This Episode:
The first episode of Season 2! Navigating the world of freelance voice acting can be a daunting task, especially for introverts. In the latest episode of Inside Voice, hosts Louise Porter and Brad Grochowski share their experiences and insights into this unique industry. As they kick off season two, they delve into the challenges of putting oneself out there in a world that demands constant self-promotion.
“Your relationship to coaching changes as you grow in your journey.”
Brad Grochowski
One of the key topics discussed is the role of coaching in a voice actor’s journey. Louise and Brad explore the benefits and potential pitfalls of seeking guidance from industry coaches. They emphasize the importance of finding the right fit and being mindful of the diminishing returns that can occur as one gains experience. The duo shares personal anecdotes about their own coaching experiences, highlighting the value of niche coaching for specific skills, such as gaming voiceover or vocal combat techniques.
The episode also touches on the competitive nature of commercial auditions. Both hosts express their desire to increase their booking rates and discuss the challenges of breaking into the commercial genre. They offer valuable advice on how to approach coaching and auditions strategically, suggesting that voice actors should focus on their strengths while continually seeking opportunities for growth.
Louise and Brad also address the importance of networking and industry connections. They encourage listeners to engage with workshops and group coaching sessions as a way to learn from peers and gain diverse perspectives. The episode concludes with a discussion on the importance of trusting one’s instincts when selecting coaches, especially in light of recent industry controversies.
Whether you’re a seasoned voice actor or just starting out, this episode of Inside Voice offers a wealth of knowledge and encouragement. Tune in to gain insights into the world of voice acting and discover how to navigate the challenges of the industry with confidence and authenticity.
Transcript:
Inside Voice explores freelance voiceover world while being introverts
Louise Porter: Welcome to Inside Voice. Join hosts, friends and voice actors Louise Porter. That’s me. And Brad Grochowski.
Brad Grochowski: Hey, that’s me.
Louise Porter: As we navigate the freelance voiceover world while simultaneously being introverts, we ponder the question, how do you put yourself out there when literally the last thing you want to do is put yourself out there? Find out what earth shattering conclusions, if any, we come to you on this week’s edition of Inside Voice. Hey, Brad.
Brad Grochowski: Hey, Louise. How are you doing?
Louise Porter: Pretty good.
Brad Grochowski: Good.
Welcome, everybody, to season two of Inside Voice
Louise Porter: Welcome, everybody, to season two of Inside Voice.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah, that’s what happens when you do 10 episodes and take a break. Then you’re like, hey, that was season one.
Louise Porter: Yeah, it’s pretty good. So this is an accidental hiatus there.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah. Episode. This is episode 11, aka season two. Episode one.
Louise Porter: I love it.
Brad Grochowski: Oh, boy. It’s just. It’s gotten so busy. It’s. I mean, it’s good, right? But just so many things going on.
Louise Porter: It is good. Yes.
Brad Grochowski: And, it’s hard. this is an extracurricular activity for us, and I think both of us feel the same in that we love doing it, but. Yeah.
Louise Porter: And I think it becomes one of those things. It’s like anything that you. When you start to put something off, the longer that it. The longer that you put it off, the harder it is to get back into it.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah. And, and then. Yeah. And you kind of start to spiral, and then you start to feel guilty or shame or whatever, and then shame spiraling about. And then it gets harder and harder. Yeah. Each week that goes by, it gets harder to get back to the thing.
Louise Porter: Yes. Yeah. But here we are.
Brad Grochowski: Here we are. And that’s reality. And, you know, every day is. Every day is the first day of the rest of the journey. So every day is a great day.
Louise Porter: To start the first day of the rest of your.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah, that’s exactly right. it’s nice when you can lean on a well worn platitude, isn’t it?
Louise Porter: It definitely is.
Brad Grochowski: well, let’s remind everybody, this is the Inside Voice podcast and I’m Brad.
Louise Porter: And I’m Louise.
Brad Grochowski: And you can find out more about us@theinsidevoicepodcast.com and find us wherever podcasts stream.
Louise Porter: Yep.
