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Hi Guys, I'm beginning to test a few demo pieces and wanted to get some feedback. Earl said that the first clip in your samples should be a strong one, with a little punch. The next one softer, then softer and back up. I had an idea for this one as my first heavy hitter but I'm curious if it's way too much. First off, I know it's longer than 10 seconds, but give it a listen and tell me if it's strong enough or am I completely missing the goal by not using my normal speaking voice. At any rate, I'd be interested in other thoughts.

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Ralph Toles
Melvin Stewart
New comment 3h ago
  • 0 likes • 3h

    @Ralph Toles thank you so much for that. Just trying to show some versatility for this demo. More to come.

Now that #youtubepodcast is enabled on my #youtubechannel the Steps To Voice Over Success PODCAST is now live and active for the #voiceactor and #voiceoverartist that is looking to start, build, and grow a successful #voiceover businessThe Steps To Voice Over Success Podcast is a Weekly podcast broadcast live on Youtube and the podcast focuses on helping voice-over artists to start, build, and grow a successful voice-over business. Becoming a voice actor is a great opportunity to start your own business and work from home. The income potential is huge for those that are serious and dedicated to building a real business, learning all of the skills required to do voice over at a professional level, and committing to the craft. Here we will show you what is required to start, build, and grow an successful voice over business from the very beginning. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLu0VuUfrsEID9g7zxBf1zkNtyo2z3J_yf&feature=shares

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Rhonda Foster
Melvin Stewart
Ben Brown
Victor Johnson
Ralph Toles
New comment 2d ago

I got motivated and finally found the perfect space to treat and put together a sound booth. It's a small storage closet in the basement but it will work for what I need. I stopped here for the night, but next, I'll be moving my essential equipment in for the right spot to record in. Here's a few pictures of the beginning and end of the project for now.

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LaTonya Harrison
Earl Hall
New comment 3d ago

2nd week in on the "Voiceover Domination" course, I had no idea how much I didn't know, and we're just getting started! I'm overwhelmed but getting "unstuck" in so many areas. Thank you for the outstanding guidance!

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Bill Freeman Jr.
Ralph Toles
New comment 7d ago

Greetings all yesterday I received an email , that there was a company that reviewed an audition I submitted for . The radio advertisement was for a healthcare service provider in the southwest region of the united sates. Their message was that they liked what they heard and wanted me to voice their ad However they were having issues getting the script down to a 30 second or less read. They sent me the script... As I read it I got real chills and was on the brink of tears!! I began to think back on when I started, my fears , my limitations, was I good enough etc. in that split second I got a warm feeling, the reservations passed and the real me arrived. I thought of all the preparation, all the due diligence, all the naysayers and supporters alike..I leaned on my train and experiences. I thought of this group and what each of you and your journeys mean to me and what they have done to enable me to push..."TO GRIND AND DONT QUIT" I proceeded to the script like it was. the difference between a win and a loss... I recorded 2 versions a version of 29.1 seconds and a version of 26.9 seconds with a proposed edit to shorten the read. The client LOVED what they heard, requests the 29 second version.. EVERYTHING DONEFOR INITIAL CORRESPONDENCE TO RETURNED , APPROVED VO IN UNDER 35 MINUTES!!! I received payment , a 5 star review and the review is as follows "Michael W. provided files faster than they expected" This isn't a Michael accomplishment, THIS IS AN EVERYBODY IN THIS GROUP ACCOMPLISHMENT!! APPRECIATE THIS FAMILY

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Bill Freeman Jr.
LaTonya Harrison
Penny Orton
Melvin Stewart
Earl Hall
New comment 11d ago
  • 3 likes • 11d

    That's how you do it, Michael! We're all so proud of you!

Hey everyone. I want to insure that you are getting real value out of our live AMA calls on Saturdays. Can you let us know why you are showing up and your biggest takeaways? Thanks 🙏🏾

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Anthony Reed
Earl Hall
LaTonya Harrison
Victor Johnson
Ralph Toles
New comment 13d ago
  • 4 likes • Feb 16

    I get so many things out of my now new routine of joining the AMA sessions. First, it's a wealth of knowledge that you can use to get yourself "unstuck" from the things that might be holding you back from achieving your goals each week. Last week alone got me moving pretty quickly past an obstacle or two that I was stuck with. The sense of community is very comforting for myself and others that I have started seeing here on a regular basis and yes, we're all here to help each other as we go through this journey together. I'm very happy to be here and will continue to grow and with everyone else. Thank you, Earl, for all your hard work.

