Chat with Susan Berkley: The Billion Dollar Voiceover Industry
Susan Berkley Judy Rodman
This interview I did with veteran voiceover talent and coach Susan Berkley offers you a glimpse into the real possibilities of a successful vocal career where it doesn't matter what you look like, what you're wearing, how old you are or where you live. (Except as Susan says, you need broadband, baby:) I think you'll enjoy it, and you might want to sit with the idea of at least a side alternate income stream using your voice.
Some topics of our conversation:
- Susan takes us into her own ongoing voiceover career
- How the requirement to have 'the voice of God' for success as a voice talent has morphed into the preference for more diverse, normal every-day, authentic voice.
- Susan takes us int o many of the 14-plus niche markets she's identified as now actively seeking voiceover talent... including broadcast and non-broadcast roles. For instance:
- commercials
- political ads
- cartoons
- terrestrial and satellite radio
- store P.O.P. (point of purchase) radio
- E-learning (teaching anyone how to do anything) - now a $150 billion niche!
- computer telephony
- traffic/weather/siri, etc
- medical professional training narrations (a huge field)
- audio books (last year alone 40,000 were recorded, now raking in $1 billion with a skyrocketing demand for more)
- video gaming character voices ($250 billion niche market with as many as 90 voices per game, all ages.)
- Simulation narration for projects including military fighter pilots.
- We talk about the skills needed (and not needed) for a successful career in voiceover
- We discuss ways of deeply connecting to the person you're talking to, and delivering the script
- Susan gives examples of how to make small and sometimes very weird stories important with empathy for the person you're talking to.
- Susan shares some tips for actually marketing and promoting your voiceover career like a business. We chat about the entrepreneurial spirit, empathy that makes selling a 'holy art', and
- We also talk about gear, plugins, iso booths, and how singers can be especially good candidates for voiceover.
- Susan shared some links to her training.
About Susan Berkley
Susan is also a renown teacher for voiceover talent.
- For more information on her courses, go to her training page at the Great Voice website.
- Check her blog out there, as well. Find that and much more at her website, GreatVoice.com.
Labels: all things vocal, Judy Rodman, susan berkley, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover career, voiceover talent
2 Comments :
At February 1, 2021 at 5:14 PM ,
Unknown said...
Hello Judy,
Thanks for posting the interview you did with Susan Berkley. I have been considering looking into voice over for quite awhile and had researched several companies. After looking through their websites and reviews, I did not come away with a feeling of trust in them.
I had seen Susan on Facebook from time to time, but for whatever reason, I did not research her company. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw you had interviewed her, and I was able to spend time this past weekend to listen to it.
The interview was very informative and also quite entertaining. I liked how Susan brought it back to a point you always talk about, that point being to speak to the heart of your audience. This is something I have learned over the years of following your blogs and from speaking with you. The other point that was a big takeaway was when Susan spoke about treating voice over like a business in which you need to be proactive and go after customers. That is something I have done for many years and am quite good at. The fact that you know Susan for a number of years and took time to present her to your audience has led me to feel confident to reach out and explore the possibilities.
I hope all is well for you and your family. Thanks again for the great post and keep up the great work that you do.
Sincerely,
Phil Wildstein
At February 1, 2021 at 5:30 PM ,
Judy Rodman said...
Oh that is terrific, Phil, please let me know how your experience goes if you do take Susan up on some of her training. Thanks for the kind words; I'm so happy you enjoyed this interview!
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