Press

Moriarty the Patriot – The Full Story

December 10, 2022 by Alan Shires

A Voiceover Artist’s Journey Into Anime

My journey with anime started in 2015 when I worked at an anime convention. I had the joy of working with a non-profit organisation endorsed by Nintendo for the Pokémon games. Whilst I was at these events, I had the job of meeting several convention organisers and famous voiceover actors. Building relationships, networking, and making connections are something I am enthusiastic about anyway. Still, I was particularly excited in this instance as anime voice acting and video games are my favourite parts of the voiceover industry. Several of the people I had connected with were people I grew up watching and studying, and today I am lucky enough to call them friends.

It’s All About Them

I wanted to support the connections I made in any way I could. For the convention managers, I began helping them with bookings, tables, setting up, pulling down, and pretty much anything else I could for the conventions. For the voice actors, I wanted to support them in a slightly different capacity. Many of them have so much to offer through means of teaching and coaching, so via one of my clients’ platforms, I connected several of them together. As well as this, we collaborated with PR, and I will break down both assets below.

Voiceover Artists Teaching, Coaching, and PR

The setup for the workshops was hosted online, as the bulk of this occurred during the pandemic. They would take ten vetted voiceover artists who would perform for them. They would get critiqued by the guest and then read again. It is a very relaxed environment and follows an audition format to give them an authentic experience. But accessing the likes of Chris Rager, Josh Martin, Jason Douglas, Sean Schemmel, Kara Edwards, Sonny Strait, and Chris Sabat is not easy. These world-class voiceover artists have to offer far beyond what a single webinar or blog can offer. These people are booking the most prominent roles in anime and are setting the standards, trends, and criteria required. On a PR note, we tried our best to host as much as possible in The Buzz Magazine to promote them and compliment their incredible works.

Sowing What You Reap in Anime Voice Acting

I was exceptionally blessed one afternoon when Chris Sabat rang me and invited me to join him in casting a project requiring British accents. We were sent several sides, which we put out to our base of voiceover artists. Multiple people booked roles and had a phenomenal experience on the show. A second season was produced a year later, and the process was replicated. In this instance, I was cast for one of the roles too, which was such a huge honour too, as for several years I had trained and networked in this area.

The session was phenomenal. Seeing the beautifully designed artwork on the screen with the exceptionally composed soundtrack before anyone else was a real treat. Having it all on the screen ready for the dub was exciting and rewarding. The session was recorded over Source Connect, I, of course, was here in Leeds, UK, and they are in Dallas, Texas. I was aware the studio preferred to work with Neumann TLM 103 microphones. As my business has been heavily geared towards the more prominent companies and the bigger jobs, I have had a Neumann TLM 103 for a long-time anticipating people asking for it (which is frequent). The live session meant I was with the casting director during the session, which was great fun.

What it Takes to Work in Anime

Timing is everything. You need to be able to look at the script, watch the animation for the lip flaps and listen to the three beeps in your ear. What are the three beeps? The three beeps are an audio technique used where the artist will hear three beeps equally spread out and where the fourth beep would be expected that acts as the queue for the voice actor to begin delivering the lines. It’s worth noting the fourth beep is not played, so it’s essential to understand the timing. Within these sessions, you may be asked to do some ‘fodder’ lines. A fodder line is a random line that may occur from a character that is typically not in the cast. For example, imagine someone crossing a road, and a car jumps a red light; the character crossing may jump back and say, ‘Hey! Be careful!’ The company would not cast another actor specifically for this one singular line. The sessions range from 2 to 4 hours, so it is very typical to do a ‘fodder’ line outside the main character you read for.

