- No One is Going To Tell You To Be a Voiceover Artist

I knew a famous singer when I was a guest artist at San Francisco Opera that I conducted Master Classes with. Singers would ask her if they should continue on and try and have a career as an opera singer. She would always say NO! I asked her over dinner why she always told everyone NO. She responded that a real singer would go ahead and sing no matter what. Any one who needed approval to have a career didn't belong in the business anyway. Have a happy New Year and follow your dreams, whatever they are:)

- A Few Keys To Success - It's Not Rocket Science

I was shopping for new video equipment yesterday. I made an appointment and the sales people showed me a broken camera that they knew nothing about and just wanted my credit card.

Moral of the story: Be prepared, be present, know what you're talking about, call when you say you're going to call, be on time. Whether it's the voiceover industry or any industry, success shows up if a person is prepared. Success is what happens when people are constantly improving there skills, subject familiarity and their presentations to others. Successful communication is a major key to great service. Great service creates success.

- People Hire People That They Like The Best

It's important to have great voiceover skills and to be able to work on a professional level. It's also important to remember that there are always a number of people who can do the work and do it very well. So why should they hire you? The answer can be because they simply like you better. I'm not talking about "kissing up to people" I'm talking about being genuinely good company in the work place. Be on time, be pleasant, don't talk to much, do a good job, be supportive of what they are trying to accomplish. Being good company in a professional setting is responsible for getting more work, than having great reading skills.

- On Learning to Not Be a Hostage

Sometimes when we are doing a job there are people who try and manage situations by being mean or rude, or condescending. What to do. What to do. There is little any of us can do to control other people, we can only control our own behavior. The old Bumper Sticker advice is pretty simple " If you wrestle with an idiot, you deserve and idiot" Detached engagement can help us navigate these situations. We become observers, figure out what is driving the other person and then only respond to getting the job done while being pleasant even she others are not. Don't take the bait, don't argue, adjust as best you can and finish the job. Go some place after and keep laughing,

- Many Ways To Have A VoiceOver Career

The high profile voiceover jobs are wonderful and incredibly lucrative. A top voiceover guy once told me, "There's no other way you can make so much money without the risk of going to jail". It's easy to dream of national commercials and movie trailers, but there are literally thousands of ways to make great money lower on the food chain. Here are just a few of the ways: On hold messaging, power point presentations, corporate narratives, documentaries, HR department narratives, pharmaceutical narratives, industrial narratives of all kinds, audio books. Make a list of the ones that interest you most and go get them.