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[Music] [Music] do do [Music] [Music] feel feel feel he [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] he [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] good morning all good afternoon good evening good night I've got my coffee I just found out it was powdered dut day so now I just need powdered Donuts thank you for joining me again for another live Q&A session here on my channel I appreciate you all being here if you're new here welcome my name is Angela I'm a full-time voiceover artist and audiobook narrator and my channel is dedicated to those of you just getting started out in this wonderful world of Wonderful World of VoiceOver and audiobook narration easy for you to say uh and through my channel I share with you tips and tricks and techniques and things that I do every day in my own voiceover business and then we get together in these weekly chats to talk about a few things usually we'll see how it goes uh if you're not new here then you know that every week we have a new poll which is the topic for today again we'll see how it goes and this week the poll is which should be done first in building your voiceover business and I know that we we've talked about these things a few times in the last few weeks but I keep getting questions regarding building foundations um what comes first because the overwhelm is real right there's so much to be done in building your voiceover business so I think this topic is very important I mean aart from finding the work right and staying on top of the work and then the actual performance aspect and then we get into the technical aside from all of those big major topics this is this is really the one that I get I think the most often is the foundation like what do I do first there's just so much to do so we're going to kind of come at this a little bit different way and we're going to talk about the things that I have done and things that I have recommended to people that I work with um to do in the beginning versus focusing solely on getting and finding the work or even the training and all the other things and the poll today is I wanted to see where you guys are at and I always appreciate the input that you guys put in because it's not just you know it's not just my opinion here it's what you guys that are actually you know what you guys have to um or maybe your experiences right what you've experienced in building your own voiceover business like because I always say that everybody's journey is different and what works for me may not work for you so getting everybody's input is important but I'm going to share with you what I think my personal opinions and things that I have done and maybe even realize later that will might help you to build this business uh for you so which should be done first it looks like the vast majority of you said to plan uh 15% of you said 14% of you said tools software equipment and it is really kind of the chicken in the egg thing right so I wanted to get your your take anyway stop blabbing Angela 14% of you said tools software equipment uh 11% of you said training coaching practice and then 75% of you said planning which is the research um figuring out where do I start right there's just so much as we just discussed but I think the most important aspect of the planning is discovering your why and that is one of the the four pillars that I have discussed before in other videos here on my channel um in the four pillars of success I think for any business uh the why I think is the most important and your why is going to be your reason the thing that you can fall back on when times get tough um the drive that pushes you forward in doing this to begin with is it because you love what you do is it to have more time to spend with family and doing things you enjoy to travel to make your own schedule be your own body is it because you want to make x amount of dollars right I mean what is your why because your why and this really goes for any business you start your why has to be the strongest element in your foundation because if you don't have a strong why to do your you know your chosen field of whatever it is and in this case voice over an audiobook narration if your why isn't strong enough then you're not going to get very far far right um I feel a tangent coming on okay um and just really quickly some of the other pillars of success which again I've discussed in other videos um investment is another one and investment is it comes in the form of time tools and uh the training right because as you know as I'm sure you've discovered at this point especially if you're you're brand new there's a lot to invest in not just in a computer that's you know powerful enough to power all of the apps and things that you need to uh utilize every day but then you also have the software which comes in the form of your dah which is your digital audio workstation um the software um that you're whatever whichever invoicing software that you choose to use it comes um investment is also in the equipment because as you know and we've talked about this before you know the training uh the equipment there's a lot to invest in and it's worth it and it is worth it it may seem like a lot right cuz you've got you got the microphone you've got the computer you've got the interface you've got headphones you've got the da you've got choosing a mentor or a coach and then all of the investment of time in learning how to use all these things and in the training and the coaching uh investment is a big one but your why is going to push you through that time right is going to drive you forward is to continue pushing you forward to keep learning to keep going to keep auditioning to keep attending the meetings to keep you know upgrading your equipment all of those things so I think your why drives a lot of these uh another pillar is uh your mindset because if you don't have the right mindset and not I don't want to say right but as working adults we're used to someone else telling us what to do instead of us calling the shots or us wearing all of the hats that we need to wear to run a business not just in the actual doing of the voiceover recording or performing the voiceovers but also the marketing finding the work managing the finances all of the things so you need to shift your mindset and also include a little bit of positivity in there in that mindset too it will really help instead of thinking more like in the lack abundance right positivity positivity in all of this it really does help believe me um so you have to shift your mindset to think like a positive CEO and um of course all of the the learning and the time and the work that you need to put in to uh build all of these so these are the main pillars of uh success that I have you know stressed throughout the years and um I'm trying I'm trying to suppress the tangents I promise you um just glancing over so we got 32 votes and it still looks a vast majority of you said planning so that's good but just be careful to not get stuck in the what stage procrast learning it's very easy to get stuck in that stage when you're in the research stage and you're figuring out you know all the different websites that you could post your profile on or