Please Review my Voice Talent Profile

daniel_swihart · ‎10-04-2018

Hello Upwork Community!

I am new to freelancing and voice over, but I have over 10 years of experience in public speaking. I'm still trying to "find my voice" here, and I was hoping someone with more experience on Upwork could review my profile and make suggestions on how to be noticed more by clients. I have yet to land a job, and it seems competition for most voice over jobs is quite stiff. Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Daniel

martina_plaschka · ‎10-04-2018

@Daniel S wrote:
Hello Upwork Community!
I am new to freelancing and voice over, but I have over 10 years of experience in public speaking. I'm still trying to "find my voice" here, and I was hoping someone with more experience on Upwork could review my profile and make suggestions on how to be noticed more by clients. I have yet to land a job, and it seems competition for most voice over jobs is quite stiff. Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Daniel

I'm sure due to your background, you have vast experience in public speaking, but maybe you want to remove the religious content from your profile, or not put that much emphasis on it. It might, in fact, attract a certain clientele, but might rebuff others. The question is, which of those is your target clientele?

daniel_swihart · ‎10-04-2018

Thank you for your input! I had thought that might be a factor, but I wasn’t sure how to present my job history and experience differently. I will make some edits and see if that helps. My primary introduction is where I see the most potential for editing. Thanks again, and I will message back once I’ve edited it!

colettelewis · ‎10-04-2018

Hi Daniel,

I don't think religion should be a deterrent at all! Look at Aretha Franklin and Martin Luther King!

I listened to your portfolio items and I think you have a very pleasant voice but your intonation is too contrasted and your endings are too abrupt. You sometimes sound a little breathless and nervous and your voice (to me) seems to tighten. I think you need to (literally) rephrase. If you play a musical instrument or sing, you will know that phrasing and breathing (if you are a singer)is paramount for good delivery. Here is a link (among many) that may help you. https://learn.stleonards.vic.edu.au/privatedrama/information-for-students/phrasing/

daniel_swihart · ‎10-04-2018

@Nichola L wrote:
Hi Daniel,

I don't think religion should be a deterrent at all! Look at Aretha Franklin and Martin Luther King!

I listened to your portfolio items and I think you have a very pleasant voice but your intonation is too contrasted and your endings are too abrupt. You sometimes sound a little breathless and nervous and your voice (to me) seems to tighten. I think you need to (literally) rephrase. If you play a musical instrument or sing, you will know that phrasing and breathing (if you are a singer)is paramount for good delivery. Here is a link (among many) that may help you. https://learn.stleonards.vic.edu.au/privatedrama/information-for-students/phrasing/

Thank you for those kind words, Nichola!

Breathing and phrasing has been an adjustment for me coming from public speaking to voice over. It is definitely a different animal, so I very much appreciate the feedback. Part of the problem right now is that I'm dealing with acid reflux damage to my throat, so I would guess that is the tension you hear as I go longer. I will see if I can monitor that a little better so as to break up longer scripts in a natural way. (And I'm a drummer, so I've not had to worry about breathing in that way 🙂 ).

If I record some more samples using your suggestions, would you be willing to review them for me? Thank you for all your help so far!

daniel_swihart · ‎10-04-2018

Martina,

I have updated my introduction to remove the religious content. Do you think these changes will be more attractive to clients? Any further suggestions?

Thanks again for your help!

martina_plaschka · ‎10-04-2018

@Daniel S wrote:
Martina,

I have updated my introduction to remove the religious content. Do you think these changes will be more attractive to clients? Any further suggestions?

Thanks again for your help!

I think it looks good, maybe remove the references to being new to upwork, everyone was new at some point, no need to point that out to your potential clients. You are confident in your abilities, which is all that counts.

daniel_swihart · ‎10-04-2018

@Martina P wrote:
@Daniel S wrote:
Martina,

I have updated my introduction to remove the religious content. Do you think these changes will be more attractive to clients? Any further suggestions?

