These are not the painful truths of voiceover... these are the painful truths of life. Success is work and time; adaptability is survival; it's not what you have, it's what you do with it; the buck stops with you; work ethic beats talent every time. I lived in Nashville for all of the nineties. The lesson I took too long to learn was that, truly, Music City is 90% about business and 10% about music. Creativity in any form, without good business sense, dies unrequited.
Painful truth 7: I found exactly the same thing in computer programming; there are old gatekeepers who have the scarcity mindset. As soon as you say "I program in X" they will say "you are not an 'experienced' programmer. "
I wish I'd seen this video 5 years ago when I was looking into VO as a new career path! After 5 years at it, investing a lot of time and a decent chunk of money into coaching/courses/ equipment/demo, doing some rewarding volunteer VO work, and even getting myself on a local studio's roster, I'm realizing that I'm at a crossroads with VO. It really does require more marketing and business acumen than having a "great voice." Also those audio engineering skills, yes!!! The one successful VO talent I know who doesn't edit their own work lucked out by having his sister-in-law do it for him, but it really is essential to master that skill. Even if you have levels that have been preset, it's still crucial to learn how to edit your audio and do it quickly. That has been my biggest obstacle, along with realizing it's a numbers game with auditioning. Audition, audition, audition, and market, market, market are two of the biggest factors in the success of a VO business -- along with being able to edit that audio! Thanks for telling it like it is, Bill! If I'd seen this way back when, I think I would've realized I'd be biting off not more than I could chew, but more than I wanted to chew! Happy Holidays to you and yours!
What I learned from working on goals is that no matter what you want to do, either Voice Acting like me and everyone who watches this video or a doctor always look for harsh truths at the beginning. Honestly this can prep one for the journey ahead with reasonable expectations. I expected a majority of these while for the few I didn't know you helped clarify how to go about dealing with them. Thank you
These truths hit hard! Just what I need to hear as I’m accepting the truth that my agent of 37 years cannot save my VO career! I will be connecting to your services and learning all I can about marketing my craft in ways I’ve been to intimidated to do! Thank you!
I worked with a used $400 Electrovoice EV27ND and a cheap M-Audio interface when I was booking 10 to 20 jobs a month with Time Warner Cable LA alone. I didn't upgrade to higher equipment for 9 years. Now I'm a recovered gear junkie.
Thanks for your info on getting into voiceovers Bill! I soak up advice like a sponge and yours is head and shoulders above the rest, hence I've taken the time to leave a comment, which I don't usually do!😊
The man is a vocal gymnast and the painful truth is his taste in T-shirts is far superior to any man alive today.I wish you Bill a Fab Christmas Love from Ireland still in VO since 2014 All thanks to you :)
Very humbling! I think knowing these truths, and accepting them, will help me to forge ahead with more realistic expectations. The old saying comes to mind as I listen to this video. "Slow and steady wins the race". Im not discouraged to dive in VO, I now see that i need to invest myself and time to this. Learn and grow and graciously listen to criticism and advice. And you know what, it's still exciting!
Oh man! What a fantastic video! So much valuable information here. I especially enjoyed the part about editing reel to reel audio. I did it in a late night radio news department in the 1970's. I would record phone interviews after night meetings of various groups, and would use the good old grease pencil and razor blade to remove the word "tonight" so the sound bites would sound current when they were played during the next morning's drive-time newscasts. Fun! The "work" tape had to be replaced pretty often because it was so cut up!
Very true. It is not easy. Far from it. It is simple but it’s not easy. That expensive microphone will be so sensitive that it will pick up all that you haven’t taken care of yet.
I’ve been at this for 20 years and I can tell you it’s not easy. I’m still not quitting my day job. But I will also tell you I haven’t been promoting myself well or getting adequate training. So it’s do’able, but you need to be realistic. It’s going to take some work and expenditures.
Thank you Bill for this Somehow your marketing technique have moved up from emails to linking me to your free videos give me more information to make a better-educated choice if I going the voice over business. Like anything else it's a matter of finances being in place in order to executed plan correctly. Thank you
Great video! I want to get into the business because I enjoy the creative process. I already do amateur training videos at work. I enjoy editing my videos adding background music. Yes I have always been told like many "wow...you have a radio voice" when I jump onto a Zoom call. I am not looking to replace my current income. In fact if I make zero money I am ok. My goal is start this journey doing something that I already enjoy! I really enjoy watching your videos!
smaller percentage make it in this industry to make a living. all these courses and memberships are grabbing money from a hefty percentage that will simply not make it in the industry. you can work your butt off and still get nowhere.