which um production companies or Publishers or whatever it is that you want to reach out to or which directions you want to go in voiceover which coaches you want you know there's all these different rabbit holes that you can begin to go down and then you you start to tell yourself well I don't have I don't have this training or I don't have this microphone or I don't have this software I don't have editing quite down yet or I don't have my sound dialed in just quite yet you're going to hold yourself back telling yourself that you're in the lack of something to move forward right I need I need to learn I need to have I need to do XYZ before I can get started and that's just baloney because it's very easy to tell yourself that you can't when you should do and then learn that you can while you're doing it if that makes sense so the procrastin learning stage is very easy to get stuck into don't allow yourself to get stuck there okay I'm done all right let's get over to the comments and see if you if you've been in this for a while if you've been doing voiceover audiobook work for a while and you have some tips to share by all means put them in the comments and share them with the group um it just benefits everybody right like the rising tide lifts all boats right all right let's get over to the comments and see who's here NAFA ma was here before I was even here looks like yesterday he posted this comment yesterday look at you in it Dwight you beat Caesar how'd you do that good morning Dwight good morning Angela and hello to my fellow Angelas I think they are all important you're very right um but like everyone I know starting in vo it is personalized because we just don't know first I think we should use spell checker on the poll yeah I realized there was a double l in there thank you for pointing that out Dwight yeah I caught that after the fact and went I don't think anybody's going to notice but I was wrong thanks Dwight Caesar says anec toally I think planning should come first but here's the thing you don't know what you don't know so often we just buy the equipment and wing it before going for training or even planning um yeah I think that's I think that's what I did first I think um I watched a few videos I read a few interviews uh I read some information and just pretty much jumped in with both feet and went and bought equipment or I think I think we had a microphone here either way I jumped in with equipment and was like I'm doing it and then I realized okay well I don't know what I'm doing and then I started to plan and research and train myself and then got a coach like a year in when I should have gotten one before anyway Caesar says forgot to say hi Angela hi Caesar when I started I was like I can do this thing same so I bought a USB mic and hooked it up to a laptop and realized very quickly that I had much learning to do same same from there it was a journey and experimentation more equipment investing in room treatment a lot of research and finally training yeah same mostly from you and your community that's the order I did things and look at you now Caesar ultimately it boils down to just do it worry about the details as you go I still like my quote about hacking away at the undergrowth until you find your Golden City still makes a lot of sense that said hello everyone holidays are upon us hope all is well with everyone I have stockings large enough to fit microphones and analog equipment fingers crossed we all get some good vo stuff crossing my fingers for you although I think you may just get some coal just saying you're not kidding Kimberly is here hey Kimberly the Y was huge for me I went on vacation in the summer and when I returned home I made the comment I could have been recording and it was a good vacation I simply loved doing it now that that is definitely something to go on vacation and think about recording while you're on vacation that is is love that said the training and coaching was 100% needed for me still is yeah and ongoing training and coaching is definitely needed too because there's always going to be changes and Trends there's always there always could be there always could be more um how do I want to put this there's always more to learn let's just go simple Angela there's always more to learn right just when you think you know everything you don't you don't there's always more to learn there's always changing Trends there's always um Niche specific things um uh Styles tones you know there's always more to learn and with all of the wonderful people available to learn from learn from them all you know start with the people that do what you want to do or are where you want to be and learn from them first and then Branch out and start to kind of flesh out all of those skills but never stop learning simply put never stop learning and growing Dwight says hi Kimberly not sure I have seen you before if I have I apolog apologize for me being forgetful me so welcome again to a very fun and helpful Community absolutely we are helpful and fun then Dwight says Kimberly before I forget don't forget to always strive to get that Mom look from Angela at least once during our Tuesday sessions I think most of those are just for you Dwight like pointing out that the spelling was wrong in the poll love you Angela love to tease you I know you do Jim says good morning from Chile Memphis I don't even know what it is here in Phoenix I think it's 50 something 60 something I'm not sure good morning Jim I think the last choice is an obvious first one because in doing it we decide how to arrange the other elements very true and I think uh ultimately again it's sort of like a chicken in the egg thing but I think having even a little bit of all of them in the beginning is not a bad thing thing because having the tools you can start to practice you can start to learn how everything works and then the training you can't really practice your training without having the tools without having the equipment right and the software and things and then the planning can be kind of sprinkled throughout everything so I mean you could I would say just sign me mously do all of these but the main thing is just to go go don't just do one after the other after the other or do one and then get stuck you know do all of them but just go yes I'm pumping the brakes on a tangent Peak Parable says you could make more money working another job starting out with less risk and quicker Financial return if no passion then it was very unlikely um and I'm not sure what TK have long-term if not even short-term success yeah I think um and again everybody's coming from a different starting point so if you are employed full-time and this is another thing is time where do I find the time um just for just to give you guys an idea of how I started if you don't already know I was employed full-time worked 55 60 hours a week on call pretty much did some weekends I was working a lot I you know I headed an department at um at a BMW store and um was doing this on the side and when I came home from work I I had to sacrifice I had to sacrifice a little bit of time either away from my family or you know sleep you know a weekend time but I knew that this was the ultimate goal was to go fulltime and what I was going through the