Ep29 SionDayson
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Sara Ferrer: [00:00:00] Welcome to Fearless and Flawed. Today, our fearless female founder is Sion Dayson, an award-winning American writer and professional voiceover artist based in Valencia, Spain. In addition to her acclaimed novel As a River. Her warm, versatile voice has brought life to projects ranging from audiobooks and commercials to museum tours and meditation apps.

Sara Ferrer: And I’m Sara, an email marketing pro converting clicks into cash.

Serena Reynolds: And I’m Serena and I make businesses stand out elevating CEOs into industry experts that are seen and heard together. Sara and I are two women in charge, diving into the fearless, flawed, and fabulous journeys of female entrepreneurs. So welcome to our podcast, Sion.

Sion Dayson: Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited to be here.

Serena Reynolds: So our first question has to go [00:01:00] really straight down into your award-winning novel. I. Oh, really? Absolutely. Your novel as as a River, has been praised for its lyrical storytelling. How did your journey as a writer begin and how has it evolved over the years?

Sion Dayson: Oh my goodness. I was prepared to talk about my voiceover journey, but the writing journey is even longer. Just give us the, uh, the what the cliff notes. Is that? Cliff notes Exactly, exactly.

Sara Ferrer: The TLDR. ’cause every great moment we have found C uh, Sion. Every great moment we found usually has a great moment right before it that has maybe uplifted it.

Sara Ferrer: So just give us a little bit of that.

Sion Dayson: Sure. Well, my mother was a librarian, so I grew up in a house surrounded by books, obviously, and writing. I was a very shy child. I was an introvert, so my form of play really was to write stories. Language was something I could. You know, be by myself [00:02:00] and create these characters.

Sion Dayson: And they were my company. So I was a writer for many years. I was a copywriter as well. I had a blog about Paris and you know, but I really wanted the book obviously, like that’s a lot of writers’ dreams. I have an MFA in writing. I went to Vermont College of Fine Arts and the novel took a long time to write and then I started querying agents with it.

Sion Dayson: Got a lot of requests for the full manuscript and, and responses that, oh, this is really beautiful, but this, it’s sort of a small story. And I was like, okay, well maybe that means it’s ready for a small press. So I started approaching small presses with it. And what happened with that is I, it did get picked up for publication, which I was super excited about.

Sion Dayson: But then right as it was going into pre-production, this was about two years after we signed the contract, the press went bankrupt. And it was kind of devastating, but I was like, okay, this happens. Got picked [00:03:00] up by another press. They then ghosted me after a year. So this is now three, four years of like, is the book coming out?

Sion Dayson: Is it not? And you know, usually you’re supposed to say never give up. But I will actually say in this instance, I was like, I think I’m just gonna surrender and let this go for the moment. And it’s one of the big reasons I moved to Spain. I moved to Spain for many reasons. I had been living in Paris for 10 years.

Sion Dayson: Obviously a very beautiful city, but it’s very gray. It’s very rainy. I have a pretty loud laugh and a big personality that doesn’t always fit in with the more reserved Parisians. So I was like, I think Spain is more my style, and so I. I moved to Spain for the Sunshine, the sea, Spanish language. But I was also like, I’m going to leave this chapter of writing behind and do something else.

Sion Dayson: But what was funny about that is, so I did, I literally, with no regrets was like, I’m moving [00:04:00] on. I’m doing something different. Started teaching English as a foreign language here. My first summer in Spain, I get an email. From a press that was like, your manuscript has been in our submission queue for over a year.

Sion Dayson: We don’t know if it’s still available. Is it because we love it and we want to publish it? And I was like, okay, that’s amazing. Even though that’s all I had on the table, it didn’t feel quite right. And I was like, I’m gonna think on this overnight. The next day I got a second. A second email from a totally different press saying We’ve heard you have this novel that still is, you know, ready to be out there in the world.

Sion Dayson: Is it still available? And it’s like, how did that happen? I gave up on this dream and then did not think about it. And two, two emails in two consecutive days. And that was the press I went with. And, you know, I had this [00:05:00] beautiful journey to publication once, you know, once that was settled. And I think I actually loved the experience more because now there was no longer pressure on this.

Sion Dayson: I wasn’t, you know, this was just a cherry on top. It was like, oh my gosh. So I am gonna have the completion of this novel being published, you know, and, and people can read it. And what is, what’s really funny is that was published in September of 20 19, 2 months later, is when I discovered voiceover. For the first time, so it really came, like I finished that circle of my writing journal journey and then something else beautiful came into my life.

Sion Dayson: So that’s my writing.

Serena Reynolds: You sound blessed. You sound as though there was somebody like waving a magic wand for you.

Sion Dayson: I do have a friend who says I live under a magic star and you know, I’m, I’m happy to take that.

Sara Ferrer: That is amazing. So you’re in Spain at this point. You’re in Spain, you’ve moved, right? Which I [00:06:00] also appreciate you comparing the Parisians to the average Spaniard, which is so accurate.

Serena Reynolds: You do not have a Parisian accent. So where are you from originally?

Sion Dayson: I’m originally from the us. I was born in New York City. I grew up in North Carolina, but I lived in Paris for 10 years and I became a French citizen. So they might not claim me, but I do have a French passport.

Sara Ferrer: Wow, that’s amazing. So you decide I’m gonna, I’m gonna do Valencia, Spain, which is on the coast.

