Mike Lenz Voice - A Journey Into Voice Acting

On this episode I chat with Laya Hoffman!  Laya's voice is genuine yet unique, culturally flexible and confidently warm - a fun, fresh female voice that makes an impact for your project and cuts through to your audience! Delivering broadcast quality sound with ease, on budget and under deadline for 20 years. As a full time voice-over actress, Laya helps companies grow revenue, deepen brand awareness and cultivate identity by connecting with customers through the power of Voice. Her passion is bringing your story to life, and making it sound like you heard it in your head - easily and efficiently. Laya presents a warm, relatable tone in a wide variety of styles, that is as versatile as it is timeless for a range of voice-over services. Specializing in commercials, promos, corporate narration, explainers, e-learning, animation, IVR, telephony, live announce and more. Clients such as Google, Honda, AAA, Four Seasons, Accenture, Coca-Cola, HP and hundreds more have selected Laya's voice for its national sound

Charlie Lovett was born in Winston-Salem, NC in 1962 and grew up as the child of a book-collecting English professor. He spent his summers in the rural North Carolina mountains and felt an early affinity for the countryside. He was educated at Summit School, Woodberry Forest School (Virginia), and Davidson College (NC) and in 1984 went into the antiquarian book business with his first wife, Stephanie. About the same time he began to seriously collect books and other materials relating to Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Lovett now has a large collection of Carrollian rare books and artifacts, including Carroll’s 1888 typewriter and one of six privately owned copies of the first edition of Alice in Wonderland. Lovett has written or edited nine books about Lewis Carroll, including Lewis Carroll: Formed by Faith, the first full length study of Carroll’s religious life (UVA Press, 2021). He has served as the president of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America, as editor of the London

On this episode I share some thoughts on Systems Thinking and hiow the VO industry is really a Complex System (and what that means for you!)  I also talk about my VO course available over at vosuccess.com and some of the changes that are coming in the New Year. I also touch on the importance of creating authentic relationships and growing your network and the importance that my faith has played in my journey.  Lots of great stuff this episode!!    

Val Kelly is a bilingual, French/English Voice Actress. Val started her voice-over career in 1999 after being told her whole life how "cute" her voice is and that she should do something with it... and so she did....!! Val has been actively booking Voice-over work for years now and had her commercial demo produced by Emmy award winning sound designer, recording engineer and producer "Uncle Roy" Yokelson. Val is currently working on her animation & animal sounds demos. Val's specialty is in voicing characters for cartoons, talking toys, apps, videogames, children's e-learning, radio & tv commercials and short films. Her clients include "Hasbro toys", "Hungry Howie's Pizza Place", "Essence Cartoons", "Roam and Wander", "Mymoonah", "The Foreign Candy Company", "Theory Films", independent YouTube videos and many more. Val is the hostess of her own podcast called "Live with Squacky". It's a unique and lively, interview style show that dives into the worlds of voice acting and entertainment.  In addition to

Jim Seybert has been telling stories for more than sixty years. As a young boy he would dictate stories, telling his parents to "write this down." Fast-forward to the present, and Jim lends his clear, confident voice to some of the most interesting stories of the day: military histories, political commentary, true crime, heroic memoirs, and great fiction. When he is not recording in his studio on California's pristine Central Coast, he walks quietly along trails in the Sierra Nevada, cooks gourmet meals for friends, and watches films with his wife Rhonda and their Chihuahua, Lucy.

Edoardo Ballerini is a two time winner of the Audiobook Publishers Association’s Best Male Narrator Audie Award (2013, Beautiful Ruins, by Jess Walter; 2019, Watchers by Dean Koontz). He has recorded nearly 300 titles, from classic works by Tolstoy, Dante, Kafka, Whitman and Camus, to best-sellers by James Patterson and David Baldacci, and spiritual titles by The Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hahn. On screen, Ballerini is best known for his role as junkie "Corky Caporale" on The Sopranos (HBO) and as the star chef in the indie classic Dinner Rush. He has appeared in over 50 films and tv shows, including a series regular role in the critically acclaimed Quarry, (Cinemax)  and recurring roles in Boardwalk Empire (HBO), 24 (Fox) and Elementary (CBS). Ballerini's work as a narrator has garnered international attention. Articles on his work and career have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian (UK), Aftenposten (Norway) and MediaPost (US), among others. In 2019 he recorded Robert Alter’s translation of The Hebr

