VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio Episode 711 “VO Mythbusters”
John: [00:00:00] All right. I am sorry. The last thing you were telling me, I'm John. I'm John. I'm here. We're just talking something off the air. We will not repeat on the air. No, but I am John.
Tina: And I'm Tina
John: and Is Voice Coaches Radio. Uh, we have too much fun here. That's the
Tina: problem. Yes, yes.
John: Yeah, that's too much. Uh, all right, so, uh, today we're gonna do vo MythBusters.
Tina: Good. Good.
John: Yeah,
Tina: we should.
John: Cool. So what, so why don't you start, what, what do you think are the myths people think before they even, or maybe when they start looking into voiceover, is it maybe they, it, it discourages them? What do you think?
Tina: I think a lot of it is the voice, the actual voice. Because you know what we, like you even said a couple times, you'll get people that will come in and they'll say, yeah, and I keep telling, people keep saying to me, I got a great voice and I should do this, but I [00:01:00] don't have that deep voice.
I don't have a deep voice either. You know? So there there is that myth. There is a certain type of voice that you have to have in a world, and that's it. Yes. Yeah, yeah.
Right.
Tina: That one.
John: Yep. That's the one they, you're right. Exactly. That is a myth. And I, I get that too. Yeah. In the intros where people will say.
Yeah, I just don't have that voice. I mean, people tell me I have a good voice, but I don't think so. I mean, I don't have that voice. That is a myth these days. Yeah. Don't gimme, there will always be some work for those people. Mm-hmm. Yes. There will always be announcer type workout or work for those deep voices for sure.
Tina: Yes. Yeah.
John: But it's not predominant anymore.
Tina: No, no. Not, not at all. I, I always say to, especially 'cause of the first class of the, the voice evaluation, I say, listen to the radio. Listen to radio and listen to those commercials. Not every, every single commercial has a different voice. That not all of 'em are that deep voice.
They're are different voices for different things, you
John: know?
Tina: Yeah. So every voice is different and there people want that.
John: Yeah. Most of 'em aren't deep anymore, in fact.
Tina: Yeah.
John: I mean, I, I think [00:02:00] documentary hung on for a while. Yeah. And there's still some of that, but I will say not geo seems to be using a lot of female voice actors now.
Tina: Yeah.
John: So, uh, it is a myth. Don't worry about it. We are hiring all different types of voices because we absolutely want variety, just like real life.
Tina: Yes.
John: That's, you know, listen, we want voiceovers to sound. Like your friend.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: Right? Yeah. Most of your friends aren't talking like
Tina: this. No, they're not. And if they,
John: Hey, how are you guys doing today?
You guys want to go out, maybe see a movie? No one's talking like that.
Tina: No, not at all.
John: If they're, they're saying, you're like, what is going on?
Tina: Can you stop
John: doing that?
Tina: You're creeping me out.
John: So, yeah. Okay. So now what's, what's another one?
Tina: Um, how, another one would be, um, doing this from home.
John: You have that
Tina: and what you have to have.
John: Yeah. Right. So some people think that you have to have like a full-fledged studio. Mm-hmm. You have to have really expensive equipment. Mm-hmm. And, and in the past you did.
Tina: Yes.
John: In the past you did be like, when, when the technology first, when tech, when technology made it possible.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: To [00:03:00] record, you know, at your house basically.
Everything was big.
Tina: Yes.
John: I, I used to have a rack full of equipment mm-hmm. At my house. Mm-hmm. Those days are over.
Tina: No. Yep. It,
John: no, you, it, you can get, you can get, you can record from home. Mm-hmm. Fairly inexpensively. We have to buy equipment. Yes. But it's not, things have become. I mean, I don't wanna put a number on it, but
Tina: Yeah.
John: You know, you can get, you know, say, I always assume, by the way, you have a computer, that's the big experience,
Tina: right? That's the, that's the first thing you definitely have to have.
John: Yeah. You, you have a computer, you're good. So all you need is a microphone.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Now, depending on what kind of mic you, you might need a preamp.
Mm-hmm. But if you do, you know, you do USB direct, right?
Tina: Yes.
John: You SB direct mic's, like, listen, if I was to guide you from the beginning, I probably, I probably wouldn't say get a USB direct, but they've come a long way. Yes, they have. Yeah. Into some really
Tina: good
John: ones, so. Mm-hmm. You need a microphone, you need, I, I do think you should have, I'm a stickler for this.
I do think you need monitors and I think you need headphones. And, and the reason is, whenever I record voiceover, I listen [00:04:00] to it. I listen to it after it's done on three or four different devices.
Tina: Oh, I, that's good.
John: Yeah. The reason is what you hear in your headphones or what you hearing your monitors.
