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Voice Coaches Radio #528 – Have You Surprised Yourself Lately?
Welcome to a brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio. My name is Marissa, hoping this is finding you well, whatever the day might be that you choose to listen. I mean, we always drop these on Friday afternoons, but for all I know, you could just be having trouble sleeping at three o'clock on a random Tuesday morning.
If that's the case, you can't turn your brain off. I will allow you to focus on something else for at least a few moments. Okay, I'm not going to say that I'm going to make you any smarter, but I'm definitely going to entertain you. At least that's the hope. You know, every once in a while we do surprise ourselves, right?
You know, I feel like I do it quite often these days, really, because I like to step outside my comfort zone a little bit more than I ever used to, just because I like to challenge myself. I don't know. The older we get, I think the more we don't care. And it's not that we don't care about what we're doing.
We still care about, you know, the job or the task at hand. But we no longer fear that the judgment of whatever may come, you know, more so than when we were, say 13. Uh, when I was a kid, I was incredibly shy. Like I've mentioned this on the podcast before, you know, so those who may not have known me then, which is probably all of you, let's face it.
Uh, you know, when I was growing up, I was a hide behind my mom sorta kid. And I did, I loved entertaining the people that I was closest with, but, You know, when it came to anybody else, as much as I would have loved to have entertained and made people laugh and maybe made their day a little bit brighter, I was too scared of the potential judgment.
And that's what holds a lot of us back in life, I think, in a lot of different ways. But for me, it really did. It held me back from what I absolutely love to do until I was about, I don't know, early 20s when I finally, you know, broke into the radio industry and, and I say it in the way I did, broke into because.
Yes, there was a lot of hard work that went into it, but it happened real quick, too Uh, you know, so it kind of felt like it was out of nowhere. So for me What I had to do is I had to take those small steps outside my comfort zone, which is where the hard work really comes in because you really almost have to push yourself, uh, almost off that cliff, that, that metaphorical cliff, um, you know, to, to get to where you want to go.
And if, if I never did that, like I wouldn't be here right now, I probably wouldn't be doing anything that I'm doing right now. And, uh, I don't know who I'd be. I'd probably be just a sliver of who, Where my potential was, you know, and it's like you never want to hold yourself back in those kind of ways and um Um, I'm really glad that I didn't, you know, it is always fun though when I bump into somebody who hasn't seen me in a really long time and they're asking about what I do and where I've been and, you know, how life has been and, and when I start talking about the fact that, yeah, like I've been on the radio for 17 years and, you know, I, I've been on stage in front of 10, 000 people and, you know, all these kinds of things, they're like, I'm sorry.
Am I, am I speaking to Marissa? Like is, is that still who I'm speaking to? And it's like, yeah, but I, while I may have, Had a hard time speaking in front of a class growing up, you know, and sweating and stuttering, whatever else, you know, that, that's definitely not who I am these days, uh, you know, and, and we all grow in the best of ways, that's always the hope, and if you're taking the right steps, you totally will too, and, you know, I've surprised myself most recently by completing this audiobook series that I had been doing last year, you know, I really, I rounded it all out, I think it was in January that I really finished it up, but, It, you know, it was one of these things where I had an author who came across my samples, my audio samples on this one website, which I'm just surprised they found me because I always like to look at that like it's a needle in a haystack.
I don't know how she came across my audio, but I'm just glad she did. And the scenario was this is like her initial email was like, Oh my God. You not only sound like the character that I created in my head, but you also look like her, because I had a, you know, my little head shot up there too. And, uh, you know, she was just asking me would I want to be the voice, do the audiobook of her teen novel series.
And I wasn't gonna turn that down. I mean, this was not a, a scenario where I was gonna get paid a lot of money, and that's okay. I look at these kind of experiences, um, as little learning. Curbs and learning experiences because I haven't done a lot of audiobooks So I just wanted to get some stuff under my belt a little bit And so I went to dive on in and it's it's a little hard to wrap your head around at first because This was a book.
This was a series that the chapters were It would be either the female character as the narrator or in the opposite chapter, it would be the boyfriend or the love interest. So it would keep going back and forth and back and forth and there's different characters throughout each chapter. And, you know, I hadn't done a lot of stuff like that before.
I hadn't done a lot of changing and manipulating my voice to sound like somebody else. And that. That was definitely something I wasn't sure how it was going to play out in the end. I was just kind of hoping for the best, which is really all you can do as you're going through these kind of scenarios.
You know, I, uh, I didn't take a lot, I didn't want to overthink it, right? And like sometimes when I'm going through classes with students, you know, that's the biggest hurdle that you have to jump over at first is stop the overthinking because the overthinking is when we can get our, get in our own way a bit.
And so I was doing everything I could to not. Overthink it. So I would go and I would record a chapter or two. I would leave. I'd go do life. And then I'd come back maybe a couple days later, go do the next couple chapters. And when you're doing that, it's kind of like, well, am I doing the same voice? Am I, am I creating this, these new chapters in the same way that I created the last couple?
