Author Archive | David H. Lawrence XVII

The False Nobility Of The Struggle

Hey there!

I’ve seen a lot of people come to LA, where I live and work, or go to other production center markets, and thrive. And I’ve seen some people really struggle, and ultimately give up.

I have some advice for you on how to weather the storm and give yourself a better chance for success.


(Click/tap ↑↑↑↑↑↑ that red YouTube button to subscribe to my channel. You’ll get notified when I release new videos.)

Continue Reading →

7

How To Be A World Class Complainer

Hey there!

I’d love to help you get your problems solved. And one way to really be good at that is to become really good at complaining.

Here are three things you should consider when going to a help site, a Facebook group, a discussion list, a software support page…anywhere you need to get help.


(Click/tap ↑↑↑↑↑↑ that red YouTube button to subscribe to my channel. You’ll get notified when I release new videos.)

Continue Reading →

7

Taking Advantage Of The Wisdom Of The Tribe

Hey there!

I often get emails from clients, students and others, asking questions of me privately. And I always respond the same way:

“This is a great question to ask in our private Facebook group. Always post your VO-related questions in the VO2GoGo Pro Connect Facebook group first, unless it’s personal and confidential. That way, when I answer, others will benefit as well, and should I be delayed in responding, your other Pros are there to help you.”

And there are several reasons why I do this, all of which can benefit you personally.


(Click/tap ↑↑↑↑↑↑ that red YouTube button to subscribe to my channel. You’ll get notified when I release new videos.)

Continue Reading →

3

Five Ways To Have A Crappy Coffee Date With Me

Hey, there!

I love coffee dates.

I offer to have coffee dates with almost everyone I come in contact with. Most are great. But the rare few can be crappy.


(Click/tap ↑↑↑↑↑↑ that red YouTube button to subscribe to my channel. You’ll get notified when I release new videos.)

Whether it’s someone wanting to learn how to get started in VO, someone who’s just arriving in LA to begin an acting career, or someone who want more information on Rehearsal, I’m all over coffee dates.

But, unfortunately, I’ve also watched actors squander their time with me, and I’ve noted those worst practices as well. Do any of these things, and you won’t get the best bang for your buck.

Here’s what you should never do on a coffee date. Continue Reading →

11

Five Ways To Have An Excellent Coffee Date With Me

Hey, there!

I love coffee dates.

I offer to have coffee dates with almost everyone I come in contact with.


(Click/tap ↑↑↑↑↑↑ that red YouTube button to subscribe to my channel. You’ll get notified when I release new videos.)

Whether it’s someone wanting to learn how to get started in VO, someone who’s just arriving in LA to begin an acting career, or someone who want more information on Rehearsal, I’m all over coffee dates.

And as I’ve watch engaged, enthusiastic people make great use of their time with me, I’ve jotted down some of their best practices. Use these, and you’ll get a lot more out of the time we spend together. Here’s what you should be thinking when asking me on a coffee date. Continue Reading →

9

One Step At A Time

Hey there!

So far, I’ve seen lots of videos, articles, blog posts and more on how to make a great New Year’s resolution. Here’s one basic thing you need to make your New Year’s resolution(s) stick.


(Click/tap ↑↑↑↑↑↑ that red YouTube button to subscribe to my channel. You’ll get notified when I release new videos.)

Hope this helps!

David

All Episodes

One Step At A Time

Five Ways To Have An Excellent Coffee Date With Me

Five Ways To Have A Crappy Coffee Date With Me

Taking Advantage Of The Wisdom Of The Tribe

How To Be A World Class Complainer

The False Nobility Of The Struggle

Watch Out – The Rules Are Going To Change

“Show Me The Secret, Daddy!”

Coaching vs Consulting vs Facilitating

The Perils of Live Performance And Why Jeremy Kappell Should Not Have Been Fired

Let’s Welcome To The Stage…Failure!

