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The Voiceover Social

The Voiceover Social

By VO Social North

A British Podcast Award nominated show that's consistently described as "not boring"...

Leah Marks (voice actor and radio person) and Nic Redman (voiceover and voice coach) mash together interviews, investigations and problem solving in this cheerful show for voiceover types. There's a new episode on the first of every month and you can find out more at www.thevosocial.com. See you there, VO chums!
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12. The Animation Casting Director

The Voiceover SocialJun 21, 2018

00:00
25:51
63. An update!
Jan 03, 202426:41
62. Scripts Out Loud

62. Scripts Out Loud

This is one for people who love working in animation AND for people who want an update on the very exciting collaborative episode we’re making with Spotlight in 2023!

Book your ticket for our planning party: https://www.gravyforthebrain.com/event/youre-invited-to-a-planning-palooza/

Get your copy of the VO Career Planner: https://thevosocial.myshopify.com/

Find out more about Scripts Out Loud: https://scriptsoutloud.com/

Many thanks to organisers Julie Ann Dean and Sarah Jane Rose, (plus co-founder Rhian Marston) director Barry Purves, writers Fintan O’Higgins and Hannah Rose Smith, actors David Holt, Nic Redman, Amina Koroma and Julie Ann Dean and Elena Wurlitzer from Jellyfish Pictures.

Theme tune written and performed by Martin Stirrup under this Creative Commons license, with violin by Alice Gilmour

Dec 01, 202201:10:47
61. A lot of news. Like, a LOT.
Nov 14, 202226:58
60. General American
Nov 01, 202254:45
59. New York New York
Oct 01, 202234:55
58. Who Are You And What Do You Want!?
Sep 01, 202257:16
...one quick last thing!
Jun 26, 202210:09
57. The One Voice Conference 2022
Jun 01, 202201:13:27
56. Animal Noises

56. Animal Noises

May 01, 202249:21
55. Breathing
Apr 01, 202201:06:02
54. Editing
Mar 01, 202201:05:45
53. The Good Session
Feb 01, 202201:04:57
BONUS - News From Equity!
Jan 14, 202214:49
52. The Bad Session
Jan 01, 202201:05:07
51. The Voiceover Career Planner
Dec 01, 202101:06:13
50. The Negotiator
Nov 01, 202101:02:06
49. Accent Discrimination
Oct 01, 202145:09
48. The Voice Exercises
Sep 13, 202133:46
47. The One Voice Conference 2021
Sep 01, 202101:06:26
46. The Five Books Every Voiceover Should Own

46. The Five Books Every Voiceover Should Own

We've done it! We've chosen our top five (with just a few extra ones surreptitiously sneaked in at the end)... 

The link to buy them through Blackwells (if you're based in the UK) is https://www.blackwells.co.uk?a_aid=TheVOSocial. Also, huge thanks to our in-house Boltonian Dave, more of him here: www.davejonesVO.com.

  • Dramatic Adventures in Rhetoric, by Giles Taylor and Philip Wilson.
  • This Is A Voice, by Jeremy Fisher and Gillyanne Keyes.
  • Actions - The Actors Thesaurus, by Marina Caldarone and Maggie Lloyd-Williams.
  • How To Do Accents, by Edda Sharpe and Jan Haydn Rowles.
  • Finding Your Voice, by Barbara Houseman.

Get your Voiceover Career Planner here! https://thevosocial.myshopify.com/

Theme tune written and performed by Martin Stirrup under this Creative Commons license.

Aug 14, 202130:02
45. Geordie
Aug 01, 202136:45
44. Imposter Syndrome
Jul 14, 202118:01
43. AI - The Worst Has Happened
Jul 01, 202136:14
How To Get Nominated For A Major Podcast Award
Jun 14, 202127:34
42. Imaging (And How On Earth To Quote For Podcast Work)
Jun 01, 202157:09
Shine Online! Part 3: Social Media For Voiceovers
May 14, 202139:37
41. Shine Online! Part 2: SEO
May 01, 202154:23
Shine Online! Part 1: Help Out The Casting Director
Apr 14, 202124:13
40. Commercial Demos

40. Commercial Demos

This rummage around in the world of commercial demos was recorded live with an audience of pro VOs, and features:

Get your Voiceover Career Planner here! https://thevosocial.myshopify.com/

Don't forget! Get 15% off your Studiobricks booth at Black Cat Music with the secret password “VO Social Pod Cats”

Theme tune written and performed by Martin Stirrup under this Creative Commons license.

Apr 01, 202147:10
Brummie
Mar 14, 202114:03
39. Sex Noises; Getting Far, Far Out Of Your Comfort Zone

39. Sex Noises; Getting Far, Far Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Snogging the back of your hand is one way to do it, but sound designer Eloise Whitmore from Naked Productions says if you want intense and honest intimacy in audio drama, there are a lot more things to think about... Pack your Fairy Liquid and your baking trays, VO Socialites, we're going on an adventure!