Is the flow still the same? Um, you know, is, is the consistency there? And I will be honest, like. I kind of did not even bother going back through until I was done. Because I, again, did not want to get in my own way with it. And when I was all said and done, like, yeah, each book I did impress myself a bit.
The other hurdle that I was, like, juggling here was Because the first book would get done, and then it would be like two weeks before I would get the next one, or maybe even a month in between. And then also remembering, how did I do it in the last book? And there were three total. And this took, I mean, over the course of maybe four or five months.
So, each time, remembering, how did I do it the last time? What was the pacing? What kind of attitude did I give this character opposed to this one? You know, so, I, I will say this, you know, when, when everything was said and done, hearing it back, and You know listening and taking that time afterwards and and just Um, and I was really absorbing it like a listener.
I was like, oh, okay, all right, yeah, listen, look at me. Uh, you know, it actually does, it does sound pretty good. I'm going to pat myself on the back. So it really, it kind of took me getting the feedback though, from the author, you know, because before I even went back and listened to it, she had emailed me and was like, I gotta tell you, you are definitely an actor.
And I don't know how you made this happen, but like, each character sounds so great, and I can tell the different distinctions and whatever. Cause I didn't, it's not like I had some drastic changes between voices, because I'm not there yet. But I had just enough difference, and just enough maybe speech pattern difference, that you could tell who was who.
And uh, yeah, that was one of those situations where I didn't know how I was gonna tackle it. But I, I was pretty satisfied with the final products. And, um, what is that book called? Uh, that's, that's probably a good question if you're like, you know, pondering. I think it's like, The Mean Girl and the Bad Boy.
Uh, which sounds cheesy as all heck and I realize that. But I didn't care. So, um, if you want to check it out, I do believe it's on Audible. But Mean Girl and the Bad Boy. And, uh, you can, you can check out. And if you want to criticize the heck out of me, you can do that too. Uh, but what have you done lately?
That you impressed yourself, uh, you know, I think we always have to allow ourselves to, to pat ourselves on the back here and there because, hey, sometimes hard work does pay off. Uh, most times it does. So put the work in, you'll get back a tenfold. That's how I always look at it. But listen, we're going to have more podcasts.
Coming up. So if you've got a question, you want a topic that to be, uh, tackled here, just send an email info at voice coaches. com and have a great weekend. Have a great rest of your Tuesday, depending on what day it is and what time it is, but more episodes coming at you. Stay safe, everybody. Visit voice coaches.
com for more voiceover news.
If that's the case, you can't turn your brain off. I will allow you to focus on something else for at least a few moments. Okay, I'm not going to say that I'm going to make you any smarter, but I'm definitely going to entertain you. At least that's the hope. You know, every once in a while we do surprise ourselves, right?
You know, I feel like I do it quite often these days, really, because I like to step outside my comfort zone a little bit more than I ever used to, just because I like to challenge myself. I don't know. The older we get, I think the more we don't care. And it's not that we don't care about what we're doing.
We still care about, you know, the job or the task at hand. But we no longer fear that the judgment of whatever may come, you know, more so than when we were, say 13. Uh, when I was a kid, I was incredibly shy. Like I've mentioned this on the podcast before, you know, so those who may not have known me then, which is probably all of you, let's face it.
Uh, you know, when I was growing up, I was a hide behind my mom sorta kid. And I did, I loved entertaining the people that I was closest with, but, You know, when it came to anybody else, as much as I would have loved to have entertained and made people laugh and maybe made their day a little bit brighter, I was too scared of the potential judgment.
And that's what holds a lot of us back in life, I think, in a lot of different ways. But for me, it really did. It held me back from what I absolutely love to do until I was about, I don't know, early 20s when I finally, you know, broke into the radio industry and, and I say it in the way I did, broke into because.
Yes, there was a lot of hard work that went into it, but it happened real quick, too Uh, you know, so it kind of felt like it was out of nowhere. So for me What I had to do is I had to take those small steps outside my comfort zone, which is where the hard work really comes in because you really almost have to push yourself, uh, almost off that cliff, that, that metaphorical cliff, um, you know, to, to get to where you want to go.
And if, if I never did that, like I wouldn't be here right now, I probably wouldn't be doing anything that I'm doing right now. And, uh, I don't know who I'd be. I'd probably be just a sliver of who, Where my potential was, you know, and it's like you never want to hold yourself back in those kind of ways and um Um, I'm really glad that I didn't, you know, it is always fun though when I bump into somebody who hasn't seen me in a really long time and they're asking about what I do and where I've been and, you know, how life has been and, and when I start talking about the fact that, yeah, like I've been on the radio for 17 years and, you know, I, I've been on stage in front of 10, 000 people and, you know, all these kinds of things, they're like, I'm sorry.
