VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio – #659 – Don’t Divorce Your Past
Voice coaches radio, everything voiceover. Welcome to a brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio as we dive into another Friday. If you're listening on release day, getting ready for an all new weekend, maybe, uh, you're doing some parties and stuff as Halloween is, uh, near, and so just to enjoying yourself.
That's what it's all about. You gotta go ahead. And enjoy yourself because we get one life. Right. And that's the whole thing. Like when a lot of people are coming to us and trying to get some details about voiceover and stuff, I mean, they, they've been, they've been enjoying life maybe, but not, uh, to the fullest.
And that's what the, the goal is now is to do something that they love. And I mean, nobody's getting into voiceover. Just just 'cause like they wanna, they enjoy it. They have fun. Uh, that's the whole point. Doesn't matter if you're just like editing somebody's work or you're the one, you know, performing it.
Um, so here's, here's what I think is crazy though, is so many people kind of forget, nah, I mean, maybe forgets not the right word, but they don't even have it like, as a consideration when starting. What they've done in their life. And I think that is where we need to focus right now, which is what is your focus going to be, right?
Like. There are a lot of people, um, you come in and maybe it's because you've been listening to audio books, right? And you're like, I can do that. I can do that better. And you're probably right. Yeah. Maybe you can, uh, we'll, we're gonna go ahead, we'll develop your skill and we'll see what you got. But you know, it's like you come in and you're like, I wanna do audio books, I wanna do commercials.
I would love to do a kid's book or, or animation or video game. And these are great goals to have, right? But. You kind of forget all the stuff that you have experienced in already that, that can get you started, that can get you, um, you know, already sounding a little bit more seasoned, uh, because of the experience that you have, because of the knowledge or the passion, or the drive, or it's just because you've, you've been engulfed in it for so long, so.
First things first, right? When, when you're going around and, and you're just starting and you're getting educated and you're practicing and you're developing this skill and you're, you're starting to kind of get yourself in a mindset of like, how am I gonna get some work? Where am I gonna start looking?
What should I focus on? That is the question. What is your focus now? The, the way this was actually presented to me was like, don't be divorced from your past unless it's your ex. That's different. Um, you wanna utilize your background, you wanna utilize your interests and like the experience that you have.
So like, we have plenty of people that will come in from, from varying backgrounds and, you know, it's like, well, maybe they've been the person that. Trains all the new employees and they've been doing that forever and they just, oh God, I'm so sick of it. Okay, I'm glad that you're sick of it. Cool. We're gonna get you out of that industry.
Right? And you're gonna have fun doing voiceover, but you know, maybe, maybe you start doing training material, you know, or maybe you start not just doing training material, but like educational material because that's what you've been doing. So. When you think about it, it's like you come in with a built in skillset already.
It's a beautiful thing and, and so many people just wanna like not even think about what they've done because they're like, ah, I'm so sick of it. I've, I've told so many that have been coming from the medical field. Ah, God. I'm just, I'm so drained from it. I just, I don't wanna do medicine anymore. I, I don't wanna be a nurse anymore.
Cool. That's fine. You don't have to be, you can work in voiceover. But may I suggest that you start in maybe like medical scientific, because like think about all the words that you can say. That my mouth can't, uh, you know, my, my mouth can't, my mouth and brain can't compute. Uh, you know, and probably shouldn't even try.
But that's work that you'll be able to get a lot easier than somebody like me who is a seasoned pro, right? And you're just potentially getting your feet wet. So it's like you've gotta go ahead and look at what, what has my past provided me? Don't try to erase it, try, try to hold onto it, you know, hug it a little bit, you know, give it some love.
Um, you know, maybe you've got a background that's like heavy in, in like baseball, like a sport, like you played from the time that you were a kid all the way through college, you know, and you are just a huge lover of baseball and you know, all of it in and out. Um, yeah, maybe look for some sports related stuff.
Uh, you know, it's like you've gotta look at these things because it's an instant like niche. It's an instant, like, uh, like you could fit into it almost like a glove. Um, so these are the kind of things that you wanna always keep in mind. Don't be divorced from your past or, or what's made you, you, you know, these, these are the things that really, really can help.
Just get things started. You can become anything that you wanna be, but to get yourself started to get those first jobs, don't make it so challenging. You know, allow it to come with with some more ease. Because think about it, I mean. You were in whatever field for so long, or you, you were surrounded by other people who were just as passionate about this topic as you were.
You have connections already. You have built in relationships that can maybe be just like. I don't know, um, massaged a little bit and a allowed to kind of just slide right in with some ease and, and just because it's like you were already there. You were already a part of something, and you have that connection.
