Good habits? There are se7en of them (Part 1)

A couple of months back I attended an Edge Studio webinar lead by coach +Tom Dheere (the 'h' is silent, but he's not) on Money and Business and the session's focus was on how to keep clients coming back.  Tom offered great tips on how extending courtesy, showing respect, and demonstrating the entire value you bring in your service delivery.  What's more, when you show up to gigs at a recording studio always be on time, smile, be nice, and most important, follow directions.  Seemingly, it's what "highly effective people" do. 

Highly effective...where have I heard that before?   

I've noticed lately the phrase,"highly effective people" has been brought up a few times among some of the voice over trailblazers on their blogs, vlogs, interviews, etc.  The origins and teachings behind that phrase are used as a reference for dare I say, good behavior not only in business, but life in general.   

I'd like to introduce you to The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey.

I read this book back in 2007 and you'll never guess where - at my day job.  Yes, we IT folks (I am one by day) are also into the powerful lessons of personal change that Stephen Covey teaches.  Our organization went a few steps further and got the 7-habits corporate training package that included curriculum for collaboration sessions based on each habit .  We as a group participated in exercises that defined and helped us understand the significance of the book's teachings and put those habits into practice.  I'll admit back then I was younger, I and a few other participants met this with some resistance. "Oh, what bullshit are they trying to push on us now?"  "Doesn't IT leadership have anything better to do than to force us to join these dumb sessions and to read some dumb book written by someone who had a little bit of success and decided to make money off of it?"  "This crap has nothing to do with technology".  Looking back I was a bit ashamed if I had partaken in some of the bashing, but I started to realize then as I was getting older that having an open mind would lead to opportunities that may not have existed or been noticed if I hadn't evolved in my thought process.     

As I skimmed through the book before our first session, I realized that most of the things I read really resonated with me.  For me, it came down to common sense. I wouldn't say it was life-changing, but the concepts presented in the book helped illuminate the behaviors that I already thought were normal to me.  The sessions that followed (it lasted 7 weeks, one for each habit) really brought home those lessons by helping us apply and find correlations to our personal and professional lives.  I know for others it was still cream-puff hogwash, but I felt it was all worth it because in the long run corporations needed to get back down to a human, individualistic level in order to move forward in increasingly competitive times. 

Here's a summary based on the points that impacted me the most.

First, just as you start a new course in an educational institution there are prerequisites to consider before learning about the 7 habits:

• Know who you are in terms of your principles, beliefs, and values.  How does that all apply when you react to things?  It's the life-long conditioning based on your upbringing and socialization that leads you to respond and make decisions based on what you know about yourself.  Those variables are known as your 'paradigms'.
• Be prepared to undergo a paradigm shift when approaching the 7-habits.  This shift is better known as having an "aha moment" or when you finally see things another way.
• Habits, as Covey defines is the intersection of knowledge, skills, and desire.
• Interdependence is the key goal because it promotes collaboration; you accomplish more when working with others versus working on your own.
• Effectiveness is a balance between the work put into getting the desired results (money, promotions, gigs, etc.), and the entity that is actually doing the work (you).

Habit 1 - Be proactive

The proactive model focuses on our responses to all situations.  You could have had a disagreement with your spouse or co-worker, mass transit was delayed and you were late for an important meeting, your mobile device fell and cracked its screen, while a thunderstorm is dumping buckets of water all over the place.  

These incidents can invoke feelings of anger, resentment, weakness, incompetence, low self-worth and a typical reactive response would be to blame it all on the situation.  Reactive people will find a scapegoat for their woes, but proactive people make a conscious choice in how they address all situations.  It doesn't matter if it's 72 degrees with blue skies or 99 degrees with haze and choking humidity because proactive people are driven by their values and not their immediate situation.  This is not to stay the proactive people aren't at all influenced by environmental factors; it is the choice of response made which is based on their values.  It's evident in the language spoken by proactive people such as, "I choose, I prefer, I will, I can choose a different approach", versus reactive responses such as, "I can't, I must, if only, that's just the way I am".  It's about what you can DO versus what you allow to happen to you.

