VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio Episode 701 “Happy New Year”
John: [00:00:00] Hey, it's me. It's JMG.
Tina: It rhymes. There you
John: go.
Tina: And Tina,
John: there you go. Uh, alright. It's John and Tina and we're here on it's New Year's Day.
Tina: Happy New
John: Year's. Happy New Year's, 2026. Crazy.
Tina: The
John: year of.
Tina: I don't know what it is. I either the year either. Yeah. We'd have to look that up again. I dunno. You'd know if I said it.
No. Oh, absolutely not.
John: Not know. It's the year of, I have no idea. We should
Tina: research
John: that. Great. Great things. You have great things. New Year's resolutions.
Tina: No, don't have it.
John: Yeah, I don't, yeah, I don't do that either,
Tina: but it's, it's too much. 'cause I get disappointed 'cause I didn't do 'em, so that's why, you know?
Oh, right, right. Yeah. So if I say, oh, I'm gonna do this, this, and this, and then I don't do this, this and this, and then I'm like, I'm like failure.
John: You know? I think the thing is, I'm too happy. All right. Well,
Tina: that's good.
John: I'm too happy with my life. So I never have a resolution. I'm always, I'm never like, like, I have to change this.
I'm like, I'm gonna just keep doing what I do.
Tina: Yeah. Good.
John: Yeah. That's my resolution. Keep doing the things I'm doing.
Tina: That's good though.
John: Uh, but now I, I think there [00:01:00] should be a resolution for some though, right? Mm-hmm. And I think the New Year's resolution for some is, first of all, get into voiceovers if you're not into it.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And if you are in a voiceovers mm-hmm. Strive to be a professional, right. I think usually,
Tina: yes.
John: You know, I always tell people, listen, this is a very relaxed environment. It is. Mm-hmm.
Tina: It is.
John: And everyone loves it. However.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: There is an element of professionalism to this as well. That's something we wanted to talk about today, right?
Yes. Tina, that was your idea. Mm-hmm. Is talking about the professionalism that you need to exhibit in the voiceover industry. So why don't you talk about that?
Tina: The biggest is Yes. And that how you even said it was this is, we're very relaxed. Most of, most everybody. Is relaxed, nice and friendly. Um, but even though you've got this type of atmosphere, you still need to be professional.
People remember you, especially if you're going into a booth, that's the to record. And that's the biggest thing. And I think the, the biggest number one, is to be on time or even be early. [00:02:00] That it, especially when it's for a recording session.
John: Yes. I, you know what I, I've said this to people many, many times, is that.
Five minutes late to a recording studio. Mm-hmm. Is like an hour late to what you consider a regular job because studio time is so expensive. Mm-hmm. Listen, it might take you a while to do whatever you're doing, whatever that might be. Whatever. Voiceover. Yeah. Job. Mm-hmm. Or voiceover recording you're doing.
And many studios are booked back to back. Yes. So they have a heart out.
Tina: Mm-hmm. Well, that's the biggest thing. And I've, I've had a, a couple of, um, instances where, um, students were go, we're going to go, we record our demo, and um, they're late. To the recording time. So say the time starts at, you know, two 15.
Right. And you know, usually what I end up doing is, especially if it's a re recording studio, that we're not there. I'm not, I'm not gonna be there physically. Yeah, you're patched in. Yeah, patched in. And so what I always do is I will call five minutes. After the time that we're [00:03:00] set. So it's a two 15 start time.
I do five a, I do two 20, I'll call 'em at two 20. This gives them a time to set the student person up inside the booth, do a level check. Everybody is all set and comfortable. All the scripts are out, everything like that. Um, but I've had several where I've called and they're like, no, they're, the talent is not here yet.
I'm like, what? Okay. Okay, let's give 'em a few minutes. And so then they show up 10 minutes late, 15 minutes late. And now they still have to set everybody up. They gotta get your levels, they gotta make sure you're comfortable in there. Now we're not starting until 45 minutes after we were supposed to start.
That throws everybody off and now we're, it it to me it is very unprofessional.
John: Very unprofessional. I have, knock on wood. Right. Mm-hmm. Uh, I have never been late to a recording session ever in my entire career. 30 years. Never been late.
Tina: That's good. Yep.
John: Never. As a matter of fact, um, I, I can tell you this, sometimes that can [00:04:00] cost you not just that job.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: Because they might get through that with you at that point.
Tina: Yep.
John: But it can cost you future work if it's a professional job.
Tina: Yes. Yeah.
John: I had that happen. I was down in DC. Um, and I just happened to be down there, so I, I had an opportunity to produce a voiceover at one of our affiliate studios.
Mm-hmm. Now, if you know DC the DMV area, you know, it's notoriously Yeah. Crazy, crazy. Not good with traffic. Yeah. But, uh, here's the thing, I don't live there.
Tina: Yeah.
John: I was on time. I came from New York.
Tina: Yeah.
John: I was there 15 minutes early The. A voice actor called and said, Hey, I'm running late. Uh, and I said, uh, okay.
And they said, the traffic's bad. I go, oh, I know the traffic's bad. Mm-hmm. And I go, but you know who is on time? Me? I'm from New York. You live here. Yeah. You know how bad the traffic is. Mm-hmm. So how are you, how can you be late? Yeah. If I'm on time and I, and I drove down, I didn't fly down. Mm-hmm. I drove down because I like to have control of my travel.
Yeah. And it is like a six hour drive for me.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: I leave super early. And I was there for the week. It wasn't like I was going down [00:05:00] there just for that. Yeah. That would make sense. But I was there for the week and I just had an opportunity to produce something I wouldn't have been able to otherwise.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And I'm there on time. But you are late.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: They're, they're not gonna take traffic. Oh, is tra Yeah. Yeah. You live here, you know there's traffic.
Tina: Yeah.
John: I'm not saying that something can't happen like an accident.
Tina: No, that's, yes. Hopefully
John: not with you, but you know, you, you know. Mm-hmm. I'm not saying obviously catastrophic things can happen.
Mm-hmm. That's understood. But you saying the traffic's bad in dc.
