Hey there!
I don’t think Voices.com was happy that I read you their email asking me to join their coaches program on a previous video, along with my short and sweet response.
Even though all of the information I read about who sent that email and what their contact information was is publicly available at https://voices.com/coaching, they complained to YouTube that I violated their privacy.
YouTube let me know, I responded that what I said was publicly available, and that’s the last I heard.
So far.
(Click/tap ↑↑↑↑↑↑ that red YouTube button to subscribe to my channel. You’ll get notified when I release new videos.)
Hope this helps!
David
All Episodes
Five Ways To Have An Excellent Coffee Date With Me
Five Ways To Have A Crappy Coffee Date With Me
Taking Advantage Of The Wisdom Of The Tribe
How To Be A World Class Complainer
The False Nobility Of The Struggle
Watch Out – The Rules Are Going To Change
Coaching vs Consulting vs Facilitating
The Perils of Live Performance And Why Jeremy Kappell Should Not Have Been Fired
Let’s Welcome To The Stage…Failure!
Don’t Confuse Price With Value
The Two Things Most Talent Try to Accomplish Way Too Soon
10,000 Hours To Become Good At Something? Not Really.
The Trick Charlie Munger Uses To Make Better Decisions
Everyone’s A Customer, Not Just Your Customers
“What do you mean, you’re a ‘process guy’?”
Pay Attention To Your Storytelling, Not Removing Your Breaths
How To Conquer FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)
The Problem In Every Commercial Script
The Job In Every Commercial Script
The Secret In Every Commercial Script
Voice Over Is REALLY Hard. Until It Isn’t.
Helping Make Resolutions Stick
ACX Jobs: They’re ALL SAG-AFTRA-Friendly
Non-Union? You Can Still Open An AFTRA H&R Account. What?
Who Says You Need To “Feel Like It?”
Your Day Job Might Just Be Worth Keeping For A Bit Longer
Want To Learn Something Really Well? Teach It To Others
Don’t Confuse What Works With What You Like
The Lost Keys And The Microphone In My Elevator
My Insane Backup System Plus Two Helpful Tips
What Open Loops Are And Why They Work So Well
Two More Things For Which You Can Use Open Loops
Three Things Not To Say Or Do…When Trying To Learn Something New
Front Burner and Back Burner Project Management
How To Properly List The Accents and Dialects You Perform
My SAG-AFTRA Presentation On VO Demos (Part 1)
My SAG-AFTRA Presentation On VO Demos (Part 2)
A Simple, One-Word Decision-Making Question To Ask Yourself
How You Can Use The MVP Model As A Performer
The Robocall Equivalent Of Unsubscribe
Making Your Links Irresistible
HTTPS Is Not Just For Banks – It’s For You
The Threat That Made Me Create a New Page For LAME
The Resource You Must Guard Most Carefully
How New Media Is Using The Oldest Ad Model Ever
Killing Customers With Kindness
I Found Out What She Was Podcasting About
How I Answered Voices.com’s Inquiry
Turning Mountains Into Molehills
Motivation: Your Three Big Needs In A Cool Little Package
Go Ahead. Multitask. But Try It Like This.
The Prodigy Game Doesn’t Deserve This Treatment
What Fair Markets Are, And Why Voices.com Isn’t One
Trevor’s Three A’s From Apple On Killing Customers With Kindness
Getting Ready vs. Getting Started
You’ll Never Believe Who Got Rejected By Harvard
There Is No Failure, Only Feedback
Who Is Your Most Dangerous Adversary?
73 Videos In, My First Hater Appears
If You’re The Smartest Person In The Room, Do This ASAP
Your Glasses And Crucial Laptop Positioning Info
One More Insanely Over-engineered Piece Of Gear: My UPS
The Crazy Backward Way IKEA Prices Their Stuff
Voices.com Complained To YouTube That I Violated Their Privacy
For Your Health: Not Perfect. Just Better.
Mr. Wonderful Is Actually More Wonderful Than I Thought
Let’s Finally Close The Digital Literacy Gender Gap
The Guaranteed Way To Completely Avoid Criticism
The Two Things People Judge About You Within Seconds
Are You Committed? Or Just…Interested?