IMPORTANT WARNING! READ THIS WARNING! - This episode includes sex scenes from audio drama, and unbeeped swearing. THAT WAS YOUR WARNING, DID YOU READ IT? Okay good. Carry on!

Get your Voiceover Career Planner here! https://thevosocial.myshopify.com/

Listen to Sour Hall HERE

Credits:

Theme tune written and performed by Martin Stirrup under this Creative Commons license

Additional music by Kevin MacLeod of incompetech.com, Joseph Earwicker, and Cloud Nine by Hayden Folker - https://soundcloud.com/hayden-folker. Cloud 9 promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

Mar 01, 202153:52
This Is A Voice
Feb 14, 202118:07
38. RP

38. RP

Sure, you THINK you know what RP is, but do you? Do you REALLY? In this episode we ask the most marvellous linguist in all of the land to tell us where it came from, and how it’s progressed through the ages. We also had a brilliant response to our call for your RP samples, so we use those to have a big think about what RP means in its modern form.

Get your Voiceover Career Planner here! https://thevosocial.myshopify.com/

This episode features submissions by: Andre Refig, Andrew Dennis, Millie Jones, Alice King and Amina Koroma

Here are some links, as promised in the show:

Nic’s Big New Thing “The Voice Coach Podcast” is HERE, or wherever you listen to podcasts!

Find Jan and Edda’s book on English accents HERE 

Find Erik Singer’s Wired video HERE 

Find Chi Luu’s essay on why RP is the accent of choice for movie baddies HERE 

Sponsors and discounts!

This episode is sponsored by Source Elements, Black Cat Music, and Vocalmist

Get 10% off any new VocalMist bundle and travel case with the code VOSOCIAL

Get 15% off your Studiobricks booth from Black Cat Music with the secret passcode “VO Social Pod Cats”

Also, some important credits:

Theme tune written and performed by Martin Stirrup under this Creative Commons license.

The violin music under the e-Learning Narrator part of the Vocalmist ad is by Joseph Earwicker

The music in the Source Elements ad is by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)


Jan 31, 202144:59
How To Find A Podcast Sponsor Without Selling Your Soul

How To Find A Podcast Sponsor Without Selling Your Soul

Five years after the VO Social’s innocuous start as an audio invitation to the pub, it’s now become a thriving monstrosity featuring award nominations, regular involvement from our talented listeners, and – VERY EXCITINGLY - a treasured collection of hand picked sponsors! In this episode, find out exactly how we convinced them to get involved.

This bonus episode is supported by Source Connect, who are the future of voiceover recording and Black Cat Music, who are the UK’s only distributor of Studiobricks booths. Oh we do love them.

Most of the content of this episode comes from the experience and knowledge Leah’s gathered from working on the podcast, but she also read a LOT of blogs and articles for extra info – and you can too! Here they are:

https://www.eofire.com/podcast-sponsorships/

https://convertkit.com/podcast-sponsorship

https://www.buzzsprout.com/blog/get-podcast-sponsors

https://bellocollective.com/how-to-get-podcast-sponsors-72e3ee81c57d

https://www.midroll.com/research-podcast-ads-perform-host-read-ads-outperform

https://medium.com/sounder-fm/the-ultimate-guide-to-monetizing-your-podcast-regardless-of-downloads-97297fcb43ee

https://medium.com/@passitalong/podcast-sponsorships-that-delight-and-garner-top-dollar-cpm-b214d3d0206

https://www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/recognising-ads-podcasts-and-audio-streaming.html

https://mediaradar.com/blog/state-of-podcasts-covid-19

https://www.ranieriandco.com/post/the-science-behind-podcast-ads

https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/news/study-establishes-roi-of-podcast-ads/44097

https://www.marketingweek.com/untapped-potential-podcast-advertising/

Get your VO Career Planner here! https://thevosocial.myshopify.com/

Theme tune written and performed by Martin Stirrup under this Creative Commons license.

Jan 14, 202132:51
37. The Extreme Voice - Screaming
Jan 01, 202146:47
What You Might Have Missed So Far
Dec 14, 202016:45
36. Manchester Animation Festival

36. Manchester Animation Festival

We decided it was about time animators and voiceovers got to know each other a bit better, so we joined forces with the world famous Manchester Animation Festival to put everyone in the same room! In this episode:

Animation Director Kitty Taylor (Charlie and Lola, Dennis and Gnasher, Tree Fu Tom etc) helps us figure out how we can all work more collaboratively

AND

We are exorbitantly proud to present the international premiere of "Escapado", a new piece of writing by Mark Oswin (Dangermouse etc), featuring characters designed by Hammo, and brought to life by our multi-talented actors Kenny Blyth, Lisa Graydon, Kate Harbour, Verity Henry, Dave Jones and Greg Jones.