Training in Anime Voice Acting

Aside from networking, it is vitally important to train in anime if this is a part of voiceover you want to work in. Taking workshops like the ones I mentioned earlier is vital. Not only is this important to capture the style of the genre, develop the characters, understand the intensity of your voice, and get used to the dubbing setup, but it is vital for the experience too. When you are listening to the four beeps in a workshop or reading a script for a casting director in a workshop, this is as real as it gets. What you do in these workshops is the same as what you will need to deliver in a session or an audition. So, perfecting every area of this and using the workshops to your advantage is vitally important and the best way to move forward in this genre.

Voiceover Feedback: Striking a Chord – The Full Story!

November 25, 2022 by Alan Shires

Constructive Voiceover Feedback

Voiceover feedback is so important! Sometimes it reassures us and makes us feel warm and fuzzy. Other times it hurts! Sometimes it really hurts! As voice actors, we are performers, and our craft is a massive part of our life. Pain in that area brings doubt, frustration, sadness, lack of confidence and low self-esteem. So how do we deal with this and direct it positively? Well let me start by talking about the where this came from and delve into the wonderful world of video games.

Voiceover and the World of Video Games

My counterpart in the article is Randall Ryan, a video game casting director and a dear friend. I chose to calibrate with him on this article as we were able to create a relationship between feedback from the performer and the casting director. We both love music, and whilst discussing the situation I will allude to in the next paragraph, we discovered feedback often seems like a melody – it contains harmony but needs some dedication and practice! It is beautiful when it all goes well.

The Artist Trying to Make it Work

I was told by another casting director that they could not book me for a job without a visa. In fact, as a voiceover artist, this is something we hear ALL the time. There is some truth to it, so for example, if you are applying for work in the USA and you are not from the USA, you need a visa. However, in this instance I am a company in my own right selling a service from my own country. Could you imagine if we could not work internationally on a bigger scale? We would not be able to buy anything from Amazon.com if you are in the UK, or you could not order Yorkshire Tea from the US if you were in the UK! Ok maybe they will not want Yorkshire tea (though they should!), but you get the example, I hope. So, what is the situation for a voice actor in this situation? Well, there is a simple form called a W-8BEN that is required to be filled out.

Keeping Your Head Up

So, for me the feedback that struck a chord was that I was not in America or have a working visa. In one respect, that does help make everyone’s life easier. However, we can work internationally, and that is why it struck a chord. Feedback often can be less practical and instead more craft driven, and that is where it can feel a bit more personal. We must remember that the casting director has something they want in their mind from the onset. We need to fit that shape and present them with an alternative they did not realise they wanted but was so good that it is too irresistible to ignore.

The Voice Actor and the Casting Director

As Randall is a friend and an industry panel in video games, I wanted to get his opinion on things to consider when casting for a role. His first point on this situation is he would just use the W-8BEN form above and get the actor booked in – his view on it was to give the role to the best actor and keep it as genuine as possible. Quality over convenience. What I will say, though, is that everyone is at various levels, and some companies just do not have the budget to pull talent from outside their country, even if they are the best for the role. What we must realise is that there may be half a dozen people at the final stint all of which can nail the job.

Randall felt enthusiastic about the brief being adhered to, and having also attended and facilitated a few of his workshops, I also quickly learnt from collaborating with him that he loves a ‘truthful’ performance. What does that mean? Well, it means the voiceover artist does not simply represent the character, but they become and project the character leaning on internal experiences, decisions, and stories.

Where to Train in Video Game Voice Acting?

I mentioned above the workshops I have done and facilitated with and for Randall. These happen all over the world with loads of amazing people. As an actor it is so important to keep training, acquire new skills and refine your craft. It’s like going to the gym, you need to keep those muscles used, healthy and looked after. It is easy to forget skills and disciplines, and vital to push into the most profound elements of the role.