Being proactive is the ability to "act and not be acted upon". The book mentions a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt which I particularly enjoyed, "no one can hurt you without your consent". You make things happen for yourself based on what's called your Circle of Influence.  Within this realm you have 100% control to create change and the more change you create within this space, the larger your circle grows.  The larger your circle grows, the more influential you become.  I continually read about and see YouTube videos on the debates about online-casting sites (pay-to-play as a more derogatory term), Fiverr bashing, how 'everyone' is a VO these days many of whom are untrained, misguided, and these factors and circumstances are more or less devaluing the profession and setting a dire future for VO.  These negative sentiments are part of what is known as the Circle of Concern, or where reactive people live.  There is very little if nothing that you can do about directly changing what's in the Circle of Concern because you don't control it - it's out of your reach, beyond the boundaries of your Circle of Influence.  Proactive people don't spend time or energy on the blame game.  For instance, proactive VO will do the research, get the proper guidance, train, invest time and money, and build their value as a VO.  Others will then recognize the actions you take are genuine, based on values, and set a positive example as your Circle of Influence grows.

It's very easy to lay blame on whatever you think is the cause of your problems, but the problem or the area that really needs changing is within you.  Realize that you have the power to choose your responses.  As an IT manager I deal with the occasional complaints from customers that are angry, frustrated, impatient because their laptop is slow or their mobile device isn't receiving emails, the conference rooms keep disconnecting for important meetings, or worst of all that one of my staff gave off an attitude when responding to support request.  As a reactive person I could blame the laptop manufacturer for putting out a sub-par product, or the wireless network provider for not managing bandwidth, or even the A/V team for not setting up the conferencing equipment correctly, or that my staff got up on the wrong side of the bed, but I don't control any of these things.  Proactive responses would be "I'll run some diagnostics on the laptop to see what's wrong", or "I'll check with the local carrier to see if there are any problems with the service", or "I'll check in with the A/V team to see if any configurations changed on the back-end", or "I'll speak to may staff person about the interaction you had - thank you for bringing it to my attention".   I remind my support staff that they do their best to get ahead of their customer's technical problem before it takes shape, anticipate what's going to happen and head it off at the pass.   This in my view is how things such as reputation, competence, and trust are developed especially in the minds of people that rely on you for your service.  

What are the fundamentals for success?  According to the 7 habits they are knowledge, skill, and desire.  Covey explains that all three intersect and that any one can be worked on to strengthen the balance of the three helping us move forward in a leveled manner as we increase our effectiveness.  The common phrase "knowledge is power" cannot be any more true.  When you embark on a VO career or any other career for that matter starting off informed will give you an advantage.  The desire should already be there since it's the very thing that pushed you to pursue your chosen profession. Once you begin and continue the learning process, your skills develop thereafter.  

Take a moment to examine who you are and then make a promise to yourself that whatever it is that needs to change, you'll commit to seeing it through.

Next time...Habit 2 - Begin with end in mind

Breathe, and while you're at it have a laugh. It's good for you!

Breathing.  Ancient people commonly linked breathing or the breath to a life force.  Those who practice certain kinds of meditation where breathing is a focused activity know "prana" as the sum total of all life force energies to be a relative concept.  Along with the obvious necessity for sustenance breathing cleanses, refreshes and also helps clear stress and tension.   

As a voice over talent, proper breathing is essential in delivering reads yet it's one of the things some of us, maybe most of us, I for one forget to be mindful of sometimes.  I won't get into the mechanics or techniques of breathing exercises, but will just point out that a "tension free" delivery is key as we aim to sound and be natural during the read.

I was reminded of this important concept a couple of nights ago when I attended an Edge Studio audition ringer session with coach +Marjorie Kouns.  There was a good number of participants all with unique approaches to three commercial scripts we had to choose from; an oat snack, a Tabasco sauce, and a BBQ sauce.  We probably should have had a script for an antacid to help balance things out, but I digress.  I chose the oat snack script. The audience I envisioned to guide my delivery was of a friend that was looking for a healthier snack alternative. Based on the wording of the script my goal was to sound knowledgeable about the product as someone who perhaps has some of that stuff in my pantry and highlight some of the delicious choices available.