Brad Grochowski: And if you care to leave a review, that would be awesome. That would help us reach more people.
Louise Porter: Yeah. Or, questions, comments, all that kind of stuff can all be directed there. The Inside Voice podcast dot com.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah. What’s Gmail?
Louise Porter: What is that?
Brad Grochowski: Is the Connect at the Inside Voice podcast.
Louise Porter: Connect at the Inside Voice Podcast.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah, we’d love to hear from you.
Louise Porter: We would. so, yeah, go ahead.
Brad Grochowski: That was a ramp, up to nothing. I’m not sure where I was going.
Louise Porter: I was like, oh, you’re going to lead with something great.
Brad Grochowski: I appreciate you stepping aside to let me. But then I had nothing.
Some of the frustrations or maybe downsides to coaching are discussed
Louise Porter: well, I think, we had sort of loosely talked about, the topic of coaching had come up.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s something that I think I know I would like to talk a little bit about. It’s something that I’m constantly, fascinated and frustrated and by.
Brad Grochowski: Right.
Louise Porter: So yeah, I guess maybe start off by. Because I think we all know what the advantages are, but what’s. What are the. Some of the frustrations or maybe downsides, if there are any.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah. And I don’t know if I have downsides to coaching in general, but I think as you grow in your sort of on your journey and your level of experience in anything. But I’m obviously my experience is voiceover. your relationship to coaching changes. Right?
Louise Porter: Yeah.
Brad Grochowski: And I don’t think you ever will reach a stage where you no longer need coaching because there’s always things to learn, there’s always edges to sand off, there’s always new bits of technique that you can pick up. But I know, there are diminishing returns. Right. And the more experienced you get and really the more, the closer your skill level gets to the coaches that are around you in general, the harder it gets to mine them, for more M. For growth.
Louise Porter: Yeah, exactly. And I was going to say in my mind there are some drawbacks. Sometimes the one that I can think of the most is that you can end up getting in your head too much, about maybe the, the techniques that that coach has imparted or really anything you can just start to go down the rabbit hole of like every read being just this, landmine in a way of things that you’re getting wrong or things that you might be missing and to the point where it might become an unnatural read. And I mean you’re trying, that’s what you’re trying to, you know, avoid in the first place. So I know I’m not the only one who’s had that experience. and so that can be, a drawback, I think. And I don’t know how you get out of that. Get a coach that helps you get out of your head.
Brad Grochowski: I think that, and I think working with different coaches might be a solution to that too. Right. Because then you’re not slavishly, slavishly, trying to emulate or recreate some dictum that you got from one coach through a series of sessions. Instead, you’re sort of more holistically picking up information and learning and growing.
Louise Porter: Yeah.
Brad Grochowski: So that might be something to think about as a way to address that.
Louise Porter: Yeah. And I think sometimes people can make it sound like certain coaches or techniques or whatever have been, quote, unquote, game changers and that there was some kind of overnight just transformation, like night and day, which I’m not saying that’s not true. or that that has not happened to people, but I think it’s important to remember that, that it won’t be the case for everyone and that sometimes what’s imparted. So what’s imparted can, you know, kind of percolate, Percolate, percolate, percolate, percolate over time. And suddenly you’ll find yourself, you know, doing the thing, and you’re like, oh, that’s totally what I picked up from so and so. Or from what I learned. Right. But I know for me, I tend to, I’ll look back at, like, let’s say the sessions are recorded, and maybe I’ve also taken notes, may, maybe it’s a combination of those things, but I will go back over everything and dissect it and try and pull out as much as I can and make more notes. And it just can paralyze you.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah.
Louise Porter: You know?
Brad Grochowski: Yeah. Yeah.
Louise Porter: So, that’s something that I’ve found.
Brad Grochowski: I think I’m too lazy to do that. Like, I, I, I, so, so I don’t know.
Louise Porter: I think I’m just trying to. What I’m trying to do when that happens is, like, I’m trying to make sure that I’ve really understood. Like, I’m like, okay, I’m spending the money, I’m spending the time. I just really want to make sure that I’m getting this and. Yeah, sorry, go ahead.