Bringing Something Different to the Table

I mentioned having a second take up your sleeve, which presents the casting director with something they did not expect while presenting something genuine that they love. Let us use a military officer for example, we have that stereotype. [Trigger warning] But what if this military character just saw his team blown up? It brings a different slant to the role. Still totally genuine to the character and believable, but it offers a different flavour. The second take should be so different from the first one, but both need the commitment, quality, and passion of a true performer

Voiceover Feedback Taking the Next Step

Keep at it! Do not take it personally! Keep training, and do not give up! That is my number 1 tip. Network and make friends, be nice to people, and never give up. That is my complete list of tips. This is a business, and we must hustle, and network just like in any other industry, whilst keeping our craft and material fresh. The more you hustle the more opportunities you will see, and ultimately the more clients you will make and work you will book. Apply feedback positively, and do not take anything too personally.

Shrug it off and move on to the next job, even if it is hard to hear initially. I was given a tip once, audition and, forget about it, move on to the next job. That is excellent advice! You may never hear from them again, so no need to get too down in the dumps or upset. That said, sometimes it can mean a lot to you, right? It might be that dream client! The key is to keep them coming back; more and more auditions mean they want to book you, think you’re good, and get close to regular work.

Anime Voiceover Press – The Full Story

November 16, 2022 by Alan Shires

Your Anime Voiceover Business

I love being a voiceover artist and one of the things people forget is that this is a business. Working in entertainment and owning a business means that we are entrepreneurs; with that, interacting with the press is essential! I love media, and I adore press, so not only have I had several articles written about me, but I have also had the opportunity to author articles with other talented professionals and on some of the industry’s finest. Addressing one of my reaching articles, ‘Connection, Training, Networking, and New Opportunities’, I wanted to share a bit about how this article came to be and hopefully share some nuggets with you on how YOU can start learning more about anime voiceover. Haven’t seen the article? Check it out here: New-Opportunities

Networking in Anime

Anime is one of my biggest loves in the voiceover industry. It invites massive theatrical characters not bound by the laws of normality or physics. Pretend, storytelling, and fun are fundamentally the core of any voice actor, and Anime encapsulates that like no other. Over the past five years, I have connected with as many Anime actors as possible. I have authored articles on them, which you can find within the media tab on my website home page. I have worked with many of these people in workshops, webinars, and in the press too. Over the years, they have become valued friends, many of whom I now call colleagues. Relationships are so essential, and meeting new people, I believe, is vitally important. Everyone wants to collaborate with talented, likable, dependable, and friendly people, so the connection is super important.

The article above was birthed out of a workshop with one of the world’s finest Anime actors, Sean Schemmel, one of the world’s most well-known Anime voiceover artists because of his role as Goku in Dragonball Z and Dragonball Super. So how did I, in the United Kingdom, come to know and work with Sean Schemmel, who is in Los Angeles?

Simply put, a mutual friend introduced us and suggested we work together. Someone I met at an event introduced me to that mutual friend. Let us take a step back here… I was at an event; I made a new contact, who later introduced me to one of his contacts, who then introduced me to Sean. Connection, making friends, and helping one another are so vitally important in voiceover, and that is how this article was birthed.

Training in Voiceover and Anime

When introduced, I shared with Sean that one of my clients, ‘The VoiceOver Network,’ regularly hosts free and paid-for training content. This was an excellent project to collaborate on and was solely focused on voiceover training in Anime. We hosted a 1-hour free webinar a few weeks later called ‘The Voiceover Hour,’ a free 1-hour webinar hosted by The VoiceOver Network. During this webinar, voice actors worldwide tuned in to learn more about Anime. It was a casual interview-styled webinar with the opportunity for people watching to ask questions. From that, a workshop was birthed where Sean took ten voiceover artists under his wing for a three-hour coaching session. The actors were provided scripts where they would audition for Sean, and he would critique their performance. After the critique, they would perform again and conclude their audition. This process was repeated with all attendees, so all the voiceover artists had the opportunity to watch and learn from each other too.

