While I work as a voice talent full-time – and have been this time around for the past dozen years or so – I do manage to carve out enough time in the Spring and Fall to teach one class at San Diego City College.

The reason I say “this time around” – is that I started out making a full-time living doing announcing and voiceover work, while also working in my spare time as a producer/writer. I actually gave up my free-lance voiceover work for several years while I worked full-time in a video and film department where I wore lots of hats. Eventually, I chose to stop producing and put the writing on the back burner as well, moving back into voicework full-time. I actually consider those years as “post” post-graduate school for my voiceover work.

Back to the class. It is a basic introduction to voiceover. If you are interested in what goes on there, you could sign up for the class blog with assignments and links to interesting articles and podcasts of interest to people wanting to learn more about the business.

http://sdccd106.wordpress.com

While, of course, I get paid to teach the class, the main reason I rearrange my schedule is that when I teach the class, I am actually taking the class myself! Every semester, in the process of revealing the mysteries of what it is to be a voiceover professional, I learn something new.

(Geez, there are a lot of “I’s” in that last paragraph.)

But, it is true, if you spend time thinking about what it is you are doing – analyzing – verbalizing – you will get better at it. Plus, I get to “perform” in front of a captive audience twice a week.

First class is tomorrow at 9:35 AM. The class is full with a waiting list, so the first day will be busy with paperwork. But we will manage to get some actual “work” done to, because this semester will start off a bit different from most in that I will be out of town the entire following week doing a live announce gig.

So I have this Monday and Wednesday to get the class “introduced” to the biz and then give them a big listening and doing assignment that will throw them into the deep end of the business.

It will be so much fun to see what they come up with when the class picks back up in February.