VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio Episode 721 “Making Connections”
John: [00:00:00] All right, here we are on this beautiful day, beautiful Friday morning?
Tina: Sure.
John: Yeah, I'm John.
Tina: I am Tina.
John: And we are Voice Coaches Radio, the longest-running voiceover podcast in the industry.
Tina: Oh, wow.
John: Yeah, accurate. I- Started in 2008.
Tina: That's awesome.
John: Yeah.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Yep, yep. So, uh, cool. Today, we're gonna talk about the voice actor attitude.
Tina: The attitude.
John: Yeah, and what do we mean by that? 'Tude. The, the kind of people that become successful in this industry isn't always, and maybe not even often, dictated by their talent. 'Cause I don't think- Mm-hmm ... the most talented people find the most success in this industry.
Tina: Yeah.
John: I find it's the people who do have talent, who do know what they're doing- Yes, yeah
who, who have the skills, but really are the coolest.
Tina: Yes, they have a great, positive attitude-
John: Yes ...
Tina: when they meet people- Mm-hmm ... and interact with people, m- you [00:01:00] know, before, during, and after the job. Yeah.
John: Absolutely. You, you know, when, when you show up to... First of all, you're gonna, when you come to a recording studio, assuming, a- and when you start out, you will often go to a recording studio Every person in that room that you're about to meet-
Tina: Mm-hmm
John: wants to be there.
Tina: Yes. Right?
John: Absolutely. No one is going, "Ugh, it's a nine-to-five." No, yeah. It's not like that here. No, it's
Tina: not. Right? Absolutely not. That
John: everyone wants to be here. And so if you come across like you don't wanna be there or like you're being inconvenienced, you're not gonna get asked back.
You're just not.
Tina: No, absolutely not, no. They remember everything.
John: They do.
Tina: Yeah. They remember. They really do, from the minute you walk in that door to the interaction with other people, uh, to your performance in the booth. Yeah. You know, and how, and then even afterwards, they remember it all.
John: And, and I'm not saying you have to be the life of the party.
Tina: No, no. But,
John: but be- Absolutely, yeah ... nice. Be a regular person. Mm-hmm.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Right? Uh, you know, it's, it's ... And we've, I've, I've certainly witnessed the opposite. Mm-hmm. And those people just don't end up working. And, and we, the thing you have to understand about this industry is, again, we, we mentioned [00:02:00] this in another episode, probably a couple episodes, where a lot of your work as a voice actor will come from repeat clients.
Tina: Yes. Mm-hmm.
John: Referrals. Mm-hmm. That is how the industry works. But it can go the other way.
Tina: Yes. Right? Absolutely.
John: If you go to the studio and you act in a certain way that's just, you're just not positive. Mm-hmm. Maybe even you're talking negatively to people or give an attitude. Mm-hmm. Um, not only are they not gonna hire you again, and I can tell you they're not going to hire you again.
Yeah. It doesn't matter. At that point, by the way- Yeah ... it doesn't matter how good you are. Like, no one does that thing where they go, "Boy, I really don't like that person, but she's just so good." Yeah. It d- that, that doesn't happen in this industry.
Tina: They,
John: yeah. No. We'll get someone that just sort of sounds like you.
Tina: Yeah. Uh. I've had so many repeat, or actually I shouldn't say repeat jobs, but I've had so many jobs come from one or two that I've gone into a studio because they remembered how I interact with them. Absolutely. I mean, I, as soon as I go, I'm, I even introduce myself to the receptionist, and I talk to the receptionist.
Yes. And then the next person I, uh, meet, same thing. Introduce myself. I'll, I'll even [00:03:00] ask them questions, interact. Mm-hmm. You know, just talk to them. They remember that stuff. Yep. And then you just keep on talking to them. They remember it. I always say- They really, really do ...
John: if, if you've gotten a voiceover job And you never got hired again.
Mm-hmm. You did something, you just don't know what.
Tina: Yeah.
John: You know, and that, um, and that, that's assuming they're still doing things. I mean, if they- Mm-hmm ... if it's some company that just doesn't do a lot of work- Yeah ... that's different. No different. Yeah But if there's a company that consistently does work- Mm-hmm
and you got hired one time and never got hired again-
Tina: Yeah ...
John: bad news for you.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Something happened.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Yeah. And it's most likely not-
Tina: Mm-hmm ...
John: your performance in the booth.
Tina: Yeah.
John: It's most likely something that, uh, maybe you acted not very nicely to someone- Mm-hmm ... or whatever. So, um, we're all the same people, right?
Yeah. So no one's, no one's ... Uh, and, and by the way, this is something we're talking about that usually does not happen. Mm-hmm. Most voice actors are super cool, just like most- Yes. ... producers are super cool, most audio engineers are great. They all wanna be there.
