Learning the Ropes - Voiceover Survival Guide

[jsgilbert]

I was excited to review Kim Snyder’s book, Learning the Ropes. I have had a few people who know her say “She’s a lot like you J.S, only nice” Apparently what they meant was that she’s a pretty straight shooter with lots of varied experience.

The book isn’t a book, but an audio file, that’s about an hour and 20 minutes. One of the nicer things about Kim electing to do this as an audio book is that as she makes points she also illustrates them with her speech. This book wasn’t necessarily written for someone who has 20 years in the industry, but is definitely something I could recommend to most people wanting to get into the business and other professionals who may have limited experience with the varied parts of the v.o. world.

She makes some great points that I appreciate and manages to maintain rather optimistic throughout. She discusses how most people in the business don’t make much money, but then goes on to try and offer encouragement and suggestions that help improve one’s odds. She packs an incredible amount of information in here regarding the unions and financial core, copy interpretation, mechanics of speech, making a demo, getting an agent, online talent pools, even web hosting.

Are there things I think she might have missed? Yes, and a few things I might not totally agree with, but overall I give this two big thumbs up for anyone who has been in the business for less than 2 -3 years or just starting out. Perhaps my only issue is her price point of $49.95. I think that this should be priced more like $25 - $30 to be more competitive with some of the beginner books on the market.

--j.s. gilbert

[Diane Havens]

Sounds good. Thanks for the review, J. S.

I may save my pennies for it ... or, wow -- 50 bucks?? Um, can I borrow yours?

[alexrain]

Learning the Ropes
By Kim Snyder

A REVIEW by Alex Rain

Veteran AFTRA voice talent, Kim Snyder, has created a valuable resource for aspiring and working voiceover artists with her new audio book, “Learning the Ropes.” Clocking in about an hour and twenty minutes, Kim covers a variety of topics relevant to today’s voiceover market. New talent will especially benefit from sections like Getting The Information You Need, in which she discusses how gaining insights and tips from established talents (tactfully and considerately, course) can help you avoid a number of common pitfalls. Proper care of the voice is emphasized as are an explanation of the elements of a voiceover. Keeping with the times, Kim takes the time to explain the pros and cons of Online Talent Pools – both the major players and smaller sites, the question of whether or not to pursue Agency representation, and whether or not joining a Union will be beneficial, or profitable, for you. Voice talents who don’t live in new New York, L.A., or Chicago will have many of their questions about both unions and agents answered. Other beneficial topics include what shouldn’t be on a demo, what NOT to put on your profile with an on-line talent pool, and whether or not to have your OWN website (hint: you most definitely should!).
Kim gives a good overview here of the voiceover field, highlighting the enjoyment of working in voiceovers while providing statistics on average earnings by the majority of AFTRA members to help those new to the field keep a realistic perspective. Great presentation and relevant material make this a must-listen for beginning and newly-established talent. “Learning the Ropes” is a terrific overview of the voiceover profession and a great compliment to other well-know voiceover books like “There’s Money Where Your Mouth Is”. Kim Snyder’s observations and insights putting your voice out in today’s marketplace are well worth the purchase price.

[Vance Elderkin]

REVIEW: Kim Snyder, Learning the Ropes for Voiceover Success

What a packed 80 minutes Ms. Synder presents! After a quick intro, Ms. Snyder’s sunny voice blazes through the major subjects you would expect in a survey course about VO: what it is, a reality check (including some sobering statistics), branding, demos, etc. (Nothing on home studios, unless I missed it.) Take notes – this moves fast.

Experienced VOs will find little that they don’t already know. But newbies who “don’t know what they don’t know” will receive a solid overview, learn the right questions to ask, and know there’s a lot more to VO than they thought. Even at $49.95, I would recommend that a beginner listen to this before doing anything else in VO.

[thatvoice]

