The Often “Most Difficult” Concept I Teach

Photo by Will B on Unsplash

Hey there!

I just got off Zoom with a client who was having real difficulty accepting some advice I was giving him.

And I realized about halfway through the session exactly what the difficulty was.

It was not the concept itself, but his ability to accept it was as simple as it actually is.

The concept is simple. Acceptance of it can be unbelievably hard.

Hope this helps!

David

Responses

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  1. Hey David,
    Another EXCELLENT video! This one really hits home. I get in front of the mic and BANG!!! There goes the radio voice. I have to work to keep that from happening and sometimes, it’s a struggle just to be me. Your video gives me more incentive to keep plugging away.
    Thanks again!

  2. Great intuitive finding! I am looking forward to discussing when I work with you again! I think I struggle with this, which might be holding me back from being better at my performance and in the business in general!

    Thank you!

  3. It’s at times like this I thank God I never did radio. It seems like all ex-radio people in VO struggle with this. Behind the mic I’ve only ever been me; I’m used to it.

  4. Gotta disagree with you there. Well its called Voice acting for a reason and you need to meet the criteria for the specs .Doing everything as yourself is not acting. How many actors simply play themselves when being offered a role .. you need to be the character they’re looking for . Radio Voice is another thing as thats its an over the top contrived persona for someone who’s fallen in love with the sound of their own voice.

  5. Thanks so much for talking about this! I direct high school theater and have enormous difficulty getting the kids to understand this concept. Of course we do character work, but when we are focusing on pure dialog between two people, simple conversation with people connecting with each other authentically, they feel they must ‘be more’ than who they are in the moment. And here’s the kicker – I do this very thing myself! I love what you said, “We push back and reject the truth of it. Somehow we think we can’t be enough.” Thanks for describing this so well.

  6. This video makes me think of our recent live workout. I remember you asked me to simply be myself for my third piece, Creepy Evil Villain, after which you said I gave a great read. I find myself thinking, “Was I not being myself when reading my first two pieces?” I feel like there is this subtly that goes into reading pieces of copy that involves being “on brand” while also making slight modifications appropriate to each script. I find that to be quite challenging, but that’s why I’m in your program. I imagine the understanding I seek will come with time and practice. Thanks for the video David.