George Washington III African-American Voice Actor Sourceconnect
(704) 293-7469
george@voevolution.com
  • Home
  • Demos
    • Commercial
    • e-Learning
    • Narration
    • Promo
    • Democratic Political
  • About
George Washington III African-American Voice Actor Header Logo
  • Clients
  • Contact
George Washington III African-American Voice Actor Logo

picture

The Image Issue – Do You Look Like You Sound?

May 24, 2011 by George 19 Comments

A look in the mirrorphoto © 2008 Andrey Maximov | more info (via: Wylio)I don’t remember who recommended it to me, but last year I started running a  Google Search on my name that lets me know when I show up on the web. It’s a good thing to know when people are talking about you, and more importantly, what are they saying. If nothing else, it can be gratifying to see the hits, informative to know where backlinks to your website are showing up, and entertaining when it is seemingly untethered from reality.

Once I started voicing for ROOT Sports Northwest, I saw some posts about the “Root Sports voice over guy” on the SB Nation Seattle Mariners fan site, Lookout Landing. Some of it is pretty funny: I was blamed for the Mariners losing games, called drunk, and the very erudite “sounds like a retard given the confidence of a booth and multiple tries.” Ah, my fans.

But there was an interesting thread that came up speculating who the voice was.  And since there was a press release out and circulating about my getting the gig, one of the enterprising Mariners fans was able to find the information and my picture. Once it was posted in the thread, there was a comment that I found pretty interesting (especially after being accused of being drunk):

“He looks exactly how he sounds like he should look.”

This got me to thinking. I know that I am doing something many voice artists don’t do; that is, letting people know what I look like. The standard argument against letting your face come into play is that it can get you stereotyped into or out of specific kinds of jobs. I remember specifically speaking to a female participant at Faffcon 2 about this problem. She believes because she is blonde, a picture would lead people to assume that she has a higher voice, where her actual voice is dark and smoky.

Age is also a consideration, particularly for women. Sadly, it has been reported frequently that even if a woman’s voice sounds much younger, she can miss out on a job because she may not look as youthful as she sounds.

And so I am curious: do you use your photo in your promotional material? Is it on your website, and if so, where? Do you think it has been a positive for you, or are you considering another direction? I would love to hear your thoughts.

UPDATE: Thanks to all the Mariners fans at Lookout Landing who stopped by to check out the post. You guys are pretty cool!

Filed Under: Career Development, Marketing, Sales and Contacts Tagged With: marketing, photos, picture

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • When Your Voiceover Work Impacts You
  • Verizon Dropping ISDN in Some States
  • Sales Performance International – Knowledge is Not Power
  • D-Link Gaming Router
  • Joe Miller for US Senate

Archives

  • February 2023
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • July 2012
  • May 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010

Categories

  • Agents
  • Audio
  • Audiobook
  • Career Development
  • Faffcon
  • Interview
  • Marketing, Sales and Contacts
  • Music
  • Narration
  • Networking
  • On-Camera
  • Pat on the Back
  • Power of Human Voice
  • Press Release
  • Random Thoughts
  • Samples
  • Social Media
  • Sound Resources
  • Tech Talk
  • Tip o' the Hat
  • Tools You Can Use
  • Training
  • Uncategorized
  • Video
  • Video Testimonial
  • Voice Artists
  • Voiceover – Work

Contact

If you want a quote or a personalized demo, feel free to contact me today. I’ll be happy to review your project by phone or email.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

george@voevolution.com
(704) 293-7469
george.washington.iii
George Washington III African-American Voice Actor Footer Sourceconnect
George Washington III African-American Voice Actor Wovo Logo

©2023 George Washington III // Voice Over Site by Voice Actor Websites

George Washington III African-American Voice Actor Footer Logo
(704) 293-7469
george@voevolution.com
MENU
  • Home
  • Demos
    • Commercial
    • e-Learning
    • Narration
    • Promo
    • Democratic Political
  • Clients
  • Contact