My VO Breakthrough from Expert Advice

When anyone asks me if I am passionate about doing voice overs, I respond by saying I’m not passionate about voice overs, but I AM passionate about owning my own business…

Rightly or wrongly, it was my honest answer, and yet, this was my closely guarded secret from the voiceover industry and my clients. I figured if I let the cat out of the bag, that I really didn’t have a passion for voiceovers, the coach, producer, or clients would then say, “If you aren’t passionate about voice-over, then you’ll never succeed.” Or worse, say nothing at all and move on.

Well, as a surprise to myself, I shared my secret with a voice-over heavy-weight and, with equal surprise, I saw a light…

I had the pleasure of meeting award winning voice-over talent, coach, and producer, Marc Cashman. After ten years of seeing his marketing and audition emails, I now have the opportunity to receive in-person coaching from a man who is a mainstay in the L.A. voice-over industry.

From his book, V-Oh!, Marc says,…

The bottom line is that if you are going to succeed in voice over (to whatever degree you personally define “success”), you must have a passion for this type of work and for constantly studying and learning how to be better than you are.

After hearing about the specifics involved in our coaching together, a light went on for me…a light that has been dim for many, many years. In a generous hour and a half discussion, Marc ignited my passion for voice-overs – talking about nuances and enhancing a script and digging deeper…agents and unions and dollars…many topics I have either avoided or ignored. Marc was excited about my potential and my prospects. He bubbled over about my demo in terms of the voice-print, the sound, the consistency…his description of my voice included the f-bomb, in the most positive, polite manner possible. And there, within five minutes of meeting him, I choked back the tears, hearing validation of my talent and entrepreneurial efforts that have been decades in the making.

I look forward to raising my game and sharing my learning as I move into this next year with the support of one of the best coaches I could possibly ask for!

…and, thanks to Skype, his coaching is available from anywhere in the world.

…and YES! I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT VOICE-OVERS!!! I cannot deny it anymore! I’m soooooooo excited…

MARC CASHMAN was voted one of the “Best Voices of the Year”–three times–by AudioFile Magazine. He’s been heard on Radio and TV commercials, corporate narrations and documentaries, e-Learning courses, foreign films, animated series, videogames and over 100 audiobooks.  Marc is currently represented by the Idiom Talent Agency in Los Angeles, Voice Talent Productions in New York City, Real People Talent in Atlanta, Lori Lins in Milwaukee and ARia Talent in St. Louis. He brings a high level of professionalism, humor, energy and creativity to every voice acting session.

In addition, Marc instructs voice-acting of all levels through his V-O classes, “The Cashman Cache of Voice-Acting Techniques” in Los Angeles, CA  and New York City, and as an adjunct professor at California Institute of the Arts. He also coaches voice actors through his online and tele-coaching programs, and produces voiceover demos. He has a monthly online column,  “Ask the VoiceCat,” plus blogs and podcasts through Voices.com, Voice123, VoiceOverXtra.com and NowCasting.com.