Anime Voiceover is Making a Difference

This workshop was reviewed by voiceover artist/voice actors Gerard Caster and supported and endorsed by me. Gerard was a new artist when he attended the workshop, and I was happy to be there to support him on his journey. Gerard later co-starred in an anime with me just over a year later. Gerard is exceptionally talented as a voice actor, but what did he do to be effective? How did he go from being so new in voiceover to staring in a world-class Anime? He simply threw himself into his business, trained, gained skills, and finally, networked. Gerard connected with me, worked with the world’s best coaches and gained the skills he needed to book the job. I was involved with the casting process on this project too. After being cast, the company ‘Okratron5000’ asked for my input on the best English accents for their upcoming FUNimation Project ‘Moriarty the Patriot.’

Voiceover Talent and the Press

We regularly think that press is for on-screen actors, but this is not true. As a business, the press is vital in whatever part of the entertainment industry you work in. Gerard wrote an excellent review of Sean Schemmel’s workshops, and from that, he got published in a worldwide publication, ‘The Buzz Magazine,’ for which I am privileged to also be an editor. In a future blog post, I will write more about the casting process and working inside of anime as a voice actor, but also about the series in general.

Workshops & Press Voiceover Anime Tips

To close, these are my top tips for working in anime.

As a voice actor, ask yourself what genre you want to specialise in.
For Anime, start networking with companies producing anime, actors working in anime, and people who engage in anime.
Like with everything else, be a good, honest, and caring person – it’s not about what you can get from them but how you can serve and help them! Come into the industry with selfless ambitions to help and give, not to take and absorb.
Train in voice acting and specifically anime voice acting.
Train some more!
Network with all the pros you have just made connections with.
Write a blog, send an article to a publications company, and write reviews for the Anime voiceover coaches you work with.

Post Covid-19 Voice Over: Taking the Crown Back! – The Full Story

November 10, 2022 by Alan Shires

Voice Over Life vs a World Full of Germs!

When the pandemic hit, I noticed many voiceover actors starting to panic. This panic was born out of several roots. The first is the fear of not being able to work! Voiceover artists were used to going to the studio to record a session. The pandemic closed the studios leaving the voiceover actor there twiddling their thumbs. Let us circle back to this a little bit later in this blog. The second panic was birthed out of the fear of getting scared. Getting sick is an interesting concept, right? We are all used to getting sick from time to time but all of a sudden, it was a big deal for the entire world. But why was this? Well, there is an extensive list of reasons why and we all have our own opinion on the pandemic, but we can imagine that voiceover artists were concerned because the damage to their health could be crippling for their business. Post covid-19 voice over would be a new frontier.

The Number One Tool for Post Covid-19 Voice Over

Truth be told voice actors should have been concerned about their vocal health long before the pandemic ever hit the planet. I remember working in retail, whilst in retail, if you got sick the management really did not care all that much. Similarly, I have observed this behaviour in several other areas such as supermarkets, offices, and yes even certain parts of the health sector (crazy right?). These days we behave the opposite, we stay home and lock down until we are better – in fact, this is better when measured against its former counterpart. But here is the thing, the above jobs ‘can’ be done should the individual be well enough to conduct them. I barely ever took a day off when sick in retail, in fact – I think in ten years maybe 2/3 days tops were processed as sick until the point of me leaving and becoming a full-time voice actor. So though one can scan tins whilst unwell, they probably should not! A voiceover artist, on the other hand, REALLY should not work! Why? Because their number one tool, THEIR VOICE is already in a highly compromised position, and the more they push it the more significant the damage.

The Future of Voiceover When Battling Sickness

It is not about the next job! It is about the next several years of your career. Unlike a cut on the arm or a burn on the hand, your voice does not heal like minor flesh damage. Even broken bones can heal better! Sometimes the damage to our voice is irreversible; thus, the pandemic simply brought truth to life for voice actors. You must be careful, stay safe and look after your voice!

The Artist Had to Change!

No one likes to change, right? WRONG – I love a bit of change! Tons of voice actors were ready for the pandemic because when the studios closed, they had their home booth prepped and ready to go! Since then, voiceover booth installation is booming! Everyone wants their own. Studios still take a lot of the work for bigger jobs and for those folks without a booth, but overall voice actors were either ready for the pandemic or quickly changed to meet the challenge.