Audible Retail Samples: Why They Suck And Why It Doesn’t Really Matter
How To Voice Copy That’s Set In Italics
Dyslexia, And The Palindromic Poem. The Wha?
Increase Your Chances Of Being Seen And Heard On Facebook
Jamie Has Some Thoughts About Fiverr
Is Simply Discouraging Distracted Driving Enough?
“Young People Are Just Smarter.”
The Real Purpose Of The “Can You Hear Me?” Phone Scam
An AMA Preview: The Word “Ethnic” – A Slur, Or An Essential Adjective?
10 Rules of Profitable Self Discipline from Napoleon Hill
AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 1)
AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 2)
AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 3)
AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 4)
AMA Answers Part 5 Plus A Medical Warning
Last AMA Answers (#6): Gear, Services and Success
A 7-Word Reminder: “Don’t correct people when it matters little.”
Do You Have A Plan? And Is It The Right One?
What’s Your Next Big Move? Are You Ready?
Build Your Future On Your Own Platform, Not Someone Else’s
I’m Leaving Facebook: Why Groups and FB Live No Longer Spark Joy
Time To Accept That I’ve Failed At Something – Happily
Crowdfunding Without The Internet: Pulitzer And The Statue Of Liberty
The Amazing Power Of Recognition And Badging
Might We Have A Possible Cause For Alzheimer’s?
Why Podcasting And Radio Are Out Of Whack
Value Enthusiasm, But Value Persistence More
Ten Ways To Make Money With Podcasts Besides Ads
One Quick Question To Find Out How Important Something Actually Is
The Workflow For Producing These Videos (So Far) Part 1
Why Not Wade? And…Why Not You?
Audiobook Narrators: How Paymasters Work, And The One I Recommend
Why Gen Z And Millennials’ Love For Audiobooks Is Crucial
American Idol: It’s All About Story, Not Just Singing
Less Beating Yourself Up, More Talking Yourself Up
Resist Oversharing. Instead, Start A Dialogue.
Vocal Care: It’s All About What Works For You
3 Biases You Should Be Aware Of
3 More Biases You Should Also Be Aware Of
Wow. People Really Grokked Biases. Let’s Tackle Fallacies.
Three More Fallacies You Need To Watch For
Two Last Big Creativity-Crippling Fallacies
A New Lead Source For Performers: Voice Assistants And Smart Speakers
A Great Way To Handle Trolls and Haters
Quantity Does Not Usually Equal Quality
Is Facebook Truly A Monopoly? No More Than Microsoft Was.
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Want To Grow? Don’t Go It Alone.
How Am I Doing? I’m Gobsmacked. That’s How Am I Doing.
Why I Give My Agents 10% Of Everything
Not Just Explainer Videos, But Video That Explain Things Spectacularly
Mental Floss To The Rescue: Skills You Can Pick Up On YouTube
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Regarding Apple’s App Store: Be Careful What You Wish For, Pepper
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Don’t Waste Your Time: Talk Shows Aren’t Meant To Be Fair
Sooner Or Later, I’m Really Going To Tick You Off
Just Because You Can Do Something Doesn’t Mean You Should
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Enjoy Your First Booking. Pay Close Attention To The Next Three.
Pattern Interruption And The Musicality Of Voice Over
Do You Still Have A Landline? Is It POTS? Wait, What’s POTS?
Increase Your VO Accuracy, And You’ll Increase Your VO Profits
Age Range Isn’t Really A Valid Metric For VO
How To Stop Jealousy From Killing Your Progress
Even The Bible (And Game Of Thrones) Has One-Star Reviews
How Much Is Enough To Make Per Hour?
With Royalty Share Plus, ACX Makes Hybrid Stipends Official
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What A Lovely Thing To Discover: Praise From CourVO
I Figured Out What I Provide: The Onboarding Performers Don’t Get
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It’s Not Just You. It’s The Superstars, Too.
Do You Sometimes Think Irrationally? Maybe. Here’s How To Stop It.