Sara Ferrer: Sun. Fun, all that good stuff. Then you had mentioned, you have, you stumbled. You alluded to the fact that like voiceover work, you kind, it kind of fell into your lap a. What exactly was that experience like? What volunteer lab, how did you stumble into it, and what is voiceover work? Is it like commercial work?

Sara Ferrer: Is it like if there’s a great toothpaste commercial? Is it like I, we’ve mentioned meditation app. What does that look like? Because it, to me, it seems like such a [00:07:00] simple concept. Oh, it’s voiceover work. But yet I’m like, what the hell does that mean? How can you make money from it?

Sion Dayson: No, you’re right. It’s not simple.

Sion Dayson: There are so many different genres of voiceover, but like you, I wasn’t clear what it was either. When I say I stumbled into it, it’s because I was teaching English at a university here in Valencia and we were recording some scripts for our students for a listening exam, and the sound engineer said, are you a professional voice actor?

Sion Dayson: You’re so good at this. I was like, no, but that sounds amazing. And really that one question just lit me up. I was like, I don’t even know what that means, but this feels so right. And so I immediately started researching the industry, what does this mean? And then, you know, COVID happened a few months later, and as you probably know Sara, ’cause you’re in Spain, the confinement was very strict here.

Sion Dayson: We could not even leave our house [00:08:00] for, you know, a few months. And so it was the perfect time for me to dive full force. Into this new, you know, passion. And it was, it meant that every day I woke up and I was like, I’m taking acting classes, I’m getting coaching, I’m teaching myself sound editing, I’m building a DIY home studio.

Sion Dayson: I had so much purpose. So really I kind of thrived during that period because I was able to focus on something new and exciting and you know, I was just learning so much every day. But voiceover is anytime you hear a voice, but you don’t see the person. So that’s, you’re listening to an audio book. It’s a commercial.

Sion Dayson: It’s the, you know, announcements you hear at a train station. It is, you know. Listening texts like you do for, like I do for my EFL students. It is promos for TV shows, it is the in show narration, so many different things. I also do [00:09:00] audio description, which is describing what’s on screen for blind and visually impaired viewers.

Sion Dayson: So, you know, in between the dialogue and sound effects, it’s, it’s, you know, saying what is happening so they can follow the story and. It’s so many different things and it’s one of the reasons I love it so much.

Sara Ferrer: Wow. I have been enlightened. Like how, how competitive, so this is a whole industry, like you’ve mentioned, there’s so many layers to it.

Sara Ferrer: One, is it really hard to break into? ’cause I have to imagine you have to have a certain type of what? Voice tone pace. Like how difficult is it to get into the industry and then once you’re in. You’ve mentioned like coaching and, and, and you have your, you know, your own in-house studio. So once you do get in, because I’m, I’m assuming it’s competitive, right?

Sara Ferrer: How hard is it? To, you know, to maintain work. I think of it almost like an actor, right? You kind of hear about the starving artist who is, you know, the [00:10:00] waitress and they want acting as their passion until they make its, is it the same with a voiceover artist where you really struggle in the beginning, or can you find blips of work and then you build your way up?

Sara Ferrer: Like what’s the, what’s the movie premiere of a voiceover artist? What’s like that secure golden ticket to like, I’m gonna be eating well for the next couple of, you know, months.

Sion Dayson: It is exactly the same. You mentioned actors, we are voice actors, so we are actors with our voice. So it is very much akin to that there is no, you know, four year degree to become a voiceover artist.

Sion Dayson: And that’s why I say it is very much an entrepreneurial journey because there is no roadmap. There is no, you know, and. It is a creative industry as well, and so it is competitive, but every person’s journey looks different. So I started by, you know, often when I’m interested in something, I just start googling the heck out of it, right?

Sion Dayson: So I am reading all of the [00:11:00] blogs about voiceover, lots of podcasts about it. I join all of the Facebook groups and I’m like quietly lurking and stalking and just like absorbing all of the information. And the best way to really start understanding it is to yes, to do coaching, which means you go to an established actor who knows what they’re doing, who knows the business, and they’re teaching you acting skills as well.

Sion Dayson: My very first voiceover coach was Lori Alan, who is a famous actress. You know, she’s a family guy and lots of Pixar movies and all of this stuff. Again, the lucky star, Serena, because it was during COVID, lots of new opportunities were just happening online that maybe wouldn’t have otherwise, and I just happened to see in one of those groups, I adjoin that, hey, we’re all stuck at home.

Sion Dayson: You know, I’m offering half off my classes from this like famous LA actress, you know, and again, [00:12:00] the light lit up inside of me and I was like, yes. And like I booked my first session with her. So I sort of started at that level where I got to talk to someone who was at the top of her game. I also joined a mentorship program.

Sion Dayson: Also very lucky because it was Covid. It used to be, it was one of those things where there were self-paced courses. You watch it and then once a month you were live with the mentor and can ask anything you want. Well, because of the unique circumstances, she was like, I’m available every day. We can meet every day.

Sion Dayson: So the very beginning of my voiceover journey, I had a mentor who I was online every day with her picking her brain. Talking about absolutely everything. And you know, now it’s funny because I get a lot of emails from people who, it sounds exciting, right? It’s so glamorous. I speak, I wanna be a voice actor.