Since we are all on our own collective or personal VO journey, I'm curious to know something. If the further along you get into it, setting up your own booth, DAW, etc, have you started having random thoughts about any aspect of it that wake you up out of your sleep to think about? I mean, up until a few months ago, I would have never sat up in bed thinking about my Noise Floor in any particular room for recording, but here I am, lol. Silly, I know, but what random thoughts about your VO experience is keeping you up at night?

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Bill Freeman Jr.
LaTonya Harrison
Ruth Haskins
Maria Torres
Victor Johnson
New comment 13d ago

Here's my first demo. I'd appreciate your comments. I know you are not experts, just listen as regular citizens who would hear those, and tell me if you *feel* them. Thanks!

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Annie Plourde
Melvin Stewart
Victor Johnson
Maria Torres
LaTonya Harrison
New comment 13d ago
  • 3 likes • Jan 31

    These all sounds great. Nice job on putting these together.

Had to look through my hard drive but I found it.

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Bill Freeman Jr.
Anthony Reed
Victor Johnson
Melvin Stewart
LaTonya Harrison
New comment 13d ago
  • 2 likes • 14d

    That's fantastic! I was wondering when we were going to hear that. Great job!

Is it commercial, narration, biographical, movie soundtrack, medical etc. ? I'm so far digging the epic movie reads. I also like PSA's and other similar scripts. I'm working on narration too. I posted my version of the first script Bill gave us for the contest. Attempting to be more comfortable outside what I like. What say you good people?

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Michael Ray
Melvin Stewart
Penny Orton
Anthony Reed
Victor Johnson
New comment 16d ago
  • 3 likes • Feb 1

    I feel like what draws me to VO is the prospect of trailers, promo spots and commercials. I'd love to try and get promo work for maybe radio stations, or even movie studios, heck, Tyler Perry Studios is local to my location, so why not me?

#Live Zoom AMA Session 1.28.23 Thank you for removing a certain person from the group, I noticed I hadn't been commenting as much since, I didn't like how rude he was to me... He also direct messaged me... I didn't reply and he kept sending crazy mean messages. I was pretty upset, and I guess I could have totally ignored him instead of engaging! Hopefully I can shake it off and get back into the groove of things.

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Anthony Lanius
Bill Freeman Jr.
Annie Plourde
Penny Orton
Ruth Haskins
New comment 17d ago
  • 4 likes • 28d

    Penny, I sent you a private message about that person the day it was happening and it still rings true. He means nothing to your personal journey and as you can see, his comments were swiftly dealt with from the TOP. He actually messaged a few of us in the same way. Though he is now gone from the group, I am so sorry to hear how lasting the effects were on you. Please know that we are all in this together with you and we're here to help you up when you need that extra push. You got this and we're right here to cheer you on. If you ever want to chat offline, please let me know. GADQ!

Here is my submission better early than late aka BEEP...BEEEP!!

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Bill Freeman Jr.
Melvin Stewart
Ruth Haskins
Maria Torres
Michael Ray
New comment 27d ago

How many of you all believe you're ready to take the next step and accept work? Do you feel comfortable engaging in the full process yet? Do you believe that you are ready to compete with people in our group and the VO community at large? I'm honest enough to realize at this time I'm not completely there and am grateful for our group and Earl's guidance. I will see this through, however the road rides I will keep moving ahead.

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Penny Orton
Annie Plourde
Melvin Stewart
Anthony Reed
Ruth Haskins
New comment 28d ago
  • 3 likes • Jan 29

    I'm not ready, but definitely see my skills getting stronger every day I practice at this.

When you record a script, do you read off your phone, paper, laptop, desktop or tablet? I use my laptop and sometimes my phone.

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Annie Plourde
Bill Freeman Jr.
Penny Orton
Anthony Reed
Ruth Haskins
New comment 29d ago
  • 1 like • Feb 1

    I read from my desk into the sound box I made and glance over at the monitor, not the easiest thing to do for now, but it works.