Mm-hmm. That is not number one, what the client's gonna hear it on. Uh,
Tina: yep, that's true
John: when they listen to it and it's also not what it really sounds like.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: You wanna hear it? So I'll even put it, I'll even play it through my car speakers.
Tina: Oh.
John: So I'll play, yeah, I'll play, I'll play it. Usually I'll play it through my monitors, headphones.
And they usually sound similar, right? Mm-hmm. 'cause you're playing it through good.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: So monitors, headphones. I'll play it just on my phone. I wanna hear what it sounds like on my phone.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And then I'll usually play at my car, my car speakers. I want to hear before I send it to the client.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: I want to hear what it sounds like.
So you have a phone already? You don't need to buy that. Yeah. You probably, I, you may have a car. Mm-hmm. Maybe depending, you know, if you're in the, in New York City, maybe not right. City, maybe you're walking. But, um, so really the big expense is gonna be the computer, which you have, I hope.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: And, and if you don't, you, these days with an iPad Pro, if you have an iPad, you can actually record.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Um, it's still tricky on your [00:05:00] iPad, I have to tell you. It is tricky. I, you know, but you can, it can be done. Yes. Figure it out. It
Tina: can be done.
John: Um. And, you know, software, which there's pay software out there, there's also freeware out there. Mm-hmm. And
Tina: yeah,
John: no matter what, what, no matter what audio recording software you get, which we call daw mm-hmm.
Digital audio workstation, no matter what you get, you have to learn how to use it.
Tina: Yeah. Yeah.
John: So, I, I, you know, I tell people, you know, they go, what do you use? You don't have to get what I use. You don't have to, you don't have to spend a lot of money on, on your dog, because anything you get, first of all, voiceover doesn't need a lot.
Tina: No.
John: Right. You don't need a ton of, you don't need. Uh, a thousand plugins. You don't need to be able to record an entire band. No. It's just what you need is your voice. Right. That's it. It's just your voice. Maybe throw some music on there or whatever, depending what, how, how much you're doing of the editing, right?
Yeah. So, um, there's free out there. That's perfectly fine or mm-hmm. Very inexpensive software. Yes, there is. Yep. Either way.
Tina: Yep.
John: Okay. Just whatever it is, practice, practice, practice. No one can [00:06:00] I, I, I really do believe this. People can show you how to use any software. Mm-hmm. It's you practicing that's gonna make you good at it.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Right. Uh, so that, and I mean, really, I, I, I mean, I don't want, but you can get in, I, you can get into recording from home and again, assuming you have a nice, quiet area mm-hmm. Or you get the, you know, the. What the, what do you call it? The thing
Tina: that's a microphone. Isolation shield.
John: Isolation shield.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Uh, you get one of those? Yeah. How much, how much is that?
Tina: I spend I think $59. 59
John: bucks.
Tina: Yeah. That is, that was really it. So
John: I bet you can get into home recording now. Again, that's not your first step. I always wanna say that because
Tina: No, I know. I know. 'cause people think that's, I gotta build that first.
No,
John: no. First step is education.
Tina: Yes.
John: Then demo with someone who actually knows how to do it. Mm-hmm. Then you start developing clients start to go out and get work, and then maybe at that point you start getting into that. Yeah. You know, because I think people get discouraged when they do the equipment first.
They don't really know how to use it. They never get work. Now it sits in the box. I have people that told me. I meant to say I bought a [00:07:00] bunch of equipment still in the, it's still in the box.
Tina: Yeah. I've, I've, yeah. I've tried to '
John: cause you're doing an out of order, right? Yes. You get, you're like, oh, I don't even know how to use this.
You're doing an out order. Mm-hmm. But, but anyway, it is not super pricey to get, I bet you you could get into home recording as long as again, you can use an isolation shield or find a very, very quiet spot, um, in your house.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: Uh, for under what? Under 600.
Tina: Yeah. Yeah. I would
John: think
Tina: because I just recently was just like, like I'll sit down with students, um, before assuming
John: the computer again.
Tina: Uh huh. That assuming you have the computer. Yes, yes, yes. And I will sit down with them and, and show them some stuff that they can, you know, look at and yeah, you're right. It's just, it's the, I always say the microphone is. The most expensive of this. It should
John: be. Yeah, it should
Tina: be. Yeah. But you do not need that $6,000 microphone.
No, absolutely do not. Fantastic. They, they range all of time. And then the biggest thing is producing that sound. I always say, 'cause if they're not, you know, we're gonna [00:08:00] go do the demo and then yeah, let's worry about the equipment after the demo. Let's focus on the demo. But when you're in that booth, listen to how it sounds in the booth.
Mm-hmm. That's what you wanna bring when you're doing this from home. You want that same sound.
John: Yeah. And again. Don't, don't rush into that part of it.
