N-D-who? Non Disclosure Agreements were in the news a year ago with the stories about the fall of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
NDA’s are common in VO. You may be asked to sign one before starting in on a project. The NDA can prohibit ANY conversation, emails or writings, photos, and other disclosures about a project. The NDA may apply only to social media—no posts, no selfies, no way, no how, and forever.
Clients don’t want scripts or buzz about a project getting spread around by any but their own public relations people. That way, they can control the message, control the spin, and have a chance to get the most out of the project. There’s a lot of monetary value in information about a project, product, or event. Just because you’re involved doesn’t mean you get to chat about it on social media or even among your VO friends and family.
Plus, you have your little view of the whole project. You likely don’t see all the other moving parts and people who are working to make the thing happen. What if your talking about the project sinks the whole thing—for everybody!?
Sometimes, too, NDA’s are listed in the rules for a job you accept. You may not even sign anything, but you still may be bound. A client may impose a ban on social media posts and photos of an event, the behind-the-scenes action that you capture with your cell phone camera. So it’s important to pay attention—or get caught up to date before you get caught up in a problem.
What about my freedom of speech? The First Amendment applies to the government’s restriction of your speech, but not to private businesses and contracts. An NDA is a contract and part of the gig—want the gig? Sign the NDA. Don’t want the NDA? Don’t do the gig.
So what happens if you violate an NDA? You could get sued, and that would be expensive. Usually clients have deeper pockets than an individual voice talent. But worse, you could lose your client—or your agent—for future work, which would be expensive, too.
Remember the old World War II warning: LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS! That had to do with talking about shipping details that could be overheard by enemy spies.
So talk to your mic to record the project’s copy, but if there’s an NDA talk no further. Just remember, NDA could also stand for NO DISCUSSING AT-ALL!
Hello to all my talented friends and lovers of TVAS! Today I want to write about a man we all know and respect as being an extremely knowledgeable recording engineer, sound designer and voice over actor, John McClain. Most of us have benefited from John’s vast experience through either taking one of his engineering courses, sitting in on his On-Going coaching sessions, his Home Studio Set Up class or just benefitting from his willingness to answer all our questions. Many of us have been lucky to have John live, in our home, helping set up our home studio. 
Hi all my fellow voicers! I recently had the opportunity to speak with our fellow student and coach, Shelley Avellino. Shelley has many talents including singing and performing in musical theater in Asia and the United Kingdom. She also plays several instruments including piano, violin, saxophone and guitar which Shelley feels helps her immensely in rhythm when performing voice over jobs. Shelley has been a full-time voice over actor for 6 years. She began her voice over career in 2012 when she started coaching sessions with Melissa, our Mama VO. 
So there you are, struggling to figure out a place to record, a place to set up your first studio! 
As a salesman for over 45 years and a voracious learner, there’s not too many sales techniques left for me to absorb that will make a dramatic impact on my performance. So I’ve investigated other disciplines like psychology, NLP, creative writing, public speaking, storytelling, voice over and most recently, acting. However, voice over has been the most powerful as it has affected several facets of my sales process. 
Maybe you’ve been a part of V-amily for awhile (our voice over family, that is)! Or maybe you’re a new kid on the block. Either way, I’d like to remind you of what The Voice Actors Studio, or TVAS 2.0, is all about. 
Free tips.
Fellow Voicers – I had a super awesome time chatting with our fellow student, Denise Thistlewaite. Wow! Denise is one multi-talented lady. She had always a love of reading starting in her childhood. It grew into a serious curiosity that perhaps someday she could be that voice on audiobooks. She has lent her voice to many pro bono projects for her employer, the Clark County School District, where she has voiced several tutorials. 
A question I often get asked is: How long should it take me to complete and submit a single audition?