Don’t Confuse Price With Value

Whiteboards In The Hallways

Go Wake Up Your Luck

Playing and Planning

The Two Things Most Talent Try to Accomplish Way Too Soon

10,000 Hours To Become Good At Something? Not Really.

The Curse of Knowledge

The Trick Charlie Munger Uses To Make Better Decisions

Everyone’s A Customer, Not Just Your Customers

“What do you mean, you’re a ‘process guy’?”

Pay Attention To Your Storytelling, Not Removing Your Breaths

How To Conquer FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)

The Problem In Every Commercial Script

The Job In Every Commercial Script

The Secret In Every Commercial Script

How To Pick Your Stage Name

Voice Over Is REALLY Hard. Until It Isn’t.

Helping Make Resolutions Stick

ACX Jobs: They’re ALL SAG-AFTRA-Friendly

Non-Union? You Can Still Open An AFTRA H&R Account. What?

Who Says You Need To “Feel Like It?”

Are You Engaged?

Your Day Job Might Just Be Worth Keeping For A Bit Longer

Want To Learn Something Really Well? Teach It To Others

Don’t Confuse What Works With What You Like

The Lost Keys And The Microphone In My Elevator

My Insane Backup System Plus Two Helpful Tips

What Open Loops Are And Why They Work So Well

Two More Things For Which You Can Use Open Loops

Three Things Not To Say Or Do…When Trying To Learn Something New

Front Burner and Back Burner Project Management

How To Properly List The Accents and Dialects You Perform

My SAG-AFTRA Presentation On VO Demos (Part 1)

My SAG-AFTRA Presentation On VO Demos (Part 2)

A Simple, One-Word Decision-Making Question To Ask Yourself

Ready, Shoot…Aim

How You Can Use The MVP Model As A Performer

How Lazy Can You Be?

Avoid The Struggle Porn

The Robocall Equivalent Of Unsubscribe

Saying Goodbye To A “Failure”

Making Your Links Irresistible

HTTPS Is Not Just For Banks – It’s For You

The Threat That Made Me Create a New Page For LAME

The Resource You Must Guard Most Carefully

How New Media Is Using The Oldest Ad Model Ever

“You Could Be Hit By A Bus!”

Killing Customers With Kindness

I Found Out What She Was Podcasting About

How I Answered Voices.com’s Inquiry

Turning Mountains Into Molehills

Motivation: Your Three Big Needs In A Cool Little Package

Go Ahead. Multitask. But Try It Like This.

The Prodigy Game Doesn’t Deserve This Treatment

I Don’t Want To Go Blind

What Fair Markets Are, And Why Voices.com Isn’t One

Trevor’s Three A’s From Apple On Killing Customers With Kindness

Getting Ready vs. Getting Started

You’ll Never Believe Who Got Rejected By Harvard

There Is No Failure, Only Feedback

Who Is Your Most Dangerous Adversary?

73 Videos In, My First Hater Appears

If You’re The Smartest Person In The Room, Do This ASAP

Your Glasses And Crucial Laptop Positioning Info

One More Insanely Over-engineered Piece Of Gear: My UPS

The Crazy Backward Way IKEA Prices Their Stuff

Voices.com Complained To YouTube That I Violated Their Privacy

The Gig Economy: RIP?

For Your Health: Not Perfect. Just Better.

Celebrate Your Isolation!

Mr. Wonderful Is Actually More Wonderful Than I Thought

Let’s Finally Close The Digital Literacy Gender Gap

The Guaranteed Way To Completely Avoid Criticism

The Two Things People Judge About You Within Seconds

Prioritizing…Nashville Style

Are You Committed? Or Just…Interested?

Audible Retail Samples: Why They Suck And Why It Doesn’t Really Matter

How To Voice Copy That’s Set In Italics

Dyslexia, And The Palindromic Poem. The Wha?

Increase Your Chances Of Being Seen And Heard On Facebook

Jamie Has Some Thoughts About Fiverr

Is Simply Discouraging Distracted Driving Enough?

“Young People Are Just Smarter.”

