You Can Bank on Your Voice Second Edition

By Rodney Saulsberry

This second edition of You Can Bank on Your Voice is completely updated and it includes the latest information about how to get started in voice-over. Learn about the new and most popular genres in voice-over, new home studio technology, performing exercises, specific voice-acting techniques and tips from some of the best casting directors in the business. The updated chapters also contain new and pertinent information about Anime, Explainer Videos, Voice Apps and Animation Pre-lay. Other topics include: How to audition, Finding an agent, Vocal warm-up exercises, Making a demo and Marketing tips. If you want to get started in voice-over or jump start your current voice-over career, this is the book for you!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tomdor Publishing
• Release date: Oct 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393197706

Rodney Saulsberry

Rodney Saulsberry is one of the premier voice-over talents and vocal coaches in the country. He is also a published author with three bestselling books, You Can Bank on Your Voice, Step Up to the Mic and Rodney Saulsberry's Tongue Twisters and Vocal Warm-Ups.  Saulsberry’s distinctive announcer voice is literally everywhere. He has announced promos for Dancing With The Stars on ABC. He live announced the 34th NAACP Image Awards on FOX and voiced promos for the Grammys and Country Music Awards on CBS. Currently his voice can be heard promoting Penn and Teller Fool Us and Masters of Illusion on the CW Network and International promos for Telemundo. Rodney's acting credits include guest star appearances on Monk, Without a Trace, Law & Order: LA and Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. He reoccurs as Anthony Walker a street musician and former homeless man on the Daytime Drama The Bold and the Beautiful.

Book preview

This book is dedicated to my first grandson Cameron. I am so blessed to be your grandfather and I love you.

Other Books from Tomdor Publishing

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Rodney Saulsberry’s Tongue Twisters and Vocal Warm-Ups: With Other Vocal-Care Tips (paperback and audio)

Step Up to the Mic: A Positive Approach to Succeeding in Voice-Overs (paperback and audio)

You Can Bank on Your Voice: Your Guide to a Successful Career in Voice-Overs (paperback and audio)

Graylin Brown: (paperback and audio)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 - First Things First

What Is a Voice-Over?

How to Get Started

Choosing a Voice-Over Instructor

The Voice-Over Demo

Go West, Young Man, Go West

Chapter 2 - Getting a Foot in the Door

Joining the Unions

Non-Union vs. Union Work

Pay to Play

Finding an Agent

The Agency House Reel

The Audition

What Casting Directors Expect from You, the Actor

Prior to the Audition

During the Audition

Voice-over Is an Acting Craft

Prepare

Have Respect for the Director and Direction

After the Audition

Chapter 3 - The Session

Interpreting Your Copy

Commercial Sessions

Trailer Sessions

Promo Sessions

Animation Sessions

Demos

Scratch Tracks

Tags

Legal Tags

My Trailer Love Affair

Chapter 4 - Voice-Over Work Outside the Norm

Radio Imaging

Radio Imaging Copy

Voice Prompts

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

Voice Prompt Copy

Looping ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement)

Narration

Website Voice Imaging

Explainer Videos

eLearning

Non-Broadcast Voice-Over

Apps

Animation Pre-lay

Anime

Podcasts

Video Games

Chapter 5 - It’s All in the Technique

Microphone Techniques

Vocal Exercises

Phrasing—Vocal Exercises

Find Your Own Voice and What You Do Best

The Fade

Chapter 6 - Taking Care of Business

Working from Home, the Home Studio

Money

Make Money While You Sleep

Keep Good Records and Follow Your Money

What to Do with Your Money

Promote Yourself - Marketing Strategies

Never Be Unemployed Again

Vanity Plates

Chapter 7 - Staying on Top of It All

Changing Agencies—How to Make a Smooth Transition

How to Be in Control of Your Voice-Over Destiny

You Absolutely Cannot Afford to Catch a Cold!

Some Common Mistakes to Avoid

Rodney’s Ten Voice-Over Creeds to Live By

The Live Announce

VO Career Highlights

Revelation

Afterword

Praise for Rodney Saulsberry

Appendix A

Appendix B

Glossary

Bibliography

About the Author

How to Contact the Author

FOREWORD

Through hard work, enormous talent, and perseverance, my good friend, Rodney Saulsberry has risen up the Hollywood ladder to become one of the top voice-over artists in the industry. He does it all and does it well. He makes a huge bundle of dough doing it, too. As a young man, he’s right at the height of his abilities and popularity; however, now he wants to share his knowledge, his techniques and his secrets with all of you. I know he’d like me to think of this as a sign of his generosity and maturity, but I can’t. I view it as total insanity.

Don’t get me wrong. Nobody could be more qualified to write this book than Rodney. In fact, I can’t think of a more appropriate teacher in the highly specialized field of voice-overs. As a cartoon voice on my Spider-Man animated series for Fox TV, Rodney frequently took the words I’d written and made them sing (for the Marvel Comics purists among you, Rodney portrayed the character Joe Robbie Robertson). His ability to interpret copy would make any writer proud. That’s why he’s considered the best.

Any producer who needs to create a spot to sell a product, give voice to a cartoon character, or add spoken words to a promo or movie trailer literally has millions of dollars riding on the ability of the voice-over artist to perform these important tasks. Under these tight circumstances, the skill, talent, and professionalism of the actor is very important. Producers and studios pay top dollar for good voice-over talent. Time is money, and they want to trust that their time will not be wasted, so they only seek out the best people for the job.

