VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio #672 – What If I’m Not Ready?
Voice coaches, radio, everything voiceover. Hey there. Welcome to a brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio. My name is Marissa and I hope that you're feeling good as we, uh, have gone through yet another week, almost a whole other month here in 2025 as. The world is just crazy. And, uh, you know, there's a lot of things that I have checked off on my 2025 Bingo card that I thought were just never gonna happen.
But here I am with almost a coverall, uh, those who've played. Bingo. You get it. Um, you know, one thing that I have to, God, I have to stop. Um, I, I glance at Facebook Marketplace probably a little bit too much for the, the free time that I have considering it's very little, uh, you know, I find myself scrolling through and the thing is.
You know how the algorithm is, right? You click on one thing, one thing that you like, and then all of a sudden it's all the same kind of stuff. And, uh, I'm scrolling through, I'm scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. And I stopped, uh, two different locations the other day and I spent like 300 bucks. And I am just like, surrounded with childhood stuff and I am in all my glory.
But I'm sitting here like. I just spent $300. And why? Um, you know, there's some of it, you know, because I do sell stuff on the side, like I am gonna make some money back. But some of it is just to play, but it's just, I find it hilarious that I am the way I am. Uh, but you know what, we all got our things.
Hopefully you've got some good things that you're dealing with right now and, uh, we've got a question that I wanna tackle with you right now because I kind of hinted at this last episode. You know, you're always gonna think. That you're not ready. It, I will tell you that right now. Uh, you could be practicing and you could be growing and you could be learning for years and you're still like holding yourself back thinking, I just don't know if I'm ready.
I don't know if I'm ready to audition. I don't know if I'm ready to even do a demo. I don't know if I'm ready to read for anybody. Uh, I'm like scared to read for myself. Um, you know, and. That's the thing is I had a, a student, Michael, who was just like, I don't know, I, I just, I've been listening to so much stuff.
I've been listening to myself, but, you know, some of these podcasts and some of these YouTubes and stuff that I watch, like, they give me some advice and I'm just, I'm, I'm wondering because they, this one's just like, I just don't wanna, don't make a demo too soon, you know, because you're going to keep growing and it's like, well listen.
Here's what I told him, and this is what I want you to keep in mind, right? So. The way my story goes is I was just this incredibly shy kid, uh, forever. Like, I mean, I love to entertain the people that I, that I loved and cared about. I was scared as all heck in front of anybody else because I was just so worried about being judged.
Um, kids are awful. They're, they're, I think maybe a little, like, depending, I've heard positive things that they're a little bit nicer these days, but like kids in the nineties were miserable. Um, you know, if you were just slightly different, oh God, they hated you. And, um, I, you know, I felt like I was.
Slightly different. I was not comfortable with myself and that stayed that way for a very long time. I mean, I was in college, you know, feeling very uncomfortable with myself. I was trying to expand though, and I, I took some acting classes, I took some television production classes. I graduated for fine arts.
I do have a degree and associate's degree in that, that I've really not used all that often. Um, but I, I went to a, a trade school for radio. Right from there I auditioned, I got in. It was one of those things that I said I wanted to do as a kid, and my mom laughed at me, uh, simply because, Marissa, you're so shy.
Uh, you know, and, and it's not shocking that this is the, the path that I took. It's just shocking that I allowed myself to do it. So, you know, that's the thing, right? I had a break free from myself and allow myself to take those steps forward. Now, here is what I'm going to tell you, right? Because. The question that came was, I just, is it too soon for me to do a demo?
Now, the way that the voice coaches program works is that, you know, you, you're with us for about four, four and a half months basically leading up to demo. And in that time, you know, you're meeting with somebody once a month. In between, you're supposed to be practicing and learning and recording yourself and listening back and, you know, taking those steps with what we've given you to, to grow.
And if you're practicing every day, you're going to be growing and you're gonna be taking that step in the right direction. Now that means that by the time demo day comes around, you've had five, five months roughly of training. And you might be like, well, God, that's just not enough. I, I haven't had enough under my belt to go ahead and get in a studio.
Back to my story real quick, right? I audition at the radio school and I get in now. I believe classes started, I don't know, I wanna say like end of August of 2004 with us really starting to understand how radio really worked. Um, we'll say maybe by the end of September, but most likely by, you know, early October.
So we're, that's when we're getting kind of hands-on with stuff and we're going and, you know, getting behind a mic and we're learning the formats of how to be on the air and how to use the equipment. And I, I went in with the mentality of like, I wanna be. The absolute best that I can be at this. And I don't exactly know how I'm gonna make that happen in that moment.