Tina: Yeah, that. Yeah. Guess what? Yeah, we all know that. We don't. Yeah, we know that. And that's the biggest thing, is it? Because now whether you are just going in to do record your demo, uh, this, I even say that the pe our students, I go, yes, you're going into a studio to record.
I said, but there, start your connections right there. So they see that. They're gonna remember that, oh, this person showed up late. I'll
John: never use that voice actor again. Yes. I never, I never called that voice actor again. This is years ago. This happened to me. See, that's
Tina: the thing. Yeah.
John: And at that point, I looked at the audio engineer, I said, never again with this person.
Tina: Yeah.
John: You never again, that ca that. [00:06:00] And, and, and lemme tell you, I prefer to use the same voice actor over and over, but when you do something like that mm-hmm. To me, you make me look bad, first of all. Yes. 'cause I'm the one who recommended you or hired you. Mm-hmm. And now I look bad.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Oh wait, this person.
It doesn't even show up on time.
Tina: Well, that's the, that's the biggest thing. So you can start your relationships right front when you walk in that studio. And that's the biggest thing. So that's why I always say, you know, have a conversation with, you know, you coming in on time or early there. I would rather sit in a lobby and wait for my turn, you know?
And then especially if you are early and they do have you sit, look at your scripts. There you go. Look to make sure you're comfortable with them, that that's all. But then you're also building a relationship with those people at that studio, whether it is the receptionist or the engineer, the producer, doesn't matter.
You're still building a relationship and they remember this.
John: Yeah. It's an interesting time. I find that people do often just show up to things late.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: Yeah. And to, and to me it's a little weird. I always feel like you, if you are late, you feel like your time's more important than mine.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Like even when I do [00:07:00] webinars, I have people show up like half hour late, like it's no big deal.
Tina: Yeah. See,
John: you know, it's like, okay. Uh, it's cool, but mm-hmm. And then the last questions I already covered.
Tina: Yeah. Well,
John: can you go over this? Well, I, well, I did go over that. I, you know, don't get me wrong. I'd love to, I want you to get what you wanted outta this, but the problem is there's all a bunch of other people here at the webinar that if I go through what I already talked about
Tina: Yeah.
John: They're not gonna be happy. Right.
Tina: They were the ones that showed up on time, so they shouldn't have to Yeah. You know, be penalized or whatever. This is just, which is not penalized, but, you know. Yeah. Right, right,
John: right, right. No, listen, this isn't. You know, this is just kind of common sense. I feel like
Tina: You would think
John: you would think so, just, yeah.
So just that's one way. Professionalism, being on time is super important in this industry. Mm-hmm. Because studio time, listen, I've been in studios that are $150 an hour.
Tina: Yeah.
John: But I've also been in studios that are $800 an hour.
Tina: Yeah. Yeah.
John: Uh, so. And there's, and they go up from there, by the way. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. There's studios that are more expensive than that, so you being late is just not great. It's
Tina: not great. No, I know. No, not at all. And, and that's just, you just think of all the other people who are [00:08:00] involved in it. So it is not just you, you do have an engineer who's capturing your voice and you, you know, so it's, it, it, it does not, it's not just you.
If you're doing this from home, then you can show up whenever you want. Yeah. You know, it doesn't matter.
John: Yeah. That's what's great.
Tina: Yeah. But if you're going to a studio and you're going to record something and they're, they give you a time, be there a little earlier. Yeah. Five minutes earlier, 10 minutes earlier.
Be there on time.
John: Yeah. Be there on, yeah. And, and, and, uh, like we, we've talked about many times how this is flexible. This is one part that is not, if you have a time at the studio mm-hmm. That is your time.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And even if it's a hurry up and, and wait. And sometimes that happens.
Tina: Yes, yes.
John: Sometimes it's a hurry up and wait.
Mm-hmm. Like you're gonna get there. And again, they do have to do a bunch of things, right? Yeah. But you have to be on time and that many, many studios, in fact, I would venture to say most studios that you are going to work at, because obviously they're doing work. Mm-hmm. They probably have a hard out.
Tina: Yes.
Yeah, definitely. I've had so many where I've had students who were late, um, and then, but the engineer [00:09:00] saying to me, listen, we've got a ti, I've got someone coming in right away, right after this is the time. So it's kind of one of those things where. I have to be respectful of their time. 'cause they are allowing us to come in to record a demo, but they do have other things going on.
So I've gotta say, okay, well we gotta make, alright, let's go, let's make, like, I don't wanna rush anybody either. Right. But if you come Yeah. But it could affect
John: quality. Yes.
Tina: And that's
John: exactly it. That's on you. Like at that point it's like, hey, we could have taken a lot more time on this. Mm-hmm. But we can't.
We need to get it done.
Tina: Yeah. And that's the thing.
John: Yeah. It's tough. It's, it's, you know, I don't, I'm not here trying to teach people lessons. Yeah. But you know, it's like, I, I think it's just good advice, right? This no way think it is, this could be your New Year's resolution if you're someone who is, and my, my wife by, by the way, is a friend like this.
She's the nicest lady in the world. Mm-hmm. And so when I say, um. Your time's more important than mine. I, I never think people really think that. They're not thinking like that. No. Right. Yeah. They're just, they're just kind of on their own thing, you know? Yeah.
Tina: They're on. Yeah.
John: And they, they get distracted and they mm-hmm.
Sometimes [00:10:00] it's, there are people where they do this with everything, like where, like my wife has a friend who, they go to breakfast and this is every time.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: She has a bunch of friends. They meet for breakfast once a month, and the same exact person, her friend. Is 45 minutes late to an hour late.
Tina: Oh.
John: And she lives a mile from the place they go to. Oh, she's 45 minutes to an hour late every single time they sit around waiting for her every single
Tina: time. Oh, that would drive me crazy.
John: Right? So there are people just that are kinda like that, right? Mm-hmm. It's just, um,
Tina: they're always late.
John: They're always late.
And so this could be your New Year's resolution if you're someone who's always late.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: I don't care what you do with the rest of your life, but you cannot do it here. Yes.
Tina: No, not, not. When you've got your real, you're going into a studio and other people are waiting on you. Yeah,
John: absolutely. And, and by the way, you probably shouldn't do it in the rest of your life either, but who am I to say, who am I to say we gonna
Tina: cover?