One of the first things you'll notice as you start to listen to Kim Snyder's new book The Voiceover Survival Guide is that it's aptly named. Apparently Kim has decided to put her new book out in the form of an audio book. This was great for me because I always like being read to rather than having to read.
She starts out telling a little bit about herself where she's been how she got where she is now and her start in radio and that lead her to doing voiceover's full time. It’s a path many of us have followed.
Kim is quick to point out, that like any other business, voiceovers require a lot of hard work, research, and commitment. If you treat it like a hobby it will always be a hobby. We’re reminded of all the people who made less than 4000.00 per year according to AFTRA. But if you're willing to work hard as well as smart you are more than likely to be successful.
Now I should note that this book is geared more toward the novice or amateur voiceover actor. While many veterans would find this a nice refresher a lot of it would be information they already know. There are however, a few great tips even for the veteran.
As she starts to break things down, Kim explains the signature voice and how it determines our best bet for marketing and what to do next. Who to talk to about this new signature voice and how to make the most from it? What better place to get info than from someone in the business. Kim reminds us of the willingness of other voice actors to help. She explains that we don't want to talk to just any voice actor but now that we've found our signature voice we want to talk to that voice actor doing the same basic thing we are. She gives us guidelines on those things that we should feel comfortable asking and those things not to ask.
Next she moves on to tell us how our voice works and how to take care of it and the importance of taking care of our voice. She reminds us that our voice is our instrument and what we make our money with and that we need to take care of it. She takes us on a tour of some terms and how they relate to what we as voice actors do. Words like Tone, Weight, and diction.
This book tells me what I might need to be successful. It does not give me step by step instructions on how to make it in voice over. Instead I find it gives me an outline to follow and tells me how to work smarter in the industry. In my opinion if you do what she outlines for you in this presentation, you’ll do more than just survive. But she also is quick to tell you that it is you who determines how well you do.
She covers all the bases, from demo production, including the do’s and don’ts to setting rates and understanding your worth to putting up a website and working with an agent.
Probably the most important thing she teaches us in this survival guide is how to work smart rather than just hard.

[Heather C]

Reviewed by:
Heather Cooper


The Voiceover Survival Guide by Kim Snyder is packed with great information.
Kim touches on every area of the voiceover business in an easy to understand and approachable way. Kim provides some great tips and tricks for taking care of your voice, along with a few vocal exercises. The chapter on putting together your voiceover demo is solid and straightforward. Kim’s advice on marketing yourself as a voice talent is another very valuable part of this jam-packed audio book.
The Voiceover Survival Guide audio book is perfect for the person just starting out in voiceovers, the already working talent still looking for their niche or someone considering a career in voiceovers. Kim dispels some of the ‘myths’ of the voice business, while also realistically laying out what is necessary to actually earn a living doing voiceovers. Kim also points out that working in voiceovers is a business. Treating your voiceover work with the same dedication and professionalism you would any other career will add to your level of success.
Listening to The Voiceover Survival Guide was like listening to a dear friend giving you great advice over a nice cup of coffee.

[VoiceHaven]

Review of The Voiceover Survival Guide (Kim Snyder)

Here are my thoughts, praises, and constructive criticism’s of Kim Snyder's CD audiobook The Voiceover Survival Guide. It is a 2 CD set with approximately 80 minutes of Kim's instruction, experience, and stories of the VO industry.

Kim has filled this package with a lot of good basic Voiceover information. And the stories she tells are worthy of a listen. So don't let the simplicity of the physical packaging deter you from spinning the disc's. As of this writing The Voiceover Survival Guide (VOSG) came to me packaged with a transparent slim jewel case that holds two CD's. So there is no cover booklet or tray labeling. The VOSG uses the labels on the discs, seen through the transparent jewel case, for its packaging information. The CD labels look very professional with their graphics and text laid out nicely. It's easy on the eyes. The label information is minimal at best; the title, disc 1 of 2 & 2 of 2, and by Kim Snyder. That's it. There is a picture of a microphone which is descriptive of the content, but way over done in the VO industry. More information on the label such as a website and a couple lines describing the VOSG might entice people to crave its content. A little more creativity with the graphics would be nice too.

I have decided to write this review in different segments; matching how the VOSG is produced. A summary will be provided at the end.

Voiceover Survival Guide segment review:

Kim's opening segment tells of her story getting started in the VO business. She also makes some useful comments that will help inspire you to consider VO as a part-time or full-time career.

The VOSG Introduction to VO section explains, at a generalized level, all of the common talents, perceptions, misperceptions, stereotypes, etc. of the VO artist. Kim also mentions the common misunderstandings of VO artist and the VO industry by people outside the industry. She makes some informative general comments about how much money some union VO artists make vs non union.

Developing voice styles is covered next. VOSG goes through the different styles - announcer, narrator, character. Kim mainly talks about character voice development. She explains a few examples of how to do this; however it would have been even better to hear the actual character voice after the instruction. I guess I was hoping for more specific instruction with examples to follow.

Kim places importance on discovering your voice style. She acknowledges that you may be talented with several voice styles, but you always have one style that rises above the rest. She gives some great advice regarding your demo to market yourself better with your signature voice style.

On the business side of VO, Kim has some good advice as far as treating VO like a business or a hobby. She talks about doing research, understanding trends, taking care of finances, and taking the time to create a quality demo. She doesn't go into detail of any of these things in this segment.

Next the VOSG goes into contacting other VO talent to get the information you need to be successful. Kim talks about the dynamics of developing communication with successful and established VO talent. She stresses how to develop a list of questions and how to properly go about getting them answered. Really good information in this segment. Unfortunately the audio chops off mid sentence at the end.

