This blog post has been written with the help of AI Finding the perfect female voiceover artist for your project involves more than just a simple search. It requires careful consideration of factors like voice type, experience, and technical capabilities. Whether you need a voice for e-learning modules, narration, or any other project, here’s a detailed guide on how to find and select the ideal female voiceover artist. 1. Define Your Project Needs Before you start searching for a female voiceover artist, clarify your project requirements. Consider the following aspects: Project Type: Determine if you need narration, commercial voiceover, character voice, e-learning voice, etc. Target Audience: Identify the demographic and tone that best suits your audience. Script Length and Complexity: Assess the length and technical nature of your script. 2. Keyword Search Strategy Use specific keywords to refine your search for a female voiceover artist who meets your criteria. Keywords like "female voice artist," "female voiceover," "voice actor," "narrator," and "e-learning" can help narrow down your options. 3. International Search Considerations If you prefer a female voiceover artist not based in the US, broaden your search to include international talent pools. Countries like the UK, Australia, Canada, and others often have highly skilled voiceover artists with diverse accents and styles. 4. Review Established Voiceover Artists Consider established voiceover artists like Jaren Cerf, known for their professional studio setups and extensive experience. Established artists often have portfolios showcasing their versatility across different genres and industries. 5. Technical Capabilities Ensure the voiceover artist has access to a professional studio setup capable of delivering high-quality recordings. Look for artists who use tools like Source-Connect for remote recording sessions and directed sessions, ensuring clear communication and real-time feedback. 6. Union vs. Non-Union Decide whether you prefer a voiceover artist affiliated with a union (such as SAG-AFTRA) or non-union. Union members follow specific guidelines and may have different rates and contractual obligations compared to non-union artists. 7. Portfolio and Samples Review the voiceover artist’s portfolio and listen to samples of their previous work. Pay attention to their vocal range, clarity, pronunciation, and ability to convey emotion or authority—qualities crucial for effective voiceover performances. 8. Client Testimonials and Reviews Check client testimonials and reviews to gauge the artist’s professionalism, reliability, and ability to meet deadlines. Platforms like LinkedIn, professional directories, and voiceover community forums can provide valuable insights. 9. Collaboration and Communication Effective collaboration is essential for successful voiceover projects. Choose an artist who is responsive, open to direction, and capable of delivering revisions as needed to ensure your project meets expectations. 10. Budget Considerations Discuss budget considerations upfront. Rates for voiceover services vary based on factors like project complexity, usage rights, and the artist’s experience. Be transparent about your budget to avoid misunderstandings later. Finding the best female voiceover artist involves thorough research, clear communication, and a detailed understanding of your project requirements. By leveraging specific keywords, exploring international talent, and considering established professionals like Jaren Cerf, you can ensure your project receives the high-quality voiceover it deserves. Remember to prioritize technical capabilities, portfolio review, and client feedback to make an informed decision. With the right voiceover artist, your project can effectively engage and resonate with your audience, leaving a lasting impression. When you’re ready to start your search for a female voiceover artist, use these guidelines to navigate the process confidently and find the perfect voice for your project! For more information about where to look, you might check out this blog post: https://www.jarenthevoiceover.com/post/top-21-voiceover-websites-including-overview-features-membership-price-and-commission-fees

In the past few years of working as a voiceover artist, I’ve come to notice some trends. In 2020-2021, It was the Covid Employee Rally Video. It always started with the line “In these uncertain times…”. Did companies actually motivate their employees to “come together as one” because “together, we are stronger”? I would like some actual data on this. I’m curious. All I know is I poured my heart out in each of the 452,365,764,234 auditions I did. That’s not an actual number, obvs. But it feels pretty close. I can’t bring myself to read those auditions anymore. Believe it or not, they still pop up. In 2021 and 2022 I really started seeing an uptick in auditions relating to remote working software. Mostly programs you can use to stay organized within a company: virtual boardrooms, drawing rooms, tools you might compare to Slack, etc...because Covid. In 2023, I see a lot of auditions for cloud management solutions, migration solutions, and anything