New Tutorials Coming!

Hello my friends! I'm excited to tell you about some new video tutorials I'll be producing soon. If the one thing about voice-overs you lack is the ability to produce yourself, you might like this. Watch the video to learn about what is coming. Thanks!

Aflac!!!

So I was cleaning up and maintaining my YouTube site the other day, and I saw this new thing that lets me create animated videos using text-to-speech. What the heck. I love gadgets as much as the next guy. So I gave it a try. I went with what was on my mind. I had just received my "thanks but no thanks" email from Aflac regarding my audition for the voice of their duck. So that's where I started, but when I was done I had picked on text-to-speech software and British people. And I'm half-British... so I have an unofficial license. So there. Here's the final product.

Work For Free to Get the Fee

Have you ever thought of giving away your work? Yeah, working for free.

I know, I know. You're saying, "Scooter, have you lost your mind? Whaddaya nuts!?"

No, seriously. I've done it… much to the chagrin of my wife. I have given work to people for free. But... there is a method to my madness.

You see this all the time in grocery stores, right? Think about it. You're walking along searching for that 2-gallon jug of ketchup… when you see a nice old lady standing behind a card table with a Bunsen burner. She smiles, and offers you a free sample of Grandma Mabel's Cajun Smoked Sausage. So you take a sample, and… you love it!

Okay, maybe you're thinking, "Those free samples never convince me to buy anything." Well… maybe not. But if it didn't work, do you really think the Grandma Mabel companies of the world would keep asking nice old ladies to hand out samples at the end of the ketchup aisle?

Without revealing any clients' names, I'll give you an example. I saw an email from a company that I'd never heard of. I wondered if they thought about doing radio or TV advertising. So I decided to volunteer my services... for free. With-- a catch. I told them that I will give them a free spot, no strings attached, but if they like the results... any future spots will be at my regular rate. They really had nothing to lose and a free ad to gain. So off I went to the studio, cranked out an ad for them, emailed it to them, and wished them well. About a week later, I checked with them to see how things were going. They were so thrilled with the results of the ad that they simply had to do more ads. And now that company is one of my best clients, and I look forward to working with them each time they call on me.

It's kind of like handing out business cards with a free sample attached. Of course, just like the nice, old lady in the grocery store, there's no guarantee that you'll get a bite from everyone who tries your product. And unlike the grocery store, you need to follow up with your prospects - whether they liked you or not. You won't hit a home run with each swing, but you have to keep swinging to get the hits.

How to Post Audio on Your Facebook Page with Audioboo

My Daughter’s First Voice-Over Gig

Preschoolers are learning about shapes with a new videogame for the iPhone and iPad. The game is called “Math Shapes,” and it comes to us from the talented people at MathZee.com. I’m especially excited about this because the voice of the game is my 5-year old daughter, Roselynn Kate Fortney.

This was Rosie’s first gig as a voice actor, and she handled it like a professional. The video below contains some clips from the session.

5-Year Old Rosie Fortney at the Mic

If you have a preschooler in your life, head over to the app store and pick up “Math Shapes” from MathZee.

Adobe Audition Keyboard Shortcuts Tutorial

I’ve been a fan of Adobe Audition since it was first introduced as Cool Edit by Syntrillium in the early 1990s. Audition just fits my needs as a voice actor and producer. I have tried other programs, but most of them are just too complex for the needs of a voice actor.

One of my favorite features of Audition is the ability to customize it to work the way you want it to work. If you are an Audition user, and you are not using keyboard shortcuts, you are wasting valuable time. Watch my video and learn just how easy it is to customize those shortcuts.

Learn how to create custom keyboard shortcuts. It’s easier than you think.

Happy Editing!

Must Be Santa!

For my Christmas gift to you this year, I'd like to share a true story from my childhood. Remembering the days when my brothers and I made it our mission to listen for Santa... and my dad made it his mission to catch us peeking!

Turn up your speakers and listen to my Christmas story that I call "Must Be Santa!"

The Voice of Santa

A brief visit from Santa–er, Scooter as the Voice of Santa Claus.

Giving Thanks

As we in America head into our Thanksgiving weekend, I want to express my thanks to God for family, friends and the talent He bestowed upon me.

America’s Thanksgiving is a tradition that began with the father of our country, George Washington.  Here are the words of President Washington that started it all:

“Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.”

Thank you, Mr. President. And thank you God for all of our blessings. Happy Thanksgiving!

Where Were You?

Where have I been lately? Extremely busy and somewhat under the weather. The one thing a voice-over talent tries hardest to avoid is a cold, because it can bring business to a standstill. Ugh.

One thing I have been able to continue is my podcast. If you're not aware of it, here's the breakdown. It's a weekday podcast full of nostalgia. Each episode, I take you back to that date in a particular year, and we relive it as if we are there. Not quite like Walter Cronkite used to do with "You Are There," but it's still a lot of fun. We look at that day's headlines, pop culture, movies... what was on TV that night, and one of the hot new songs on the radio... and sometimes little things like what a gallon of gas or a loaf of bread cost us. The podcast is called "Where Were You?" Here's where you can find it:

http://audioboo.fm/scottfortney

And please join my Facebook page to get the latest episode each morning:

http://www.facebook.com/ScottFortneyVO

And now back to sickbay. Be well, my friends.