Tina: Yeah. No, you don't have to. Yeah.
John: Don't rush into that part. That's another thing too, that I think that's a myth.
Tina: Yeah.
John: There's a myth right there. Forget the equip the, I think one myth is you have to buy expensive equipment.
The other myth is you have to have equipment at all first.
Tina: Yeah. No,
John: that's a big myth. That's a modern myth. Mm-hmm. Right. I think the myth of having equipment has been around for a while. Yeah. Expensive equipment's been around for a while. There's a modern myth where you have to buy equipment right away.
That is definitely a myth. You do not need recording equipment immediately. No. You need you, there is no substitute for skill. Mm-hmm. There's no sub, there's no substitute for education. So number one is always to get a voice coach. Okay. Yes. So the the other myth that, that I hear sometimes, and I, and I do mm-hmm.
I get this question a lot actually in my webinar. That you need an agent?
Tina: Oh, [00:09:00] yeah, yeah,
John: yeah. Mm-hmm. So first off, uh, local and regional voiceover work is. Predominantly and overwhelmingly, let's say demo driven.
Tina: Yes.
John: You get hired based on your demo and you will start on a local and regional level. Mm-hmm.
Um, agents aren't really helpful in that regard.
Tina: No.
John: Right. Agents send you on auditions for the most part. Okay. Agents send you on auditions. Most local and regional work is not audition driven. Mm-hmm. So not only do you not need an agent,
Tina: yeah.
John: They're not very helpful. Yeah. On a local and regional level.
Mm-hmm. Now, will you get an agent eventually. Yeah.
Tina: If you want to. Yeah. Yeah.
John: And if, especially if you get into upper regional, but especially national work. Mm-hmm. Yes, of course. Because when you're on a national level, there's, uh, there will be auditions out there you didn't know existed that agent.
Tina: Oh, absolutely.
Yeah. I'll an agent. Yeah.
John: So, so when you get to that point, maybe. Mm-hmm. But I have to tell you, we have, we have cast many national projects at the studio also based on their demo.
Tina: Yeah.
John: So. You know, [00:10:00] I, I think the industry, I, everything comes full circle, I gotta tell you. Mm-hmm. I feel like the industry is moving back to mostly demo casting.
Tina: Yeah. Yeah.
John: I really think that,
Tina: you know, uh, some of my bigger jobs were from listening to my demo, not even reading a script, a sample of their script. Yeah. It was listening to my demo. Yeah. That's the voice we want. Mm-hmm. They called me up, got the job. Yeah.
John: So, uh, yeah, so there you go. That's another, another myth.
Busted.
Tina: Yep. We should have like a big, like busted like kinda myth.
John: There you go. We're gonna do that. Vo myth busters. Yeah. We'd even do like a, some kind of voiceover where there would be. You know, this week on VO MythBusters.
Tina: Yeah,
John: right.
Tina: I should have that.
John: Yeah.
Tina: But I think that it's, but it's, but the funny thing is everybody will ask those questions.
Everybody in, in this. Yep. Absolutely. Yeah. Yep. So that is, that is the common one. We get those [00:11:00] common ones. Absolutely. Yeah. You have to have that deep voice. You have to have a studio that's, you know, gorgeous studio and you have to have that agent.
John: You know what another funny one is, is, uh, this isn't necessarily a myth, but on the topic of, hey, I don't have that deep voice.
Mm-hmm. I always find it kind of curious and, and entertaining a little when people say to me. You know, I've had so many people tell me I have a good voice, but I just don't believe it.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And I'm, and I'm always thinking, do you think they're playing a joke on you? Like, where's the joke? Like the joke's only a joke if they convince you to come to a voiceover.
Yeah. And by the way, even a webinar wouldn't be that wouldn't be that.
Tina: Yeah. It
John: have to be something live. Like we, we, we told Sarah, she had a fantastic voice for a full year straight, and we convinced her to go to a voiceover. Yeah. It's gonna be hilarious when she goes, it's only funny if they're there laughing at you.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And by the way, that's a long, that is a long joke. Mm-hmm. Like, oh, we're gonna tell her this forever. If you had people [00:12:00] your whole life tell you that you have a good voice. You have a good voice.
Tina: That's what I've been saying to people. I said, first of all, I, I would like to think that people would not do this, but go, geez, that's your voice.
You know? No. If they're telling you it's a good voice, it's a good voice. Right. They like listening to you.
John: There's all different types of good voices.
Tina: Yes. By the way. Yeah.
John: Yeah. Again, I think they're, like you said, that's the myth. They're thinking in their head. They don't have a good voice. Yeah. I don't have that.
Sam Elliot.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Right. Sam Elliot voice. Mm-hmm. Or uh,
Tina: Morgan Freeman.