with the words SaaS, Cloud Native, and Silo in the script. Of course, there are always seasonal voiceover trends - Christmas ads starting in August for the organized companies (and December 20th for the less organized companies), back-to-school ads starting in July, Mother’s Day ads starting in April, etc. This summer, though, specifically from April throughout all of July, it was AI’s turn. Where before I might have seen one audition out of every 250 or so auditions requesting demos for an AI voice platform or TTS project, there were days in July when 50% of my auditions were for AI platforms. I was devastated. This is the wave of the future. Adapt or die, sh*t on the pot or get off it. What do I do? That’s a question a lot of my VO friends are asking themselves, too. Union or not, for obvious reasons. Now, because I’m not union, I have recently seen an uptick in higher-paying commercial jobs due to the union strikes in the US. When contracts end, a brand needs a sound-alike. That’s where we come in. But if we take those jobs, we’re screwing with progress… What’s a VO to do…? I can't speak for anyone else, but I can tell you that I'm trying to stick to my favorite trend of all, comedic small banking commercials. There’s nothing like a goofy mortgage or accounting commercial where the woman/wife/mom loses her mind trying to crunch numbers while yelling at her husband/kids/random stranger to get me smiling in my vocal booth. Perhaps this is just a reflection of how I’m feeling these days. Obvious, much? What trends are you noticing? Which are your favorite?

You mean besides the fact that they like to work alone in vocal booths all day, in many cases without any natural light? One might assume voiceover artists are just a bunch of introverts. Or vampires. I'll admit to one of those. All joking and speculation aside, here are 5 things great voiceover artists have in common. They are great listeners No duh, Jaren you might be saying. But hear me out for a second. In order to succeed in this business, you have to listen to what the client wants (obvs), and I don't mean just the outlined specs. Take a look at the following audition request, for example: Audition for a diaper brand. Looking for a woman, 30s - 40s, conversational, caring, but down-to-earth. Not commercial. 30-second paid social spot. It would be so easy to do something really commercial like this: But a great voiceover will read between the lines. Diaper brand...not commercial... conversational...down-to-earth. Sometimes we have to guess what kind of company we're auditioning for based on the limited info we are often given (especially if we're working for pay-to-play sites like Voice123 or Voices.com). One might infer this is for an eco-friendly baby company or an up-and-coming kids' health brand. Eco-friendly brands and new brands tend to lean on the more "casual" "as if you're talking to your best friend" side of things. More so than their super mega brand counterparts, I find. I've also found, in my years of script reading, that when a client is asking for a sound that is more casual or conversational, they're trying to connect with a market as a friend instead of as a product. I mean, who would you trust more to tell you about what product to use - a brand on TV, or a bestie? So, back to the example above. A great voiceover artist might google "eco diaper company" and see what comes up. Or "kids health brand". Based on visual branding cues, a great voiceover will put two and two together and perhaps come up with something more tailored (we hope) to what the client is looking for in an audition. Like this: Do you hear the difference? No? Yes? Let's continue. 2. Great voiceovers do their research When presented with a script that contains words that are difficult to pronounce, or perhaps cities with names that could easily be pronounced differently from state to state (for example New Orleans), a great voiceover artist will use sites like Forvo.com, YouTube, or other online pronunciation tools to make sure they get it right. Remember, you've got one shot to make a first impression. It's better if you don't mispronounce the word uvulopalatopharyngoplasty in your 30-second medical demo read. Know what I'm sayin'? 3. Great voiceovers are influenced by the client's brand image I mentioned earlier that voiceovers can use visual clues to improve their audition submissions. NOTE: There is an entire community of voiceovers who are not sighted and who are extremely gifted at picking up auditory nuances - superhero level. For the rest of us, we might use some extra help, like this as an example: Let's say I get an audition for a high-end clothing company. The audition specs read as follows. This is a 30-second spot for DesignHouse Dresses. Female. 