.png)
Warren Telling Tales - A Hub For Creators
A hub for creators!! This podcast, showcases the lives of creative influencers around the world and their work. Warren Telling Tales, sits down with hugely talented individuals. There is advice, insight and guidance from singer, songwriters, theatre practitioners, authors, narrators and online influencers, to name a few. You will leave feeling inspired, believing, its never to late to pursue your dreams.. these guests, are truly extraordinary. Anyway, sit down with us and see for yourself. Feel free to leave comments and let me know what you thought. Enjoy!
Warren Telling Tales - A Hub For Creators
Ep. 20: From Voice to Career—Trilingual Voice Over with Machteld!
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Machteld Van De Gaag is a trilingual voice artist and voices for most of Europe, Britain and America!
You’ll learn how to build your career, when to make the move to VO, sacrifice, home studios, working in three languages and more.
Machteld: I used to be an advertising copywriter, combined it with VO work from 1994 and am now a full time VO since 2016.
I work for clients in Europe and outside Europe, am the only one with three pages with Voicebooking, who work internationally.
Socials: / machteldchante
FB: / machteld.vandergaag
LinkedIn: / machteld-van-der-gaag-5b86047
Full copyright: Do not use this material as your own. Legal action will be taken.
Host Warren Adams - Warren Telling Tales
Website https://warrentellingtales.buzzsprout.com/
Warren Adams: IG / warrenadams. . and / warrentelli. .
Facebook: / warren.adams. .
Linkedin: / warren-ad. .
Twitter: / actoradams
If you're enjoying the content, Subscribe, like, share and download and please help with any small donation... See below.
You can now support the show through this link. www.buzzsprout.com/1446487 Just click the heart-shaped coin in the top right-hand corner.
Or here Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_...)
Eigenlijk geven we onze kinderen best vaak suiker op brood. Actionate helpt vrouwen in meer dan 45 landen om op te komen voor hun rechten.
SPEAKER_00Actually, I'm unusually dense.
SPEAKER_06Hey, are you looking for a bond?
SPEAKER_00Only if the chemistry is right.
SPEAKER_06Welcome gold. Where do we start?
SPEAKER_00By telling me the name of that atom with the blonde bond shell.
SPEAKER_06That's Glorie, Queen of the Bleach. She's poison. You don't want to know her.
SPEAKER_01Hello everyone. Welcome to today's episode. We have Machteld van der Gag on the episode this week. She is a European trilingual voiceover artist, and we are going to explore the voiceover industry, the ins and the outs, working in home studios, in studios around the country, um, and and in and around Europe. And I'm very excited to have you on today. And I know our listeners will be very intrigued by everything that you have to say, as will I. So let's get straight into it. You're a trilingual voiceover artist. So you're working in three different languages. Um, what what are those three languages that you work in, Mattel?
SPEAKER_07Um, well, I'm Dutch. I'm I'm born from Dutch parents. So uh I work in native Dutch. I was born in France uh and raised partly in France, so my French is native as well. And then when I was 13, we moved to London um to Wimbledon. Uh, but I attended the French school, but uh that's where my English comes from. So that's not native, but it's called kind of near native or international. And I work in two accents because um people want this kind of accent, the the British. And I've been taking extensive coaching to uh work on a more international English, which people perceive here as being more towards transatlantic or American, or um, that's that's most of the English spoken here. So they perceive British as being um, I don't know, more more posh or um uh aloof. And uh but it's it's the English that I kind of learned as a teenager, so it's it's more my comfort English than the other accent.
SPEAKER_01Nice. Yeah, you have a you have a very impressive uh English accent. I was uh surprised when you said you were from the Netherlands. Um and and you where are you living in in Holland? What city are you in?
SPEAKER_07I'm in Amsterdam, near the museum plein. I'm I'm looking out on the Rijksmuseum, and uh it's a wonderful area to live in, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. I went there many years ago actually. Um I went on a uh a road trip with a friend of mine, an old university friend, and we uh we drove through through Amsterdam actually, and we went to Belgium and uh various other places. Um I I loved Amsterdam. I uh I probably should wouldn't have chosen to drive through Amsterdam, which is what we did, and that was a little bit of a challenge. Um, but uh cycled through. Yeah, should have cycled or walked. I don't think I've been to any city in the world where pedestrians have and cyclists have more right of way than than cars. It was very bizarre. Um and I live in Sweden, so that's kind of we're edging in that direction, but it's it's still not not quite the same.
SPEAKER_07But uh it's a beautiful distances in Sweden are are are bigger, I think. I mean, here everything is so near to each other that um I I walk everywhere or cycle everywhere, and I'm probably gonna get rid of my car soon. So uh yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah. Does everyone have electric bikes over in Amsterdam at the moment?
