About Connie Terwilliger

Full-time voice talent working out of professional studio for clients around the world providing high quality VO for narration, eLearning, commercials, animation, telephony and more.
FacebookXLinkedIn

Don’t leave the room…or you’ll miss it

What is it about hearing myself on the radio or TV that makes me want to smile? You would think after 30 years of doing VO work, that seeing or hearing a spot I did wouldn’t be any big deal. Is it ego? Is it amazement that I get paid to do this? Is it a desire to self-critique? I’m not sure. Could be a combination of all of those things. But, when I hear myself, I always take notice. I imagine the advertiser is hoping that other people do the same!

Funny thing happened yesterday. You remember the Kaopectate commercial I did recently – the one where I had two words – “uh-oh” and “fast?” Well, I heard the first “uh-oh” from the TV – but I was – uh – indisposed at the time and simply couldn’t get back to the living room in time to catch the rest of the spot. It […]

2010-01-01T14:26:32+00:00January 1st, 2010|Categories: Musings|Tags: , |
Read More

You Just Never Know…

After all that ruminating about doing so many auditions and lamenting that most people were not casting off our demos (see prior blog post – http://isdnvoicetalent.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/ruminating-again-about-auditions/), I had a direct hit off one of the P2P sites that will result in an ISDN session this morning.

So, you just have to keep everything honed and at the ready…’cause you just never know the path someone will take to find and hire you. Keep your generic demos fresh!

It’s just one part of any good business plan. Scroll back a few posts to see some great responses from a couple of pros on some of the other business thoughts I’ve had over the past week or so.

http://isdnvoicetalent.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/more-on-the-business-of-vo/

http://isdnvoicetalent.wordpress.com/2009/12/21/tangible-and-intangible-assets-needed-for-voiceover-biz/

2018-02-06T06:48:53+00:00December 23rd, 2009|Categories: Auditioning, Business, Marketing|Tags: , , , , |
Read More

More on the Business of VO

I read a lot of message boards and user groups focused on the voiceover biz. One of them is the Yahoo Voiceover Newsgroup and a recent thread has been about some of the many changes facing the – well, pretty much ANY business these days.

Combine the economy woes with the changes that the Internet brings every day and you have a lot of old-timers scrambling to make the new world of voiceover work for them. You also have more and more who want to break into the business lured by promises of easy money just for talking. It takes a lot more than just talent…

Here are a couple of paragraphs of sage advice from Jennifer Vaughn.

Talent doesn’t take the front seat in any successful business.  A successful business requires a savvy business person who is knowledgeable in all the elements required to make a business profitable.  That […]

2018-02-06T06:48:53+00:00December 22nd, 2009|Categories: Business|Tags: , , , , , |
Read More

Answers about casting from Rudy Gaskins

In light of my recent blog post (and subsequent article on VoiceOverXtra) about the selection process, Rudy Gaskins has some answers in his most recent article on VoiceOverXtra (Part 3).

He offers some fabulous insight in why he would select celebrity vs. working class talent. He also talks the process of selection – not the process of rejection. One question I may ask him is how many custom auditions he listens to and at what stage in his process. The article implies that he casts off the generic demos on the sites such as http://www.videovoicebank.net/.

Check it out – http://www.voiceoverxtra.com/article.htm?id=dyjk7quv

2018-02-06T06:48:53+00:00December 21st, 2009|Categories: Auditioning|Tags: , , , , |
Read More

Tangible and Intangible Assets Needed for Voiceover Biz

While this is simplified, there are two lists here of things the budding voiceover talent of today might need to make it.

The first is a list of the basic physical hardware and software assets needed to succeed in the business today. The second is more intangible, but even more important if you want to actually work and make a living doing voiceovers.

The Tangible (Physical) Assets

  • Computer for recording
  • Large hard drive (as many Gigs as you can afford)
  • Computer speed (as fast as you can afford)
  • Good sound card (most computers these days come with decent sound card that will work for basic voiceover)
  • Lots of memory (as much as you can afford)
  • DVD/CD drive AND a CD-R/RW Sound
  • Recording Software (Sound Forge, GoldWave, Adobe Audition, ProTools)
  • High-speed Internet Access (cable or DSL)
  • Web Presence – your own web site or your demos posted on a web site
  • Microphone – decent mike – $300 or more that works with your […]
2018-02-06T06:48:53+00:00December 21st, 2009|Categories: Business|Tags: |
Read More

Ruminating again about auditions

I have never auditioned so much in my life as I have since Internet casting and remote recording came in vogue.

