• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Nethervoice

  • Home
  • VOICEOVER
    • VO & Demos
    • Faq
    • Clients
    • Testimonials
  • COACH
  • AUTHOR
  • Blog
    • Blog
    • Career
    • Conferences
    • Dutch
    • Freelancing
    • International
    • Money
    • Media
    • Pay-to-Play
    • Personal
    • Promotion
    • Reviews
    • Studio
  • Contact

Bursting the Audition Bubble

Blog, Career

 Some voice-over casting sites have an interesting way of dealing with members complaining that they haven’t had much luck. Here’s what these sites say:

“Auditioning is great practice! Even if you didn’t get that 100 dollar job, at least you’re honing your skills.”

Oh, please… Give me a break!

WORDS OF WISDOM

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.

Read the rest of this story in my new book. Click on the cover to access the website and get a sneak peek. Use the buttons to buy the book.

Making Money In Your PJs cover

Related Posts

  • VO’s Unfair, so, Grow a Pair!VO’s Unfair, so, Grow a Pair!
  • WHY DOING AUDITIONS IS A DUMB WAY TO PRACTICEWHY DOING AUDITIONS IS A DUMB WAY TO PRACTICE
  • The Devil Is In The DeliveryThe Devil Is In The Delivery
  • That Dreaded AuditionThat Dreaded Audition
  • Landing jobs without auditioning: the Claire Dodin interviewLanding jobs without auditioning: the Claire Dodin interview
  • ALL THE THINGS I NO LONGER DOALL THE THINGS I NO LONGER DO
  • DO YOU REALLY NEED THAT NEW MICROPHONE?DO YOU REALLY NEED THAT NEW MICROPHONE?
  • MY BIGGEST BLUNDERS AND HOW I FIXED THEMMY BIGGEST BLUNDERS AND HOW I FIXED THEM

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Filed Under: Blog, Career Tagged With: Don LaFontaine, Dutch voice-over talent, Lindsey Vonn, Nethervoice, Paul Strikwerda, Sven Kramer, voice-over auditions, voice-over professional, voice-over seminar, voice-over training, voiceover auditions, winning auditions, winning voice-over auditions

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dan Brantley says

    February 24, 2010 at 12:01 pm

    Well said Paul.
    Reminds of the adage “Practice makes perfect” but more correctly said as “Perfect practice makes perfect.”

    Loading...
    Reply
  2. Paul Strikwerda says

    February 24, 2010 at 1:57 pm

    A friend of mine was such a perfectionist, he was never really satisfied with his work. He kept on twisting and tweaking his demos, and when he was finally ready to upload them, he noticed that almost 200 other talents had beaten him to it. That was very frustrating, to say the least.

    His self-critical attitude was also standing in the way of delivering a professional but more relaxed performance. He was constantly (over)analyzing himself and bringing himself down.

    I told him that it didn’t make sense to spend an hour and a half on a demo for a $100 job. There’s a reason why union members get paid for doing demos.

    These days, my friend has found some middle ground. When he’s going for a really big project, he makes sure that his custom demo can compete with the best in the business.

    And for the nickle-and-dime gigs he sits down, reads the script and hits the record button. He takes a few minutes to clean up the demo and then sends it into cyberspace.

    It might not be ‘perfect’, but it works for him.

    Loading...
    Reply
  3. Steve Hammill says

    February 24, 2010 at 8:06 pm

    Good article and advice.

    Loading...
    Reply
  4. Paul Strikwerda says

    February 24, 2010 at 9:20 pm

    Thanks Steve! It’s always good to hear from you. Comments keep me going!

    Loading...
    Reply
  5. Martin Scott says

    March 2, 2010 at 10:16 am

    Paul,

    You may have just changed my life. As a burgeoning talent, I find myself doing just that…..auditioning for everything hoping for the best.

    I have been told that I have a pretty solid demo, and am not completely without skill….though I know I still have a lot to learn.

    But I digress….I think I will change my strategy from this day forward and give myself a bit of a break.

    THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your words of wisdom.

    Loading...
    Reply
  6. Paul Strikwerda says

    March 2, 2010 at 10:44 am

    Hi Martin:

    Changing your life… that’s the least I could do! Seriously, thanks for your compliments. “Do more with less” is my mantra.

    If you start shooting at at target in a random fashion, you might run out of ammo quickly without ever hitting the target. It’s much better to know how to use your shotgun mic; carefully aim and then pull the trigger. Chances are that your killer demo will hit the bulls eye with great precision. Any other effort is a shot in the dark….

    Loading...
    Reply
  7. J. Christopher Dunn says

    July 20, 2010 at 6:12 pm

    Great post, Paul and I knew it! Practice does make perfect, or at least close to it. That’s what my Grandma told me when I was a tike and she was alway right.

    Loading...
    Reply
  8. Paul Strikwerda says

    July 20, 2010 at 7:56 pm

    Thanks, Chris! I’ll refer to what I wrote about perfectionism in answer to Dan (see above). The passionate pursuit of perfection is noble on paper, but impossible in practice. That’s why I wrote in The Yin and Yang of Freelancing:

    “Set the highest standards, but cut yourself some slack.”

    Loading...
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Blog Stats

  • 939,557 hits

Categories

Archives

Disclosure

In this blog I may discuss/review products or books that I believe are relevant to my readers. As a service to them, I often provide links to those products or publications.Instead of having a tip jar, Nethervoice is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. In other words, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

  • HOME
  • VOICEOVER
  • COACH
  • AUTHOR
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT

Privacy Policy

©2024 Nethervoice // Voice Over Site by Voice Actor Websites
Website Hosting by UpperLevel Hosting

  • Home
  • VOICEOVER
    • VO & Demos
    • Faq
    • Clients
    • Testimonials
  • COACH
  • AUTHOR
  • Blog
    • Blog
    • Career
    • Conferences
    • Dutch
    • Freelancing
    • International
    • Money
    • Media
    • Pay-to-Play
    • Personal
    • Promotion
    • Reviews
    • Studio
  • Contact
%d