SPEAKER_07Or yeah, many people. I have one because I'm lazy. Uh yeah, and and even school kids, if they have long commutes from uh to and from school, they have electric bikes as well. So in the countryside, there are lots of electric bikes, and um, you know, they're all saying, Oh, they're out of stock, and and everybody wants an electric bike, but it's it's great. I mean, it just you know, uh, you can go further and uh and it's really practical.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. I I have one myself, I must admit. I uh it's pretty cool, it's a lot of fun. Anyway, we're not here to talk about electric bikes, but it's interesting to know all the same. Um, so you've been voicing for for how many years now? You're incredibly experienced. I've had a look at some of your work and it's it's impressive. You you've done a lot and it's amazing.
SPEAKER_07Yes. Well, I started by accident in um 1994. Uh and but then I back then I was a copywriter uh in an ad agency. So I was writing the copy and hiring a lot of voiceovers. So I was directing voiceovers for a long time already. And um, the reason I started by accident is because the voiceover I hired didn't show up, and this was you know, back in the last century when uh there wasn't even mobile phones or anything, so I couldn't reach the um the voice and uh she wasn't home and her agent didn't know where she was. So I I imitated her. Uh it was for a diaper commercial, and I presented it to the client, and the client said, Yeah, that's fine. I said, Okay, we we still have to record it with the with the voiceover. And they said, Well, she sounds fine. I said, No, no, that's me doing her. Oh, that's fine. So that was the start of my career. Of course, you know, I I think that was one gig in one year, and and then I had two the next year, and then three, and and it it kind of grew. And uh, I think only about seven years ago did I give up my uh copywriting work as well. Uh, I I combined it for a long time. Okay, and I think about seven years ago I went full-time voiceover.
SPEAKER_02You could be forgiven for thinking the maritime industry is a woman's world. We refer to ships as she. They are named by lady sponsors. They sail upon a sea of the thought of the mother. Let's be honest. The maritime world is still seen the male dominator.
SPEAKER_01So what is for for for anyone that doesn't understand or know, what what is copywriting to be a copywriter and what what what what are the uh requirements to that?
SPEAKER_07Copywriter is is being one of the creatives in a in a in an ad agency. I think now um there isn't such a difference anymore between an art director and a copywriter, but we used to work, well, still I I think one still does. You work in a team as a copywriter and an art director, and you dream up all the ads and all the, you know, in my time there were newspaper ads, magazine ads, radio commercials, TV commercials, and then um what I liked most actually was making the stuff. So really going on shoots and uh going to the sound studio, going to the editors, uh color grading, and and then seeing your uh mostly compromise ad on television or in the newspapers and and writing the copy. I mean, for for for magazine or newspaper ads, it's just you know writing all the stuff. And I think copywriters nowadays um, you know, that they're more about headlines and and content. Uh and but I I did brochures, I did uh I mean at the end I did websites and I did everything. So you have to read into the stuff and and then and then write it. And I think in becoming a voiceover, because I'd written so much copy for the voiceovers, for the voice actors to to pronounce, uh, I knew exactly what I wanted every time. And I think that really helped me um become the voiceover that I am, because I I I understand I have a really clear text understanding uh of of what you know what is meant or what what needs to be put across uh in in the in the text.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. What what was the um the reason for for stopping that side of things? Because it sounds like you were very good at what you did, and um uh was it just that the the voiceover sort of took took over and it was it was too much to to have everything going at the same time or or what was the yeah, the transition?
SPEAKER_07The transition came quite suddenly because it it was my income was kind of 50-50 at the end. Uh and uh but I enjoyed doing voiceovers much more than I enjoyed doing copywriting, which I'd been doing for more than 30 years. And um and at the time the the home studio, the home recordings were really growing exponentially. So so I thought, okay, if ever I want to take the plunge, I need to do it now. And uh one big client uh you know kind of fired me or or went to a cheaper solution. So I thought, okay, I'm not going to do any more acquisition on the copywriting side. I'm putting my pen down and I'm really going for the for the voiceover uh work. And um it was scary in the beginning because all these years in the studios, I had all these voice actors coming in, and usually there were, you know, at the time theatre actors or or or television actors, and and they'd always say, Oh, I haven't got enough work and you have more work for me. Because doing voiceovers was really contributing a big part to their income. And um and so I thought, oh, you know, you can never live, make a living from being a voiceover. But I think, and and this the Netherlands is is a is a small market, of course. Um but the the the home studio and the development and web videos and and everything going online uh has really made the business booming. Yeah, so um it's it hasn't been uh a wrong decision, and I'm so happy that I can say no to copywriting requests.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's cool. That's cool.