The Real Purpose Of The “Can You Hear Me?” Phone Scam

Beware Of Overkill

Laying Down The Perfect Slate

An AMA Preview: The Word “Ethnic” – A Slur, Or An Essential Adjective?

10 Rules of Profitable Self Discipline from Napoleon Hill

AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 1)

AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 2)

AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 3)

AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 4)

AMA Answers Part 5 Plus A Medical Warning

Last AMA Answers (#6): Gear, Services and Success

A 7-Word Reminder: “Don’t correct people when it matters little.”

Do You Have A Plan? And Is It The Right One?

What’s Your Next Big Move? Are You Ready?

Build Your Future On Your Own Platform, Not Someone Else’s

I’m Leaving Facebook: Why Groups and FB Live No Longer Spark Joy

Time To Accept That I’ve Failed At Something – Happily

Crowdfunding Without The Internet: Pulitzer And The Statue Of Liberty

The Amazing Power Of Recognition And Badging

Might We Have A Possible Cause For Alzheimer’s?

Why Podcasting And Radio Are Out Of Whack

Value Enthusiasm, But Value Persistence More

Ten Ways To Make Money With Podcasts Besides Ads

One Quick Question To Find Out How Important Something Actually Is

The Workflow For Producing These Videos (So Far) Part 1

Why Not Wade? And…Why Not You?

Audiobook Narrators: How Paymasters Work, And The One I Recommend

Why Gen Z And Millennials’ Love For Audiobooks Is Crucial

American Idol: It’s All About Story, Not Just Singing

Less Beating Yourself Up, More Talking Yourself Up

Resist Oversharing. Instead, Start A Dialogue.

Vocal Care: It’s All About What Works For You

3 Biases You Should Be Aware Of

3 More Biases You Should Also Be Aware Of

Wow. People Really Grokked Biases. Let’s Tackle Fallacies.

Three More Fallacies You Need To Watch For

What’s Your Imprint?

Fallacy Follies, Volume 3

Two Last Big Creativity-Crippling Fallacies

Fail Sooner To Succeed Sooner

A New Lead Source For Performers: Voice Assistants And Smart Speakers

A Great Way To Handle Trolls and Haters

Quantity Does Not Usually Equal Quality

Is Facebook Truly A Monopoly? No More Than Microsoft Was.

Fear Of The Unknown, Or The Day Before My Surgery

A Strange Aspect To Performing That Should Be Cause For Protest, But Isn’t

Want To Grow? Don’t Go It Alone.

How Am I Doing? I’m Gobsmacked. That’s How Am I Doing.

Why I Give My Agents 10% Of Everything

Not Just Explainer Videos, But Video That Explain Things Spectacularly

Mental Floss To The Rescue: Skills You Can Pick Up On YouTube

What’s Better Than Willpower? Grit.

Regarding Apple’s App Store: Be Careful What You Wish For, Pepper

Of COURSE You Wonder What Porter’s Five Forces Are. Who Doesn’t?

Don’t Waste Your Time: Talk Shows Aren’t Meant To Be Fair

Sooner Or Later, I’m Really Going To Tick You Off

Just Because You Can Do Something Doesn’t Mean You Should

Wait, What? Audacity Records In The Background?!

Enjoy Your First Booking. Pay Close Attention To The Next Three.

Pattern Interruption And The Musicality Of Voice Over

Do You Still Have A Landline? Is It POTS? Wait, What’s POTS?

Increase Your VO Accuracy, And You’ll Increase Your VO Profits

Age Range Isn’t Really A Valid Metric For VO

What Is The Overton Window?

How To Stop Jealousy From Killing Your Progress

Even The Bible (And Game Of Thrones) Has One-Star Reviews

How Much Is Enough To Make Per Hour?

With Royalty Share Plus, ACX Makes Hybrid Stipends Official

Wait, Vices Can Be Good For Your Health?

What A Lovely Thing To Discover: Praise From CourVO

I Figured Out What I Provide: The Onboarding Performers Don’t Get

You Don’t Need Permission To Care Or Contribute

It’s Not Just You. It’s The Superstars, Too.