The Struggle Of Announcer-y Versus Non-Announcer-y Voice Over
How My VAs Support Me And My Team
The Often “Most Difficult” Concept I Teach
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Don’t Mistake The Joy Of Knowing For The Joy Of Doing
Why Giving Yourself Some Simple Homework Can Be Life-Changing
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Create A Safe Environment For Self-Improvement
Why I Use One Single Channel For Crucial Communication
The Even Cheaper AT-2020 USB Plus Microphone?
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On Asking For Things Performers Can’t Do
How To Battle The Urge of “Efficiency”
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Changing Audacity’s Sampling Rate To 48,000 Hz
10 Words Of Encouragement When You’re Stuck
Seek/Give Mentorship That’s Appropriate To The Journey
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Having Fun With Headphone Volume
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Something To Consider: Everyone’s Internal Menu
One Crazy Key To Creativity: Pure, Unadulterated Boredom
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Why You Should Take The Same Classes Twice
How Your Character’s Menu Informs Your Performance Choices
What Shouldn’t Be Your Metric For VO Success
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Avoid That One Obvious “That Worked” Sound We Make
Why Union Members Can Audition For Non-Union Work
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The Difference Between Mansplaining and Advice?
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Help Me Solve A Lovely Mystery!
Speeding Up The Playback On The Audible App
Why Those Other Casting Sites Usually Aren’t Worth It
Raw YouTube Captioning
hey there it’s David H Lawrence the 17th
and this morning I received an email
from YouTube saying that someone had
complained that I violated their privacy
and it turns out that the party that
complained that I was violating their
privacy was voices calm and by the way
this is probably gonna be the last time
I do a video on voices calm because I
feel like I’m giving them way too much
exposure anyway the note from YouTube
was a canned you know violation notice
and it said the violation in question
occurs from this point in the video to
that point in the video in this
particular video and it was the video
where I talked about them asking me if I
would like to be part of their coaching
program and how they could promote me
and the video where I told them very
succinctly that I nor my coaches were
available none of we weren’t available
and I guess what they were saying was
that because I mentioned Jolene’s name
and because I very quickly read that
part of the email address that was her
signature and there was a an email
address in there that voices.com thinks
I violated their privacy and in a world
where privacy violations are really to
be taken seriously I mean really to be
taken seriously you have to you know
think okay you got to be careful what
you say because you don’t want to
overstep your bounds but the thing is
before I had done that video I went to
the link that was in the email that she
sent to see what it was all about which
was voices.com slash coaching and there
was her name and the link to her name
was her email address so it’s kind of
like YouTube saying yeah you violated
their privacy even though there’s this
billboard out on the highway that shows
their name and
wasn’t like hidden it was the main focus
of the page if you’re interested in
being in our coaching program contact
this person at this email address and so
wasn’t hidden it certainly wasn’t
private in fact it was very very public
and so I very kindly and succinctly
wrote back to YouTube saying I don’t
believe I have I elated anybody’s
privacy I have reviewed your privacy
policy and one of the tests that you
have for whether or not something is a
violation of privacy is a does it exist
in the public but more importantly is it
newsworthy now I’m going to ask you to
tell me in the comments below if the
voices.com situation is newsworthy
or not is it
put it in the column below put it in the
comments however you’re watching this
that’s what I wrote back to YouTube
haven’t heard back I asked them to write
me back as soon as possible so that I I
would know if there was anything else I
needed to do but I basically denied that
there was a privacy violation I gave
them the URL where her information is
very very public and promoted and also a
real quick succinctly zijn why I did
what I did why I made the video the way
I made the video but it it seems like it
just feels like voices.com
was trying to chill my speech and you
know if you make choices in life you
have to you have to think about the
consequences of those choices I
certainly made a choice to make my
feelings known in public and it may have
upset some people may have upset them
but those are the choices you make I
couldn’t have just remained silent but
that wasn’t acceptable to me so again in
the comments below tell me is are your
thoughts good or bad about voices.com
newsworthy is what you have read about
and witnessed them doing and heard
interviews with the company president
and vice president and CEO and all that
is that newsworthy to you let me know ID
happy I mean I’d be happy to find out
that that it’s not um but I have a
feeling it is I don’t know we’ll find
out if you’d like to jump on my channel
and know when the next video is coming
out go ahead and click on my head there
if there’s no head there then just go
ahead and find the subscribe button
somewhere on the page if you want to see
the latest video that I’ve done that
frame will take you to it just click on
it and YouTube will play that video for
you I’m David H Lawrence the 17th and I
so appreciate you watching these videos
every day and I will talk to you
tomorrow.