SPEAKER_06The future of retail is getting more visible every day. As a leader in technology and innovation, Samsung sees new opportunities to connect with the hearts of our customers and make them experience the power of all Samsung high-end products. Come and visit us in one of our new experience stores. It's a total experience that demonstrates how a smart home enables you to get the most out of your life.
SPEAKER_01When do you when did you actually move to to Amsterdam? How long have you been living there for now?
SPEAKER_07Uh I moved to the Netherlands in 81 and I moved to Amsterdam in 85, 1985. So I've been here the longest.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_07I wanted to to to root somewhere because in in France I was in French, in England I was in English, and when I came here, I wasn't Dutch. I was so I'm I'm a true European, uh, but I wanted a sense of of belonging somewhere, and um and Amsterdam just fulfilled that.
SPEAKER_01Do you see yourself living there for for the the long term or do you have plans to yeah, yeah?
SPEAKER_07Yeah, yeah. I'm I'm moving uh next year to a new area in Amsterdam.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_07Uh, but I'm definitely staying in Amsterdam, yes.
SPEAKER_01Okay, and voicing in um you voiced in three languages. Have you uh have you voiced in other countries as well?
SPEAKER_07Well, I I voice for other countries, uh, but um now of course with with all the remote recording and everything, I it's very boring, but I record here for the states, for France, for Belgium, for uh Australia, for all the countries, uh even Finland and and all the European countries. But I, you know, I don't go anywhere.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_07Yes. When I was a copywriter, when we had uh a French voice, we had to record for for a Belgian uh commercial or something. I would take the train, go to Brussels or to Paris and and you know, just for a day for one recording, and that was really fun. Or the voice would come to to Amsterdam, the the French voice, and you know, come on a Friday, bring his wife and take the weekend, and uh no, but that's that's all gone now with Source Connect and with all the and and yeah, I can record in high quality here.
SPEAKER_01So yeah. For those, um for those that know absolutely nothing about the voiceover world, and certainly voicing from from home, can you can you give us like examples of of the the requirements for actually doing that for voicing from home, uh the responsibility behind it, what what you have to look after. You I I imagine you're having to take care of all aspects of of the industry. So the voicing, editing sides of it, you know, um the the invoicing elements, uh, you know, uh communicating with clients, all that sort of thing. Is it is is that the case?
SPEAKER_07Or yeah, can you actually when when you know people say, Oh, I'd I'd love to be voiceover, um first you have to be an entrepreneur. I mean you have to it's it's your business, and the voice part of it is is just a very small, very important, a very small part of it because um you know, like any business person, you have to be on time, you have to uh train for what you do, you have to invest in equipment, in knowledge. Um you have to be civil, you have to be kind to uh clients, you know, you have to know how to deal with um rejection, uh lots of rejection, uh and uh you know, and celebrate the success and um and and basically you also have to be able to deal with insecurity because like today, this is a Monday. Uh, I know I have one job booked at two o'clock, and and that's it. The rest of the week, just you know, jobs come in, and one day I might have two jobs and the other day I might have ten, or I might have a huge commercial uh in a week. I mean, I I do have projects every day, but when you start out, it might be one a month, or and then you get really insecure. You think, oh god, nobody wants me, and I can't do this. So it you have if you if you want to do this, you have to be in there for the long run and and don't give up your day job uh in the beginning because um it's not you know, not everyone can make uh a living from just talking into a microphone. And then um, as I said, that the home studio, I used to go only two studios, which is great because the sound engineers are really great people. Uh they have good coffee and always it's such fun, it's it's really such fun. And we have, I don't know, about 20 sound studios here in Amsterdam and and some in the rest of the country. And it's you know, it's it's always a great outing. Um and when the the the home studio came, I mean, you need a whole new set of skills because you need to direct yourself. Uh now also we have directed sessions like this with with Zoom, but most of the time you have to direct yourself. So you have to think, okay, what what is this text for? Who am I talking to? Uh, do I need a lot of smile in it or do I need to be really business-like, you know, and um so all those things, I mean, to me now they're they're innate. I I it comes naturally, and I still get it wrong sometimes, you know. Sometimes clients say, no, it's not at all what we're looking for. And um, so you need to to to get a good briefing and everything.
SPEAKER_01Um how did you actually learn to how did you manage to get a grasp of all these things that you've mentioned? Did it come through your past experience as a copywriter? Did you learn lots of it through that, or have you actually done courses and training courses in in voiceover, in in um production, you know, that sort of thing? Or yeah?
