Group Therapy

Reunited and it feeeeels so gooood! I got to return to my VO Pro workout group this week, and MAN did it feel great to get back in the booth!

What's a workout group you may ask? WELL! It is a pretty unique experience, a group of us crazy VO peeps get together every two weeks at the home studio of a fantastic man and talent, known hence fourth as: R.A. and we play by what he has established as the "Rule of Three:" bring 3 pieces of copy, get 3 takes, get 3 people's responses. That's the simple explanation, which doesn't do it ANY justice so I'll launch into the longer one.

3 Pieces of copy: This part is pretty awesome, not only do we bring the copy we want to work on, but we all bring in 3 additional pieces so that we have a kind of stockpile. We use this stockpile when we need something new, something fresh....something we wish our agents had sent us out on...or just want a challenge! It can really give you a chance to play with reading something you would normally say "wasn't you." For example: I sound like a 12 year old girl when my "normal"speaking voice is recorded. Needless to say I don't get handed a lot of Promo Copy...BUT with the stockpile, I can try anything! Car commercials, beer commercials, bank promos...other things where all the specs say 35-40 year old man! It gives you a chance to stretch, and when we stretch, we grow!

3 takes/3 responses: These go hand in hand. You take your copy, you go in the booth, you take your best shot. Then 3 of your other fantastic brethren of VO talents give you feedback, all in a positive light! What you can punch more, establish the "who" of who your talking to, weather to be more conversational or to really "promo it up." Then you go back in, take what you liked about the feedback and apply it to your read, then you get MORE feedback, more things you can do to really stand out from the vocal crowd! Then you go BACK in the booth for one final shot, where you take what you liked, leave the rest, and, hopefully, knock it out of the park. Then when you finally exit the booth, you get roaring applause! Seriously! It's so fun :)

"Why?" You may ask? Because VO can be really isolating. Just you, and your mic in a 2ftx2ft space, recording and listening back to the same 30 sec. spot 200 times wondering whats good about it, and whats bad about it, then deciding the whole thing is crap and recording it for the 54th time before you hit submit. Honestly, it can be hard. So this group gets us out of our closets, and out of our heads and IN to some amazing talent. It gets us talking, reacting, and establishing a connection with people who WANT you to succeed. We cheer for each other when we "book it," and we commiserate together when we don't. It is a unique place to learn and grow. It is my bi-monthly group therapy, and I'm so happy to be home.