This Anne Is Our Anne...

Always the adrenaline junky and never one to dilly-dally, Anne Vydra dove head first into voice overs after a 16-year radio career. She now counts WKBU New Orleans and KUBQ of Eastern Oregon among her early believers in her radio station imaging talents.

What radio VO work have you done in the past (stations/markets)? As far as VO work, everything is in the present. If you’re on the I-10 in Louisiana, I’m hard to miss. I’m currently on WKBU in New Orleans and WRQQ in Baton Rouge. I’ve also done some one-off work for a station in Winnipeg, and I’m voicing a teensy lil’ station in Eastern Oregon, KUBQ. My past is all on-air work and I am proud of it! KTOZ/Springfield, MO, KQRC/KC,MO, KNDD/New Orleans, and KDGE/Dallas. Those last two were a collective 10 years of morning radio. I still can’t believe all of that is behind me! Such great memories.

What are you up to presently (freelance/on-staff at a station)? Presently I’m full-time freelance and loving it! In addition to radio imaging, I do lots of radio and television commercial work, corporate video narration, IVR/telephony, and I’ve just recently voiced my first character for a video game.

Have you ever had a voice coach? Would you recommend it? YES! YES! YES! YES! I meet with mine every other week or every week depending how busy I am. Even seasoned professionals meet with coaches. This is a trained skill, and takes lots of practice.

What is your dream gig? Narrating a documentary for Discovery Channel or something similar/ learning how to do characters and landing a cartoon. They are both about the same ideal for me on opposite ends of the VO scale.

Can you offer 3 helpful tips for newbies trying to make it in the voice-over industry? With so many people thinking they can do this because they have a ‘good voice’ I can offer up some check-points: 1) Have you ever worked in a field where public speaking was your main job? If not, this may not be for you. 2) Have you ever acted before? If not, this may not be for you. 3) Do you know how to work on a DAW or do you even know what that means? If not, this may not be for you.

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How much time do you spend auditioning for new work? Depends on the day. But, on average, in a given week, probably about 2-3 hours. (I’m lucky to have regular paying clients.)

How do you market your services to potential clients? Google and email. I have a system. It’s a secret. 🙂

Which production system do you use and why? ProTools. It was a gift. Again, I’m a lucky girl. (I live in Nashville. If you don’t have ProTools here, they run you out of town.)

What gear do you use (microphone, pre-amp, booth, etc)? Right now I have an AKG Perception 400, an Apogee Duet, and my studio is in a closet that is lined with Auralex foam. But, again, because Nashville, everyone I know is an audio engineer and they are just itching at the bit to help me change all of this out in one way or another. I’m sure it’ll be something different soon.