Voice Acting Magic Tricks

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Voice Acting Magic Tricks

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There are some amazing vanishing tricks in the world of Voice Acting. I’m going to reveal some that I think are essential to success in the business.

Acting
The first trick I learned in acting was the ability to disappear on stage.

When this happens, the audience ceases to see me, and only sees the character I’m portraying. How the trick is done doesn’t really matter, as long as the audience believes in the results. The same is true for voice acting. Everyone gets there in different ways, but can achieve the same result. It’s a combination of talent, training, and technique. If they can see you, or they can see the acting, then it is no longer magic. Perfect your acting disappearing trick, and you’ll be a more highly valued commodity.

Marketing
The trick in marketing is to be thought of without being pushy. For me, this happens through true magic: I don’t market at all! I am thought of because of the relationships I’ve forged, not because of branding, a catchy slogan or a deluge of postcards and newsletters. Less is more. Hone your craft. Be professional and polite. Be memorable by being yourself. The trick to magic marketing is to make the marketing invisible.

Business
Staying in the acting business is a trick of its own. If it’s something you love to do, then you’ve got to find a way to make it happen. Sometimes this means working odd hours, odd jobs, or with odd people (that’s a given). No matter how you do it, your clients, agents, and others don’t need to know. They just need to know they can rely on you being there for them, and delivering a quality product. Hide the machinery of your clock work trick to stay in business for the long haul.

Reality
The toughest trick of all for an actor is knowing when to make the acting vanish. We all know people who are “on” all the time. To be honest, it’s not honest. And it can be tiring to be friends, or in a relationship with someone who always wears a mask. Learn when to just live your life… as you. You may be surprised what a tall order it is to truly know yourself, and to be comfortable just being you. I know it’s scary, but it’s worth it in the long run. As Oscar Wilde quipped “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

 

All content written and voiced by Joe J Thomas online at: JoeActor.com

 

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10 thoughts on “Voice Acting Magic Tricks

  1. Come on….no marketing at all? You posted this on Google + which is where I saw it, which drove me to your site to read this post – and encouraged me to tweet it. That is marketing!

  2. Pingback: What Is Marketing? - Joe's DumpJoe's Dump

  3. I came across this post via your reply to a Facebook post on ‘Voiceover Pros’ so I’m not sure (and am probably not going to lose sleep over) where that fits in to everyone’s definition of ‘marketing’.
    I did just want to say that I really enjoyed this post both in its structure and content. In particular, I could not agree more about ‘disappearing’. Love it.

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