FREE Voice Over Tips & Insights – From a 25+ year Pro
That's Not How You Play Guitar.
I've been deep in a YouTube rabbit hole lately. Jimi Hendrix. Stevie Ray Vaughan. Jeff Healey. Watching young people discover these legends for the first time and completely LOSE THEIR MINDS over it. And all I keep thinking is: every single one of these men was told — implicitly or explicitly — that they were doing it wrong. Every. Single. One.
Replace Fear With Curiosity: The Voice Actor's Most Powerful Mindset Shift
Steven Spielberg said it. I've been saying it in coaching sessions. "Replace fear with curiosity." Four words that change everything about how you approach a cold read, an audition, a character, a genre you've never tried before. Here's what that actually looks and sounds like behind the mic.
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.
Mel Brooks at 100 — A Love Letter From a Kid Who Grew Up on His Films
Today is a HOLY DAY for anyone who has ever laughed at a movie. Mel Brooks turns 100. I wrote him a love letter. It got personal. It got a little mushy. I'm not sorry.
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 12 Principles of Animation — And Why Every Voice Actor and Puppeteer Needs to Know Them
In 1981, two Disney animators named Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston published what has since been called the "Bible of Animation" — a book called The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. In it, they laid out 12 foundational principles that govern how great animation moves. Voice actors, they are NOT just for animators. Puppeteers, you need to take note too. Here's why — and what each principle means for the performance you bring to the mic and beyond.
So You Want to Play the Villain? Good. This Is the Most Fun You'll Ever Have Behind a Mic.
Let me tell you something about villains: they are the MOST fun you will ever have behind a microphone. The cackle. The monologue. The dramatic pause before the really terrible thing happens. All of it. But here's what separates a genuinely terrifying, memorable, bookable villain from a cartoon monster doing a funny voice — and it starts with a question most voice actors never think to ask.
Be a Thermostat, Not a Thermometer: The Audition Mindset That Changes Everything
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote about thermometers and thermostats in his Letter from Birmingham Jail — about the difference between those who merely reflect their environment and those who transform it. I've been applying that distinction to voice actors in auditions for years. Here's what it means for your next submission.