I ran through the script a few times to myself to get a good feel for it (which is what I usually do for all auditions) and came up with a "main" and "backup" delivery.  One annoyance was that we were all experiencing connectivity issues on the webinar.  People were dropping from the call at random, and I heard some of the reads and coaching feedback in spurts as in-and-out moments of silence.  Then it was my turn and I was just hoping my connection wouldn't falter.  After all, I wasn't doing it from my mobile phone, but from my actual audio chain (condenser mic into a pre-amp/analog-to-digital converter into my laptop via USB) and wanted everything to go just fine as I would in a real audition.  Isn't that what we all want all of the time?  Murphy's law, anyone?

As soon as I introduced myself, Marjorie pointed out that my sound was a bit weak at first, but had increased in amplitude as I was introducing myself with the customary pleasantries.  I went ahead and did my first take and made it through, but there were still audio problems being heard from my end.  After a few moments of "can you hear me now" banter, Marjorie said, "Ok stop!  Stand still! Which ever way you're positioned now is perfect".  I tried to hold my position albeit my chair in my booth was kind of in the way so I wasn't in a comfortable stance.  The other thing was that prior to my take I had been fiddling around with my mic and stand placement for the best setup I could and wasn't 100% satisfied with how I left things.  So the combination of mic placement, standing on one leg, and persistent connectivity/audio issues started to creep up in the form of stress.  All of that projected in my second take and as the consummate coach that she is, Marjorie called me out on it.  I knew what was up, but I wasn't going to make any excuses. In a real audition, making excuses would probably have meant hearing "thanks for your time" from the producer/director and be sent on my way not expecting a call back.

I really was tense and felt it emotionally and physically.  This is part of why I enjoy these audition ringers because there is only so much one could do when self-directing.  It's always good to be listened to by peers or a coach because they will give you the objective feedback you need.  So how did I address my tension? By breathing - normally.  To take it one step further, Marjorie gave me a tip that laughing before delivering the read would loosen me up more.  According to the Mayo Clinic's webpage on stress management, laughter "enhances your intake of oxygen rich air", stimulating various organs including the lungs.  It also stimulates circulation and relaxes your muscles; I had felt the tension on my back and shoulders.  So I gave a laugh, re-balanced my footing, made sure I had proper mic distance, and did my third take (or was it my fourth?). Sure enough a difference was noticed.  On the part of the script that Marjorie directed me to focus, my delivery was more relaxed, fluid, and natural.  The rest of the group concurred.  

Two lessons learned/reminded of here are: 1.) When delivering a natural conversational read, you have to breath naturally just as you do in an everyday conversation; you don't even notice it.  When feeling tense, a couple of good cleansing deep breathes will help clear tension and any mental/emotional crap you may have interfering with your concentration.  Physically, it will help loosen your mouth, jaw, and vocal cords.  If you want more assurance, laughter will seal the deal as it brings added benefits to your body and mood.  2.) We're already under pressure to interpret and deliver what's on paper to the expectations of the director/producer so we must carry on through the pressure. There may be distractions in the immediate area, but we're professionals and we rise above it (that's for you Spinal Tap fans).  I always think back to being in an assured place of my skills and capabilities with my dedication to continuous self-improvement knowing I can deliver a read and do it well. The rest is all about being yourself and remembering to always have fun!

Inhale, exhale, laugh and get going!

How about we see that mug of yours?

I'm an avid and frequent attendee to Edge Studio's "Talk Time" on Sunday nights at 9:15 ET.  I enjoy listening to the various topics brought up in the call ranging from technique to technology, styles and genres, union or non-union, and everything else in between that's related to voice over.  It's also a wonderful networking opportunity for anyone looking to find practice groups or maybe even some leads for work. The best thing about the calls is that experienced pros, part-timers, beginners, practically all experience levels, are in the discussions and I occasionally put my two pennies in when I feel I can contribute something of worth.

This past Sunday night's call was designated as "Open Talk" which is basically a free-for-all topic discussion.  I find that format the most lively because the conversation can get unpredictable and go just about anywhere.  The calls are moderated by one of Edge Studio's coaches +Graeme Spicer in case anyone or anything crosses the line, and/or gets too off-topic.At one point someone asked whether we as voice over providers should include a picture of ourselves on our websites, business cards, etc.  I was a bit surprised at what I heard which seemed to be a resounding "no, don't do it".   Those supporting the notion conveyed that by putting a picture of yourself on your promotional material may be a detriment because to some directors and producers you may "not look like what you sound".  An example was given of a supposedly well known voice actor who had auditioned and was awarded a job to play the part of a young man on a project, but when the actor showed up to the recording session the project's director called the booking agent and complained about why he had an "old man" show up at the studio.  I don't remember if the caller completed the story on whether this actor was able to go ahead and record the part he had rightfully earned by auditioning remotely, but that real world example suggests that there is a great risk to revealing what you look like as it equates to possibly losing gigs.