sacrifices that I was making were temporary and that ultimately that I would be able to spend more time with them once I got to this point right so the sacrif I part is temporary until you get to the point that you're trying to reach so just go Colin says good morning from Houston Texas good morning Colin rust to killbilly says good morning all good morning to you rusta killbilly okay so now it just finally popped up 57° here in Phoenix Peak Parable says for Main job I work construction outside today uh being a BAL me 15 that's a hard pass 15° that is one of my wise better working conditions and life flexibility I hear that Tanya says good evening everyone good evening to you Tanya David Brumfield says hello from Ontario Canada hello to you David Dare I ask what the temperature is in Ontario Dylan says good morning all my first step was research a lot of research too much research I got paralyzed and overwhelmed after a kick in the pants I invested in the equipment that I researched and then the continuation after that I joined the Platinum Group and got the coaching training but I'm still doing a bit of every choice and I feel that I always will mhm yep it's always um learning a little bit more about all of them to never stop learning yep and for those uh that don't know the Platinum Group is on my website it's a it's a group where fantastic group of people we meet once a week on Thursday nights for a couple of hours hours and we go through practice scripts we go through uh actual auditions we review auditions as a group like give feedback on auditions and demos and things we do um we develop character voices just based on images and a little bit of background we do wheel of emotions every month which is always super fun we have a literal wheel that's got an emotion on it and whatever emotion that the wheel lands on is what you have to is what you have to emote in whatever generic script that I have even if it's contradictory to how it's written right so in doing this we explore what emotions sound like and then also in that is uh where we discover that giving that emotion 50 to 100% more is important because and an emotion in your head may not come out sounding that way you know out of your mouth in a recording so expressing an emotion even when it feels the opposite I mean all of these exercises are fantastic for and not only that but getting outside of your comfort zone right and performing in front of people and getting live feedback but anyway I'm squirrel so that that's my Platinum Group and it's on my website voiceover angela.com if you'd like to join us we also have um a full library of practice scripts and we have our Discord which is invaluable where you can watch people um perform accents or just work or you know we have all kinds of stuff so that's what that is but anyway I'm getting sidetracked I do that a lot just telling you Sean Lester is here hey Sean I say equipment only because you must have at least an inexpensive USB mic and a da four years ago I had a cheap computer a free da a $35 mic and a clothes closet and I think that's how most of us start to be honest right we start with whatever mic we can get our hands on and then we upgrade and if you're Caesar you upgrade a lot and have a big stable of microphones uh Dwight say says I know I know I figured out the correct answer for the poll first thing we need to do is to join Angeles Platinum Group we have so much to offer newbies and old old bees we'll have to use that old bees new bees and old bees um thank you for that Dwight Sean says after equipment I discovered that it is fun to do voiceovers acting Etc I would say practice but by practice I mean have fun recording and that is a huge thing and the practice not only do you want to try different things but play have fun let yourself have fun and play with different character voices with different emotions and that is one thing that the wheel of emotions does that we do every week it helps you to sort of let go of you know the inner adult just have fun and explore yeah Jim says when it comes to auditions for ACX or any other client if a book goes offshelf or Clos to auditions I record anyway and use the audition for a sample so nothing is lost or wasted that's good and just a quick reminder for those of you haven't heard me say this before if you are on ACX and you do uh an audition you use that audition as a sample because 40% of all jobs are booked through the samples and the other 60% are booked through auditions so never never of never under oh my gosh what just happened never underestimate the power of posting samples absolutely do double duty with that work that you just did Kristen Cay Anderson am I saying that right equipment kind of struggling there um what is the what is the struggle if you can tell us what the struggle is that you're having with your equipment we can probably help you in terms of what you need what is necessary let us know we can help you Mark hey Mark good morning from beautiful Nicaraguan I brought donuts oh good good got to have donuts with our coffee everybody Kathleen is here hello Angela and everyone I think your why is most important I wonder if my procrastin learning is because I haven't validated my why enough um my gut says no I don't I think your procrastin learning is because to be honest it's probably fear I mean fear drives a lot of us in fear drives a lot of what we do every day fear in I mean just you know that voice in your head you're like the you've got you've got one voice telling you oh let's do this this will be great this will be so much fun and then you've got the other voice saying well what happens if you get too busy what happens if you get rejected what happens if you right and this voice the fear voice typically outweighs the other one it's louder than the other one and there's nothing wrong with that I think that is it's just a human thing but when you recognize that you're doing that to yourself is what's important because once you go you know what what am I so afraid of what's the worst that can happen and I think most of the time it's just rejection right we all fear being rejected in some way shape or form and that's where the positive thinking comes in because if you can reframe those negative thoughts to positive ones and remind yourself that rejection is just redirection or is like what's the um like everything happens for a reason sort of a thing or you just weren't the right voice for that project so go find the one that you are meant to do go find the one that needs your voice or is looking for your voice right you can't take that stuff personally you just can't and I know that's easy for me to say probably because of you know I was in the car business for 20 years so my my skin is pretty thick anymore but thinking of things in a positive way will definitely help so don't let the fear decide your fate you decide your fate you decide what you want to do and I think that's why just jumping in and doing it will really help shut that fear voice up because you're you're showing yourself as you're doing that you can you can do this because you just did right so if you have a fear of learning how your doll works or how to edit or how to whatever it is and then you do it and you go oh yeah I can do that I