Tina: Yes. Yeah.
John: But I, w- I just wanna encourage you to also, [00:04:00] um, sometimes you can accidentally sound that way, right?
Mm-hmm. So, uh, you know, like, if you're in the booth and I'm giving you direction- Mm-hmm ... for example, right? And I say, "Hey, love that, but can we do it like this?" And, and I hear, "Mm-hmm." "Can you try it like this?" "Yep."
Tina: Yeah.
John: Not a good look.
Tina: No. No. Not a good
John: sound, let's say. Yeah. Uh, because at that point I'm like, "Oh, this person doesn't wanna be there."
And the client notices those things. Mm-hmm. The client will all of a sudden go, "What's happening with this person?"
Tina: Yeah.
John: So really make it a point to, "Oh, yeah, sounds great. Can I give it a try like this?" Yes. Absolutely.
Tina: It's, it, and it's just simple. You don't have to go into, you know, long conversations or whatever- Yeah
but just, you know, you're agreeing with them. And if you have questions, just ask them.
John: Yep.
Tina: You know? But not like, "Well, why would I be doing that?" No. No. No.
John: Yeah, and I
Tina: en- I just approach it a different way ...
John: exactly. Yeah. And I encourage this. If you end up, and, and you should, if you're gonna get into voiceovers, um, I encourage this with your voice coaches, right?
Yes. If you start working, 'cause you can get into a bad habit, [00:05:00] right? If you- Mm-hmm ... if you start working with voice coaches, any voice coach, and you're not nice- Mm-hmm ... and you're not f- particularly pleasant to them, that will carry through. 'Cause all of a sudden you're gonna get in the habit, by the way, they don't like that.
Mm-hmm. And these people are in the industry, right? Yeah. So again, what you don't want is your name getting around as being someone who's difficult- To work with ... or someone who's- Yes ... not friendly. Mm-hmm. And also, you're gonna get in the habit, right? You're, you're probably a, a super nice person. Mm-hmm. And I don't know why you, you're coming across that way or whatever, but if you do, next thing you know, those people don't wanna work with you.
Tina: No. I know. And,
John: and if, and if your name comes up- Mm-hmm ... we don't, I know in this industry, one thing that's, uh, one of the, one of the great things about voiceovers is you're gonna find this isn't a very- gossipy industry. In other words, people don't purposely go around and gossip. Yeah. However, if someone mentions your name- Mm-hmm
they're gonna say, they're, they're, they're gonna say, "Mm."
Tina: Yeah. "
John: Yeah, I mean, good voice actor, but not super friendly." Yeah. And by the way, that's gonna, that's worse. Mm-hmm. Like, it'd be... You know what? I would hire [00:06:00] someone where they said, "Average voice actor, but like the best person."
Tina: Yes.
John: That's way more appealing-
Tina: Yes
John: to someone going-
Tina: Mm-hmm ... "
John: Good voice actor, but eh, not super friendly."
Tina: Yeah. When, when they hear that, you know, when you say, "Great attitude, easy to work with"-
John: Yes ...
Tina: those things go a long- A long way ... way. Really, really do.
John: Exactly. Yeah. Look, I, I, I know a guy who makes a lot of money doing this. He even retired from his federal job early.
Mm-hmm. And he's an average voice actor at best, but he's- Mm-hmm ... the nicest guy in the world. Yeah,
Tina: and people
John: want- He works-
Tina: Yeah ...
John: all the time. People wanna be around him. Mm-hmm. People, people will... And, and he's, again, he's not the life of the party, but he comes in, he's super friendly. That's it. "Hey, uh," he remembers things about you.
Mm-hmm. He comes in, "Hey, how's your dog?" You know, he- Yeah ... and so those are things. It's just important to be super friendly and enjoy, a- and again, whether it be a, a professional voiceover job- Mm-hmm ... or the process of you becoming a professional voice actor- Mm-hmm ... enjoy the process.
Tina: Yes.
John: Show people you want to be there.
Mm. Otherwise, what's the point?
Tina: Yeah. [00:07:00] I mean, and this is one of those industries, this is fun.
John: Yes.
Tina: This isn't, this i- you're not doing surgery. That's the I mean- Right ... thank goodness I'm not- Right. ... doing surgery. I would, I would, I would not have a good list of- Yeah ... yeah. Yeah. But it really, it is a fun job.
Yeah. And even doing a serious read, it's still a fun job. Yeah, absolutely. So it's, it's not the, the uptight, you know, industry. Um- No ... it is, and it's very, the people are extremely friendly. That's the one thing I tell students when I, um, you know, I, I say to them, "Ask questions when you're in the booth. It's okay."
I will tell them, I go, "The engineer and producer are the nicest people in this business." A lot of it is they realize how we feel. They know we get nervous in that booth. Yeah. So if w- if they make us feel comfortable, then they're gonna get a great read.