[The topic was taking up a bit too much time on the call and I wanted jump in with my opinion, but Graeme pulled another unrelated question from the chat box to help address other topics and move the call along. And, this is why we blog :) ]

What I was going to add to the conversation is that I think in this day and age it's all about transparency.  What does that mean?  Not withholding information, putting ourselves out there and showing all our cards essentially.  I've only been involved with voice over off and on for about four years, but I do have almost 20 years in the corporate client facing capacity.  What I've learned from that experience is that when we reach out to people for any type of service I am willing to bet that most us would like to put a face to a name.  Sure it's great to establish a rapport over the phone or by email, but after a while I'd like to see who I'm dealing with especially if additional exchanges are anticipated.  To give you a real life example, my wife and I will be going into contract on a home purchase and as home purchases go it is in one's best interest to hire an engineer to give the house a thorough inspection and let the potential home buyer know whether or not the house will collapse in a month.  We found a great guy here in Long Island with the necessary credentials, licenses, certifications, and recommendations. All of this information is right on his website's homepage. Guess what else he has on his homepage?  A picture of himself!  Yep, a building engineer showing the world what he looks like.  Speaking to him on the phone thereafter was a pleasurable experience as he presented himself to be cordial and professional.  Try browsing some big company name websites and go to their leadership "about us" page.  Most of them will have pictures of their C-level team on display. Transparency. 

Now, let's look at +Joe Cipriano , +Randye Kaye , and +Paul Strikwerda  (who wrote an awesome book last year which I will review on this blog at a later date).  All are voice over providers and all have pictures of themselves on their websites.  So what gives?  I'll be the first to admit that I had some apprehension on putting my picture up on my webpage, online profiles, etc. when I first got started in voice over. Why?  Because I thought that it didn't really matter at first.  Why should anyone care what I look like? It's all about my voice, right?  But, then I felt that if I wanted potential clients and colleagues to get to know who I was part of that process for me is for them to know what I look like.  Why hide it?Let's go back to the rationale that that defends not displaying your smiling face.  If it is true in most cases, then wouldn't it also affect the seasoned pros I mentioned earlier?  We know that Randy Kaye is an expert when it comes to medical reads among other types she provides.  What if a hospital system decided to produce some internal explainer video on training doctors with a new procedure and wanted someone who sounds like a doctor?  They get a referral for Randy, hear her demo and say "great, let's meet her".  Would it not be possible at the face to face meeting that someone on the hospital's board of directors could say, "nah, I don't think so.  She doesn't look like a doctor, this isn't going to work"?  After all, I think most potential clients don't have a clue about who's who in voice over and wouldn't realize the opportunity they'd be throwing away to work with such a great talent.  I'm of the mindset that if we have websites and online profiles then we should let our clients get to know us before they meet us.  If we're putting ourselves out there by providing such a valuable service that at the very core is human (our voice), then it is that very thing we have to promote.  Let's not be so mysterious.If we're treating voice over as a business, part of growing that business is starting and fostering relationships. 

What follows is accountability and ownership of a process and product which certainly deserves a face especially when it's a job well done.  Still thinking "no" to putting that picture up? We can't hide behind technology anymore.  Technology has brought everyone closer together virtually and although there is a perceive sense of anonymity that one can use to shield themselves it's getting a bit harder to stay hidden. There was a time not long ago where it seemed that we were losing more of that human contact with each keystroke because of the convenience of technology.  As +Paul Strikwerda says, we really can "make money in our PJs" from our personal studios at home.  No more going out to audition.  We can even go grocery shopping from our couches.  It seems then that the sacrifice for convenience might be a partial loss of identity that we capitalize on in order to hide. But, things seems to be taking a different direction now.