SPEAKER_07No, funnily enough, it it came on the job, and I think being a copywriter, writing the copy has helped me tremendously because um I know what I wanted to convey when I was writing it. So I I get that when I read a text that is given to me. Um nowadays there are um and and also the directing of the voices. I mean, I I dabbled in amateur theatre for years. Um, so maybe that did something, but uh you know, as a kid I wanted to be an actress, and then my parents said, well, get a decent job first. I'm that generation. Um and and copy copywriting wasn't their idea of a decent job. I mean, they meant you know be an accountant or be that. But um I I did I did okay. They were proud in the end. Um but yes, I think I think the writing really helped me. I think the directing of voiceovers really helped me. Um and having worked as a copywriter in in a kind of commercial industry, um, I I knew what made client tick, clients tick, and and I I know what they want to convey, how they want to convey their message. And that that really has helped me. Now, now there are in the Netherlands at least, there are I think about five schools for voiceovers.
SPEAKER_09Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_07Um they're you know, from cheapish to quite expensive. And I think that lays a good basis for uh learning how to do voiceovers, but uh the the real learning is on the job, it has always been on the job. And the funny thing is that uh I started going, well, I didn't go really, but um taking part in in voiceover conferences and met a lot of people overseas in America, in the in the UK, and I noticed that uh over there it's all coaching, coaching, coaching workshops. Uh so I participated at the beginning of the lockdown, I was in a workshop, I think two or three times a week with LA mostly, and it was just doing you know commercial reads, TV promos, uh, very focused on one genre, uh, which I'm not working in, like TV promos. I don't do TV promos. Um but it it was it was fun to to do the reads, and I've been lucky because I've been so much in sound studios and have been directed so much by other copywriters and by by voice directors, and that's I think why uh the workshop system is good, because people nowadays they get their gear for a home studio and they think, oh, I'm all set, but then they never get any feedback or any direction, and you really need that to grow and to to listen to yourself uh critically. I I get um, you know, I'm I'm not I'm not a coach, but I help young voices, especially here in the Netherlands. I'm I'm uh I'm I'm part of a big Facebook group, and so I I do get a lot of questions, and um, you know, I I think it's tremendously it's easier to start nowadays as voiceover, but it's also more difficult because you don't have this face-to-face uh coaching and directing, which which I used to have a lot.
SPEAKER_01Do you have a particular country that you work for more than others, like uh in the US or in you know in in Amsterdam?
SPEAKER_07I I think the Netherlands is my biggest market.
SPEAKER_06Thank you that artificial intelligence nog toekomstmuziek is? AI is er al. Overall me heen. Thank aan het avond. Vullen van je zoekopdracht in Google, hoe Syrië je stem herkent, of de persoonlijke aanbevelingen van Netflix of Spotify. Wist je dat we ook steeds meer AI gebruiken bij de Volksbank, zodat we onze klanten echt leren kennen en beter kunnen helpen? Of om onze digitale kanalen persoonlijker te maken.
SPEAKER_07But language-wise, I do a lot of English work for the Netherlands. Because, of course, Dutch companies are very internationally orientated. So they'll want the webvide, explainer video, uh, e-learnings, they'll want that in in English as well. Um so I think language-wise, about 50% is in Dutch, and then I think 35% in English and 15% in French. I'm still growing my my French market. Uh and maybe maybe now it's like 40, 40 with with the English and the Dutch, but um uh most I think about where it comes from is 80% is from the Netherlands, and then 20% is from outside of the Netherlands, and that could be um I have Germany, Spain, Finland, uh, Belgium, uh, well, the states, the UK, Australia. It's it's crazy. And sometimes I think, how did you find me?
SPEAKER_01You must have a very good website or something. In fact, you do. I've checked out your website. It's super cool. I love it. I love how you can click all the different buttons on the radio and then it brings up different. That's that was a genius. Was that your idea? That was fantastic.
SPEAKER_07No, actually, it's it's funny because uh it was uh it was a barter deal with an agency I was working with, and um and I said, you know, well make me make my website and uh and I'll you know I'll do copywriting for you for the same amount. And I had this idea all in my head. I have I have these um passport photos of myself from being a baby to until now. I I collected them all, and I thought, okay, we'll do a website and I'll we'll put all those pictures, and behind every picture there will be uh a sound. Um you know, there'll be a commercial or a you know, and I thought that was brilliant. So I gave them that as a briefing, you know, just build this. This is my idea, build it.
SPEAKER_05And I came back and suddenly I was the client, and they came back with this radio, and I thought, oh where are my pictures? I don't see my no, we didn't do the picture thing. No, no, no, no, we're going to do this. I said, but I wanted the pictures, and then you know, I really had to go.
