VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio #632 – Self Awareness Is Key
Voice coaches, radio, everything. Voiceover. Ah, entering the final weekend of April and let's find out if April showers really do bring Mayflowers, right? That's what I'm feeling here in upstate New York. My name is Marissa. Welcome to a brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio. And, uh, been a lot of technical stuff happening in my.
Studio, I've got one laptop that's on the outs, and, uh, realized that based on like, upload and download time of, of something recently. And I'm like, man, I hate change. Uh, I really do. Uh, so that has been one of those things where I'm just like, I know it's gotta happen, but I don't really want to. So, you know, eventually I'll make the change.
I'll, I'll do the switch. Uh, but. And I also realize it's gonna make my life easier when I do that. But I still, I mean, if you're like me and you don't like change, you don't even care. Uh, but the other thing is too, like all of a sudden within the last like week or so, I've had an internet issue and I'm ready to like ring spectrum's neck if that's even, uh, an option.
Uh, because it's like, hi, I pay a lot of money and I am boosted already. What, what is the deal? Um, you know, one minute it works fine. The next minute. I have an unstable connection and, uh, also just, you know, ready to throw probably this old laptop through a wall. Uh, and, uh, maybe that's just what needs to happen, so I stop using it.
Um, but I, I hope that you're, uh, you know, enjoying yourself as you are diving into the wonderful world of voiceover. A shout out to anybody that's, uh, new that may have stumbled upon us, thanks to some added promo that's been happening through social media platforms. I'm so sorry that you've had to see my, my mug, uh, uh, across your, your feeds.
Uh, but, uh, you know, every once in a while they want me to go ahead and do a video. So, you know what I do? I do a video, uh, you know, and, and get the word out for Voice Coaches Radio. Uh, you know, the beautiful thing is we get to tackle your questions. We get to tackle some, some stuff that I've been dealing with and, you know, I love having some of our former students on so you can hear, you know, the challenges maybe that they've had and.
Uh, the experiences that they've had, what their hopes are and what they're doing to reach those goals. Just like we had Jenny P on last week, she's a whole lot of fun. And, um, you know, every once in a while you get a student that is very self-aware, which I think is, is very, very important. You know, I knew for myself.
Going into this industry that I was an incredibly shy human and, and I was going to have to really, really push myself to not hold myself back. You know, I could have been the exact reason that I didn't get to do anything that I really wanted to do. And, uh, you know, I didn't wanna be, I didn't wanna be that guy.
Uh, you know, uh, so, so I had that self-awareness of myself. I, I also was very much aware. That even though it's not like a doctor has medically diagnosed me with dyslexia like. I definitely have it. It might not be as extreme as it is for somebody else, but it is definitely there and it's been there and it's probably a good reason why that I was such a bad test taker and you know, the anxiety that would creep in with it, knowing that something is not working right in my brain and I'm probably going to fail this test.
Like, I mean, that was a whole thing, you know, all through school. So, you know, these self-awareness is for myself going into doing this, this type of work, and. Getting in front of a microphone and doing it in front of other people, like it was just very important for me to have that. Kind of heightened, you know, knowledge of that.
So when I would, uh, kinda go into any project or an any studio that I could kind of mentally prepare myself and be like, Hey, listen, yes, you do deal with these things, you're gonna get through it, you know, and. Recently I had a student, his name is Harry, and he's an older gentleman. And this is one of those things he has been told for years and years and years.
Like, oh man, your voice, like you must be doing something with it. Right. And you know, it's always been of interest and like his wife, I think just got a little sick of him being like. Hear that I could do that. And she's like, okay, yeah, you can cool. Do something with it then. And, and she actually had pushed him in our direction, uh, when, when she found us.
And, and, and he, you know, had his first class with me only about a, a month ago now, but again, yeah, his name is Harry. And one of the things, he just stopped me in the middle of class and he goes, I, I think, you know, one of the things that I forgot to tell you that I think is very important that you should be aware of is that I, I have a stutter.