Brad Grochowski: No, yeah. And optimizing your investment of time and money and effort. Yeah, for sure.
Louise Porter: That’s a much more articulate way of putting it.
Brad Grochowski: but I think I’m too lazy, and I tend to process things more. And I don’t mean this in a positive way. I tend to process things more intuitively. Right. Like, I’m not saying I’m intuitive at. I feel like I just kind of take it in and let it wash around. Like, I never go back to the notes from coaching. I should, and I should do that. And, I should take better notes and I should go back and listen to the recordings. and maybe I’d get more out of it if I did that. I don’t know. But I don’t and I haven’t, you know. And maybe that’s part of the answer to the question that I’m sort of struggling with now.
Gen says if you’re not getting enough work, get coaching
And this comes back to the stage that I’m in. and how I’m feeling about coaching right now personally is that I certainly do not think for a second in any way whatsoever that I’m done and I don’t need any more coaching. That’s not how I feel. But I do feel like I’m approaching that level of diminishing returns. Right. And m. I’ve worked with a bunch of coaches and I’ve gotten a lot from them and I feel like I’m at a point where I need to just work. Right. And just. And I feel like I’m getting work now. I’d like to book more auditions. I would like to increase my percentage. That’s definitely a goal that I have. But I’m working enough now that I’m not like, oh my God, I must suck at this. So I gotta get more coaching to get better. Because that’s an instinctive thing. Right? Like if you’re not getting enough work, get coaching. And I absolutely stand by that. Right. Yes.
Louise Porter: And that might be in different things though. I mean that might m. You might just need help with marketing or something at that point. Too true.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah. And when I say coaching, I mean in general. I don’t mean specifically.
Louise Porter: Yeah, it might not have anything to do with your abilities as an actual voice actor or voice talent. I know the things that have helped me the most in coaching have been very specific niche things. And I can cite probably two examples over the last few years. One was, ah, an NPC gaming workshop that I took with Kim Herdon. And it was specifically about npc. So that’s the non player characters and video games. And I, because I’m not a person who plays video games, like I didn’t know anything about it. And it’s just really interesting to know to have taken a workshop where it gets completely explained to you. You understand the casting process too and what’s required when you’re actually in the sessions for those particular characters. It’s very strenuous. you can be in there for a long time. You have to really, commit completely to the role. If you’re swinging a sword and you’re screaming it’s are fully committed. So those things are really helpful. Like that, that’s, that was one thing that I, I remember thinking I didn’t know any of this.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah.
Louise Porter: You know, it just really solidified it. And then the other thing was, I did, I had to do what I knew was going to be a strenuous gaming voiceover session. I think it was last spring. So I actually got one on one coaching from Darcy Smith. And he’s the guy who came up with the vocal combat technique. And so his whole thing is really about how to do all this sort of strenuous effort sounds and yelling and whatever else dying sounds and not trash your voice. so he’s got all these techniques around it. So things like that I find to be the most helpful.
Brad Grochowski: I like that. Yeah. And I like what it sounds like you’re saying is once you get to a certain level of experience and you understand what you really need and where your gaps are, you can really sort of niche down and seek coaching for very specific things. Instead of saying, I don’t know if I’m any good at this. I just need a coach. Right. You’ll say. And I hear, and that’s 100%.
Louise Porter: And I’ve never had coaching on video game character work other than that NPC thing. But that wasn’t really, that wasn’t teaching you how to act. I mean acting experiences, I already have that. So I’ve never just been like, all right, I need to learn how to do video game characters. That’s not. And I think it’s important to know where your limitations are to and where you might excel. So you know, I’ve gotten a lot of work in that what do you call it? Genre.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah, you have.
