Real Talk with Kelly Wilson

Getting into character is well, what you do as a voice actor...you're an actor. Sometimes dressing the part helps.  For more Real Talk with Kelly Wilson, join my email community at https://www.kellywilsonvo.com/subscribe and receive my free gift of 5 voice actors to add to your voice over roster, including myself.  For more Real Talk with Kelly Wilson, join my email community at https://...

My life is all mixed up. As in my children are at home with me while I work. I do have quiet times to record my voice over projects, but when that is NOT happening, they are being children and children are loud. I found myself apologizing for my children…as if…how dare I have them. Saying that out loud sounds ridiculous. Now with this pandemic, everyone’s lives are all smushed together. This is ho...

Did you live and work through the last recession? The Great Recession? I did and so much good came out of so much pain. Now in this recession, I know more learning and growth are to come.    For more Real Talk with Kelly Wilson, join my email community at https://www.kellywilsonvo.com/subscribe and receive my free gift of 5 voice actors to add to your voice over roster, including myself.

Have you ever engaged with someone, then the moment passes, and you replay that full conversation in your head, only you recreate it in the perfect way you can best imagine? That’s how I see voice over. Full control over the conversation, images, story, end result, the win, the loss, everything. For a moment, you are a movie director and you create the reality. For more Real Talk with Kelly Wilson...

Six months into a pandemic and both my children are home with me now, I work during naps, early morning, late night, and when they're distracted. It's hard to think I am making it work. I am. Voice over has been a saving grace...like a comfortable pair of jeans I can slip right into VO. As for mom life, that's a hot mess though, but I'm doing what I love to do with the people I love.  Talking...

Hey, I’m Kelly Wilson and I am a voice actor, however, when I worked in previous jobs in corporate settings, I have hired and worked with other voice actors. The hardest part about hiring the voice actor, I found, was convincing my colleagues that a quality, professional voice actor was worth it. The BEST way I found to do this, was one of two ways: 1 - Give up. Yup, some people will never be conv...

The next time you walk through a store or your own home and you hear a child speak, it sounds different right? Does it stick out more? It does for me. So, if you can, get a real kid when you are casting voices for a child part. Real kids sound…real. BUT real kids are real unpredictable. So let’s say you want an adult who can sound like a kid, because maybe it’s more of a cartoon character instead...

So what if you DON’T want to direct a voice actor, but you do want some multiple takes? Just ask for it. Whoever you hire for voice over, just communicate what you want to the voice actor. Here’s what I usually do, depending on the length of the script, for example, if it is short and I don’t want to direct them, I do this: I tell them about the brand, the video, who they are playing and who they...

When I was a kid, I did this science project with playing cards and we tested people’s memory recall. We learned that people remembered the cards far more often when we showed them the playing card and said the playing card type aloud to them. I’m reminded about this experiment anytime I’m working on an eLearning project. So when you are hiring a voice actor for a project where recall and/or learn...

Should you use a male or a female voice? Now we could go on this long rabbit hole of branding, BUT skip all that. Now ask yourself about the end user. Who are you talking to in your project?  NEXT, who does the end user need to talk to in order to have the outcome you want. NOT, who do they want to talk to, but WHO DO THEY NEED to talk to. For example, when I ask my husband if he likes what I...

Be honest, have you ever been emailing or texting someone back and forth and you are more confused then when you started? So you pick up the phone and you say, “hey, I am trying to say X, can we do Y. Oh yeah, let’s do that. Done.”  This is how I feel about a voice over directed session. Some projects just move faster if they are directed by you. Now this episode is NOT for advertising agenci...

"Please use your confident librarian voice." Honestly, the first thing that pops into my head is Van Halen, but I get it…instantly. When I am working on a voice over, I will ask my client, WHO am I here? WHat’s happening? So last week, I heard, “you are playing a confident librarian.” I’m transported there, to the library. What is this confident librarian wearing? How is she sitting? What is her s...

Auditions are like dating and LinkedIn is like Tinder. In this strange example, I’m on LinkedIn and say I post a voice over project that I worked on recently. Now instead of swiping right (or is it left, I’ve never been on Tinder) you send me a direct message, we start a conversation, then you have me audition your project. At this point, you think I sound good, there’s an attraction, but am I cra...

When you need to be someone’s internal monologue...Ya know those voice overs when you need to sound like the internal monologue inside someone’s head, but inside THIER HEAD, NOT your head? The fun part about voice over is I get to play other people and sometimes multiple people at once and get inside their heads. Luckily, I am an introvert and naturally live here…in my own head….every…second…of my...

No matter who I work with. No matter what I work on. I ask these two question: What do you want them to do? How do you want them to feel? Writing copy? I ask the questions. Voicing a script? I ask the questions. Picking out a music bed or even the sound effects for the project? I ask the questions. Meeting with a friend or colleague who's trying to help their employee succeed. I ask the questions....