FREE Voice Over Tips & Insights – From a 25+ year Pro
If You Can Tell Me a Story Without Sound... Guess What I Guarantee You Can Do?
I say this in almost every class and workshop I teach. It comes directly from my puppetry background — and it stops actors cold every time: "If you can tell me a story without sound... guess what I guarantee you can do?" The answer changes everything about how you approach the mic.
The Suspension of Disbelief: Your Most Powerful Ally — and Your Most Tenuous One
Last week I re-watched WALL-E with my four-year-old. I cried three separate times. Over robots. That don't really speak. In a movie I've seen before. And I knew — the whole time — that I was watching computer animated images on a screen. So why was I weeping? And what does that have to do with your next voice acting audition?
Writers and Voice Actors Are Dance Partners
The most important word in storytelling is feeling. My colleague Brandon Violette — animation screenwriter and host of The Story Series Podcast — reminded me of that recently. But here's what I want YOU to know: that equation doesn't stop at the page. It travels straight into the booth. Writers and voice actors are dance partners. And once you understand that... everything changes.
Your "Nothing" Is Plenty.
The biggest thing standing between you and your next booking isn't your voice. It's what you think your voice needs to be doing.
The Words Don't Matter. (You heard me.)
A while back I boldly told you that Voice Acting is NOT about your voice. I promised that the second thing I tell every new student would get its own post. That day has come. "The words don't matter." Go ahead — stare at me like a cow watching an oncoming train. I'll wait. Then let me explain.
The Quote Hanging in My Booth: What Sanford Meisner Taught Me About Voice Acting
There's a quote hanging in my booth. I see it every single time I step up to the mic — every session, every audition, every take. It's been there for years. It's eight words from legendary acting teacher Sanford Meisner, and it is the single most important sentence I know about what great voice acting actually is.
Voice Acting Is NOT About Your Voice.
This is the first thing I say to every single person who starts working with me. Not "let's warm up your voice" or "let's talk about microphones." This: Voice acting is NOT about your voice. The room always goes quiet. Then I explain — and everything changes.