Hi everyone. hope all is well. Does anyone have any advice on building confidence? Does anyone who knows a place to find a partner to practice with? Does anyone know what's a good starting exercise? Wish you all the best of luck!

There are a lot of strange noises throughout the international voiceover community about how AI-created synthetic voices are now "taking all the human voiceover work away", and if you've heard these rumours, you may not have even started setting up your own home studio yet. But that would be a shame. AI voices are certainly CHANGING the voiceover world, big time, but they are absolutely NOT destroying it at all. I've put together a video for you where I discuss all this with tips how to enhance the skills we have as human performers to offer clients a great alternative offering to AI "text-to-speech" voices. I hope that you find it interesting and I'd love to hear your comments. P.S. I also get into a fight with a robot!

Here is the place where you can share with the community what you've been getting up to! We know our Classroom courses help so many of you but let's hear your actual WINS from this! Tell us about a new character voice you've developed (Post a short mp3!) Write about a new piece of kit you've invested in. A big job you've just landed! A new podcast you have set up that you'd like to tell us all about. Also let us know what course or courses have helped you? What further things would you like us to create training materials about? Let us know in the comments!

Good morning Peter, Mark and all the members here. I've been an actor for over 40 years and have bumbled around in all the usual "bits n bobs" ( a lot of panto!) Voiceover had played a small part in that career, dubbing foreign films into English, voicing corporate videos on artificial insemination in cattle and knitting machines, some audio drama with my Dr Who contacts for BBV and the fledgling Big Finish creators on cassette in the 80's "audio visuals", animation in Naples etc. Then I was able to join the roster at Oakhill publishing narrating those big box sets of cds for libraries in 2011 which led me into ACX in 2016 which has provided regular work over the past 10 years. I've been on Skool since last July, my recording set up does include a lovely Kube Diamond soundbooth which stands like a Tardis with it's chameleon circuit working in the corner of our cellar conversion in Crewe in Cheshire. Those things are sooooo heavy! I've been lucky enough to get some commercial VO's recently and have voiced the welcome video to Blists Hill Victorian town which plays on a loop to all the visitors, so I'd like to do some more of those kind of things as audiobooks are hard work! a lot of words! I have always made little films for fun, so I enjoy making my little adverts for my audiobooks in adobe premiere and after effects and I'll attach a sample here for you. If any of you are also acx ers I run a facebook group for you to distribute your promo codes for free with 34,000 members to advertise to, which I'll be happy to share if that is allowed. Looking forward to meeting everyone and hopefully making some new friends and contacts.

A few of my students recently asked if I could do a video about avoiding scams in the voice over industry. Honestly? I’m glad they asked. Because getting scammed is one of the worst feelings there is. Most people are good, honest, decent human beings. And then—out of nowhere—someone pulls the rug out from under you. You lose time. You lose effort. Sometimes you lose money. Sometimes all three. So let’s talk about how these scams actually work—and how to spot them before they cost you anything. Why Voice Actors Are Easy Targets If you’re an independent voice actor, chances are you work with clients from all over the world. That’s a good thing. It also means you’re constantly dealing with new people you’ve never heard of before—auditions, bookings, inquiries. And that’s exactly where scammers slip in. So where do the red flags show up? Red Flag #1: “We Love Your Work” (But Nothing Specific) Sometimes you’ll get an email that doesn’t use your name. That alone? Not a scam. Agents and production companies often email multiple talent at once. But here’s the real issue… If the email says something vague like: “We love your work and think you’re perfect for this project.” …yet doesn’t reference anything specific from your site or demo? 🚩 Red flag. Real clients usually say things like: - “Loved your Jaguar training video” - “Your museum narration demo was perfect for this” Generic praise = slow down and investigate. Red Flag #2: The Email Address Doesn’t Match the Company This one’s huge. You read the email. It sounds professional. They claim to be from a big company. Then you look at the sender… 📧 Gmail. Yahoo. Hotmail. NOOO!! If someone claims to represent a major agency or production company, their email should match the company domain. When I’ve questioned this in the past, the excuses start: “I work from home.” Maybe. But highly unlikely. Here’s the tell: The moment you casually mention the word “scam” in your reply…