SPEAKER_07I said, no, that this is better, and and actually it is, I mean, it's it's brilliant, and uh, I've only changed the uh the content once because it's very, very complicated to change them. Yeah, um, and I think I'm going to change them once again uh to to because now I've got compilations and I've got a few examples on them. Uh it's it well, for people who don't know, it's a radio, and you can turn the knob and then you'll hear me voicing different things. So it's more of a showcase of what I can do. Um, and it still works. And but one of the things I really wanted was just one page, no clicking through. I hate that. I just want a website for me, it's like, okay, I want the information at one glance, I can scan it, that's it. And um, and very often, you know, these websites, they they you you have to click about five times before you can hear a demo, and there's so much text. I'm not interested in, I mean, I I I've casted a lot of voices, and and sometimes I still do. I'm just bored with all the text. What's with the text? I don't care where you come from, I don't care uh what you've done, I don't care if you've got a dog or a cat. I just want to hear your voice and I want to hear, I want to listen if it's applicable to the job I have might have for you. Yeah, and um, if there's too much, you know.
SPEAKER_01No, you're I think um I need to go and have a look at my website now.
SPEAKER_07Simple, keep it simple. I mean, maybe it's just me, maybe I'm just a very lazy browser.
SPEAKER_01But um no, but I think it makes sense, right? People don't, I mean, some people are really into the text and the blogging and all that sort of stuff. That that was quite, I think that's where it all came from initially was people blogging their life stories, but now everyone does that through Instagram or something like that. So it's um um, but uh no, I think uh on a website that's it's a good point to make to make it as easy as possible for someone just to get to the reason they've come on your site is to hear what you can do and what your you know what your voice sounds like, and yeah, it's a good point.
SPEAKER_07And and this website was made before um I had any notion of SEOs or um being found, or I never did Google ads. Um and and still very often I get, you know, how did you find me? Oh, through a website.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so have you faced any any major challenges during maybe in the early days when you were setting up in in VoiceOver, any particular stories like where things have just gone disastrously wrong? And off the back of that, how did you overcome that? How have you learned from it and how has it developed you into the person that you are now?
SPEAKER_07Well, my my biggest challenge to this day are the technical technical aspect of it, because I'm I'm a spoiled brat, you know, I always have a guy at the knobs and you know, doing everything for me. And and suddenly um uh I think a radio station, it it was just a short commute to Hilverson, but he said, Oh, you know, you can do this at home. So then I went to my my favorite sound studio and I said, Okay, how do I do this? What do I buy? So they made me buy a microphone and and an interface and and uh and and pro tools and god and I it I had to do something for Philips and it was just a 40-second text and I didn't realize I I did it in my closet because I thought that would be good, but there was you know reverb everywhere, and um I think it took me about three hours to get a decent recording of 40 seconds, and I sent it in and immediately I got word back, and he said, Well, it it's a bit it it's not loud. So I said, Well, put the volume up, and no, I it was it it was recorded too, you know, it's not loud enough. I I can't do anything with it, so I panic. So I went to my sound studio again and said, What did I do wrong? So he he said, Well, show me the microphone. So I showed him the microphone. He said, How did you record? And I said, Well, like this. He said, That's the back of the microphone.
SPEAKER_05I said, I'm not doing this anymore. So that was my first experience.
SPEAKER_07I, you know, I just I just threw the whole thing away. Yeah, then a radio station said, Okay, start easy, start, you know, the the the the area you're in needs to be really quiet. It needs to have no, you know, dead sound.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_07Um, so uh so I said, okay, yeah, my my my son's got a bunk bed. So I went under the bunk bed with all the uh the pillows and and cushions and everything and duvet. And uh and he said, uh take your iPad, buy Twisted Wave, that's an app, buy an Apogene microphone, start there. So that's how I started actually, and I did that for quite I think about two years or something. And um that went well, but you know, being under that bunk bed, I was I was kind of recording like this, it wasn't very very nice. And then my son said, okay, you go out of my room, find somewhere else. Um, so I made I isolated a corridor and um got a better microphone, uh, did it with my laptop and still twisted wave. I mean, I've really tried to learn logic, I've tried to learn Pro Tools, it's just not gonna work. So I'm I'm sticking with Twisted Wave and I'm not doing because I'm not processing, I'm not doing major editing. I I feel other people are good at that, but I I will never be good at that. So I can take all the courses I want, I can watch all the tutorials I want, and there are many tutorials, and but I'll always be a bad sound engineer. So I'm you know, whenever a client wants you know something processed, I call in the troops and they do it for me and I pay them, and I I calculate that in the total price, but I'm not I'm not I'm not doing that, and I know many voices when they start out, they really learn the technique of editing, of processing. Um that's fine. And if you really get the hang of it, uh that's great that you can do that, but I have uh recording techniques where especially for books, I hardly breathe audibly. So you can hardly hear me breathe. So the editing for the guy or the the woman doing the editing is is like you know, it's done, but it's it's really uh fast. Um so yeah, my my technical um part has improved. I mean, I'm now very, very good with what I do. And from the corridor, last year I promoted myself to a booth. So I I had a booth made, and that's been a game changer, really, because um the upstairs neighbor can run her washing machine and her dryer whenever she wants. The the kids from the third floor can run up the stairs and down the stairs. I don't hear them anymore. I mean, unless there's there's a you know a power drill um right in front of my window, okay. Then I have to take a break. But otherwise I can go there day and night and I oh, it's bliss, it's bliss. And it's something I should have invested in a long time ago. But it's it's a big investment. So you think, hmm, should I do this? Um, I also had the the problem that I couldn't get uh one of those standard booths uh because they're too heavy for my 1911 uh apartment. Uh so I had one custom built, which was only 450 kilos instead of the thousand, 1500 kilos.
