Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Terman.
Hi Amanda, so excited to have you with us today. Walk us through your story.
Sure! I grew up here in the Cleveland suburbs, performing in school and community musical theater productions. I went to Ohio State University as a vocal performance major and earned a B.A. in music, plus a B.S. in psychology and a minor in statistics.
By the end of college, my practical side won out, and I paused my performing career to enter a social psychology Ph.D. program at the University of California Santa Barbara. The field is fascinating, and it was fun and formative to publish research and teach, but full-time academic life was not a fit, so I finished my master’s degree and returned to performing.
How did you transition from being exclusively a “live” actor and singer to doing voiceover?
After graduating from UCSB, I frequented a variety of acting classes in LA, including on-camera courses, improv groups, and casting director workshops. One of the workshop hubs hosted a VO class. Since I’m a vocalist, this work was an immediate match for me.
That class happened during a pretty interesting era of VO: new opportunities were just opening up via casting websites and home recording, so with an incredibly minimal home audition setup (literally a USB microphone at my kitchen table), I was able to book my first national radio ad—which would be much harder to do today! [laughter]
I ended up recording the actual job at a beautiful professional studio with a Grammy-winning audio engineer. It’s still always a treat to go into a studio in person, but these days, I’m much more likely to live-connect with an engineer remotely from my home studio.
What does your home studio look like nowadays?
Since moving back to Cleveland, I’ve upgraded my home gear and booth substantially. (That was the recent trend anyway, and then COVID increased expectations for home studios even further.)
My go-to mic is a Sennheiser 416, which is an industry-standard tool for capturing really clean, precise audio in a variety of acoustic environments. Since I’m at home, and my clients and engineers are not at my house, we connect via software like Source-Connect, which lets us send audio from my recording space directly to the engineer’s computer.
People are often surprised to know that the space can be much more important than the mic in determining audio quality, so I’ve taken a lot of care with my environment. I have an acoustically treated booth in a dedicated room, so I can produce reliable, broadcast-quality audio for my clients.
What are some the brands that you’ve collaborated with?
I’ve been fortunate to work with so many great brands and organizations. I’ve voiced for clients like AT&T, Prophecy Wines, and Patreon, plus local organizations like the Ohio Department of Health, Ohio Legal Help, and Cuyahoga County Public Library.
Do you still do any live acting, too?
Yes, most of my work is voiceover, but I’m also available for stage and film projects, too. Some of my most fun days this year were on-location shooting with other actors. There’s nothing like the camaraderie of working in person with other artists.
Beyond acting, what keeps you busy?
For one, I stay busy and creative with writing! My first short play “A Match Remade in Heaven” won Best Play at the Western Reserve Playhouse’s festival of new works here in Ohio before becoming a Finalist at The Secret Theatre’s playwriting contest in NYC. My second short play “Two Boys and a Box of Bullets” was also a Finalist at that contest a couple of years later.
And you were named “Best Local Playwright” in Scene Magazine’s Best of Cleveland contest last year.
Yes! Thank you, Cleveland!
Besides creative writing, I also offer content writing to my voiceover clients, like OhioLegalHelp.org, which is a fantastic resource that offers clear information about your legal rights and how to resolve common legal problems that people face. We get over half a million visitors per year.
When I’m not working, I volunteer as President of Cleveland’s American Advertising Federation chapter, AAF-Cleveland [AAFCleveland.com]. We’re here to promote northeast Ohio’s creative community through education, networking, and recognition. We’re probably best known for our annual American Advertising Awards show, but we also offer fun activities throughout the year like happy hours and educational events.
I also volunteer with Ohio State’s mentoring program, where I help current OSU students navigate the challenges of prepping for the professional world.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Are roads ever smooth? [laughter] They’re always under construction, like us.
Seriously, though, there are always things that come up around us, and adaptability is mission-critical.
One thing a lot of artists struggle with is their own mindset about themselves and their success. Even though I basically lived to sing and act from the get-go, young me was a bit angsty about being “good enough.” Looking back at my past, and how things have played out, I should have wasted way less energy on that concern.
A lot of being “talented” is having the drive to keep pursuing something UNTIL you’re good at it, and then once you’re good at something, there are SO many other factors that influence success. Staying flexible is important and constantly learning and growing is important, but there is no special cutoff where success is guaranteed.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
If I weren’t taking constant artistic risks, I would never book a voiceover job!
Casting directors can receive hundreds of submissions for a single role. And those are from really qualified, talented people with great agents, top-tier chops, and established home recording studios. So, creative choices definitely go a long way. They don’t always work, but at least they keep it interesting.
How can people reach you for collaboration?
If you’re interested in a collaboration, contact me via my website. We can chat about your project’s details, and I can provide a free quote and custom audition sample.
Contact Info:
- Website: AmandaTerman.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaterman/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmandaTerman
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3964124/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