Sion Dayson: And I think people don’t realize how many different layers there are to it. Because yes, it is performance [00:13:00] skills, it’s acting, but you also need the technical skills of the editing and the post-production. You also have to learn marketing because no one is just handing you voiceover jobs. So the majority of my work is, you know, direct marketing, being on LinkedIn, being visible, and so you have to learn many different pieces for it to all come together.

Serena Reynolds: So, so what was your first paid voiceover job?

Sion Dayson: Yes. My first paid voiceover job, I was on a casting site and I think it was a training video for. I don’t know, some sort of payment system. So that was my first job. But then my second job was really exciting because I got booked for six hour live session to be in a virtual simulation as like a coach.

Sion Dayson: Trainer. And just for context, that’s a really big [00:14:00] early job. Lots of people start with the self-directed things. The small, like the first job I had, that’s like a three minute video, and this was, you know, I auditioned and I got it. And that’s the other thing, you know. Don’t present yourself as a voiceover artist until you’ve had the training and you feel confident because confidence is part of it.

Sion Dayson: So I was doing all of this learning for about nine months before I even started auditioning. You know, everyone has a different opinion about that, but for me, I just knew I would feel stronger if I had more of a base. And so the people who hired me for the six hours. They didn’t know this was only my second job.

Sion Dayson: They didn’t have to know that because they listened to all the auditions and they chose me. And I’m happy to say that job went super well, got it done in little over four hours and just never looked back. Is your book an audio book and did you, [00:15:00] you,

Serena Reynolds: is it your voice?

Sion Dayson: You know, it’s so funny. I actually don’t have an audio book of my.

Sion Dayson: Of my book. Book. I think it’s because I was so close to it that I was like, I don’t know. I don’t actually know if I should be the one to do this, but yeah.

Sara Ferrer: What, what does it look like? Okay, so you talk about, ’cause I’m really curious how like. If I’m listening to this, I always think there’s transferable skills, whether you’re a voiceover actor for the co, you know, for the average person when it comes to presenting themselves.

Sara Ferrer: ’cause you’ve mentioned confidence, but a lot of how we’re perceived is how we verbally present ourselves and how we physically present ourselves. So for the listeners out there who have no intention of ever becoming a voiceover actor. But they wanna know, hey, are there maybe two or three skills that you’ve learned in terms of verbalizing, using your tone or some type of skillset that you say you can actually use this in your everyday life to appear more confident or doing X, Y, and Z can help with, you know, a better outcome.

Sara Ferrer: Is there [00:16:00] anything, any. Quick little tips that you can give the average Joe, that’s like, how does voice and those nonverbals associated with voice impact the, the reaction of the other party?

Sion Dayson: Sure. Well, I would say just stay really connected to your breath. That is the, the number one thing. Right. If you are anxious before, because you know, people have to give presentations, they have to do public speaking, so they might not be a voice actor, but they’re still presenting themselves verbally in front of people.

Sion Dayson: A lot of it is about the breath and staying connected. A lot of it is getting energy out beforehand. Right before I got on this podcast with you guys, I did a dance. I put on, Hey Ya, by outcast, and I’m just shaken out the energy because, I don’t know, get it out of your body. I also, the, this also is tied to confidence.

Sion Dayson: I get nervous, but nervousness appears in the body the same as excitement. So I just tell myself [00:17:00] I’m so excited about this. Because really what’s happen happening physiologically is the same with the nervousness and the excitement.

Sara Ferrer: That makes perfect sense. And what happens if you ever have a day.

Sara Ferrer: Because a lot of it’s like, I’m comparing this now to like a model, a model. It’s a lot of how they look, right? And let’s say they got a big old pimple on their face that they can’t cover or they just look like shit that day. I’m sure you have days where your voice changes. It’s not, it’s a couple octave, lower or high.

Sara Ferrer: What do you do? Do you rerecord? Do you pause? Do you just, you know, let the, uh, let the, the person who’s, you know, the, the employer know, Hey, listen, this is in the contract that my voice might change. What does that look like? Having a normal human day, but being so dependent on your voice.

Sion Dayson: I mean, it’s funny you’re asking this now because I actually am sick today, so my voice is a little weaker today.

Sion Dayson: I, it drops in register. It’s a little lower than usual. And so I was steaming [00:18:00] before I came on all of the vitamins, all of the tea, doing everything I can, but it’s like, yes, I am a human being. We get sick sometimes. I am lucky that the majority of my work is self-directed, so I can kind of work around when my voice is at its best, but I have had live sessions as well, and you’re just always upfront with the client about it.

Sion Dayson: What’s interesting is that it’s my job to pay attention to the nuance. Sometimes I’ll tell people they don’t even hear it. They wouldn’t even know I was sick. So that’s my hyper-awareness and. So I will give people the option and they’re like, oh, we don’t even hear it. You sound great. Or like, okay, we can push it back a day or two.

Sion Dayson: So, yeah, it just, it depends on the situation.

Serena Reynolds: What about times of day? Your voice changes throughout the, the, the day. So when’s the best time for you to be recording?

Sion Dayson: Yeah, for me it’s actually the afternoon because when I wake up, you know, I sound like a [00:19:00] truck driver. It’s very low. It’s very like, gotta get some stuff out.

Sara Ferrer: You’re smoking a cigarette, you’ve got the trucker hat on. It’s a whole different sea on at 9:00 AM

Sion Dayson: Exactly. Which sometimes it works, you know, like luxury car reads or you know, so it, it’s like sometimes I will do auditions if it’s something that’s calling for. A lot of gravitas or you know, more resonance or something very deep.