Up until that point, can I tell you? He didn't stutter once and after that he didn't stutter at all. I think possibly he was comfortable with me, which is good, but he has a heightened awareness, right? He's aware of this for himself, and what I said to him was, it's really good that you know that this happens.
It's good that, you know, this could be something that pops up because. You're gonna know how to fix it in the moment for yourself because at this point, I mean, this gentleman's gotta be in his probably late fifties, if not sixties. And, and like, you know, if you go years with something like that, chances are at some point you've had to try to control it for yourself.
And that's only of course, if you're aware that it's happening, but that that awareness. So key because you're able to almost like, stop yourself in that moment. Take a take a just a second. Right. Second of relief. Uh, a second of that pause to clear your mind for a moment and just relax. Maybe it's a deep breath that you've gotta take and then jump right back in and, uh.
Maybe that's, that's all you needed. It was just like a reset, you know? And, uh, he's a gentleman that he, he speaks at church. He speaks at a number of things and he's had to read. And, you know, he's told me for whatever reason, you know, it's, I. It's when he is not doing those kind of things that he'll stutter.
So it's almost like the adrenaline rush or whatever that's happening for him as he gets on a stage to go ahead and do anything is when his brain is so focused that the stutter doesn't happen. It's, you know, the brain and the body are an interesting, uh, you know, thing that work together because, you know, I, I, I see that for so many.
Um. If you look at different singers and performers, it's like they are incredibly shy off stage. They get on stage. It's almost like they're a completely different person because it's like they just feel at home right there and they're able to let loose and have a blast and showcase their talent. And, uh, you know, that might be the case for Harry.
You know, that might be exactly what's happening. And then that means that this platform is a great one for him. You know, I, I may have spoken about this other guy. Before, but he was somebody, um, I can't remember his name off the top of my head, but I had him in class and, and he actually had a little bit of a lisp.
Those s's came out a little bit funny and, you know, we were in that, that initial class and, and I said to him, I'm like, well listen, I mean, I'm gonna mark this down and I don't want you to think that you failed your evaluation here with me. 'cause I do want you to keep going. I think you've got a lot of great ability and, and promise, but.
You've gotta promise me right now that you're gonna, you're gonna work on this, you know, maybe you work with a speech pathologist or maybe you just go ahead and you bust your butt on your own and you do different exercises that I'm sure you can find, you know, on YouTube or whatever. And you know, that guy, he was telling me each time, you know, I was doing this, I was doing this.
And it's like, people can say anything, right? And you know, I'm just hoping that, you know, the action is actually there. And then what happens is we get in demo day and I heard him. Have that little bit of lazy S Right. And he heard it and he correct it in the moment and it was like the most beautiful thing I have ever witnessed because that is somebody.
Who has trained their ear already, and that is just a couple months in. Right. And that's not an easy task, but that's the hard work he put in. And that's the awareness of it. Right? And you don't have that awareness sometimes at first. Maybe it takes somebody like me pointing it out and being like, Hey, I don't know if you know you do this, but you know that that's something I noticed.
And then that's where the work begins. So having that. That awareness, that self-awareness is, is something that might be an extra skill that is developed over time, but man does. Is it like a game changer? It, it really is. Uh, you know, if you're somebody, like a goal is character work, but you know, like right now, in this moment.
You get really scared to do any of that kind of stuff in front of anybody else, but you like have a, like a blast doing it by yourself. Guess what? Add people to the mix. I mean, it could start with like your mom a for all I care. It could start with your best friend. Start with just one person in front of you doing that stuff.
Then add a couple more, and then add a couple more from that. You know, you gotta push yourself sometimes and uh, you gotta be okay with that too. So just self-awareness. It's way more important than I think anybody could ever really imagine. But, uh, if you've got something you'd love us to tackle here on the podcast, [email protected], uh, please feel free to reach out.
We'd love to hear from you whether you've got questions, some feedback or, or anything Otherwise, maybe you just wanna get some more details about voice coaches, which you can find right here in the blog post that goes along with this episode. Uh, but we got more episodes coming your way next week, so stay safe, everybody.