But hey, I'm just gonna dive in head first. I'm gonna immerse myself with whatever they throw at me, and I'm going to soak up every single second because I wanna prove not just to myself that I can do this, but that I was meant to do this. So that's how I went in, that's how I stayed in in that mindset every single day that I was there.
And I very vividly remember. Being in this one production room and, you know, being behind the mic and, and trying to, we'll say nail a radio break. And what that means is just what you hear that DJ do on the air, that 13 seconds that they might talk, I want it to be able to do it, do it right. So I go and I do what I think I'm supposed to, and I go out into the classroom and I call my teacher and I think, I think I got it.
He comes in and he is like, well, you know what, you're, you're almost there. I want you to go ahead, I want you to try this. So I Go ahead. I do it again. I call him back in. Hey, I, I think, I think I'm there. I think I, I think this time he's like, uh, you know what? It's just about, I want you to go ahead, take a listen back, and I want you to try this one more time.
So I go and I do it again, and he comes in and he's silent for a second. He's like, you got it. Listen to that again. You got it. Now replicate it. And so I, I did that and I kept doing it. And we would do these kind of like mock shows in, that was like part of the class. Like everybody would be doing something different.
I would get in that, that studio and I would do this like, you know, kind of fake radio show and I would record all that audio. So then next thing I know. It's like maybe a week later, and I'm in the classroom a little bit early, kind of accidentally. And the one gentleman that did the morning class happened to be somebody that worked at the radio station I wanted to be on.
It was the station that I grew up listening to, and it's all I ever wanted to do. And I was like, crap, I don't wanna make a mat. So here I am, and I'm, I'm like brand spanking new and being introduced to this guy. Then my teacher goes, Hey, have you heard Marissa's audio? And I'm like, oh God, don't play him that.
Uh, and then he played it and it's the most uncomfortable feeling to have somebody listen to your audio right there in front of you. But he was like incredibly welcoming and just like, I saw his eyes like, whoa, uh, like this girl's got something and next thing I know, he wants me to email it over to him.
I did that. He played it for his boss. And the week later. I got my first job, so this is my point, right? I was technically a month, in one month into recording, one month into really understanding how things worked and, and just trying to, to really understand it as much as I could and get better each and every moment, just one month in.
And that, that audio they had that will say, first demo was just. You know, like maybe like a week after figuring it out, so to say, is five months too early? I'm gonna be the first person that tells you, heck no, it's not. You know, if you're putting in the work, if you're doing what you're supposed to and you're putting in the effort, it's never too soon.
But what I want you to realize is this, you will always keep growing, always. If you're doing it right and you're. Listening back and, you know, you're tweaking things because of what you hear. If you're letting other people listen and giving some feedback, you know, with a grain of salt, um, you know, and, and you're just kind of constantly in that mode of making sure that you are your best and you keep learning and you keep doing it all, and it's just like a rinse and repeat sort of situation, you will continuously grow.
Especially in the beginning. I mean, you know, you do that first demo, yes. Six months later you might wanna do another one. Six months after that, you might wanna do another one or a year after that, you know. But as you start to get some work as well, you're gonna have real material to utilize to create those demos.
It's not, I'm not saying that you're gonna have to go back and spend some money to get into a studio and do it like you are gonna potentially have actual work to use and then cut up and create your own demos, you know? And. These days I should be doing it a lot more frequently than I am, but I'm, I'm just so busy that it's tough.
But, you know, I, I have multiple demos like, you know, I have a variety of radio demos based on types of. Like music that's played on the station. I have different commercial demos based on tone and energy. I have different demos for audio books and podcasting. Like, I mean, I've got audio, I got just demos all over the place.
Um, you know, so you will constantly have this growth potential and opportunity, but I don't want you to be the person that holds yourself back. Is it too soon? Only if you really just began and you only maybe read for a day, you know? But like give yourself some credit. And sometimes, sometimes it's just meant to be, you know, I feel like I might be that person, but I also know that a lot of hard work went into what I was doing because.
I didn't understand it at first. Like I knew that I loved listening to the radio, but I didn't really understand what they were doing. And then when I started, my eyes were open, my ears were open, my my soul was digesting it all and. Boy, did I just like go ahead and try to knock it out of the park each and every time I did anything.
And I still do, you know, I mean, there are days that I'm tired. Maybe it's, it's just a little bunt, but still, you know what I mean? Um, so again, give yourself more credit. Um, you know, and as long as you're putting the hard work in. You, you're gonna be ready when the moment comes. Um, you know, I don't want you to be the person that's holding yourself back.
We're very good at doing that. If you've got anything you want us to tackle, of course on the pod here, [email protected], you can send me an email directly and it's of course brand new episodes come every Friday at five Eastern. Another one's coming at you next week. Stay safe everybody. Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.
