One of my Most Embarrassing Moments

Far before I was a confident voice over actor…, I stood in front of my primary school-mates and recited a line for our Christmas pageant.  My nerves got the best of me and I stuttered in front of hundreds of laughing children.  Not naturally a child who stuttered, I kept at it, confused as to why my mouth wouldn’t say the words I needed to say.  To say that was devastating at the time is an understatement.  Still, I chose the career of voice over, despite my 5th grade flop.

A Voice Actor’s Life

Every day, as I record for clients and auditions, I witness my innermost self, coming through the words onto the recording.  I stumble and bumble, occasionally stutter and become short of breath. I get tongue tied and mostly get, what I call, “lazy mouth”.  And, while it may be my first recording of the day with the excuse of not being warmed up, I am able to use the ability to articulate, or lack there-of, to identify what is going on inside, that is, what is happening in my psyche.

If I am not feeling confident, if I am insecure about a certain client’s project, if I am just not myself on any given day, it is reflected in my speech. But business does not offer us the opportunity to feel “less than”.

(Are You Enough?)

Confident Voice Over Acting

So, to remedy my sound, I mentally pull up my boot straps – take a deep breath, find inner calm, stand up straight, and put a gentle smile on.  And when I listen back with pride in the end result, I wish it could have helped that little girl say her ONE line for the school play.  But as it turned out, she kicked ass at the science fair.