Louise Porter: And then there’s other genres where I really struggle. Like I would say the commercial world is somewhere that I still haven’t really been able to break in. I’ve gotten some really close short lists through my agent and stuff like that where I’m like, oh, I’m really close. But I think I have this maybe a bit of a block with it. Either I’m not the right sounding voice or I haven’t quite mastered that read. And I’ve coached, I’ve. I’ve coached for that specifically and very recently and I sometimes I’m just like, I don’t know, maybe this is just not my. Maybe this is just not my niche, you know, and I need to move on from it.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah. And I have the same struggle with commercial. I think it’s a couple things. One, I think commercial is unbelievably competitive. Right? Like that’s like if there’s one genre that everybody does and shoots for, it’s commercial. Even if you specialize in E Learning, you’re still auditioning for commercial. If you specialize in audiobooks, if you specialize in explainer, whatever you do, you also audition for elearning in a way that. I mean for commercial in a way that people who are making. They’re not doing commercial may not be trying to book other things. Right. And that’s because it’s. I think part of it is it’s. It’s the most note notable but it’s also the most dollar per minute spent doing the job. It’s. It’s right up there as one of the top most.
Louise Porter: When you get to the higher level. Like national stuff. I think.
If there was one bit of coaching that I would prioritize right now
Brad Grochowski: Yeah.
Louise Porter: Yes. I mean, I think some gaming stuff can be equally as lucrative, but it just depends on what, you know, where it’s being broadcast and all that kind of the US and everything. But.
Brad Grochowski: But But I kind of feel the same way about commercial and I have a really hard time. And when I say I would like to increase my, you know, my booking rate on auditions, that’s what I’m talking about. I am talking about commercial stuff.
Louise Porter: Yeah, me too. I think that’s just that one area where I’m like I’ve really.
Brad Grochowski: And if there was one bit of coaching that I would sort of prioritize right now, it would be just commercial auditioning.
Louise Porter: I went heavy into it as you know, in the new year and it was amazing. but I just. I honestly, I think a lot of what you’re saying is so true. It’s just. It is that competitive that it’s like maybe I. Maybe I’m actually pretty good at it. It’s just. It’s a numbers game and you know. But I don’t know. There’s always that part of me that’s like, oh, it could just be down to voice print and that you’re not right for what’s out there right now or you know.
Brad Grochowski: Well. And I think you and I both have different voice print. Like I don’t.
Louise Porter: I think both more unique.
Brad Grochowski: Just some uniqueness. Yeah, I think so. I don’t.
Louise Porter: It’s hard to know. It’s hard to be objective about something like that because I think probably a lot of people feel that way.
Brad Grochowski: Voice actors, I guess that’s true.
Louise Porter: They feel that way about their voices.
Brad Grochowski: But I mean I’VE been coaches and demo engineers and whatnot. Have. You know, it’s been a pretty consistent comment I’ve got, but maybe everybody gets that consistent comment. I don’t know.
Louise Porter: Oh, that your voice is unique.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah. Not. Not unique, but just different. It’s not. Yeah.
Louise Porter: I don’t know that I ever have. I think I’ve heard it from m. Peers. M. because my voice is slightly deeper, I think is maybe the reason why, but I’m not totally sure.
Brad Grochowski: And I’d like to add that, frankly, I don’t know what they’re talking about because, like, to me, like, I sound like everybody else, so I don’t know what they mean. But I. And I don’t take them at their word. I suspect that they may not be lying to me. Right.
Louise Porter: Like, that’s the best I can tell. I mean, I would say you have a slight accent from, Where is it you’re from again? Michigan.
Brad Grochowski: From Michigan.
Louise Porter: Interesting. Yeah, it sort of sounds slightly. There’s a little accent there.
Brad Grochowski: Well, listeners comment and let me know, do I have a Michigan accent or do I have some remnants of my Michigan accent that hasn’t been completely washed away by myself?
Louise Porter: Do we both have totally weird voices or we just have bookable?
Brad Grochowski: Yeah. but I guess all I’m saying is, you know, I don’t. I don’t feel like I’m at a point where I can just throw coaching at things anymore. Like, I have to be more thoughtful and more specific about it because of the diminishing returns and because I’m at a stage where I know, I shouldn’t say it, that I have a good idea of where my blind spots, where I’m missing things where I need to build up. Yeah.