SPEAKER_01Um did you have a particular design for the studio in mind, or was it just like this is my building, this is the space? Yeah, make it happen.
SPEAKER_07I I have very limited space. Where I'm going to live, I'll have more space. So I think maybe in time I'll get a bigger one. Uh this one is like uh one meter 80 by one. So it's it's it's long, but it's it's wonderful. I mean, compared to where where I've where I come from. The only thing it's in my bedroom, because that's the only the only place uh where I had the space. So I have I have the shortest work commute ever.
SPEAKER_01You literally roll out of bed. Amazing.
SPEAKER_04Yes, I make money in my PJs, as uh Paul Strickwood wrote a book about that. Um, making money in your PJs uh in the voice over.
SPEAKER_01I think a lot of people have been doing that over the last year, haven't they? Beauty of a Zoom call, you know, everyone's in everyone's got pajama trousers on, and then they throw on a shirt on top to look presentable. That's not what I'm doing, by the way. I actually have normal trousers on today.
SPEAKER_09Good, good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Good. All right, so um the technical side is still daunting, but um it I mean it it it it is difficult, and I I myself am not hugely tech savvy, or I wasn't. I did do a fair bit of research and you know behind it because I'm obviously making videos and things like that. And before doing this podcast, interviewing and chatting with people, I was delivering audio stories, audiobook stories. Um, and then I wanted to make it a bit more visual, a bit more visually stimulating for YouTube. So then I created like an animated version of myself and you know, this, that, and the other. But but I had no idea how to do any of this, but it's what I knew it's what I wanted to do. Um, and then I just yeah, I mean, YouTube was was that and as you say, there are hundreds of tutorials. You have to find the ones that work for you, so you've got to sort of scour through quite a few, but um, it it is incredible some of the information you can attain through through through that. But um anyway, uh good. So I really want to get one of your studios that sounds very cool. Um and I think I would deliberately put it in my bedroom so that I could just roll out and working my pajamas. Sounds amazing. Anyway, um so can you give me a this wasn't actually one of the questions I sent to you, but a uh a monumental life moment or a life achievement. It could be work-related, it could be not work-related. Um, so it could be that you went traveling to a particular place or tried a particular food, or I don't know, you climbed Mount Kilimanjaro or what whatever it is.
SPEAKER_07Uh oh gosh, I've got so many.
SPEAKER_01Uh it can be two, you can give me two if you want.
SPEAKER_07Yeah. Well, one of the recent ones, which I'm really proud of and and which wasn't on my bucket list, is that one of my commercials for HelloFresh is being broadcast in the UK. Oh yeah, so and that, you know, I thought as as not I'm not a native speaker, so I I never envisaged that uh one of my um that my voice would be on UK television. And and this year also my voice was on American television because I dubbed a French documentary and I dubbed the the mayor of Paris, and I had to do it in this accent, and I thought, you know, oh please let me do my English accent because I'm much more comfortable with that. No, no, that's fine, that's fine. We love your accent. I thought, well, you don't want a French accent, so we did because maybe it might be no, no, no, no. And I was, you know, one of the only ones.
SPEAKER_05It was through um I enjoyed all of that, by the way.
SPEAKER_07But it so that that was that was kind of you know things I'd never would have dreamed of, which happened. Uh those those are work-related, and uh and the other one is I I started singing uh French chansons about I think six years or seven years ago now, and uh and three years ago in March, I won uh uh the Grand Prix de la Concours de la Chanson here in the Netherlands. So it's a it's a competition, it's a competition for French chansons um organized by the the the Alliance Française, so the the French um club and uh promoting you know French language and culture in all countries. And um, I I've never won a competition or anything, so this was wow um amazing. And you know, the singing actually just started as a hobby and also as a way of of connecting with my French roots. Um and it's it's really uh grown out of proportion, you know. I've I've done quite a lot of gigs, you know. At one point I had about 35 gigs a year. Uh and uh I mean they're all small venues.