John: Absolutely.
Tina: They are really the nicest people. And I will tell you, I ask questions.
I mean, I come right in and I'll, I'll ask them questions. "Well, how would you like me to do this? Um, is this pronounced correctly?" Things like [00:08:00] that, and I'll just ask them a que- And they, they don't mind. They don't mind at all- Yeah ... 'cause they wanna get a good read out of
John: you. Absolutely, yeah.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And, and you're gonna find that people will- I- in this industry, people will help you if they can
Tina: Yes
right?
John: Yes. So ask for help if you need it. Mm-hmm. You see, it, it, um, and even when people are doing thi- I have to tell, even when people are doing things, like, completely wrong, I try to be as f-
Tina: Yes ... like- So do I.
John: It's, I, I, you know, the, uh, y- this is years ago, but I got interviewed in a, i- in, um ... This is f- really funny.
So I, I got an ... People called and said, "Hey, we, we'd like to interview you on PBS."
Tina: Oh, wow. Yeah,
John: it was out in Rochester. Yeah. So I, I don't know if it went any further than- Mm-hmm ... the, the affiliate. I have no idea, 'cause I've never watched. I don't watch myself on screen. Yeah. But, uh, so they said, "We want you to do this, uh, it's basically gonna be talk show format, and we're gonna interview you- Mm-hmm
about voiceovers." "Oh, sounds great." They didn't tell me any more information- Mm-hmm ... except for when it was- Yeah ... all this. So I show up And I sit down a- and they go, "Okay, great. So we're gonna have like live, uh, [00:09:00] live callers." I said, "Oh, w- wait, what do you mean?" And they s- and I go, "Wait, this is live? I thought it was gonna be taped."
Tina: Oh.
John: And they s- I said, "Wait, this is live?" And they said, "Yeah." I go, "Oh, oh, I don't know." I said, "I'm not an onscreen person at all." I said, "I don't know." And they said, "No, no, no. It's gonna be great. We're, it's gonna be live, and we're gonna have people call in a- ask you questions." And I'm, and I'm ... I was nervous. I said, "Okay."
So in my mind, so a- Yeah ... as we're doing this and they're asking me questions, right? In my mind I'm smiling the whole time. Yeah. Like, I'm trying, my face hurt when I was done. Yeah. Right? So, uh, afterwards, my wife watched it. I said, "I'll do not-" Yeah. I won- I wouldn't watch it either. ... she goes, "You gotta..." I go, "I'm not, I'm not watching this."
I go, "My face hurts though from smiling the whole time." My wife watches it, and she goes- Mm ... "I don't know why your face hurt. You didn't smile one time." Oh. I said, "What?" She said, "You were not smiling." You, she goes, "You weren't." Yeah. She goes, "You're just..." And I was like, "Wow." But here's what happened during it. So I had, I had some wild calls.
Mm. And I had to be so, it caught me off guard.
Tina: Yeah.
John: I would have people call and say they're doing the wildest things to get into [00:10:00] voiceovers. That were so not ... You know? Yeah. And, and, and I'm, and I'm live on air. Yeah. So people would say, "So I bought a bunch of equipment, and..." And, and I would say, "Oh, great."
Yeah. "So, so do you know how to use the equipment?" "No." And I said, "Okay." Yeah. "Have you had any voice coaching?" "No." And I'm like, and I'm thinking-
Tina: Yeah ...
John: and I can't say that. Yeah. So I'm on air while these people are saying this, and I feel like going, "Are you crazy?" "What are you doing? You, you, you're not gonna be a voice actor-" Yeah
"like this." But, but I, but I would have to say- Yeah ... things like, "Okay, sounds great." Yeah. "So, you know, first thing I would say is you're gonna..." But that's what we're like, right? Yes. Yeah. So I wanna help this person. I don't want this person to go out there and make all these mistakes. Mm-hmm. Um, but in my mind I'm like- Yeah.
"What is happening? What, what is happening?" Because it was live on air. Yeah. It was so crazy. But, but again, I w- I, I, in my mind, here's the kind of people that I think m- almost all of us are in the industry. In my mind, I wanted, I wanted to get that person's phone number and call them and talk to them privately.
Mm. And go, "Hey." And
Tina: say, "Yeah. "
John: Here's how you should be doing this. I don't want you to go [00:11:00] out there." Mm-hmm. Because it also, it, listen, I want the person to be successful if they want to. Yeah. But also, I don't want people to have a bad taste in their, in their mouth about the industry. Mm-hmm. Which does happen when people do it the wrong way.
Tina: Oh, absolutely, yeah.
John: And they don't realize they're doing it the wrong way. Mm. And then they go, "Oh, this industry sucks." It's like, what? You were never really in the industry. You didn't do it the way you should have done it. Mm-hmm. And so that's the kind of people we are. We wanna help you. Like, you know?
