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VOICE ACTING
Screw Being Perfect! It's Best To Seek
'Better' Auditions - Then Walk Away
January 22, 2014

By Hugh Klitzke
Casting Director and Coach

Seth Godin (best-selling author and marketing expert) recently wrote:
"As creators, our pursuit of perfection might be misguided, particularly if it comes at the expense of the things that matter."
(All hail Seth!  All hail Seth!  O-oh, Seth can you seeee....)

So, what matters in voice over? 

Good choices matter. What are those choices? Choices in read, in tone, in delivery, in professional demeanor ...  But NOT the perfection of those choices! 
 "Perfection is a very limited state of being."  
That's something my first great mentor taught me. 
"Perfection is the enemy of good."
This one has a whole Wikipedia entry unto itself. 

SEEK BETTER, NOT PERFECT

Better choices lead to better executed auditions. Not seeking out the "perfect" choice.

And more auditions lead to better auditions. Not perfecting one audition. The audition itself is ultimately disposable.  

And as the VO industry trends more and more towards self audition and self record - the echo chamber of "I need to make it perfect" resonates louder in our capacious craniums. (God - are there a LOT of voices in there!)

SCREW PERFECT!

What the hell is "perfect" anyway?

If we knew what was "perfect" all of the time - wouldn't we just give it to them and clean up on bookings? 

Screw perfect. Get to "very good" or "good enough for today" and walk away! 
----------------------
ABOUT HUGH
Hugh P. Klitzke is studio manager and voice casting director for a leading bi-coastal talent agency, who has directed more than 85,000 auditions for all voice over genres. Based in New York City, he is also a coach specializing in teaching voice over for actors, and writes VO4TA, a twice-weekly blog with helpful voice acting tips.


Email:  VO4TA@voiceoverfortheactor.com
Web: www.VoiceOverForTheActor.com
Blog: http://voiceoverfortheactor.com/hpks_blog

Subscribe to blog: http://voiceoverfortheactor.com/subscribe_for_free


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Comments (2)
Amy LaDeroute
1/24/2014 at 4:09 PM
Bingo. You were talking to me today. I just beat this audition to death and lost total objectivity in the process. I finally left it and took a break. Too much questioning, analyzing and WANTING it to be right. I'm going back in the studio later and banging it off in one take.
Thanks for the reminder.
Debby Barnes
1/22/2014 at 6:42 AM
I SO needed this, Hugh. Yeah...at then end of the day, it should always be about GOOD CHOICES. :)
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