Why Can’t People “Hear” Themselves?

Today it is easier and easier to get feedback on what you are doing. Why don’t people listen? Or perhaps, why – when given good feedback – why don’t people take action to improve what they are doing? Do they simply not hear themselves?

So many people these days have been told by endless “voiceover” coaches that they can make it – all they need is determination – and their signature on the bottom of that check paying for more classes. They stop listening to themselves and never develop their self-evaluation skills.

Most of the forums for voiceover people include critique areas where people can post demos for comments. I’m referring to demos from newbies, not updated demos from people who are making actual money doing voiceovers. You can get honest, yet sometimes highly conflicting advice. And if you follow the subsequent comments to a thread, this advice is often rejected by the person seeking the advice.

For a fee of $7 per month, you can join VoiceRegistry and do their Weekend Workouts, where actual working top agents and casting people will listen to your submissions and provide individual feedback – which everyone who submits can see as well. Scary thought isn’t it!

But what a great way to develop, not only a thick skin, which you need in this business, but a keen ear on what works and what doesn’t. What the agents/casting people are liking at a certain moment in time. While some of the comments are probably kept pretty tepid (the agent really wants to scream because the submission was so far off the mark, but instead says something “kind”), there is enough information for you to read between the lines and sort the best from the worst. Your own ears should be able to pick this up without their comments, but sometimes you can hone in on why they think one read was superior. And this is valuable information.

The other weekly competition is over at Edge Studio. This one is free and probably because it is free and they are pretty high profile, their contest submissions run in the neighborhood of 200 per weekend. I have been listening to a few of the “winning” entries over the past few weeks and reading the commentary on why submissions didn’t win. Two weeks ago, they decided to record a teleconference discussing a dozen or so of the submissions and why NO ONE was selected to win that week’s competition.

That phone call was filled with people – a few of whom simply didn’t listen to instructions on how to mute their phones. That was distracting for everyone. And another example of people simply not hearing what has been said to them. The meat of the discussion showcased once again how this business is part subjective and part objective. People’s comments were wide ranging and often directly opposite thoughts. While I wouldn’t recommend that David do calls like this on a regular basis, it did inspire me to enter the contest the next week to see if I could make it to the Top Three.

I entered. Twice. With two different anonymous user names and two different styles of delivery. Then, when the competition closed and all bazillion entries were posted for review, I listened to them all. And most of the entries were really so bad it’s – sad? frightening? scary?

Obviously many of the people who entered are wannabe’s and some newbies, but what I want to know is if they thought that what they submitted was good!? While bad audio can be forgiven to a degree for an audition – there are no-cost ways to reduce background noise.  But to leave the TV playing in the background while you are recording something for a contest? Huh? Read the reasons why people didn’t get selected for the Contest ending Friday, May 18th.

Of the 200 or so submissions, I jotted down 14 names, including my two – for a total of 16 – that I thought were worthy of consideration. All of the top three were on my short-list. But listing only the top three may not be enough for people to understand BOTH the subjective nature of this business and get enough information to be able to apply it to their own submissions.

I fessed up to David Goldberg in an email that I had submitted not one, but two entries in the contest that week. We chatted a bit about the process. Apparently, his staff goes through all the submissions and creates a short list that he then listens to, jots down some notes and then picks first, second and third place.

I suggested that it might be even more educational to identify all of the top picks. From there, he could, for the purposes of handing out the weekly prizes assign the winners. But with auditions, it is usually the overall tone and pace and quality that the producer selects, knowing that in the session they can get a take that addresses those little nuances, like hitting a word just a tad stronger or warming up on a phrase. I live for my ISDN sessions (or actual in the studio with live human beings) where I get to actually interact with the director and make them happy!

So, hearing the whole range of what made it to the selects would be a great teaching tool – for those who will listen.

Enough suspense?

I made it to the Top Three with my BonnieK entry. And he told me that my other entry was in the top selects as well. I would have been very very surprised if it had not been. I was sort of expecting to pick up two prizes, but there you go! Another example of the subjective nature of the biz! If you want to hear the other, do a search on the page for KayT.

Shut up! And 7 other things to do AFTER reading your script! Advice from Edge Studios

Got this in an email a couple months ago from Edge Studios and found it again going through my InBox. Some great advice here for the beginner and a reminder for the pros…

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Shut up!  And 7 other things to do AFTER reading your script!
 
It’s not just getting the gig that’s important.
It’s making sure the client hires you again.
 
So we’re sharing 7 things many voice talent forget to do after reading their copy!
 
1. Shut up when done reading your copy.  Don’t tell your client how you did – you’re liable to contradict their opinion and/or create more work for everyone by opening up a can of worms.  Instead listen to their direction.  Read again when prompted.

2. Conversely, when the job is done, talk.  Thank them.  Request a copy of the finished product.  Request a testimonial.

3. Later that day, send an email.  Say it was nice to work with them.  Compliment them (e.g.: You give great direction.)  Let them know you’re available to re-record any lines if necessary.

4. A day later, send an invoice.  (Don’t expect them to pay otherwise.)  At this time, ask for a referral.

5. A month later, follow up with a compliment.  E.g.: “I noticed your website was re-designed – it looks great!”  The idea is to stay “top of mind.”

6. If you were able to learn their birthday, send a card on it. 

7. Every few months, send a reminder card that you worked with them.  Ask what scripts they have that would be appropriate for your voice.

8. Follow up with a new demo annually.
 
You see, it doesn’t take much to be professional and stay “top of mind” with clients.  Here’s to many repeat customers!

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I’ll be reviewing that list – I think I have learned the Invoicing lesson a number of times!

Critical Business Practices

Edge Studio sent out a great email the other day with 10 important business practices. I haev to admit, I KNOW about all 10 of these things, but find that one or more get bumped down the To Do list depending on work and play load. This is the complete email I received.