We're only covering voice acting.
John: Yeah.
Yeah.
Tina: That's it.
John: So yeah, so that's one aspect of [00:11:00] being professional. Um, also, always, always come, um, ready. You know? Mm-hmm. Always come with whatever tools is necessary. Have your water. I, I've had that happen.
Tina: Yeah.
John: I actually, uh, produced a demo. Uh, this is going back about a year.
Mm-hmm. So, uh, this happened. I produced a demo for someone and when the person showed up, they didn't, they didn't have water, so they went, and by the way, I didn't really notice 'cause I assume you would have like water. Yeah. You would have a pencil, you would've, the things you need to do voiceovers. And at one point, uh, the voice actor said, Hey, can I jump out and grab some water?
And I was like, what do you mean?
Tina: Yeah.
John: And they said, I, is there a water fountain? Is there wa I said, you didn't bring water with you?
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: Oh, no. And luckily the recording studio was super cool. It wasn't our studio. Yeah. But I, uh, uh, the, the, uh, the audio engineer said, we actually have water in the fridge.
Which, by the way, I don't ever recommend cold water, but at that point
Tina: No, I know. Yeah.
John: You have water, right? You
Tina: just want water?
John: Yep. I, for a recording session, I recommend room temperature, water, just so it doesn't affect your vocal cords at all. But, uh, luckily that water. Bottled [00:12:00] water and, and, and, but I was very surprised.
Tina: Yeah.
John: I was surprised that the voice actor didn't bring water with them. So, you know, bring the tools of the trade. Mm-hmm. Bring your water a little lemon in your water, if not a Granny Smith apple.
Tina: Yes.
John: Slice up in a container. Mm-hmm. Again, it alleviates the clicking in your voice. Mm-hmm.
Tina: Yes.
John: You don't want that all over your voice.
Uh, by the way, for those of you who are hearing this for the first time mm-hmm. Granny Smith is a tardis of the apple, so alleviates saliva clicking. It only works for 10 minutes at a time, so don't eat it before you come in.
Tina: Yeah. No, no. Yep. Only if we say, I'm hearing some mouth noises. Let's go ahead and take a bite of that apple,
John: but a little lemon in your water does it too, but mm-hmm.
Not too much. Lemon's an irritant, so be careful. Don't put too much lemon in your water, but, uh, but you bring that with you. Mm-hmm. Bring it with you and bring a pencil. 'cause the copy. It's not, if the copy will change, the copy will change.
Tina: Majority of the time, yes. You will be making up, making some changes to it.
And they do that a lot and it's, it's no big deal. But that's why they want you bring a pencil in.
John: Yeah.
Tina: You know, and have a piece of the paper.
John: Yep. [00:13:00] So those are two aspects of professionalism, again, being on time. Tools of the trade. Mm-hmm. What else? What else is important?
Tina: I am gonna say hygiene.
John: Hygiene would be super important.
Yeah. I mean, I, let's, let's hope that that's not something we have to talk about. But how about, here's a funny one. No, windbreaker. I had someone come to a recording session wearing a windbreaker once.
Tina: Oh, okay. And every time clothing. Yes, yes, yes.
John: And I said. Hey man. I'm gonna need you to take that windbreaker off.
Tina: Yeah,
John: I looked down, I looked back up and he had no shirt on.
Tina: Oh, see
John: he wore a windbreaker with no shirt underneath. I said, Hey, put that windbreaker back on.
Tina: Back on. Yeah.
John: We'll deal, we'll deal with it and we'll deal with it. I need to end there with your shirt off.
Tina: Well, it's, and that, you know, to keep him with the noise too, for anyone who wears jewelry.
The same thing.
John: Kinda like me. It happens.
Tina: Yeah. See, look at that. And that's you's, that's not even me. That's me now. Now it's me. But otherwise, like anything with charms, anything like [00:14:00] that, that will make noise because not saying you're gonna be stiff 'cause No, I don't want you to be stiff in the first place.
I always say also, if you're a hand talker. Be a hand talker. 'cause then your read is going to be nice and comfortable. But if you are a hand talker and you've got a charm bracelet on, guess what we're hearing? That charm bracelet absolutely. The, the whole entire time. So that's the same thing with the windbreaker, the clothes.
I always tell people the, um, when going into the studio to record wear layers. Because there's no vents in there. Sure. Because the microphones are sensitive. That's the same thing. Us, they can hear the windbreaker. They can hear the charms, they can hear your movement. So, but it does get warm in there. So wear wear layers that you have shirts underneath it.
John: Absolutely. So
Tina: you don't have to go bare chested
John: and, exactly. You wear the windbreaker with no shirt, by the way. It like, wouldn't that stick to your skin? Like I was shocked. Like, well, he wore one breaker with no shirt underneath. Who? I've never even heard of that.
Tina: I wouldn't have done that either.
John: Oh, it was super weird.
Thank god. Geez. Thank goodness it wasn't a female that I said that to. Oh, my.
Tina: Couldn't can you? [00:15:00]
John: Uh, it was a man. Luckily if I had said, take it off and, oh, that would've been awful. Now, now I've, that was a valuable lesson for me. I always say, do you have something underneath that?
Tina: Yes. Yeah.
John: Hey, do you have,
Tina: you need to ask first.
John: One of the things I tell people, if you're new to this mm-hmm. You, you get it. Yeah. This is super easy, but. But when you're new to this, um, when you put on whatever outfit you're gonna wear in the studio, stand in front of the mirror and move around.
Tina: Yes. Oh yeah.
John: If you can hear it with your naked ear.
Tina: Mm-hmm. Yep.
John: We can hear it on the mic. Yes. So just stand there and move around a bit. Mm-hmm. So that, uh, again, it doesn't affect you. Cool. Um, so anything else? What else could we,
Tina: I wanna also talk like, um, I know that we, you know, talk, the microphone picks up everything and noise. Um, it, depending on the time that you, you know, um, record.
I also say have something to eat too before. Because, oh yeah, your stomach. Stomach grows. Yep.
John: Stomach is funny.
Tina: The stomach growls, the, you know, the, and just anything like that. But I always say, you know, it just depends on, you know, if you are a morning person and [00:16:00] you have breakfast in the morning and you're recording at 11:00 AM have breakfast, so at 11:00 AM you're in there, you don't hear that stomach growl, you
John: know?
