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AUDITIONS
Here's Why You're Not Getting The Gigs
(And Sometimes You'll Never Know Why)

By Paul Strikwerda

Voice Actor

Let’s face it. Most voice over jobs you audition for, you will never get and you’ll never know why. 

If you can’t live with that … too bad. Nobody cares, and there’s no rejection protection program.   

Most people can’t accept the fact that they will never learn the answer to the question WHY. If you are one of those people, this is for you. 

YOU DIDN’T WIN THE AUDITION BECAUSE…
  • you’re more of the same
  • you’re a one-trick pony
  • you need a lot of hand-holding
  • your audio is awful
  • your attitude is even worse
  • you’re insecure, overconfident  or unresponsive
  • your fee is too low or too high to be taken seriously
  • you’re high-maintenance
  • your website looks unprofessional
  • your demo is sub-standard
  • you’re ungrateful - you feel entitled you want the glory but refuse to do the legwork
  • you’re undisciplined and unreliable
  • you can’t take direction: you love to talk but cannot listen
  • you were too late: the casting director picked voice #7 while you were last in line
  • you take suggestions as criticism
  • you can’t handle the workload and cannot meet deadlines
  • you sound like the casting director’s ex boyfriend or girlfriend
  • you don’t have the right connections
  • your family is not the best judge of your talent
  • you never give referrals but love to be recommended
  • you’re a copycat, not an original
  • you signed an NDA and yet you bragged about the job on Facebook
  • you’re clearly using a fake accent
  • you can’t follow simple audition instructions
  • you didn’t wow the client in the first seven seconds
  • you’re too much in love with the sound of your own voice
  • your agent loves you but the client hates you
  • you were were born in the wrong body: you’re a man and the client wants a woman or vice versa
  • you sound too young, too old or like you don’t care
  • you’re trying too hard
  • you didn’t audition because you were afraid you’d fail
  • you’re in it for the money
  • you spend too much time reading blogs and not enough on marketing and training  
WHAT CAN YOU CHANGE?

Whatever the reason may be, you cannot change the things you don’t control. Find the factors you can influence and start working on those.

When you’re not selected, it doesn’t mean that you’re rejected. Someone else was just a better fit. 

Learn the art of letting go. Believe me. Your life will be so much easier.
---------------
ABOUT PAUL
Paul Strikwerda is a 25-year veteran of the voice over industry whose Nethervoice service features German and Dutch voice overs, translation and evaluation services. Born in Holland, he has worked for Dutch national and international radio, the BBC and American Public Radio. Although 90% of his work is in English, Strikwerda also records in Dutch, German and French. Clients include Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, and the Discovery Channel. He also publishes an informative and entertaining blog, Double Dutch.

 
Web: www.nethervoice.com
Double Dutch Blog: www.nethervoice.com/nethervoice


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Comments (4)
Chris Caldwell
2/1/2013 at 8:43 PM
Very worthwhile article. Worthy of printing out and posting in the booth.
Kent Ingram
2/1/2013 at 12:33 AM
As always, Paul is right-on target! Whenever I got rejected for a narration or commercial spot, I listened carefully to the voice that WAS chosen, when the final product hit the airwaves. I could then understand that my particular vocal qualities weren't what the client was looking (and listening) for. Rather than stew in my own juices, I kept after the auditions and tried to improve my product, each time. In addition, I listen to pros like Paul, who I've been able to trust with his advice. There were quite a few I found I couldn't say that about.
Billy James
1/31/2013 at 9:56 AM
Brilliant. As usual.
Ed Helvey
1/31/2013 at 9:31 AM
You nailed it with this, Paul - "Learn the art of letting go." I wish I would have practiced that "art" the first or second time someone told me that - decades ago. But, alas, some of us mortals have to learn everything the hard way or reinvent the wheel. Excellent points!

Enthusiastically,
Ed
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