Tina: Yes, absolutely.
Yeah. Like,
John: I've had people email me who are not- You know, in my program or not doing things- Mm-hmm ... and they'll ask me advice, and I'll give it to them.
Tina: Oh, yeah. Yeah. You know,
John: there's only so much I can do- Yeah ... via email or whatever. Mm-hmm. But, um, you know, I'm gonna tell you, "Hey, get a voice coach. You know, this is what you should be doing.
Here's how you should be doing it." And that's what we're, I feel like that's what this industry, most of us-
Tina: Mm-hmm ...
John: are, are like. Yes. We wanna help you as much as we can.
Tina: We wanna help, yep. We definitely wanna help. And, and it, it is, it does all come down to attitude.
John: Yeah. Mm-hmm. And so you have to help us- Yes
by having the r- and most do.
Tina: Most do. But, but, but- Absolutely ... you- But you'll have a few- Right ... that will come in, you know, just barreling [00:12:00] through, whatever. Yeah, and
John: it's confusing to us- Yeah ... honestly. Mm-hmm. I mean, I'm confused by it when I get it- Yeah ... 'cause I'm like, "What is happening?" Yeah. Is this the... Why?
If y- y- there's other jobs you can be miserable at.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: W- this is not a job you should be miserable at. Yeah. This is not... And, and, and, and if you're coming through voice coaching too, why would you be miserable? Mm-hmm. You're, aren't you doing- Yeah ... something you really wanna do? Yeah. It's like me, it's like me signing up for, like, I've decided I'm gonna do intramural- Mm-hmm
basketball- Yeah ... and all of a sudden being miserable every time I go. It's like, why am I even here? Why am I doing it? So j- be happy.
Tina: Yes.
John: Enjoy the things you're d- you've chosen- Mm-hmm ... to do.
Tina: Yes.
John: Okay? If you hate your job, hate your job. Yeah. That's how you get
Tina: into voiceovers. Hopefully you're gonna- That's
John: exactly it-
because this is
Tina: a fun industry. Yeah, absolutely. It is fun.
John: Cool. So, uh, yeah, I mean, I- that, that's a little short episode. Mm-hmm. And just, I just wanted to address it because it's mostly all good, but once in a while- Mm-hmm ... you run across someone, you're like, "Ah." And I feel, I, and h- and here's the kind of people we are too, I actually end up feeling bad for that person too because I'm thinking-
Tina: Yeah
John: they're never going to make it, and they're never going... Because I'm even thinking, "I'm never hiring that person again." Mm-hmm. [00:13:00] And I feel bad for even thinking that. I'm like, "Oh, I feel bad. Maybe they d- they just had a bad day," but I don't wanna be around that person.
Tina: No, I know. And it is kinda hard where you just wanna say, "Listen, y- y- change your attitude."
John: Yeah, yeah.
Tina: Like a mom and them.
John: Yeah, exactly, exactly. Cool. All right. Well, there we go. I am John G at voicecoach.com. Again, if you have any suggestions, any questions- Mm-hmm ... don't be shy. W- we've been having more and more people, uh, email us. Um, the, the, the episode, the in-between seems to be the most popular so far.
Yes. We're getting a, a bunch of- Mm-hmm ... uh, emails about that, so that's cool. So, uh, emails with suggestions, comments, questions about an episode, whatever you have, that's great. And we are gonna start interviewing people. Actually, this week- Was the week we were going to interview some people- Mm-hmm ... or at least one, maybe two.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna try to, honestly, I probably dropped the ball a little bit. I, um, asked Laura at the studio to look into some people. But Laura's super busy here- Yeah ... and then I kinda forgot to follow up with her, and so- Mm-hmm ... just yesterday [00:14:00] she sent me some people, and I mean, that's a little late to get people- Yeah
in for today. But we
Tina: will. We'll get them in.
John: But we are. So now we're, we're ready, by the way. We have all the technology set up. Yes. Um, our producer Clement is ready for an interview.
Tina: Yes, he
John: is. So ready. He's so upset at me right now. Yeah, yeah. He's furious at me because I didn't have someone to interview.
He's He's like, "
Tina: What's going on with you two?" Now he's got a bad attitude. No.
John: So next time we're, we are definitely gonna have someone. I will look into it. Mm-hmm. I will get someone in here, or actually not in here. We're gonna have them on, uh, whatever, up on the screen here. Okay. Up on the screen. So we'll do that.
We've, uh, uh, maybe even next episode. We'll see how it
Tina: goes. All right. All right. That sounds good.
John: All right.
Tina: I'm going with the
John: flow. So again, [email protected].
Tina: And [email protected]
John: Thank you for listening, everyone. We out.