The Claim to Royalty a Voice Actor MUST Proclaim

When the pandemic started, I authored this article to deliver a powerful truth to the industry. The word Corona comes from the word crown, and the virus took precedence worldwide. The play on words here is that it was time to take the crown back. A nasty virus did not deserve to be the royalty of the world. It absorbed our times, lives, emotions, happiness, and, yes… sadly, even loved ones. I watched this, and I thought, enough is enough, and I decided it was time to fight back. Every artist needed to stand up and say, ‘this pandemic is not taking my joy; I will fight back!’ ‘This pandemic will not steal my career, I will fight back!’ And finally, ‘this pandemic is not going to ruin my life, I will fight back!’

Post covid-19 Voice Over Artists Fight Against Sickness

Whether it is a tickle or a nasty bout of flu, the top tip for a voiceover artist and voice actor is to rest! Do not overdo it; listen to your body and recover! You are no good to anyone if you are exhausted, and the thing is, the client will hear the difference in your voice too!

The next tip is to invest in a nice jar of honey. Manuka honey, in particular, has had hundreds of thousands of dollars invested into research. Manuka honey has bacteria and enzymes inside it that will combat germs of all branches. Furthermore, honey offers a two-fold strike for a voice actor because it will soothe the vocal cords and some of the properties are proportionately relevant for the healing of the vocal area.

Next, if you have access to a local steam room, inhale as much steam as possible! Baths and showers will do if not. DO NOT stockpile on lozenges; they simply cover the pain and do not deal with the problem! Numbing the pain will damage your vocal cords further if you continue pushing it under the effects of these products. By all means, take one before bed if it helps you sleep; just do not use it as a tool to get you through a session.

This brings me to my next point! A voiceover actor MUST say no if a client asks them to do something that will damage them further. They must say no if the session has hit its limits vocally. If there are some physically challenging elements to your session, leave them to the end, do not let it wreck the rest of the session. In short, be bold and know when enough is enough. If you get hurt in the session, the client has a poor product, and you are out of work the next day.

Finally! Might seem simple but stay hydrated! Always have plenty of water and avoid caffeine, chocolate, and dairy leading up to the session. It can bung you up, and it is not worth the risk if you can avoid it.

Balancing Your Voiceover Life: The Day Everything Changes – The Full Story

October 26, 2022 by Alan Shires

Balancing Life With Paying the Bills

Since the age of 16, I have always worked in some way, shape, or form. I have always been exceptionally hard-working and dedicated to having an income. Having gone through phases with less and then other phases with more, I have always been very motivated to ensure I have funds coming in so I can continue going. As an actor and voiceover artist, I soon realised those moments of where things were better funded were few and far between when starting out. Finding balance in your voiceover life is a bit easier said than done.

I did not go into a massive waft of acting and voiceover work when I finished my studies, instead, I got a job in retail. As a young man, it was nice having a steady flow of money, and the drive to progress and earn more was extremely attractive. This is precisely what I did. Before too long, a few years in, I had an excellent bonus scheme, a company car, and a salary that was incredibly attractive. Sounds great, right?

What Happened to My Voiceover Life?

Well despite the money, the rewards, the benefits, and the structure – I was unhappy. In fact, towards the end, I was exceptionally unhappy! You can catch my blog and article about ‘breaking out of the day job’ back on my media page where I go into why I was unhappy in more detail, but the basic truth on this is because my heart was in acting and voice acting. There is one other element to this… It was the culture! Waking up at 5am, being exhausted after work and for what? Well, the environment was high pressure with massive expectations and low results. I have always flourished in any task I have taken, smashed the goals, expectations, and targets but the exhaustion is insane. You can work in that environment and it is never enough or the praise is minimum. At this point I will share something I learnt in my journey, did you know we all have motivations we resonate more with others? The list of motivations is:

Money (prospects of more money drives us)
Praise (a lot of people are motivated by affirming words)
Work-life balance (some would rather work more hours in less days to free up more time elsewhere)
Targets (constantly having something on the plate is a driver)
Achievement (awards, prizes and gifts are a motivator)

You might be reading this and seeing which of these you resonate with immediately. You resonate more with some than others. My employment did not really have much of that when I got high into retail management aside from the money – which was comparably low when measuring the time, responsibility, and sacrifice involved.