Absolutely. Yeah. Uh, cool. All right. So, uh, I'm trying to think of anything else, like off the top of my head I would think of as far as being professional, um. I mean, I don't think I have to, again, it is not something I feel like I should have to say, but mm-hmm. I, here's something you should know. This is some, for those of you who are new, those of us who, uh, is like veteran voice actors mm-hmm.
We know this, but this is something that many people don't think of the, the mic. Is always live.
Tina: Oh, yeah. I don't ever, you don't ever think about it when you've been in it for so long.
John: Yeah. Yeah. Be very cognizant of that. Mm-hmm. Because if you say something weird
Tina: mm-hmm.
John: We hear it.
Tina: Yes.
John: If you, and I know that now some of you listening to this are going, who would do that?
Oh, you'd be very surprised. I've had people say, oh, this copy stinks. Yeah. Under their breath. Mm-hmm. They think it's under their breath. They think that if we're not recording, we don't hear, we hear everything. Yes. We don't turn your [00:17:00] mic off. No, we are listening. We can hear you talking to yourself in there.
So don't say anything disparaging about anyone. Don't say anything. No.
Tina: Yep.
John: Don't, um, no cell phone, by the way.
Tina: Oh, that's also, yes. Yeah. Not
John: even gonna vibrate.
Tina: Yeah.
John: If I, if, well
Tina: completely. Yeah.
John: If it starts, if I hear vibrating. And I say, Hey, what's that? It's a rhetorical question. Mm-hmm. I know what it is, so don't try to lie.
Like, I gotta get that, like, I don't know. Yeah. I'm like, I know what it is. Yeah. I'm not, I'm not being serious. Please gimme your phone.
Tina: Yeah. Oh, I, I've had it where we were doing demos and they're like, oh, I forgot to turn it off, you know? And you hear that I had someone the other day, she's doing the read, and then after we did the read, she says, I heard some type of noise and it threw me off.
Yet. That's your phone. That was your phone. I heard it too. And I was doing this through Zoom, so yes, it picked it up and then we played it back. I didn't, I purposely told 'em not to take it out just to, I said, just leave it in there. We'll, we'll be okay. Let's just listen back. She's like, oh yeah. Oh yeah, yeah,
John: yeah, [00:18:00] yeah.
And I understand by the way, that sometimes you have to have your phone on. Mm-hmm. For example, like maybe you have someone babysitting your kids. That's fine. Leave it with us.
Tina: Yes.
John: I'll let you know if it rings. Yes. And I'll say, Hey, phone's going off. Don't bring it into the booth because no, Murphy's law will, will.
Mm-hmm. It will go off during your very best take.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And if it's on top of your words, we can't do anything about
Tina: it. No. There's absolutely nothing. Yeah. If, you know, if it falls in between sentences Yeah. Then we could easily take it out. But what's the chances of that happening?
John: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Exactly. So, uh, I think that's all I can think of right now.
I mean, most of the time, I mean this again, a relaxing environment. It's, yes. So you don't have to be up uptight. These are just, to me, common sense things. Mm-hmm. But it's not though. If you're not in the industry, maybe it's not to you.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Uh, so just a little advice. And again, um. I, maybe that should be new voice actors resolution.
Be professional in the studio.
Tina: Yeah, that would be a good one. Yeah. Right.
John: And I get it. It's hard because you're having so much [00:19:00] fun. Mm-hmm. Right? Oh, yeah. And sometimes you forget. Yeah. You know? Um, but just again, yes. You, you're getting paid though, typically. Mm-hmm. And if you, and if you're a student of ours or a client of ours, then you're, and you're in the midst of.
Of, uh, getting coaching and doing your demo, keep in mind we want it to be the best it can be.
Tina: Yes, absolutely.
John: Right. We want this to be the best experience you have and, and part of that is on you as well. Mm-hmm. You know, so, uh, just make sure you're always on time and make sure you have the tools necessary and you'll be good.
Tina: Yeah. Because remember, people will remember you. And that's what you want and you want Yeah. You'll build those relationships, they'll call you back.
John: Right, right. And, and, and especially, you never know. You, you know, we, we have hired former students before. Mm-hmm. You know, people who have come through our program, uh.
So you might want to be one of those people who could be considerable if you, you know, if, if you're like super unprofessional during the entire process and then you send a demo to us for professional work, I'm not, we're not considering you at that point. Right. Because we already know what you're like and it's not great.
Yeah. Right. That's
Tina: the thing.
John: And by the way, this is, [00:20:00] this very rarely happens. Oh yeah. Yeah. Most of our clients who come through our voiceover program are amazing and most of 'em are. Yes. Super cool. Ann. And professional.
Tina: Yes. Very.
John: Yeah. At the same time.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: These are just outliers and, yeah. And so, um, you know, just.
Give a heads up on it just to make sure.
Tina: We just wanna help you as much as we
John: can. Yeah, of course. That's part of the learning process, by the way. Mm-hmm. That's all part of it.
Tina: Yeah.
John: So that, that's kind of what the thing you should be learning when you're coming through this. Yeah. You know, you, we
Tina: teach it all.
John: If you don't take to it, that's, I dunno know if you're still late,
Tina: that's all on you, we imagine it.
John: Yeah, exactly. And so, uh, again, happy New Year's. Happy year. I wanna thank everybody. It's is New Year Day. I wanna thank everybody very much for checking us out, listening to us. Mm-hmm. Uh, thank you very much.
Voice coaches, family. And, uh, again, I'm John and or JG. Yes. Whichever you can remember. You know,
Tina: he's not gonna let go of it, so, so please
John: remember his name when someone sends me an email with the wrong name. It's so weird to requesting to come on the show. It's so weird. It's so [00:21:00] weird. So, uh, anyway, my email is John g.
At voice coaches.com.
Tina: All right. Nice and easy.
John: Yeah, and, and you know why? You know why my email's John G. 'cause my name's John.
Tina: Oh. Oh really? Yeah. Right,
John: right. So
Tina: you think Wow. And I'm [email protected].
John: Right. Thank you so much. Yeah.
