VO Mindset: That “One Thing”… Tuesday VO Tech Tip

The One Thing holding you back might not be “one” thing.

If it were just a single thing, simply finding it and fixing it would likely cause everything else to fall into place. It might be better to think of it as the “next” thing. Maybe it’s the thing holding you back today, or perhaps simply right now. 

Rather than looking for that One Thing, I tend to lean toward the idea that “It’s not the one thing you do. It’s everything you do.” That implies a certain combination of commitment and momentum.  

Any creative business is challenging and contains many variables in the overall equation. Voiceover is a balance of the technical and creative. Our task continues to be setting up structures which support moments of brilliance and giving ourselves the space to learn from failures. 

That can help change focus a bit, hopefully reducing pressure and reminding us there will always be plateaus – periods of refinement where it feels as though no improvement occurs. 

Those plateaus seem to extend further as we get better at our craft. In my first few voiceover workshops, each moment brought new insights, concepts were new and my skill set was limited to say the least. Later, those big jumps occurred less frequently.

It’s helpful to consider that even during those plateaus we are gaining knowledge and refining things. This past week I took part in a workshop as a student – furiously scribbling notes as the visiting instructor provided salient insights. It was interesting how many shared ideas directly related to experiences I’d been having for the past few months. There were many “a-ha” moments. Without having done that work, the more sublime comments would not have resonated so clearly.

The effort expended as we advance across the terrain of those plateaus will aid us when we encounter the next climb. 

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