Hi Bill! I live in BC, Canada in a city with about 80k population. PART of my initial plan is to market myself locally with Non-profit organizations (maybe churches too ) providing audio recordings for seniors, the visually impaired, etc. I may even start with reading in person and providing company for a little while, just to build a resume, get known, etc. My thinking is that as I grow in confidence and acquire the equipment, etc that i need, I can start making a little bit of money? I work full-time in the social services field and see potential with audio book narration as the baby boomers are a huge pretty tech savvy group with tonnes of money (do i sound like the Gen-Xer that I am? lol What are your thoughts?
u r just awesome Sir, the truth and reality of this occupation have been put forward without hanky panky. Thanks So much, How to get in touch with u for learning?
I really want to start voiceover online but I just don't know where exactly I'd fit in the industry I dont know where to start or the genre I'd fit in is it possible to get on a call with you to find out my possible options or a voice analysis 😅?
Am I just lucky to be in NYC? 99% of all booked jobs were recorded in post-house studios before the pandemic. Yes, we must all be our own audio engineers, but in NYC, and L.A., (when studios re-open) all the VO actor is responsible for is speaking into the microphone, thank goodness!
Yes NYC and LA are different for film students too. I have friends in LA who talk about how well paying the work is and get all of these perks, etc. But outside of that space, it is a different world.
Good equipment doesn't make you sound good, but it does make you sound better. It certainly makes me feel great! Now if I could just get more work, lol.
Yep! Ingrained in the back of my mind as an unfortunate byproduct of my upbringing is the erroneous notion that men somehow just naturally know how to do audio engineering. So, when I learn that some males also aren't comfortable/knowledgeable with audio engineering, or working on their car, or being Mr. Fixit, it reminds me that the fact that I find this aspect of VO daunting is just something I need to become more skilled at and not something that I can't do because of my gender! But it has been my Achilles heel for 5+ years!
Well, this is fine and dandy for people who have money. but that's way too expensive for me. no way in hell i could ever come up with that much for anything. Sorry bud, i know you are just trying to make money but i'm out.
Totally agree. He comes across as someone who wants to help out..but $997,00 really? At the end of the day he is still a coach who's selling his courses.
@@Phantom.1 first, this webinar is just a teaser to get you to go and sign up for his course, just like all of the other vo artists using this format. Second, i have no problems of him trying to drum up business, in fact i applaud him for it. All i was saying was his course is too much for people that work base jobs. And his target audience are people who already have money and can afford it. Again I'm totally cool with that, it's how business works, those that have get. Those that have not do not. Just means people that are broke like myself have to figure it out ourselves, it's how society is. Not a big deal. Besides in a very little amount of time A.I. is going to completely make this profession as well as most artistic platforms completely obsolete. So there is no point to even try anymore. The programmers have successfully destroyed the art industry.
A.I. will eventually render most human voice actors obsolete. Now, here come the comments that it will "never" be able to (fill in the blank) the way a human can. Be careful with the word "never." :)
Ah, you must be the local misinformed hater. Your dream may come true one day, but not anytime soon. Probably not even within this century. Many developers have came out & said “trying to get their AI to just sound *human enough* takes so long, that they’d rather just give up & cast actors”. It takes a while for them to program an AI to string together just one authentic, natural sounding sentence. Whereas humans can give multiple takes per multiple lines & submit their reads to clients very quickly. Especially during a live directed session. As of now, we’re faster than they are at producing. And *beyond* better at accents, delivery, emotion, impressions & improvisation. Assassin’s Creed’s newest Discovery Tour: “Viking Age” has a few civilians voiced by AI, and they sound horrible. They’ve got a long way to go before they replace us. Not even AIs can voice themselves.🤣 They get US to voice AIs. Siri, Alexa, Jarvis, Menu Narrators & Microsoft Voice Assistants are all voiced by voice actors.
@@badmiddens I hear a lot of prototype AI voices as part of my work and definitely agree it's gonna be much much less than a century. Dunno about 5 years though. It might be good enough for some more utilitarian VO stuff by then but the usability is gonna take some work.