Enjoy your weekend.
Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.
Studio, I've got one laptop that's on the outs, and, uh, realized that based on like, upload and download time of, of something recently. And I'm like, man, I hate change. Uh, I really do. Uh, so that has been one of those things where I'm just like, I know it's gotta happen, but I don't really want to. So, you know, eventually I'll make the change.
I'll, I'll do the switch. Uh, but. And I also realize it's gonna make my life easier when I do that. But I still, I mean, if you're like me and you don't like change, you don't even care. Uh, but the other thing is too, like all of a sudden within the last like week or so, I've had an internet issue and I'm ready to like ring spectrum's neck if that's even, uh, an option.
Uh, because it's like, hi, I pay a lot of money and I am boosted already. What, what is the deal? Um, you know, one minute it works fine. The next minute. I have an unstable connection and, uh, also just, you know, ready to throw probably this old laptop through a wall. Uh, and, uh, maybe that's just what needs to happen, so I stop using it.
Um, but I, I hope that you're, uh, you know, enjoying yourself as you are diving into the wonderful world of voiceover. A shout out to anybody that's, uh, new that may have stumbled upon us, thanks to some added promo that's been happening through social media platforms. I'm so sorry that you've had to see my, my mug, uh, uh, across your, your feeds.
Uh, but, uh, you know, every once in a while they want me to go ahead and do a video. So, you know what I do? I do a video, uh, you know, and, and get the word out for Voice Coaches Radio. Uh, you know, the beautiful thing is we get to tackle your questions. We get to tackle some, some stuff that I've been dealing with and, you know, I love having some of our former students on so you can hear, you know, the challenges maybe that they've had and.
Uh, the experiences that they've had, what their hopes are and what they're doing to reach those goals. Just like we had Jenny P on last week, she's a whole lot of fun. And, um, you know, every once in a while you get a student that is very self-aware, which I think is, is very, very important. You know, I knew for myself.
Going into this industry that I was an incredibly shy human and, and I was going to have to really, really push myself to not hold myself back. You know, I could have been the exact reason that I didn't get to do anything that I really wanted to do. And, uh, you know, I didn't wanna be, I didn't wanna be that guy.
Uh, you know, uh, so, so I had that self-awareness of myself. I, I also was very much aware. That even though it's not like a doctor has medically diagnosed me with dyslexia like. I definitely have it. It might not be as extreme as it is for somebody else, but it is definitely there and it's been there and it's probably a good reason why that I was such a bad test taker and you know, the anxiety that would creep in with it, knowing that something is not working right in my brain and I'm probably going to fail this test.
Like, I mean, that was a whole thing, you know, all through school. So, you know, these self-awareness is for myself going into doing this, this type of work, and. Getting in front of a microphone and doing it in front of other people, like it was just very important for me to have that. Kind of heightened, you know, knowledge of that.
So when I would, uh, kinda go into any project or an any studio that I could kind of mentally prepare myself and be like, Hey, listen, yes, you do deal with these things, you're gonna get through it, you know, and. Recently I had a student, his name is Harry, and he's an older gentleman. And this is one of those things he has been told for years and years and years.
Like, oh man, your voice, like you must be doing something with it. Right. And you know, it's always been of interest and like his wife, I think just got a little sick of him being like. Hear that I could do that. And she's like, okay, yeah, you can cool. Do something with it then. And, and she actually had pushed him in our direction, uh, when, when she found us.
And, and, and he, you know, had his first class with me only about a, a month ago now, but again, yeah, his name is Harry. And one of the things, he just stopped me in the middle of class and he goes, I, I think, you know, one of the things that I forgot to tell you that I think is very important that you should be aware of is that I, I have a stutter.
Up until that point, can I tell you? He didn't stutter once and after that he didn't stutter at all. I think possibly he was comfortable with me, which is good, but he has a heightened awareness, right? He's aware of this for himself, and what I said to him was, it's really good that you know that this happens.
