Erica Risberg - voice talent - low and mellow with inflections

voice talent - low and mellow with inflections

• Erica Risberg is registered with Voice123 since Mar 14, 2005.
• Erica Risberg started his/her voice over career in .
• Currently Erica Risberg is a Standard subscriber.
• Auditions and proposals submitted through Voice123 during the past six months: 0

Erica Risberg does not appear to be an active participant of the Voice123 marketplace at this time. Erica Risberg was last active on Voice123 more than 30 days ago, OR may not be receiving our email messages.

Voice Description

Northern Atlantic seaboard, New York, English with a Russian accent

warm and low for narrations

smooth, professional, and articulate for presentations

Among the skills for commercials are sultry, warm and friendly, and perky

Voice Genders and "Ages" I Can Perform

• Young Adult Female
• Middle Age Female

Language(s) of Which I Am a Native Speaker:

• English - North American

I Offer my Services for these Recording Purposes

• Commercials
• Promos
• IVR, voicemail, phone systems, and on-hold messages
• Audiobooks
• Documentaries
• Podcasts
• Songs
• Others (on-camera, informercials, live announcers, spokespersons)

Jobs I Am Willing to Take (Union-wise)

Unknown - Click here to ask Erica Risberg

My Union Affiliations and Memberships

None

My Recording and Delivery Capabilities

• I can record and then upload the audio files via FTP

Pre-, Post- and Production Services I Offer

None

My Home Base

Brunswick, Maine, United States

Accents, Impersonations, Characters and Dialects

Unknown - Click here to ask Erica Risberg

My Voice Experience

Announcer, Maine Public Broadcasting Network - November 2003 - present

opening announcer for "Strange America", television production in Bangor, Maine - 2003-2004

Reader, Maine Audio Information and Reading Services - January 2001 - December 2002

When I was working on my M.A. (1991-1996), I worked in a mortgage company as a loan processor. I had a client who was purchasing a rather expensive home, and the details of his application were a bit ornary, so I spoke with him often. One day, he and I chatted for a while, and his parting comment to me was that I gave good phone - I chose to take it as a compliment, but it stuck with me in a sort of I'm flattered but a little creeped out way. Apparently, it's a skill I've carried along through my work at MPBN - I have been known to lean towards a sultry voice when I near the end of my shift (it's a mighty fine line between the public radio announcer and come hither voice pitches).

While working on my Ph.D., my friend Doug enlisted me to act in a couple of episodes of his television series "Strange America." In one of the scenes we shot, I was told to affect a sort of Eastern European accent. I had taken Russian language courses a while back and was able to do so with great success. Unfortunately, the episode did not air.

Recordings include: countless promotions and breaks for the Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN) - radio - 2003 - present; promotions for the Great TV Auction for MPBN annual event - tv (2004- present) - both used for broadcasting on the statewide channels of MPBN; and narration for an audio documentary I produced in Orono, Maine in 2002.

My Training

Announcing seminar in Portland, ME 1998 - it was a one-evening seminar sponsored by the Portland Adult Education Program and introduced me to the basics of the industry. The instructor had us all do demos, and called us later in the week to let us know if we made the cut - I was told I was among those that could succeed, but had to put my efforts on hold as I pursued a run for state senate, and a subsequent enrollment in a Ph.D. program at the University of Maine in Orono.

Announcing class, New England School of Communications, Fall 2000 - I enrolled at NESCOMM the same semester I started my Ph.D. I found the course very interesting, but again, had to drop that interest in pursuit of the reason I moved to Bangor, Maine (the pesky Ph.D. I finally obtained).

I was first informed of an opening at the Maine Public Broadcasting Network through an advertisement placed in the Bangor Daily News. I applied for the job, and technically got it, but had to wait an additional year to be hired while the organization dealt with severe budgetary problems. I was hired on in October 2003.

When I was little, my mother and I developed a game on our vacation trips where we would invent products and then jingles to sell them. When I got my first cassette recorder, we expanded our repetoire and drove my poor father crazy with the fun we had. She was a kindergarten teacher with a flair for multiple voices (it made the stories very interesting) and I was heavily imprinted by this talent. I've been interested in being a disembodied voice since I was in the single digits (which was a long time ago).

I have been a sound preservationist for the Maine Folklife Center for 4 years while obtaining my Ph.D., and worked as a production assistant for an oral history documentary series, where I selected audio clips from reel-to-reels and digitized them for potential broadcasting. I have used Sound Forge for 5 years and Pro Tools for 2. My Ph.D. revolved around radio studies in the 1930s and 1940s, so I'm well versed in the development of media in American society, and have been exposed to the changes in broadcasting and commercial formats through my studies.

While my degree is in History, I have two minors - in New Media and Journalism and Communications. I have interned with the media department at the University of Maine, produced two films, recorded concerts, and spent countless hours cleaning analog sound filles through digital systems. I am currently working on gathering audio and video clips about home life in Maine for an exhibit created by the Maine State Museum.

My Studio Equipment

Unknown - Click here to ask Erica Risberg

Additional Skills

Able to edit multiple tracks
Able to clean sound files

I have two skills I feel are relevant to put down here. The first is that I've had the opportunity to answer phones on and off for about 8 years while I obtained my degrees. During that span, I learned how important it was to greet clients over the phone with a pleasant and professional voice. I know that the first voice being heard by potential and existing clients completely effects subsequent relationships, so I pay attention to my voice to make sure it conveys warmth and attentiveness.

The second is that through working with a public broadcasting company, I've endured several, nay, countless hours listening to narrations on both radio and television. There are too many individuals who do not get the importance of keeping the audiences' interest by use of inflections, pacing, and articulation. As a listener and viewer, I have found that I am completely uninterested when someone doesn't bother to capitvate me with their voice, and have applied that lesson to my own broadcasting experiences.