@@pseudonymlifts2 I appreciate your take on this, unlike the clownbag who gave me a long-winded lecture from his rear hole. I am deep in the vo and and production industry, and we are already hearing some stuff that is already extremely competent for things like long-form, nonfiction narration. Just three weeks ago, we got a demo from a company that for the first time, instead of scoffing at the tell-tale "artificialness" of an a.i., I could not tell the difference, and would have hired the guy in an instant if he were a real person, as I at first thought he (it) was. I still think 5 years is a loooong time when it comes to this, or really any kind of a.i. tech.
As a Computer Scientist, I think I am probably more informed to speak about the future of AI than you. Do you even know how AI and machine learning work? If you understand how they work, you will also understand why they are unlikely to be a true replacement (in their current iteration) for human voices.
These are not the painful truths of voiceover... these are the painful truths of life. Success is work and time; adaptability is survival; it's not what you have, it's what you do with it; the buck stops with you; work ethic beats talent every time.
I lived in Nashville for all of the nineties. The lesson I took too long to learn was that, truly, Music City is 90% about business and 10% about music. Creativity in any form, without good business sense, dies unrequited.
Painful truth 7: I found exactly the same thing in computer programming; there are old gatekeepers who have the scarcity mindset. As soon as you say "I program in X" they will say "you are not an 'experienced' programmer. "
I wish I'd seen this video 5 years ago when I was looking into VO as a new career path! After 5 years at it, investing a lot of time and a decent chunk of money into coaching/courses/ equipment/demo, doing some rewarding volunteer VO work, and even getting myself on a local studio's roster, I'm realizing that I'm at a crossroads with VO. It really does require more marketing and business acumen than having a "great voice." Also those audio engineering skills, yes!!! The one successful VO talent I know who doesn't edit their own work lucked out by having his sister-in-law do it for him, but it really is essential to master that skill. Even if you have levels that have been preset, it's still crucial to learn how to edit your audio and do it quickly. That has been my biggest obstacle, along with realizing it's a numbers game with auditioning. Audition, audition, audition, and market, market, market are two of the biggest factors in the success of a VO business -- along with being able to edit that audio!
Thanks for telling it like it is, Bill! If I'd seen this way back when, I think I would've realized I'd be biting off not more than I could chew, but more than I wanted to chew!
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Same! What DAW do you use?
What I learned from working on goals is that no matter what you want to do, either Voice Acting like me and everyone who watches this video or a doctor always look for harsh truths at the beginning. Honestly this can prep one for the journey ahead with reasonable expectations. I expected a majority of these while for the few I didn't know you helped clarify how to go about dealing with them. Thank you
These truths hit hard! Just what I need to hear as I’m accepting the truth that my agent of 37 years cannot save my VO career! I will be connecting to your services and learning all I can about marketing my craft in ways I’ve been to intimidated to do! Thank you!
I worked with a used $400 Electrovoice EV27ND and a cheap M-Audio interface when I was booking 10 to 20 jobs a month with Time Warner Cable LA alone. I didn't upgrade to higher equipment for 9 years. Now I'm a recovered gear junkie.
Hello,please tell me more about this
Thanks for your info on getting into voiceovers Bill! I soak up advice like a sponge and yours is head and shoulders above the rest, hence I've taken the time to leave a comment, which I don't usually do!😊
I really appreciate it! :)
The man is a vocal gymnast and the painful truth is his taste in T-shirts is far superior to any man alive today.I wish you Bill a Fab Christmas Love from Ireland still in VO since 2014 All thanks to you :)
Well said!!
Very humbling! I think knowing these truths, and accepting them, will help me to forge ahead with more realistic expectations. The old saying comes to mind as I listen to this video. "Slow and steady wins the race". Im not discouraged to dive in VO, I now see that i need to invest myself and time to this. Learn and grow and graciously listen to criticism and advice. And you know what, it's still exciting!
Thank you for your time spent to instruct and share your knowledge and skill with us 🙌
My pleasure. Glad you're getting a lot out of these videos. :-)
Oh man! What a fantastic video! So much valuable information here. I especially enjoyed the part about editing reel to reel audio. I did it in a late night radio news department in the 1970's. I would record phone interviews after night meetings of various groups, and would use the good old grease pencil and razor blade to remove the word "tonight" so the sound bites would sound current when they were played during the next morning's drive-time newscasts. Fun! The "work" tape had to be replaced pretty often because it was so cut up!
