Hello blog reader! A short introduction is in order; my name is Nate Myers. I am the Social Media Manager here at The Voice Shop, a voice coaching school. I am relatively new to the world of voice over, and to submerge myself in the nuances of this art, I asked to attend one of The Voice Shop’s virtual classes, The Fundamentals of Voice Over. I learned about my voice in some ways I never thought possible.
So, I tried voice over acting for the first time, knowing absolutely nothing of the craft or the industry! What follows is a summary of the incredible value I received during the two-and-a-half-hour class.
The teacher for the class was Michael George. Mike, as he prefers to be called, has been a voice-over professional for decades. Trends, industry practice and standards have changed multiple times as he forged his path into the voice over field. I would use words like friendly, professional, genuine, frank, and uncompromising to describe Mike. The last one may be a bit of a surprise, but it was in the best way, as I’ll explain in a bit.
Voice coach, Michael George, teaching voice lessons at the Voice Shop in New York City.
When I first joined the class, we went around the horn and introduced ourselves. It was a diverse group, both ethnically and regarding age and location. Some students had some experience in singing or other related respects, but we were all new to voice over. This “newness” made me feel very comfortable knowing that I wouldn’t be compared to someone far better than me. It can be intimidating to try something new. Luckily that wasn’t a factor at all that night.
The first half of the class consisted of Mike teaching us various techniques to control our voice. We practiced accentuating different words in a message, using our tone and expression. He had several voice over parts from commercials and the like that we could try and use for comparison. Mike was extremely focused on what he heard from us and provided clear feedback before trying again. I noticed immediately that my voice became lighter sounding, more positive, and friendly. And I got my first epiphany of the night:
“Wow, I could actually do this.”
I have never in my life thought I had a voice-over-worthy voice. I thought I always sounded younger than I was and so casual that no professional voice over project would even consider me. I hadn’t thought these things specifically, but if someone had asked me, “Have you considered performing voice over?” I would have laughed at them. It wasn’t in the stars for me, or so I thought.
Mike continued to take us through the exercises and techniques, and something else started to shine through. We all had different strengths and personalities. Mike was helping draw that out of us and quite quickly. Two and a half hours felt like a very short time because I was so engaged the entire class. I watched as other students found their voice and started reading things as themselves. It was inspiring. I said earlier that Mike was uncompromising. I meant that he didn’t accept it if someone read the prompt exactly like the person before them. Imitation was not the goal. He wasn’t satisfied with unenthusiastic attempts. He had constructive feedback for every single line that was read. He was uncompromising in making sure we were all getting our money’s worth from the class.
The Voice Shop brings out the strengths and nuances of each voice during the voice lessons.
Mike emphasized that we should try to be relatable, accessible, genuine, human throughout the night. Probably the opposite of what you would think of the voice over industry. In my mind, it’s full of talent who are actually actors, but their abilities are featured behind the scenes as voices rather than people on film. They were people pretending to be someone they were not. While this may be true in some cases, especially in animation, Mike wasn’t focused on that. He wanted us to find success in the best way for us individually. He said, “People these days don’t want to be marketed to; they want to hear from their friend or their neighbor about a product.” So, marketing departments and agencies have been looking for voice over talent that sounds just like that. REAL.
The latter portion of the class is dedicated to questions and answers. I found this section equally interesting and helpful as the first. All of us, being beginners, had a lot of questions. Some of the best ones were:
· How much money can you make for a gig?
· What equipment do I have to buy to get started?
· What facet of the industry is best to focus on? Commercial? Animation? Radio?
· How can I better improve myself?
· How can I leverage an agent or agency to market myself?
Mike was brutally honest in his responses, which was great for the other students and me. Again, two hours earlier, we had zero knowledge of voice over or how to do it. Here we were, completely transformed into more professional beings. Every student wanted to learn the next steps. They wanted to continue down this path they had stumbled upon.
Mike recommended we sign up for the following classes, which include Intermediate Essentials and Advanced Techniques. He also offered to do one-on-one sessions with each of us if desired. Then we could really dig into the industry and where we wanted to contribute. Which opportunities we should pursue, how to further polish our voiceovers.
The class ended, leaving me a very different person from before. I had learned of a way that I could make income as a side hustle. I knew how to do it, what to do next and where to turn to for advice.
All in all, it was a 10-out-of-10 experience! Mike, you took a person with casual interest at best and turned them into an aspiring voice-over artist. Thank you.
