In January, 2007, I provided character narration for Not for Sale, a documentary about the return of the global slave trade, based on David Batstone’s book of the same title. This month Julia Ormond, Ashley Judd and many others helped launch the rockumentary, Call+Response.  These films seek to raise public awareness about human trafficking.

The global slave trade continues to thrive because it goes largely unnoticed, or worse misperceived. This isn’t a third-world problem or merely an immigration issue. There are predators today who view people, especially women and children, as commodities. Those born in poverty are the most susceptible, but anyone anywhere can be a victim.

Human trafficking is the fastest growing and most profitable crime in the world. The United States estimates that over 600,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year and forced into slavery for sex and labor.  Of that number, it is believed that 80% are women and girls and 50% are minors. These are conservative estimates when you consider the number of incidents that are undetected and the fact that this estimate does not include people trafficked within their own borders.

This is happening all over the world — yes, here in the United States as well.

The United States is a source and destination country for thousands of men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation . . .  An unknown number of American citizens and legal residents are trafficked within the country primarily for sexual servitude and, to a lesser extent, forced labor.

 

– From the U.S. Dept. of State June, 2007, Trafficking In Persons Report

Next month, the United States may elect it’s first black president. It’s not surprising, therefore, that much of the discourse leading up to this election has included issues of race and slavery, but often relegating slavery to a footnote in history.  Although African slaves in colonial America were emancipated by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, it’s hugely misleading to think that slavery has been abolished in this country.  All we’ve done is make it illegal.

There are ways to detect possible incidents of human trafficking.  Unfortunately they are often confused with — or upstaged by — other crimes.  The most obvious may be signs of physical abuse, underage prostitution, child labor, people smuggling. Predators may entice victims through what appear to be legitimate employment opportunities with modeling agencies, babysitting services, massage parlors and other industries.  When it involves people who aren’t citizens of the U.S., a big flag is raised if those individuals don’t have immediate possession and control of their own legal documents, passports and so forth. The point of these resources (and this blog) is not to raise paranoia, but awareness. Taking notice of things is a first step to empowerment. That can lead to all kinds of positive change.

To learn more about human trafficking and the global slave trade, here are some great resources:

• Be Smart, Be Safe, DoS publication
• Not for Sale: Return of the Global Slave Trade — and How We Can Fight It, book by David Batstone
• Not for Sale, documentary and web site
• Call + Response, documentary and web site
• HumanTrafficking.org
• ASSET, Alliance to Stop Slavery and Trafficking focused on economic impetus
• Polaris Project

What is SaVoa?

In the last several weeks, I’ve helped organize a peer-based accreditation program by voice over artists for voice over artists. We formed a not-for-profit organization, SaVoa Incorporated, which is dedicated to:

• Enhancing the voice over industry,
• Raising public awareness about the profession, and
• Supporting education for voice overs.

Through accreditation, SaVoa wants to recognize those voice over talents who have achieved a level of competence in the voice and technical skills needed to provide professional voice over in today’s market. We also hope, through the program, to promote a sense of community, honor ethical business practices and facilitate access to products and services that interest voice over professionals.

SaVoa uses all its members, accredited voice over artists, in its peer review process, which evaluates new applicants seeking accreditation and membership in SaVoa. This is a first step: to show the hiring public that professional voice overs value skill, competence and professionalism in their own industry. Details about SaVoa’s accreditation program are published at SaVoa.org.

What is accreditation?

Strictly speaking, accreditation is recognition of a level of professional competence; it distinguishes an individual or entity as being creditable and reputable.

Few industries burst onto the scene with glowing reputations for skill, competence or professionalism. In general, this kind of reputation must be cultivated. The film industry, music industry, medical and legal professions, for example, all realized some time ago that, when an industry collectively cultivates a reputation of professionalism, that reputation passes on to members of the industry. These members gain a leg up in establishing their own reputations through their associations with the industry as a whole.

The film and music industries achieve this primarily through self-recognition in the form of publicity-generating awards programs: Oscars, BAFTA Film, Golden Palm, Grammy, CMA Award, and so forth. The medical and legal professions do this primarily through licensing, certification and accreditation. In fact, no doctors or lawyers today would attempt to build their reputations without lauding their various associations, certifications, accreditations, and of course required licensing, with countless professional organizations, institutions and regulatory entities.

What is a voice over?

Unfortunately, voice overs barely have an identity, let alone a reputation. How many of us have had to stop and explain what we do to a family member, friend or stranger we encounter? Despite the fact that few individuals around the world never hear a voiceover, fewer still recognize the term or can define it. In English-speaking societies, voice professionals have a further identity crisis since the advent of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) for mass consumption — which competes with us for Internet attention.