Very true. It is not easy. Far from it. It is simple but it’s not easy.
That expensive microphone will be so sensitive that it will pick up all that you haven’t taken care of yet.
Thanks for the reality check info Bill…great as usual ! Side note…I’ve heard and lived that golf analogy…” I’m no good…that’s “sandbagger” talk !
Thank you!
I’ve been at this for 20 years and I can tell you it’s not easy. I’m still not quitting my day job. But I will also tell you I haven’t been promoting myself well or getting adequate training. So it’s do’able, but you need to be realistic. It’s going to take some work and expenditures.
Thanks Bill, I hope you and the fam have a wonderful and healthy new year.
Thank you Bill for this
Somehow your marketing technique have moved up from emails to linking me to your free videos give me more information to make a better-educated choice if I going the voice over business. Like anything else it's a matter of finances being in place in order to executed plan correctly. Thank you
Hi Bill. Thanks for this video. Months old and still relevant.
Thanks for this great video Bill. I hope 2022 will be a great year for me in voice over.
You're very welcome. I hope so too! Feel free to keep me updated on your progress.
@@VoiceCoach-BillDeWees I most certainly will.
I love his voice very much.
Yes! LOVE the shirt and have the same one, if it's from the tour around 2016 or 2018!
This is accurate and truthful.
Another amazing video marry Christmas to you and your family and God bless.
Thank you. So much advice that can be applied in other industries too.
Thanks for this video. Such a treasure trove of information.
Remarkably similar voices and delivery styles! The spaces are different, but the match is astounding.
What advice do you have for non-native speakers? Do they have any chance for English projects? If yes, how likely?
LOVE the T-Shirt!!
Great video! I want to get into the business because I enjoy the creative process. I already do amateur training videos at work. I enjoy editing my videos adding background music. Yes I have always been told like many "wow...you have a radio voice" when I jump onto a Zoom call. I am not looking to replace my current income. In fact if I make zero money I am ok. My goal is start this journey doing something that I already enjoy! I really enjoy watching your videos!
Hey Bill thanks allot for all these insight.
smaller percentage make it in this industry to make a living. all these courses and memberships are grabbing money from a hefty percentage that will simply not make it in the industry. you can work your butt off and still get nowhere.
Hi Bill, thanks for this great video. Have just watched this. Do you have VO learners from Singapore?
Hi Bill! I live in BC, Canada in a city with about 80k population. PART of my initial plan is to market myself locally with Non-profit organizations (maybe churches too ) providing audio recordings for seniors, the visually impaired, etc. I may even start with reading in person and providing company for a little while, just to build a resume, get known, etc. My thinking is that as I grow in confidence and acquire the equipment, etc that i need, I can start making a little bit of money? I work full-time in the social services field and see potential with audio book narration as the baby boomers are a huge pretty tech savvy group with tonnes of money (do i sound like the Gen-Xer that I am? lol What are your thoughts?
That’s the real McCoy Bill… I enjoyed the fair realities. Thanks a Ton!
u r just awesome Sir, the truth and reality of this occupation have been put forward without hanky panky. Thanks So much, How to get in touch with u for learning?
Listening to this a year after it was first posted. Is there still a first call opportunity?
Good thing I learned to be an audio engineer first lol. I'm making a first demo this week.
I really want to start voiceover online but I just don't know where exactly I'd fit in the industry I dont know where to start or the genre I'd fit in is it possible to get on a call with you to find out my possible options or a voice analysis 😅?
Does your blueprint Class offer any professional demos with that price?
Am I just lucky to be in NYC? 99% of all booked jobs were recorded in post-house studios before the pandemic. Yes, we must all be our own audio engineers, but in NYC, and L.A., (when studios re-open) all the VO actor is responsible for is speaking into the microphone, thank goodness!
Yes NYC and LA are different for film students too. I have friends in LA who talk about how well paying the work is and get all of these perks, etc. But outside of that space, it is a different world.
20:53 A tom hanks style path
Great stuff Bill and thank you so much and I believe Gabrielle Nabisco does walk throughs with clients i think.