Sion Dayson: Sometimes I will record that in the morning because I have more of that just available to me. But as far as something, just my normal voice where I, you know, ’cause I do a lot of narration, that’s more the afternoon for me actually. Interesting.

Sara Ferrer: So it really does vary. And then when it comes, so you’re, you’re in Spain, as we’ve mentioned, is the majority, I’m assuming the majority of voiceover work.

Sara Ferrer: Is in English, but I’m curious how has. Living abroad starting this, this, this new career, which is how many years in the making now? Five. [00:20:00] Five, okay. So five years. So you’ve got, you’ve got some skin in the game, you’re living abroad. How was the whole experience of moving a Spain career change? Does that feel surreal?

Sara Ferrer: Do you feel like you’ve finally kind of, you know, gotten into like your, your, as they say, like zone of comfort, comfort zone? Or is it still, hey, I’m still trying to figure out my Spanish personality, still trying to figure out my voiceover, uh, actor gig. Like where are we feeling with, like, are we on cruise control or are we still adjusting?

Sion Dayson: I don’t think cruise control exists in my industry. I mean, it is a creative industry. It’s a competitive industry. Trends are constantly changing. You have to audition for a lot of work, and you can’t control whether the client’s gonna pick you or not. And so I don’t think you ever get to a point. Where you’re like, yeah, I’ve got it on lockdown.

Sion Dayson: This is it. I mean, I know people who have been the brand [00:21:00] voice, you know, particular brand for years, and then brands wanna change it up. I. And they’ve been counting on that for years, and then it goes away. So you can never get too comfortable. But I think that’s also good because that’s what keeps our reads fresh.

Sion Dayson: That’s what keeps it interesting. That’s what keeps it human. And we’re not just like reading like by rote, you know, because that’s, that’s what it should never be when you’re performing.

Serena Reynolds: So now I’m going to bring into the conversation the thing that everybody should have in the back of their mind is our AI going to steal our jobs.

Serena Reynolds: So there are particular AI apps online that do voiceovers. Now, to me personally, an AI voice is, is horrible. I know that they’re getting a lot better and I, I feel as though this could be something that could be really, um, strangling lots of industries, including voiceover.

Sion Dayson: Yeah, I mean, that’s [00:22:00] what I was gonna say.

Sion Dayson: It’s definitely affecting voiceover, but I think it’s affecting, I. So many industries. I mean, I think it’s, it’s affecting 80% of the labor market really, and considering that my previous job was as a copywriter, well, AI is also all over that industry as well. You know, I definitely try to keep up on things.

Sion Dayson: I’m a member of Nava, which is a national association of voice actors, and they are doing great work around AI and voiceover. It really comes down to. Control, consent and compensation. Like as a voice actor, I want to be, I need to be able to consent to how my voice is being used, right? I also want control over it.

Sion Dayson: Like I don’t want my voice being used for, you know, a political party that I don’t align with, for example, and compensation. Now as far as the AI voices, yeah, they are getting better every [00:23:00] single day. What it comes down to is what a human can bring to the experience. You know, an AI can definitely read something.

Sion Dayson: They don’t understand what they’re reading, they don’t understand nuance, they can’t interpret it. You know, subtlety is sort of lost. You might be able to get the same or something similar at the end. That takes a lot of prompt engineering. So some clients, are they going to want to be in a live session with me who is trained to take direction very easily?

Sion Dayson: We get something done within five minutes, like, oh, we need a little, we need a little brighter on this word. And you’ve just lost some, you, you’ve just lost someone on, on this. Like I can bring emotion to it to get the same sound in ai. Maybe you can get there, but that’s gonna take a lot of prompts. And so it’s like, how does the client want to work?

Sion Dayson: I think there are some use cases where like, if it’s good enough, it’s good enough for them. You know, I’m, I’m never [00:24:00] gonna argue with someone based on budget alone, but I think for most projects, the human touch still really matters. I.

Sara Ferrer: That is so true. We’ve talked a lot about this and Serena being, you know, one of her, her many skill sets, but one of her great skills that she always brings to the table is she has this great, you know, eye for design she can create.

Sara Ferrer: And it’s like, well, people can say, well, why do I need to pay you for a logo? I can go to AI and something Serena and I has always, well, you can, that’s what you’ve always verbalized is instead of ma Right. You know, I. Sia, and I think what you’ve said is really refreshing to hear because we hear a lot of kind of the, the fear mongering of like, it’s gonna take over.

Sara Ferrer: It’s gonna take over. Okay. To a certain level it will, you know, shit work will get taken over by a computer because that work was, was as you said, kind of good enough, barely just making it so now someone, you know, a machine can take it over. Um, but I think to your point, it’s like, it sounds like. At the end of the day, [00:25:00] you’re an artist.

Sara Ferrer: An artist is not threatened by a machine. Sure, the machine is getting better in all this. But nuance, subtlety, understanding all those things are your craft. That’s what you bring to the table. So in some ways, having AI could actually work for certain industries. ’cause it’s like you wanna do it? Go ahead.

Sara Ferrer: You’ll be giving them a thousand prompts and it’ll still come out mediocre at best. But if your budget required, you know, an Upwork or a Fiverr type of budget, $2 an hour, then you got your bang for your buck.

Serena Reynolds: You do, you know what, I, I’d sooner lose work to AI than to Upwork and Fiverr, to be perfectly honest with you.