Sarah is a fan favorite for her sweetly husky voice and her passion for creating a unique audio adventure every time. She has brought over 100 books to life in audio. Providing full narration and production services from her Midwestern home studio, American actress Sarah Puckett provides a clear and passionate read that engages listeners. Sarah is professionally trained in narration acting, production, and audio engineering, blending these elements together to create a unique listening experience that draws the listener deeper into the story.

Kabir Singh is a professional voice actor and street poet for hire. His voice is perfect for connecting with young, urban audiences as well as the African-American community. Kabir is available to provide outstanding voice over services for commercials in the sports, electronics and motivation advertising sectors and much more. Clients include Nike, Pandora, Microsoft, T-Mobile, Nintendo, and the NBA.

Cindy Kay moved 11 times before the age of 5, grew up in a multilingual/bicultural family, and came to audiobooks from teaching. A narrator with a home studio in Salt Lake City, Cindy Kay is Chinese-Thai-American and has titles with The Audio Flow, Bee, Blackstone, Highbridge, PRH, Recorded Books, Simon & Schuster, and Tantor. She's most recently been working in Literary Fiction, Nonfiction, Erotica, and Thriller.

Join Mike Lenz as he spends time with his good friend and VO colleague Tom Mailey.  Tom is no stranger to the entertainment and communication world, having started in theater at a young age and then moving into radio, television, and a career in public relations.  Tom is relatively new to the VO industry, having started about 2 years ago.  Tom discussed the challenges and successes he's had in the early stages of his VO career. 

Do you know your "why?"  On this episode I update you on my journey in the VO world and cover some topics that are critically important to focus on in your journey: 1.  Understanding your "why." 2.  Having perseverance. 3.  Not falling into the comparison trap. 4.  Defining what success means for you. Enjoy!

Jocqueline Protho is the Founder of The Audio Flow and Three One Six Audio - an audiobook production and publishing company serving indie authors. She has always loved audiobooks and with over 20 years of experience in talent acquisition, it was only a matter of time before she combined both of her passions. Jocqueline prides herself in helping indie authors bring their stories to life with a new way to do audio that is making its mark in the industry.

Marguerite Gavin (Shannon Parks) has been a professional audiobook narrator for over twenty years with over 500+ titles, numerous Audie nominations and Earphones awards, and a devoted fan following. She has been described as a “genre-defining narrator” by Audible.com; having a “sonorous voice, rich and full of emotion”and as having the “coveted ability to disappear as the narrator, letting the story take the limelight it deserves”in Audiofile Magazine.  Her narration spans nearly every genre from mystery, science fiction and fantasy; romance; and children’s fiction to a huge variety of nonfiction and documentary work. She is also a seasoned theater veteran, acting and directing in hundreds of productions. As a highly respected acting teacher, she was on the graduate acting faculty at Catholic University of America; directed children of all ages in Shakespeare for many years; and now coaches narrators in the art of acting the audiobook.  She is the lucky mom of two (almost grown -up!) children. Marguerite is b

On this episode I provide an update on my journey. I discuss the voiceover consulting I'm now doing as well as provide a discount on my friend Tim Tippet's Audition Ready Audio Course. I also talk about my journey into the audiobook narration world and how and why my audiobook work has increased dramatically. Lots of fun stuff on this episode. Here are some links: Voice Over Consulting - https://mikelenzvoice.com/consulting/ Audition Ready Audio Course - https://votechguru.thinkific.com/courses/audition-ready-audio-course?ref=6e5f9e