Louise Porter: and I think it’s good to capitalize on where you’re already growing and just. You keep. Keep building on that too. Like, you know, you can definitely bang your head against the wall with things that just aren’t going to work for you or currently aren’t, and maybe you need to revisit it in a year. You know, there’s enough. There’s enough work in the corporate world, which I think, you know, people who aren’t in voiceover or maybe if they’re just starting, they don’t realize that, like, that can be bread and butter for most voice actors.
Brad Grochowski: Absolutely. They definitely don’t.
Louise Porter: Yeah. So, yeah, if you’ve got lots of that coming in, then, yeah.
Brad Grochowski: People often ask when, you know, when I get around to telling them I used. When I first started I wanted everybody to know, but I’m like, I wait until the last possible. Like, till I have to say what I do. Because it. Then it’s just a whole conversation, which I enjoy, but it’s a lot.
I do a lot of E learning for industrial stuff like that
But one of the first things people ask me is, oh, where might I have heard you? And I’m like, well, if you’re, you know, doing chorus training for, masonry inspector certification, you’ve probably heard my voice.
Louise Porter: You know, those are random things. One thing I will say, just on a side note is that’s something that I really enjoy about voiceover is how much new shit I learned just from these scripts where I’m like, I didn’t know anything about this field or.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah, I do a lot of E learning for industrial stuff like that, like masonry, concrete, steel inspection steel fasteners, welding. I have learned. So. And a lot of it goes in and out, right? Like, But I’ve just learned so much. And now I’m like, I’m walking around in the world and I’m like, oh, that’s a such and such joint from. Blah, blah, blah. It has to be, the steel has to be 0.3m millimeters and blah blah, blah. It’s like, I don’t feel like I’m.
Louise Porter: Feeling those industries, they’re still not, maybe hiring as many women as they are men. Because a lot of what I get is like, mental health in the workplace or sexual harassment in the workplace module one, you know, that’s what I get.
Brad Grochowski: Interesting. Yeah.
Louise Porter: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Covid: I wish I’d sought more coaching earlier
All right, well, it feels like we’ve, we’ve exhausted that topic.
Brad Grochowski: No, I. Actually, if. If I may.
Louise Porter: Okay, fine.
Brad Grochowski: I do have one point that I wanted to add onto the end of this, and that is, for any newer, I will say I wish, I do wish that I’d sought more coaching a little earlier than I did. And what I mean by that is I came into voiceover almost, by, accident and without really knowing what I didn’t know. And I thought, here’s what I’ll do. I’ll just start and I’ll get as far as I can until I feel like I have to get coaching because it’s either working or it’s not right. And, I would do it the other way around. Now, if I were to restart it, I would do some practice recording at home, and then I would book one, like one session with a coach, right? And work with them to see what. Whether or not this is something I should even pursue. What I really need to focus on. Then I would go and practice some more, and then I would book another session with a coach.
Louise Porter: I think that’s how I learned that. Yes. And what I found helpful, just as an add on to that at the beginning, was workshops with coaches. So you can, A lot of them will let you audit a class so you don’t even have to participate. Paid. I never actually did that. But workshops generally where there’s, you know, a group of five, six, seven, eight people, they’re affordable and you can learn a lot by, listening to the people in the room and the feedback that they get. And you can learn a lot about the coach and how they interact with people and their teaching style, without, you know, the commitment, the financial commitment with one particular person. And it is a bit of, It can be really intimidating when you’re starting to try and find the right coach because you can get all these recommendations from people that might be. They might be great coaches, but you don’t know if it’s going to be right for you, for one thing. But the other thing is what came up recently was, the whole Lisa Biggs debacle. She was a. A coach and very well respected in the industry. And then it turned out there was this huge fallout where she owed people money and she wasn’t, you know, she was supposed to record demos and she wouldn’t get the demos to people. And it finally ended up allegedly.
Brad Grochowski: Allegedly.