Do You Sometimes Think Irrationally? Maybe. Here’s How To Stop It.

The Struggle Of Announcer-y Versus Non-Announcer-y Voice Over

How My VAs Support Me And My Team

What Exactly Is “The Cloud?”

The Often “Most Difficult” Concept I Teach

Please Unsubscribe From This List. But Don’t Do This One Destructive, Lazy Thing.

Don’t Mistake The Joy Of Knowing For The Joy Of Doing

Why Giving Yourself Some Simple Homework Can Be Life-Changing

One Weird Trick I Do That Makes My Note-Taking Superhuman

The Worst Thing About The Biggest Money-Making Entertainment Category

What Can We Grab From A Schedule This Strict?

Get Better At Executing Today’s Plan By Starting Last Night

How To Create Useful, Organized Audition File Names

Where To Find Related PDFs For Audiobooks on Audible

I’m Halfway Finished. What Have You Valued Most? What Can I Do Better?

Our Digital Attention Span Is Incredibly Brief

“Serves You Right!” She Actually Has No Idea How Right.

Create A Safe Environment For Self-Improvement

Why I Use One Single Channel For Crucial Communication

The Even Cheaper AT-2020 USB Plus Microphone?

Fred Willard (and Billy West) On Quickly Creating Authentic VO Characters

Leo Makes Your Searching Spectacular

On Asking For Things Performers Can’t Do

How To Battle The Urge of “Efficiency”

One More Best-Of-Breed Way To Brilliantly Complain

Changing Audacity’s Sampling Rate To 48,000 Hz

10 Words Of Encouragement When You’re Stuck

Seek/Give Mentorship That’s Appropriate To The Journey

Two Cases Where You Might Not Want To Simply “Follow Your Passion”

Having Fun With Headphone Volume

Please Stop Rushing To Perform

Something To Consider: Everyone’s Internal Menu

One Crazy Key To Creativity: Pure, Unadulterated Boredom

For The Sheer Joy Of It

The Most Commonly Consumed Media Is…!

What’s Dangerous For Us To Care About

Please, Clever Copywriters…Stop Using This Term

Wait, Wait…What? They Actually Listened?!

Why You Should Take The Same Classes Twice

How Your Character’s Menu Informs Your Performance Choices

What Shouldn’t Be Your Metric For VO Success

Someone Awesome Who’s Also Rising To A 365-Day Challenge

Union Or Not, Start With Union Rates

O. M. G. Look What Matt Zurbo Did!

So Where Will That Huge Facebook Fine End Up?

The Root Words of “Typecast”

Avoid That One Obvious “That Worked” Sound We Make

Why Union Members Can Audition For Non-Union Work

200 Auditions. 1 Booking. A Ghost. Really?

I Can’t Do One Thing I’m Asked To Do Every Single Day

One Of Your Secret Weapons: Agility

Do Networking Events Make You Anxious? Let’s Fix That.

Project X Is Just About Ready. I’m A Bit Giddy.

The Difference Between Mansplaining and Advice?

Too Late, Melissa. You Already Are.

Help Me Solve A Lovely Mystery!

