{"id":14247,"date":"2020-02-27T16:35:57","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T21:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/?p=14247"},"modified":"2020-02-27T16:35:57","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T21:35:57","slug":"how-to-quiet-a-critical-mind-in-vo-and-in-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/27\/how-to-quiet-a-critical-mind-in-vo-and-in-life\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Quiet a Critical Mind in VO (and in life!)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"video-responsive\"><div class=\"lyte-wrapper\" style=\"width:853px;max-width:100%;margin:5px auto;\"><div class=\"lyMe\" id=\"WYL_O693tBzF130\"><div id=\"lyte_O693tBzF130\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FO693tBzF130%2Fhqdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/O693tBzF130\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FO693tBzF130%2F0.jpg\" alt=\"YouTube video thumbnail\" width=\"853\" height=\"460\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:853px;margin:5px auto;\"><\/div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Depending on where you are on your Such A Voice journey, (and this will vary depending on if you are doing 30- or 60-minute sessions, but let\u2019s go with 30-minutes for the sake of example), you may recognize this familiar voice in your head\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Starting the program: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYes! I did it! I\u2019ve always wanted to do this and I didn\u2019t let fear, doubt, money, work, responsibilities etc. stand in my way. I\u2019m doing this for <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">me<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, it\u2019s meant to be, I\u2019m so excited!!!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Around sessions #3, #4 or #5: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI\u2019m terrible at this! This is so much harder than I thought it was going to be! I figured you pick up a script, read it into a microphone and voila! How hard could that be? How does my coach make it sound so easy? Why can\u2019t I just do it like that? It sounded so much better last night when I practiced. (defeated) Ugh, what was I thinking, I never should have signed up for this course\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sound familiar?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I often joke with my coaching students that if you\u2019re starting to panic around sessions 3, 4, or 5, you\u2019re right on schedule.\u00a0 Around sessions 9,10, or 11 is when the \u201cOhhhhhhhhh, now I\u2019m getting it!!\u201d a-ha moment usually happens.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s the thing &#8211; and we all know this and yet, we forget it time and time again: people who are great at what they do <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">make it look easy.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Whether that\u2019s Tom Brady throwing a football or Serena Williams serving a tennis ball (my students also know I like sports references), Oprah Winfrey doing an interview, Meryl Streep doing, well, just about anything, or that college professor who somehow made your two-hour Political Science class in college so interesting even at 8 am. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It takes work, perseverance, skill, confidence, resilience, and practice<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. We just don\u2019t see all of that. We see (or hear) the end result.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the best antidotes to this \u2018voice\u2019 I have discovered in recent years is <\/span><b><i>meditation<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b><i>mindfulness<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (they are actually different things), and I\u2019m not talking about monks on a mountaintop in a flowing garment meditation. As lovely and \u201cEat, Pray, Love\u201d as that sounds, for most people in the western world, that\u2019s not realistic. As my meditation teacher &#8211; a former Broadway actress and dancer, now a major thought leader in the science and study of meditation and its long term benefits &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/zivameditation.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emily Fletcher of Ziva Meditation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> would say,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>\u00a0\u201cWe don\u2019t meditate to get good at meditating, we meditate to get good at life.\u201d<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-14250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/le-minh-phuong-niH7Z81S44g-unsplash-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I took her course about three years ago and it\u2019s been a complete game-changer for me in my work as an actress in voice-over, stage, and screen; as a director, a coach, a teacher and in both personal and professional relationships in general.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The other resource I highly recommend in terms of mindfulness has been the free app, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/shine-calm-anxiety-stress\/id1293721589\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shine<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0 (There\u2019s a paid subscription version too if you\u2019re feeling fancy. I start every morning with it.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Right about now, you may be thinking, \u201cOk Lisa, well great, but what does that have to do with voice-over, really?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Everything.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you hold yourself back because of that \u2018voice\u2019 and try to \u2018get it right\u2019 with a script, or start picking apart your performance as you\u2019re reading, you\u2019re already not in the present moment, and listeners can hear it.