Serena Reynolds: Um,

Serena Reynolds: that’s, that’s a personal opinion.

Sara Ferrer: No, no shade. No, no shade. I’m not, and again, I’m referring to more of the, my budget is a dollar. And you’re like, come on, who can live on this? Even, even if like, like, it’s fine. You get a dollar’s worth of work.

Serena Reynolds: That’s it. [00:26:00] That, that’s, that’s the thing. But yeah.

Sion Dayson: Well, exactly.

Sion Dayson: That’s why I say I’m not competing with that. I’m not competing with that because I’m not, I don’t want those jobs anyway. You know, I’m not gonna, I, I know what my worth is. I’m not gonna devalue that. And it’s like, if you only have $5, that’s fine, but it’s not for me.

Serena Reynolds: I, I’m gonna throw this curve ball in here again, but we know that the industries are changing.

Serena Reynolds: We both know our industries are changing. It’s not just, I’m not just singling out you here. I’m very much in that, in that arena myself. So my question to you is. What if you were to become the voice of ai, maybe you would be, maybe you could, how would you look at incorporating that into your, your work in the future?

Serena Reynolds: Or, or whether that’s something that you’ve even thought about or, or how is it that the industry seems to be evolving? I. Within your [00:27:00] state?

Sion Dayson: Yeah. I mean, I’m not keeping my head in the sand. I have friends who already have their digital voice clone and are doing work with it. You know, it’s, it’s the kind of work that, you know, a human can’t possibly do, like the weather reports.

Sion Dayson: For every city around the world, every day, like, yeah, she’s not going to be able to do that as a person, but her digital voice can. So I mean that’s, it goes back to exactly what I said, control, consent, compensation. Sure. There probably is a really, really big number that I would be willing to do it for it if I know exactly what it’s being used for and that I have control over it.

Sion Dayson: I will never say never. So, so, yeah. I’m not one of those people who is like, it’s all doom and gloom. It’s like, we’ll see, it’s evolving and it’s evolving faster than we can even keep up with. And I think that’s actually the main issue for me is that the technology’s evolving faster than the legislation around it and making sure that it’s, you know, used ethically.

Serena Reynolds: [00:28:00] I, for one, I’m, I’m very excited about what’s going on. I mean, I’m also a tech head. I’m, I’m, you know, so, um, so I’m super excited by what’s going on and the possibilities that it’s actually bringing to the table as opposed to taking away. So that’s why I wanted to, uh, just like have, have another, have another artist feel on this sub subject.

Sara Ferrer: How do we, how do we get digital voices? I want one of those. I want, like you’ve mentioned it and I’m like, yeah, that I wanna be reading that. I don’t need it to be a good digital voice. I don’t need to make any money on it. I just want a digital voice.

Serena Reynolds: Okay. No shade here. There’s, there’s labs 11 that is leading the, the way at the moment.

Sion Dayson: 11 labs.

Serena Reynolds: Yeah, 11 lab. Thank you. Thank you. That’s the one. And um, even, even in the apps that we use for podcasting, editing. And voice cleanup and audio. There are the possibilities that I could clone your voice. Sara,

Sara Ferrer: go for it, girl. [00:29:00] Go for it. I want you to call all my enemies and to tell them off in my digital voice.

Serena Reynolds: So we are real and we are raw here. We do not do that.

Sion Dayson: Yeah. This is real. I am real. This is really Sion. This is Sion who the called

Serena Reynolds: I have to contract to prove it.

Sion Dayson: Yeah. Me and Serena actually had a back and forth about this and I was so happy she was open to it. But you know, there was the podcast content release and there was just some language that to me it was like.

Sion Dayson: Well, this actually could open up to, we could clone your voice if you wanted. So I reached out and I was like, Hey, can we just clarify this and put some language? You are right.

Sara Ferrer: I think Sion think you mentioned something that it doesn’t say it, but it doesn’t not say it. And I think as, as a professional, you know, you’re always, and I appreciate a, you reading a contract, thank you.

Sara Ferrer: Because I think so many times, and I’ve done this in the past until I’ve kind of gotten more aware of like, no, no. What is it explicitly saying, but what is it opening the path to? And everyone should be reading whatever. There’s like, everyone should be questioning it. A little [00:30:00] bit of skepticism even if you completely trust it.

Sara Ferrer: It’s just that you don’t know with technology and how things are. So yes, I, I, I, I,

Serena Reynolds: I’m personally giggling here because what you should do with a contract is scan it and run it through chat GPT and tell it. To tell you what the flaws are and how to perfect it, how to cover.

Sion Dayson: I actually did that recently with a new client.

Sion Dayson: It was, it was a large localization company and it was like very corporate and it was like 25, 30 pages of very dense legalese. And like you say, I read every contract and I was reading it, but I was like, Hmm, this, this actually is a use case for ai. And I put it in and yeah, it definitely did help me point out certain things.

Sion Dayson: So. Yeah.

Serena Reynolds: That, that you possibly weren’t so happy with. Absolutely. So I think I, I think it’s a, it’s a really good plan, even if it’s just the backup plan to you reading it yourself. I personally am not legally trained and I, I like the fact that there’s support there that I can just [00:31:00] hit a few buttons on.