Am I, am I speaking to Marissa? Like is, is that still who I'm speaking to? And it's like, yeah, but I, while I may have, Had a hard time speaking in front of a class growing up, you know, and sweating and stuttering, whatever else, you know, that, that's definitely not who I am these days, uh, you know, and, and we all grow in the best of ways, that's always the hope, and if you're taking the right steps, you totally will too, and, you know, I've surprised myself most recently by completing this audiobook series that I had been doing last year, you know, I really, I rounded it all out, I think it was in January that I really finished it up, but, It, you know, it was one of these things where I had an author who came across my samples, my audio samples on this one website, which I'm just surprised they found me because I always like to look at that like it's a needle in a haystack.
I don't know how she came across my audio, but I'm just glad she did. And the scenario was this is like her initial email was like, Oh my God. You not only sound like the character that I created in my head, but you also look like her, because I had a, you know, my little head shot up there too. And, uh, you know, she was just asking me would I want to be the voice, do the audiobook of her teen novel series.
And I wasn't gonna turn that down. I mean, this was not a, a scenario where I was gonna get paid a lot of money, and that's okay. I look at these kind of experiences, um, as little learning. Curbs and learning experiences because I haven't done a lot of audiobooks So I just wanted to get some stuff under my belt a little bit And so I went to dive on in and it's it's a little hard to wrap your head around at first because This was a book.
This was a series that the chapters were It would be either the female character as the narrator or in the opposite chapter, it would be the boyfriend or the love interest. So it would keep going back and forth and back and forth and there's different characters throughout each chapter. And, you know, I hadn't done a lot of stuff like that before.
I hadn't done a lot of changing and manipulating my voice to sound like somebody else. And that. That was definitely something I wasn't sure how it was going to play out in the end. I was just kind of hoping for the best, which is really all you can do as you're going through these kind of scenarios.
You know, I, uh, I didn't take a lot, I didn't want to overthink it, right? And like sometimes when I'm going through classes with students, you know, that's the biggest hurdle that you have to jump over at first is stop the overthinking because the overthinking is when we can get our, get in our own way a bit.
And so I was doing everything I could to not. Overthink it. So I would go and I would record a chapter or two. I would leave. I'd go do life. And then I'd come back maybe a couple days later, go do the next couple chapters. And when you're doing that, it's kind of like, well, am I doing the same voice? Am I, am I creating this, these new chapters in the same way that I created the last couple?
Is the flow still the same? Um, you know, is, is the consistency there? And I will be honest, like. I kind of did not even bother going back through until I was done. Because I, again, did not want to get in my own way with it. And when I was all said and done, like, yeah, each book I did impress myself a bit.
The other hurdle that I was, like, juggling here was Because the first book would get done, and then it would be like two weeks before I would get the next one, or maybe even a month in between. And then also remembering, how did I do it in the last book? And there were three total. And this took, I mean, over the course of maybe four or five months.
So, each time, remembering, how did I do it the last time? What was the pacing? What kind of attitude did I give this character opposed to this one? You know, so, I, I will say this, you know, when, when everything was said and done, hearing it back, and You know listening and taking that time afterwards and and just Um, and I was really absorbing it like a listener.
I was like, oh, okay, all right, yeah, listen, look at me. Uh, you know, it actually does, it does sound pretty good. I'm going to pat myself on the back. So it really, it kind of took me getting the feedback though, from the author, you know, because before I even went back and listened to it, she had emailed me and was like, I gotta tell you, you are definitely an actor.
And I don't know how you made this happen, but like, each character sounds so great, and I can tell the different distinctions and whatever. Cause I didn't, it's not like I had some drastic changes between voices, because I'm not there yet. But I had just enough difference, and just enough maybe speech pattern difference, that you could tell who was who.
And uh, yeah, that was one of those situations where I didn't know how I was gonna tackle it. But I, I was pretty satisfied with the final products. And, um, what is that book called? Uh, that's, that's probably a good question if you're like, you know, pondering. I think it's like, The Mean Girl and the Bad Boy.
Uh, which sounds cheesy as all heck and I realize that. But I didn't care. So, um, if you want to check it out, I do believe it's on Audible. But Mean Girl and the Bad Boy. And, uh, you can, you can check out. And if you want to criticize the heck out of me, you can do that too. Uh, but what have you done lately?
That you impressed yourself, uh, you know, I think we always have to allow ourselves to, to pat ourselves on the back here and there because, hey, sometimes hard work does pay off. Uh, most times it does. So put the work in, you'll get back a tenfold. That's how I always look at it. But listen, we're going to have more podcasts.
Coming up. So if you've got a question, you want a topic that to be, uh, tackled here, just send an email info at voice coaches. com and have a great weekend. Have a great rest of your Tuesday, depending on what day it is and what time it is, but more episodes coming at you. Stay safe, everybody. Visit voice coaches.
com for more voiceover news.
This week on Voice Coaches Radio, Marissa chats about a recent audiobook recording experience that had her surprising herself along the way.