Like use things like that to your benefit. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. So again, let's not be divorced. From your past and what has been your job, what has been your career, what has been your day to day, and what has, you know, helped allow you to become you? Um, you know, here's a great example too. I mean, even when it's your, your skillsets that you're developing as, as a voice actor, you know, you, you might not.
Understand the terminology and, and you wouldn't be able to put, you know, the reason to paper as to why you choose some of the things that you do naturally and what you've done, you know, in the past. But as an example, like I had a student just the other day who is a former puppeteer, like, like big stage puppeteer, and for years he was creating a character.
He had like no experience in being a voice actor. He just looked at it like, oh, well, I'm just, you know, I'm acting a little bit with this puppet, you know? And I'm like, okay. But think about it. In order to make that puppet come to life, you need to make it seem real. The way to make it seem real is it needs to speak like we speak.
You have been doing that for years. All these things already to create that puppet and. That bit of magic. So you are already doing it, but now we're gonna get you the understanding as to why you made the choices that you did. So, so now you can actually like look at what you're doing and. Really, you know, put to paper in the way of like, oh, you know what?
I am making the right choices. Like you could have that confidence in it now, and it's all because what you were doing is helping what you now are doing. And it's like the two worlds coming together. Um, I. Again, it's like maybe you had the training background, maybe you had a background in public speaking for your company, being on the phones and like speaking with patients or customers.
Like all these are giving you additional skills right from the beginning. So don't, don't just like ignore them. Don't let them drift away. Hold onto them, cater them like, uh, you know, care for them, um, and, and see how they can help you here. And just getting your, your feet wet and getting you started, because it really does, it goes a distance and you'll probably surprise yourself when you start thinking about all the things that really you've accomplished in life.
I. That can come into play now, you know, for this, it's a, it's a beautiful thing when you see our worlds kind of collide. Um, if you got anything that you want us to talk about here on the podcast, [email protected], [email protected] to learn more about voiceover and voice coaches itself, voice coaches.com, that's all you gotta do.
And, uh, we have a brand new episode that's gonna be coming your way. Oh God already, November. That is gonna be next, next week. Look at us. Go. But enjoy your weekends. Enjoy your week, and stay safe everybody. Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.
That's what it's all about. You gotta go ahead. And enjoy yourself because we get one life. Right. And that's the whole thing. Like when a lot of people are coming to us and trying to get some details about voiceover and stuff, I mean, they, they've been, they've been enjoying life maybe, but not, uh, to the fullest.
And that's what the, the goal is now is to do something that they love. And I mean, nobody's getting into voiceover. Just just 'cause like they wanna, they enjoy it. They have fun. Uh, that's the whole point. Doesn't matter if you're just like editing somebody's work or you're the one, you know, performing it.
Um, so here's, here's what I think is crazy though, is so many people kind of forget, nah, I mean, maybe forgets not the right word, but they don't even have it like, as a consideration when starting. What they've done in their life. And I think that is where we need to focus right now, which is what is your focus going to be, right?
Like. There are a lot of people, um, you come in and maybe it's because you've been listening to audio books, right? And you're like, I can do that. I can do that better. And you're probably right. Yeah. Maybe you can, uh, we'll, we're gonna go ahead, we'll develop your skill and we'll see what you got. But you know, it's like you come in and you're like, I wanna do audio books, I wanna do commercials.
I would love to do a kid's book or, or animation or video game. And these are great goals to have, right? But. You kind of forget all the stuff that you have experienced in already that, that can get you started, that can get you, um, you know, already sounding a little bit more seasoned, uh, because of the experience that you have, because of the knowledge or the passion, or the drive, or it's just because you've, you've been engulfed in it for so long, so.
First things first, right? When, when you're going around and, and you're just starting and you're getting educated and you're practicing and you're developing this skill and you're, you're starting to kind of get yourself in a mindset of like, how am I gonna get some work? Where am I gonna start looking?
What should I focus on? That is the question. What is your focus now? The, the way this was actually presented to me was like, don't be divorced from your past unless it's your ex. That's different. Um, you wanna utilize your background, you wanna utilize your interests and like the experience that you have.
So like, we have plenty of people that will come in from, from varying backgrounds and, you know, it's like, well, maybe they've been the person that. Trains all the new employees and they've been doing that forever and they just, oh God, I'm so sick of it. Okay, I'm glad that you're sick of it. Cool. We're gonna get you out of that industry.
