Michelle Falzon, a Voice123 voice talent and coach, was hired to work at Voice123 last month. When such a thing happens, as it did to many of us, we have to ask the question after a month, “SO! What do you think of the view from the other side?”. Indeed, getting a view of the bigger picture, where you see what all voice talent and voice seekers say, can be eye-opening and a bit of a shock.
I asked Michelle this question last week:
“If you could say anything to voice talent after one month here, to let them know what shocked you the most, and then help voice talent with your newly discovered knowledge, what would it be?”.
She replied to me:
“The biggest shock for me, to be honest, is how sensitive people are to a critique or rejection. I know being rejected is not a great experience. I am a voice talent myself and have used Voice123 for several years. I really can sympathize. No one likes to be told, “We cannot accept it” or “We have chosen someone else . Sorry.” These responses don’t leave me feeling warm and fuzzy either, BUT as a voice talent, you need to take the good with the bad. You win some. You lose some. That being said, how you RESPOND to rejection is really important for several reasons:
1) Refusing to see that you need to change prevents you from actually changing! How will you ever improve if you don’t listen to critique? When someone critiques you or rejects you, look at the situation with an open mind. Do they have a point? Can you to take the advice or experience and use it to better yourself? Many people immediately get defensive and close themselves up, refusing to take in information that could truly help them in the future. Sure, sometimes people will be jerks, and you can disregard those people, but don’t disregard someone who is just trying to help, or get mad at someone who just happened to pick someone else for a gig. Look at the situation with an open mind and be willing to change, if necessary. (I believe Michelle is referring here to the Quality Assurance process behind voice demos on Voice123)
2) Be careful of the hidden messages you send to people, based on how you react to things. You never know who is on the other end of an email. I can tell you though…It is an actual person. Yes, a human being! When working online, it is easy to dehumanize others because you aren’t looking at them. You aren’t dealing with them face-to-face. You hit send and assume your reply falls into oblivion. It doesn’t though. I have already witnessed jobs and opportunities lost due to unprofessional responses, usually just due to misunderstandings that, if handled differently, would have had a better outcome for all involved. It happens more than I ever could have imagined. Really! Everyday! No joke! As I watch it happen now from this side as a talent, I feel like someone witnessing a bad car accident. You want to help, but it is too late and you just hope no one gets hurt.
3) Getting upset over things you haven’t fully understood yet. I am guilty of this, too. I have made a conscious effort to stop doing it. We see something we don’t like, get a gut feeling about it, and run away with our assumptions, fully loaded and ready to fire back at clients. NEVER respond to anything when you are emotional about it. It clouds your ability to see the situation for what it really is. Believe me, it usually isn’t as bad as you originally thought.
How does this apply to online voice-casting? In the following ways:
- Believing that “Not Likely” is a personal attack and that they hate you. Many times it just means that you weren’t the best choice for that particular project. However, if you do get many low ratings, then maybe you need to check your audio quality? You would be surprised at the number of submissions that contain excessive amounts of echo and hiss. If that is an issue for you and it gets ignored, you won’t book work. It isn’t a problem that can’t be fixed though. There are plenty of resources out there. Just ask, and we will point you in the right direction. We want you to be successful.
- Assuming someone is trying to rip you off, when they aren’t. I don’t mean to say that you shouldn’t be cautious. You absolutely should research every project details page. But that doesn’t mean you should attack people and assume your suspicions are reality. Now, of course, if you get one of those emails that say, “Hey, you’ve inherited 8 million dollars from a relative you didn’t even know!” Then, yes, you are being ripped off. BUT, if someone emails you and wants an audition without a watermark, 99% of the time, they aren’t trying to steal your work. If you have any doubt, check their voice-seeker stats. Seekers who abuse Voice123 aren’t allowed to hang around. If you ever do have a problem with a seeker, let us know. We won’t ignore it.
- Assuming that Voice123 is full of low-ballers. Yes, there are some clients that post projects with ridiculously low budgets. Conversely, there are just as many projects nowadays with budgets that are way higher than anything I have ever seen. Voice123 doesn’t have the same projects we saw back in 2005. It has changed in the last 5 years. You, the talent, teach seekers what is acceptable. If they post a project with a super low budget, don’t audition for it. When they come back to Voice123, and ask me, “Hey, why didn’t anyone respond?”…we tell them “You are well below standard rates.”…their response is usually “Oh! I didn’t know any better!”.”
Michelle Falzon is the voice of Shakeweight, a job she booked through Voice123 several years ago, and a skilled online professional. We hope her new insight sheds some light on some of the inner-workings, which you can use for your online career!
Any questions for Michelle? Let her know!
About the author
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Steven is the Community Manager of Voice123 |
Louise
November 17, 2012
Thanks Michelle…I received a ‘Not Likely’ and being British it immediately sounds like a really harsh ‘Not Way, not if it was the last voice on earth’…lol. But then I realised that the poor buggers probably only have a number of choices of phrases ^^…maybe the phrases could be changed to something a little more subtle…hehehe. Thanks anyway and have a great time in the new job! Louise
Joe Skare
November 17, 2012
Steve & Michelle,
Thanks for the great article. There are some wonderful lessons in here, Michelle. I think one of the biggest things to take away from this is “Be Professional!” You are right about emails and social media conversations. So often things can get taken out of context or misconstrued because it’s in print and not a face to face interaction. Since we are communicating this way with clients, to me, that makes it even MORE important to be especially professional in responses. Same goes for phone calls with clients.