Louise Porter: All I’m gonna say is I’m not the first person to have said her name out loud. And I think one of the things that’s come up out of this is like, people talk about vetting coaches and making sure that you get recommendations from people. And this was a person who was vetted and did have recommendations from people and was very well respected and people still got taken advantage of. And I just think that’s where your own kind of gut instincts have to come in as well, is like, does it feel right? Because lots of people came back and said there was a lot of red flags, but I. But because everybody else said this person was amazing, like, I just kept going with it and paying them the money. Right. So I just. I just think that’s worth mentioning.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah. And she was doing demos and stuff too, right?
Louise Porter: Well, that’s what I mean. Yeah. A big part of it was demos and because she. She was doing tons of stuff in the sort of the, the children’s, entertainment world, like talking toys and animation and all that kind of stuff. So. So, yeah, ah, yeah. Very unfortunate situation.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah. And makes it the topic of coaching even more tricky. Right. Like, you don’t. How do you know who to trust? How do you know, who’s got the goods and who’s going to take advantage of you especially? It feels like the last few, you know, Covid years since we’ve started, it feels like a lot of people have hung up their shingles as coaches. And who. Who do you trust? I don’t know.
Louise Porter: Yeah. And I think that’s sort of what I’m saying is, like, before you commit an exorbitant amount of money, workshops are a pretty good way to go. And maybe just private message people, too. Like, really ask them what their experience actually was without, necessarily being public in a group. Because you’ll see a lot of people being super positive about somebody, and then maybe other people who have had a bad experience are less likely to come forward and say anything because they don’t want to step on any toes or look like assholes, or whatever. Right. So, And I think that’s kind of what happened in this situation. It went on for years where newer talent were afraid to speak up because the veterans weren’t, you know, they didn’t know any. That there was anything nefarious going on. So. Yeah. And obviously, I think that’s an exception. Like, if. If someone’s well vetted and well respected, I would say generally that’s, you know, you can trust that they’re good at what they do and that they’re honest and all that stuff.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah.
Okay. Have we exhausted, uh, that topic for now? I think so. Yeah. That’s good
Okay. Well.
Louise Porter: Have we exhausted, that topic for now?
Brad Grochowski: I think so. Yeah. Yeah. That’s good.
Emmanuel: Sometimes giving an ABC roll can backfire on revisions
Louise Porter: All right.
Brad Grochowski: Anything else you want to talk about here? You ready to wrap things up a little bit?
Louise Porter: No, I guess we had a few more minutes. we were talking about some, you know, the frustrations of revisions.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah.
Louise Porter: which can be a really good learning experience sometimes where you listen back and you’re like, you know what? They’re totally right. I. You know, or it’s down to, inadequate direction on their part, whatever it is. Right.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah.
Louise Porter: And so what I used to do a lot of. And what I sometimes occasionally do and then completely regret is giving an ABC roll, which for anybody who doesn’t know is just like giving three different reads for something. Now, obviously, this would be for a more short form.
Brad Grochowski: Right. and I think that’s pretty standard, too. Like, if it’s under 60 seconds, that’s. That’s usually what I. Or. Or maybe if it’s under a couple minutes, I’ll usually do that. I’ll give them an A, a B and a C. And that way I feel like I’m giving them options. Right. But you have a hack that I think rethinks that a little bit.
Louise Porter: Yeah. So I think unless they ask for it, and maybe you’re charging a bit extra, like, I don’t know, you could do. I’ll, charge 50% of the original. I don’t know what people do, but, unless they ask for it, I would say don’t do it. And the reason that I say don’t do it is because, first of all, they’re hiring you. You’re the professional. So if you feel like you haven’t got enough direction, ask for some clarification or, maybe a link to something that they liked or. Which can totally also backfire. So.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah, that can make it hard, too.
Louise Porter: Yeah, that can be hard. But, you’re the professional. So give the read that you’re most confident with. I mean, in your booth, maybe you want to read it three. Three times. Two or three times. Usually for me, I’ll go back. If I’ve done three reads and nine times out of 10, the first read is the best read. But I will pick up the beginning of the script Right. As I finish. So I get to the end of it, and then I just pick up the beginning again. And usually I’ll paste that bit in because this is. The energy is just slightly different.