30 - 40 preferred. Uh...that doesn't give us a ton of information at first glance. But the brand is written right there in the notes! So, pretend I google DesignHouse Dresses (which is a brand I just made up) and the image below pops up. The dresses offered on the site are dreamy and flowy like this: This image will shape the way I deliver the audition script. The tone, accent, and sound of my voice will be very different than if I auditioned the script using brand imagery that looked like this: In the former picture, I would use a more sophisticated tone. In the latter, I'd use a more lifestyle/commercial tone. But hey, that's just me. You do you. 4. Great voiceovers COMMUNICATE And I don't mean through ads. I mean with their clients. If you have a question about a project you've been hired to do, or you're a little confused, don't hesitate to ask! I've had calls with clients that go like this: "Remind me, is this a :30 or a :60?""Would it be possible for the director to send me a voice memo recording of themselves reading the script so I can nail it?" ( <-----in the case that there's been no directed session and the client is short on time Sometimes we feel silly for asking questions, but let me tell you - clients prefer you ask. It gives them the impression that you really care about their project (which you do!) and that you want to make it the best it can be. It also gives them confidence that they hired the right person for the job. Just make sure to keep your questions brief, get the information you need, and then act on it. You don't want to spend 15 minutes interviewing the client for a long backstory and anecdotes. Unless they think it's important for you to know for the job, of course. 5. Great voiceovers are organized! I don't know about you, but I can do anywhere from 1 - 27 auditions in a day, depending on the length. I mostly do commercial work, so it's more manageable. But all those auditions feed into a pipeline that once I start booking, I need to keep organized. I use two systems to stay on top of jobs. A standard XL spreadsheet that includes information like; project date, name of the client, company name, project name, whether or not I have recorded the project, how much the project is, whether or not the project is invoiced and paid, and notes of various sorts, etc. I also use WaveApps (this is not an ad - you could use Sage, QuickBooks, etc.) which allows me to follow up with my clients easily and regularly so that when I need to do punch-ins, line corrections, etc., it's easy and quick. I know which file to open, I don't have to search all over the place, badah bing badah boom. If you'd like more specific information on how I keep track of my work, contact me and let me know. Maybe I'll put together a video. There you have it! My thoughts on the 5 things great voiceover artists do. You do them all already, don't you. I knew it. Thanks for reading! Over and out!

As someone who really dislikes being coached, but loves coaching others (we’ll unpack that one in a sec), I’ve often wondered if I would have progressed in my career very differently had I been willing to hire voice coaches when I was younger. I’ve thought hard about the question for approximately five minutes and here’s what I’ve come up with. Photos by ROCKETMANN TEAM: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-person-doing-a-thumbs-up-9486675/ Probably not. Why? There are two types of people in this world. Those who accept being taught by others, and those who insist on learning in their own way at their own pace at their own time without any help so stop asking if I need help, already! I used to be the latter. To my detriment. I will say I’ve changed over the years. I’m much more collaborative and I often wonder if my lack of desire to collaborate with others or to accept coaching was a pride thing? An independence thing? A personality thing? And AuDHD thing? A childhood trauma thing? Your guess is as good as mine at this point. What I will say is that I did have a vocal coach for a short time who insisted I learn how to sing classical music. I was in ballet at the time and often participated in singing competitions with my father and sister. She told me I’d better quit doing both if I ever wanted to sing correctly. I felt rejected in three ways. One, at the thought of needing to quit my dream of dancing. Two, that I’d have to stop yodelling when it was obviously such a cool skillset, and three, that I couldn’t possibly be a good singer if I didn’t learn classical music. Now, obviously, I was missing a little bit of life context at that age. I took her words literally as any preteen does and spent years ruminating on them. Because I suffered from rejection dysphoria (there’s a name for it now), I can only imagine I decided that all coaches were the same and they’d do nothing but make me feel bad about myself, so byeeeeee. Of course, all that changed when I met a vocal coach named Jami Lula during my first year in Los Angeles where I spent a whopping four weeks attending Musician’s Institute in 2002 before dropping out. Again with the whole accepting coaching thing...see the theme? Sessions with him were more like therapy sessions – helping me to unpack what was holding me back from really using my voice. I felt heard. I felt seen. I felt validated. And when I told him my last teacher said I needed to quit ballet and yodelling in order to be a real singer, he laughed. I think I did too, but the relief in having it confirmed by another person whom I respected in the field sure unloaded a few years' worth of weights. Having been