John: Morgan Freeman.
Tina: Yeah. That's,
John: there you go. I think that's what they think that's in, in their mind. You have to have that. They think that's a good, there's all different types of good voices.
Tina: Mm-hmm. There is. Yeah.
John: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I had someone the other day get, say.
I had it, it was a woman who came, who came to the, this is a funny one too. I'm just gonna, you know, I should have said in another episode we did, I think. But I just popped in my mind, and this is funny. I had someone come to my webinar, and this would be on topic by the way, because I will talk about the webinar again.
Tina: Yeah.
John: But [00:13:00] she came and she was upset that I didn't, I said, Hey, I think you have like a 15 year age range in your voice.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: I think you sound between, uh, 40 and and 55. Mm-hmm. And she was like, oh. And I'm like, what? She's like, I don't know. I just don't think that's very supportive. I said, what? What do you mean?
Yeah. And she said I wanted a bigger age range. And I said, well, I can't make it up.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Like I, in my, and by the way, someone else might, here's the thing, let me also say this. When I hear you read, I hear 40 to 55. But that doesn't mean when Tina hears you read, Tina might say, wow, you sound 30. To 50. Mm-hmm.
You don't know. Different producers hear differently. Yeah. Different people in general hear things a little differently, so, but I was like, yeah, well, I can't, I can't change it. I, I'm telling you what I hear, you know? Yeah. It was very funny. But again, on topic, because I'm gonna remind everybody I do intro webinars.
Okay.
Tina: Yes, he does.
John: So if you've heard this on a few, you know, I used to not mention it at all. Right?
Tina: Yeah. No, you weren't.
John: Yeah. Our first like, many, many episodes when you and I became the [00:14:00] host of this. Mm-hmm. You know. I didn't mention my webinar at all, but since I've had people, I, I mentioned like one episode a while back.
Yeah. And I had people actually sign up for the webinar based on it. They said, oh, I heard, I've been listening to you. And so, so now I mention it because I want people who maybe skip an episode or not. Mm-hmm. Or, or whatever. And I want them to also, Hey, if you haven't come to a webinar of mine and, and you're listening to this podcast.
Yeah. Take the webinar. We can, you know, we can meet, you can read for me afterwards. You can hear all of the, the, uh, invaluable wisdom.
Tina: Yes, it is. It's, yes, it's, no, they should, because especially if you have like an interest in all it is, is just you're, you're, you're sitting down and you're, you can do it at home.
You're at home, you know,
John: and it's a way to get your feet wet.
Tina: Yeah.
John: You know, just to say, Hey, you know what? People tell me I have a good voice. Mm-hmm. I am interested, but let's see if this is for me, because believe me, when you're done with that webinar, you will know.
Tina: Yes.
John: Because I do a really good job of talking people into it or out of it.
And I don't have the intention of doing either, by the way. No, no. All I do is present the [00:15:00] facts.
Tina: You're just telling us here's how, how it is, here's it's, yep, yep. And it's, and so yeah, they decide, oh no, this is not for me. Yeah. Or, oh, I'm in.
John: Yeah. Yeah. Some people are like, excited after like, what? And I'm like, oh, cool.
You know, some people are like, Ooh, no, it's all. Yeah, either way, it's fine. I've, I've done my job at that point. Alright, cool. So listen, I wanna thank everybody very much for listening once again.
Tina: We appreciate it. Yep.
John: Yeah. And please, any questions, any comments again? We do, uh, every eight weeks.
Tina: Yeah. That's, you're thinking eight weeks?
Yeah,
John: eight, eight weeks. Every eight weeks we do a listener. Question episode.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: And so why can't you be one of them?
Tina: Yeah. Ask us anything.
John: Yeah.
Tina: Well, not anything.
John: Not not anything. Yeah. The filter me. Uh, so it's john g voice coaches.com
Tina: and t voice coaches.com. Yep.
Tina: And I'm Tina
John: and Is Voice Coaches Radio. Uh, we have too much fun here. That's the
Tina: problem. Yes, yes.
John: Yeah, that's too much. Uh, all right, so, uh, today we're gonna do vo MythBusters.
Tina: Good. Good.
John: Yeah,
Tina: we should.
John: Cool. So what, so why don't you start, what, what do you think are the myths people think before they even, or maybe when they start looking into voiceover, is it maybe they, it, it discourages them? What do you think?
Tina: I think a lot of it is the voice, the actual voice. Because you know what we, like you even said a couple times, you'll get people that will come in and they'll say, yeah, and I keep telling, people keep saying to me, I got a great voice and I should do this, but I [00:01:00] don't have that deep voice.
I don't have a deep voice either. You know? So there there is that myth. There is a certain type of voice that you have to have in a world, and that's it. Yes. Yeah, yeah.