Kim has some really good information and stories in this segment on how to take care of your voice. She opens up this segment with a quick story about a discussion between her and a producer in a studio before a session begins. It's a wonderful "real life" example that I wish the VOSG had a lot more of in its content. A nicely detailed description of the vocal chords follows. I love that she recommends Speech Level Singing. This segment is by far the most detailed instruction and Kim does not disappoint with the information regarding voice health.

Getting the best read is next. Kim speaks about diction, weight/emphasis, tone/pitch, pacing/rhythm, telling the story (acting). Although there is very good basic information given here, I will admit to being very disappointed with the content of this section. There are no detailed voiceover samples in this segment. It needed to be at least 20 minutes long instead of only 4 minutes. If this is supposed to be a "Survival Guide" for VO, then the guide has a fundamental part of VO diminished. General concepts are only taught here.

The VOSG goes into the importance, production, and reasons for creation of a quality demo. Kim goes into nice detail here. She emphasizes excellent production and direction for your demo. She discusses the importance of different types of demo's based on your talents. She stresses having a great coach and producer to help in the demo process. Some little tips and tricks to help you get ready for the demo are mentioned here too. Kim suggests listening to other demos that are well produced and tells where to hear some of those. The only thing lacking in this segment is I would have liked to hear some good demos and bad demos and then hear Kim's comments on them. It would help reinforce her information and teaching.

Packaging of your demo is the next discussion. Kim talks about using mp3's, CD's, labeling, etc. She goes into Branding a little bit. Talks about graphics and suggestions on your approach. Very good information here. I wish that there was more information about Branding though.

Marketing and how to determine your approach is discussed. The right people to contact to help you with marketing is mentioned. Researching your target market. Some good suggestions are made here. But a VO newbie may still walk away not knowing how to market their career. A few more details are needed.

VOSG talks about Online Talent Pools next. Kim stresses the importance of these websites, their advantages and disadvantages. She has some really great information on how to use these websites. Kim's experience shines through in this segment, demonstrating she knows this area well!

Your own website is the next discussion in VOSG. Kim emphasizes this important part of the VO business. Although there are many different approaches to a website, Kim's information, stories, and suggestions are first class! This is the longest segment of VOSG and virtually all of it is useful. This segment, with all of its information is worth listening to more than once to soak it all in.

Kim now brings up the role of Agents and their talent agencies. The pros and cons of agencies are discussed. How to shop around for agencies, what to expect from an agency, the process of agencies, etc... Kim expresses the importance doing what agents expect from you, and what some of those expectations are. It appears Kim has nailed this topic down well. She provides a lot of information in a way that is understandable and complete.

The two categories of talent, union and non-union are discussed next. In an area that can be confusing for people who've never been part of a union, with nice detail, Kim explains different aspects of union / non-union membership & work within the whole VO industry. I learned a lot from this segment.

As an Audio Engineer who has worked in many different recording, post production, and live performance environments, I have to say... Kim understands the studio environment and the dynamics of the various people involved tremendously. I was extremely pleased with her comments, stories, and instruction with this segment of the VOSG. She "gets" it! And if you apply the things she says when you go to work in a professional studio, 95 percent of the time you will leave that job knowing you've done all you can to make the project a success and had a pleasant experience while performing. Pardon my Engineering bias, but this segment is golden!

Next Kim talks about billing & pay. Pros and cons about payment via union and online jobs are discussed. She talks about the expectations in various billing and payment scenarios. She gives some good real life examples. She provides some nice information regarding setting rates and creating your rate card. I think this was a very informative segment.

IN SUMMARY...

Kim Snyder's The Voiceover Survival Guide is a nice and accurate collection of information, instruction, stories and commentaries about the Voiceover industry and VO artists. This 2 CD set with approximately 80 minutes of content will positively pique your interest in VO, definitely get you kick started in the VO industry, and possibly help you survive along the way. There is not enough detailed content in a few segments for this to truly be called a survival guide. I want my survival guides to have complete answers in every section. However I am very confident that Kim's effort here is very worthy to consider for new talent or those who want to learn more about the VO industry. Established talent, I am confident, can pick up some new tips here as well. A little better packaging (as I mentioned above) is in order to give it a more appealing and professional look. The two segments I was most impressed with are the voice health & the studio commentaries. Both of them are delightfully filled with extremely useful information. And my least favorite segment, although containing accurate and useful information, was the getting the best read section. This is a fundamental part of voiceover. For a survival guide, there was not near enough content here.

All in all this is a fine product that Kim Snyder has produced. It is worth looking into. Its price point is a little high but may still be worthy of a purchase for those who are interested in or desire to get started in the Voiceover industry.

[Diane Havens]

Great in depth review, Steven. Thanks for taking the time to write it -- most helpful!