The VOHeroes Podcast

Hey there, hero! Ever since we've been humans, from the very beginning of time, we've tried to make sense of the world around us. And among the hardest things to make sense of is the creative arts...and the choice to become a creative artist. The randomness alone is mind-boggling. If you try to make sense of it, you'll fail. Especially if you try logic. That works for other lines of...

Hey there, hero! A bit of a rant this episode...about the choices we make in life, and then being upset about those choices. And creative types have enough harsh judgement being leveled at them by critics without adding to what some perceive to be a sense of entitlement. We are privileged to work in this business. No doubt. We're not privileged to yell about how hard this business is. We knew...

Hey there, hero! AI in general, and synthetic voice and image generators in particular have led to a lot of FUD in our industry. FUD? It's an acronym that means Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. We fear being replaced by AI-generated models that would lead not just to the loss of jobs, but the possible deletion of the human contribution to creative work. And yes, that's a possibility. So when...

Hey there, hero! Is it possible that in addition to all of the other things you're concerned with when it comes to your performance career, that actually having a bit of success might be more daunting? More daunting than the possibility of...failure? Because then, the rules have to change. You have to start living by the rules of success, not failure. And you have new responsibilities. How ca...

Hey there, hero! Putting your creations out there for the world to see can feel like an act of bravery, and some people get ready for a bit of criticism. And they might be looking for a way to deal with that criticism. I say, be like Joe. Joseph Brodsky the writer/poet, that is. After a recent video I released was posted about creating my Narrate Your Own Book course, I got an odd response from a...

Hey there, hero! Far more often than not, the projects I create and undertake tend to "stick." Rarely do I shut something down before it has run its course. And most go on for a long, long time. In this episode, I take a look at the decision making and the grief (yep!) around the choice to end a project I love (which I recently did). Part of that includes how to do things gracefully and...

Hey there, hero! Listen or watch this episode for an actual ONE step plan to avoid oversimplifying the clickbait options you find online on your way to success: Don't be sucked into the apparent secret sauce of a overly simple plan to ultimate success. I try not to make the "overpromise/underdeliver" mistake when I share things with you, but I can't control what you see in your...

Hey there, hero! We're all on a pursuit. A pursuit of the performance arts career we want: acting, VO, writing and more. And we often look to those who have "made it" for guidance. How did they get success? Great question. But I think a better question would be about how they handled rejection. That skill can be really useful, as rejection is inevitable and is far more common than s...

Hey there, hero! As we look at things we need to get done, we get an idea WHEN we need to get those things done, what we need to prepare... ...and when we aren't ready yet to do anything just yet. And a simple shift in your activity timeline can be really effective. Your assumption as to when to do something might be just perfect. And it also might be an assumption that holds you back from ge...

Hey there, hero! Sometimes, words come together to describe things that you don't expect. In a recent session with a coaching peer, she declared: "Every thing is everything." I tried to process that, and she gave me some assistance. What she meant was that as creatives, every thing we learn as performers in ANY category of work helps to build everything we do as actors and voice tal...

Hey there, hero! Do you get the number of auditions you want? On-camera, VO, whatever. You good? Or do you constantly pursue more? Is growing your audition stream an endless pursuit? The highest priority? I think everyone is different. And there's a trend in business that informs this. It's variously called "10X-ing," "adding zeroes," and "blowing things up.&quot...

Hey there, hero! We work really hard to create stuff. Really great stuff. And after a while, we tend to forget just how valuable that stuff is. And...in addition...how valuable our superpower, creating great stuff, actually is. This episode is dedicated to reminding you that your output is your product. Your books, your TV shows, your podcast episodes, your films, your audiobook titles...they are...

Hey there, hero! When you get ready to do something new, what wells up inside you emotionally? Is there fear? Being scared? Or is there electricity? Being excited? And how does that affect how you approach it? The two will likely co-exist in a sweet spot: instead of being so scared that I am immobilized, I'm...cautious. And instead of being so excited that I ignore taking reasonable steps and...

Hey there, hero! I'm well aware of at least one thing: I talk too much. Believe me, it's a challenge I've faced all my life. And I actively want to listen better. Listen actively. Not just wait for others to stop talking so I can start. I look for non-verbal clues to remind myself to listen...rather than talk. And to listen is to be open to hearing what the other person is saying......

Hey there, hero! When things don't pan out for us, we want to know why. And sometimes, we simply tell ourselves stories...when we usually shouldn't. We want to have things make sense, and so if we don't know exactly why something happens, good or bad, we might make things up. Especially when we don't "get the gig." As humans, we want - no, NEED - to know why (so we ca...

Hey there, hero! Ever get frustrated when you first start learning something and it's touch to get the hang of it? You know, you want to gain a skill and it's just not coming and you start to lose patience? How about when you're showing someone else how to do something and they just aren't grasping the fundamentals? Do you get a little annoyed? I see it happen in Facebook group...

Hey there, hero! Famous quotes aren't always famous. Or quotes. There are all kinds of websites that are dedicated to the things that are attributed to famous people, but that they never actually said. In this episode, we're going to correct one of those misquotes, and in the process, give ourselves a gift about our lives and our professions. Once you've heard what Carl Jung actuall...

Hey there, hero! Like most specialty pursuits, we performers have our own special language when it comes to auditioning and doing the work of actors and voice talent. And sometimes, people channel The Princess Bride's Inigo Montoya when it comes to some of that jargon: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." A good example is the audition request...

Hey there, hero! Isolation is a curse to some, yet can be a boon to artists. It can be damaging not to have social contact on a regular basis, but it can be nourishing to our skill building. I have a couple of famous people joining me to share their thoughts on how being alone can be just what the doctor ordered, and is some ways, essential to our professional growth. Do you agree? Are you the gre...

Hey there, hero! We know as performers that the way things are handled in our business are sometimes very different from the way they are handled in more mainstream businesses. And that can be frustrating, especially when it comes to not getting the booking. We're not told why. We never know why. We won't ever know why. But that's a double edged sword, especially given this new twis...

Hey there, hero! It seems like almost everyone, at some point, gets the urge to become a performer. They look at the fame, the money, the autograph seekers and just how easy it is and those are just their first four incorrect assumptions. Maybe you made some of those. Some rules you thought were true. Some shortcuts you thought might work. And then, they, and you, were likely introduced to actual...

Hey there, hero! Creative types have no guarantees. Actors, voice talent, writers...have no tried and true template to follow for success. Almost everything about our journey is unknown. We have no idea what's coming. And that can be scary. It can be frustrating. It can be daunting. But...it is heroic. Not everyone can do it.  But you can. And I want to thank you for being heroic. Give me you...

Hey there, hero! That moment before you launch into a pickup sets the scene for how that pickup goes. And it needs to match the original voice work in terms of tone, energy, emotion and volume. And if your feelings, your mouth, your face or anything else is affected by that frustration or anger, or somehow isn't keyed to the lovely and unique moment that the content occurs, that will change,...

Hey there, hero! The United States Federal Trade Commission requires that businesses who show their clients achieving things that require engagement, study, dedication, hard work and a fair amount of luck, and whose other customers likely have varying results...they have to disclose something. It's along the lines of "YMMV." Your Mileage May Vary. Sometimes you see it in phrases lik...

Hey there, hero! How we go about finding work is a fair bit different from the average Indeed.com job applicant. They will track their progress through the job search process in one way... ...and we are completely different. And for once, we have less work to do than they do. You might think you need to track your auditions and clip submissions...and you would be making work for yourself that&apos...