just did it and then you just keep doing that and that will help to shut that fear voice up so just get in there and do it try it get in there and learn as you go but I don't think it's because of your why although you should have a strong why okay tangent tangent tangent um that looks like it's a duplicate Mark Jim says uh in deciding what book to audition for I pick books that cover topics I need to explore further this helps me grow my own self absolutely but don't limit yourself to just books that you want to learn more about yes I say in the beginning choose topics that interest you because that interest is going to come through in your read you know while you're learning how to express yourself and to learn character voices and all the other things that go into audiobooks but if you choose something in the beginning that interests you that's naturally going to come through in you read but as you're growing and you're recording and producing more and more audiobooks start to step outside of your comfort zone because if you get offered a book that's not really interesting to you but could yield you some some income are you going to turn it down probably not so step outside of your comfort zone and try books in in other genres and other categories you might find that you enjoy them just as much Caesar says to Kristen is it Kristen Kiren what sort of equipment struggles are you facing we might be able to help you out see see Jim says please discuss invoicing software a bit needs need ideas on this I think um we actually did a live chat on just this topic a while ago so if um just to get a deeper dive into it if you go to my channel and you go to the live streams and then in this the filter or search bar you can search for um invoicing I think is probably a good keyword software invoice software and we came up with several different ideas for invoicing software I use PayPal business because it it most platforms use it in some way shape or form the invoices can be paid by any means of payment they don't need a PayPal account to pay a Paypal invoice and it integrates seamlessly in with QuickBooks and all of the other things that I use so it makes you know tracking uh income and expenses super easy so I use PayPal business for invoicing but there's also if memory serves there was also wave there's also squar space uh if you if there's an invoicing software that you use please share it in the comments to help Jim out but there are a few different ones to use uh Dwight says do not forget to click the like button it helps and Andre algorithms it helps Angela's algorithms Angela's [Music] algorithms yes it does thank you very much Gary michelone says anyone can beg uh begin a vo career today practice requires no equipment or coaching just do it and you can practice by reading anything and everything out loud if you're reading a book for pleasure at home read it out loud that's good practice just read it out loud to yourself and then while doing that if there are character voices then explore some different character voices and then you might discover that you have like a whole arsenal you have a whole stable of archetypes that you can already use when you start recording audiobooks right just do it Dwight says I win I got the First mom look of the day Monty says congrats Dwight Kirsten says uh do recommend getting a coach straight away before auditions oh you know what I didn't and I wish that I had um because you might save yourself from doing something you shouldn't be doing or you might start out with good habits instead of building bad ones and not realizing you're you know in a bad habit or doing a a bad thing and when I say bad that's that's kind of harsh I keep picking up my coffee cup but not drinking out of it hold on I needed that caffeine I'd say yes I would say get training and coaching mentorship whatever it is join groups at the very least masterminds workshops whatever it is first or at the beginning don't wait to do that because you might develop bad habits and you don't realize that you're doing them and when I say bad habits an example of a bad habit and I think we've all done this at some point is artificial inflection right we're just reading a script and we're just throwing in artificial inflection as we go because it's kind of like a melody and we're not really focusing on what we're saying you know who we are as the narrator who is our audience who we're talking to the why behind what the script is trying to convey right are we trying to just um give guidance or share information or are we trying to is it like a call to action are we trying you know what what is the script trying to do what are they trying to accomplish is it a feeling is it like for sales I mean what is the intent behind the script and then of course who we're talking to because we're not going to talk to kindergarteners the same way we talk to a group of doctors right so understanding all of those things is really going to help you get the correct tone pitch speed intent out versus just throwing an artificial inflection and that is one bad habit that a lot of people do so getting coaching earlier versus later is going to do do nothing but help you to get started on the right foot to probably see success sooner rather than later of course not only that but you know in the audition process itself you'll get to learn um you know file naming conventions or um you know um timing I mean what kind of tone or pitch or whatever it is that you should be including in a particular audition depending on what the audition is for how to you know what should you say in the messages to those clients that you're reaching out to I mean there's a lot of things that you can learn up front in your first auditions instead of learning the hard way so yes absolutely I'm trly I'm trying to rein in the tangents oh boy we have a super chat hold on hang on Sean Lester thank you for the Super Chat sir I appreciate you um Sean says every day I audition for the first book listed on ACX one per finished hour and if I have time one royalty share uh that's not my genre by doing this vo becomes an adventure and my range has broadened that's a good habit and I think you've mentioned that before that is a good habit that is a good habit and that's um picking one not just one but both I love that Sean thank you for sharing and thank you for the Super Chat I really appreciate that um and then I lost my place uh so everybody hop in if a ACX is available in your country hop in there if you have a profile do what Sean does audition for one per finished hour and one royalty share that's not in your preferred genre Brian says I have the equipment but as a beginner I don't I don't have much confidence in recording good demos I hate listening to myself you know what Brian I feel the same way um you know six and a half years later I still don't like listening to myself but it does get easier and it I think everybody would agree that it's cringey it's definitely cringey because we sound different in our heads versus you know out loud it's a different experience and definitely cringey but very very common I think we all do it so don't feel bad it's completely normal but don't let that stop you don't let that stop you I never in a million years thought