Confidence with No (or Little) Experience
One of the most common concerns for new voice actors as they begin their voice-over journeys is, “I don’t have any (or very few) credits to my name. I haven’t worked with anyone (or very many) clients yet. How do I still market myself and what do I do?”
It’s the classic college grad’s dilemma, right? “How will anyone hire me with no experience and if no one hires me how will I get any experience?”
I understand the concern. One of the most powerful ways we as voice actors market ourselves is through what’s called social proof.
Psychologist Robert Cialdini, in his 1984 book, Influence: Science and Practice, says that social proof is one of the six key principles of persuasion (the others are reciprocity, consistency, authority, liking, and scarcity).
Social proof is a psychological and social phenomenon wherein people copy the actions of others in an attempt to execute behavior in a given situation. Simply put, people are more comfortable making a decision or taking an action if their peers have made a similar decision or taken similar action.
Wikipedia says that social proof is prominent in ambiguous social situations where we’re unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior, and so we assume that surrounding people know more about the current situation. Candid Camera, a popular TV show started in 1948 by Allen Funt, showed a hilarious instance of one of these ambiguous social situations, which you can now watch on YouTube.
As voice actors and marketers, we use social proof all the time. Testimonials, references, recommendations, and client roster lists are all forms of social proof. We use our past client experience to extract social proof in these forms to then market to new leads and prospects with the goal of further persuading them to work with us.
Make no mistake, social proof is a powerful way to persuade people. In our business, it can absolutely lend credibility to our name and reputation when we have abundant social proof which we can present to new leads and prospects. Social proof not only shows our experience but, in the case of testimonials and recommendations, it can demonstrate our clients’ satisfaction with our work and the process of working with us.
That’s powerful, persuasive stuff, to be sure.
But here’s the thing: Experience is not essential to get hired.
Huh? How can that be right?
It’s true.
Look, experience is great and does help. And for some gigs, it’s more important than for others. Having a solid body of work is more important if you’re being considered the voice of a national brand in an ongoing marketing campaign than it is if you’re being considered for the same brand’s internal employee onboarding video.
But as a new voice actor with zero experience, it’s not essential to get that first gig. If it were, no one would ever get that first gig.
When we board an airliner, do we stop in the cockpit to ask how many hours the pilot has logged?
When we go to the hospital with an urgent medical problem, do we screen the young doctor to see how long they’ve been working with patients? When we board an airliner, do we stop in the cockpit to ask how many hours the pilot has logged in this specific aircraft? When we eat at a restaurant, do we summon the chef to see how long they’ve been cooking for customers? No. We generally trust that they’re well trained and skilled enough to do the job.
The same is true for voice actors. Our demos and auditions are the main sources of proof that we are well-trained and skilled enough to handle the work.
In fact, clients largely don’t care how much or how little training and experience we have. I’ve been doing this a long time, and never once have I ever been asked by a lead, prospect, or client about my training. Maybe twice ever have I been asked about my voiceover experience in a particular category. I do get nice compliments on my experience occasionally, but it’s not the primary reason people hire me.
It’s tempting to look at the experience and resumé of an accomplished voice actor and think, “Well, they’ve just got so much experience, that’s why they get hired.” No. Because there are lots of experienced, accomplished voice actors often competing for the same gigs. They get hired because they nail the audition and have a killer demo.
Experience and social proof can absolutely help but they’re not essential in the beginning. You’ll get that first gig. And then the second, and third, and at some point, you’ll have a couple, then a few, clients whose brands you can present to help persuade others. You’ll collect final cuts to add to your portfolio. It will build. It just takes time and work.
But you have to trust in your training and yourself to deliver the goods to clients. If you don’t trust and believe in you, how can anyone else?