Tina: It rhymes. There you
John: go.
Tina: And Tina,
John: there you go. Uh, alright. It's John and Tina and we're here on it's New Year's Day.
Tina: Happy New
John: Year's. Happy New Year's, 2026. Crazy.
Tina: The
John: year of.
Tina: I don't know what it is. I either the year either. Yeah. We'd have to look that up again. I dunno. You'd know if I said it.
No. Oh, absolutely not.
John: Not know. It's the year of, I have no idea. We should
Tina: research
John: that. Great. Great things. You have great things. New Year's resolutions.
Tina: No, don't have it.
John: Yeah, I don't, yeah, I don't do that either,
Tina: but it's, it's too much. 'cause I get disappointed 'cause I didn't do 'em, so that's why, you know?
Oh, right, right. Yeah. So if I say, oh, I'm gonna do this, this, and this, and then I don't do this, this and this, and then I'm like, I'm like failure.
John: You know? I think the thing is, I'm too happy. All right. Well,
Tina: that's good.
John: I'm too happy with my life. So I never have a resolution. I'm always, I'm never like, like, I have to change this.
I'm like, I'm gonna just keep doing what I do.
Tina: Yeah. Good.
John: Yeah. That's my resolution. Keep doing the things I'm doing.
Tina: That's good though.
John: Uh, but now I, I think there [00:01:00] should be a resolution for some though, right? Mm-hmm. And I think the New Year's resolution for some is, first of all, get into voiceovers if you're not into it.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And if you are in a voiceovers mm-hmm. Strive to be a professional, right. I think usually,
Tina: yes.
John: You know, I always tell people, listen, this is a very relaxed environment. It is. Mm-hmm.
Tina: It is.
John: And everyone loves it. However.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: There is an element of professionalism to this as well. That's something we wanted to talk about today, right?
Yes. Tina, that was your idea. Mm-hmm. Is talking about the professionalism that you need to exhibit in the voiceover industry. So why don't you talk about that?
Tina: The biggest is Yes. And that how you even said it was this is, we're very relaxed. Most of, most everybody. Is relaxed, nice and friendly. Um, but even though you've got this type of atmosphere, you still need to be professional.
People remember you, especially if you're going into a booth, that's the to record. And that's the biggest thing. And I think the, the biggest number one, is to be on time or even be early. [00:02:00] That it, especially when it's for a recording session.
John: Yes. I, you know what I, I've said this to people many, many times, is that.
Five minutes late to a recording studio. Mm-hmm. Is like an hour late to what you consider a regular job because studio time is so expensive. Mm-hmm. Listen, it might take you a while to do whatever you're doing, whatever that might be. Whatever. Voiceover. Yeah. Job. Mm-hmm. Or voiceover recording you're doing.
And many studios are booked back to back. Yes. So they have a heart out.
Tina: Mm-hmm. Well, that's the biggest thing. And I've, I've had a, a couple of, um, instances where, um, students were go, we're going to go, we record our demo, and um, they're late. To the recording time. So say the time starts at, you know, two 15.
Right. And you know, usually what I end up doing is, especially if it's a re recording studio, that we're not there. I'm not, I'm not gonna be there physically. Yeah, you're patched in. Yeah, patched in. And so what I always do is I will call five minutes. After the time that we're [00:03:00] set. So it's a two 15 start time.
I do five a, I do two 20, I'll call 'em at two 20. This gives them a time to set the student person up inside the booth, do a level check. Everybody is all set and comfortable. All the scripts are out, everything like that. Um, but I've had several where I've called and they're like, no, they're, the talent is not here yet.
I'm like, what? Okay. Okay, let's give 'em a few minutes. And so then they show up 10 minutes late, 15 minutes late. And now they still have to set everybody up. They gotta get your levels, they gotta make sure you're comfortable in there. Now we're not starting until 45 minutes after we were supposed to start.
That throws everybody off and now we're, it it to me it is very unprofessional.
John: Very unprofessional. I have, knock on wood. Right. Mm-hmm. Uh, I have never been late to a recording session ever in my entire career. 30 years. Never been late.
Tina: That's good. Yep.
John: Never. As a matter of fact, um, I, I can tell you this, sometimes that can [00:04:00] cost you not just that job.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: Because they might get through that with you at that point.
Tina: Yep.
John: But it can cost you future work if it's a professional job.
Tina: Yes. Yeah.
John: I had that happen. I was down in DC. Um, and I just happened to be down there, so I, I had an opportunity to produce a voiceover at one of our affiliate studios.
Mm-hmm. Now, if you know DC the DMV area, you know, it's notoriously Yeah. Crazy, crazy. Not good with traffic. Yeah. But, uh, here's the thing, I don't live there.
Tina: Yeah.
John: I was on time. I came from New York.
Tina: Yeah.
John: I was there 15 minutes early The. A voice actor called and said, Hey, I'm running late. Uh, and I said, uh, okay.
And they said, the traffic's bad. I go, oh, I know the traffic's bad. Mm-hmm. And I go, but you know who is on time? Me? I'm from New York. You live here. Yeah. You know how bad the traffic is. Mm-hmm. So how are you, how can you be late? Yeah. If I'm on time and I, and I drove down, I didn't fly down. Mm-hmm. I drove down because I like to have control of my travel.
Yeah. And it is like a six hour drive for me.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: I leave super early. And I was there for the week. It wasn't like I was going down [00:05:00] there just for that. Yeah. That would make sense. But I was there for the week and I just had an opportunity to produce something I wouldn't have been able to otherwise.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And I'm there on time. But you are late.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: They're, they're not gonna take traffic. Oh, is tra Yeah. Yeah. You live here, you know there's traffic.
Tina: Yeah.
John: I'm not saying that something can't happen like an accident.
Tina: No, that's, yes. Hopefully
John: not with you, but you know, you, you know. Mm-hmm. I'm not saying obviously catastrophic things can happen.
Mm-hmm. That's understood. But you saying the traffic's bad in dc.
Tina: Yeah, that. Yeah. Guess what? Yeah, we all know that. We don't. Yeah, we know that. And that's the biggest thing, is it? Because now whether you are just going in to do record your demo, uh, this, I even say that the pe our students, I go, yes, you're going into a studio to record.