But here I am with almost a coverall, uh, those who've played. Bingo. You get it. Um, you know, one thing that I have to, God, I have to stop. Um, I, I glance at Facebook Marketplace probably a little bit too much for the, the free time that I have considering it's very little, uh, you know, I find myself scrolling through and the thing is.
You know how the algorithm is, right? You click on one thing, one thing that you like, and then all of a sudden it's all the same kind of stuff. And, uh, I'm scrolling through, I'm scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. And I stopped, uh, two different locations the other day and I spent like 300 bucks. And I am just like, surrounded with childhood stuff and I am in all my glory.
But I'm sitting here like. I just spent $300. And why? Um, you know, there's some of it, you know, because I do sell stuff on the side, like I am gonna make some money back. But some of it is just to play, but it's just, I find it hilarious that I am the way I am. Uh, but you know what, we all got our things.
Hopefully you've got some good things that you're dealing with right now and, uh, we've got a question that I wanna tackle with you right now because I kind of hinted at this last episode. You know, you're always gonna think. That you're not ready. It, I will tell you that right now. Uh, you could be practicing and you could be growing and you could be learning for years and you're still like holding yourself back thinking, I just don't know if I'm ready.
I don't know if I'm ready to audition. I don't know if I'm ready to even do a demo. I don't know if I'm ready to read for anybody. Uh, I'm like scared to read for myself. Um, you know, and. That's the thing is I had a, a student, Michael, who was just like, I don't know, I, I just, I've been listening to so much stuff.
I've been listening to myself, but, you know, some of these podcasts and some of these YouTubes and stuff that I watch, like, they give me some advice and I'm just, I'm, I'm wondering because they, this one's just like, I just don't wanna, don't make a demo too soon, you know, because you're going to keep growing and it's like, well listen.
Here's what I told him, and this is what I want you to keep in mind, right? So. The way my story goes is I was just this incredibly shy kid, uh, forever. Like, I mean, I love to entertain the people that I, that I loved and cared about. I was scared as all heck in front of anybody else because I was just so worried about being judged.
Um, kids are awful. They're, they're, I think maybe a little, like, depending, I've heard positive things that they're a little bit nicer these days, but like kids in the nineties were miserable. Um, you know, if you were just slightly different, oh God, they hated you. And, um, I, you know, I felt like I was.
Slightly different. I was not comfortable with myself and that stayed that way for a very long time. I mean, I was in college, you know, feeling very uncomfortable with myself. I was trying to expand though, and I, I took some acting classes, I took some television production classes. I graduated for fine arts.
I do have a degree and associate's degree in that, that I've really not used all that often. Um, but I, I went to a, a trade school for radio. Right from there I auditioned, I got in. It was one of those things that I said I wanted to do as a kid, and my mom laughed at me, uh, simply because, Marissa, you're so shy.
Uh, you know, and, and it's not shocking that this is the, the path that I took. It's just shocking that I allowed myself to do it. So, you know, that's the thing, right? I had a break free from myself and allow myself to take those steps forward. Now, here is what I'm going to tell you, right? Because. The question that came was, I just, is it too soon for me to do a demo?
Now, the way that the voice coaches program works is that, you know, you, you're with us for about four, four and a half months basically leading up to demo. And in that time, you know, you're meeting with somebody once a month. In between, you're supposed to be practicing and learning and recording yourself and listening back and, you know, taking those steps with what we've given you to, to grow.
And if you're practicing every day, you're going to be growing and you're gonna be taking that step in the right direction. Now that means that by the time demo day comes around, you've had five, five months roughly of training. And you might be like, well, God, that's just not enough. I, I haven't had enough under my belt to go ahead and get in a studio.
Back to my story real quick, right? I audition at the radio school and I get in now. I believe classes started, I don't know, I wanna say like end of August of 2004 with us really starting to understand how radio really worked. Um, we'll say maybe by the end of September, but most likely by, you know, early October.
So we're, that's when we're getting kind of hands-on with stuff and we're going and, you know, getting behind a mic and we're learning the formats of how to be on the air and how to use the equipment. And I, I went in with the mentality of like, I wanna be. The absolute best that I can be at this. And I don't exactly know how I'm gonna make that happen in that moment.
But hey, I'm just gonna dive in head first. I'm gonna immerse myself with whatever they throw at me, and I'm going to soak up every single second because I wanna prove not just to myself that I can do this, but that I was meant to do this. So that's how I went in, that's how I stayed in in that mindset every single day that I was there.
