If you have an Amazon Echo, please ask Alexa\nto launch Idaho Potato. Now, ask a potato-related question. It could be about\ncooking, storing, determining a genuine Idaho potato or whatever comes to mind.\nThat\u2019s my voice, sharing the secrets of spuds on behalf of the Idaho Potato\nCommission. And this job, where I get to provide the voice for many Alexa\nskills (the voice-first word for apps), came about because of what appeared to\nbe a regular, everyday audition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The client is Witlingo<\/a>, an official Amazon and Google\ncontent provider. I lucked into becoming\none of their team members by winning an audition early in their development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But was it really luck? Benjamin Franklin\nsaid, \u201cDiligence is the mother of good luck\u201d. I audition regularly, super-serve\nmy clients and always keep my word. In fact, I work by the motto,\n\u201cunder-promise and over-deliver\u201d. I\ndon\u2019t win every audition \u2013 far from it! In fact, I have a little hand-made sign\nin my office that reads, \u201cthe job is<\/strong>\nto audition\u201d, to remind myself to keep going during a non-winning streak. But\nthose clients who do hire me are as good as gold, and I treat them as such. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Witlingo has developed two recording apps\nthat allow anyone to become a contributor to the voice-first worlds. Castlingo<\/a> is for the person who\nwants to dip a toe into podcasting, 77-seconds at a time. Buildlingo<\/a> is for businesses. They\u2019re\nboth bringing more information and voices to the voice-first world, and when\nthey want a professional voice to speak for them, I\u2019m willing and ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The market for voice-first technology\ncontinues to grow. As of last fall, Neilson<\/a>\nreported that nearly one-quarter of US households owned a smart speaker. Of\nthose, 40% had more than one device. It\u2019s an exciting time for voice-talent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So what\u2019s the takeaway? First, that you\nnever know where a job might lead. That seemingly small client with a tiny\nbudget could expand in the future, and they\u2019ll remember how great it was to\nwork with you. Second, that the voice-over world is exploding in new and wonderful\nways. There\u2019s a lot of work out there and reason for optimism. Something cool\nmight be just an audition away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n