VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio #565 – What In the Copy?!
Voice coaches, radio, everything voiceover. Welcome to a brand new episode of voice coaches, radio. My name is Marissa and happy new year officially, uh, right here into 2023. First official week is kind of in the books now. I don't know about you, but I mean, there's not enough coffee in the world right now.
What the heck? Between the busy hustle bustle season of the holiday season and just the weather, like seasonal depression is totally a thing. I don't feel depressed. I just feel exhausted. So I'm sure you're feeling some of that too around here in upstate New York. I mean, we've definitely had unseasonably warm temperatures, but I mean, it's.
It's still gloomy. You know, it's still gross. Good knock on wood that we haven't had any snow, and I don't want any of that. Uh, we've had some, but not enough that's, it's been rainy. So it's been gone for a bit, uh, a bit, a minute. Uh, but, yeah, I just kind of want to be like a bear, uh, and just... Eat all the food and just sleep for six months or whatever.
Uh, you think that could be possible? Like I'll just save enough money over the course of six months that the other six months can just be paid for and I can just sleep the whole time or even better like I'll just go to Florida and uh, get a little crispy tan and like just, you know, be smiley. Uh, that would be a nice change of pace, I think.
Um, you know, I'd like that a lot. To each their own, uh, but you know, goals, it's good to have goals. I think that might be mine. Um, but I do hope that this first week of this brand new year is treating you well. You had a nice, safe and happy holiday season. I know it was busy for a lot of people. Maybe now is time for decompressing.
Um, maybe now is time for manifesting and vision boards and. Prepping for your new year, um, you know, and, and whatever the case, I just, I hope that you're getting ready to, to reach those goals, um, you know, and, and doing what you can to, to make that happen. Uh, I have had some, some interesting questions coming in and I think, you know, I want to at least touch on the one today, quickly.
It's just, you know, I get, I get questions every so often when it comes to copy. And, you know, for those who are just starting, you're like, what the heck is copy, Marissa? That is your script. Uh, the copy that you get is, is the script that you follow and, and that's the thing, depending on the project, could be a long script.
It could be a short script, it could be a commercial, it could be an, um, a narrative piece like an audiobook, or it might be an instructional, like, educational, uh, in, in, um, training piece, you know, it could be something like that. What do you do if, you know, you kind of are going through and something isn't feeling right, like it's not flowing naturally for you?
What do you do if you find errors? What do you do if... I don't know. It just, uh, you notice that something is just grammatically incorrect. Do you say something? Do you have that ability? Is that okay? Uh, are you able to, you know, tweak anything on your own? I mean, truthfully, I, I think the, the answer, the short answer is, is no, in that you can't change that copy.
Uh, you know, you don't have that authority. You don't have the, the right. You are the talent, right? So you, like that, your job is just speak the words, however they may be written. Uh, but there are instances where something... Is wrong. Something, something isn't correctly done and a word might just be wrong and it wasn't caught because autocorrect does its thing and like, you know, it's not finding an error because it is a word.
Um, it just happens to be the wrong word within that script. So like, what do you do in that case? I mean, I think in that case, you go and raise your hand, uh, like a child, uh, no, I'm kidding. Um, you go ahead and you just kind of alert them to it and say, like, I don't, I just wanted to make sure that, that I mentioned this, um, you know, because I wasn't sure if this is how this is supposed to be and I just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing and, you know, catch an error if, if this was one, um, you know, that's respectable.
So, like, that is always something to say. You know, I had an incident, this is awful, but also normal and very annoying, yet funny. Uh, because here, here's what happens. Like, you know, for me, I do a lot of commercial work. I don't get paid wildly for it because I just, you know, it's like I know the person that I'm doing it for.
So it's like, all right, as long as I have a consistent amount of money coming in, that's all that really matters to me. Uh, but I do commercials for a radio station locally here in Albany. I will also, every once in a while, get something from Syracuse, I've had stuff come in from Lexington, Kentucky as well.
And the thing with radio, you got people who are writing copy, who just truly shouldn't be, like, They're not, that's not their job, like, that's not what they're meant to do. It's like a salesperson who they made the sale to whatever small business or, or bigger business and, you know, to help them out, they're taking the bullet points that are necessary and they're creating.
The copy for whatever commercial, you know, and I'll get things in my inbox. Now, 98 percent of what I do, if not more is just done from home on my time. You know, when, when I can go ahead and get it done. And because of that, you know, it's not like I have somebody directing me throughout it. I am my own director, producer, editor, all of it.
And I saw this commercial this one day and it was for Susie's diner. Or was it like, that's the big question, right? Because it said Susie's dinner. Formally known as whatever, and I'm like Why would somebody call it Susie's dinner? And then I'm looking throughout the, the rest of the copy and it, it said it again and I'm like, I mean, that can't be right, right?