Think back to those words of accountability and transparency.  Customers are looking for a deeper connection. Something beyond just the service delivery with an invoice attached.  They want to be listened to and understood so that their needs are met with expected outcomes.  More importantly they want to know what you're all about.  I recently read in an Entrepreneur magazine article that talked about clients not just being interested in the surface qualities of what you do as a service provider, but why you do it.  What makes you love this type of work?  What about voice over drives you to perform and deliver so well? The value you provide is clearly defined when your clients know about your passion for doing voice over. It does become all about you.  My observations in the corporate world tell me that when a person leaves a company and has a great relationship with their clients, guess what happens next?  Their clients follow them on to the next company they work for.  The company, firm, etc. is not why clients do business with them; it just so happens that the person they're used to doing business with happens to work there.

I understand that there are different comfort levels or reasons for a voice over provider not wanting to advertise what they look like. As I think if it more, showing your face just might be risky in getting those Hollywood voice over gigs especially if you're an unknown and where looks are all that matters; it's the nature of the biz as they say.  On the flip side, what I've always been told ever since I got into this business is that about 80-90% of the voice over jobs out there are not even in the entertainment biz.  That's something else to think about. In the meantime, let's bring a little humanity back into the fold and just show us that mug of yours!

Hope you like my smile :) 

The first one - Rookies can talk about, what?

How did I get here?  Oh great, not another blog from some voice over artist, actor, talent...what are we calling ourselves these days?  Let's keep it simple and call me a "VO", but I'm also fine with "voice over talent".

I've been inspired.  I decided at the beginning of 2015 that this was the year that I'd really get back into voice over, and that I was not going to slack off anymore; aside from my day job I'm also a husband and a father of two very young high-energy boys.  I really don't have time to even slack off come to think of it, but with voice over I've been kicking the can around long enough to realize that I can make something out of this.  Through independent research and listening to the wise folks that have been doing this for a long time, I've come to grasp the notion that this just isn't all about recording reads and sounding good, but it's about running a business.  Scary, but I'm accepting the challenge.  So what brings me here, to this blog page?

I first would like to thank the well known talent/coach/instructor +Joe Loesch.  I attended a webinar he conducted through Edge Studio last night on the subject of Marketing, specifically first impressions and how your website represents you.  So, how does my website represent me?  Take a look here at my webpage.  That's all it is, one single webpage - a "landing page" as some may refer to it in web parlance.  I wanted to keep it simple and have everything that you need to know about me on one single scroll-able area.  Granted, I do have links to my G+ page, Voices.com profile, an email hyperlink, and yes my rate sheet is also linked from my page as well.  It's got a couple of simple colors; red, gray, blue, and I found a cool looking cork-board background wallpaper to help you imagine that you're seeing my add at the laundromat/supermarket community board/college dorm/FBI wanted poster wall, wherever you'd find a cork board with local small businesses doing the old school advertising.  I'm going for that down-to-earth familiarity - the honest, laid back, everyday man (hey, I didn't make that up - those descriptions were from my coaches when I got started).  You be the judge though as my demo and a couple of samples of work I've done are on my page as well.  The rub is if you run an Apple based browser e.g. Safari on your iPhone you'll miss out because my demos are on a customized flash based player (thanks for shutting that out, Apple). Nevertheless, it's something I'll be looking to fix, but in the interim hear me out on my Soundcloud page. Oh, and my site doesn't have a mobile version of itself either - something else on the to-do list.

So why am I here?  As present day marketing strategy dictates blogging is one of the popular ways to get yourself known and keep your business up with that good ol' SEO (search engine optimization).  To me, it seems blogging goes a bit beyond the social media posts and 140 character submissions.  One can expand their thoughts and maybe have some fun (or get into trouble by stirring the pot too hard) when blogging is taking place.  I don't intend to start a raucous, I'm just here to share what I can and promote our profession in a positive light.   

The question I asked Joe on the webinar was how a "new talent" on the scene can market themselves to potential customers.  More specifically, when we invite visitors to our website, blog, etc. one of the best things in creating awareness and establishing relationships is to give out something gratis, perhaps some nuggets of knowledge that backs up the "solopreneur's" professional image.  Well, what if you haven't been around for that long or maybe you have, but you've got one or two steady clients and are doing this part-time (like me)?  Or maybe you just started yesterday?  Joe's answer was quite simple: Write about your current experience - mention a class you took or an article you read and what it meant to you essentially building a story about your journey.  It introduces a level of humility that's certainly real.  I thought that advice was brilliant.  

And, here I am :)

More to come...