Right? And you're gonna have fun doing voiceover, but you know, maybe, maybe you start doing training material, you know, or maybe you start not just doing training material, but like educational material because that's what you've been doing. So. When you think about it, it's like you come in with a built in skillset already.
It's a beautiful thing and, and so many people just wanna like not even think about what they've done because they're like, ah, I'm so sick of it. I've, I've told so many that have been coming from the medical field. Ah, God. I'm just, I'm so drained from it. I just, I don't wanna do medicine anymore. I, I don't wanna be a nurse anymore.
Cool. That's fine. You don't have to be, you can work in voiceover. But may I suggest that you start in maybe like medical scientific, because like think about all the words that you can say. That my mouth can't, uh, you know, my, my mouth can't, my mouth and brain can't compute. Uh, you know, and probably shouldn't even try.
But that's work that you'll be able to get a lot easier than somebody like me who is a seasoned pro, right? And you're just potentially getting your feet wet. So it's like you've gotta go ahead and look at what, what has my past provided me? Don't try to erase it, try, try to hold onto it, you know, hug it a little bit, you know, give it some love.
Um, you know, maybe you've got a background that's like heavy in, in like baseball, like a sport, like you played from the time that you were a kid all the way through college, you know, and you are just a huge lover of baseball and you know, all of it in and out. Um, yeah, maybe look for some sports related stuff.
Uh, you know, it's like you've gotta look at these things because it's an instant like niche. It's an instant, like, uh, like you could fit into it almost like a glove. Um, so these are the kind of things that you wanna always keep in mind. Don't be divorced from your past or, or what's made you, you, you know, these, these are the things that really, really can help.
Just get things started. You can become anything that you wanna be, but to get yourself started to get those first jobs, don't make it so challenging. You know, allow it to come with with some more ease. Because think about it, I mean. You were in whatever field for so long, or you, you were surrounded by other people who were just as passionate about this topic as you were.
You have connections already. You have built in relationships that can maybe be just like. I don't know, um, massaged a little bit and a allowed to kind of just slide right in with some ease and, and just because it's like you were already there. You were already a part of something, and you have that connection.
Like use things like that to your benefit. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. So again, let's not be divorced. From your past and what has been your job, what has been your career, what has been your day to day, and what has, you know, helped allow you to become you? Um, you know, here's a great example too. I mean, even when it's your, your skillsets that you're developing as, as a voice actor, you know, you, you might not.
Understand the terminology and, and you wouldn't be able to put, you know, the reason to paper as to why you choose some of the things that you do naturally and what you've done, you know, in the past. But as an example, like I had a student just the other day who is a former puppeteer, like, like big stage puppeteer, and for years he was creating a character.
He had like no experience in being a voice actor. He just looked at it like, oh, well, I'm just, you know, I'm acting a little bit with this puppet, you know? And I'm like, okay. But think about it. In order to make that puppet come to life, you need to make it seem real. The way to make it seem real is it needs to speak like we speak.
You have been doing that for years. All these things already to create that puppet and. That bit of magic. So you are already doing it, but now we're gonna get you the understanding as to why you made the choices that you did. So, so now you can actually like look at what you're doing and. Really, you know, put to paper in the way of like, oh, you know what?
I am making the right choices. Like you could have that confidence in it now, and it's all because what you were doing is helping what you now are doing. And it's like the two worlds coming together. Um, I. Again, it's like maybe you had the training background, maybe you had a background in public speaking for your company, being on the phones and like speaking with patients or customers.
Like all these are giving you additional skills right from the beginning. So don't, don't just like ignore them. Don't let them drift away. Hold onto them, cater them like, uh, you know, care for them, um, and, and see how they can help you here. And just getting your, your feet wet and getting you started, because it really does, it goes a distance and you'll probably surprise yourself when you start thinking about all the things that really you've accomplished in life.
I. That can come into play now, you know, for this, it's a, it's a beautiful thing when you see our worlds kind of collide. Um, if you got anything that you want us to talk about here on the podcast, [email protected], [email protected] to learn more about voiceover and voice coaches itself, voice coaches.com, that's all you gotta do.
And, uh, we have a brand new episode that's gonna be coming your way. Oh God already, November. That is gonna be next, next week. Look at us. Go. But enjoy your weekends. Enjoy your week, and stay safe everybody. Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.
This week on Voice Coaches Radio, Marissa has had many conversations with people and students over the years that always lead back to the same point: don’t ignore your past. Sure, you want to start voice over, you want to start something new and dive into something that’s much more enjoyable to you than what you’ve done. But, that experience you have, the passion for your hobbies, etc can go a long way on this new adventure.