And I didn't have time to go ahead and make that phone call and, and hope that somebody would get back to me. I, I needed to get that done on, on the time that I had allotted and, and send it on its merry way. So what did I do? I was just like, alright, well, I'm gonna do it both ways. I'm gonna do it the way that it's written, and then I'm gonna do it the way that I think it might supposed to be, and they can pick and choose.
And it turns out, you know, I go and I send that email off, and I attach the audio, and I explain the situation, and guess what? I was right. You know, it was supposed to be Suzie's Diner. Uh, cause that made the most sense, but it was just kind of funny, you know, looking at it. I think there was another typo within it.
And when they emailed me back, you know, it was my boss actually emailing me back, apologizing. He goes, This sales rep, he does it all the time, he doesn't proofread, and I usually proofread it, but I've been busy, so I didn't proofread it before I send it to you, and now here we are, and he's like, so thank you so much for catching it, so, like, sometimes those, those little catches are very much appreciated, because obviously it's not supposed to be there, it's supposed to be done a certain way, a different way, the right way, um, and then other times, you know, those errors of whatever it might be within the copy, I mean, it might literally be, Just slang usage because of the type of business establishment.
They're trying to maybe make it somewhere conversational to their audience However for you that's not how you would typically speak and you're like that's not grammatically correct and in this case it didn't have to Be grammatically correct. It's not what they were looking for So you always want to keep those kind of things in mind because I think that ends up being incredibly important But don't be afraid to say something if you do think that there's an error going on.
You just can't make that, that choice on your own and automatically change it because you don't have that authority. But it is always good to like, just kind of question something if you feel like it's necessary, because I don't think anybody is going to be like, Hey. You're fired. Uh, we don't want you for any other work.
You're trouble. You're drama. Uh, that's not going to be the case. They're probably going to be like, well, you know what? They really care about this project. You know, they, they put the extra effort in to want to make sure that they were doing the right thing for us and that, that is professional. That is respectable.
Um, so always, always keep that in mind. And if you've got a question that you want answered here on the voice coaches radio podcast, guess what? It is an email away info at voicecoaches. com and going to be getting another interview with a former student here in just a week or two, more questions answered as well, so get ready brand new episodes of voice coaches radio coming your way very soon.
Stay safe, everybody, and, uh, hey, Happy New Year! Visit voicecoaches. com for more voiceover news and information.
What the heck? Between the busy hustle bustle season of the holiday season and just the weather, like seasonal depression is totally a thing. I don't feel depressed. I just feel exhausted. So I'm sure you're feeling some of that too around here in upstate New York. I mean, we've definitely had unseasonably warm temperatures, but I mean, it's.
It's still gloomy. You know, it's still gross. Good knock on wood that we haven't had any snow, and I don't want any of that. Uh, we've had some, but not enough that's, it's been rainy. So it's been gone for a bit, uh, a bit, a minute. Uh, but, yeah, I just kind of want to be like a bear, uh, and just... Eat all the food and just sleep for six months or whatever.
Uh, you think that could be possible? Like I'll just save enough money over the course of six months that the other six months can just be paid for and I can just sleep the whole time or even better like I'll just go to Florida and uh, get a little crispy tan and like just, you know, be smiley. Uh, that would be a nice change of pace, I think.
Um, you know, I'd like that a lot. To each their own, uh, but you know, goals, it's good to have goals. I think that might be mine. Um, but I do hope that this first week of this brand new year is treating you well. You had a nice, safe and happy holiday season. I know it was busy for a lot of people. Maybe now is time for decompressing.
Um, maybe now is time for manifesting and vision boards and. Prepping for your new year, um, you know, and, and whatever the case, I just, I hope that you're getting ready to, to reach those goals, um, you know, and, and doing what you can to, to make that happen. Uh, I have had some, some interesting questions coming in and I think, you know, I want to at least touch on the one today, quickly.
It's just, you know, I get, I get questions every so often when it comes to copy. And, you know, for those who are just starting, you're like, what the heck is copy, Marissa? That is your script. Uh, the copy that you get is, is the script that you follow and, and that's the thing, depending on the project, could be a long script.
It could be a short script, it could be a commercial, it could be an, um, a narrative piece like an audiobook, or it might be an instructional, like, educational, uh, in, in, um, training piece, you know, it could be something like that. What do you do if, you know, you kind of are going through and something isn't feeling right, like it's not flowing naturally for you?
What do you do if you find errors? What do you do if... I don't know. It just, uh, you notice that something is just grammatically incorrect. Do you say something? Do you have that ability? Is that okay? Uh, are you able to, you know, tweak anything on your own? I mean, truthfully, I, I think the, the answer, the short answer is, is no, in that you can't change that copy.