Brad Grochowski: Sure.
Louise Porter: So just to match those up. But what I find is when you give an ABC read, a lot of the time, it sets up probably a little bit of doubt in the mind of the client where they’re like, hm, Now I’m not really sure. Right. Because now they got all these options and it’s just, Now they’re like, oh, well, maybe we could do it a bit like read B, but a little more somewhere between A and C or. You know what I mean? Right. And start to just get ridiculous.
Brad Grochowski: I know what you mean. Yes.
Louise Porter: And that’s the point where you’re like, okay, well, maybe we need, like a live directed session here. So now you’ve opened up a can of worms. Rather than just being like, I’m the professional, I understand the assignment, and you give it your best first read. And usually I, when I do that, I get far fewer revisions when I just give one read.
Brad Grochowski: That’s interesting.
Louise Porter: Or if I do get a revision now, I’ve only had to do it twice instead of four times.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah. Or nine times if they want Another round?
Louise Porter: Yeah, yeah.
Brad Grochowski: You know, and like, a couple concerns I have with that. One is if I do three reads, I know which one I like. Like, I know, like, that’s the one right there. And then I’ll give it to them. And it’s really rare that they pick the one that I thought they would.
Louise Porter: This is the other thing you want to be happy with what gets put out there. Like, you know, if it’s like a localized radio ad or whatever. Like I had one of those the other day. you know, you know that’s gonna be out there. Like, you want that to be the read that you, like, think is the best read. And, not the slightly. Like, I don’t really like how I ended that sentence.
Brad Grochowski: Or that’s fair. Because they don’t. Like. They may. Like I get. I hate it when I get scripts where the words, you know, that indicate. Emphasis on words that just should not be emphasized, like the and of the sentence or your. You know what I mean? Like words that we know, we’re trained and we have experience to know not to emphasize those because it doesn’t sound good. But to, a writer or to somebody who doesn’t have the experience, they think that the and should be emphasize. And I feel like I’m obligated to do that, but I know it’s not going to work.
Louise Porter: Yeah, agreed.
Brad Grochowski: The other concern I would have, I’m just thinking through this, is if they’ve worked with other voice actors who do give them three reads, and then they may come back and be like, well, usually I get three reads and, sorry, I shouldn’t make clients sound that snotty.
Louise Porter: I’ve never had that happen.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah.
Louise Porter: Nobody has come back to me and be like. And said that.
Giving three reads without being asked for three is going above and beyond, right
Like.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah.
Louise Porter: I would think if. If a client has that expectation of normally, like, if they’re professionals, they will say, by the way, with our previous voice over, talent, they send us three reads. Is that included in your service? Is that included in your price? Like, that would be my expectation that they would ask.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah.
Louise Porter: Instead of.
Brad Grochowski: If they did, I would say yes. And then I would probably.
Louise Porter: Well, especially because we’re charging, I mean, beyond what we charge for, like usage. You’re charging a minimum for, you know, words and. Or length, right? Yeah, depends how people charge, but yeah. Yeah.
Brad Grochowski: Okay. I can’t think of any other objections to it, so.
Louise Porter: And I know people say, like, go above and beyond, and I get that. But you can go above and beyond in, like, the speed at which you, like under promise, over deliver in the speed at which you get it out there.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah.
Louise Porter: Or, you know, if you’ve given a revision policy, but. But they really want the whole thing redone because you really. They don’t feel that you’ve hit the mark, then you go above and beyond and you do that revision for free. You have to make those decisions for your own business. But. Yeah, I just don’t think that giving three reads without being asked for three reads is going above and beyond. The other thing it can do is that it can make them have to do more work than they normally would.
Brad Grochowski: I was gonna say that, actually. Yeah.
Louise Porter: Yeah.
