First Things First
These first 5 Gleanings from 2023 are a culmination of some key take aways from my first year in full time VoiceOver work. They represent only the tip of what I’ve learned this year. These are already out on social media, and I thought here would be a good place to expand on them a bit.
#1 - FIRST THINGS FIRST
Each day, week, month, and year needs a focus so we don’t lose sight of what we’re setting out to do. We all face the same limitations, or a better way to look at it…the same opportunities with 7 days a week, 28 to 31 days in a month, 12 months in a year, and so on. If we’re not starting with a focus, chances are we’ll never get to where we want to be.
So, for me FIRST THINGS FIRST means prioritizing the most important things to me. So each day I like to begin with some Bible reading and prayer time. Then I roll right into looking at what I am going to be recording for the day. For a voice actor, recording sessions take priority. When we own our business, we wear a lot of hats. At any given time, other tasks could rise to the top of my priorities. If the internet goes out, the mic stops working, a new job comes in…well, you get the idea. We may get interrupted and need to work through a hiccup, but then we’re right back to FIRST THINGS FIRST.
Based on your schedule, you may not record first thing in the morning. You may record later in the day, but the focus at the start of the day is going to be what you’ve got going on with recording for the day. For longer narration like an audiobook, I may schedule out chunks of time over multiple weeks for recording and then editing/mastering of a work. Everything we do is still with FIRST THINGS FIRST in the back of our minds as we work through any other essential tasks. We can’t let other things invade our space when they are not helping us get to our FIRST THINGS FIRST.
Each week I identify my top 3 priorities as my weekly FIRST THINGS FIRST. For me these include things like a new themed demo or recording/editing certain parts of my next audiobook or identifying my next set of market touches. In 2023, I based many of these off of my Major VO To-Do List I created before going full-time.
For monthly FIRST THINGS FIRST, I’ve looked at identifying my training needs and focusing on one or two of those. Sometimes it’s meant spending the month focused on reading out loud or practicing a certain type of read for a month, like an authoritative read. There are so many ways to improve our craft, it will be a long time before I run out of new training techniques/ideas to try.
When I first started, my FIRST THINGS FIRST included my studio set-up. I tried out different materials, recorded, listened, and rearranged. Your FIRST THINGS FIRST may look different depending on where you’re at in your journey. Hone in on those most important aspects of your work first (so you don’t derail yourself), and you’ll get there.
