The REAL PROBLEM with Voice Over - NOT What You Think!

The current state of the voice over business is not the problem. Generative AI, the pay-to-plays, the glut of talent, the seemingly endless string of strikes… none of that is the reason you’re not succeeding in voice over.

VO is not the problem. The problem is you.

The problem is your excuses and your distractions and your choices. The problem is your impatience and your lack of energy and clarity.

Today, I’m talking to me as much as I’m talking to you. You think everyone else, especially coaches have it all together all the time and I’m here to tell you I don’t always have it all together. No one does.

Today is a pep talk for both of us.

So, let’s talk about…

Your Lack of Clarity

Every time, every single time, you find it hard to do the thing you know you need to do to grow your business, your body, your mind, whatever is because you lack clarity in your Why. Why are you in VO in the first place? Why is it worth it to get up early and get your marketing done, to work after work and knock out 20 auditions? To get up on a Saturday morning before the family and practice your reads?

If you’re going to do something worthwhile like building a business, or changing your body, or building a better relationship with your partner, you are going to have to do hard shit and if your why isn’t crystal clear, burned deep into your mind, then you’re not going to be able to fight your way out of that cozy bed at 5am.

My why is shifting as my son is in his last year of high school and prepares to go off to college and then launch his life. He’s been my focus for the last 18 years, and that’s changing and my why is shifting. And while I’ll always be his Dad and I’ll always try to be the best role model I can for him, that’s not all consuming anymore.

My why has started to include my voice over community more and more and on trying to pay forward the debt of gratitude I owe to dozens and hundreds of voice actors who helped me.

Those are the people, along with my son, who keep the bed from feeling too cozy for me.

Your Lack of Energy

Having a clear why can help give you mental and emotional energy, but if your body isn’t up to it, it’s really hard to have the physical stamina to do what needs to be done.

When I was younger, I suffered from clinical depression. I was never suicidal, but I was miserable. Somewhere I read or heard, “It’s hard to feel good, when you don’t feel good.” It’s hard to feel good mentally and emotionally when you don’t feel good physically.

So, I started taking better care of my health and my body. I felt so out of control of my mental state, but I could control getting out for a run. I could control going to the gym. It was just about the only area of life that I felt I had any control.

And so, as you might have guessed, as my health improved and I began to feel stronger and better physically, I began to feel a little better mentally and emotionally.

The better you take care of your physical self, the more physical and mental energy you will have to tackle everything else. I’m not suggesting diving into 6 days a week at the gym, or going from the couch to a half marathon this year. Start small. Walk 10 minutes a day. Start taking a multivitamin every day. Build the habit of doing something for your physical health every damn day. You will be surprised how that energy can snowball over time.

Your Impatience

We live in a click and tap world of instant gratification. Want that new pair of shoes? Press a button and they magically appear on your doorstep in a day. Want to watch a movie? Click here! In my day, we had to get up, off the couch, drive to a Blockbuster and walk for a half hour with your head sideways, rent a movie, drive back home to watch it, wait 20 minutes to rewind it, then drive it back to return it. It was exhausting! How did we ever get anything done?

Today, no one has the patience to build anything. And there’s a cottage industry of snake oil salesmen who feed on that impatience. “You can have a profitable voice over business in 90 days with no experience necessary!” Horseshit!

Would you undergo heart surgery from a guy who went to 90-day medical school? “Scalpels take too long, we’re gonna cut into your chest with a Dremel!”

To build anything of real value takes time. If you wanted to be a professional accountant, let’s say, you would go to school and study accounting and finance for 4 years, then spend another few years learning in the real world.

The same is true for being a creative professional. It takes years. I hear all the time people say, “Man, I’ve been at this voice over thing for a while and I’m not getting anywhere,” and I say, “Really, how long?” And they’ll go, “Like 6 months! And I haven’t booked anything!” At 6 months in, you shouldn’t even be looking for work! You’re not properly trained. You know know your ass from interface.

Give yourself time. Treat your entrance into VO like you’re going to college. Commit to 4 years. Take the time. Do the work. Have the patience.

Your Distractions and Your Choices

There is no getting around this truth: Doing hard shit means sacrifice.

In order to get the life, career, body, relationship you want, to have to give up the one you have.

You can’t keep up on Bad Monkey AND do 20 auditions a day. You can’t spend 3 hours a day scrolling social media AND market to 100 people a day. You have to make choices.

As the great football Coach Nick Saban famously said, “It takes what it takes.” IF you’re going to commit to doing the The Big Thing, then you have to commit to doing The Hard Things it takes to get there.

Most people don’t want to get out of their comfort zone. You know what that really means? People don’t want to make sacrifices. But here’s the thing: there’s likely a significant of trash time in your life that‘s not serving you. Sacrifice that!

Is Wordle getting you where you want to go? Is Season 4 of Emily in Paris building your business? Is 20 minutes of Candy Crush a day giving you more energy?

What got you here will not get you there.

Your Excuses

“I don’t have time to market my business.” Make the time. Take out the trash in your schedule.

“I’m so tired all the time, I can’t get anything done.” Eat well. Get your sleep. Move your body.

“I’m so overwhelmed, I don’t know where to start.” Just take one next step.

“The pay-to-plays are problem.” You can’t control them.

“AI is the problem.” You can’t control that, either.

“My agents are the problem.” Same.

“I don’t audition well.” Then put in the work to get better.

“I don’t know how to market my business.” You can learn. That’s what the VO Freedom Master Plan is for.

“I don’t have what it takes.” You have no idea what you have inside you. Because you haven’t ever bothered to find out.

Stoic philosopher Epictetus (c. 50 – c. 135 AD) on taking action:

"Now is the time to get serious about living your ideals. How long can you afford to put off who you really want to be? Your nobler self cannot wait any longer.

Put your principles into practice - now. Stop the excuses and the procrastination. This is your life! You aren't a child anymore. The sooner you set yourself to your spiritual program, the happier you will be. The longer you wait, the more you'll be vulnerable to mediocrity and feel filled with shame and regret, because you know you are capable of better.

From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do now."

Thanks for the conversations we have here on YouTube, on the blog, in the VO Pro community and the VO community at large. The more we talk, the more we listen, the more we exchange ideas and information, the better, stronger voiceover industry we can have.

We’ll see ya again here soon. Thanks for reading.