Once in a Blue Moon On-camera Project

My local San Diego agent sent me an audition for an on-camera project that sort of threw me for a loop. It had been a long time since I had an on-camera opportunity and this one was to be done at home – a self-recorded audition. WHAT!? No director or casting director there to feed you lines? No sign-in sheet? How much? For a whole day? I had a million excuses as to why I didn’t think I was going to audition for it. I would have to put on makeup, fix my hair, find good light, memorize some lines. No! Just no.

I was gently convinced to give it a […]

2019-01-30T01:34:09+00:00January 30th, 2019|Categories: Acting, Announcements, Business, Musings, Recent Work|
Read More

The VO Adds Drama

It is always a pleasure to work on a project with a well written script. The words seem to flow easier. The story comes to life easier. When you add great production values to the mix, the results are captivating.

A few years ago I was the narrator for Northern Light Productions documentary about cyber warfare. They wanted drama. I think they got it! This is the opening sequence from this documentary that now lives in the International Spy Museum in Washington DC.

2018-02-24T22:17:59+00:00February 24th, 2018|Categories: Acting, Recording|Tags: , , , |
Read More

Are You Hitting the Mark?

No matter what we do in life we need to know if what we are doing is hitting the mark. This takes the ability to know what DOES hit the mark and then comparing it to what we are doing.

Self-Evaluation techniques are something that I have been teaching to introductory voiceover students in the class I have been teaching at San Diego City College since 1999. Prior to that I did a private seminar with the same focus. I also share the self-evaluation mantra with my peers at conferences and in social media.

As voice talent, much of what we do these days is in a vacuum and we need to apply these skills to not only our auditions in order land work, but in many cases to the job itself as so much of it is self-directed.

This takes knowing when something is […]

2018-02-06T06:48:02+00:00April 20th, 2017|Categories: Acting, Communication, Life, Musings, Techniques, Tips & Tricks, Writing|
Read More

Professional Voiceover Development Fun at FaffCon 8

FaffCon 8 Family

Zoom in for a peek at about 120 of my closest voiceover friends at a wild and wonderful voiceover conference called FaffCon – this was FaffCon 8 (out of 10) held just outside of Minneapolis.

After regular strictly organized voiceover conferences started to feel top heavy in trying to sell newbies on coaching, the concept of voiceover pros imparting knowledge and energy to other voiceover pros in a decidedly unstructured, yet remarkably organized way was born in the fertile, funny and creative mind of Amy Snively.

I’m a Founding Faffer and after the first remarkable event in Portland OR, have been involved in the planning, organizing, assisting and even sponsoring all the FaffCons that have followed.

Why? Because it works. Despite not having any featured speakers or a set schedule of sessions planned in advance – somehow we come up with […]

2018-02-06T06:48:03+00:00September 9th, 2016|Categories: Acting, Musings|
Read More

Voiceover Warm Ups – Tongue Twisters

Tongue Twisters

Many of these tongue twisters are familiar. Some came from the  “Speech 101, Voice and Diction Class at San Diego City College. Others are from actual scripts. Some are familiar. Some seem simple. Some will be the bane of your existence. Just remember to warm up your articulators before jumping in on them! And please post a comment here and add your own tongue twisters to the list!

  1. Rubber baby buggy bumpers
  2. She sells sea shells by the sea shore.
    The shells she sells are surely seashells,
    So if she sells shells on the seashore,
    I’m sure she sells seashore shells.
  3. Five fresh fish specials daily
  4. Unique New York
  5. Six stick shifts stuck shut.
  6. Another long block of non-stop rock (from KGB in San Diego)
  7. The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick
  8. I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit;
    and on the slitted sheet I sit.
  9.  A skunk sat on a […]
2016-06-22T17:47:49+00:00June 22nd, 2016|Categories: Acting, Announcements, Techniques, Tips & Tricks|Tags: , |
Read More

The quest to get better without losing who you used to be…

Connie and Liz de Nesnera Connie and Liz de Nesnera on the way to the workshop – Peggy Sue’s 50’s Diner.

I just got home from a weekend workshop in Henderson (just outside Las Vegas) with Marice Tobias. It was an all-woman workshop with 10 working pros held at Melissa Moats new voiceover studio The Voice Actors Studio. Marice does this same thing with all men and also co-ed. The women’s workshop is usually – OK, pretty much always – a lot more emotional therapy along with the voiceover component. It was a wonderful weekend for many reasons and I think it has shown in the auditions and the projects I have done since getting back to my studio on Monday.

Getting coaching is something that a lot of working voice talent does during the course […]

2018-02-06T06:48:06+00:00June 3rd, 2015|Categories: Acting, Auditioning|Tags: , , |
Read More
Go to Top