SPEAKER_01Was that all in French or yeah, all in French?
SPEAKER_07Yeah, yeah. Yeah, sometimes I had to put in some Dutch or English songs, but uh but most of my repertoire is is French. And um and I made a CD and uh yeah, so it's that's that's really been an amazing experience to to win that. And uh yeah.
SPEAKER_01Has your voiceover complemented your voiceover career and what you've learned through that? Has that complemented your singing and vice versa?
SPEAKER_07Or absolutely, because for me to, I mean, I w I'd always sung, you know, in choirs, in in church choirs, um, in the shower. Uh but then at one point and um a colleague said to me, because I said, Oh, you know, for my 50th birthday, I really want to sing Ba Baha, that was a singer I really admired. And he said, Well, you know, you have to start again and take lessons and and really develop your voice and work at it. And I'm always lazy, you know. I think, oh, I can do that. Um, so then I started taking these really technical singing lessons, which were very boring, but very, very good. And and uh and actually the technique that I learned from the singing, and and I hate practicing and I hate doing all those exercises and everything, but it helped me so much, you know, warming up my voice. If I have a voice problem, I know how to solve it with exercise. Um I I my you know they always say the the vocal cords are muscles, and you have to train them like any muscle. And so that those lessons have really, really helped my voice over side of using my voice as well. So um, I mean I'm I'm careful with my voice. I I obviously now I don't go to loud parties or anything, but um uh I know my voice is fragile. So in in crowds or at concerts, you know, I shouldn't speak because if I if I talk for an hour to someone next to me like this, yeah, you know, the next day it'll be gone. Um, so I know what I can do. I've m got much more control over my voice since I've taken up the singing. Uh so yes, it has really helped me both ways, really. Yeah. And and in the singing, the the uh voice over text comprehension and text interpretation has also helped me with the singing because especially in French, the the the chansons are really stories you tell. So uh you have to to you know convey the story.
SPEAKER_01Evoke emotion, and yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_07So yeah, it it does it does help both ways, absolutely. And I would recommend any um beginning voiceovers to also take singing lessons on the side, if only for the technique um of using your voice.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I um I started doing uh some singing, not singing lessons, but um I I'm on a Facebook group, a singing Facebook group, and there's uh the lady on there that um I started following her through YouTube because she's one of those, there's quite a few of these now, but uh singing experts that review um musicals or something like that. And they're yeah, look at the way she's singing here and how she's opening up her mouth and doing all this. And and I I watched Hamilton, I think it was for the first time at Christmas, and I sort of like many millions of people became a bit obsessed with it, and um absolutely love that show. Um, because I'm a bit into hip hop as well, so for me, it was just a dream. Musicals and hip-hop together. I was like, wow, uh anyway. Um, but uh so I started watching her through that, and then she has a Facebook group and she trains people online and she does classes and this and the other. So I did a bit of that, and I found that it was it, you're right, it was really, really helpful for any other, not specifically voiceover, but any any job where you need to use your voice quite a lot, teaching, presenting, coaching, yourself with you know, the voice has so many aspects. Also, it's very good for the um your self-esteem and your morale and things like that. I think it it's it there's some science behind this that it releases endorphins in the body. Like, so if you sing quite regularly, you feel much happier. Similarly, to if you listen to music that you like, you get a similar sort of vibe, but I think more so with with singing. And I felt that like I sung for maybe 10 minutes a day, which is not a lot, but it it just puts you in the in a positive frame of mind for the day ahead, which is good. All right, we're gonna jump to a game because we are we are flying on time, we've already been talking for 50 minutes. Can you believe it?
SPEAKER_09Oh gosh.
SPEAKER_01Um, so we're gonna play Would You Rather? I'm gonna ask you five questions. Um, they're a little bit wacky, so you know, don't worry about it too much. But um uh first thing that comes that comes to mind uh are you ready to go to play would you rather? All right, all right. Number one, would you rather find your true love or a suitcase with five million dollars inside?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that's a tricky one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, money or love, money or love.
SPEAKER_05Um I think I'd I'm uh I'd go for the money. I'm very happy with myself.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, good, good, good. Fair enough.
SPEAKER_05No, I'm I mean five million dollars, that's that's oh my god, what I can do with that, and and the the true love will obviously come with the five million dollars.
