KRISTEN SIMOES
Voice Actor and Reporter
STORY CORE VOICE AND VISUALS.
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THE LATEST NEWS FROM KRISTEN SIMOES
5 Reasons Voice Actors Need Coaches
I often have people who are interested in getting into the VO world ask me … why do you work with a voice coach? If you’re getting the work and pulling in a paycheck, why take classes or participate in workshops?
Similarly, I have clients who respond in surprise when they learn that voice actors regularly work with coaches. In their minds, do they wonder if we’re not qualified because we’re taking a class or working with a coach?
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Turning Career Commitment Issues into Multiple Revenue Streams
Do you find yourself loving your work, but avoiding the prospect of working for someone? Or craving variety in your work life, rather than pounding away at the same project for the same company every day?
All my life friends and family have given me a hard time because I don’t like to be tied down by a traditional “report-to-someone” job. They’ve said I have “career commitment phobia”. Working in television news, I was required to sign contracts that often outline what you can and can’t do, even what you can and can’t wear on camera. Needless to say, I haven’t worked full-time as a journalist, with a contract, since 2001 (even though I’ve been fortunate to work as a reporter and producer for some great stations, consistently, the entire time). read more…
The Pursuit of Life-Long Learning
“Commit yourself to lifelong learning. The most valuable asset you’ll ever have is your mind and what you put into it.”
— Brian Tracy
With VO Atlanta fast approaching, I find myself reflecting on my experiences both on-camera and in the voiceover industry, and the many interesting places a career in video and voiceover has taken me. Before the pandemic, I loved attending conferences to stay up to date on the latest corporate and commercial trends and connect with other people in the industry. But, there’s no doubt our world looks different now– COVID has impacted every part of our lives and kept us all apart for longer than we could have imagined. read more…
Voice Acting and Video: Combining Career Passions
As a reporter and a morning show host for nearly two decades, I spent much of my career in front of a camera. There was so much I loved about the job – covering everything from federal murder cases to celebrity interviews to home and garden trends. Mostly, I loved telling stories that people could connect with.
When I segued from being primarily on-camera to spending more time behind the microphone with voice acting, I still felt passionate about communicating powerful stories and messages. But, I wasn’t sure what to do with all the on-camera experience I had. read more…
Flipping the Script on VO Bias
As humans, we’re wired to make assumptions about others– what they wear, how they talk, even who they are connected to, all plays a role in who we think they are. Part of the picture we paint about another person may include what they do for a living. For instance, a doctor, a construction worker, and an athlete all come with pretty strong generalizations that may lead you to draw conclusions about that individual’s personality, values, and intelligence. read more…
In Search of Creativity …
Creativity is a funny and sometimes elusive thing. It never strikes when you need it to. Like when you’ve blocked out 8:00am to 10:00am for writing, when you’re on a tight deadline and have 800 more words to whip out, or when you have the perfect picture for Instagram but not a single inspiration for the caption. Unfortunately (or not, depending on how you look at it) creativity is not only important, it’s also what makes you feel smart, witty, genuine, happy. Interestingly enough, many of those same feelings, particularly happiness, have been known to help to support creativity.
Despite what you may think, a recent Forbes article pointed out that creativity is not a rare gift only endowed upon the artistically inclined. It’s not more prevalent in children, people with mental disorders or the right side of your brain. It’s something that’s accessible to all of us, but admittedly takes a little more effort at some times than others. read more…
FIVE Things to Know if You’re Interested in VO
There are two questions I’m asked constantly when it comes to VoiceOver: “What are your rates” and “How can I get into the business”?
Neither question comes with a cut and dry answer, but when it comes to an entry to voiceover, I can give you some general thoughts that come not with decades of experience, but with my own recent adventures into the world of voiceover.
Here are FIVE things to know if you’re interested in voiceover:
This is the year I aim to go far, together.
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” -African Proverb
This is the year I aim to go far, together. Not that I ever want to stay put … it’s just that I’m quite comfortable operating solo. It seems I always start a new year with a hefty set of goals and often a vision board to go with it. Then I hide my journal in a drawer, my vision
board on my computer lock screen, and no one knows they exist, except of course, for me.
Confessions of an Audiobook Rookie
In recent years, I’ve worked hard to segue everything I learned as a reporter into a whole new way of working as a voice over talent. Lose the broadcast voice, slow it down, have some personality, play with your ‘sound’, learn how to edit, how to pitch, how to market yourself and find your own work. It has been an education. A test I have sometimes passed, sometimes failed, and many times reshaped and retried until it worked a little better. But narrating an audiobook. That was different.
read more…
How *Not to Lose the Broadcaster Boom
Once upon a time the phrase “you sound just like a news reporter” was a compliment. When you are a news reporter, it is a compliment. When you are in voiceover, however, it is most definitely not. While trends come and go in voiceover just as they do in any industry, the “broadcaster” voice has been gone for a while. Now nearly every client wants a read that’s conversational, millennial-sounding, girl-next-door, a voice that’s talking not reading. So how do you do that when you’ve spent your whole life … reading?
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