Even when the profession can be easily defined, it’s still not recognized. In its nearly 80-year history, the Academy Awards has yet to establish a category for voice overs in film, despite the ever-expanding popularity of animation and CGI and the otherwise notable work of countless voice actors. This is particularly ironic since the term voice over originally came to us through the film industry. (It was the term used to designate the off-camera voice heard over the onscreen action).

I’m not saying accreditation will lead to an Academy Award. On the other hand, we’d have a better chance of lobbying for that type of recognition as a group. The point is: enhancing the voice over profession by raising public awareness and recognizing professionalism and competence among voice overs isn’t something we have to attempt to accomplish alone. Certainly, to benefit the profession as a whole, each of us must manage ourselves and our businesses as professionally and skillfully as we can. But one voice can’t raise the level of awareness as effectively as all of us working together, while we provide voice overs.

I really don’t turn every email I get into a blog, but recent exchanges have asked really great questions. Most recently, a site visitor wrote me:

Hi Nikki,

 

I love your voice. I have been told I have a nice voice. I am interested in finding someone who can help me break-into the Voice-Over industry. I will also need a demo on MP3 or cd.

 

Are you in Florida? I am located in . . . Fl.

 

Thanks.
C . . .

I don’t care what anyone else says; it’s easier to “break into” voiceover than most people realize. That’s not the hard part. The challenge is in recognizing all the skills you need and developing those skills, marketing your talent, finding clients, running your business, and basically making a living at voiceover. Here is my reply to the email:

Thank you. A nice voice is a great start for some types of voice over services, but never as important as what you can do with your voice. Whether it’s a public service, audio book narration, marketing DVD, or animation, you’re selling a message. Doing that effectively will get you noticed. Training is important. In no particular order, this is what it takes:

 

* Acting or improvisation;
* Voice training (singing, voice over workshops, public speaking);
* Digital sound engineering (mic technique; sound editing, mixing and mastering);
* Marketing and sales training;
* Basic business management;
* Accounting;
* General computer skills;
* Communication skills;
* Research skills for some types of voice work, especially audio book narration;
* Grammar, writing, copy writing (basic grammar skills are important though a lot of copy breaks basic rules because people don’t generally speak using correct grammar; but you need to know the difference; although you may never write copy, having a sense of good copy helps with timing, punching key words and general delivery of the message).

 

Mastering your natural voice is important. Natural sells more than anything. These are just some basics. Voice work today is an Internet-based business. I don’t meet most of my clients face to face; I seldom even have to talk to them on the phone. It’s generally an query email from the client, maybe with an audition script; create and transfer a demo or custom audition clip; email exchange discussing price, direction and delivery methods; record project; do any necessary post-production on the sound files; FTP the final project; email an invoice; get feedback from the client; make any agreed upon changes if necessary; get paid via PayPal or other electronic method or a check from old, repeat clients (or get paid on balance if it’s a long project and you’ve obtained a retainer or deposit upfront).

 

None of this is rocket science. Like any business, it involves more than just having a good product or service (more than just a nice voice), but thousands of people manage it and when you start to develop a client base and get gigs, it can be a fairly smooth operation. Like many voice producers, I genuinely enjoy both the performance and business sides of my work. Both are essential. In fact, it’s important to be a better business owner than a performer.

 

There are inexpensive ways to develop the skill sets you need. Most community colleges offer performance and business courses. I’ll try to develop more posts on my web site with good resources over the next couple weeks. Please check out the “Voiceover Resources” category on my blog site. You’ll see some links now and many more to follow since I get questions like yours all the time.

 

My sincere best wishes in your endeavors. No matter what you pursue, with the exception of sound engineering which is more limited [industry-specific], the training needed for voice work will benefit you tremendously in hundreds of professions, business endeavors, or just day-to-day life.

 

Nikki

I really mean it when I say voiceover is a business. Even if you have representation, you will need to run your own show responsibly. It’s the difference between being employed and being contracted. For the most part, there are no employed voice actors who are taken care of and told what to do. Instead, there are contracted voiceover businesses. A recording session may be directed and produced by someone else, but you are still being contracted. In simple terms, you yourself have to bag, book and bill your own gig. That’s business.

I’m not saying I’m a strong businesswoman. I don’t feel I market as much as I should; I need to develop a passive income stream for when I feel the need to devote more of my time to learning; and industry veterans tell me I don’t charge enough for some services; but I definitely recognize the importance of the business side of voiceover work. To that end, I’ve decided to create a new blog category, “Voiceover Business,” which will be devoted to these issues. This blog is the first in this category.