Serena Reynolds: So,

Sara Ferrer: absolutely. Look it, we’re giving now AI tips out and listen people, you get a little bit of everything with our podcast. You get a little voiceover tip ai, but all of this is kind of immersed into like. This is real life. This is the, the world in which we’re living, and I think it’s important to know

Serena Reynolds: 20 25, 1 of the reasons why I wanted to start this podcast with Sara, and particularly Sara, because Sara’s a very outgoing, easy spoken person, and I’m, I’m, I’m not quiet.

Serena Reynolds: I would say that I’m an introvert and I hate the idea of public speaking. Could you give me some tips on, on what not to do and how to speak proficiently and not sound like an idiot?

Sion Dayson: Oh my goodness. Well, Serena, I am an introvert as well, and one of the reasons I love voiceover is. For the most part, I’m in my booth alone.

Sion Dayson: I can be in my pajamas, like no one can see what I’m doing. This is very strange for me to be on video. Right now. [00:32:00] I’m trying to be aware of my facial expressions, so I don’t know if I’m the best person for that.

Serena Reynolds: Well, maybe not public speaking, but just speaking, I mean, just to talk about things in in a way that, I mean, yeah.

Serena Reynolds: What tips can you give me? Just speaking normally would not without my nerves. Okay, so when you get nervous, you said excitement. We up a few, we speak a lot faster. We say things that, that don’t necessarily make sense. How? How do you hone that down?

Sion Dayson: Well, that happens to me too. That’s why I was nervous about this podcast because again, remember, I’m used to having a script.

Sion Dayson: I am used to having a script and making it sound like it’s just occurring to me in the moment, and that it’s natural. That’s actually my job rather than this, which is off the cuff, which is why I was No, it’s true. It’s true. Which is why, you know, like I said in the beginning, I was dancing beforehand.

Sion Dayson: Literally. It sounds silly, [00:33:00] but it’s not. It’s very physical. You have to get the nerves out. You know, and when you do get them out, when you do deep breathing, that also calms your nervous system. So a lot of it is just being grounded in the body and also like we’re human Again, it’s okay if we say something silly.

Sion Dayson: I’m sure I’ve said like 10 things that don’t quite make sense here, but. You can tell I’m a real person. You can tell I’m a real person.

Sara Ferrer: You’ve been very good the entire time I’ve been, I’ve been waiting for you to say something that doesn’t make sense, and I’m like, she’s so are you. Maybe you’re reading from a script.

Sara Ferrer: I don’t know. Are you,

Sion Dayson: how, how would that be possible?

Sara Ferrer: She’s so good. But, but I think what I’m hearing too is like ultimately it’s. I’ve learned sometimes it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. Right? Like you could, if something is said calmly and I, and I’m a fast talker, that’s something I’ve had to consistently work on.

Sara Ferrer: It’s when something is said fast, when [00:34:00] something is said, like you said, kind of like not utilizing the breath, that exerts a level of anxiety that exerts a level of, oh, she’s talking fast. Fast usually implies. Something is urgent. Urgent usually implies now my, my nerves are up, my awareness is up. Like you said, like take a step back, clear, you know, good pace.

Sara Ferrer: That’s really when we listen to a podcast, when we are in an interview, like the ideal interview is not having someone ask you a question and then rushing into the answer. It’s saying, that’s a really great question. Hmm. Let me think about that, right? Like those subtle nuances of conversation should have pauses.

Sara Ferrer: It should have moments of, you know, of, of thinking. But that I think in the moment for many of us, I’ll speak for myself, is like, no, no, let me try to get as many words in as possible in one breath. And Serena for six years or seven years, however long we’ve known each other, has been the victim of [00:35:00] trying to, I mean, I will give you four full thoughts in.

Sara Ferrer: I will die trying to get out my conclusion. She’s like, take a breath. Just take a breath. But I think that’s what I’m hearing is take a breath and just pace it out. We’re all human.

Sion Dayson: Literally. Take a breath. Also, I mean, I will say I, I’m, I’m not like you. I’m much more like Serena, that I’m a listener more than anything, but I think in conversation, that’s what’s really helpful.

Sion Dayson: Be curious about the other person. You won’t be as nervous about what you’re gonna say if you are genuinely curious and interested in the exchange, which is why this is great, because you all are adding lots of different things. I had no idea where this conversation was gonna go. Right? But we’re just flowing organically.

Sion Dayson: I

Serena Reynolds: I have to, I have to admit, I have to admit, being, being the host as opposed to the, uh, interviewee. Is is a lot softer on you, if I’m honest. I can just sit here and say nothing if it pleases.

Sara Ferrer: That’s [00:36:00] true. That is true. Now because we are non-scripted, and this is important, we really believe in the girls at brunch just hanging out, talking about all things.

Sara Ferrer: We do have a little element of surprise. Um, and so we, the way I said that again. I rushed it and I emphasized surprise. So I have gotten everyone’s nerves up. That is what not to do every nail biting, but we let, let wait, let me practice saying that calmly we have an, a great element of surprise. And that surprise is that every, uh, interview we ask our interviewee to give the next, um, the next guest a question.

Sara Ferrer: Okay, so you have no idea what the question is? I believe this question, it came from yes, Jumas Journeys. Lovely. Julia from Jumas Journeys wanted to ask. Hmm. The question is, [00:37:00] what part of your business, what element of your business do you do now that if you had a magic wand, you would delegate out to others?

Sion Dayson: Like lead generation, lead generation marketing, just like I want the jobs, I don’t wanna have to do all of the stuff to get the jobs.