Uh, you know, you don't have that authority. You don't have the, the right. You are the talent, right? So you, like that, your job is just speak the words, however they may be written. Uh, but there are instances where something... Is wrong. Something, something isn't correctly done and a word might just be wrong and it wasn't caught because autocorrect does its thing and like, you know, it's not finding an error because it is a word.
Um, it just happens to be the wrong word within that script. So like, what do you do in that case? I mean, I think in that case, you go and raise your hand, uh, like a child, uh, no, I'm kidding. Um, you go ahead and you just kind of alert them to it and say, like, I don't, I just wanted to make sure that, that I mentioned this, um, you know, because I wasn't sure if this is how this is supposed to be and I just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing and, you know, catch an error if, if this was one, um, you know, that's respectable.
So, like, that is always something to say. You know, I had an incident, this is awful, but also normal and very annoying, yet funny. Uh, because here, here's what happens. Like, you know, for me, I do a lot of commercial work. I don't get paid wildly for it because I just, you know, it's like I know the person that I'm doing it for.
So it's like, all right, as long as I have a consistent amount of money coming in, that's all that really matters to me. Uh, but I do commercials for a radio station locally here in Albany. I will also, every once in a while, get something from Syracuse, I've had stuff come in from Lexington, Kentucky as well.
And the thing with radio, you got people who are writing copy, who just truly shouldn't be, like, They're not, that's not their job, like, that's not what they're meant to do. It's like a salesperson who they made the sale to whatever small business or, or bigger business and, you know, to help them out, they're taking the bullet points that are necessary and they're creating.
The copy for whatever commercial, you know, and I'll get things in my inbox. Now, 98 percent of what I do, if not more is just done from home on my time. You know, when, when I can go ahead and get it done. And because of that, you know, it's not like I have somebody directing me throughout it. I am my own director, producer, editor, all of it.
And I saw this commercial this one day and it was for Susie's diner. Or was it like, that's the big question, right? Because it said Susie's dinner. Formally known as whatever, and I'm like Why would somebody call it Susie's dinner? And then I'm looking throughout the, the rest of the copy and it, it said it again and I'm like, I mean, that can't be right, right?
And I didn't have time to go ahead and make that phone call and, and hope that somebody would get back to me. I, I needed to get that done on, on the time that I had allotted and, and send it on its merry way. So what did I do? I was just like, alright, well, I'm gonna do it both ways. I'm gonna do it the way that it's written, and then I'm gonna do it the way that I think it might supposed to be, and they can pick and choose.
And it turns out, you know, I go and I send that email off, and I attach the audio, and I explain the situation, and guess what? I was right. You know, it was supposed to be Suzie's Diner. Uh, cause that made the most sense, but it was just kind of funny, you know, looking at it. I think there was another typo within it.
And when they emailed me back, you know, it was my boss actually emailing me back, apologizing. He goes, This sales rep, he does it all the time, he doesn't proofread, and I usually proofread it, but I've been busy, so I didn't proofread it before I send it to you, and now here we are, and he's like, so thank you so much for catching it, so, like, sometimes those, those little catches are very much appreciated, because obviously it's not supposed to be there, it's supposed to be done a certain way, a different way, the right way, um, and then other times, you know, those errors of whatever it might be within the copy, I mean, it might literally be, Just slang usage because of the type of business establishment.
They're trying to maybe make it somewhere conversational to their audience However for you that's not how you would typically speak and you're like that's not grammatically correct and in this case it didn't have to Be grammatically correct. It's not what they were looking for So you always want to keep those kind of things in mind because I think that ends up being incredibly important But don't be afraid to say something if you do think that there's an error going on.
You just can't make that, that choice on your own and automatically change it because you don't have that authority. But it is always good to like, just kind of question something if you feel like it's necessary, because I don't think anybody is going to be like, Hey. You're fired. Uh, we don't want you for any other work.
You're trouble. You're drama. Uh, that's not going to be the case. They're probably going to be like, well, you know what? They really care about this project. You know, they, they put the extra effort in to want to make sure that they were doing the right thing for us and that, that is professional. That is respectable.
Um, so always, always keep that in mind. And if you've got a question that you want answered here on the voice coaches radio podcast, guess what? It is an email away info at voicecoaches. com and going to be getting another interview with a former student here in just a week or two, more questions answered as well, so get ready brand new episodes of voice coaches radio coming your way very soon.
Stay safe, everybody, and, uh, hey, Happy New Year! Visit voicecoaches. com for more voiceover news and information.
This week on Voice Coaches Radio, Marissa chats about the copy aka your scripts and what to do if you spot and error or what could be considered incorrect.