Well, I just sent 4 auditions while sick. One of them I really wanted to do and not miss out on it, and I just decided, while I was at it, why not do a few more. I did write in my little ''blurb'' that I currently have a cold and that my final recordings would sound less nasally. We'll see if I get shortlisted on any of them! I'm really curious how it's going to play out. 🤞

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Melvin Stewart
New comment Feb 15
  • 2 likes • Feb 15

    I'd be interested in seeing how that plays out too. Please keep us posted. Don't get yourself into a situation where you get better and you get a a gig where they only want your nasaly voice, lol. 😉

Hey everyone So I awoke about 830 am est. To my phone chirping from text messages and missed calls ( I don't play when it comes to sleep) Apparently a commercial i did b4 Thanksgiving was released recently and carried my every local and moderately regional radio station in the metropolitan New York City area. Everyone who heard it called or texted to tell me. Today wrung my emotions, to get tye feedback I brought . I know my late grandparents would be so proud. All the hard work, the reading the due diligence the trials and errors all remitted payment at the same time. This isn't just a testimony of me, it shows that the company you keep plays a part in your push.. took me a few minutes to compose myself.. aint been this teary since .... geez I don't know when..( maybe the time Winnie the pooh got sad cause Christopher Robbins went missing) 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Anywhoo.. this accomplishment isn't in a vacuum it's awaiting everyone in this group #grindanddon'tquit

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Bill Freeman Jr.
Earl Hall
Ruth Haskins
Annie Plourde
Ralph Toles
New comment Feb 6
  • 4 likes • Feb 4

    This is the news that everyone in this group is striving to hear on their own level, so today, we celebrate you and the hard work you have obviously committed to. Thank you for your sharing this with us and by all means, let those happy tears flow, my friend. You earned it!

More specifically who in here uses an acting coach? If so how long have you done so? What benefits have you gleaned from the experience? Is there a specific acting style/genre you've studied? Do you believe you don't need one at all? I have never used one but I can't say I'm necessarily opposed to it. I believe whatever (within reason) helps me in becoming to the point of a subject matter expert....I'm game to try.

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Bill Freeman Jr.
Melvin Stewart
Annie Plourde
Anthony Reed
New comment Feb 2
  • 1 like • Feb 1

    I have been taking a 6 week VO acting course online and feel like I'm gaining a lot of insight from the acting portion of the lessons each week. I'm currently going into week 4 now and will probably look into other courses with either them or somewhere else. From what I gather, it's never a bad idea to continue to hone that skillset and learn new ways to approach the scripts in front of you.

Do you prefer to read on the low or higher end of your voice register? For me I am not really in the position to read higher. I do attempt higher registers but without a plug-in it's my normal timber. What say you good people 🤔?

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Melvin Stewart
Bill Freeman Jr.
Michael Ray
Annie Plourde
Anthony Reed
New comment Feb 2
  • 2 likes • Feb 2

    Great question, I prefer lower at the moment. As I find out what sells, I might be inclined to adjust as needed.

Here's my submission for the edited version request of the original read, plus the Fast Food commercial as well as the bedtime story. I had fun doing all of these. Thoughts?

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Bill Freeman Jr.
Melvin Stewart
New comment Jan 31
  • 0 likes • Jan 31

    @Bill Freeman Jr. Thank you for the feedback. I meant to reduce the sound there in the commercial as if I were talking to myself and then back to normal when I realized that it was still on. Just another experiment with the read.

  • 1 like • Jan 31

    @Bill Freeman Jr. I couldn't agree more.

Here are the two middle ones for the contest. Now I wanted to see what I could with a small stand up closet and my phone. Better to learn now then on the fly. When you rep and money on the line.😊 Oh can you spot the two things I missed there's one in each. One will scream at you. The other I really did miss. So lets make it a teachable moment.😏 Oh and here's a photo of the closet. That bar drove my nuts to cover it. And my phone is a Samsung ( and no I don't know the number of it. It's not the latest version but it's in the ball park.) The biggest problem was I thought the recording would be in mp3 format. But they were in Mp4a, But thanks to big bro Mike he told me the answer.

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Anthony Reed
Bill Freeman Jr.
Melvin Stewart
New comment Jan 30
  • 2 likes • Jan 30

    I liked both reads too and definitely could hear a little bit of cracking on the McClestorols commercial. Good job on the closet setup. I'll try to have my additional reads up tonite or tomorrow if I can.

It was an honor to complete this #bookpromotion video for Melissa Banks for her new book on #amazon https://amzn.to/3Rhihby

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Melvin Stewart
Anthony Reed
Earl Hall
New comment Jan 28
  • 3 likes • Jan 28

    Great job! Was the script hers or did you come up with that for the client? That's something I've wanted to know about some of these jobs that are out there.