BREAKING OUT of the Shackles

When the article was published I was celebrating the fact that I had started a business from scratch, or more to the point, added another avenue to my acting business. At this point in time, I had started booking work, and the future looked positive. I had not broken out yet, but in hindsight, I was about a year away from being free! It’s warming looking back and seeing how things changed from this point. What I will say is the prospects of breaking out kept me highly motivated to work hard and give my everything. So let us talk about that.

The Voiceover Life of Being in Two Places at Once

So, whilst hustling this new work and building this new career for myself, I still had to work insane hours in this day job too. How did I do this? Well from 6 pm until as late as midnight, I was working away at my business. It was like having two jobs. Sleep was like 4-5 hours daily, and diet was… well! Interesting. I had at least one healthy meal a day, but chocolate helped mentally, and sometimes when I was busy, I would eat where I could, so a sandwich and a packet of crisps would be a decent go-to! A lot of the things I did during my evening pushes I still do today, including:

Auditioning for jobs
Recording samples
Marketing everywhere, reaching out and following up
Building and writing content
Networking and going to events
Connecting with new contacts
Taking workshops
Listening to webinars
and much, much more

The Prayers of a Voiceover Artist

I longed to become a parent but consistently feared the prospects of being a Dad who was not present due to his work. I had one prayer throughout my time toiling the day job in retail: ’’Lord, get me out of here before I become a parent.’’ Miraculously the week after I had left my full-time day job was the week I found out my wife had conceived. The timing was perfect. Whilst my wife was pregnant, I took another job which was much less in hours and stress, but things developed so much that by the time my daughter was born nine months later, I was working solely as a self-employed entrepreneur.

What’s Next in the Developing Voiceover Life?

My day is filled now with industry-relevant clients I offer numerous services to, but it all feeds back into a performance-based business. I spend some time every day developing content (like this, or my podcast ‘Faith and Famous’). I spend time working on client work. To no surprise I continue to audition and self-tape regularly. Everything I listed above I am still doing daily; marketing, networking, social media, developing my SEO and making friends. The only difference between now and then is I did more marketing in the past due to my desperation and now I am doing more work because I have built my foundation to a point where I can be self-sufficient as an entrepreneur.

The Dreams of Tomorrow as a Northern Voiceover Artist

I still dream of working more in voice over and in front of the camera. I am pleased to have worked in Anime this year and booked with Starbucks on screen. I love my ever-growing client list and the contacts and friends I have made. Tomorrow is unknown; it always is! But I feel so much excitement to see how this develops. What will my next job be? Who is the next friend I will make? Where can I add value? Who will I network and connect with? It’s unknown, but it is so exciting! As it says in Psalms 84:7, from glory to glory and strength to strength!

The Essence of Voiceover Creativity – The Full Story

October 6, 2022 by Alan Shires

Where Does It All Begin for an Actor & Voiceover Artist?

Getting motivated is a substance in itself, right? Often, it is the starting point to building a brand and/or business. As a parent, I do not always feel motivated to clean up on an evening, and much is the same way as an actor and voiceover artist, I do not always feel motivated to push ahead with my business. Researching new clients, keeping social media fresh, keeping the strings of communication fresh with existing clients, and then all the fun admin stuff just do not motivate me. So how does one feed their voiceover creativity?

Motivating the Performer!