Tina: Sure.
John: Yeah, I'm John.
Tina: I am Tina.
John: And we are Voice Coaches Radio, the longest-running voiceover podcast in the industry.
Tina: Oh, wow.
John: Yeah, accurate. I- Started in 2008.
Tina: That's awesome.
John: Yeah.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Yep, yep. So, uh, cool. Today, we're gonna talk about the voice actor attitude.
Tina: The attitude.
John: Yeah, and what do we mean by that? 'Tude. The, the kind of people that become successful in this industry isn't always, and maybe not even often, dictated by their talent. 'Cause I don't think- Mm-hmm ... the most talented people find the most success in this industry.
Tina: Yeah.
John: I find it's the people who do have talent, who do know what they're doing- Yes, yeah
who, who have the skills, but really are the coolest.
Tina: Yes, they have a great, positive attitude-
John: Yes ...
Tina: when they meet people- Mm-hmm ... and interact with people, m- you [00:01:00] know, before, during, and after the job. Yeah.
John: Absolutely. You, you know, when, when you show up to... First of all, you're gonna, when you come to a recording studio, assuming, a- and when you start out, you will often go to a recording studio Every person in that room that you're about to meet-
Tina: Mm-hmm
John: wants to be there.
Tina: Yes. Right?
John: Absolutely. No one is going, "Ugh, it's a nine-to-five." No, yeah. It's not like that here. No, it's
Tina: not. Right? Absolutely not. That
John: everyone wants to be here. And so if you come across like you don't wanna be there or like you're being inconvenienced, you're not gonna get asked back.
You're just not.
Tina: No, absolutely not, no. They remember everything.
John: They do.
Tina: Yeah. They remember. They really do, from the minute you walk in that door to the interaction with other people, uh, to your performance in the booth. Yeah. You know, and how, and then even afterwards, they remember it all.
John: And, and I'm not saying you have to be the life of the party.
Tina: No, no. But,
John: but be- Absolutely, yeah ... nice. Be a regular person. Mm-hmm.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Right? Uh, you know, it's, it's ... And we've, I've, I've certainly witnessed the opposite. Mm-hmm. And those people just don't end up working. And, and we, the thing you have to understand about this industry is, again, we, we mentioned [00:02:00] this in another episode, probably a couple episodes, where a lot of your work as a voice actor will come from repeat clients.
Tina: Yes. Mm-hmm.
John: Referrals. Mm-hmm. That is how the industry works. But it can go the other way.
Tina: Yes. Right? Absolutely.
John: If you go to the studio and you act in a certain way that's just, you're just not positive. Mm-hmm. Maybe even you're talking negatively to people or give an attitude. Mm-hmm. Um, not only are they not gonna hire you again, and I can tell you they're not going to hire you again.
Yeah. It doesn't matter. At that point, by the way- Yeah ... it doesn't matter how good you are. Like, no one does that thing where they go, "Boy, I really don't like that person, but she's just so good." Yeah. It d- that, that doesn't happen in this industry.
Tina: They,
John: yeah. No. We'll get someone that just sort of sounds like you.
Tina: Yeah. Uh. I've had so many repeat, or actually I shouldn't say repeat jobs, but I've had so many jobs come from one or two that I've gone into a studio because they remembered how I interact with them. Absolutely. I mean, I, as soon as I go, I'm, I even introduce myself to the receptionist, and I talk to the receptionist.
Yes. And then the next person I, uh, meet, same thing. Introduce myself. I'll, I'll even [00:03:00] ask them questions, interact. Mm-hmm. You know, just talk to them. They remember that stuff. Yep. And then you just keep on talking to them. They remember it. I always say- They really, really do ...
John: if, if you've gotten a voiceover job And you never got hired again.
Mm-hmm. You did something, you just don't know what.
Tina: Yeah.
John: You know, and that, um, and that, that's assuming they're still doing things. I mean, if they- Mm-hmm ... if it's some company that just doesn't do a lot of work- Yeah ... that's different. No different. Yeah But if there's a company that consistently does work- Mm-hmm
and you got hired one time and never got hired again-
Tina: Yeah ...
John: bad news for you.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Something happened.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Yeah. And it's most likely not-
Tina: Mm-hmm ...
John: your performance in the booth.
Tina: Yeah.
John: It's most likely something that, uh, maybe you acted not very nicely to someone- Mm-hmm ... or whatever. So, um, we're all the same people, right?
Yeah. So no one's, no one's ... Uh, and, and by the way, this is something we're talking about that usually does not happen. Mm-hmm. Most voice actors are super cool, just like most- Yes. ... producers are super cool, most audio engineers are great. They all wanna be there.
Tina: Yes. Yeah.
John: But I, w- I just wanna encourage you to also, [00:04:00] um, sometimes you can accidentally sound that way, right?