Since some of us are already reading scripts for practice. How about we have a contest here, say around March. Winner has bragging rights. Who can enter? Member of the group only? So if you are a total newbie if you has a mic and your DAW and you think your ready step on up. Than come down. I'm thinking a three person judge (TBA) I'll have to work out with the Judges how they will rate the script, Along with why one was pick over the others. And No, I wont be a judge. Cause the fun part is in submitting your audition. And I can't do that a be a judge to boot.😏

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John Clarke
Penny Orton
Melvin Stewart
Michael Ray
Diadem Cudjoe
New comment Jan 27
  • 1 like • Jan 14

    I love this idea. So will we all be reading the same script or all different? I'm curious as to how this all would work.

  • 3 likes • Jan 14

    Makes perfect sense to me. Count me in!

Many months ago, I found a free de-clicker and a free de-esser. I will share the links here if you are interested. They are working well for me.

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Annie Plourde
Melvin Stewart
Michael Ray
Anthony Reed
New comment Jan 27
  • 3 likes • Jan 24

    Thank you for posting this. I can't wait to try it out when I get home tonight.

Okay, ya'll! I cant wait to here everyone's submission! This was definitely different than I would've initially chosen, but it was fun and challenging!

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Penny Orton
Melvin Stewart
Anthony Reed
Christoph Defryn
Annie Plourde
New comment Jan 26
  • 3 likes • Jan 24

    Great job, I really like your take on this! I'm in the same boat as you, I haven't had many others hear my recordings yet.

Hey guys thanks so much for your well wishes and prayers. Right now I have a cheek full of cotton and am on some pretty heavy meds for pain but all in all I’m fine. As I have been laying here all day I did think that the link below may be of some help. It is a playlist I made some years back called “How to start voice acting”. Let me know your thoughts 🤗 https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLu0VuUfrsEIA1eT20VItCkC8lOhf1LeYV&feature=shares

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John Clarke
Anthony Reed
Ben Brown
Penny Orton
Tiffany Hayes
New comment Jan 26
  • 4 likes • Jan 24

    So glad to hear you are on the mend! Take it easy and we'll hold down the fort here. We've got plenty to do.

Still dealing with a swollen jaw and some pain but you know we #grindanddontquit I have so many things that I want to do and share. You guys keep me inspired with all your posts and interactions. I hope to be back with you all soon. 💙

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Annie Plourde
Earl Hall
Bill Freeman Jr.
Michael Ray
Anthony Reed
New comment Jan 26
  • 4 likes • Jan 25

    Take your time, we got this and will be eagerly awaiting your return. Thank you for all your guidance.

Well, here it is, for your listening pleasure. Here's my take on the Script interpretation for the week.

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Penny Orton
Melvin Stewart
Bill Freeman Jr.
New comment Jan 24

Hello guys. I am dealing with a medical issue so I have to cancel today’s live and the Saturday AMA. I will be fine but I won’t be able to these two events 😞

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Annie Plourde
Glen Hannah
Ben Brown
Anthony Reed
Melvin Stewart
New comment Jan 22
  • 1 like • Jan 22

    I hope all is well, Earl, or at least better soon. Hang in there!

This week I hit 2 amazing milestones thanks to an amazing audience of voice over artists that I am dedicated to serve 🙏🏾 My #youtubechannel hit 15K subscribers and my brand new #voiceover community that I just began about 30 days ago hit 100 followers! This only occurred because of consistency and actually listening to my audience on #Youtube and digging in with the voice over community of people really looking to start, build, and grow a successful voice over business. I sincerely want to thank all of you for the encouragement and support of our #grindanddontquit movement 👊🏾

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Chey Senter
William Freeman
Anthony Lanius
Earl Hall
Ruth Haskins
New comment Jan 20
  • 4 likes • Jan 13

    So proud of you Sir! Our goal is to catch up to you! Thank you for all your help!

My oldest Daughter came over and we put up the Acoustic Foam on the ceiling in my booth! It took way longer that we had planned because the command strips didn't stick to the foam so I had to be creative and use some Elmer's Multi-Purpose spray Adhesive. I'm so happy it's finally done!

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Michael Ray
Penny Orton
William Freeman
Earl Hall
Melvin Stewart
New comment Jan 14

1-30 of 32

Steps To Voice Over Success
Melvin Stewart
4
54points left to go

Atlanta, GA

Brand new to the journey and ready to make my new path. Very excited to learn all I can to start making a difference.

Member since Dec 9, 2022

Active 2h ago

74% complete of 2 courses

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