On voice work: "In some ways there's more acting required just for the voice work than for a whole physical performance. Every word has to count toward the action and character. Miss a beat, an inflection, and you throw off an entire scene." -Henry Selick, Animation Director, "James and the Giant Peach."

Attitude. Style. Point of view. Personality... Success in voice over is not just about the sound of your voice; it’s about how you express and define yourself. There are endless possibilities when it comes to tapping into human emotions. But, by all means, do it!

“Play takes many forms, but the heart of play is pleasure — an important component in learning. Some people think of play as the opposite of work. They think of it with goofing off, being lazy, lack of achievement, or, at best, recreation. ‘Stop playing and get to work!’ Yet, it is through play that we do much of our learning. We learn best when we are having fun.” -Dr. Bruce Perry - Scholastic Fun and play starts here at Radio Magic Studio...

Behind These Doors A Family Memoir by Catherine Sevenau Audio proudly produced and recorded at Radio Magic with the voice of author, Catherine Sevenau. I loved working with Catherine on her project. Coming soon! Catherine Clemens Sevenau: Madeleine Wild at Radio Magic guided me to tell my story in my own voice: inspiring me to find my rhythm, prodding me to become an actress, and cajoling me to be my best. By the end, the twenty recordings were beautiful enough to make us cry. Catherine Sevenau, Writer On my father’s side I’m a generation removed from hardworking, church-going, duty-bound dairy farmers. On my mother’s, I come from freewheeling, drinking, smoking, gambling, hell-raising cattle ranchers with a couple of righteous Catholics thrown in for a dose of temperance. I happen to know my mate... Book: 185 like this

WANT A BETTER VOICE? Breathing deeply and naturally is grounding (like the roots of a tree) and can add resonance, richness and confidence to your voice quality. Good posture allows you to breathe more efficiently, too. Try these and you'll hear the difference.

IT'S WHAT YOU DON'T HEAR THAT SPEAKS VOLUMES... With voice over...the unheard words and pauses, can sometimes be the most powerful. Like music, rhythm and timing are everything. When making a speech, reading aloud, narrating a story or recording a voice over, find the natural pauses. Take a beat (or two)... We do it all the time in real life conversation.

How many ways can you say MEOW? Imagine we're casting for a variety of cat voices. What kind of sounds would the cats have? It depends on the character of the cat. There's more than one way, of course, i.e.: sweet, purring, quiet (almost inaudible), screeching, demanding, whining, pissed off... As a VO director, I once cast a children's CD-ROM game with an assortment of kitties sitting in a basket around the Mother cat. You'd click on each kitty and hear a different meow. How many ways can you say Meow?