It's good that, you know, this could be something that pops up because. You're gonna know how to fix it in the moment for yourself because at this point, I mean, this gentleman's gotta be in his probably late fifties, if not sixties. And, and like, you know, if you go years with something like that, chances are at some point you've had to try to control it for yourself.
And that's only of course, if you're aware that it's happening, but that that awareness. So key because you're able to almost like, stop yourself in that moment. Take a take a just a second. Right. Second of relief. Uh, a second of that pause to clear your mind for a moment and just relax. Maybe it's a deep breath that you've gotta take and then jump right back in and, uh.
Maybe that's, that's all you needed. It was just like a reset, you know? And, uh, he's a gentleman that he, he speaks at church. He speaks at a number of things and he's had to read. And, you know, he's told me for whatever reason, you know, it's, I. It's when he is not doing those kind of things that he'll stutter.
So it's almost like the adrenaline rush or whatever that's happening for him as he gets on a stage to go ahead and do anything is when his brain is so focused that the stutter doesn't happen. It's, you know, the brain and the body are an interesting, uh, you know, thing that work together because, you know, I, I, I see that for so many.
Um. If you look at different singers and performers, it's like they are incredibly shy off stage. They get on stage. It's almost like they're a completely different person because it's like they just feel at home right there and they're able to let loose and have a blast and showcase their talent. And, uh, you know, that might be the case for Harry.
You know, that might be exactly what's happening. And then that means that this platform is a great one for him. You know, I, I may have spoken about this other guy. Before, but he was somebody, um, I can't remember his name off the top of my head, but I had him in class and, and he actually had a little bit of a lisp.
Those s's came out a little bit funny and, you know, we were in that, that initial class and, and I said to him, I'm like, well listen, I mean, I'm gonna mark this down and I don't want you to think that you failed your evaluation here with me. 'cause I do want you to keep going. I think you've got a lot of great ability and, and promise, but.
You've gotta promise me right now that you're gonna, you're gonna work on this, you know, maybe you work with a speech pathologist or maybe you just go ahead and you bust your butt on your own and you do different exercises that I'm sure you can find, you know, on YouTube or whatever. And you know, that guy, he was telling me each time, you know, I was doing this, I was doing this.
And it's like, people can say anything, right? And you know, I'm just hoping that, you know, the action is actually there. And then what happens is we get in demo day and I heard him. Have that little bit of lazy S Right. And he heard it and he correct it in the moment and it was like the most beautiful thing I have ever witnessed because that is somebody.
Who has trained their ear already, and that is just a couple months in. Right. And that's not an easy task, but that's the hard work he put in. And that's the awareness of it. Right? And you don't have that awareness sometimes at first. Maybe it takes somebody like me pointing it out and being like, Hey, I don't know if you know you do this, but you know that that's something I noticed.
And then that's where the work begins. So having that. That awareness, that self-awareness is, is something that might be an extra skill that is developed over time, but man does. Is it like a game changer? It, it really is. Uh, you know, if you're somebody, like a goal is character work, but you know, like right now, in this moment.
You get really scared to do any of that kind of stuff in front of anybody else, but you like have a, like a blast doing it by yourself. Guess what? Add people to the mix. I mean, it could start with like your mom a for all I care. It could start with your best friend. Start with just one person in front of you doing that stuff.
Then add a couple more, and then add a couple more from that. You know, you gotta push yourself sometimes and uh, you gotta be okay with that too. So just self-awareness. It's way more important than I think anybody could ever really imagine. But, uh, if you've got something you'd love us to tackle here on the podcast, [email protected], uh, please feel free to reach out.
We'd love to hear from you whether you've got questions, some feedback or, or anything Otherwise, maybe you just wanna get some more details about voice coaches, which you can find right here in the blog post that goes along with this episode. Uh, but we got more episodes coming your way next week, so stay safe, everybody.
Enjoy your weekend.
Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.
This week on Voice Coaches Radio, a student recently gave Marissa a light bulb moment on a piece of being a voice actor, or really anything in life, that’s so important. It all comes down to: self awareness. Lets talk…
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