that people would want to pay to hear me but they do ultimately it's not up to us what what we think our opinion does not matter our opinions about our voice does not matter what matters is what the client thinks because I can't tell you how many times that I've recorded something and I absolutely I I didn't like it it wasn't that I felt that I was you know doing uh giving them the wrong tone or the it just I it didn't feel good I didn't like it but the client loved it and it was exactly what they were looking for so ultimately our opinions do not matter you may hate your voice and cringe every time you hear it but that doesn't matter it's what you're providing to the client that's what they're looking for that's all that matters but you're not alone Brian Dwight says I started with equipment because of my past interests but it was the wrong equipment I watched a lot of videos and got some training while acquiring the right equipment and software yeah I think think we all do that too we all start with what we see or what's the cheapest and then we go I'm going to upgrade you know after you start seeing some income come in upgrading Florida D says hi y'all well hello Florida D John says and a good plan Now is better than a perfect plan that is executed too late MH what's that saying failing to plan is planning to fail right that applies Jim says going from our first estimation of strengths going in I pass on spell check grammarly is not right about some issues yes not I mean I don't know if I know any software that's 100% right 100% of the time but I should have double checked the for I yes Mark says I have to bounce out but I'll finish the show on the replay bye Mark thanks for watching the replay and if you are team replay please consider subscribing and liking this video it does help my algorithms to find other people that are looking for this information I appreciate you Tanya says I had sons who are into music and helped me get some quality starter equipment without making costly mistakes well that's useful it's definitely useful and if you're looking for some ideas on what to get I have if you go to my website voiceover angela.com in the v gear tab there's a lot of recommendations in there for you if you're looking for some ideas on what to purchase a lot of that stuff in there I have owned myself or have heard really great things about from people that I respect and follow myself so if you're looking for some ideas there's a ton of stuff in there John says sometimes you have to remember to get out of your own way absolutely I think we do that a lot we we hold ourselves back from a lot in life just in general we allow that fear to drive us one way or the other Alex says if you don't have your wife why would you do the rest I think that's first and then do the rest as you are able your why is definitely important and I think alongside of your why you also have to have a good definition or understand your your definition of success what does success look like to you right that place that we call there when I I get there I'll be happy when I get there I'll be you know successful what what does success mean for you does that mean that you get to create your own schedule that you get to spend more time with family right defining success for you is part of your why right the reason you're pushed forward and then your definition of success is sort of the ultimate goal right so that could be more more time with your family that could be x amount of dollars in your bank account that could be whatever that is that is a part of your why is your definition of success it's going to be different for everybody right oh we have another Super Chat hold on hold on hold on hold on coming oh my gosh there's so many comments will be here for a while hold on Florida D thank you Florida D I appreciate that um my wife says I love to hear myself talk joking aside the Platinum Group is worth every penny a hundred times over oh best decision I've made since starting this journey thanks to everyone there you're so sweet thank you so much I appreciate that and the pla I had you know I'm not one of these people that likes to toot my own horn I hate promoting myself it makes me feel all Oogie it's probably the introvert it is the introvert but I I do have to say that my Platinum Group is one of the best groups of people that I have ever had the pleasure of being a part of so loving and supportive and so eager to give and to help and to support everyone else in the group and to share what they've learned their successes their failures ask for help give help such a wonderful group of people um my God I'm getting emotional okay we're moving away before I start tearing up but thank you so much for the Super Chat I really appreciate that um again if you're looking for a group a mastermind something it's 20 bucks a month for the Platinum Group it's not about the money for me it's just I you know there's overhead and things that come with it but if you want to be part of the group and have the Discord and all of that practice scripts and join with us once a week it's a great group of people we don't we're not judgy we're we're not like critical about things we have a lot of fun we're very open to new members everybody all experience levels you're very welcome okay I'm done um now I got to find where I left off again I think we're here Dwight says to Kristen try making some samples and putting them out for peer review on the vo social media groups join a vo Community it will speed up your vo growth and process exponentially not only that but joining groups on Facebook or like my my workshop or whatever it is just join something because not only the help with technical aspects getting your your questions answered but just the support for your mental health right because you're joining a group of people who understand where you're coming from who are where you are now and can understand and to help you grow and to support you and to comfort you in times of loss and things like that right when you you know to pick you up when you're feeling down because we understand we understand when the family or your partner whomever doesn't quite understand what you're going through we do and that's that in and of itself is everything uh says my doll learning to use the editing I'm using audacity going to try free Adobe trial upon Angela suggestions did finally get the mic computer and interface hooked up right good I know it's a little bit scary it's a little bit daunting but once you figure out how everything works and then Works in harmony with each other I know it's frustrating and it's timec consuming but trust me you do get past this point you will learn the Daw everything won't seem like a foreign language anymore you you just have to get into it like Caesar and some others says you just have to do it and then you learn as you go so don't ever get down on yourself for not knowing things you will know them you just don't know them yet make sure you always add the yet to whatever you say I don't have this thing yet I don't know this thing yet right positive no stinking thinking here we don't do that here so good get in there do it Alex says if you do not have your why why would you do the rest for me that's first then all the rest