Mm-hmm. So, uh, you know, like, if you're in the booth and I'm giving you direction- Mm-hmm ... for example, right? And I say, "Hey, love that, but can we do it like this?" And, and I hear, "Mm-hmm." "Can you try it like this?" "Yep."
Tina: Yeah.
John: Not a good look.
Tina: No. No. Not a good
John: sound, let's say. Yeah. Uh, because at that point I'm like, "Oh, this person doesn't wanna be there."
And the client notices those things. Mm-hmm. The client will all of a sudden go, "What's happening with this person?"
Tina: Yeah.
John: So really make it a point to, "Oh, yeah, sounds great. Can I give it a try like this?" Yes. Absolutely.
Tina: It's, it, and it's just simple. You don't have to go into, you know, long conversations or whatever- Yeah
but just, you know, you're agreeing with them. And if you have questions, just ask them.
John: Yep.
Tina: You know? But not like, "Well, why would I be doing that?" No. No. No.
John: Yeah, and I
Tina: en- I just approach it a different way ...
John: exactly. Yeah. And I encourage this. If you end up, and, and you should, if you're gonna get into voiceovers, um, I encourage this with your voice coaches, right?
Yes. If you start working, 'cause you can get into a bad habit, [00:05:00] right? If you- Mm-hmm ... if you start working with voice coaches, any voice coach, and you're not nice- Mm-hmm ... and you're not f- particularly pleasant to them, that will carry through. 'Cause all of a sudden you're gonna get in the habit, by the way, they don't like that.
Mm-hmm. And these people are in the industry, right? Yeah. So again, what you don't want is your name getting around as being someone who's difficult- To work with ... or someone who's- Yes ... not friendly. Mm-hmm. And also, you're gonna get in the habit, right? You're, you're probably a, a super nice person. Mm-hmm. And I don't know why you, you're coming across that way or whatever, but if you do, next thing you know, those people don't wanna work with you.
Tina: No. I know. And,
John: and if, and if your name comes up- Mm-hmm ... we don't, I know in this industry, one thing that's, uh, one of the, one of the great things about voiceovers is you're gonna find this isn't a very- gossipy industry. In other words, people don't purposely go around and gossip. Yeah. However, if someone mentions your name- Mm-hmm
they're gonna say, they're, they're, they're gonna say, "Mm."
Tina: Yeah. "
John: Yeah, I mean, good voice actor, but not super friendly." Yeah. And by the way, that's gonna, that's worse. Mm-hmm. Like, it'd be... You know what? I would hire [00:06:00] someone where they said, "Average voice actor, but like the best person."
Tina: Yes.
John: That's way more appealing-
Tina: Yes
John: to someone going-
Tina: Mm-hmm ... "
John: Good voice actor, but eh, not super friendly."
Tina: Yeah. When, when they hear that, you know, when you say, "Great attitude, easy to work with"-
John: Yes ...
Tina: those things go a long- A long way ... way. Really, really do.
John: Exactly. Yeah. Look, I, I, I know a guy who makes a lot of money doing this. He even retired from his federal job early.
Mm-hmm. And he's an average voice actor at best, but he's- Mm-hmm ... the nicest guy in the world. Yeah,
Tina: and people
John: want- He works-
Tina: Yeah ...
John: all the time. People wanna be around him. Mm-hmm. People, people will... And, and he's, again, he's not the life of the party, but he comes in, he's super friendly. That's it. "Hey, uh," he remembers things about you.
Mm-hmm. He comes in, "Hey, how's your dog?" You know, he- Yeah ... and so those are things. It's just important to be super friendly and enjoy, a- and again, whether it be a, a professional voiceover job- Mm-hmm ... or the process of you becoming a professional voice actor- Mm-hmm ... enjoy the process.
Tina: Yes.
John: Show people you want to be there.
Mm. Otherwise, what's the point?
Tina: Yeah. [00:07:00] I mean, and this is one of those industries, this is fun.
John: Yes.
Tina: This isn't, this i- you're not doing surgery. That's the I mean- Right ... thank goodness I'm not- Right. ... doing surgery. I would, I would, I would not have a good list of- Yeah ... yeah. Yeah. But it really, it is a fun job.
Yeah. And even doing a serious read, it's still a fun job. Yeah, absolutely. So it's, it's not the, the uptight, you know, industry. Um- No ... it is, and it's very, the people are extremely friendly. That's the one thing I tell students when I, um, you know, I, I say to them, "Ask questions when you're in the booth. It's okay."
I will tell them, I go, "The engineer and producer are the nicest people in this business." A lot of it is they realize how we feel. They know we get nervous in that booth. Yeah. So if w- if they make us feel comfortable, then they're gonna get a great read.
John: Absolutely.
