For a long time I have discussed the idea of voice over positioning with a lot of non-industry related people when I would get caught up in explaining to them the intricacies of what I do every day, and how most of my daily, monthly and yearly attempts at self improvement in the industry were more related to positioning than they were to trying to have the best of everything. In a nutshell, I look at the things I do when it comes to studio and performance improvements as nothing more than working toward being properly positioned to take advantage of opportunity when it decides to knock.
I know many of us who have been doing this for years, have been “positioning” ourselves for success in the same way that I am writing about, but some of us may not have looked at it like this before. So I decided to share it because it popped up in another conversation this morning and I began to wonder why I had never written about it before.
When I talk about positioning ourselves as voice talent, I’m not necessarily including marketing, branding and all of the other important stuff that goes along with it. I’m more looking at the physical characteristics and equipment that is required when it comes to being properly positioned to seize upon an opportunity.
Stages of positioning:
Voice Talent A has a demo and a web site and that’s it. No home studio. No microphone. No editing Software. Though he may have a leg up on the next guy who has no demo or website, he is only positioned to seize upon an opportunity that comes up in his home town or an adjacent city. In order for this opportunity to arise, the producer would have to go to the net, search for voice talent in the local area, find and listen to his demo, like him, then call him in for the booking. Though Voice Talent A is properly positioned for this scenario, the scenario itself is very remote and unlikely. I think most of us with any tenure know that Voice Talent A is in for a long cold winter in the business.
There are certainly many, many more ways he could be better positioned for success, but given his limitations he is only positioned for the most remote chance of finding a gig in VO. Do his chances of finding more jobs increase if he sends out reels to everyone within a 100 mile radius? Sure. But he is only positioned to act on any one opportunity in only one way. If he were to get a call, there is only one thing he can do to seize the opportunity. I know I’m being redundant here, but stick with me…
Voice Talent B has a demo, a web site, a copy of Audacity and a USB microphone and that’s it. No studio, no sound isolation. Though he is better positioned than voice talent A because he could at least record an audition at home without having to drive anywhere, which also means he could audition for clients outside the area, he is improperly positioned for much else. He’ll still have to leave his house and go to another location to record if he were lucky enough to win the job.
Voice Talent C has everything A and B have, plus he belongs to a few online voice casting sites. This means he is better positioned than the other two talents when it comes to exposure, but he is still limited in the same way because he lacks the correct facility to produce a professional product. He may have a slight positioning edge because of the increased exposure, but he won’t be able to work on anything but really, really B-rate productions.
Voice Talent D has all of the above, belongs to the voice casting sites, and has a modest studio setup and some sound isolation. He has now surpassed by far the other 3 talents. He is now properly positioned to audition from home should the opportunity arise. He is now properly positioned to record at home should he be given the chance, and he is more appropriately positioned to function at an entry-level in the business.
By positioning himself with the addition of greater capabilities and better studio sound, he has in turn become better positioned for voice over success, yet still, only to a certain degree. There are clients out there that will listen to his audio and find it to be less than appealing due to it’s lack of crispness, because of the microphone he’s using. This success also hinges on his ability as a voice talent and producer of audio, but those things aside, he has begun to reach the plateau of his positioning in this scenario. In order to become better positioned to seize upon opportunity should it arise, he’s going to have to upgrade his equipment to the necessary standard if he wishes to unlock the door of possibility, behind which rests, higher quality opportunities.
Voice Talent E comes on the scene. He has everything the other talents have, plus he has the studio, a better mic, quality isolation and great editing software. He belongs to all of the casting sites. He’s computer savvy and quick on his feet with an audition. He has a top of the line mixer, fantastic studio monitors, dual 22-inch computer monitors, a great web developer on the payroll who built him a really snazzy Flash web site, and he has the best pop filter in the world, hand sewn from black-widow silk, by Tibetan Monks. Though he may look more polished and professional on paper, is he in any way better positioned for success than the the other talent I just mentioned?