Thanks a lot Bill! Is the training still available though?
excellent !!!
Good equipment doesn't make you sound good, but it does make you sound better. It certainly makes me feel great! Now if I could just get more work, lol.
#4 is my achilles heal!...:)!
Yep! Ingrained in the back of my mind as an unfortunate byproduct of my upbringing is the erroneous notion that men somehow just naturally know how to do audio engineering. So, when I learn that some males also aren't comfortable/knowledgeable with audio engineering, or working on their car, or being Mr. Fixit, it reminds me that the fact that I find this aspect of VO daunting is just something I need to become more skilled at and not something that I can't do because of my gender! But it has been my Achilles heel for 5+ years!
Ai voice over is getting so good it is scary.
Not good enough for a unique soul behind the voice....
Eleven AI is really impressive. Fortunately it struggles with accents that aren’t British or American
Another "AI" talk haha. Even artists are afraid of this. Not trippin about that.
As someone else that just does it for fun, I.e a complete amateur, the ai voice reads blow me out of the water. Can't hold a candle to a pro though
Well, this is fine and dandy for people who have money. but that's way too expensive for me. no way in hell i could ever come up with that much for anything. Sorry bud, i know you are just trying to make money but i'm out.
Totally agree. He comes across as someone who wants to help out..but $997,00 really? At the end of the day he is still a coach who's selling his courses.
This entire webinar is free, isn’t it? Yes. Is there information being conveyed for free here? Yes.
@@Phantom.1 first, this webinar is just a teaser to get you to go and sign up for his course, just like all of the other vo artists using this format. Second, i have no problems of him trying to drum up business, in fact i applaud him for it. All i was saying was his course is too much for people that work base jobs. And his target audience are people who already have money and can afford it. Again I'm totally cool with that, it's how business works, those that have get. Those that have not do not. Just means people that are broke like myself have to figure it out ourselves, it's how society is. Not a big deal. Besides in a very little amount of time A.I. is going to completely make this profession as well as most artistic platforms completely obsolete. So there is no point to even try anymore. The programmers have successfully destroyed the art industry.
A.I. will eventually render most human voice actors obsolete. Now, here come the comments that it will "never" be able to (fill in the blank) the way a human can. Be careful with the word "never." :)
Ah, you must be the local misinformed hater. Your dream may come true one day, but not anytime soon. Probably not even within this century. Many developers have came out & said “trying to get their AI to just sound *human enough* takes so long, that they’d rather just give up & cast actors”. It takes a while for them to program an AI to string together just one authentic, natural sounding sentence. Whereas humans can give multiple takes per multiple lines & submit their reads to clients very quickly. Especially during a live directed session. As of now, we’re faster than they are at producing. And *beyond* better at accents, delivery, emotion, impressions & improvisation. Assassin’s Creed’s newest Discovery Tour: “Viking Age” has a few civilians voiced by AI, and they sound horrible. They’ve got a long way to go before they replace us. Not even AIs can voice themselves.🤣 They get US to voice AIs. Siri, Alexa, Jarvis, Menu Narrators & Microsoft Voice Assistants are all voiced by voice actors.
@@ThorntonNoir Stamp your feet and name-call, who cares. Not in this century? Haha, see you in five years.
@@badmiddens I hear a lot of prototype AI voices as part of my work and definitely agree it's gonna be much much less than a century. Dunno about 5 years though. It might be good enough for some more utilitarian VO stuff by then but the usability is gonna take some work.
@@pseudonymlifts2 I appreciate your take on this, unlike the clownbag who gave me a long-winded lecture from his rear hole. I am deep in the vo and and production industry, and we are already hearing some stuff that is already extremely competent for things like long-form, nonfiction narration. Just three weeks ago, we got a demo from a company that for the first time, instead of scoffing at the tell-tale "artificialness" of an a.i., I could not tell the difference, and would have hired the guy in an instant if he were a real person, as I at first thought he (it) was. I still think 5 years is a loooong time when it comes to this, or really any kind of a.i. tech.
As a Computer Scientist, I think I am probably more informed to speak about the future of AI than you. Do you even know how AI and machine learning work? If you understand how they work, you will also understand why they are unlikely to be a true replacement (in their current iteration) for human voices.
Thank you!