Right.
Tina: That one.
John: Yep. That's the one they, you're right. Exactly. That is a myth. And I, I get that too. Yeah. In the intros where people will say.
Yeah, I just don't have that voice. I mean, people tell me I have a good voice, but I don't think so. I mean, I don't have that voice. That is a myth these days. Yeah. Don't gimme, there will always be some work for those people. Mm-hmm. Yes. There will always be announcer type workout or work for those deep voices for sure.
Tina: Yes. Yeah.
John: But it's not predominant anymore.
Tina: No, no. Not, not at all. I, I always say to, especially 'cause of the first class of the, the voice evaluation, I say, listen to the radio. Listen to radio and listen to those commercials. Not every, every single commercial has a different voice. That not all of 'em are that deep voice.
They're are different voices for different things, you
John: know?
Tina: Yeah. So every voice is different and there people want that.
John: Yeah. Most of 'em aren't deep anymore, in fact.
Tina: Yeah.
John: I mean, I, I think [00:02:00] documentary hung on for a while. Yeah. And there's still some of that, but I will say not geo seems to be using a lot of female voice actors now.
Tina: Yeah.
John: So, uh, it is a myth. Don't worry about it. We are hiring all different types of voices because we absolutely want variety, just like real life.
Tina: Yes.
John: That's, you know, listen, we want voiceovers to sound. Like your friend.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: Right? Yeah. Most of your friends aren't talking like
Tina: this. No, they're not. And if they,
John: Hey, how are you guys doing today?
You guys want to go out, maybe see a movie? No one's talking like that.
Tina: No, not at all.
John: If they're, they're saying, you're like, what is going on?
Tina: Can you stop
John: doing that?
Tina: You're creeping me out.
John: So, yeah. Okay. So now what's, what's another one?
Tina: Um, how, another one would be, um, doing this from home.
John: You have that
Tina: and what you have to have.
John: Yeah. Right. So some people think that you have to have like a full-fledged studio. Mm-hmm. You have to have really expensive equipment. Mm-hmm. And, and in the past you did.
Tina: Yes.
John: In the past you did be like, when, when the technology first, when tech, when technology made it possible.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: To [00:03:00] record, you know, at your house basically.
Everything was big.
Tina: Yes.
John: I, I used to have a rack full of equipment mm-hmm. At my house. Mm-hmm. Those days are over.
Tina: No. Yep. It,
John: no, you, it, you can get, you can get, you can record from home. Mm-hmm. Fairly inexpensively. We have to buy equipment. Yes. But it's not, things have become. I mean, I don't wanna put a number on it, but
Tina: Yeah.
John: You know, you can get, you know, say, I always assume, by the way, you have a computer, that's the big experience,
Tina: right? That's the, that's the first thing you definitely have to have.
John: Yeah. You, you have a computer, you're good. So all you need is a microphone.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Now, depending on what kind of mic you, you might need a preamp.
Mm-hmm. But if you do, you know, you do USB direct, right?
Tina: Yes.
John: You SB direct mic's, like, listen, if I was to guide you from the beginning, I probably, I probably wouldn't say get a USB direct, but they've come a long way. Yes, they have. Yeah. Into some really
Tina: good
John: ones, so. Mm-hmm. You need a microphone, you need, I, I do think you should have, I'm a stickler for this.
I do think you need monitors and I think you need headphones. And, and the reason is, whenever I record voiceover, I listen [00:04:00] to it. I listen to it after it's done on three or four different devices.
Tina: Oh, I, that's good.
John: Yeah. The reason is what you hear in your headphones or what you hearing your monitors.
Mm-hmm. That is not number one, what the client's gonna hear it on. Uh,
Tina: yep, that's true
John: when they listen to it and it's also not what it really sounds like.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: You wanna hear it? So I'll even put it, I'll even play it through my car speakers.
Tina: Oh.
John: So I'll play, yeah, I'll play, I'll play it. Usually I'll play it through my monitors, headphones.
And they usually sound similar, right? Mm-hmm. 'cause you're playing it through good.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: So monitors, headphones. I'll play it just on my phone. I wanna hear what it sounds like on my phone.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And then I'll usually play at my car, my car speakers. I want to hear before I send it to the client.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: I want to hear what it sounds like.
So you have a phone already? You don't need to buy that. Yeah. You probably, I, you may have a car. Mm-hmm. Maybe depending, you know, if you're in the, in New York City, maybe not right. City, maybe you're walking. But, um, so really the big expense is gonna be the computer, which you have, I hope.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: And, and if you don't, you, these days with an iPad Pro, if you have an iPad, you can actually record.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Um, it's still tricky on your [00:05:00] iPad, I have to tell you. It is tricky. I, you know, but you can, it can be done. Yes. Figure it out. It
Tina: can be done.