Tina: They are really the nicest people. And I will tell you, I ask questions.
I mean, I come right in and I'll, I'll ask them questions. "Well, how would you like me to do this? Um, is this pronounced correctly?" Things like [00:08:00] that, and I'll just ask them a que- And they, they don't mind. They don't mind at all- Yeah ... 'cause they wanna get a good read out of
John: you. Absolutely, yeah.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And, and you're gonna find that people will- I- in this industry, people will help you if they can
Tina: Yes
right?
John: Yes. So ask for help if you need it. Mm-hmm. You see, it, it, um, and even when people are doing thi- I have to tell, even when people are doing things, like, completely wrong, I try to be as f-
Tina: Yes ... like- So do I.
John: It's, I, I, you know, the, uh, y- this is years ago, but I got interviewed in a, i- in, um ... This is f- really funny.
So I, I got an ... People called and said, "Hey, we, we'd like to interview you on PBS."
Tina: Oh, wow. Yeah,
John: it was out in Rochester. Yeah. So I, I don't know if it went any further than- Mm-hmm ... the, the affiliate. I have no idea, 'cause I've never watched. I don't watch myself on screen. Yeah. But, uh, so they said, "We want you to do this, uh, it's basically gonna be talk show format, and we're gonna interview you- Mm-hmm
about voiceovers." "Oh, sounds great." They didn't tell me any more information- Mm-hmm ... except for when it was- Yeah ... all this. So I show up And I sit down a- and they go, "Okay, great. So we're gonna have like live, uh, [00:09:00] live callers." I said, "Oh, w- wait, what do you mean?" And they s- and I go, "Wait, this is live? I thought it was gonna be taped."
Tina: Oh.
John: And they s- I said, "Wait, this is live?" And they said, "Yeah." I go, "Oh, oh, I don't know." I said, "I'm not an onscreen person at all." I said, "I don't know." And they said, "No, no, no. It's gonna be great. We're, it's gonna be live, and we're gonna have people call in a- ask you questions." And I'm, and I'm ... I was nervous. I said, "Okay."
So in my mind, so a- Yeah ... as we're doing this and they're asking me questions, right? In my mind I'm smiling the whole time. Yeah. Like, I'm trying, my face hurt when I was done. Yeah. Right? So, uh, afterwards, my wife watched it. I said, "I'll do not-" Yeah. I won- I wouldn't watch it either. ... she goes, "You gotta..." I go, "I'm not, I'm not watching this."
I go, "My face hurts though from smiling the whole time." My wife watches it, and she goes- Mm ... "I don't know why your face hurt. You didn't smile one time." Oh. I said, "What?" She said, "You were not smiling." You, she goes, "You weren't." Yeah. She goes, "You're just..." And I was like, "Wow." But here's what happened during it. So I had, I had some wild calls.
Mm. And I had to be so, it caught me off guard.
Tina: Yeah.
John: I would have people call and say they're doing the wildest things to get into [00:10:00] voiceovers. That were so not ... You know? Yeah. And, and, and I'm, and I'm live on air. Yeah. So people would say, "So I bought a bunch of equipment, and..." And, and I would say, "Oh, great."
Yeah. "So, so do you know how to use the equipment?" "No." And I said, "Okay." Yeah. "Have you had any voice coaching?" "No." And I'm like, and I'm thinking-
Tina: Yeah ...
John: and I can't say that. Yeah. So I'm on air while these people are saying this, and I feel like going, "Are you crazy?" "What are you doing? You, you, you're not gonna be a voice actor-" Yeah
"like this." But, but I, but I would have to say- Yeah ... things like, "Okay, sounds great." Yeah. "So, you know, first thing I would say is you're gonna..." But that's what we're like, right? Yes. Yeah. So I wanna help this person. I don't want this person to go out there and make all these mistakes. Mm-hmm. Um, but in my mind I'm like- Yeah.
"What is happening? What, what is happening?" Because it was live on air. Yeah. It was so crazy. But, but again, I w- I, I, in my mind, here's the kind of people that I think m- almost all of us are in the industry. In my mind, I wanted, I wanted to get that person's phone number and call them and talk to them privately.
Mm. And go, "Hey." And
Tina: say, "Yeah. "
John: Here's how you should be doing this. I don't want you to go [00:11:00] out there." Mm-hmm. Because it also, it, listen, I want the person to be successful if they want to. Yeah. But also, I don't want people to have a bad taste in their, in their mouth about the industry. Mm-hmm. Which does happen when people do it the wrong way.
Tina: Oh, absolutely, yeah.
John: And they don't realize they're doing it the wrong way. Mm. And then they go, "Oh, this industry sucks." It's like, what? You were never really in the industry. You didn't do it the way you should have done it. Mm-hmm. And so that's the kind of people we are. We wanna help you. Like, you know?
