I nailed it, went back and listened to it. And you were right, Bill. It just sounded like me, you know, and I've gone through that process. It's happened to me so many times, Becky, where you think you're there, and then you walk away from it, maybe for a day or two, and you come back and listen and you realize you weren't even in the right ballpark. I mean, it happens to everybody. And that's why, you know, getting that direction can be so helpful. Even learning that, even learning to know that what you did the first time through probably won't be in the ballpark is, is a win in and of itself because it will cause you to go back and listen more objectively. Johnny says, thanks, Bill. 630 here, by the way. Oh, that's right. I'm not on the East. I'm still thinking Eastern time. I don't live in Ohio anymore. I'm back in Chicago. It's worth two hours in front of you. That's right. But if I needed to, Johnny says, I would be here at five 30 because sitting in on the, on the lives is a great way to start the day. Well, thank you for that, Johnny. Hey, Cindy. Hello to you in Houston. Uh, Hogan says, good morning from Louisiana. I found your channel only a week ago. My friends have said for years that I have a voice for audio books. I've decided to take my first steps to voiceover this week. Oh, good. I love it. That's fantastic. Welcome to the family. John says, if you want to be a better distance runner, run with someone faster than you. If you want to be a better voice actor, get directed. John, thank that's, that's a great remark. And by the way, John was a part of my first demo performance class here at the house too. That's very true. I'm the only one in my own way. I'm very camera shy and I'm my own worst critic, but listening to Bill helps greatly. Well, thank you for that comment, Marie. I appreciate that. And a good evening from Saudi Arabia. Fantastic. Happy Wednesday from the VO peeps from truly outrageous Nashville, Tennessee, Samantha. Good to have you here today. Thank you for that. And James, good day to you as well. Guys, thanks for being here. I appreciate it. For those of you who are interested in taking that step and submitting yourself to some direction and helping you to stretch yourself into, to being able to express yourself more fully behind the microphone, not just for the session, but so that you can go out and do it in your auditions and win more work. Ultimately what the coaching is, is about is helping you get more work. Yes. Through your demos, but through your auditions because the demos open up the doors of opportunities. It's your audition that closes the deal. So if these skills aren't transferable, then they're of no use. But the good news is they are transferable and you will transfer them and you will learn and you'll grow and you'll stretch. Uh, but all that information is below and the description. So check it out, have a wonderful day. We'll see you guys tomorrow morning.