Each of our voices are distinct and unique, no two voices are the same. Some voices have a high pitch to them; some voices have a medium pitch. And some voices have a low and deep pitch; the voices that we have are certainly one-of-a-kind. But again, no two voices are ever the same in the world. It’s part of what makes us men and women special as people, our voices.
Many years ago, I was asked to use my voice while I was in the service. The officers and the non-commissioned officers asked me to man the phones and the radios using my voice. They told me that the sound of my speaking voice was clear and distinct, and easy to understand. Add to the fact that I was not easily rattled under stress, my voice would remain clear even under severe pressure-packed situations. It was thought of as a benefit to the operations that I was appointed to operate; it helped to provide a good degree of confidence when it came to sensitive communications within the squadrons I was assigned to.
But my voice also brought me into some much less stressful situations after my service life. While I was living in Los Angeles during the 1980’s and 1990’s, I found myself doing some spot voice over work every once in a while. I remember doing a television spot for the US. Forest Service, supporting the Woodsy Owl ad campaign that asked people to “get wise, ecologize” and to think about the lands that we all live on. It was a fun thing to do, and I felt that using my voice in this manner was a help to the community.
My work in radio in Los Angeles soon followed; in 1994 I became radio show host at KCLA-FM with my own weekly half-hour show titled “Jerome Lee’s Tuneful Mix”. Doing radio that went out to so many people was a great experience for me; it was an experience that I will never forget. And again, it was very much a fun thing for me to do at that time.
My life then turned back to doing music for many years after that. My time spent in Europe focused on making the best music that I could sing and play for myself and for other musicians and artists. Not much voice over work during that time, but I was asked to be interviewed by a radio programmer in Amsterdam, The Netherlands shortly before I left the city to return to the US. The interview was a nice experience, the programmer himself was from the US, and he asked me some good, insightful questions that allowed me to express my thoughts about my musical life in Holland and in Europe.
Many years after my return to the US from Europe, I did not think too much about doing voice over work. I got involved in musical instrument retail work and sold keyboards and professional audio devices to the public for a few years. After that, I moved on into doing professional audio work full time.
But once again, people would ask me to use my voice to make various public announcements at the many events that I was mixing the audio for. I didn’t think too much of it, I simply wanted the events to go over well and be a success. I certainly didn’t think that my voice should be a focal point of any event that I was mixing, not ever.
So, in late 2016, around October or so, I was audio mixing an event and someone asked me to make an announcement over the wireless hand-held microphone at the table I was mixing from. I did so without question, and I made sure that the announcement was delivered clearly and distinctly. When I was done, once again, I did not think too much of what I had done. To my surprise, a few people approached me at the table and offered some very kind and positive comments about the sound of my voice. On my way home from work that day, I began to think about my own voice and what the people at that conference had said about it. I began to wonder if there was a place for my voice in the professional voice over medium. I thought that my chances would be small; I had heard some absolutely terrific voices from men and women on radio, television, and videos. Thinking further about this, I reminded myself about how all of our human voices are truly singular; we all have our own human voice.
Taking a chance, I signed up at a reputable voice over talent agency in late 2016 called Voices.com. Listening to many of the voices there gave me pause; there are some great voices on the myriads of profiles posted there. I didn’t think that I stood much of a chance there. But the staff at Voices.com told me that those great profiles that I had visited all started from the very same place that I was at, a new beginning. They told me to try my best, and to deliver the best voice over auditions that I could make.
After creating a profile at Voices.com I began submitting auditions. And someone responded to my audition work and asked me to submit some voice over audio for an important client. I said yes and dove right into the script that they provided. It was a challenge that I wanted to rise up to, so I did my best. The client was pleased, and my voice over work was accepted by them. I was very happy to know this after putting in the time to make the script just right.
The script that I read was for a video that was to be provided for the Institute for Global Orthopedics & Traumatology (IGOT). IGOT sends a simple but direct message of using the power of surgical education to save limbs and lives around the world. Now that the video has been published and posted online, I would like to send my sincere thanks to Abby VanMuijen, the staff at Voices.com, and to the orthopedic surgeons at IGOT for allowing me to help deliver this important and powerful message.
And I am thankful to have listened to my own inner voice, which reminded me that our own speaking voices are unique, and very special indeed.
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