John: Um. And, you know, software, which there's pay software out there, there's also freeware out there. Mm-hmm. And
Tina: yeah,
John: no matter what, what, no matter what audio recording software you get, which we call daw mm-hmm.
Digital audio workstation, no matter what you get, you have to learn how to use it.
Tina: Yeah. Yeah.
John: So, I, I, you know, I tell people, you know, they go, what do you use? You don't have to get what I use. You don't have to, you don't have to spend a lot of money on, on your dog, because anything you get, first of all, voiceover doesn't need a lot.
Tina: No.
John: Right. You don't need a ton of, you don't need. Uh, a thousand plugins. You don't need to be able to record an entire band. No. It's just what you need is your voice. Right. That's it. It's just your voice. Maybe throw some music on there or whatever, depending what, how, how much you're doing of the editing, right?
Yeah. So, um, there's free out there. That's perfectly fine or mm-hmm. Very inexpensive software. Yes, there is. Yep. Either way.
Tina: Yep.
John: Okay. Just whatever it is, practice, practice, practice. No one can [00:06:00] I, I, I really do believe this. People can show you how to use any software. Mm-hmm. It's you practicing that's gonna make you good at it.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Right. Uh, so that, and I mean, really, I, I, I mean, I don't want, but you can get in, I, you can get into recording from home and again, assuming you have a nice, quiet area mm-hmm. Or you get the, you know, the. What the, what do you call it? The thing
Tina: that's a microphone. Isolation shield.
John: Isolation shield.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Uh, you get one of those? Yeah. How much, how much is that?
Tina: I spend I think $59. 59
John: bucks.
Tina: Yeah. That is, that was really it. So
John: I bet you can get into home recording now. Again, that's not your first step. I always wanna say that because
Tina: No, I know. I know. 'cause people think that's, I gotta build that first.
No,
John: no. First step is education.
Tina: Yes.
John: Then demo with someone who actually knows how to do it. Mm-hmm. Then you start developing clients start to go out and get work, and then maybe at that point you start getting into that. Yeah. You know, because I think people get discouraged when they do the equipment first.
They don't really know how to use it. They never get work. Now it sits in the box. I have people that told me. I meant to say I bought a [00:07:00] bunch of equipment still in the, it's still in the box.
Tina: Yeah. I've, I've, yeah. I've tried to '
John: cause you're doing an out of order, right? Yes. You get, you're like, oh, I don't even know how to use this.
You're doing an out order. Mm-hmm. But, but anyway, it is not super pricey to get, I bet you you could get into home recording as long as again, you can use an isolation shield or find a very, very quiet spot, um, in your house.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: Uh, for under what? Under 600.
Tina: Yeah. Yeah. I would
John: think
Tina: because I just recently was just like, like I'll sit down with students, um, before assuming
John: the computer again.
Tina: Uh huh. That assuming you have the computer. Yes, yes, yes. And I will sit down with them and, and show them some stuff that they can, you know, look at and yeah, you're right. It's just, it's the, I always say the microphone is. The most expensive of this. It should
John: be. Yeah, it should
Tina: be. Yeah. But you do not need that $6,000 microphone.
No, absolutely do not. Fantastic. They, they range all of time. And then the biggest thing is producing that sound. I always say, 'cause if they're not, you know, we're gonna [00:08:00] go do the demo and then yeah, let's worry about the equipment after the demo. Let's focus on the demo. But when you're in that booth, listen to how it sounds in the booth.
Mm-hmm. That's what you wanna bring when you're doing this from home. You want that same sound.
John: Yeah. And again. Don't, don't rush into that part of it.
Tina: Yeah. No, you don't have to. Yeah.
John: Don't rush into that part. That's another thing too, that I think that's a myth.
Tina: Yeah.
John: There's a myth right there. Forget the equip the, I think one myth is you have to buy expensive equipment.
The other myth is you have to have equipment at all first.
Tina: Yeah. No,
John: that's a big myth. That's a modern myth. Mm-hmm. Right. I think the myth of having equipment has been around for a while. Yeah. Expensive equipment's been around for a while. There's a modern myth where you have to buy equipment right away.
That is definitely a myth. You do not need recording equipment immediately. No. You need you, there is no substitute for skill. Mm-hmm. There's no sub, there's no substitute for education. So number one is always to get a voice coach. Okay. Yes. So the the other myth that, that I hear sometimes, and I, and I do mm-hmm.
I get this question a lot actually in my webinar. That you need an agent?
Tina: Oh, [00:09:00] yeah, yeah,
John: yeah. Mm-hmm. So first off, uh, local and regional voiceover work is. Predominantly and overwhelmingly, let's say demo driven.
Tina: Yes.
