Each voice actor brings to the table a different FOCUS skill for which they could arguably be labeled as “expert” beyond the jack-of-all-trades stuff like marketing, recording, cold-calling, and editing that we all must develop as core competencies.
I look at George Whittam, and his prowess with equipment and audio engineering. Kara Edwards and her knowledge of character animation, and JS Gilbert with his experience in video games.
I’ve always struggled to determine that which I’m best at…certainly not marketing…and I’ve had my wrist slapped many times of late for stupid mistakes in audio engineering. Many of my long-time friends call me a “Renaissance Man” for my broad understanding of many things…but that doesn’t do much for my hope of focusing on a distinctive skill that I could call my own.
Many’s the time I’ve chosen not to post, here, of Web 2.0 stuff that I discover, ‘cause I figure we’re ALL trolling the internet to find what we need and use for our business…but I think I’m finding that my singular passion may lie in this area. Social Networking and cutting-edge internet-based innovations are fascinating to me for the possibilities they bring to our lives and our business.
I’m choosing from now on to post more of what I find…not because it’s always pertinent to the voice-over business DIRECTLY…but certainly indirectly in the sense of how such tools MAY apply to the business of voiceovers, that no one’s discovered yet.
In that vein…here’s another gem: TweetDeck, the odds-on favorite 3rd-party Twitter-application GUI interface now has an iPhone App that words just as wonderfully as it’s PC or Mac-based counterpart. Free and helpful. I love it most for searches. Have Tweetdeck search for voiceover or #voiceover sometime, and you’ll learn things.
CourVO
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This comment from voice-actor Karen Commins. At the moment WP disallowed her posting the following, so she e-mailed it to me to post. Thanks, Karen!! (read on)
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Hi, Dave! I liked how you distinguished a focus area from core competencies. You may think that everyone is learning the same things on-line, but I can tell you that I don’t go seeking out new technology to learn — and I’ve worked 25 years in IT! No one sees the world in the same way as another person. Things fascinate us for a reason, and that reason is something that feeds our souls.
I’ve read many stories about people who pursued a passion without knowing or understanding the reason behind their interest. At some point in the future, though, the Universe reveals the reason and its importance in their life.
“To thine own self be true” — and, in your case, that sentence means learning and sharing your knowledge about these new technologies. You may find that your passion becomes closely integrated into your voiceover and/or TV career in some unexpected way, such as:
* creating a podcast to discuss these topics
* teaching webinars on these topics
* narrating the web sites and help pages for the technology creators
* doing a weekly technology segment on KLAS to show your viewers how to do things and why they might want to do them
* give paid presentations to civic or charitable groups on technology
People often don’t have the time, energy, and patience to learn new things and are grateful to get a summary view from someone else. I already counted you among my technology gurus even before you wrote this post!
One last quote for you (a favorite from Thoreau):
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
Or, as we used to say in the 70s: Keep on truckin’! :) You’re doing great things that are appreciated more than you realize.
Cordially,
Karen Commins
http://www.KarenCommins.com