Putting yourself out there!

My friend Bobbin Beam has a great post on her blog about the Art of Risk in being an actor.
It's absolutely worth the read!

As the cruise line commercial says, when you're an actor you need to "get out there!" no matter the risk! :-)

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2008 Voicey Awards!

Well, it was an honor just to be nominated!
Really it was!
I know that when you hear that, you're probably saying, "Yeah, sure!" but actually, even though I didn't win in my category, I was still really happy, and yes honored, to be considered!

And here's the thing, I was still able to let clients, prospective clients, colleagues and...ok, family ;-) know about the fact that I was in the finals. I got this great graphic to use as a promotional piece, and....there's always next year!

Frankly it was still a win for me!

As to who among my friends won:

Winner of Best New Voice - Jeffrey Kafer
Winner of Best Teen Voice - Jesse Springer
Winners Best Voice Team - Kara Edwards /Adam Fox
Winner Lifetime Achievement - Pat Fraley

Congratulations to all!

You can also go listen to the Voices Vox Talk Podcast of the announcement of all the winners!

Thanks to Stephanie Ciccarelli, and the entire Voices.com staff for all they do for the voiceover community & for putting together the Voiceys!

Audio Get Well Card to Don LaFontaine

As I mentioned briefly in a previous post, Don LaFontaine, THE top Move Trailer Voice Over Talent in the country, has been under the weather of late.

Eddie Eagle, one of the members of the Yahoo Voiceover Group that I belong to, had the idea of sending Don some audio to cheer him up!

Below is my Audio Get Well Card to Don...this was fun!

Liz's Audio Get Well Card to Don LaFontaine

Several other talents have participated so far as well, including:
Eddie Eagle, Dave Houston, Terry Daniel, and Mike Cain.

Get Well SOON Don!

More VO Remedies

An other great voice talent, Kitzie Stern wrote a great piece on her blog about more voice over remedies.

Read the readers comments too!

Thanks to my friend Bob Souer for pointing me in the direction of Kitzie's blog!

Here's to staying healthy!

Searching for myself!

So....on his Blog today, my friend Peter O'Connell posted about "Google Placement" and SEO (Search Engine Optimization), all about our constant hopes of being on Page 1 of a Google search...or at least in the first 3 Pages.

So I went searching...for myself, so to speak!

Here is where I come up:

“French voice over” ranked #4! - THAT was a nice surprise!
“French voice talent ” ranked #6!
“Bilingual voice over” ranked #19 (page 2)
“French female voice over” ranked #69 (my TalentDatabase.com page)
“Female voice over” - I gave up looking for me! ;-)
“de Nesnera” ranked #2 (after my older brother - every "de Nesnera" is my family!)

So then I went looking for "Hire Liz" my website url...just to see, and came up #1 - not bad.

It was a worthwhile exercise...I'm doing well in some areas, and need to work on some others!

Then, when I was doing the "Hire Liz" search I happened upon another "Liz": Liz Stevens.
She's an illustrator, and I just love her style! I don't know her, but I'm looking forward to seeing more of her artwork!

So today I learned something about my placement in cyberspace and found some cool art!

Time well spent, I think! (Thanks for the push, Peter!)

I'm a 2008 Voicey Awards Finalist!

I just found out that I am also one of the finalists for the 2008 Voicey Awards in the category of Best Foreign Voice!

I'm REALLY excited & honored!

Good luck to all of us!

2008 Voicey Voice Over Award Finalists Announced

It's awards season, and that includes Voice Over awards!
The finalists for the 2008 Voicey Awards have been announced, and I'm thrilled that several of my friends have been nominated!!

Check out their websites, and you'll see why they all rock!

Finalist in Best Female Voice - Moe Egan
Finalists in Best New Voice - Jeffrey Kafer & Dave Houston
Finalist in Best Male Voice - Bob Souer
Finalist in Best Teen Voice - Jesse Springer
Finalists in Best Voice Team - Adam Fox /Kara Edwards (I don't personally know Adam, but if Kara works with him, he must be good!) & Terry Daniel /Trish Basanyi
Best Personal Branding Finalists - Kara Edwards & DC Goode
Lifetime Achievement Finalist - Pat Fraley

Oh....and I almost forgot, another friend, Connie Terwilliger, is one of the judges!

I wish everyone the best of luck!

...I wonder if they'll still talk to me when they win ;-)

I feel so much better now!

It has been a few days....OK over a week...since I've posted...so to all my thousands of readers I'm really sorry! ;-)

Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging, but I'm much better now & raring to go!...get ready!....she's baaaaaaaack!

So on that note of "feeling better."

As Voice Talent, one of the WORST things that can happen to you is to get a cold and/or sore throat. So we do all we can to prevent that from happening. But sometimes we just can't. So what can you do to at least shorten the duration, symptoms & effects of a cold so that you're not totally out for count & missing sessions?

Disclaimer: I am not a Doctor...(although I have played one in narrations!)

-When I first feel as if a cold is coming on, I hit my nose with ZICAM, it's a homeopathic remedy that really does work as long as you use it right at the start of any symptoms. You can find it at pretty much any grocery or drug store these days.

- Oscillococcinum (try & say THAT 10 times fast!) by Boiron: another homeopathic remedy that I have found helpful, as long as you take at the first sign of symptoms.

- Throat Coat & Herba Tussin Herbal Teas from Traditional Medicinals are great at keeping your throat soothed.

- A Neti Pot....OK to be blunt, this is a way to wash out your nasal passes with saline....it's not pretty, but it really helps keep your nasal passages clear. This is more a preventative measure, and I know several voice talents that swear by this little contraption. I have just started using one and it does seem to help.

- Vitamin C: The old standby. Studies are now suggesting that it may not be as effective in high doses as we once thought, but hey, you don't want to get scurvy, do you! ;-) I take it everyday, and add one capsule if I feel something coming on.

- Echinacea: This extract of the cornflower has also been said to help in the treatment of colds. Again, studies vary, but I have found it helpful.

- Entertainer's Secret: a throat spray that you can use if you have a scratchy/sore throat and you still need to record! It will help sooth your throat and make you sound less like you have...well...a frog in your throat! After the VOICE 2007 conference last year, many of us Voice Talents came back with what we have come to call "Vegas Voice" due to the dryness of that air, the smokey casino where the conference was held, and well, all the cheering we did! Entertainer's Secret helped a lot of get through he following week's recording work without making our clients wonder what had happened to the golden voices that thought they hired! ;-)

- Try to keep a positive attitude. I can tell you from personal experience that when you're down emotionally, it DOES affect your immune system and your body's ability to fight off colds. Try to be as positive as you can, or surround yourself with people who will support you as you're going through your "stuff."

So that's what I do! Again:
Disclaimer: I am not a Doctor!

Obviously if you are feeling sick for longer than is normal for you, go see a doctor! My husband, who rarely gets sick, got the flu last year, went to the doctor and was given Tamiflu right away which really helped....and then I did the same thing when I saw the synptoms coming on.

The key is to know your own body. If you feel something coming on, deal with it right away in whatever way feels comfortable for you, don't wait, that'll only prolong the discomfort!

Let me know if YOU have any tricks or tips to keep your voice healthy!

That's it for now! Here's to your health!