John: You get hired based on your demo and you will start on a local and regional level. Mm-hmm.
Um, agents aren't really helpful in that regard.
Tina: No.
John: Right. Agents send you on auditions for the most part. Okay. Agents send you on auditions. Most local and regional work is not audition driven. Mm-hmm. So not only do you not need an agent,
Tina: yeah.
John: They're not very helpful. Yeah. On a local and regional level.
Mm-hmm. Now, will you get an agent eventually. Yeah.
Tina: If you want to. Yeah. Yeah.
John: And if, especially if you get into upper regional, but especially national work. Mm-hmm. Yes, of course. Because when you're on a national level, there's, uh, there will be auditions out there you didn't know existed that agent.
Tina: Oh, absolutely.
Yeah. I'll an agent. Yeah.
John: So, so when you get to that point, maybe. Mm-hmm. But I have to tell you, we have, we have cast many national projects at the studio also based on their demo.
Tina: Yeah.
John: So. You know, [00:10:00] I, I think the industry, I, everything comes full circle, I gotta tell you. Mm-hmm. I feel like the industry is moving back to mostly demo casting.
Tina: Yeah. Yeah.
John: I really think that,
Tina: you know, uh, some of my bigger jobs were from listening to my demo, not even reading a script, a sample of their script. Yeah. It was listening to my demo. Yeah. That's the voice we want. Mm-hmm. They called me up, got the job. Yeah.
John: So, uh, yeah, so there you go. That's another, another myth.
Busted.
Tina: Yep. We should have like a big, like busted like kinda myth.
John: There you go. We're gonna do that. Vo myth busters. Yeah. We'd even do like a, some kind of voiceover where there would be. You know, this week on VO MythBusters.
Tina: Yeah,
John: right.
Tina: I should have that.
John: Yeah.
Tina: But I think that it's, but it's, but the funny thing is everybody will ask those questions.
Everybody in, in this. Yep. Absolutely. Yeah. Yep. So that is, that is the common one. We get those [00:11:00] common ones. Absolutely. Yeah. You have to have that deep voice. You have to have a studio that's, you know, gorgeous studio and you have to have that agent.
John: You know what another funny one is, is, uh, this isn't necessarily a myth, but on the topic of, hey, I don't have that deep voice.
Mm-hmm. I always find it kind of curious and, and entertaining a little when people say to me. You know, I've had so many people tell me I have a good voice, but I just don't believe it.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And I'm, and I'm always thinking, do you think they're playing a joke on you? Like, where's the joke? Like the joke's only a joke if they convince you to come to a voiceover.
Yeah. And by the way, even a webinar wouldn't be that wouldn't be that.
Tina: Yeah. It
John: have to be something live. Like we, we, we told Sarah, she had a fantastic voice for a full year straight, and we convinced her to go to a voiceover. Yeah. It's gonna be hilarious when she goes, it's only funny if they're there laughing at you.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And by the way, that's a long, that is a long joke. Mm-hmm. Like, oh, we're gonna tell her this forever. If you had people [00:12:00] your whole life tell you that you have a good voice. You have a good voice.
Tina: That's what I've been saying to people. I said, first of all, I, I would like to think that people would not do this, but go, geez, that's your voice.
You know? No. If they're telling you it's a good voice, it's a good voice. Right. They like listening to you.
John: There's all different types of good voices.
Tina: Yes. By the way. Yeah.
John: Yeah. Again, I think they're, like you said, that's the myth. They're thinking in their head. They don't have a good voice. Yeah. I don't have that.
Sam Elliot.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Right. Sam Elliot voice. Mm-hmm. Or uh,
Tina: Morgan Freeman.
John: Morgan Freeman.
Tina: Yeah. That's,
John: there you go. I think that's what they think that's in, in their mind. You have to have that. They think that's a good, there's all different types of good voices.
Tina: Mm-hmm. There is. Yeah.
John: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I had someone the other day get, say.
I had it, it was a woman who came, who came to the, this is a funny one too. I'm just gonna, you know, I should have said in another episode we did, I think. But I just popped in my mind, and this is funny. I had someone come to my webinar, and this would be on topic by the way, because I will talk about the webinar again.
Tina: Yeah.
John: But [00:13:00] she came and she was upset that I didn't, I said, Hey, I think you have like a 15 year age range in your voice.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: I think you sound between, uh, 40 and and 55. Mm-hmm. And she was like, oh. And I'm like, what? She's like, I don't know. I just don't think that's very supportive. I said, what? What do you mean?
Yeah. And she said I wanted a bigger age range. And I said, well, I can't make it up.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Like I, in my, and by the way, someone else might, here's the thing, let me also say this. When I hear you read, I hear 40 to 55. But that doesn't mean when Tina hears you read, Tina might say, wow, you sound 30. To 50. Mm-hmm.