See all the characters for yourself HERE and join us in the Facebook group HERE

ALSO... Want to get involved in something very exciting? Scripts Out Loud has just been launched by a couple of absolute champions; Julie Ann Dean and Rhian Marston-Jones. It's a regular event bringing together voiceovers and animation writers, and you can get updates on Instagram and Twitter.

Get your VO Career Planner here! https://thevosocial.myshopify.com/

This episode is sponsored by Black Cat Music and Source Connect

Theme tune written and performed by Martin Stirrup under this Creative Commons license.

Dec 01, 202059:04
News Voice
Nov 14, 202015:58
35. Gender
Nov 01, 202001:05:25
What The Voice Coach is REALLY Thinking
Oct 14, 202028:45
34. The Character Voice

34. The Character Voice

If you’re from the North West of England or thereabouts you’ll probably already know about Buzz Hawkins; his series, The Bradshaws, is a cultural beacon for Northerners wherever they live in the world. 

He's got some highly useful things to say about finding and developing characters that can be sustained over three decades and 700+ episodes – and about not letting them get too big for their boots, too. Then, in the Panic Room, Nic deals with the issue of keeping your character voices consistent once you've nailed them.

Get your VO Career Planner here! https://thevosocial.myshopify.com/

Get your VO Social Live/Manchester Animation Festival tickets here

Join our snazzy new Facebook group here

Theme tune written and performed by Martin Stirrup under this Creative Commons license.

Oct 01, 202053:29
33. How To Get More Work In Gaming

33. How To Get More Work In Gaming

Expert gaming voice director Kirsty Gillmore explains How To Get More Work In Gaming in front of a live zoom audience! Includes:

  • What to put on your demo
  • Where to find work 
  • How to submit an audition that gets you the job
  • A couple of highly revealing anecdotes from Nic and Leah that possibly should have been edited out.

Also featuring tiptop contributions by Sara Starling, Philip McGuinness, Cherise Silvestri, Bryan Boston and Chris Tester.

Get your Voiceover Career Planner here! https://thevosocial.myshopify.com/

Theme tune written and performed by Martin Stirrup under this Creative Commons license.

Sep 01, 202054:35
AI - The Good News

AI - The Good News

Things are much less gloom and significantly less doom than we thought! Listen to this episode and be filled with the golden glow of optimism.   Huge thanks to Natalie Winter, Dave Jones, Sara Starling, Mark Ryes, Marcus Hutton, Katy Maw & Hugh Edwards for your contributions. To everyone else - we really appreciate you getting in touch, and and we're sorry we couldn't include every response.  

Get your VO Career Planner here! https://thevosocial.myshopify.com/

Get a whacking great 15% off your Studiobricks booth by quoting "VO Social Pod Cats" at Black Cat Music! Find out more about why it's such an excellent idea here: https://www.blackcatmusic.co.uk/studiobricks-sound-isolation-cabin.html Theme tune written and performed by Martin Stirrup under this Creative Commons license.


Aug 14, 202016:59
32. The AI Voice
Aug 01, 202058:26
So, You're Thinking Of Starting A Podcast
Jul 14, 202022:52
31. The Extraordinary Voice

31. The Extraordinary Voice

Sure, we’ve all got lovely voices – but imagine if your voice was EXTRAORDINARY. What if every time you spoke, people properly paid attention? What if really, truly, no one else could do what you do? For this episode, we have a lovely chat with Ralph Ineson and Krystal Dockery about how their lives and careers have been shaped by their exceptional voices.

ALSO - In this episode’s Panic Room, Nic takes us through a few exercises to explore different parts of our pitch ranges – do join in and let us know how you get on!

AND! Here’s a visual aid to help when Nic starts losing the room (at about 45:00) by demonstrating a tighter-than-average cricothyroid muscle tilting the thyroid cartilage to lengthen the vocal folds and change pitch. You might not need it if you've also reached High Wizard levels of voice geekery, but just in case... https://youtu.be/rswXWzzAUXg

Get your VO Career Planner here! https://thevosocial.myshopify.com/

Email us - listen@thevosocial.com

Sign up to the newsletter - www.thevosocial.com

Find Krystal on Instagram as @KrystalDockery, but also as @bunnimoretto for her burlesque work and @juiceboxevents for Womxn & LGBTQ+ Empowerment

Theme tune written and performed by Martin Stirrup under this Creative Commons license.

Jul 01, 202059:15
One Voice Conference: Extra Bits
Jun 13, 202022:30
30. The One Voice Conference 2020
May 31, 202055:06
The Cocktail Party!
May 14, 202008:41
29. The Continuity Announcer
May 01, 202054:50