Sara Ferrer: That is so fair. I have found every true artist, like I’m friends with, uh, with, with a woman, a Spanish woman, and her, her brother is a sculptor. He does amazing work. And I’m like, oh my God, he must be living the high life.

Sara Ferrer: This guy is like a, like a, the the creme de creme of artistry. And she says, no, he doesn’t wanna promote himself. He doesn’t see the point of it. I mean, even if he just has no interest in proving how great he is, ’cause he already believes that the art should speak for itself. So is it kind of like you wanna focus on the art, the craft, but that marketing, is it draining or is it just annoying?

Serena Reynolds: The art itself [00:38:00] could speak for itself if people knew it existed. Right. That’s, that’s where you hire people like me just saying, sorry.

Sion Dayson: Exactly. Yes. I was setting you up. Serena, please give us your pitch.

Sara Ferrer: She makes fabulous websites. No, but that’s true. That’s true. It’s like, I’ve always said this, that it, you know, when I was, when I, when I owned Zoey Koko and was going to trade shows and saw a bunch of gift and toy, you know, exhibitions, it was like the, the toy of the year or the, the gift of the year.

Sara Ferrer: Let’s all call it what it is. It wasn’t necessarily the most genius gift. It was the one that had the best pr, the best marketing, the, the, the everyone knew what it was. Sometimes I’d see little booths where, you know, the solo, you know, the solopreneur or the, the person who’s kind of working out of their garage and I think, holy shit, what you’re doing is amazing, but they just didn’t have the marketing vehicle.

Serena Reynolds: To get it out there. What we [00:39:00] did with Zoey Koko was our, we knew that we couldn’t compete with the big boys. We knew that we weren’t going to win toy the year or, or anything like that. All we wanted to do was stand out amongst the person that was next to us. Bigger or, or louder or something different.

Sara Ferrer: Yeah. Yes. Remember Serena, I wore Tutu to like the first five trade shows. I wore Tutu. I was like, just come over. I’ll wear a tutu. I have nothing to hide. Or I got no shame. Was it amazing? I don’t know. Sion,

Serena Reynolds: Be kind to your answer. I pitched, she’s pitched. We’re all pitching,

Sara Ferrer: we’re all pitched. We’re.

Sion Dayson: I will say, I will say that coming from writing to voiceover, it did help me because in my freelance writing life, I really was bad at putting myself out there.

Sion Dayson: And so when I started over in voiceover, at least this time, I was like. You have to have this baked in at the foundation, [00:40:00] the marketing, the business. I am not just an artist. I am a business owner. So that is part of my evolution that I don’t consider myself just a voiceover artist. I do consider myself a business woman.

Sara Ferrer: Snap it up for that. If you’re watching the video, we’re giving her snaps.

Serena Reynolds: You think a lot of us, we don’t just wear one hat. We are not just great at what we do. We have to be great. I mean, I hate bookkeeping. I hate invoicing. I hate that side of business. And, and that would be my magic wands moment.

Sion Dayson: Somebody else can do that. Yeah. Can I steal that actually? ’cause Yes, I want that too. I, I mean, I do have an accountant and of course I have an accountant in Spain and the US because as a US citizen, I still have to declare taxes. And even though I’ve lived in Europe for 17 years at this point,

Serena Reynolds: you can’t, you can’t escape the taxes, can you from America?

Sion Dayson: You have to declare them. Yes, it’s, it’s not my favorite subject, so yes,

Sara Ferrer: [00:41:00] I would give it to someone else. What would you now, okay, let’s wave your magical wand now. What question you have no idea who our next guest’s gonna be? What question would you ask them? And it can be anything. It can be related to your career, it can be related to your experience, or it can be.

Sara Ferrer: You know, Paris or Madrid, which one would you choose? It can be as general or as specific as you want,

Sion Dayson: I would say. How would you describe your inner voice? Meaning how do you know when something is right for you? Because we call it the inner voice, but for me it’s that gut feeling. And like I said, like I light up.

Sion Dayson: I literally light up inside when something is right. So how would you describe your inner voice?

Sara Ferrer: First of all, love that you kept it so on brand and also no, because, oh, a pet peeve. I shouldn’t say pet peeve. No, I’ll say a pet peeve. It is what it is. Sometimes when people ask things about their own industry, it can get [00:42:00] so deep and like emotional.

Sara Ferrer: Like if you’re like a healer, you could be like, what’s the most profound healing experience of your life? And it can just feel like, like, like a very dark therapy session when someone’s like. I’m like a voiceover artist, and it’s like, tell us about your trauma. So thank you for like keeping it relevant, but also taking the pressure off

Sara Ferrer: serena and

Serena Reynolds: I, I have to ask someone like a very heavy question. Uh, I would like to ask one more question more about your, your, your trade here. So I’ve noticed when Sara was speaking, when she said, um, a surprise and then she said, surprise. I noticed that there was a big difference between the, the high.

Serena Reynolds: Did you like my impersonation of you there, Sara? It’s great.

Sara Ferrer: Oh, spot on with a British accent. I, I sounded ellegante. I loved it. I was like British. Sara is on point.

Serena Reynolds: So how do you know when to go up and when to go down? Is there any kind of, um, tips there?

Sion Dayson: Um, well I think my background as a [00:43:00] writer helps with that.