is you go uh Jim says one strength of you is that you are doing audiobooks now I have a current idea of what the world is like on this uh Caesar to Kristen says Adobe Audition is tremendous upgrade from audacity you will have to relearn a few things but in the end the intuitiveness ease of use of audition will be highly beneficial see how come Caesar doesn't get beat up about grammar I know what he's trying to say I'm not going to well I just did but only because you guys did but I agree um I used audacity for I think the first two or three months and then I uh got on to Adobe Audition and I had to relearn a couple things but I knew enough at that point that the transition wasn't too bad but I found that Adobe Audition just sort of gave me more usability it gave me more options and it was a lot easier to see and do things um the great word the Caesar used the intuitiveness it just felt like it was a lot easier to understand and to use and to find things I really like Adobe Audition and I'll always recommend it Florida D says weather is tough here at 78 degrees oh yeah that's hate to be you right now Jim says I started out listening to podcasts about vo yes that is another great resource of learning researching voiceover podcast there's a ton of them um if you just go to your favorite podcast app and put in voiceover I would imagine or vo you'll probably get a lot of results I have one too mine is um uh she Lancer with voice over Angela and I they're pretty much the replays of these because I've asked for more playback um options but there's a lot of them Mission audition there's vo peeps there's a vo's journey there's a ton of them out there uh vo Body Shop there's a ton of them that are just great so voiceover podcasts are great too Kathleen says Peak Parable sounds like you work in my neighborhood it's a fabulous 18 degrees here oh no thank you BC English says I did the research and then more research purchased the equipment and software but got stuck on mastering the DAW and liking my voice again these will pass these will pass these fears these G will pass the da I think was one of the um maybe I I think the technical part learning the Daw was one of the most timeconsuming Parts but another another reason to join voiceover groups because with the terminology you know you'll hear people talking about things and then explaining what they are and what they do it'll start to make more sense the more that you do it and the more that you use it and the more that you practice with it a lot of these Daws come with tutorials and a lot of these Daws have um great YouTube creators that create content about each of these Daws all over YouTube with you know specific functions and you know overall tutorials so YouTube is a great resource for learning additional things about your da too if you get stuck or you can just shoot out a question into one of your voiceover groups and get an answer there too but the liking your voice I don't know I mean for me I still it's I still go GH I can't I don't like it uh Kristen says haven't quite learned audacity yet so maybe I should just go ahead and move to Adobe Audition and learn this thank you for your Insight Caesar I think you might like it I think you'll like it Kathleen says fabulous 18 degrees because it could always be zero H it's true that's true 18 is better than zero for sure David says temp in Southern Ontario not bad today at 45 degrees that's not bad that's not too bad that's not as bad as I thought Carmen says good afternoon from Gainesville Florida everybody it's 76 here today I'm brand new here I don't have any experience in this field so I've been researching how to record and edit audacity via YouTube and that is a good start so you don't have any experience yet but you will the more you do it so good keep practicing and researching keep learning keep growing keep at it Dwight says the Platinum Group is so much more than just Thursday night Workshop which is priceless but so many talented group members provide other expertises mm like you with your productivity Eric last night gave an English accent class yes he did I'm sad that I couldn't attend I was too busy with other things but yeah I'm sure it was fantastic uh BC English says I joined the Platinum Group but haven't been active yet you should be get in there be active join us join us kisten says uh yes Sean That's What attracted me to voiceover seems like so much fun and I love to read aloud learning the rest is the it's not a challenge it's not a challenge it is an inevitability you will get there right you just have to go with the flow and learn what you can when you can learn it what you can when you can Tanya says I got so caught up in audacity but am so much happier now that I've started with audition good see there's another good review for audition Dylan says to piggyback on Dwight's comment the Thursday meetings are amazing but the Discord is just as great our members are always online and willing to provide instant feedback or answers there you go and you get to join our our private Discord server just for the Platinum members when you become a member that's just part of the package and that in in itself I think is worth worth worth the membership fee maybe twice over so cool how much you can do on Discord Dwight says to Sean I use you dude to brighten my mood and lift my performances when I need more energy and upbeat attitude using those you meet in support groups is a great way to improve elsewhere or everywhere Kristen says learning a new learn learning a new computer skill at 67 the editing and the da recommendations from Caesar much appreciated age is just a number my dear age is just a number love joy Jones I love it for those on a tight budget such as myself what's the best lowcost mic to begin with that we won't have to upgrade right away that's where I am at really I don't have a ton to invest um I get this question a lot Joey and there really isn't like a one siiz fits-all um I'm sure Caesar has some input Caesar if you haven't input then please input because Caesar has a good um has a really good grasp on what all the microphones sound like but and you might hear opposing opinions on this but I think a USB mic a good USB mic to start out with is not a bad thing you will want to upgrade at some point I started on a USB mic I did fine again I've got great ideas for you on my website in the v gear tab voiceover angela.com there's some recommendations in there um I think a lot of mics I've seen lately have like um like a dual like have have like uh like a dual input meaning they have an XLR input and they also have a USB input so you can use them either as a USB mic or once you get an interface then you can use the XLR input I've seen a lot of them go that way excuse me um let's see if Caesar has some input for you Joy would be the best best investment in the beginning Kathleen says the fear the fear voice is definitely there I'm working through it just flick it off your shoulder joyy West hey Joy good morning or afternoon everyone from a cloudy chilly Southfield Michigan I did a lot of research but I had to get over the fear part and that took me a year to do before I went in Full Throttle and I can tell you Joy just from how long have you been in the Platinum Group