Yes, but only to a certain degree. His professionalism might stand out to more high-end clients, but his ability to seize upon different opportunities doesn’t really differ from Voice Talent D in very many ways. They can both record audio in an isolated studio. They can both edit that audio, convert it to the correct format and submit it for auditions or jobs. Voice Talent E is better positioned for higher-end opportunities because he can produce a higher end-product than Voice Talent D, but that is basically the limit of his positioning. He might win a few more jobs because of his polished image and the ability to turn out a better product. But he still has a way to go before he’s positioned to seize upon every opportunity that comes his way.
He just lost a job to Voice Talent F, who has all the same bells and whistles, and he has a music library that allows him to produce complete productions. Voice Talent F was better positioned for success when the opportunity arose, so he won the job. Now, Voice Talent F thinks he’s hot doo-doo, doesn’t he?
He will until he loses the next job to Voice Talent G, who has everything he does, but also has a phone patch. The talent with the phone patch will think he’s hot doo-doo until he loses a job to Voice Talent H, who is better positioned because he has a phone patch and ISDN. He can claim “All-mighty Doo-Doo” status until he loses a job to Voice Talent I who has ISDN, a phone patch and Source-Connect. Then they all start to cry when they lose a really big job to Voice Talent J, who is positioned with all of the same equipment, but he can lock his audio tracks to video because he has that capability as well.
Beyond this point I could keep adding more and more esoteric details to the mountain of capability any one talent could amass, but it would get more redundant than it already is, and would only further serve my penchant for wanting to be positioned as the master of hyperbole.
The point I’m getting at, if I haven’t already reached it, is that in this competitive world of traditional voice over and online voice talent casting, only the best positioned talent will be able to seize upon the highest percentage of opportunities, given their performance is in-line with their technical capabilities. Voice over talent with fantastic skills as voice actors will only be able to grasp items which fall within the scope of their technical positioning. Subsequently, a talent with poor or mediocre skills as a voice actor can have all the equipment in the world and it isn’t going to improve upon their chances of success to any great degree because with voice acting, the proof is in what comes out of your mouth, no matter how much you polish it, or what your capabilities are.
So as voice talent, we have to be able to accurately self-assess whether or not our voice acting abilities are under-represented by our technical positioning, or if our technical positioning far outreaches our given ability to perform. Sometimes this self assessment isn’t the easiest thing to do and can be clouded by our own inability to be honest with ourselves. This is why we have professionals who specialize in making these assessments. If you do not have several years of tangible success in the business with which to use as a barometer when making this assessment, it’s recommended that you contact someone who does.
Questions such as, “Am I a good enough voice talent to warrant the cost of an ISDN line and codec?” aren’t the easiest questions to ask. But we must ask them in order to get an accurate assessment of our overall skill set, and plans for voice over success. If the answer is no, then our time and money might be better spent learning more about how to better perform the craft. Becoming more proficient, insightful and interpretive as a voice actor will expedite the balancing requirements of our positioning more effectively than throwing money at equipment that might exceed our current delivery capabilities where acting ability is concerned .
You can purchase all of the equipment in the world in order to be better positioned for opportunities should they arise, but this behavior won’t erase the fact that one aspect of your positioning will always eclipse the other if you don’t maintain a little self control and honesty in your assessments. Positioning imbalances will always lead to financial losses in this business.
You’re losing jobs because:
- you don’t have the right equipment to seize upon opportunities when they arise and you broadcast your lack of the equipment.
- you have all the equipment necessary, but you lack proficiency in performing as a voice actor and you broadcast that instead.
One thing is for certain; there will always be completely unexplained and virtually undetectable, broad, sweeping variances in either one of these areas, unless your positioning, when it comes to these two very crucial aspects of the business, is accurately and honestly assessed, as well as thoroughly researched and unquestionably well balanced.
When you look at talents A through J and compare them with your assessment of what you bring to the table… Which letter voice talent most closely resembles you?
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