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It's very common in the voiceover business, to have to sign an NDA, (Non-disclosure agreement) when you have an audition. Many companies have private information that you'll be privy to, that if released, could harm the release or brand. But why do you have to go through all this formality? Well, let's talk about it.
Yes, if asked, you should sign and honor your NDA's.
Today. I wanna talk about NDAs, even though I'm not supposed to. Get it.
Hey guys, have you ever had to sign an NDA? Do you know what an NDA is? Well, first of all, a quick definition, non-disclosure agreement. Typically we are given NDAs when we submit our auditions and those NDA's are very, very important. You need to make sure that you respect and understand the NDA and understand that an NDA is usually constructed so that a company can protect its product. That's you know, going to be coming out. So you certainly, if you had a company and you were developing this, this awesome secret product, like a video game or an animation, or, you know, whatever, it might be, a new product that you're gonna launch in a commercial. You don't wanna have people talking about it before it's been released, because that could ruin your brand. It could ruin the launch of your product, of which, you know, you as a voice actor, you don't really have any. Obligation or ownership of that company's product to actually talk about it before it's been launched.
It's important that you pay attention to NDAs and of course, sign them when they are asked of you. And gosh, it's really, really important to honor the NDA. That means. No going on social media and saying, oh, I just did an audition with this company, or I just did this awesome audition. You wanna hear it? I did a quick, I did a quick video. None of that stuff can be put online or talked about with anyone because that could really cause damage to a brand.
When you get an NDA, make sure you take a look at it. I know a lot of times people are just, well, I guess I'll sign it. They don't look at the fine print to see what's entailed in the NDA. So. Here's something to be mindful of every time you sign a contract and this should be no different than your usage contracts, when you get a gig, make sure you're checking out what is speculated in the contract, what you can if you can say anything or what, what are the terms of that contract and then sign it If you agree with it. If you do not agree with it, obviously don't sign it, but I also wouldn't take the chance of talking about it, even if you don't sign it, because there are a lot of ways that that can be traced back to you. Again, if you had a company and you had a great new product that you were about ready to launch, and you wanted to hire a voiceover to talk about that product or have a, you know, be the voice of your brand to do a commercial, to do a YouTube video, whatever it might be. You certainly don't wanna be that person that is, you know, bragging on social media saying, Hey, look what I just did, and then losing the job.
As a matter of fact, I know quite a few times, quite a few examples where talent have been on social media and have talked about, oh, I just did this great audition for Disney or I just did this great audition for this, or "Hey, check out my audition." And they've actually, you know, created a video or they've spoken about it in any form or fashion and actually completely got taken off the job and fired.
So you really have to pay attention to NDAs. And also, I want you to think about any job that you do an audition for.
Really think you shouldn't be talking about it online. You certainly don't wanna betray the trust of your client and you don't wanna be that person that is known for getting fired for bragging or speaking about things too soon. If you have an NDA honor it, and that means to honor it by reading it signing it, and then really following it. Even if you're tempted to talk about it to your best friend, you know, I think it's better to air on the side of just not saying anything at all. And then ultimately when you win that gig and it's released, guess what? You can stand on the rooftop, stand on the mountaintops and shout out to the world.
Thanks for reading!
Keep on rocking your business like a #VOBOSS
About Anne:
Anne Ganguzza is a professional voice actor and award-winning director and producer who works with students to develop their voiceover and business skills - including voice over Coaching and Genre-based Demo Production. She specializes in conversational Commercial & Narration styles, including Corporate, eLearning, Technology, and On-Hold Messaging. Located in Orange County, California, Anne offers private coaching and mentoring services to students via ipDTL and Zoom.