\u00a0 People listening may not know WHY they\u2019re not connecting with your voice, they just know they aren\u2019t. Connecting with your listener, whether that\u2019s the potential client or their target audience, is the single most important thing you must do in voice-over.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first lesson in the SAV curriculum is called Script Analysis: The Foundation of Every Good Read? Why? Script analysis truly is the foundation of every good read.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can\u2019t be thinking about the deadline you have coming up, what you need to get at the grocery store for the dinner party you\u2019re hosting this weekend, or if you signed your child\u2019s permission slip before they left for the school bus this morning AND know:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Who am I?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Who am I talking to?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are my given circumstances? (Are we trying to have a confidential conversation over the noise in a Starbucks or are we two old friends chatting in my living room?)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is the meaning of what I\u2019m really saying? (Am I telling you about my great new credit card because you\u2019re my best friend and I know you\u2019ve been struggling with your finances lately or am I your co-worker rolling my eyes because I keep telling you to stop taking packages to the post office and use Federal Express instead, but you didn\u2019t listen, again.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In order to be great at voice-overs, you must be present, in this moment, right now. Period.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think of it like going to the gym to get in shape.\u00a0 You don\u2019t go for 3-6 months and then think, \u201cYes! Nailed it. I\u2019m good now. Back to the couch I go\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Script analysis is a foundational skill you must continue to hone and use throughout your VO career which is why having tools in your tool box to quiet the critical mind is so crucial in voice-over (and in life!) &#8211; and we ALL have one. It never entirely goes away. But, you can turn the volume way down or place it up on a high shelf for safe keeping and pick it back up the next time you try taking that golf lesson or dance class you\u2019ve been putting off.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A few other great resources I\u2019ve discovered along the way:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wendy Braun &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/actorinspiration.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/actorinspiration.com\/\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marie Forleo &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marieforleo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.marieforleo.com\/\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Risa Bramon Garcia &amp; Steve Braun &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bramongarciabraun.com\/the-acting-podcast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/bramongarciabraun.com\/the-acting-podcast\/\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gabrielle Bernstein &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/gabbybernstein.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/gabbybernstein.com\/\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And the ones I mentioned above which I use daily:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emily Fletcher &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/zivameditation.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/zivameditation.com\/<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (and her book, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.audiobooks.com\/audiobook\/stress-less-accomplish-more-the-15-minute-meditation-programme-for-extraordinary-performance\/364989?refId=38712&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiA1rPyBRAREiwA1UIy8K3XW1hwpYq9NLAQsXZf3G6GAEqNRJisROHWLqaRX3sncuFLA3fnYxoCxkkQAvD_BwE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stress Less, Accomplish More<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shine App<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/shine-calm-anxiety-stress\/id1293721589\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u200eShine: Calm Anxiety &amp; Stress on the App Store<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wishing you great success, joy, resilience, and fun on your continuing voice-over journey.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cheers!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Depending on where you are on your Such A Voice journey, (and this will vary depending on if you are doing 30- or 60-minute sessions, but let\u2019s go with 30-minutes for the sake of example), you may recognize this familiar &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"How to Quiet a Critical Mind in VO (and in life!)\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/27\/how-to-quiet-a-critical-mind-in-vo-and-in-life\/#more-14247\" aria-label=\"Read more about How to Quiet a Critical Mind in VO (and in life!)\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4255,"featured_media":20418,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","h5ap_radio_sources":[],"slim_seo":{"description":"SAV Coach Lisa Datz talks about her experience with meditation and how it has helped her cope with a busy and critical mind.","title":"How to Quiet a Critical Mind in VO (and in life!) - Such A Voice"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"popup":[],"class_list":["post-14247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-in-vo","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"mb":[],"acf":[],"mfb_rest_fields":["title"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4255"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14247"},{"taxonomy":"popup","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suchavoice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/popup?post=14247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}