You might consider getting on their email list – you will be notified of their free tele-seminars and get other good free information such as this.  Was looking for a link where you could sign up for the email, but couldn’t easily find it – so here is the web address: http://www.edgestudio.com/careerbuilding.htm

1. DON’T BECOME COMPLACENT.
 
PROBLEM:  
It’s very easy to become complacent once you have clients coming in. You forget what it took to get there. You’re up to speed, even accelerating, so you stop working your gears.  BUT EVENTUALLY you start losing ground to competitors.
 
There’s an old saying among our ad agency clients: Just because the train is rolling, don’t disconnect the engine.
 
EXAMPLE:
Suppose you narrate an educational video for a particular client every week. But then suddenly they stop calling you. What happened? The client went with one of your competitors, because they offered to deliver the recording to the client using the latest technology.  Unfortunately, you never mentioned to your clients that you provide this technology, so they assumed you couldn’t.
 
SOLUTION:
Test the waters. Feel the air. Know where you are. Learn where your competitors are. And stay in the lead.
 
Consider a big, profitable hamburger chain — even with millions of customers coming in every day, they’re still testing new products, trying to make things better, working to improve pricing, methods, variety, quality, presentation, decor, service, signage, advertising, even make their logo better.
 
As a small business owner, you should do the same.
 
Work the gears continually. Once you get set in your ways, a new generation of voice talent will be grabbing at your clients. 
 
2. DON’T MAKE SNAP DECISIONS.
 
PROBLEM:
As a small business owner, it is too easy to change course in a minute.
 
EXAMPLE:
Suppose you suddenly think of a new slogan, “Words That Speak Out!”  Overnight, you begin a major promotion, you add the slogan to your emails.  You put it on your website.  Great. You turned on a dime. BUT YOU DID all of this without testing.
 
You didn’t think your new slogan through. It turns out, now people are mistaking you for a copywriter, a poet, calligrapher, sign maker, ad agency, or marketing company. Worse, now you have to correct those mistaken impressions.
 
SOLUTION:
The big folks find it worthwhile to spend millions of dollars for testing. Shouldn’t you spend at least a few days of thought and asking around?
 
Big companies assess everything they do. And by the time they run focus groups, market tests, statistical analyses, etc., even a small change can take 6 months to implement.  The stakes are too high for them to risk everything on an untested whim. 
 
But you can do this in a day or two!
 
Where your income and image are concerned, how high are the stakes to you? 
Think it through.
 
3. SEND OUT A SURVEY.  CORRECTLY.
 
PROBLEM:
You never find out why some customers keep hiring you, and why some stop!
 
Over the years, Edge Studio has cast more than 16,000 voice jobs, and of those, the number of people who have asked me how they did, I can count on my hands.
 
EXAMPLE:
Take, for example, the plumber I recently hired. At the end of the job, he asked “How’d I do?” and gave me reason to think he would use that information to improve his performance and grow his business. That guy definitely gained my respect.
 
SOLUTION:
Run a survey, but do it correctly: The right way is to determine what kind of information you want, then design the survey to generate that kind of data.
 
For example, don’t ask “Did you like my service?” Rather than embarrass themselves by telling you truly, people will just ignore the survey or give a useless polite answer — and then won’t hire you again. Instead, ask a specific question such as, “What is the one thing I could do differently that you would appreciate?” 
 
4. ASK FOR TESTIMONIALS.
 
A set of testimonials goes a very, very long way: It builds your prospects’ confidence. Testimonials say things that may be awkward to say about yourself. And when your prospective client is still in the tire-kicking stage, testimonials speak on your behalf without costing anyone extra time.
 
Use testimonials on your website, in your mailings, wherever space affords. And even if you don’t have a website or some other way to use testimonials now, eventually you will. Then you’ll be glad you thought ahead.
 
5. ASK FOR A REFERENCE.
 
As powerful as a testimonial is, a reference is even stronger. Just reserve them for prospects who are otherwise “ready to buy,” so the people giving you references won’t be overburdened. Whenever possible, forewarn your reference as to who will be contacting them and why, including any particular area of concern.
 
6. ASK A CLIENT FOR A REFERRAL.
 
It’s the easiest and fastest way to get the most work with virtually no marketing effort. Do it at the time of invoicing, assuming the job went well. 
 
 7. BE PROFESSIONAL.
 
Be courteous, be prompt, send a thank-you after your session, dress appropriately, do everything that signals you’re a pro.
 
 8. SPEAK ABOUT YOURSELF CORRECTLY.
 
When asked what you do, don’t say, “I’m a voice-over artist,” because most people don’t know what that means, and the few that do will probably think it means commercials. Instead say, “I help businesses sound better, by providing them with wonderful sound tracks for their voice mail and training videos so they sound more professional.” Tailor this “elevator pitch” precisely to your special strengths. 
 
9. CONSIDER YOUR PROSPECT’S VIEW.
 
Always keep in mind what a potential client has to go through prior to hiring you. They have to research you and your competitors. They need reason to trust you. And they need to see value in the services you provide. They’ll probably want to speak with others who have used you.
 
To you, the prospect may seem overly cautious, but they have good reason for doing so. And if they haven’t done enough homework, covering these bases with them may produce a stronger relationship in the end. 
 
10. WRITE A BUSINESS PLAN.
 
Like most small businesses, the vast majority of voice over talent overlook this. They focus only on their voice, and forget to focus also on their business.
 
Make it official. The couple hours it takes to write a simple business plan will make a big difference in obtaining the kind of work you want, the money you want, even the lifestyle you want. For example, do you prefer to work form home, or to work from audition houses? Designing your business helps design your life.
 
Revisit your business plan every 3 months, read it and revise as necessary, even if things are going great.