Liz de Nesnera. Best of Both Worlds VO.

Fluently Speaking Your Script's Language in English and French.

Voice Talent: What business are you in?

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Think about that question for a minute.

It’s not so obvious.
When I was “behind the glass” as an engineer/producer, the voice talent that I loved to work with the most were the ones that made my job easier!

They had talent, they knew what to do, and they were pleasant to work with.
They helped me do my job well, by doing their job well.
Now that I’m in front of the mic, I realize that my job is to make my client’s job easier!

My friend, and amazing voice talent Bob Souer, has just written a great post about what business we are really in a voice talent. It’s a must read!

Enjoy!

My “Elevator Demo”

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We’ve all heard of the “Elevator Speech,” right? Being able to tell someone what you do/sell yourself in :30 or less, basically in the time it takes to ride an elevator.

Well, when it comes to Voice Over, demos are already pretty short, and getting shorter. Anything much longer than :60 these days is considered “too long!” And people say that if you don’t grab the listener in the first :10, they’ll stop listening and go on to the next talent.

So my friend Philip Banks threw out a challenge to those of us on the VO-BB:

“Sell your voice in a 10 second demo.
Your sounds, your experience,
your reads, your personality in 10 seconds.”

WOW! It was a challenge, and I had fun putting mine together.

Here is my contribution:

Liz’s :10 Demo

Think about it. If you truly only had :10 to showcase what you do….could you? Give it a shot & let me know, I’d love to hear it!

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2008 Voicey Awards!

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Well, it was an honor just to be nominated!
Really it was!
I know that when you hear that, you’re probably saying, “Yeah, sure!” but actually, even though I didn’t win in my category, I was still really happy, and yes honored, to be considered!

And here’s the thing, I was still able to let clients, prospective clients, colleagues and…ok, family šŸ˜‰ know about the fact that I was in the finals. I got this great graphic to use as a promotional piece, and….there’s always next year!

Frankly it was still a win for me!

As to who among my friends won:

Winner of Best New Voice – Jeffrey Kafer
Winner of Best Teen Voice – Jesse Springer
Winners Best Voice Team – Kara Edwards /Adam Fox
Winner Lifetime Achievement – Pat Fraley

Congratulations to all!

You can also go listen to the Voices Vox Talk Podcast of the announcement of all the winners!

Thanks to Stephanie Ciccarelli, and the entire Voices.com staff for all they do for the voiceover community & for putting together the Voiceys!

Searching for myself!

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So….on his Blog today, my friend Peter O’Connell posted about “Google Placement” and SEO (Search Engine Optimization), all about our constant hopes of being on Page 1 of a Google search…or at least in the first 3 Pages.

So I went searching…for myself, so to speak!

Here is where I come up:

ā€œFrench voice overā€ ranked #4! – THAT was a nice surprise!
ā€œFrench voice talent ā€ ranked #6!
ā€œBilingual voice overā€ ranked #19 (page 2)
ā€œFrench female voice overā€ ranked #69 (my TalentDatabase.com page)
ā€œFemale voice overā€ – I gave up looking for me! šŸ˜‰
ā€œde Nesneraā€ ranked #2 (after my older brother – every “de Nesnera” is my family!)

So then I went looking for “Hire Liz” my website url…just to see, and came up #1 – not bad.

It was a worthwhile exercise…I’m doing well in some areas, and need to work on some others!

Then, when I was doing the “Hire Liz” search I happened upon another “Liz”: Liz Stevens.
She’s an illustrator, and I just love her style! I don’t know her, but I’m looking forward to seeing more of her artwork!

So today I learned something about my placement in cyberspace and found some cool art!

Time well spent, I think! (Thanks for the push, Peter!)

What goes around, comes around

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One of the best aspects of being a voiceover artist is that I get to work out of my own home studio, without anyone looking over my shoulder every minute, of every day.

One of the hardest aspects of being a voice over artist is that I work out of my own home studio, without anyone to talk to all day!

There’s a reason we VO’s joke about being a bit strange: we sit in our padded rooms, talking to ourselves all day!

But one of the most amazing aspects of being a voice over artist is the fact that I have been blessed to meet the most talented, funny and generous group of people on the planet, both in person and “virtually” online: other voiceover artists.

This business, like many others I suppose, is built on relationships. But, regardless of what outsiders or newcomers to voiceover may feel, there truly is no “competition” in this business. I don’t sound like Moe Egan, or Mary McKitrick. Bob Souer doesn’t sound like Jeffrey Kafer or David Monteath. Each of us is unique in our sound, our delivery and in the types of VO we are best suited for. If a client likes the way we sound we get hired. If we’re not right, hopefully one of our friends is!

There’s a real sense of community. A group whose members are happy help each other along the way, and who celebrate each others victories.

I have been happy to pass along job leads to friends and I have been lucky enough to have leads steered my way as well.

My father taught me a long time ago that when someone does you a favor, you may not always be able to “pay” that person back right away – or ever – but if you help someone else, the good just keeps on going. The ripple effect is real.

I’m thrilled to be a part of a community that lives this ideal, and doesn’t just give it “lip-service!” (Pun intended!)

Be yourself, not someone else!

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This will be quick, but (I think) profound.
The classic: “It may be simple but it’s not easy”

My friend and FABULOUS British voice talent Philip Banks just posted this very “simple” admonition to all of us VO’s out there, and which works for any entrepreneur:

“Do you know the name of the man who provides the voice for most film trailers? It’s Don La Fontaine; there are a few other men doing the same job. Ashton Smith, Hal Douglas and Nick Tate to name three. Between them they account for about $12,000,000 in fee income. Call any agent in New York or Los Angeles and they’ve got “that sound” covered. What are most of the male voice in the USA trying to sell? The same sound, the same voice; their USP ……Me too! How far do you think it gets them? On a few web sites frequented by Voice Overs I posted this …….ME2 . My point is a fairly simple one but so few seem to want to take it on board.Is your business just a clone of another business set up by you in the hope of getting a share of the market? Wouldn’t it be easier to sell YOU?”

Your story is unique: tell it! Works for me! (Thanks Philip!)

On the road to success

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When I started down the road to becoming a full time voice over talent, there was a lot to learn. Not the least of which was how to run my own business and all that that entails. I’m still learning new skills as I go along – blogging for instance! – and enjoying the process.

While many of you on the VO Blog circuit have probably seen my friend Mary McKitrick’s great post on setting rates, I think it’s worth reading again…and again…and again! Her followup on perceived value in voice over is also a must read.

As entrepreneurs, because yes, that’s what we are, it is our responsibility to value ourselves and our talent. That confidence will be reflected in how we interact with clients, who we can then turn into raving fans! And if certain people don’t see your value, move on.

As one of my mentors, Barbara Winter, once told me “Make it your goal to only work with the willing.”

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