Feb 21, 2020
I specialize in medical narration, e-learning, audiobooks, explainer videos, and podcasting. I am “confident, calm, and trustworthy, like a big sister you actually want to listen to.” How did I know which genres of voiceover to start with? In a nutshell, Instincts and research. I found what I feel comfortable with and enjoy. Those genres also happen to pay well.
I started out wanting to narrate pharmacist continuing education journals. No one has been interested in that so far. Rather than give up, I learned how to do something similar: audiobooks and e-learning. Narrating both feels comfortable. Medical narration and explainer videos feel right too. I am comfortable and conversational with content written in the medical space.
I’m a pharmacist. I earned my confident tone counseling patients and collaborating with other healthcare professionals. As a bonus, I’m also a wife, mother, and American consumer. I know how to speak with a range of emotions because I have lived 41 years and experienced a lot of life.
I can tell someone how to feel about what I’m talking about when reading a script. It’s very similar to counseling a patient on using something that is new to them.
Would I consider work in different genres? Yes! For example, if Amazon.com needs me to do voiceover work for their emerging Pharmacy Business, I am interested!
I love to learn, and even though I have a long attention span, I like the challenge of switching gears often. When I finish a project, I am ready to start a new one.
I mentioned earlier that the type of voiceover I enjoy and feel comfortable with happens to pay well. I did NOT know the rates when I started training. I got LUCKY. The pay for medical narration, in particular, is very good. Not everyone can do it, either. Do voice actors without medical training do medical narration though? Yes! All the time. There is definitely competition.
There are rate guides in the voiceover industry. The one I am most familiar with is the Global Voice Acting Academy Rate Guide. To learn more, visit GlobalVoiceAcademy.com.
Each genre is listed. It reminds me a lot of the Salary Survey published in Ohio Pharmacist, the Journal of the Ohio Pharmacists Association (OPA), which shares the hourly wage Pharmacists earn in various practice settings in Ohio. Data from rural vs. various metro areas is reported too.
How does the OPA Salary Survey relate to the voiceover rate guide? Just like a pharmacist can practice at a large retail chain, a small hospital, a nursing home, or another setting, the voiceover rate guide is divided into a number of different categories. Some examples on the GVAA Rate Guide are TV broadcast, web use, on-hold phone messaging, e-learning, medical narration, explainer videos, animation, and video games. To learn more about the OPA Salary Survey, visit https://www.ohiopharmacists.org and search for the 2019 OPA Salary Survey.
On-hold phone messaging pays different from audiobooks. Medical narration pays different from animation. Rates are not guaranteed. Every voice actor must negotiate their rate for each project. What I will accept depends on the client’s needs and budget, editing required, my availability, etc. Satisfying clients is important to me, but I have small windows of time that I can work because of childcare issues and life circumstances. Short projects that pay well fit into my life best.
There are some matchmaking sites for the voiceover industry. Meaning, there are sites that connect clients with voice actors. Some are free, some are called Pay to Play Sites. You pay a fee, and the site lets you audition for work. Direct marketing on LinkedIn is an option too. 2020 will be a big year for me to learn about finding projects.
I’m excited about my brand, the type of work I am pursuing, and my comfort level with it!
Thank you for listening and reading the show notes.