VAM 174 | 10th Anniversary Episode, Part 1
Welcome to episode 174 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!
As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:
http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast
In this episode, I’d like to take the time to celebrate an important milestone.
The Voice Acting Mastery podcast is now officially 10 years old! I released my first podcast episode in July of 2011. Back then I had no idea the kind of journey I would go on through producing this podcast. It’s been an amazing endeavor, and over the past decade, I’ve done my very best to share the most useful and practical information I could on what it takes to succeed as a professional voice actor. I’ve shared my own experiences and expertise to the best of my ability, and along the way I’ve also had many opportunities to interview some of the most talented people in the industry. Hearing their stories and insights has been inspirational, and I hope that the content I’ve provided in this podcast has in some way helped each and every one of my listeners.
In addition to producing the main Voice Acting Mastery podcast, I also produced a sister podcast with some very talented people, whom I was grateful to work with. For three years, I was joined by some of my younger voice acting colleagues in creating the Voice Acting Mastery Field Report, which, if you haven’t checked out already, should still be available both at VoiceActingMastery.com and through many online podcast directories including Apple’s. While the Field Report did eventually come to an end, I’m grateful to my correspondents, Tom Bauer, Ashley Huyge, Dan Will McCann, and Maureen Price for their hard work and insightful episodes. I also want to thank my wife and partner, Izobel Freeman, who has helped support me during this entire endeavor. She designed the Voice Acting Mastery Logos for both my website and for the podcast episodes. She’s also helped edit the writing on every single episode of the podcast to make sure that it was as clear, focused, and empowering as possible. Her artistic contributions and emotional encouragement have been invaluable throughout the entire life of the Voice Acting Mastery brand and I could not have done this without her!
For this 10th anniversary episode, I asked my listeners to either call in or e-mail me a voice message letting me know how the Voice Acting Mastery podcast may have influenced their own acting journey or any other part of their lives! I thought it would be a nice way to celebrate the occasion if I shared some of the messages I received and responded to them here. I have been overwhelmed by people’s appreciation for the podcast and while I don’t have time to share everyone’s heartfelt comments in this episode, I want you all to know that I did listen to every single message and I’m so grateful for and humbled by them all. It was amazing to hear all of your stories, thoughts and thank you’s for the last ten years we’ve spent together and for any impact I, my guests, or the insights we’ve shared may have had in your life. Thank you for all your kind words. They mean so much, and I’m honored that you took the time to send them in.
In this episode, I’d like to share 3 messages from listeners who talk about how the podcast helped their mindset when it came to approaching voice acting. In the next episode, I’ll be sharing 3 more messages from listeners who explain how the podcast affected their practical approach to a voice acting career.
The first message I received from a voice actor who has actually been a student of mine in the past, Kevin Powe from Australia! He wanted to thank me for 2 pieces of advice he learned from the podcast:
First, when it comes to auditions, do them, and then forget them. Leave them in your wake as you move forward.
and Second, don’t think about projects in terms of “I really want to be credited on that.”, “I love that show” or “I love that property, so I want to be a part of it”. Instead think, “What can I bring to that?”, “How can I make that better by being a part of it?”
I expand on both of Kevin’s points and explain how one naturally follows from the other.
The second message I receive is from Sabina in Gothenburg Sweden! An important lesson she learned from the podcast was to value expressing one’s artistic message rather than trying to impress the people around you. It helped her value her own voice and her own identity. I talk about how transitioning from impressing to expressing is a common theme in almost all archetypal hero journeys and is an essential part of becoming an authority for one’s own life! By learning to express rather than impress, you’re following in the footsteps of some of the most famous mythological heroes that have come before you!
The third message is from Matt in Dallas, Texas. He’s grateful to have learned from the podcast that there is no “right” way to perform a character. Even though he studied acting in high school, and continued his studies in college, it wasn’t until he started listening to the podcast early in his college career, that he suddenly realized that there was no “right” way to perform a character. It was far more important to be truthful in one’s performance than to try and perform a character the “right” way.
I suffered from a similar misconception when I was young, so listening to Matt is like listening to a younger version of myself! I explain why the paradigm of right and wrong is such a pervasive mindset in school, but how it does not serve us when approaching an artistic endeavor like voice acting. The paradigm that I use to evaluate a performance is not if it’s right or wrong, but if it’s believable or not believable. I explain how believability activates empathy in an audience and how Matt’s desire to be truthful is one of the best ways to be believable.
In the next episode, I’ll answer some more listener calls, but this time instead of focusing on mindset we’ll focus on calls that address the practical approach one can take to pursue a professional voice acting career. Thanks again to everyone who called in and voiced their sincere appreciation for the podcast. It means the world to me and I’m grateful to all of my listeners. I hope you’ll join me again for the next episode, and until then, I wish you all the best in your voice acting endeavors. Take care.
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #174 Here (MP3)
Thanks for a great episode! It was so lovely hearing Sabina from Sweden! Really inspiring to hear her story and insights!