now there has been such a Improvement there been there's been so much improvement in your performances as of late since the beginning I have seen so much improvement in in your in your reads and everything I'm so proud of you Joy so you think that your major hurdle was your fear h I guess it could be I'm sure it's a factor for all of us in some way shape or form but I'm glad that you're getting past it Joy so proud of you Carmen says I let the fear paralyze me into doing nothing with this for the past year I'm finally doing the research and just recording my voice still learning how to navigate audacity at the moment that's good you're doing something about it the best way to overcome that fear is to do it because again as you do it and you start to overcome these little things that are stopping you or holding you back these little things that you think you can't do and that you prove to yourself that you can that gives you fuel to kick that fear voice off your shoulder right you'll start to overcome the fear by showing yourself that you can that there is no reason to fear you can do it the confidence in that will outweigh your fear Jim says in Mission audition there is an artist interviewed and their contact info is provided for you to get ideas and input some of them will take samples and give feedback very helpful yeah it's a really cool podcast Mission audition is a really good one Caesar says to Joy Jones if you're looking for something that'll last the ini investment will be a touch Hefty you will want an XLR system but in a pinch you can start with a USB mic make some cash then buy an interface and professional microphone after it really depends on what your starting budget is I knew Caesar would come through Dylan says for invoicing I use a guy named Bruno he's not the brightest but he always gets me my money oh wait you made invoicing for voice over never mind disregard this comment Kathleen says Bucky yes my mug is from bies yes now that I'm holding it I can take a up yep bookies I don't have well they're supposed to be building the first bies here in Arizona so we'll see we'll see I'm glad you like my cup Caesar says Bruno's Bruno's the reason why I kind of miss having kneecaps uhuh Dylan says I told you Caesar he doesn't take missed payments lightly but now you know and we're all good well I'm all good you'll now walk with a limp Jim says using ACX as Audio Lab is something I do whether or not I'm submitting it for audition it's good for any audio long or short yes for those of you that don't know ACX again if you have a profile on ACX if you're looking to check your audio to see if you're meeting acxs standards meaning the noise floor standard the peak amplitude standard the RMS standard you can upload your audio into acxs Audio Lab Audio Lab is right there on their site and it'll tell you what you're missing what you need to fix and through that trial and error you'll learn a lot too and also for those of you that have never heard me say this before which I don't know how this is how this is possible but if you want to try audiobook narration without actually signing up for ACX and then you know you don't have the money pressure you don't have the the time frame pressure on you you want to try it and see if this is something you can do or get some good practice in and I hate to use the word practice for this but essentially it's it's confidence building in doing this you can start out with librivox.org I think I have a I still have my banner for that yeah it's librivox.org you can go to that website and volunteer your time in narrating a book in the public domain either a book in its entirety a section a chapter right but through that process you will go through the entire audiobook production process I mean albeit on a smaller scale but still you learn how to narrate edit Master form at and upload files right to meet certain standards and these are all books in the public domain so um doing that will build so much confidence and to show you that you can do this and it will eliminate a lot of the fear that we have in the beginning right of doing well if the client's going to like it are they going to you know cancel the contract are they going to pay me are doing this eliminates all of that and you can prove to yourself that you can and that hey I do enjoy this and hey I can do this I'm really excited now to sign up on ACX I have a lot more confidence now so if you want to give that a try that something I definitely recommend going to do that with Libra Vox um and then I lost my spot again hold on uh oh here we go Gary says to Joy get a Samson Q2 you mic about $6 new highly rated it's USB and XLR can't beat it for the price and then also another note Joy you don't have to buy these brand new you can find a lot of gently used by voice actors equipment there's a dedicated equipment um voiceover H not a voiceover a voice over equipment Facebook Marketplace trying to remember the name of it but if you search some of those terms in there you'll find it also Sweetwater it's a great place to find equipment they also have a like a used gear marketplace where you can buy used microphones interfaces headphones all of those things you can find this this gear pre-owned it doesn't have to be brand new right Sean says I've got to where I enjoy listening to myself not because it's me but because it is a character not me that I'm listening to well there you go there's another way to think about it it's a character that's not really me it's a character Caesar says upgrading equipment I wouldn't know anything about that no completely foreign to you Caesar Alex says I've always hated hearing my own voice when I was younger but success in choire and playing the lead in a musical in high school did their best to tell me my voice is fine I would still be cringey if it were me and I had all of that praise and accolades I'd still be like Dwight says I think it's just my introvert Dwight says to Jim I like you using ACX Audio Lab for everything not because it always required but because it is about habits and muscle memory relating to good habits Pete and Repeat Colin says I went from USB to a road nt1 signature and Reaper DAW the production quality and simplified editing was well worth the expense I wish I had started to here and for those of you that don't are unfamiliar with Reaper Reaper is another da obviously the big three I think are audacity Adobe Audition and Reaper audacity is free to use and download Adobe Audition is a monthly subscription and Reaper is a one-time purchase is a lifetime onetime purchase um as of today as far as I know don't quote me but definitely take a look at all three and see which one um looks like it could be a better option for you I think it just really comes down to preference in the end you know and choosing one is important because it's what you're going to be using every day all day for you know x amount of time so it is important to choose one that just feels right right that is easiest to understand For You Dwight says absolutely true for all of us Joy says that is so true everyone has their own definition of what success is M it's different for everybody Alex says I've always hated hearing my own voice especially when I was younger um I think that was a