Session Lessons 1

My VO Cheat Sheet

I wrote too soon about the cheat sheet mentioned in my last post.

Last night during my private voice over session with Elaine Clark at Voice One, I realized I’ve hardly been using my cheat sheet to the extent that I should.

Who cares if you can markup a script? Writing notes on a piece of paper does absolutely nothing unless you put your notes into practice.

Okay. Don’t read me wrong–I’m not as frustrated as it sounds. Session lessons are invaluable…

Every time I go into a private session, I go in with the intent to nail it; and every single time, it’s a heck of a workout. Elaine challenges my choices until she extracts something closer to a solid read. That journey is a gift–every time–but I’m yearning for the moment I hurl myself over the barrier and break through without Elaine’s lead. There’s a little voice in the back of my head (Elaine’s actually) that says, “Get it together! You’re paying a lot of money for this, and you want Elaine to be able to hire you.” (Note: Elaine didn’t actually reference herself in third person when she said that in real life.)

Logically, I understand what I should do when I’m handed a script. I know what I should look for when breaking it down…and I know I should dive deeper into it. I know I should play smarter than I am. I know I shouldn’t end  sentences as a question. I know I should change tempo. I know I should figure out what the overarching need is. I know I should run it out loud…

I’m only scratching the surface of those “shoulds,” though. Yes, my brain knows what to do, but it seems to half-ass it. And as Elaine pointed out, my body doesn’t consistently believe what it’s saying and doing.

So, the plan of attack: 1) employ Elaine’s Making-It-M.I.N.E. tactics, and 2) learn to act. Easy, right?