I said, but there, start your connections right there. So they see that. They're gonna remember that, oh, this person showed up late. I'll
John: never use that voice actor again. Yes. I never, I never called that voice actor again. This is years ago. This happened to me. See, that's
Tina: the thing. Yeah.
John: And at that point, I looked at the audio engineer, I said, never again with this person.
Tina: Yeah.
John: You never again, that ca that. [00:06:00] And, and, and lemme tell you, I prefer to use the same voice actor over and over, but when you do something like that mm-hmm. To me, you make me look bad, first of all. Yes. 'cause I'm the one who recommended you or hired you. Mm-hmm. And now I look bad.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Oh wait, this person.
It doesn't even show up on time.
Tina: Well, that's the, that's the biggest thing. So you can start your relationships right front when you walk in that studio. And that's the biggest thing. So that's why I always say, you know, have a conversation with, you know, you coming in on time or early there. I would rather sit in a lobby and wait for my turn, you know?
And then especially if you are early and they do have you sit, look at your scripts. There you go. Look to make sure you're comfortable with them, that that's all. But then you're also building a relationship with those people at that studio, whether it is the receptionist or the engineer, the producer, doesn't matter.
You're still building a relationship and they remember this.
John: Yeah. It's an interesting time. I find that people do often just show up to things late.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: Yeah. And to, and to me it's a little weird. I always feel like you, if you are late, you feel like your time's more important than mine.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Like even when I do [00:07:00] webinars, I have people show up like half hour late, like it's no big deal.
Tina: Yeah. See,
John: you know, it's like, okay. Uh, it's cool, but mm-hmm. And then the last questions I already covered.
Tina: Yeah. Well,
John: can you go over this? Well, I, well, I did go over that. I, you know, don't get me wrong. I'd love to, I want you to get what you wanted outta this, but the problem is there's all a bunch of other people here at the webinar that if I go through what I already talked about
Tina: Yeah.
John: They're not gonna be happy. Right.
Tina: They were the ones that showed up on time, so they shouldn't have to Yeah. You know, be penalized or whatever. This is just, which is not penalized, but, you know. Yeah. Right, right,
John: right, right. No, listen, this isn't. You know, this is just kind of common sense. I feel like
Tina: You would think
John: you would think so, just, yeah.
So just that's one way. Professionalism, being on time is super important in this industry. Mm-hmm. Because studio time, listen, I've been in studios that are $150 an hour.
Tina: Yeah.
John: But I've also been in studios that are $800 an hour.
Tina: Yeah. Yeah.
John: Uh, so. And there's, and they go up from there, by the way. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. There's studios that are more expensive than that, so you being late is just not great. It's
Tina: not great. No, I know. No, not at all. And, and that's just, you just think of all the other people who are [00:08:00] involved in it. So it is not just you, you do have an engineer who's capturing your voice and you, you know, so it's, it, it, it does not, it's not just you.
If you're doing this from home, then you can show up whenever you want. Yeah. You know, it doesn't matter.
John: Yeah. That's what's great.
Tina: Yeah. But if you're going to a studio and you're going to record something and they're, they give you a time, be there a little earlier. Yeah. Five minutes earlier, 10 minutes earlier.
Be there on time.
John: Yeah. Be there on, yeah. And, and, and, uh, like we, we've talked about many times how this is flexible. This is one part that is not, if you have a time at the studio mm-hmm. That is your time.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And even if it's a hurry up and, and wait. And sometimes that happens.
Tina: Yes, yes.
John: Sometimes it's a hurry up and wait.
Mm-hmm. Like you're gonna get there. And again, they do have to do a bunch of things, right? Yeah. But you have to be on time and that many, many studios, in fact, I would venture to say most studios that you are going to work at, because obviously they're doing work. Mm-hmm. They probably have a hard out.
Tina: Yes.
Yeah, definitely. I've had so many where I've had students who were late, um, and then, but the engineer [00:09:00] saying to me, listen, we've got a ti, I've got someone coming in right away, right after this is the time. So it's kind of one of those things where. I have to be respectful of their time. 'cause they are allowing us to come in to record a demo, but they do have other things going on.
So I've gotta say, okay, well we gotta make, alright, let's go, let's make, like, I don't wanna rush anybody either. Right. But if you come Yeah. But it could affect
John: quality. Yes.
Tina: And that's
John: exactly it. That's on you. Like at that point it's like, hey, we could have taken a lot more time on this. Mm-hmm. But we can't.
We need to get it done.
Tina: Yeah. And that's the thing.
John: Yeah. It's tough. It's, it's, you know, I don't, I'm not here trying to teach people lessons. Yeah. But you know, it's like, I, I think it's just good advice, right? This no way think it is, this could be your New Year's resolution if you're someone who is, and my, my wife by, by the way, is a friend like this.
She's the nicest lady in the world. Mm-hmm. And so when I say, um. Your time's more important than mine. I, I never think people really think that. They're not thinking like that. No. Right. Yeah. They're just, they're just kind of on their own thing, you know? Yeah.
Tina: They're on. Yeah.
John: And they, they get distracted and they mm-hmm.
Sometimes [00:10:00] it's, there are people where they do this with everything, like where, like my wife has a friend who, they go to breakfast and this is every time.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: She has a bunch of friends. They meet for breakfast once a month, and the same exact person, her friend. Is 45 minutes late to an hour late.
Tina: Oh.
John: And she lives a mile from the place they go to. Oh, she's 45 minutes to an hour late every single time they sit around waiting for her every single
Tina: time. Oh, that would drive me crazy.
John: Right? So there are people just that are kinda like that, right? Mm-hmm. It's just, um,
Tina: they're always late.
John: They're always late.
And so this could be your New Year's resolution if you're someone who's always late.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: I don't care what you do with the rest of your life, but you cannot do it here. Yes.
Tina: No, not, not. When you've got your real, you're going into a studio and other people are waiting on you. Yeah,
John: absolutely. And, and by the way, you probably shouldn't do it in the rest of your life either, but who am I to say, who am I to say we gonna
Tina: cover?
We're only covering voice acting.
John: Yeah.
Yeah.
Tina: That's it.