This just sounds like typical competition slander, trying to ruin your reputation. You’re a “name” who is obviously winning students away from their coaches over to your service. Hell, I won’t pay for any other VO coaching other than with you (partially because I love your site, and your videos. I think you offer a higher level of coaching even from your freebees Also just “brand loyalty” with Trev) I would, however, rise to the occasion and be the bigger person. Drama begets drama. It makes Voices.com look foolish, and letting us know this had happened helped make me want to not do any more engagement with them. But to draw it out as an ongoing news article with day by day play isn’t worth it. Focus on why you you’re better than Voices.com. Continuously offer awesome blog/vlog posts, rad free content, and over deliver in the pro services…and let Voices.com drown in their own pettiness.
It is very much newsworthy to the voice talent community thanks for taking a stand. And why am I not surprised that VDC would be butt hurt by your dismissal of their offer? This is how they’ve behaved since day one. Never any real honor or integrity. Just sneaky and underhanded. Sad that it comes to this. But thanks again for standing up to them.
I love your response. Well done!
Any spotlight another reputable, VO industry professional can shine on the disreputable Vcom is helpful + enlightening for us all. Cheers, DHLXVII.
Definitely worthy of reporting. The community at large has a need and a right to know all sides of a situation that can affect them.
This is another shining example of the depths to which they will go to shore up their sagging reputation. They are incapable of abiding by their rules (their own rules, rules of others, rules of decency) except when it helps line their pockets. After the initial interview debacle 3 1/2 years ago, I demanded a refund. I received most of it. They shorted me $60 and I had to point out that their method of calculation went against a stated policy on their site. Their response “Well, that’s the way we do it.” Told me all I needed to know.
Bullying tactics. We all know what a bully is and the psychology behind it. Voices wants so badly to be Big Man on Campus but is acting like the bully in the schoolyard.
It also shows that the lack of transparency in their organization and its treatment of talent, illuminated by criticism of experts like you, is is beginning to show cracks. They are afraid.
You asked if this discussion of Voices dot con and their business practices is newsworthy. Yes, indeed. In fact it is one of the biggest news stories in the voice talent community.
Not only that, but their claim to privacy is somewhat negated by the fact that their business is partly supported by the Canadian government. That does not mean that they do not have a right to their proprietary information, to some degree. It does mean that discussions of their business practices are of valid public interest.
And you can quote me.
-Ed
I just went to https://voices.com/coaching, and there was the woman’s name, and her email address was readily seen when I moused over her name/link.
Not newsworthy.
Respectfully, I think you meant to say “not a privacy violation,” not “not newsworthy.” The newsworthiness test is about the story I’m relating, not the availability of the information that was mentioned.
Your doing great.
Absolutely newsworthy to pull back the curtain on their unscrupulous businesses practices! Thank you, as well, for standing up to their bullshit tactic. If you ever need anyone to testify as to it’s newsworthiness, just let me know. I hate bullies, and I love standing up to them. In fact, I think you should continue to do videos on them, because I want to find out what else they are up to.
Keep up the good work!
-Jeff
Newsworthy, yes. Privacy violation, no. I’m new to all this VO stuff but it sounds like the VO community needs to know the truth about VDC. I respect you for taking a stand and sticking to it. Thanks for the video David.
Since I’ve worked within the legal arena for many years — In my opinion,this is a tactic to instill fear. There’s no there, there! Good luck! Be interesting to know how many of the other professional who have denounced their practices have received the same notification. Just sayin’.
too funny. you hit a button
It is news to your audience. There for. Is is news worthy.
Thank you for not remaining silent. Industry practices in VO are newsworthy; and, I am grateful you shared your experiences and thoughts.
Hi David –
The responses [replies] to your expose’ regarding voices.com
feels like a collection of truths waiting to be invited in.