SPEAKER_01I mean yeah, yeah, most likely. Um, all right, number two. Would you rather not be able to see any colours or have mild but constant tinnitus ringing in the ears for anyone that doesn't know what that means?
SPEAKER_07That's a no-brainer. Uh skip the colours. I mean, I would not want tittinus, not even in a mild way.
SPEAKER_01Number three, would you rather live without hot water for showers and baths or live without a washing machine?
SPEAKER_07I think I'd live without a washing machine because you know, our ancestors did.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's very true. All right, number four. Would you rather be locked in a room that is constantly dark for a week or a room that is constantly bright for a week?
SPEAKER_07I think I chose the dark room. Yeah, because that would give me more rest. Um I used to love to go into you know, as a kid, I would lock myself up in in closets and stuff. So I think I think I'm the dark side. Yeah. I think that the light would just drive me crazy and and the dark, you can, you know, you can go into yourself and and um I think you you get much more strength. I mean, you'd miss out on the vitamin D, obviously, but no, I think I think definitely the dark.
SPEAKER_01This question was spawned by me living in Sweden, by the way, where during the summer in the northern parts it's light all the time, and then in the winter it's dark all the time. Um, but I don't live in the north, so it's okay. It's not quite as extreme as that.
SPEAKER_07Um you get these these uh lights as well to give you more daylight, don't you? Lots of Swedes have that, don't they?
SPEAKER_01Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean a lot of that a lot of candles, candles everywhere. They're really big on candles here in in the winter. They love a candle in Sweden. Um, and maybe in Holland, I don't, I'm not really sure. Is it big in Holland? Candles through the winter? Yeah, you know, like on if you look into someone's house, all the windows are covered with with candles and lights and this, that, and the other.
SPEAKER_07Oh, okay. Yeah. No, well, maybe not that much.
SPEAKER_01No, no, it's just anyway. Um, right, I think we're on number five. Is that right? Yes, number five. Last but not least, would you rather be fluent in all languages and never be able to travel or be able to travel anywhere for a year, but never be able to learn a word of a different language?
SPEAKER_07Well, I've already got three and a half languages because I've got a half of German, so I'd rather travel and not learn another language. I mean, I I I wanted to learn Japanese and Italian and Spanish, but I I've been so spoiled uh learning those languages, the languages that I have as a child, uh, and and really without any effort, um that I can't imagine learning a language from scratch.
SPEAKER_01That's what I'm trying to do at the moment.
SPEAKER_07With the Swedish.
SPEAKER_01I'm trying to be better at Swedish, you know, but um yeah, it's difficult because Swedes and Dutch speak such good English that the minute they find out you're from England, it's like you've got no chance straight into English. I'm like, please, I'm trying to practice my Swedish. Anywho, um, that's my issue. I will resolve it one way or another. Uh, good. So we're gonna end with uh Mahtel's final thoughts for the episode. Something uplifting and positive for our listeners. Uh, it can be um approaches to life dealing with positive and negative change, that sort of thing, in the light of everything that's happened over the last year or two. Yeah.
SPEAKER_07Um, I think uh kindness and gratefulness are my key words. Uh, that you have to be kind to yourself and to others and be grateful for what you can do and not moan about what you can't do. We're so so blessed and privileged uh the way uh we live, and especially in this uh whole lockdown, uh working from home. I was already working from home, so I didn't have any switch to make. And I noticed a lot of people around me are having a really hard time with it, and also with all the uh uh you know the things they can't do. And so I I think find the patience in yourself uh to accept what you can't change and and um and you know embrace all the the good that uh is given to you and that you have and and build on that. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_01Great, wonderful, wonderful way to end the episode. Thank you so much for joining us today. It's been a pleasure.
SPEAKER_04Thank you, Warren. Yes.
SPEAKER_01I hope you've enjoyed it. Yeah, no, absolutely.
SPEAKER_06Wat wij leuk vinden aan marketingcommunicatie professionals. Op de computer, digibord, tablet en smartphone vind je duizenden quizzen, games en filmpjes in alle vakken van de basisschool. Voor iedereen die lekker wil blijven eten en tot afvallen. Many insurers need to implement the nieu iForest 9 en iForest 17 standards.
SPEAKER_03La ville de Tours a lancé en demi-strijd de projet du nouveau Parcours Lumière.
SPEAKER_06Ziek zijn en een opname in het ziekenhuis kunnen ervoor zorgen dat u minder eetlust heeft. Nederland gaat van het aardgas af. Dit heeft impact op hoe wij wonen, hoe wij koken en hoe wij verwarmen. Geïnteresseerd op jouw huis een e-home kan worden?
SPEAKER_05Yes! Kikeman!
SPEAKER_06Opgroeien doe je samen met Blueband.