on the receiving end of vocal coaching that didn’t work for my personality type, I was committed to helping others in a way that left them feeling empowered. Even if they were terrible singers. Man, I overcompensated sometimes. But I was on a mission! I didn’t want anyone to feel they couldn’t love singing. Until one day, years after I quit the music industry, got divorced, got jaded and then got real with my bad self, I decided there’s got to be a way to coach honestly while also keeping the client motivated. Unless they really can’t keep a beat or hit one note out of ten. Then I’ll tell you I think it’s time to find another hobby. Where am I going with this? There’s a point here, somewhere, I just know it. I think the biggest benefit of coaching is that when you receive feedback from someone you believe to be better at a skill than you, you are actually just being invited inside that coach’s mind to see/hear things from their perspective. And when you can really see and hear from their perspective, you have the ability to change what you’re doing. Improvement is nothing more than getting out of an old habit and into a newer, better, more efficient one. I love coaching. Especially when you work in an industry based on intellectual property exchange. It’s hard to quantify and qualify what change you’re making in the world because you can’t see it, physically. With coaching, it’s easy to feel when you’re on the same wavelength as your client (or coach, depending which end you’re on). And nothing feels quite as good as that high when you’re reaching the same goal together. On the client side, it keeps you motivated and accountable. On the coach side, it keeps you motivated and makes you feel proud and valuable to the community. After all, your perspective is changing someone’s life, small or huge. You just never know. So. Do you have to hire a vocal coach to get better or are you curious and dedicated enough to learn on your own? In the classic response of my father… Yes. If you're interested in being coached by me, I invite you to check out my coaching page to hear a before/after. Then, click here and fill out this form.

Photo by RDNE Stock project: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-wearing-a-brown-leather-jacket-7414213/ I’ve been keeping a mental list of my favorite marketing jargon since I started working as a voiceover and I’ve noticed something; it changes depending on the size of the company and where it’s located geographically. Generally speaking, when you’re working with a larger company, they’ll hire a studio for you to connect with remotely using Source Connect or similar (and sometimes ISDN even though it’s reserved for the dinosaurs - SERIOUSLY WHY DO SOME STUDIOS STILL INSIST ON USING THIS? ASKING FOR LITERALLY EVERY VO EVER). Engineers and singers (my first profession) tend to use similar jargon, like what you see below. ENGINEER JARGON (usually used by bigger marketing companies who hire out-of-house): "Give me an ABC" Translation: Give me three separate takes and we will mark them as A, B, and C "I’m just going to punch you in on that last line." (Alt – let’s punch in that last line) Translation: I will play back the last line you recorded before the part we need to rerecord. Go ahead and speak along with it and continue on to the portion we need to rerecord. "Can you give me an alt?" Translation: Can you give me an alternate take? Basically, just reread the line but do it a little differently "Can you export 24/48? (or 24/44)" Translation: We will use the backup you recorded as our backup in case there was a technical glitch using Source Connect (or equivalent). Since this is for video, we need you to export the session in 24bit48k. (If it’s for radio, it’s 24bit44k) Marketing professionals have an entirely different vocabulary that I adore because while it makes sense to them, it often leaves us musicians confused. MARKETER JARGON (usually used in smaller companies or those with in-house producers) "Can you billboard that line for me?" Translation: Can you put all your energy into that line? Make it bigger, bolder! Make it stand out! (Like how an actual billboard gets your attention) "Now for the punch!" Translation: This is where the big moment/call-to-action/conclusion/reveal happens so make it big. "Gimme some wilds! / Gimme some alts!" Translation: Give me some alternate versions – play around with the delivery so they’re each different. Engineer equivalent of ABC, listed above. "We want the voice to be strong and confident, but approachable and also a little vulnerable so it connects with the audience. And playful, but also a little quirky…?" Translation: We don’t actually know what we want until we hear it, and that might take 20 takes. I hope you’re cool with that. (Spoiler: We are!) No matter where you are on this list, we voiceovers have your back. We know, at least we think we do, what you’re asking and how to deliver it. And we love the fact that you’re willing to put all your faith in our vocal cords to get your message across. So thank you. And I can’t wait to see what other trends in language pop up! Check back because I'll be updating this list every so often.

