Ads, dogs, aging, double oh seven.

ISSUE THIRTEEN?!

I haven't stuck to something this long since the great wallpaper paste incident of 2022.

Note to self: don't say anything about how quickly January went.

Didn't January go quickly?

DAMMIT MARTIN.

Accountable

January certainly felt fast, busy, too much, overwhelming and other such words. It's at times like this that I appreciate being in an accountability group.

Last year my voiceover partner in crime Shelley Anderson-Tahiri managed to squeeze me into a rather lovely group run by Sebastian Brown . It's such an awesome resource of knowledge to be able to tap into when needed. And knowing there's other VOs out there, going through the same ups and downs is so important for the ol' noggin.

This was the best high five photo I could find. Really need to cut my nails/shave my hand.

Myself, David Holmes , Shelley, Simon Wells , Sally Vanderpump , Catie O’Donoghue and Gill Mills have another group where we pretty much just send voice notes of us doing Australian accents.

We meet once a month to set tasks for the next few weeks, chat about our wins and our problems. It's great.

If you don't have an accountability group, start one or find one. You'll feel so much better for it.

You are not VO-lone. Ugh. Ok, that was bad.

Dogs

Last month finished off with a flurry of nice jobs which I may or may not be able to mention.

One of them felt really important and worthwhile though - I'll give you a clue in the form of a riddle.

You know those dogs that are guides?

It's for that charity and I felt like a very good boy.

Just gonna use the same image as above for this segment. But bigger.

Yes, ok, still need to cut my nails/shave my hand.

New commercial reel

This has been months in the making. So I'm totally over it now.

But a massive shout out to John Barlow for script writing and ideas made from gold.

Me: So I want a-

John: How about [insert 50 absolute nuggets].

Me: Done.

And another shout to Black Lab Music Ltd for their extremely good ears.

Edit: This reel has just been nominated for an award in 'Best Performance in Demo Reels' by the One Voice Conference Awards. I'm dead chuffed by that :)

007

James Bond is a secret [insert word here]

Ticked off a 2025 goal straight away by getting myself an [insert that same word here].

Voices change

Found an interesting article about how voices change over time.

It's pretty depressing.

• vocal cords age
• the larynx becomes stiffer
• vocal cords become less flexible
• the muscles that allow the vocal cords to move begin wasting
• the ligaments and tissues supporting the vocal cords lose elasticity
• pulmonary muscle function decreases, reducing the power of air to create the sound
• the number of glands producing protective mucus decreases, alongside a reduction in the ability to control the larynx

I'm just going to keep drinking lots of water and hoping for the best. Read the rest here...

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230703-why-our-voices-change-with-age

On that rather sour note, I'd best say goodbye 'til next month.

Goodbye 'til next month.