And I very vividly remember. Being in this one production room and, you know, being behind the mic and, and trying to, we'll say nail a radio break. And what that means is just what you hear that DJ do on the air, that 13 seconds that they might talk, I want it to be able to do it, do it right. So I go and I do what I think I'm supposed to, and I go out into the classroom and I call my teacher and I think, I think I got it.
He comes in and he is like, well, you know what, you're, you're almost there. I want you to go ahead, I want you to try this. So I Go ahead. I do it again. I call him back in. Hey, I, I think, I think I'm there. I think I, I think this time he's like, uh, you know what? It's just about, I want you to go ahead, take a listen back, and I want you to try this one more time.
So I go and I do it again, and he comes in and he's silent for a second. He's like, you got it. Listen to that again. You got it. Now replicate it. And so I, I did that and I kept doing it. And we would do these kind of like mock shows in, that was like part of the class. Like everybody would be doing something different.
I would get in that, that studio and I would do this like, you know, kind of fake radio show and I would record all that audio. So then next thing I know. It's like maybe a week later, and I'm in the classroom a little bit early, kind of accidentally. And the one gentleman that did the morning class happened to be somebody that worked at the radio station I wanted to be on.
It was the station that I grew up listening to, and it's all I ever wanted to do. And I was like, crap, I don't wanna make a mat. So here I am, and I'm, I'm like brand spanking new and being introduced to this guy. Then my teacher goes, Hey, have you heard Marissa's audio? And I'm like, oh God, don't play him that.
Uh, and then he played it and it's the most uncomfortable feeling to have somebody listen to your audio right there in front of you. But he was like incredibly welcoming and just like, I saw his eyes like, whoa, uh, like this girl's got something and next thing I know, he wants me to email it over to him.
I did that. He played it for his boss. And the week later. I got my first job, so this is my point, right? I was technically a month, in one month into recording, one month into really understanding how things worked and, and just trying to, to really understand it as much as I could and get better each and every moment, just one month in.
And that, that audio they had that will say, first demo was just. You know, like maybe like a week after figuring it out, so to say, is five months too early? I'm gonna be the first person that tells you, heck no, it's not. You know, if you're putting in the work, if you're doing what you're supposed to and you're putting in the effort, it's never too soon.
But what I want you to realize is this, you will always keep growing, always. If you're doing it right and you're. Listening back and, you know, you're tweaking things because of what you hear. If you're letting other people listen and giving some feedback, you know, with a grain of salt, um, you know, and, and you're just kind of constantly in that mode of making sure that you are your best and you keep learning and you keep doing it all, and it's just like a rinse and repeat sort of situation, you will continuously grow.
Especially in the beginning. I mean, you know, you do that first demo, yes. Six months later you might wanna do another one. Six months after that, you might wanna do another one or a year after that, you know. But as you start to get some work as well, you're gonna have real material to utilize to create those demos.
It's not, I'm not saying that you're gonna have to go back and spend some money to get into a studio and do it like you are gonna potentially have actual work to use and then cut up and create your own demos, you know? And. These days I should be doing it a lot more frequently than I am, but I'm, I'm just so busy that it's tough.
But, you know, I, I have multiple demos like, you know, I have a variety of radio demos based on types of. Like music that's played on the station. I have different commercial demos based on tone and energy. I have different demos for audio books and podcasting. Like, I mean, I've got audio, I got just demos all over the place.
Um, you know, so you will constantly have this growth potential and opportunity, but I don't want you to be the person that holds yourself back. Is it too soon? Only if you really just began and you only maybe read for a day, you know? But like give yourself some credit. And sometimes, sometimes it's just meant to be, you know, I feel like I might be that person, but I also know that a lot of hard work went into what I was doing because.
I didn't understand it at first. Like I knew that I loved listening to the radio, but I didn't really understand what they were doing. And then when I started, my eyes were open, my ears were open, my my soul was digesting it all and. Boy, did I just like go ahead and try to knock it out of the park each and every time I did anything.
And I still do, you know, I mean, there are days that I'm tired. Maybe it's, it's just a little bunt, but still, you know what I mean? Um, so again, give yourself more credit. Um, you know, and as long as you're putting the hard work in. You, you're gonna be ready when the moment comes. Um, you know, I don't want you to be the person that's holding yourself back.
We're very good at doing that. If you've got anything you want us to tackle, of course on the pod here, [email protected], you can send me an email directly and it's of course brand new episodes come every Friday at five Eastern. Another one's coming at you next week. Stay safe everybody. Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.
This week on Voice Coaches Radio, Marissa tackles a question from a recent student that felt like he just might not be ready. It didn’t help that voices on the internet were making him believe it, on top of everything. When will you know you’re ready? What if I told you, you’ll always think you can be better?