duplicate Carmen says would you recommend the Platinum Group for someone who is still learning how to navigate their do yes because we go over editing and dos all the time you could be in the research phase and join the group you could be a veteran of six years and joined the group we learning from each other is one of the biggest things here I think not only in voice over and audiobook narration but also like Dwight said earlier other expertises like Dwight is really great with organization and productivity and he shares some of his tips too with the group I mean there's and also not only that but the networking aspect too I know there's group members that are doing duet audio books because they know each other and what they sound like and what they're capable of and what they can do you know there's all kinds there's all tons of different reasons to join groups but our group we welcome everybody at any stage you don't have to be in your studio to participate you could be you know we have we have Eric sometimes that joins from Disneyland just to say hi I'm at Disneyland I mean you don't have to be in your studio to participate at all or you could just you know any experience level I think is what I'm trying to say um Jim says currently reading a book on self- motivation in order to get going further well there you go that's a good one self motivation books or any kind of self-help books about motivation business are good to read anyway for sure Joyce says hi Caesar how are you doing Angel says the Platinum Group has really pushed me to take action with my V my vo business it is really a helpful Community whenever I have a question someone is always there to help thank you all yes and especially on our Discord there's always somebody there to answer a question or to give you feedback or to there's just so many Hands Extended to say here let me help you with that I love that everybody's a great group of people Kristen says thank you Dwight Florida D says to Carmen absolutely there are experts that answers question that answer questions fast and friendly my business skyrocketed after I joined and I knew nothing before joining you guys are the best see they are the best Carmen says to Florida D thank you Florida D says because uh Caesar fixes our technical issues so his grammar is always acceptable true Caesar says hi Joy I'm doing much better now are you going to be around this coming Thursday evening I think it's going to be roulette Reed night yes it is roulette Reed t uh not tonight Thursday night Caesar says to Florida put here compressor low ratio make sound good Jim says say he expresses well I see nothing wrong with his word choice um Jim says Caesar I mean usually Caesar has really great word choices Joy says to Caesar yes fingers crossed no basement floods oh tyon delar hey I haven't seen you in a while hi Angela I'm changing shotgun mics from the Cinco D2 to the at875r to try and mitigate outside outside noise since I can't afford a sound Booth yet I want my sound to be competitive since I'm new is that an Audio Technica the at875r I'm not familiar with that one I'm sure Caesar's like rolling his eyes yeah I know all about it Angela Jim says I started out editing in audacity but when it would not save a wave file I switched to audition have the Adobe package which includes audition and other stuff I want to use as well Florida D says got a bail for work teams meeting oh have fun yeah we got to wrap up here too Joy says thank you Gary says Carmen and all of us how about this saying fear knocked on the door Faith answered and no one was there that's a good one Jim says Zoom H5 recorder has two XLR inputs gives two outputs so as to monitor the output while feeding to a Daw it's for video production it also lets me turn off the recorder so as to cut the fan noise yes the zoom H5 is also a good piece of equipment for to use as a travel rig as well because it's small right for a small interface and it can record to an SD card or it could feed directly into your computer it's a good I have one I have one as my travel rig Jim says as to bues Memphis has one under construction up East and another to the river in West Memphis first town to have two I'm excited to to have ours built Joyce says amazing thank you all so much Alex says sorry for the repeat comments apparently removing them doesn't it's okay it's okay Caesar says if you want a starter set that'll last audient id4 audio interface Lon audio la220 V2 microphone world's best cables Mami XLR cables I have those too the gold standard you'll be set for many years with excellent results I have all of um not all of those but I do have the I have that interface and those cables on my website under V gear Jim says Sweetwater is where I was referred to for a mic got one cheaper than the main one I have always bought from them yeah I think half of my studio is from Sweetwater and the other half Amazon Colin says just looked at Sweetwater quality large diaphragm cardiologist cardiologist Mike starting at $100 currently great selection yes and they have great sales and their sales staff is Fant fantastic so if you have a question you'll be matched with a uh a sales rep and they will periodically reach out to you just to see how things are going and if you need any help they'll give you recommendations they are very knowledgeable and uh Sweet Water I can't say I can't speak of Highly enough I love sweet water it's a great place to go for audio equipment John says I learned more in one session on the Platinum Group that I did in six months of doing it on my own well there you go I love that you guys are awesome Dwight says repeat after me I are a voice over Ebert all of this thanks to Angela and the group love you all H yeah I know what you meant cardioid yes I thought that was just funny cardiologist it's a cardiologist mic made specifically for cardiologists cardioid Caesar says I tried using a large diaphragm cardiologist for voice over he was very confused and asked be untied and let go I knew Caesar was going to jump in there you're very funny Caesar all right y'all I think that's going to do it for today um thank you so much for for joining I really appreciate the time that you guys take out of your busy days to not only hang out with me and listen to me ramble on about things but I hope some of this helped and um a lot of you that offered your insights and your um opinion and your um you know like Caesar and a few others that offered you know um options in terms of Da mic interface just the input that you guys put in is invaluable not only to me but to everyone else watching whether along with us or later in team replay all of this information does help somebody somewhere at some time so I really appreciate you guys being active and participating it means a lot not just to me but to everyone watching I think is what I'm saying so I appreciate that um I will see you guys next week same bat Time same bat Channel and I'm going to see if I can figure out how to end this stream because they've integrated the intros and outros so it's a little confusing but I'll I'll try so I don't know I'll see you guys next time all right let's give this a try is it gonna go let's see [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] oh [Music] [Music]