A question for you… yes, that is correct; I am presenting you with a question. All of a sudden, the reading element of this is about to stop and be replaced with a moment of thought as you digest and answer this question.

How badly do you want it?

That is it! Do you want to work when you want, on your own terms and schedule? Do you want to build something which gives you financial freedom and opportunity? Do you want to build a client list with some of the world’s finest? Do you want to continue growing and booking different roles across the board?

If you really want this, then put that at the centre focus of everything you do each and every day. The fun part is when we are in the booth going wild, but the supporting pillars surrounding that are all the marketing and admin-related tasks. They are the pillars that keep us going.

The Essence of Voiceover Creativity for the Talent

I have found both personally and from spending time with other actors and voiceover artists that we are all driven by a love to perform. It all starts with a tiny spark. Similar to how all it takes is a spark to create a massive inferno within us lies a tiny spark for our creativity. This spark fuels us and the more we do it the bigger it becomes and the more it spreads. It is almost as though we ascend to a different level of focus where our usual patterns are temporarily left on the shelf.

Typically speaking I think about and undertake several tasks each and every day. I am thinking about what chores need doing, the work I have on, what time I am going to eat dinner or take my daughter to the park – you know the stuff I mean, I am sure. But when I am in full force in my booth portraying a range of wild characters, everything in my head leaves and I find myself in storyteller mode.

I find myself back in the mind of an 8-year-old where I can be and do anything I want, at the subject only of however far my imagination will take me. It becomes real for those moments of performance where everything the character says, does, sees, smells, and feels becomes the truth at that moment. I have also found this level of immersion to be the truth the client and casting directors are so desperately seeking from us as actors and voiceover artists.

Voice Talents Using Their Imaginations and Seeking Adventure!

Once upon a time, most of us would have found ourselves on the school playground enjoying the world of make-believe. In that environment, you would find a president, an astronaut, a superhero, and just about everything else available within high-profile roles. Kids do not care! They are also the number 1 audience member who will see through a mediocre performance, they have to believe, they have to see your commitment. In the playground, they are committed, and we must match that!

So, where did it all go wrong? Well, imagine that our imagination is like a muscle. The older we got, the more our attention was focused on other things meaning our imagination was not receiving the exercise it so vividly deserved, so weakened. Many of us also became more focused on what those around us think and what society depicts as acceptable.

So can you have that child-like imagination but still fit in? sure you can! I consider myself a moderately eccentric individual when measuring my personality type. I am someone who does not really care all that much about what other people think; what you see is what you get – complete transparency, no deception. So, I will certainly contribute to a formal discussion, encapsulating the behaviours of a working professional and business owner, good punctuality, a high level of work, and so on. But I am fully engaged with my imagination and love to have fun! I love building relationships with people and forming friendships I believe most humans do seek relationships. That being said, some would look to go deeper than others and every relationship is different too, so it’s an interesting one to measure.

I take my personality and bring it into the session – the client gets me! I present myself with all the excellent business qualities someone expects, but they are getting my personality too. I have been fortunate in that it has made me memorable and triggered repeat work and referrals. I believe this is the difference.

Voice Actors Finding Genuine Believability

Where am I going with this? Not only does your performance need to be believable, but you as a person need to be believable too. Some actors may find it easier than others to turn on their imagination whilst others might find it easier to bring their charm to a session. But when you can do both, both elevate. Your personality in the booth brings down your walls and the client’s walls and creates an excellent platform for the character to flow. The commitment to the adventure (your imagination) compliments you as a person because you demonstrate that you are not scared to go where others would not go. Those places long forgotten about as a child are obtainable to all of us! When imagination and personality walk hand in hand, congratulations, you have found your playground! Finding your playground as an adult with all the skills and disciplines you have acquired is what sets you apart as an actor and voice actor, and that’s what is going to obtain new clients, keep clients, bring clients back, and get new referrals. Next thing you know – the dream jobs are slowly coming in, and it is all because you found your essence of creativity and utilised it correctly.