And People Ask Why I Don’t Want To Work In the Music Industry Anymore Article originally posted on Medium.com For over a decade, I have been told not to make my personal feelings about my music career public. But now that I’m “too old” to have a solo career, what do I care? Let’s spill some tea! But first, a very important, and brief, history recap: I got my start in the trance music industry in 2005 with Matt Cerf and his then-partner, Shawn Mitiska. In 2008/2009 we picked up steam as a production group called…drumroll please… Cerf, Mitiska & Jaren (because we couldn’t agree on a group name). We released many vocal trance hits including You Never Said, Beggin’ You, and the one I’m about to mention, below. When we had the enormous opportunity to work with EDM legends Dash Berlin in 2009, we couldn’t believe our luck! A collaboration? With us? How were we so lucky? What song should we send their way? How about our new one, Man On The Run? So we sent our version off, complete with Matt and Shawn’s production and my lyrics and melody. A few months passed before we received an audio file from Dash Berlin with their part of the production incorporated. It was good. Beyond good. I think we all instantly felt that it would be a hit. I needed to add a few more lyrics, but that wouldn’t take long. After a day of writing and recording, we sent the final vocals back to Dash Berlin and anxiously awaited their reply. Silence. Weeks later, without any notification whatsoever from our record label, Armada, or Dash Berlin, the song was released on the biggest trance podcasts in the world as Dash Berlin feat Jaren — Man On The Run (I always hated the term featuring as it implied to me that the singer was only a singer and not part of the writing process. These were my lyrics! My melodies!). There was no mention of my partners Matt or Shawn. We were furious. We wrote to our manager and the label immediately asking why we weren’t properly credited. All the artwork had already gone out for promotion. It would take time to fix. (It took ages, and when it was finally corrected, the damage was already done.) I wanted to say something publicly, to let everyone know the song had its origins with Cerf, Mitiska and Jaren - but was told if I wanted to keep my career I needed to stay silent. The record label would clear this up…eventually. Years passed and Dash Berlin would eat up all the fame surrounding Man On The Run. Tours, gigs, you name it. Anytime there was a function talking about the song, Dash Berlin were the only ones contacted to promote it —along with their name. Man On The Run became so popular it went on to be listed as one of the top 10 trance tunes of all time by A State Of Trance. At one point, Dash Berlin did invite me to do a live performance at an event in Los Angeles, whereby they were getting paid and I was doing the gig for free exposure (explain that to me), but the show ended up getting cancelled the moment I stepped onstage (something about the promoters not paying the event staff). I made the most of the situation by giving an impromptu acoustic performance to a handful of fans at the end of the stage, a moment I will never forget. But did that make up for the amount of paid performances we could have received had we all been properly credited? Absolutely not. So, how do Dash Berlin or our former record label, Armada, right the ship all these years later? I don’t think it can be done. I’m also not convinced they care or that they’d even want to after I publish this, either. What I’d really like to know is if any of the members of Dash Berlin or at Armada even have a clue as to how much leaving our names off our own song would affect our lives so far into the future? Or how it would take more than a decade until we were finally able to release our own versions of our own original song under our own proper names? (It took more than two years of asking to release my piano version, which came out last week). So when people ask why I don’t want to work in dance music, how it’s such a shame — I want to share this. I want to describe to them the sense of loss you feel when you don’t get credit for something you created that goes on to change the industry itself. More than that, I want artists to stick up for themselves, even if they’re being told their careers will disappear if they do so. What would you do? NOTE: This kind of thing happens in every industry. It’s a painful lesson to learn and we can only hope that by speaking out about it publicly things will eventually change. ADDITIONALLY: I’d also like to mention that it’s very possible Dash Berlin weren’t made aware by the record label of the fact that CMJ were left off all initial artwork and promotional materials. But somebody knew and could have done something about it. UPDATE: March 28th There seems to be some confusion in the comments on my socials about copyrights. We, Matt, Shawn and myself, were properly credited as writers. What I’m talking about is the public-facing credit. Streaming doesn’t pay much, as we all now know, and so the bulk of an artist’s livelihood is made in live performances. We all know Beyonce, but how many of you know her co-writers? See my point? (I’m in no way comparing myself to the Queen, I’m just saying it’s all fine and dandy to be a co-writer, but if you’re trying to make a living on the live performance side, you’d better make sure your name is in the title credits. Period.)

