Do You – Three Tips for Authenticity – The Eclectic VO Podcast
I follow Anthony Palmini on LinkedIn. He’s a fellow “eclectic” as an actor, editor, director, composer and voice over artist. He has a short post featuring Producer/Director Shawn Levy who is known for his work in Arrival, Strangers Things, and Night at the Museum. Anthony and Shawn offers simple advise. “Do you.”
Be free enough to do you. It’s so simple. But is it?
As business professionals, we are always trying to serve the client. It doesn’t matter if you’re a marketing professional, an e-Learning designer, a casting director or a voice over artist. You get paid to impress someone. The target market… your students… your audience… your buyer.
And everyone of the professionals I’ve mentioned will tell you that authenticity sells. But sometimes we can get so wrapped up in the business of business that we lose track of how to be authentic.
Here are three tricks I’ve used to get out of my own way and reset and fine my authentic self.
- Go with your mood.
Are you in a bad mood? Are you frustrated? Are you in a super silly mood? Instead of trying to squelch the mood that you’re in, exercise it. Explore it. How can you apply your authentic mood to your project? The product or service you’re advertising. The learning experience for your students. The story you’re filming. By acting on your mood, you may surprise yourself and find a truly unique and creative strategy that works for both you and your client.
- Keep it simple. Keep it real.
Just because we possess a five star vocabulary, doesn’t mean we have to use it. Think about your script. What are the essential messages? Highlight those then try it to your child. As a voiceover artist I’ve done this! I had a long somewhat convoluted script on a topic I wasn’t familiar. So I went through it highlighting the most important messages. I re-read it three or four times and then turned my back to it. I called my son and ask can I take a minute to tell you about a script that I’m recording? Then I paraphrased it in my own words. This helped me lean into a more complicated script and find my authentic voice. You can do the same thing when you’re developing your marketing, your feet learning course, or your approach to storyboarding.
- Look at consumer complaints.
As a business owner we can get so hung up on trying to define our customer needs that we forget to actually solve their problem. Successful businesses solve problems. but if we’re honest with ourselves sometimes we are only guessing at what the customer needs. And in total truth sometimes the customers guessing at the customer needs. If you find yourself stuck in this position go look at the customer complaints. Take some time and do the research. In the political arena we would call this opposition research. The same thing applies to marketing a product to consumers. Don’t look at all the things people love about dish soap. Look at what they hate about it. How can that fuel your creativity and inspire you… to do you?
What are some strategies you’ve used to remain authentic and do you?