Tina: Yes, absolutely.
Yeah. Like,
John: I've had people email me who are not- You know, in my program or not doing things- Mm-hmm ... and they'll ask me advice, and I'll give it to them.
Tina: Oh, yeah. Yeah. You know,
John: there's only so much I can do- Yeah ... via email or whatever. Mm-hmm. But, um, you know, I'm gonna tell you, "Hey, get a voice coach. You know, this is what you should be doing.
Here's how you should be doing it." And that's what we're, I feel like that's what this industry, most of us-
Tina: Mm-hmm ...
John: are, are like. Yes. We wanna help you as much as we can.
Tina: We wanna help, yep. We definitely wanna help. And, and it, it is, it does all come down to attitude.
John: Yeah. Mm-hmm. And so you have to help us- Yes
by having the r- and most do.
Tina: Most do. But, but, but- Absolutely ... you- But you'll have a few- Right ... that will come in, you know, just barreling [00:12:00] through, whatever. Yeah, and
John: it's confusing to us- Yeah ... honestly. Mm-hmm. I mean, I'm confused by it when I get it- Yeah ... 'cause I'm like, "What is happening?" Yeah. Is this the... Why?
If y- y- there's other jobs you can be miserable at.
Tina: Mm-hmm.
John: W- this is not a job you should be miserable at. Yeah. This is not... And, and, and, and if you're coming through voice coaching too, why would you be miserable? Mm-hmm. You're, aren't you doing- Yeah ... something you really wanna do? Yeah. It's like me, it's like me signing up for, like, I've decided I'm gonna do intramural- Mm-hmm
basketball- Yeah ... and all of a sudden being miserable every time I go. It's like, why am I even here? Why am I doing it? So j- be happy.
Tina: Yes.
John: Enjoy the things you're d- you've chosen- Mm-hmm ... to do.
Tina: Yes.
John: Okay? If you hate your job, hate your job. Yeah. That's how you get
Tina: into voiceovers. Hopefully you're gonna- That's
John: exactly it-
because this is
Tina: a fun industry. Yeah, absolutely. It is fun.
John: Cool. So, uh, yeah, I mean, I- that, that's a little short episode. Mm-hmm. And just, I just wanted to address it because it's mostly all good, but once in a while- Mm-hmm ... you run across someone, you're like, "Ah." And I feel, I, and h- and here's the kind of people we are too, I actually end up feeling bad for that person too because I'm thinking-
Tina: Yeah
John: they're never going to make it, and they're never going... Because I'm even thinking, "I'm never hiring that person again." Mm-hmm. [00:13:00] And I feel bad for even thinking that. I'm like, "Oh, I feel bad. Maybe they d- they just had a bad day," but I don't wanna be around that person.
Tina: No, I know. And it is kinda hard where you just wanna say, "Listen, y- y- change your attitude."
John: Yeah, yeah.
Tina: Like a mom and them.
John: Yeah, exactly, exactly. Cool. All right. Well, there we go. I am John G at voicecoach.com. Again, if you have any suggestions, any questions- Mm-hmm ... don't be shy. W- we've been having more and more people, uh, email us. Um, the, the, the episode, the in-between seems to be the most popular so far.
Yes. We're getting a, a bunch of- Mm-hmm ... uh, emails about that, so that's cool. So, uh, emails with suggestions, comments, questions about an episode, whatever you have, that's great. And we are gonna start interviewing people. Actually, this week- Was the week we were going to interview some people- Mm-hmm ... or at least one, maybe two.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna try to, honestly, I probably dropped the ball a little bit. I, um, asked Laura at the studio to look into some people. But Laura's super busy here- Yeah ... and then I kinda forgot to follow up with her, and so- Mm-hmm ... just yesterday [00:14:00] she sent me some people, and I mean, that's a little late to get people- Yeah
in for today. But we
Tina: will. We'll get them in.
John: But we are. So now we're, we're ready, by the way. We have all the technology set up. Yes. Um, our producer Clement is ready for an interview.
Tina: Yes, he
John: is. So ready. He's so upset at me right now. Yeah, yeah. He's furious at me because I didn't have someone to interview.
He's He's like, "
Tina: What's going on with you two?" Now he's got a bad attitude. No.
John: So next time we're, we are definitely gonna have someone. I will look into it. Mm-hmm. I will get someone in here, or actually not in here. We're gonna have them on, uh, whatever, up on the screen here. Okay. Up on the screen. So we'll do that.
We've, uh, uh, maybe even next episode. We'll see how it
Tina: goes. All right. All right. That sounds good.
John: All right.
Tina: I'm going with the
John: flow. So again, [email protected].
Tina: And [email protected]
John: Thank you for listening, everyone. We out.
John and Tina talk about putting yourself out there and talking to people about being a voice actor.
