Zomming The Voice Over

I jumped in the car yesterday to attend to family matters. I flipped on the FM radio to hear a local CBS O&O contemporary hits station that featured the typical B-team weekend announcers. But this female announcer was unique. Her voice squeaked. Much like by dog's squeak toys. But I wanted more. Her voice was so incomparable.

I wondered if anyone at CBS knew what they were doing when they put her on the air. Or if the pay scale had shrunk so much, all they had to choose from were squeak toys and mimes. I suspect the later to be the truth. I am also sure that some people would object strongly to listening to her voice on the air because it just wasn't "what you do". It should be what you do.

The VO business is a Zoomers business. What is Zooming? It is a Seth Godin concept. And it's pretty simple. Keep the same vision & energy that started your business to reinvent your business as it grows. Competent people run businesses that are doomed because competence doesn't embrace change. Find the people who have the option to become competent but choose not to because they want to try something different.

Last month I attended one of those New York VO love-fests. You know, one of those deals where they say they are going to show you all of the inside tricks to the voice over business, but really are only trying to sell a book and some voice coaching classes? When the first 90 minutes of experts speaking of their heavenly accomplishments had ended, they opened up the floor to Q&A. There was a woman who approached the mic to asked about demo reels and what agents look for on those reels. Her voice was truly unique. So different I can not describe it. But before she could finish her question, laughter broke out on the stage from the very people who she was looking to for guidance. She was told to "not quit her day job". Where have I heard that before? I could not believe that this well healed group of VO experts lacked vision. But then I remembered why they were there. To sell a book. That was it.

My point is this. There are no rules in the VO business. Just the rules that are set by the ones who have achieved success. Ignore those. Be a zoomer with a thick skin and keep trying. So many unique voices have achieved success. Hope that your voice IS unique.

Remember, it's not the people in the voice business who hire you. It's the ones with vision who hire you.