Sometime in March, I decided that I had had enough of social media. I was talking to my friend Angie and she mentioned how the various websites had become “another job” to her. I realized I felt the same way. What would be the harm in deleting the apps from my phone? So, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram…gone! I did it! Now, two months later, I feel a kind of freedom I haven’t felt in years. I don’t race to check them every morning and see what’s going on. I realized they really weren’t enriching my life that much. I don’t have FOMO, as I, ahem, feared. I do miss seeing pictures of my nieces and nephews in Austin and Hungary. But I think we can work around that.
Last year, I read the book “Essentialism” by Greg McKeown. It was incredibly impactful. Here’s a link. I hear he’s working on a new book called “Digital Essentialism”. I read about a case study he did where people agreed to give up social media for 30 days. Some of the comments after the experiment moved me. Things like: “I took up painting again.” “I learned how to play guitar.” “I focused on what’s important to me…my family.” WOW! You know what? I can do that too! So, I did. I don’t miss it at all. I did get an e-mail from an old friend who missed me on “the socials”. I miss him too. I miss pictures of what he’s doing and his kids. SO, I added back Instagram to my phone, but I limit myself to 5 minutes a day of scrolling and/or posting. That’s working for me. That was McKeown’s idea too. Remove them all and add back what you miss the most.
Now I have time to do other things, like work on my craft of voice acting, do more auditions, go outside and walk, play on my tennis team and just enjoy life. Oh, and update my blog for the first time in nearly four years!
A Human Voice for eLearning
/in Uncategorized/by DustinEbaughWhy Companies Keep Coming Back to a Human Voice for eLearning
I recorded an eLearning module today on health insurance. Not the most obviously exciting topic to voice — benefits, coverage details, plan options. But the client’s brief was specific: conversational, expressive, and caring.
They told me why. They’d tried an AI voice for it first. Technically it worked — words got read, timing was fine. But it landed flat. For a topic like health insurance, where the person on the other end of that training might be genuinely worried about a coverage question or trying to understand what happens if they get sick, flat doesn’t cut it. They came back and asked for a human. Read more
What Makes a Good IVR Voice — And Why It’s Harder Than It Sounds
/in Uncategorized/by DustinEbaughMost people don’t think twice about the voice on the other end of a phone system. Press 1 for sales, press 2 for support. That’s kind of the point — a good IVR voice shouldn’t draw attention to itself. It should just work.
But “just work” is deceptively hard to pull off. IVR and telephony voice-over is one of the more technical corners of this business, and it’s easy to underestimate what actually goes into it.
It’s not one script — it’s hundreds of tiny ones
A commercial is 30 seconds. An IVR project might be 300 individual prompts: menu options, error messages, hold confirmations, department transfers, “your call is important to us” loops, name and number confirmations. Each one gets recorded separately, and each one has to sound like it belongs to the same voice, the same day, the same energy level.
That consistency is the whole job. If prompt #47 sounds noticeably different in tone or pacing from prompt #12, callers notice — even if they can’t say why. It just feels off. Read more
Why Availability Matters More Than Anything in Political Voiceover
/in Uncategorized/by DustinEbaughIf you’ve ever worked with a political ad agency or a campaign, you already know: nothing moves on a normal schedule. A script can change three times in one afternoon. A spot that was “final” at 2pm needs a new line by 4 because of something that happened at a debate, a press conference, or on Twitter. And the flight date — when the ad actually needs to be on air — was locked in weeks ago, whether the script was ready or not.
That’s just how the business works. Campaigns run on news cycles, opposition research, and polling, not on production calendars. Which means the voice talent on the other end of that script has to be ready to move the second it lands. Read more
Meaningful Holiday Gifts for Clients Made Easier
/in Uncategorized/by DustinEbaughThe holiday season is a great time to show your clients that you value the relationships you’ve built throughout the year. Thoughtful gifts can leave a lasting impression and remind clients that you appreciate their support and trust.
A couple of years ago, I sent a small, carefully chosen gift to an agent I had worked with for several years. It wasn’t expensive, but it reflected a shared interest we had discovered during our meetings. The note I included mentioned a specific project we had collaborated on. A few days later, I received a handwritten thank you note from her, and that simple gesture strengthened our connection more than any generic gift could. Read more
Leaving the socials behind
/in Uncategorized/by DustinEbaughSometime in March, I decided that I had had enough of social media. I was talking to my friend Angie and she mentioned how the various websites had become “another job” to her. I realized I felt the same way. What would be the harm in deleting the apps from my phone? So, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram…gone! I did it! Now, two months later, I feel a kind of freedom I haven’t felt in years. I don’t race to check them every morning and see what’s going on. I realized they really weren’t enriching my life that much. I don’t have FOMO, as I, ahem, feared. I do miss seeing pictures of my nieces and nephews in Austin and Hungary. But I think we can work around that.
Last year, I read the book “Essentialism” by Greg McKeown. It was incredibly impactful. Here’s a link. I hear he’s working on a new book called “Digital Essentialism”. I read about a case study he did where people agreed to give up social media for 30 days. Some of the comments after the experiment moved me. Things like: “I took up painting again.” “I learned how to play guitar.” “I focused on what’s important to me…my family.” WOW! You know what? I can do that too! So, I did. I don’t miss it at all. I did get an e-mail from an old friend who missed me on “the socials”. I miss him too. I miss pictures of what he’s doing and his kids. SO, I added back Instagram to my phone, but I limit myself to 5 minutes a day of scrolling and/or posting. That’s working for me. That was McKeown’s idea too. Remove them all and add back what you miss the most.
Now I have time to do other things, like work on my craft of voice acting, do more auditions, go outside and walk, play on my tennis team and just enjoy life. Oh, and update my blog for the first time in nearly four years!