As for the rejection aspect, you make some great points here too. I think it’s easy for talent to forget just how many of us are out here doing this, AND….we each bring our own talents and styles to the party. Every client kind of has the sound that they are searching for in the back of their minds, and not every audition is going to fit that style/sound/delivery, etc.
Also, it’s important to remember that many Voice123 seekers are working with THEIR clients so may take several voices “being considered” to the client, and ultimately….the client chooses the voice they want. So even if the Voice 123 seeker has you in the top 5, you may not get the gig. No reason to cry or whine about it. Move on to the next audition. I know that I have been rated #1 on several occasions and was licking my chops to get going on the job, only to find out I didn’t get it. It’s a bummer, but, happens all the time. It doesn’t mean you should give up! Just take the positive and move forward.
And yes things have changed here since 2005. I joined in 2005 and remember the first time I got the response from a voice seeker that they were interested in me. It was a small gig for a halloween voice. I really wanted the job so I low balled the offer. Come to find out, I didn’t get it. It seems my low ball offer was too high. I don’t seem to find many low ball seekers these days. But those are the breaks, sometimes your price may not be right. Sometimes it’s another factor. Take them all as learning experiences.
Finally, I would like to say how much I enjoy working through Voice123. I have been doing voicework since 1995 and many advertising agencies have my demos, however, I find working here I get more opportunities….world wide! WIth your service, I can choose what to audition for and what not to audition for. I also get feedback, and I know that my voice work is being heard. With an agency, I never know if my voice is even being PRESENTED to clients. Here, I get that satisfaction of knowing I am being heard by clients.
I have booked so much work through your site and will continue to be a member. I will say, though for the record, I have missed out on far more gigs than I have booked, but that is the nature of this biz. So talents, don’t get down. Keep your chin up and keep moving forward.
Sorry to be so long winded!
Tom Force
November 17, 2012
There are so many people in our industry who spend the bulk of their time moaning and groaning about how hard it is to get work that they never take the time to look at their own methodology. Your comments on taking a sad song and making it better are so right on the mark Michelle. Be proactive as a voice talent and accept that every experience brings you something you can learn from, then say “thank you” and move on. Most people’s definition of “soulmate” is usually a romantic one. In reality, your soulmate may be someone who teaches you a very hard lesson in what you thought was a very negative way. That’s the universe tapping you on the shoulder. Learn from it and you’ll grow more than you ever expected.
Fentriss
November 18, 2012
Michelle, looks like you hit everything on the head.
My only beef is, when I look at weekly stats, I am not getting invited to any late 3 digit or 4 digit work and I understand that part of the SmartCast system.
Voice123 has been good to me, but how do I get to the 4 digit audition cheesecake? *in an Italian Mafia voice* Look, I’m breaking my neck, here. What gives?
Michelle Falzon
November 19, 2012
@Louise-Thanks for your comments! It’s true. Seekers only have 5 phrases that they can choose from. The wording has changed a couple of times over the past few years. As bad as it seems, “Not Likely” is not the worst ranking you can get. The worst is “Will Not Be Considered.” This ranking actually prevents you from ever auditioning for that seeker again. I think what bothers people is that they don’t know the real reason behind the feedback. “Not Likely” can mean anything from “Not for this project” to “What were you thinking?” I always tell people that if you consistently get bad rankings, you should stop and re-evaluate your work. If you book work a lot and get a balance of good and bad feedback, it isn’t something to lose sleep over.
Michelle Falzon
November 19, 2012
@Joe-That is right, be professional is the message here. Each industry has its own unique quirks. In VO, one of those quirks is that you usually don’t get much detailed feedback, unless you actually book the work. Newcomers take offense to this, because in many other industries, detailed feedback is common. You are absolutely correct when you say that every client has a sound in their head that they are trying match through the audition process. When you have 30 people auditioning for one job, it isn’t so much that there were 29 “bad” ones and only 1 good one, but only one person can get the gig! Thank you so much for being with us! I love Voice123 for the same reasons you state. There is A LOT of opportunity on this site. It is there for the taking for those who are prepared. You are absolutely right. You can know for sure that the client heard your audition and usually, you get some form of feedback. Thanks so much for your comments!!
Marc Scott
November 19, 2012
I’ve received Not Likely rankings from clients before, only to have them book me for something else. The fact of the matter is, I’m not right for every project, and I know this. It’s not personal. It’s just about taking the vision in a clients head and giving it life. My voice isn’t always going to fit that vision. If I had replied to them rudely, I know they would have never come back.
I’ve also had clients change their mind during a project. After completing the voice over my client (the producer) was informed by their client that they wanted to change direction. It wasn’t my clients fault, and I can’t really fault the end user for changing their mind. I’d want my project perfect, why should I assume anyone else wants any less?
Because of how I handled that situation, I was still given partial payment for my efforts and awarded another job later on.
Always be professional no matter what. Nothing bad has ever come from handling every situation and every client with dignity and respect, regardless of how they may treat you.
Michelle Falzon
November 20, 2012
@Tom-Agreed! You said it perfectly
@Fentriss-To figure that out, I would have to know how you are using the site. SmartCast takes a lot of things into consideration. It watches the types of jobs you audition for, as well as how well you do on those jobs. It isn’t really about the dollar amount, but rather how you use the site. You may want to take a look at the types of jobs you submit for.
@Marc-Amen. How you respond is everything!