The Motherhood Penalty Isn’t Getting Better Article originally posted on Medium.com Let it be known that I had zero intention of writing about this, but a friend who knew I had worked on a book about music, motherhood and celebrity reached out and asked my opinion. So here goes. In case you missed it, during an interview last week, Lily Allen said in a podcast that her kids ruined her career. People were up in arms, obviously. But having studied motherhood and the music industry several years ago, and having asked various female artists about their personal experiences in the music industry as it relates to having children (while also taking into consideration my own experience), I have to say I agree with her. However, and this is a big however — the only reason this can be true is because our society penalizes motherhood. I think two things, specifically, got people’s socks in a bunch. The first, being her kids could read her statement in the future and end up harboring guilt for their mother’s inability to reach her imagined potential. That is a possibility, of course. I wouldn’t want my kids to feel responsible for my outcomes in life. The second is that most people seem to think because she’s already famous, she must be rich enough to hire a nanny and not have to worry about her kids at all. It’s significantly more nuanced and complicated than that — and I say that as someone who has experienced this on a much smaller scale, and as someone who worked for a family of celebrities in the past. But that’s another conversation. (If you want to know more, leave a comment…I may end up writing about it.) I think most people don’t understand that when you’re an artist of Lily’s size, you have a machine behind you: managers, agents, probably a publicist, a record label or two, etcetera. Machines of that size don’t like slowing down once they throw their weight behind you. They don’t get paid unless you go on tour, show up at this signing, do this show, promote this project, the list goes on. They want their return on investment in you as an artist, so if they build you up, you better show up when and where they want you to. That’s just one of the costs of fame. And the machine isn’t supporting you because they think your songwriting is so genius they just want the world to hear you, either. That’s too altruistic. It comes down to money. And if they have to share your attention with someone or something else, the chances of them losing theirs starts to rise. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard managers say things like “The label doesn’t really want to work with — insert name here — anymore. She had a kid. She’s clearly got other priorities.” Or “Why would I invest in her show? What if her kid gets sick that night. She’d choose her kid over the show, for sure’.” Where’s the in-between? Why do we automatically assume that when a woman becomes a mother (biologically or not, doesn’t matter) she is suddenly ready to abandon every part of herself except the mothering part? For many women, including myself, successful mothering is fed by our other aspects. Quite bluntly — I’m a crappy mom if I can’t work on my artistic projects — and vice versa, now — I’m a crappy artist if I can’t caretake and mother. Let’s get hypothetical. Let’s imagine, for those who suggest she can focus on her career after her kids leave the house, that Lily decided to focus solely on raising her kids until they reach the age of 18. And say, for this argument, that her kids happen to be so independent they move out on their birthdays. Lily then gets to put most of her attention back to the machine she had before kids (I say most because you never stop worrying and wondering about your kids, no matter how old they are). Surely she should be able to relaunch her career, right? Right. With the pressures of agism in this social media-driven world? Are you kidding? When did you last see a 40 or 50-something enter the top 40 charts after disappearing for 18 years? And to the opposite end, imagine she decided to focus on her career and woke up one day, when she would be considered a geriatric mother, and decided it was time to have her own? This is a very real problem for another segment of women in the music industry. I have friends struggling with fertility, and others who ended up not being able to have children at all because the pressure of their machine was too much — they felt too guilty to stop touring, for example, believing that the people who rely on them for work wouldn’t be able to support their own families if they took time off to have kids (because for those who might not know — managers and agents take a portion of their artists’ incomes…hopefully they have more than one artist). For the record, it is not the artist’s job to worry about how their team makes a living. It’s their job to create their product and show up where they need to in order to