BURSTING THE AUDITION BUBBLE

At the end of a two day “voice-over intensive”, the trainer looked at her students one last time. By the expression on her face they could tell she was about to say something significant.

Her velvet voice had sold millions of sheets of the softest bathroom tissue known to mankind. Anything that came out of her mouth was as good as gold. Star-struck, the students all listened like attention-deprived orphans, waiting to get one last bit of tough love.

“People,” she said, as she took stock of her class, “this weekend was just the beginning. Now it’s up to you to go out there and break a leg. Make me proud! Audition as much as possible. It doesn’t matter what for. If you can’t make it, fake it. It’s a numbers game. The more you audition, the greater the chance you’ll eventually get hired. If I can do it, you can do it!

I mean…. never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that my biggest achievement would come from the smallest room in the house. But didn’t the Romans coin the phrase: ‘Pecunia non olet’? Take it from me: once you’re on a roll, you just keep on rolling… wherever your destiny leads you.

Now, before you go, be sure to check out the table with my products. Only today they’re 15% off. And if you sign up for the next seminar, you are eligible for an early bird discount. All credit cards are welcome.”

TRAINING TALENT

Don had it made. Working from home or being chauffeured from studio to studio in a limo: that’s the life! No need to learn lines. A glorious set of vocal chords was all that was required. And a membership to one of those online casting sites of course.

But a few months after the training, things were not going as advertised. Take John, for instance. He used to work for a local radio station, until a fund drive didn’t go so well. “But,” said John, “at least I have a background in broadcasting.”

John sent out about 12 to 15 auditions a day, and hadn’t had one single bite. He’d spent a small fortune on the set-up of his home studio, and it was about time he got some return on his investment. When he called his trainer for some advice, he got an assistant on the line.

John explained that he hadn’t been so lucky lately, and asked her what he should do. “Sir”, she said, “How about I sign you up for our next seminar? It’s called “Winning Auditions” and that will really take you to the next level. But if you can’t make it, you should definitely buy the CD, recorded at a live training in Vegas. It’s powerful stuff!”

IT'S A MYTH
John’s story is not uncommon. He had fallen for a fallacy: the idea that you should audition as much as you can if you want to break into the business. And if things don’t work out, no problem. Doing demos is great practice! Really?

I’m not buying it. It reminds me of the exit of one of the participants in a conducting competition. He was a young guy who already had spent a great deal of time in front of various orchestras. Yet, after the third round of the competition, the jury decided to send him home. “How is that possible?” the young conductor wanted to know. “I probably have more experience than the majority of the people in this contest.”

“Experience, yes” said the chairman of the jury. “But there’s good experience and bad experience. Your experience wasn’t very good.”

In my mind, you practice to audition. You don’t audition to practice. Take the Olympics. If you’ve been glued to the TV as much as I have, you’ve noticed that competitions usually start off with qualifiers. Some athletes will tell you that these qualifying rounds are actually more stressful and demanding than the real thing. It’s during these qualifiers that you have to prove to the world that you’re worthy of a top spot. That’s not where you learn it. That’s where you earn it!

What would happen if Lindsey Vonn would go into a qualifier with an attitude of “It doesn’t really matter if I don’t make it. I can at least look back on some great practice rounds.” It’s a totally different mindset. A very different energy. It will never get you on the podium.

NUMBERS DON'T ADD UP
The secret to winning auditions doesn’t lie in how many you can crank out. Anybody can do ten a day. Ultimately, it’s a matter of quality, not quantity. And in order to deliver quality, you need to be qualified and that’s where practice comes into play. Practice and training.

No one would dare to audition for a Broadway show after a two day tap dancing seminar, no matter how famous the teacher might have been in his day and age. It’s simply ludicrous. They’d never let you back in.

And that’s what could happen if you start sending demos to every producer who’s posting a job that vaguely meets your criteria, when you’re not ready and when you’re not really going for it. In a weird way, it’s often easier for us to remember the bizarre and outrageous.

One stupid mistake in one race can haunt an athlete for years (think of Dutch skater Sven Kramer). One dumb demo can ruin your chances for a long time. That’s why it’s so important to be selective; to be prepared and to give it all you got… and then some.

THE NEXT CHAPTER
John didn't buy the CD recorded in Vegas. He didn’t sign up for the next seminar either. Instead, he had a professional critique his demos, and he worked one on one with a coach to get rid of his “announcer voice”.

He no longer auditions for every job on the voice-over planet. In fact, something strange happened. The pickier he became, the more success he had. And instead of spending most of the day recording demos, he actually had time to develop a solid business plan.

John’s a smart guy. He gave himself a second chance to make a first impression.

How about you?

Paul Strikwerda © 2010

www.nethervoice.com
Paul Strikwerda provides voice-over services in English, Dutch and German from his professional studio in Pennsylvania.