Sion Dayson: The text tells you. The script tells you you know what you’re trying to communicate. So rather than getting so caught in, oh, I need to go high here, I need to go low, this call’s for this. If you actually know what you’re communicating and you feel like I understand the message here, it comes naturally

Serena Reynolds: because I have to say, you have great pauses.

Serena Reynolds: Whereas I zoomed through everything and you kind of emphasize on the right words, but not in a way that makes me feel as though you’re trying hard, you’re doing an amazing thing here.

Sara Ferrer: So it’s true. It is so true. Where does, if someone’s listening and someone’s like, oh my gosh, I am creating an app, or I am, you know, nowadays we, we.

Sara Ferrer: Everyone has so much technology at their fingertips that they might need or wanna explore May maybe for their own career or for their own job. We’re looking for a voiceover artist. Where does someone find you?

Serena Reynolds: Even an AI voiceover artist,

Sara Ferrer: an AI voiceover. Where do they find you? Like you said, LinkedIn.

Sara Ferrer: [00:44:00] Give us the de, we’ll have it on our website. We’ll have everything on our website, but we love to hear it from the voiceover artist herself. Where does someone find SIon’s talent and reach out to her?

Sion Dayson: Well, I do have a website, Sion Dayson.com, S-I-O-N-D-A-Y-S-O-N.com. You’ll hear all of my demos. You’ll see finished videos of past work, and then I am, I’m very active on LinkedIn.

Sion Dayson: Feel free to send me a DM there. You can email me. I’m, you know, I’m in all the places.

Sara Ferrer: All the places

Sara Ferrer: and the demos

Sara Ferrer: on your website. I’ve listened to a couple. Like, there was one, like a nature documentary I think that you did that I was just like, yes. Yeah, because there’s one something on Nat Geo. It’s a British, a British voiceover.

Sara Ferrer: Um, he’s not an artist, but he’s known. Oh, come on, Serena. You know, he’s, he’s an older guy and he does all of the natural David Attenborough.

Serena Reynolds: You know, I have to say, I have to say when I, when I’m a grownup, I wanna be David Attenborough, who doesn’t, I, I, I want to go and sit with [00:45:00] monkeys and swim with dolphins and like in real and blue whales.

Sara Ferrer: I, I wanna be David Attenborough when I grow up. Well, listen, he’s gotta give that gig up at some point. That gig needs to be passed down to the next generation, and I’m looking at it right now. Well, Serena. Serena, I was talking more about Ion. Oh, co-host. Co-host Serena. Okay.

Serena Reynolds: Co-host. I’m on for that. I tell you what, I’d be happy to travel around with the camera.

Serena Reynolds: Okay, perfect. I don’t need to be in the front person. Perfect. It’s sorted already.

Sara Ferrer: Everyone gets the role. Okay. This is, everyone wins a trophy. I’m fearless and flawed. Everyone’s a winner. Ian. Okay. So just as we kind of wrap up, so if someone is curious about how to find you, you’ve said the deets, it’ll be on our site very quickly.

Sara Ferrer: Give us the, the under 30 seconds. What does the future look like, the next project or the next exciting thing? Give us a little bit of a [00:46:00] tease for what’s the next big thing for Sion

Sion Dayson: Oh my gosh. Well, the thing is I never know. I mean, the. No, I, I truly never know. Okay. I am someone who actually, you know, I overthink a lot of things, but when something is right, big life changes, that isn’t a heartbeat.

Sion Dayson: That’s what voiceover was. That’s what moving to Spain was. That’s what moving to Paris was. So, I am open, so I would just say I am always open.

Serena Reynolds: So, so where do we hear Sion? Where, where do we hear you?

Sion Dayson: Yeah. So I am just like, what kind of projects I’m on? I. Yeah, so I’m a regular narrator for Blinkist, which is an app that summarizes the bestselling books in 15 to 20 minutes.

Sion Dayson: You’re like, I don’t have time for a whole book, but I wanna know what this says. I’ve done 170 titles for them so far. I’m also the monthly presenter of Business Spotlight Audio, which is an English language trainer [00:47:00] for people learning English. I’m in a lot of training videos that you will never hear.

Sion Dayson: Yeah, I’m not, I don’t have a lot of public work yet. I’m working on that.

Sara Ferrer: Amazing. I mean, we can’t wait to see where this journey takes you and to see that like in five years where you, like you said, where you’ve been, but more importantly, like what the next gig is. It’s kind of up in the air. We’ll have to check back in.

Sara Ferrer: Who knows? Maybe at some point. I think this is exciting. Sometimes, you know, we, we talk to people that, you know, things, it sounds like you’ve, you’ve had success in it, but. Who knows, maybe, you know, whenever the Olympics is next, like I’m gonna hear a voiceover for a commercial for the Olympics. And I’m like, that’s my girl Sion.

Sara Ferrer: You never know. Hey, we manifest on this podcast, we manifest.

Sion Dayson: I wanna be, I wanna be the in host narrator of like renovation show. Those are like my escapism. So I wanna be that voice.

Sara Ferrer: You would be so good with like, the couple has moved from Seattle. Yes, exactly. She, she [00:48:00] bakes banana bread all day and he, uh, is retired at 13 years old and now they’re looking for a $4.2 million house.

Sara Ferrer: And you’re like, I don’t understand. None of this makes sense. But how, yes, you would be perfect for that. Wonderful Sion, you have been such a delight and a pleasure, and thank you for educating us on voiceover. Artistry. It has been really enlightening.

Sion Dayson: Thank you so much.