Saturday, October 10, 2009

Success - One Small Step at a Time


Earlier this week, veteran voice actor extraordinaire, Bob Souer, posted a quote on his blog that was sent to him by his manager, Stacey Stahl. I've thought a lot about this quote all week in the context of where I'm headed on Monday and what I will be doing.

Success will never be a big step in the future,
success is a small step taken just now.

If you've read any of my blog in the past, you know that I've started this journey of voice acting with the goal of becoming an "A" list talent. I realized before I ever started that this journey had to be taken one step at a time. This is not something that just happens overnight. That philosophy has been very difficult for me. I'm not always the most patient person when it comes to pursuing a goal with a passion, but learning more and more about this exciting field of voice acting has taught me the value of patience and how a methodical approach to pursuing a goal is more likely to make it a reality.

For those of you who read my blog who are not well-versed the field of voice acting, I appreciate your reading and your patience, since it is a subject that may not be of complete interest to you. But in the voiceover world, one step, some would say, THE most important step, is having a demo produced for you to use in marketing yourself to potential clients. It's your "calling card".

A demo is a 60 second snippet of parts of various commercials where you can showcase your talents using a variety of emotions, attitudes, tempos and volumes to engage your listener into wanting to hear all that you have to say about the clients product or services in their advertisement. Most, if not all demos, are professionally produced with voiceover coaches and engineers, to help you get the best interpretation and sound quality possible.

On Monday, I will be taking the huge step of heading to San Diego to have my demo recorded and produced by two of the greatest coaches, engineers and people I've ever met - James Alburger and Penny Abshire, in their Voiceacting Academy studios. Both are accomplished and award winning voice actors, engineers and coaches, and are extremely well respected in this field. I am very lucky and blessed to have them in my corner.

Once my demo is completed, I will post it on my website and blog for all potential clients to hear and enjoy (I hope). I am excited for all of you, my friends, to hear it as well. Yes, this is a big step toward my future as a voice actor, but it is really just another small step taken just now.

Derek Chappell
-The Voice of Your Business