John: So yeah, so that's one aspect of [00:11:00] being professional. Um, also, always, always come, um, ready. You know? Mm-hmm. Always come with whatever tools is necessary. Have your water. I, I've had that happen.
Tina: Yeah.
John: I actually, uh, produced a demo. Uh, this is going back about a year.
Mm-hmm. So, uh, this happened. I produced a demo for someone and when the person showed up, they didn't, they didn't have water, so they went, and by the way, I didn't really notice 'cause I assume you would have like water. Yeah. You would have a pencil, you would've, the things you need to do voiceovers. And at one point, uh, the voice actor said, Hey, can I jump out and grab some water?
And I was like, what do you mean?
Tina: Yeah.
John: And they said, I, is there a water fountain? Is there wa I said, you didn't bring water with you?
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: Oh, no. And luckily the recording studio was super cool. It wasn't our studio. Yeah. But I, uh, uh, the, the, uh, the audio engineer said, we actually have water in the fridge.
Which, by the way, I don't ever recommend cold water, but at that point
Tina: No, I know. Yeah.
John: You have water, right? You
Tina: just want water?
John: Yep. I, for a recording session, I recommend room temperature, water, just so it doesn't affect your vocal cords at all. But, uh, luckily that water. Bottled [00:12:00] water and, and, and, but I was very surprised.
Tina: Yeah.
John: I was surprised that the voice actor didn't bring water with them. So, you know, bring the tools of the trade. Mm-hmm. Bring your water a little lemon in your water, if not a Granny Smith apple.
Tina: Yes.
John: Slice up in a container. Mm-hmm. Again, it alleviates the clicking in your voice. Mm-hmm.
Tina: Yes.
John: You don't want that all over your voice.
Uh, by the way, for those of you who are hearing this for the first time mm-hmm. Granny Smith is a tardis of the apple, so alleviates saliva clicking. It only works for 10 minutes at a time, so don't eat it before you come in.
Tina: Yeah. No, no. Yep. Only if we say, I'm hearing some mouth noises. Let's go ahead and take a bite of that apple,
John: but a little lemon in your water does it too, but mm-hmm.
Not too much. Lemon's an irritant, so be careful. Don't put too much lemon in your water, but, uh, but you bring that with you. Mm-hmm. Bring it with you and bring a pencil. 'cause the copy. It's not, if the copy will change, the copy will change.
Tina: Majority of the time, yes. You will be making up, making some changes to it.
And they do that a lot and it's, it's no big deal. But that's why they want you bring a pencil in.
John: Yeah.
Tina: You know, and have a piece of the paper.
John: Yep. [00:13:00] So those are two aspects of professionalism, again, being on time. Tools of the trade. Mm-hmm. What else? What else is important?
Tina: I am gonna say hygiene.
John: Hygiene would be super important.
Yeah. I mean, I, let's, let's hope that that's not something we have to talk about. But how about, here's a funny one. No, windbreaker. I had someone come to a recording session wearing a windbreaker once.
Tina: Oh, okay. And every time clothing. Yes, yes, yes.
John: And I said. Hey man. I'm gonna need you to take that windbreaker off.
Tina: Yeah,
John: I looked down, I looked back up and he had no shirt on.
Tina: Oh, see
John: he wore a windbreaker with no shirt underneath. I said, Hey, put that windbreaker back on.
Tina: Back on. Yeah.
John: We'll deal, we'll deal with it and we'll deal with it. I need to end there with your shirt off.
Tina: Well, it's, and that, you know, to keep him with the noise too, for anyone who wears jewelry.
The same thing.
John: Kinda like me. It happens.
Tina: Yeah. See, look at that. And that's you's, that's not even me. That's me now. Now it's me. But otherwise, like anything with charms, anything like [00:14:00] that, that will make noise because not saying you're gonna be stiff 'cause No, I don't want you to be stiff in the first place.
I always say also, if you're a hand talker. Be a hand talker. 'cause then your read is going to be nice and comfortable. But if you are a hand talker and you've got a charm bracelet on, guess what we're hearing? That charm bracelet absolutely. The, the whole entire time. So that's the same thing with the windbreaker, the clothes.
I always tell people the, um, when going into the studio to record wear layers. Because there's no vents in there. Sure. Because the microphones are sensitive. That's the same thing. Us, they can hear the windbreaker. They can hear the charms, they can hear your movement. So, but it does get warm in there. So wear wear layers that you have shirts underneath it.
John: Absolutely. So
Tina: you don't have to go bare chested
John: and, exactly. You wear the windbreaker with no shirt, by the way. It like, wouldn't that stick to your skin? Like I was shocked. Like, well, he wore one breaker with no shirt underneath. Who? I've never even heard of that.
Tina: I wouldn't have done that either.
John: Oh, it was super weird.
Thank god. Geez. Thank goodness it wasn't a female that I said that to. Oh, my.
Tina: Couldn't can you? [00:15:00]
John: Uh, it was a man. Luckily if I had said, take it off and, oh, that would've been awful. Now, now I've, that was a valuable lesson for me. I always say, do you have something underneath that?
Tina: Yes. Yeah.
John: Hey, do you have,
Tina: you need to ask first.
John: One of the things I tell people, if you're new to this mm-hmm. You, you get it. Yeah. This is super easy, but. But when you're new to this, um, when you put on whatever outfit you're gonna wear in the studio, stand in front of the mirror and move around.
Tina: Yes. Oh yeah.
John: If you can hear it with your naked ear.
Tina: Mm-hmm. Yep.
John: We can hear it on the mic. Yes. So just stand there and move around a bit. Mm-hmm. So that, uh, again, it doesn't affect you. Cool. Um, so anything else? What else could we,
Tina: I wanna also talk like, um, I know that we, you know, talk, the microphone picks up everything and noise. Um, it, depending on the time that you, you know, um, record.
I also say have something to eat too before. Because, oh yeah, your stomach. Stomach grows. Yep.
John: Stomach is funny.
Tina: The stomach growls, the, you know, the, and just anything like that. But I always say, you know, it just depends on, you know, if you are a morning person and [00:16:00] you have breakfast in the morning and you're recording at 11:00 AM have breakfast, so at 11:00 AM you're in there, you don't hear that stomach growl, you
John: know?
