Tell Everyone You Know

At Voice Coaches, we talk a lot about telling “everyone you know” about being a voice actor. There are a few typical responses we tend to get, like, “Well, I’m not a professional voice actor yet, so when I am, I will tell people.” Well, if no one knows you are one, you may never be one! Another thing we hear is, “Well, I will tell people if they have something to do with voice over.” This means someone who casts or owns a business, for example. But when we say everyone, we mean everyone. Your Aunt Lydia, who has been an accountant for 20 years at her company? You’re right; she has nothing to do with the world of voice-over, but she does work at a company that may need a voice over, and she may share office space and one too many coffee breaks with the person who hires voice-over. Sometimes, mired in the day-to-day, sourcing voice-over work in different ways, I forget this. This past week, however, I was reminded of the powerful effects of “telling everyone you know that you are a voice actor!”

This past week, a friend texted me, “Hey, my company needs a voice over. What’s your rate for a promo video? Can you send me your demo/website?” I thought, of course, I can! And so I did. And then… I did not hear back. The sound of silence was loud in my little home studio. Now, this could mean they just haven’t decided yet, or someone on the hiring voice-over side found someone else to voice it, and you may think I got dejected about it. And truthfully… I didn’t. I promise! Just knowing I am on his mind and now in their database for when they may have something for me feels great. Just to have forward motion feels GREAT. And sure enough, I got another text a couple of days later from another person I know that said, “Hey, my friend works at an advertising agency and needs some voice-over done. I referred you. Keep an eye out for his email.”

That afternoon, I received an email from her friend at the ad agency telling me about a voice-over job, and I offered to record a sample. “Oh no need! It’s fine to just pass along your website with a demo.” So… I did not. Instead, I said, “Sure thing. But I’d be happy to record a sample of the script for them, really.” You see, he thought it would be asking me for my time when I actually preferred them to hear my voice on their script over hearing my voice on other people’s scripts off my demo. After I recorded it and sent it off, it wasn’t even 20 minutes later that I got this reply, “The client loved it. It’s a go. We have more voice over work for you as well.”

Now, I have a home recording setup, so I can turn things around pretty fast as a full-service provider. When you tell people you do voiceovers, make sure you are prepared for the referrals or job opportunities when they come, whether that is having home recording capability or a local studio you like to work out of, in the event the voice hirer is comfortable with or expects a full-service provider, as opposed to sending you to a studio.

So there you have it. People I know who do not cast voice-overs sent me two voice-over opportunities. One didn’t happen, but the other one did, and it was from an ad agency with other voice-over work opportunities in the future to boot.

In the end, it’s about staying proactive and leveraging every connection to create opportunities in the dynamic world of voice acting. So, for goodness sake, at the next holiday gathering, tell Aunt Lydia about your voice over work!