You don't know. Different producers hear differently. Yeah. Different people in general hear things a little differently, so, but I was like, yeah, well, I can't, I can't change it. I, I'm telling you what I hear, you know? Yeah. It was very funny. But again, on topic, because I'm gonna remind everybody I do intro webinars.
Okay.
Tina: Yes, he does.
John: So if you've heard this on a few, you know, I used to not mention it at all. Right?
Tina: Yeah. No, you weren't.
John: Yeah. Our first like, many, many episodes when you and I became the [00:14:00] host of this. Mm-hmm. You know. I didn't mention my webinar at all, but since I've had people, I, I mentioned like one episode a while back.
Yeah. And I had people actually sign up for the webinar based on it. They said, oh, I heard, I've been listening to you. And so, so now I mention it because I want people who maybe skip an episode or not. Mm-hmm. Or, or whatever. And I want them to also, Hey, if you haven't come to a webinar of mine and, and you're listening to this podcast.
Yeah. Take the webinar. We can, you know, we can meet, you can read for me afterwards. You can hear all of the, the, uh, invaluable wisdom.
Tina: Yes, it is. It's, yes, it's, no, they should, because especially if you have like an interest in all it is, is just you're, you're, you're sitting down and you're, you can do it at home.
You're at home, you know,
John: and it's a way to get your feet wet.
Tina: Yeah.
John: You know, just to say, Hey, you know what? People tell me I have a good voice. Mm-hmm. I am interested, but let's see if this is for me, because believe me, when you're done with that webinar, you will know.
Tina: Yes.
John: Because I do a really good job of talking people into it or out of it.
And I don't have the intention of doing either, by the way. No, no. All I do is present the [00:15:00] facts.
Tina: You're just telling us here's how, how it is, here's it's, yep, yep. And it's, and so yeah, they decide, oh no, this is not for me. Yeah. Or, oh, I'm in.
John: Yeah. Yeah. Some people are like, excited after like, what? And I'm like, oh, cool.
You know, some people are like, Ooh, no, it's all. Yeah, either way, it's fine. I've, I've done my job at that point. Alright, cool. So listen, I wanna thank everybody very much for listening once again.
Tina: We appreciate it. Yep.
John: Yeah. And please, any questions, any comments again? We do, uh, every eight weeks.
Tina: Yeah. That's, you're thinking eight weeks?
Yeah,
John: eight, eight weeks. Every eight weeks we do a listener. Question episode.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: And so why can't you be one of them?
Tina: Yeah. Ask us anything.
John: Yeah.
Tina: Well, not anything.
John: Not not anything. Yeah. The filter me. Uh, so it's john g voice coaches.com
Tina: and t voice coaches.com. Yep.
Think you need a deep ‘Morgan Freeman’ voice, a fancy $6,000 studio, or an agent to “break into” voiceover? John and Tina bust the biggest myths holding beginners back—and reveal the real path to getting started from home affordably.
Episode Summary:
John and Tina debunk common voiceover myths: You don’t need a “deep announcer” voice—variety rules today, with everyday, friendly tones in demand. Home recording isn’t expensive anymore (microphone + quiet space or $59 isolation shield gets you started, no rack of gear required). Skip buying equipment first—focus on education and demos instead. Agents aren’t essential for local/regional work (demos drive hires), though useful later for national gigs. Great reality check for aspiring voice actors wondering if they have “the right voice” or setup.
Key Takeaways:
- No “Deep Voice” Required — The classic “announcer” deep voice (think Morgan Freeman or Sam Elliott) is not essential; modern voiceover demands variety—everyday, friendly, relatable tones that sound like real people talking to friends.
- Diversity Wins — Listen to current radio/commercials: not every spot uses deep voices; clients seek all types (including female voices more than ever) to match real-life variety.
- Home Studio Myth Busted — You don’t need a full expensive professional studio anymore; technology has made quality recording affordable (USB mic, computer you likely already have, $59 isolation shield, quiet space).
- Equipment Doesn’t Come First — Big modern myth: rushing to buy gear before education. Focus on skill-building, coaching, and demos first—equipment can come later.
- Agents Not Needed Early — For local/regional work, demos drive hires (not auditions); agents are mostly for national gigs later. Many big jobs still come straight from strong demos.
- If People Say You Have a Good Voice, Believe It — Friends/family don’t fake compliments for years; different producers hear different age ranges/qualities—get feedback from pros via webinars/classes.
- Education — No substitute for coaching and practice; start with intro webinars or evaluations to confirm if voiceover fits you—don’t let myths discourage you.
- Industry Shifting Back to Demo-Driven — Casting is moving toward direct demo listens (even for some national work), so build a killer demo early.