Making you one of the best is the prime objective of this authoritative book. You are literally holding in your hands the key to a lucrative future in a very important profession.

But it’s madness to hand over the keys to the treasure chest like this. Sheer madness! Surely Rodney’s gripped in some sort of temporary insanity, one from which he’s undoubtedly bound to recover. You should count yourself lucky that you’ve picked up this book before Rodney comes to his senses and recalls all copies of it. Until then, don’t tell too many people about the gold mine you’re holding in your hands.

And don’t hold your breath waiting for me to write a book teaching anyone how to be a successful producer/ writer for children’s television. It ain’t never gonna happen.

- John Semper, Jr., Producer/Writer, Spider-Man and Static Shock.

PREFACE

Fifteen years ago, I was so enamored with this wonderful business called voice over that I decided to write a book about it. And since I was having a ton of fun and making a lot of money at the same time, I decided to call it, You Can Bank on Your Voice. Yes, my colleagues and I were indeed making a lot of money with our voices. We were living proof that one could truly bank on their voice.

The book was a major success on many levels but the one that was most important to me was the fact that it was so motivational. It motivated and encouraged people to be the best that they could be as they tried to be successful in the highly competitive voice over field.

I received several requests through the years to do a second edition of You Can Bank on Your Voice, but I was just too busy and things were shifting and changing rapidly in the business. Things that were relevant one year were either gone or very unpopular the next. I just didn’t think the time was right for a second edition. And, even though things were changing, the basic principles of the business were still relevant on the pages of the first edition. One thing I did do was make sure that I kept the anecdotes, those special personal stories like Vanity Plates, The Live Announce and The Fade in this second edition. I felt it was important to leave those original stories intact so that you could get an idea of that wonderful era in the voice-over industry when we traveled from studio to studio and conversed in person with other talent, directors and engineers.

Now, I believe it is truly time to update the tools you will need to bank on your voice!

This second edition of You Can Bank on Your Voice is completely updated and it includes the latest information about how to get started in the business. The new and most popular genres in voice-over, home studios, performing techniques and tips from some of the best casting directors in the business. The updated chapters also include new information about Anime, Explainer Videos, Apps, Animation Prelay with comprehensive chapter summaries at the end of each chapter.

It doesn’t matter where you live—voice-over work is available anywhere in the country and throughout the world. Your age is not a factor. Advertisers are looking for real people and real voices with the passion and talent to turn their products into something consumers must have and can’t do without.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I gratefully acknowledge my entire family, all of my friends, and everyone who contributed to the making of this book. I sincerely love and thank you all.

INTRODUCTION

A Day in the Life of a Voice-Over Artist

I’m up this sunny Tuesday at 7:00 a.m. I wash my face, brush my teeth, and go downstairs to the kitchen to fix myself a cup of green tea. I pop last night’s leftovers into the microwave and sit down at the kitchen table to nibble a bit. It takes a little food to clear my raspy throat in the morning and soothe my vocal cords.

As I read the morning paper, my fax machine starts to hum, probably with voice-over scripts for my first session. I’ve got my first session at 7:30, in my home studio, which I affectionately call the Money Box. A poster of golfing phenom Tiger Woods adorns its door. I put his picture there because he’s a hard worker, he’s a winner and he makes a lot of money.

This morning, through the wonders of technology, I am working simultaneously with an engineer in North Carolina, the client in Nashville and another voice-over talent in Chicago. We work for a grand total of fifteen minutes on a sixty-second in-store spot for Cingular Wireless.

My second session is scheduled to start at eight. I’ve got just enough time to go back into the kitchen, fix myself another cup of tea, say good morning to my wife, good-bye to my teenage daughter as she rushes off to school, get my next script from the fax machine, and sit down for a second to study it.

At eight, hooked up to an engineer and client in New Orleans, I’m at the microphone joyously delivering copy about the great taste of Zatarain’s Dirty Rice. My third session isn’t until nine. Back in the kitchen, my wife and I are talking about what her day entails. At nine sharp, armed with my scripts and reading glasses in hand, I saunter back into the studio to extol the wonderful virtues of Clippers Basketball for KTLA Television in Los Angeles before hitting the shower at 9:35.

I pull out of the driveway of my spacious suburban home, and I’m stopped by one of my neighbors who lets me know how much he likes my new Mercedes. Turning out of the cul-de-sac I reflect on how grateful I am to God for blessing me with a wonderful, healthy family, and for making it possible for us to live in this beautiful neighborhood with its highly regarded school system—all because of a successful voice-over career.

It’s a normal day on the 101 freeway—crowded. After listening to some good music on my favorite FM radio station, I switch to an AM station to listen to talk radio. The closer I get to my next session at LA Studios, the more I think about warming up my voice. I do this every day by searching the dial and repeating aloud everything I hear on the radio—the Dow Jones report, the weather, sports, traffic, and the entertainment news. At the end of each segment I’ll replace the reporter’s name with my own: I’m Rodney Saulsberry and you’re listening to KNX 1070 news radio.

I can be very animated. I’ve had people in carpools on the freeway looking into my car and wondering if I’m some kind of nut. By speaking in rhythmic cadences, I exercise my tongue and improve my flexibility.

Suddenly, I stop talking and switching stations because I hear my own voice on a commercial. I don’t repeat these words; I just listen. Although I’ve listened to my voice countless times on the radio and on television, hearing it never gets old and always stops

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me cold. Finally, I switch to an FM station, and there I am again on another spot. Now I’m totally hyped and