Brad Grochowski: Cause like, we’re looking at repainting our living room. And this is my wife’s, her sort of thing. Like, she wants to do this. And if she says to me, hey, should we paint it blue or teal or, you know, magenta or mauve? Say mauve. I think that’s one of the Not. No. What’s the yellowish one? I always get them mixed up. Yellowish.
Louise Porter: one.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah. Like it’s like a lemony yellow. it doesn’t matter. Let’s just say yellow. If she gives me three options, then I really have to think through where. If she just says, hey, do you want to paint it blue? Super easy, yes or no? You know what I mean? Okay. Not blue. How about teal? Okay, that sounds good, right?
Louise Porter: Yeah. I think sometimes some people have too many options. It just creates more work for them. Maybe more anxiety, and some analysis paralysis. And then their coming back to you and being like, well, what, can you do it like this now? And. Yeah, I just. I don’t think it really works for anybody for the most part.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah, well, that I like.
Louise Porter: The only time I can see it working is if they just don’t know what they want until they hear it and that they’re clear about that. They’re like, you know what? We think we kind of want it to be this way, but can you give it three different reads then? I understand that. I get that. That’s good. Maybe helpful or.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah. If you get from them that they. Yeah, exactly. If you get from them that they don’t know what they want and you can give them three very different directions. Right. And then they can say, oh, this is the direction I want.
Louise Porter: Yep. Yeah, exactly.
Brad Grochowski: Okay.
Louise Porter: Okay. Well, I think, we’ve hit the end of the episode here. Cause I’ve gotta go and run an errand here.
Inside Voice Episode 11 is available everywhere that podcasts stream
Brad Grochowski: Cool. Well, once again, this was Inside Voice Episode 11. I’m Brad.
Louise Porter: I’m Louise.
Brad Grochowski: And you can find out more.
Louise Porter: Inside Voice, season two, episode one.
Brad Grochowski: Season two, Episode one. And you can find out more at the Inside Voice podcast dot com. You can reach us at connectheinsidevoicepodcast.com and find us everywhere that podcasts stream. And please leave us a review. We’d love to hear how you feel about it and reach out to us if you have any questions, comments, or to make fun of us. That’s cool, too.
Louise Porter: Or if you would like to chat with us and, like, be a guest.
Brad Grochowski: Yeah, oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
We have a new closing tagline to try out
All right. And we have a new closing tagline to try out. This one is from Anton Gill. He had sent us two, and we tried one before, our season break. And, that’s right. I think this is the one we didn’t try, so I should have gone.
Louise Porter: By familiar to me. Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool. So how do you want to do it? I’ll say the first half, you say the second half.
Brad Grochowski: How about you, say the first, I say the next three words, and then we could say the last three together with.
Louise Porter: That’s great. Okay.
Brad Grochowski: Okay.
Louise Porter: Cool, cool, cool.
Inside Voice is where quiet strength meets bold narratives
Brad Grochowski: All right. All right, thanks for joining us, everybody. This has been Inside Voice, The Inside Voice podcast.
Louise Porter: Inside Voice, where.
Brad Grochowski: Sorry, can we try it again? This has been the Inside Voice podcast. Inside Voice, where quiet strength meets.
Louise Porter: Meets bold narratives.
Brad Grochowski: Bold narratives.
Louise Porter: Can we try it one more time?
Brad Grochowski: All right, let’s try it one more time. Inside Voice, where quiet strength meets boldness. Let’s try it again. Okay, I’ll hold on the meats for you. Sorry, everybody. All right, one more time.
Louise Porter: Okay.
Brad Grochowski: Inside Voice, where quiet strength meets bold narratives. That’s good enough. They got it.
Louise Porter: It’s pretty good. Oh, boy.
Brad Grochowski: Thanks so much. And, yeah, we’ll talk next week and have a great. Enjoy your errands and have a great week.
Louise Porter: Thanks. You, too, Brad.
Brad Grochowski: All right, bye, Louise.
Louise Porter: Bye. Thanks for joining us. on this week’s episode of Inside Voice, if you have a topic, suggestion, a question, or would like to challenge your introverted self by being a guest on the podcast, email us@connectheinsidevoicepodcast.com.