Absolutely. Yeah. Uh, cool. All right. So, uh, I'm trying to think of anything else, like off the top of my head I would think of as far as being professional, um. I mean, I don't think I have to, again, it is not something I feel like I should have to say, but mm-hmm. I, here's something you should know. This is some, for those of you who are new, those of us who, uh, is like veteran voice actors mm-hmm.
We know this, but this is something that many people don't think of the, the mic. Is always live.
Tina: Oh, yeah. I don't ever, you don't ever think about it when you've been in it for so long.
John: Yeah. Yeah. Be very cognizant of that. Mm-hmm. Because if you say something weird
Tina: mm-hmm.
John: We hear it.
Tina: Yes.
John: If you, and I know that now some of you listening to this are going, who would do that?
Oh, you'd be very surprised. I've had people say, oh, this copy stinks. Yeah. Under their breath. Mm-hmm. They think it's under their breath. They think that if we're not recording, we don't hear, we hear everything. Yes. We don't turn your [00:17:00] mic off. No, we are listening. We can hear you talking to yourself in there.
So don't say anything disparaging about anyone. Don't say anything. No.
Tina: Yep.
John: Don't, um, no cell phone, by the way.
Tina: Oh, that's also, yes. Yeah. Not
John: even gonna vibrate.
Tina: Yeah.
John: If I, if, well
Tina: completely. Yeah.
John: If it starts, if I hear vibrating. And I say, Hey, what's that? It's a rhetorical question. Mm-hmm. I know what it is, so don't try to lie.
Like, I gotta get that, like, I don't know. Yeah. I'm like, I know what it is. Yeah. I'm not, I'm not being serious. Please gimme your phone.
Tina: Yeah. Oh, I, I've had it where we were doing demos and they're like, oh, I forgot to turn it off, you know? And you hear that I had someone the other day, she's doing the read, and then after we did the read, she says, I heard some type of noise and it threw me off.
Yet. That's your phone. That was your phone. I heard it too. And I was doing this through Zoom, so yes, it picked it up and then we played it back. I didn't, I purposely told 'em not to take it out just to, I said, just leave it in there. We'll, we'll be okay. Let's just listen back. She's like, oh yeah. Oh yeah, yeah,
John: yeah, [00:18:00] yeah.
And I understand by the way, that sometimes you have to have your phone on. Mm-hmm. For example, like maybe you have someone babysitting your kids. That's fine. Leave it with us.
Tina: Yes.
John: I'll let you know if it rings. Yes. And I'll say, Hey, phone's going off. Don't bring it into the booth because no, Murphy's law will, will.
Mm-hmm. It will go off during your very best take.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And if it's on top of your words, we can't do anything about
Tina: it. No. There's absolutely nothing. Yeah. If, you know, if it falls in between sentences Yeah. Then we could easily take it out. But what's the chances of that happening?
John: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Exactly. So, uh, I think that's all I can think of right now.
I mean, most of the time, I mean this again, a relaxing environment. It's, yes. So you don't have to be up uptight. These are just, to me, common sense things. Mm-hmm. But it's not though. If you're not in the industry, maybe it's not to you.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Uh, so just a little advice. And again, um. I, maybe that should be new voice actors resolution.
Be professional in the studio.
Tina: Yeah, that would be a good one. Yeah. Right.
John: And I get it. It's hard because you're having so much [00:19:00] fun. Mm-hmm. Right? Oh, yeah. And sometimes you forget. Yeah. You know? Um, but just again, yes. You, you're getting paid though, typically. Mm-hmm. And if you, and if you're a student of ours or a client of ours, then you're, and you're in the midst of.
Of, uh, getting coaching and doing your demo, keep in mind we want it to be the best it can be.
Tina: Yes, absolutely.
John: Right. We want this to be the best experience you have and, and part of that is on you as well. Mm-hmm. You know, so, uh, just make sure you're always on time and make sure you have the tools necessary and you'll be good.
Tina: Yeah. Because remember, people will remember you. And that's what you want and you want Yeah. You'll build those relationships, they'll call you back.
John: Right, right. And, and, and especially, you never know. You, you know, we, we have hired former students before. Mm-hmm. You know, people who have come through our program, uh.
So you might want to be one of those people who could be considerable if you, you know, if, if you're like super unprofessional during the entire process and then you send a demo to us for professional work, I'm not, we're not considering you at that point. Right. Because we already know what you're like and it's not great.
Yeah. Right. That's
Tina: the thing.
John: And by the way, this is, [00:20:00] this very rarely happens. Oh yeah. Yeah. Most of our clients who come through our voiceover program are amazing and most of 'em are. Yes. Super cool. Ann. And professional.
Tina: Yes. Very.
John: Yeah. At the same time.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: These are just outliers and, yeah. And so, um, you know, just.
Give a heads up on it just to make sure.
Tina: We just wanna help you as much as we
John: can. Yeah, of course. That's part of the learning process, by the way. Mm-hmm. That's all part of it.
Tina: Yeah.
John: So that, that's kind of what the thing you should be learning when you're coming through this. Yeah. You know, you, we
Tina: teach it all.
John: If you don't take to it, that's, I dunno know if you're still late,
Tina: that's all on you, we imagine it.
John: Yeah, exactly. And so, uh, again, happy New Year's. Happy year. I wanna thank everybody. It's is New Year Day. I wanna thank everybody very much for checking us out, listening to us. Mm-hmm. Uh, thank you very much.
Voice coaches, family. And, uh, again, I'm John and or JG. Yes. Whichever you can remember. You know,
Tina: he's not gonna let go of it, so, so please
John: remember his name when someone sends me an email with the wrong name. It's so weird to requesting to come on the show. It's so weird. It's so [00:21:00] weird. So, uh, anyway, my email is John g.
At voice coaches.com.
Tina: All right. Nice and easy.
John: Yeah, and, and you know why? You know why my email's John G. 'cause my name's John.
Tina: Oh. Oh really? Yeah. Right,
John: right. So
Tina: you think Wow. And I'm [email protected].
John: Right. Thank you so much. Yeah.
Tina and John talk about New Years resolutions and being professional in the recording studio.
