"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
We've all heard that expression, meaning that the relentless pursuit of #perfection can keep anything good from actually getting done. But to the #voiceover actor "perfection" is not just the enemy - it's the thing that can actively prevent us from getting #vowork.
We've all been guilty of it, or at least I have. The sweaty obsessing over the audio file before submitting the #audition. The zooming in and manipulation of each wave form, the elimination of every pop and hiss. The wincing at that one mistake that keeps our audition from being... well, perfect.
But here's the thing: it's our imperfections that get us cast. If they wanted a robot they'd use text-to-speech, right? Heaven knows that technology is getting scarily better by the day. But what should keep every voice actor sleeping soundly at night without fear of the AI revolution coming for their job is the fact that WE GET HIRED BECAUSE WE DON'T SOUND PERFECT. It's the crack, the crackle, the hiss, the little laugh, the odd hesitation and the unusual emphasis that catch the ear and remind our clients - and eventually, their customers - that they are listening to a real human with thoughts and ideas and emotions. Why else would they trust us? Why would they buy anything from us if they didn't relate?
And even more subtly it's not just about sounding like a human but sounding like a *regular* human. And humans can't live in a vacuum as far as I know, so our recording spaces shouldn't sound too perfect either! I record in a Whisper Room and those gorgeous thick walls and that wonderful acoustic foam does *too good* a job at eliminating room noise. A huge part of the "tuning" process with a booth is making it sound alive, quirky, and #REAL.
There's no excuse not to #beyourself - your most real, vulnerable, one-of-a-kind, quirky self - because I guarantee you that it's not just good for your #soul, it's good for your #bottomline. It's good for your #business. Perfection isn't just your enemy, it isn't even what you should be striving for in the first place.
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