So, here you are, a working VO pro. What’s that mean really? You’ve got the basics covered: performance, technical, and business. You know how to voice your genre of choice, your sound is clean and good, and you know how to track your money and look for work.
But what separates a pro from somebody who’s working, but new at it?
A couple of features of a pro (with thanks to audiobook Hall of Fame member, Simon Vance):
Are you good at what you do?
Are you pleasant to work with?
Do you deliver what you promise on time?
Simple? Maybe. But maybe you need to set up a system of reminders so you do deliver on time. How well do you anticipate and plan ahead? Do you need to work on keeping the bad mood at bay or do you need extra effort to have both a life at home and a VO career? And you know that you’ll forever need practice and training to hone your skills; that that’s just the nature of the craft.
Know thyself. Know where you don’t excel and marshal your inner resources where you do excel.
A pro is in charge of his or her mental and physical health, is disciplined about the work, knows how to manage rejection productively, and is driven to persevere.
And, a pro realizes that all that is hard to do in isolation. We all need peers, colleagues, friends. We need people who “get” what we do and with whom we can vent, get perspective, and share the load.
We know how to mine the gems out of social media without getting bogged down all the noise. We’re up to date on Voice Over Red Flags (that’s a Facebook page you should join). We’ve got colleagues to talk with and sources of live and online learning. We’ve got plans for which conferences to attend, which classes to take this year. We’re ready to adapt and change plans.
Are you ready for that? If so, you’re a pro.