At voice over? At your hobby? At relationships? At a sport? At being a parent? It doesn’t matter what the subject matter is because it always takes the same three things. Patience, Practice. Perseverence.
I heard this from Peter Jackson, UK’s best known voice talent and co-founder of Gravy For The Brain (www.gravyforthebrain.com) and truer words have not been spoken. By the way, check them out! The are a fabulous site for industry training, support, and news.
So, patience, practice, and perseverance. The three actions, habits, life tools that you need to develop for success – in anything. Why?
Patience – Not even the lottery pays you instantly. You have to be patience. So what are you supposed to do while you’re being patience? Well, practice of course.
Practice – You have to practice to develop your skills and win jobs. To stretch your voice acting out of your comfort zone to evolve into being better. This is how you book more jobs.
Having a pleasant voice isn’t enough. There is so much that goes into voice over that they newcomer and many of your clients just don’t understand. You’re not just a voice. You have to be a:
- communicator – to analysis audience needs and motivations
- copywriter – to analyze scripts and sometimes, in the case of translations, collaborate with the client on re-writing them
- voice talent/sound engineer – to record the script and produce broadcast quality audio that fits your customer’s needs
- director – to step outside your skin and listen, tweak, and adjust the voice talent’s read for the highest quality audio and best representations of the script
- quality customer service rep – to work collaboratively with your clients to resolve questions, concerns, and yes – sometimes disputes to the satisfaction of all concerned (whenever possible)
And this is all in addition to being a small business owner who is responsible for… well… everything. Licensing, branding marketing, website/social media, finance, technology, payroll, and debt collection. This list is not all inclusive. But it does illustrate my last point – perseverance.
Perseverance – don’t give up. Set a schedule for yourself. Stick to it. When life interferes and you can’t – adapt. But keep at it. Systematize what you can and work your plan. Keep at it. One step at a time. Then another.
It’s how you build success.