Thanks again for your help!
I think it looks good, maybe remove the references to being new to upwork, everyone was new at some point, no need to point that out to your potential clients. You are confident in your abilities, which is all that counts.

Thank you! I will do that!

jmccrensky · ‎09-03-2019

HI! Looking for a female voice talent to do voice over messages for business on hold buttons.

mystudiomke · ‎10-04-2018

Hi Daniel - agreed with comments from Martina. From a different perspective, when you mention your new and skills to improve on your main page, it tells me I'm taking a risk on a freelancer who is still learning his craft. I would emphasize on your strong skills. Keep in mind that when you are sending a proposal to a client it is to propose how you can assist them with their project. So when they look at your profile it has to show the skills and confidence for the client to even want to speak further or what they call here "active candidacies". Once you have the attention and confidence of the client, you can further explain what you are still learning and then decide if you both are a good fit.

Hope that helps,

Lila

daniel_swihart · ‎10-04-2018

@Lila G wrote:
Hi Daniel - agreed with comments from Martina. From a different perspective, when you mention your new and skills to improve on your main page, it tells me I'm taking a risk on a freelancer who is still learning his craft. I would emphasize on your strong skills. Keep in mind that when you are sending a proposal to a client it is to propose how you can assist them with their project. So when they look at your profile it has to show the skills and confidence for the client to even want to speak further or what they call here "active candidacies". Once you have the attention and confidence of the client, you can further explain what you are still learning and then decide if you both are a good fit.

Hope that helps,

Awesome advice! Thank you so much!

kat303 · ‎10-04-2018

@Daniel S wrote:
Hello Upwork Community!
I am new to freelancing and voice over, but I have over 10 years of experience in public speaking. I'm still trying to "find my voice" here, and I was hoping someone with more experience on Upwork could review my profile and make suggestions on how to be noticed more by clients. I have yet to land a job, and it seems competition for most voice over jobs is quite stiff. Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Daniel

First of all, understand that you are competing with professional voiice over freelancers who've had years of experience and several already done public voice overs. I don't want to discourage you, but this is not the place to learn a skill.

As for your profile, get rid of all references of stating you are new to this site, or you are just learning or new to voice over.

Under the skills section, just list your skills, programs, equipment you have. Don't mention you want to learn more. Don't mention you don't have XXX equipment. Don't mention that you need to listen to accents before you can do one. I don't know anything about voice over, but I'm assuming a seasoned freelancer would know an accent or 2 and would not need to listen to it in order to do it. Don't rely on a client to provide sample accents so that you can complete their job. Develop accents on your own. Practice. And when you don't need to listen to them anymore in order to speak those accents, then you can list that as another skill. Just list your positives.

daniel_swihart · ‎10-04-2018

@Kathy T wrote:
@Daniel S wrote:
Hello Upwork Community!
I am new to freelancing and voice over, but I have over 10 years of experience in public speaking. I'm still trying to "find my voice" here, and I was hoping someone with more experience on Upwork could review my profile and make suggestions on how to be noticed more by clients. I have yet to land a job, and it seems competition for most voice over jobs is quite stiff. Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Daniel
First of all, understand that you are competing with professional voiice over freelancers who've had years of experience and several already done public voice overs. I don't want to discourage you, but this is not the place to learn a skill.

As for your profile, get rid of all references of stating you are new to this site, or you are just learning or new to voice over.
Under the skills section, just list your skills, programs, equipment you have. Don't mention you want to learn more. Don't mention you don't have XXX equipment. Don't mention that you need to listen to accents before you can do one. I don't know anything about voice over, but I'm assuming a seasoned freelancer would know an accent or 2 and would not need to listen to it in order to do it. Don't rely on a client to provide sample accents so that you can complete their job. Develop accents on your own. Practice. And when you don't need to listen to them anymore in order to speak those accents, then you can list that as another skill. Just list your positives.

Thank you very much! I appreciate all the advice I can get!