promote it. But these women artists worry anyway, to the point they end up not having the children they wanted and, in some cases, feeling regret for not having figured out a way to put their foot down. Grow up, machine. I experienced the Motherhood Penalty myself and chose to hide both my pregnancies. I nearly lost my livelihood and ended up having a mental breakdown in 2016. I eventually quit because I was angry at my machine. Now, almost a decade later, all I can do is laugh at the reality of the situation and hope one day someone can do something about it because all I can do is point out flaws and tell stories. The saddest thing about this entire situation? The fact that this happens in every industry. It is not limited to the music industry. How many mothers do you know who hid their pregnancies for fear of losing out on a promotion at work? If you don’t know anyone — ask. Ask your mothers, grandmothers, sisters, cousins, and friends. According to the CDC, between 2018–2021, roughly 29% of women experienced workplace discrimination while receiving maternal care. If you’re public facing, the number is likely to be significantly higher. So. Back to Lily Allen’s comments. I think she’s right. Having kids ruins mother’s careers in many cases. After all, we can’t have it all at the same time. But that’s not any kid’s fault. That’s our fault (as a collective society), and it’s gonna take a motherevolution to make changes for the better.

These phrases can be found in the majority of sales scripts I read. I’ve read them so often I don’t believe the meaning of the words anymore and I wonder if the audience they’re intended for does, either. Article originally posted on Medium.com Asa voiceover artist, I sometimes feel like I get an inside scoop on the future of products and ideas. Often, my participation is the last piece of a promotional/informational puzzle — and the scripts I receive have been in the pipeline for months, and in some cases, even years... which makes it all the more annoying that we haven’t collectively, as a society, come up with better language to sell our products and ideas. I mean…someone call Corporate Erin. We can do better than this. “We harness the power of…..” usually followed by technology, science, or connectivity. “…driving change….” “We champion growth…” “We are architects of transformation”. “We are custodians of authenticity.” Hmm. “…transcends boundaries…” “Together, we…” if you say “are stronger”, I’m gonna barf. “…fueled by a passion for…” “We elevate…” “…relentless pursuit of…” “…break down barriers…” “…united by a passion for…” “…empowering our clients…” “…crafting products that…” Is it me, or are these all starting to sound a little too AI…? Which are your personal favorites? An even better question - how could we say all of these things differently?

Article originally posted on Medium.com Yes, we live in the age of selfies. But in all those hours of posing, we’ve learned some pretty valuable information about ourselves, including: Which side is our good side That taking pictures from low angles creates double chins That if I smile at 80% and not 120%, I look less like a horse You get the idea. So what happens if we film ourselves speaking or singing? Sure, it feels really weird at first. But eventually, we get to know the part of ourselves that everyone except us gets to experience. If there’s something we don’t like, we now have the power to change it. Here’s an example. My step-uncle Paul, a former lawyer, advised my younger sister to record herself as she practiced being interviewed. “Speed up the playback and you’ll notice patterns.” he said. For instance, you might notice when you get nervous, you reach up and move your hair behind your ear, even if it’s already there. You might use filler words like “uh” or “um” far more than you’d like. All in all, a very useful practice. So when my students ask what they can do to feel more confident speaking or singing aloud, whether it’s in a classroom for an oral presentation to performing on stage, I say this: “Record yourself and watch back. Often. As often as it takes until you accept yourself.” Here’s why I think it works. When you record yourself alone, you’re safe knowing nobody can see or hear your mistakes. You get to choose where and when you record yourself so you can feel as comfortable as possible, while also knowing you have the power to press delete afterward if you so choose. Most of us don’t want to make mistakes on a recording so the pressure of knowing a camera is on you simulates the pressure of having real eyeballs present and watching. For myself, personally, I know that when I feel confident doing something on camera (reciting a poem, giving a talk, etc.), I feel THAT much more confident in my ability to do it in front of an actual audience. So give it a try! Got a different technique? I want to hear about it! Let me know in the comments.