Laila Berzins is a Voice Arts Awards nominated LA Based American voice actor with a decade of experience, comedian, and songwriter extraordinaire, providing a wide variety of accents and delivery styles. Her deep & resonant voice works well with Commercial, Corporate and Promo reads, while Laila's experience and personality in Animation and Video games will leave you with VIBRANT audio and a smile on your face! Broadcast Quality Vocal Booth, Source Connect, IdPTL, Phone Patch Capabilities, happy to work under tight deadlines and with various time zones. A big kid at heart, Laila has oodles of fun with every project she joyfully undertakes. She works in numerous cartoons for clients like Disney, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, YouTube and Funimation, in games like God of War 4, Final Fantasy Explorers, World of Warcraft,  Star Trek Online, State of Decay 2, Atlus Fenrir for Sega, and Smite.  She also lent her voice to various narrations for Microsoft, Lyft, Nike, Motorola, Weight Watchers,

Growing up, I was always the entertainment in the family. I could be found recording radio programs (just to hear the announcer) or making voices and sounds with my mouth. After a while, my mother would get a little fed up with all the noise, and yell, "Tony, quit exploding all over the house!"  Deep down I know she loved all those sounds I made...pew pew... Fast forward through high school and working overnight at a "traditional country", AM radio station (yeah that's a thing). Afterward, I moved on to college where I interned for promotions at Radio Disney, Providence. Promotions was fun, and that's where I discovered the pure, raw energy of live events. For 15 years, I worked up the ranks in the live event industry with my core being a creative director, producer, and show director. I produced shows all over the US, Puerto Rico, Asia, and Europe. The entire time working in production, one thing always stuck with me...voice over work.   Being a voice talent never left me. Whether I was being cast for com

On this episode I talk with voice actor, composer and audio engineer Tim Tippets about his Audition Ready Audio Course. I took Tim's course and worked with him one-on-one on my Effects Stack and was blown away by the improvement in the quality of my audio! The Audition Ready Audio Course takes the mystery out of the technical aspect of voice-over that many of us struggle with. With a straightforward teaching approach Tim makes complex topics easy to understand and better yet, easy to apply. I was so impressed I entered into an Affiliate partnership with Tim and on this episode we share with you a special promotion exclusive to my podcast listeners that will get you a significant discount on his course. Listen all the way through the podcast to get your special discount promo code and then go to mikelenzvopodcast.com and click on the Audition Ready Audio Course link under the Sponsors section on my home page to access the course and enter the code. This course is one of the best investments I've ever made in m

Maria Pendolino is an award-winning voiceover artist. A professional working actor for more than fifteen years, Maria’s style is natural, friendly, relatable and sassy. Trained in musical theatre, film, television and voice, Maria’s conversational delivery is youthful and on-trend – perfect to represent and speak to Millennials and Generation X. Maria specializes in commercials for TV, radio and the web, e-Learning and corporate narration, explainer videos, promos, in-show narration, character voices for animation, telephone systems, radio imaging and more. A two-time award winner, Maria received the 2017 Voice Arts Award for Best Voiceover in the e-Learning category and the 2018 Voice Arts Award for Best Voiceover in the Consumer Sales Video (Explainer) category. Maria’s professional home studio, based in Buffalo, New York, is equipped with state of the art audio equipment and offers remote connectivity options including Phone Patch, Source Connect, ipDTL and ISDN. She is a proud member of the Buffalo-Niagar

On this episode Mike provides an update on his journey.  May has been a busy month of traveling and Mike discusses some of the lessons he learned, the importance of being diverse in your work, making sure you provide yourself with some down time to allow yourself to get in touch with your true purpose.  Mike also talks about his short film - The Good Life - which will begin filming this summer! Links: Go Fund Me Page for The Good Life Short Film: https://www.facebook.com/thegoodlifefilmshort/?modal=admin_todo_tour Facebook Page for The Good Life - Short Film:  https://www.gofundme.com/the-good-life-short-film  

Emily Pick's voice is described as SOUND APPROACHABLE, WARM, HIP, FRIENDLY, SEXY, INTELLIGENT, BELIEVABLE. Emily's career has included Commercial, eLearning & education, announcer, podcasts, character, accents & dialects, animation, tourism, documentary. Emily has a full home studio with live director/producer patch in capability. Raw files or finished audio delivered quickly and cleanly.