I can’t help but remember back to the 80’s when I rarely auditioned for anything. While I was on staff at KFMB-TV as a live staff announcer, the door to my tiny room would open and the production manager would hand me copy to record. Or I would wander down the hall to KFMB-Radio and do multi-voice spots with Mark Larsen or Danny Romero.

After landing an agent (Nanci Washburn – Artist Management) I still didn’t see much of a difference for the voiceover work. She simply called to book me on a job and I drove to Studio C or KyXy or Seacoast or Spot Shop or Lightning or Western Video or Four Square or JM Television or Invincible or San Diego Audio Video – the list […]

2018-02-06T06:48:54+00:00December 2nd, 2009|Categories: Auditioning, Marketing, Musings|Tags: , , , , , , |
Read More

What makes an audition “win?” Am I the “voice in the head” today?

This is a subjective business – this business we are in – the business of recording our voice for sales, marketing, information, entertainment. And it is a mystery for sure sometimes as to why one voice is selected out of all the choices submitted.

I’ve mentioned recently that after many many years in this business, I am starting to have the opportunity to go vocal cord to vocal cord with some of the best most well known talent in the industry. My ear is caught many times a day by the radio or the TV as spots that I have auditioned for fly out of the speakers.

I have heard the Geico Pothole and Parking Column spots. The new Chinet spots. Something for weight loss. And several more. I have returned to my audio files to compare what ended up on the air with what I submitted. And I know that my audition […]

2018-02-06T06:48:54+00:00December 1st, 2009|Categories: Auditioning, Business|Tags: , , , , |
Read More

The Decline of Network TV?

A friend in the advertising biz sent me an article from the New York Times titled “The Decline of Network TV.”

The big three broadcast networks are not so big anymore – and major “stars” are jumping ship over to cable. The networks are having a hard time charging more for ad rates as their ratings sink. This, as the big cable networks (USA, TNT, TBS) get money from advertising AND subscription fees – which translates to more profit.

So my question. With more and more eyeballs moving to cable coupled with the proliferation of niche channels on the cable systems – most of which run the same ads that run on the broadcast networks – do you see this affecting the budgets to make the ads?

It certainly has created more work for the time buyers! But will it affect us, as talent, postively or negatively?

2018-02-06T06:48:54+00:00November 21st, 2009|Categories: Business, Musings, Negotiating|Tags: , , , |
Read More

Plan for your services to sell themselves…

This business is not about your voice. It is about knowing where you fit – what you have to sell. It is about having a demo that showcases this effectively. And it is about finding the people who want to buy what you have to sell. That’s called Marketing!

But in reality, you are not really selling. Your goal with marketing is to know your customer so well that your services sell themselves. Marketing is about understanding what you do and what your potential customer wants. It is about bringing your “product” to this market (in this case your commercial demo to people who make commercials, or your narration demo, or your promo demo, or your animation demo, etc.). It is about finding new products for new markets.

Marketing is your strategy and includes a whole bunch of activities:

  • Business Development – Wikipedia defines this as techniques and responsibilities which aim at gaining new customers […]
2009-11-12T14:10:53+00:00November 12th, 2009|Categories: Business, Marketing|Tags: , , , |
Read More

Nice When the Agent Makes the First Move…

Had a private message through one of the P2P sites on Friday from an agent at a large talent agency asking if I was interested in being represented by them, as they had some auditions that they thought I would be right for.

A quick search on the web pointed to a reputable group with many of my virtual VO buddies already listed on the site. Made a couple of calls (due diligence) and within a couple of hours, the paperwork had been emailed, printed, signed and faxed back.

At a time when it is harder and harder to get agency representation in general, much less by a group that gets national work, this was a very nice email to receive.

So, here’s to a chance to do more – and better auditions – going head to head with some of the best in the business. In this numbers game, we need to audition. […]

2018-02-06T06:48:54+00:00November 7th, 2009|Categories: Auditioning, Business, Musings|Tags: , , |
Read More
Go to Top