Speeding Up The Playback On The Audible App

Why Those Other Casting Sites Usually Aren’t Worth It


Raw YouTube Captioning


hey there it’s David H Lawrence the 17th
and what with this being the first day
of the new year I thought I would do
clue you in on something that I’ve
decided to do this year it’s a little
bit of a challenge a little bit of a
challenge I’ve decided that I need to do
a little more of the eating of my own
dog food I counsel other people on how
to create content how to publish to
their tribe how to be service be of
service and I realized that one of the
ways that I can be of service is to
create some videos for you one a day for
the next year that will give you some
reasonable things to deal with I’m
making them very low-tech you can hear a
siren in the background I’m doing it out
in the open in my office here this is
the uniform that I wear I I’m trying I
try to be comfortable when I’m working
so I just throw on a white t-shirt and
I’m using readers and but what I want to
do with these videos every day is give
you one little golden nugget as my
friend Kristine Oller says that is
useful to you or could be useful to you
in your performance career whatever it
is whether it’s on camera whether it’s
on mic whether you’re an actor using
rehearsal Pro or you’re one of my vo to
go go pros and the first one actually
has to do with today’s date New Year’s
Day we tend to see a lot of articles
around this time of year about how to
create a New Year’s resolution and a lot
of them go a little bit further and they
say here’s how to stick to it but most
of them don’t most of them are all about
you know why is this time of year such a
big time to do this well you know it’s
the renewal of the new year we all know
why but I’m sure that like me you’ve had
some challenges in making the New Year’s
resolutions that you make stick
I certainly have made a new year’s
resolution innumerable times about
losing weight and it’s a real challenge
for me I’ve never had to deal with
things like you know stopping smoking or
drug addiction or some of the bigger
things that people take on is challenges
and this year you know
trust me making a video a day is
challenged but it’s certainly not as a
huge a deal as some of those other items
are but what I wanted to share with you
today is the idea of how to move from
the process of making a resolution to
actually executing the things that you
need to execute to make that resolution
happen and it’s what most of those
articles that we read about kind of you
know some of them will say here’s I get
a journal right get a notebook make a
note every day note before you go to bed
and then wake up in the and it doesn’t
really talk about the hard one foot in
front of the other every single day with
a tiny little thing that will help you
create the habit that you need to get
that that New Year’s resolution done now
I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to do
a video every day for the next year I
think I am I’m gonna try my very best
but it reminds me of a phrase that we’ve
all heard before and that is that a
journey of a thousand steps or journey
of a thousand miles begins with just a
single step and the extension of that
statement is that it continues with
hundreds of thousands of steps beyond
that and sometimes when you look at that
path you go man it’s just so long in so
many steps it’s so hard it says but the
thing is each one of those steps isn’t
all that hard it really isn’t and if you
just make the commitment that you’re
gonna take the next step toward making
that goal a reality just take that next
step get started is the real key and
that’s the Golden Nugget that I wanted
to share with you today getting started
is sometimes the hardest thing in the
world because you think you have to
prepare or you need more knowledge or
you need to understand more about what
you’re gonna be facing down the line
what you need to do is just start and a
great way to do that is to simply say to
yourself I’m gonna figure it out along
the way but today I’m gonna take the
first step
and then later on today I’m gonna take
the second step or tomorrow I’m gonna
take the second step but I’m gonna take
these steps one at a time as I do this
and I’m going to just put one foot in
front of the other I’m not gonna worry
about biting off more than I can chew
I’m not gonna worry about getting it all
done in a day I’m just gonna take each
step that I need and if I need to go
back and review that’s fine give
yourself the permission to do that but
just get started
today’s a great day to create a
reasonable resolution something that you
possibly could accomplish you know I
don’t think it’s a good idea to say I’m
gonna be an Olympic basketball player by
the end of the year because I know I
can’t do that I can’t
I just I’m well aware of my physical
limitations my shoulder is killing me
right now so you know it’s not really
gonna happen but you take an idea of
what you want to do do you want to learn
voiceover you can do that you can I have
hundreds of students who have done just
that
and they’ve done it one step at a time
do you want to learn how to be a better
auditioner you can do that with Michael
cost drops class do you want to do you
want to eat more healthy as opposed to
lose a hundred pounds do you want to eat
more healthy well you can do that you
can make the decision when you hit that
menu at the restaurant or we need to
decide what to cook for yourself and you
can make a small decision that leads you
closer to that goal my point is getting
started now kind of a good idea if not
now when
all right you’re gonna wait are you
gonna do it now getting started that’s
the message from today now with each one
of these videos I’d like some feedback
from you if you don’t mind I’d love to
chat with you about these things
what kind of resolutions have you made
what are you have you given up on
resolutions how difficult have they been
for you in the past I’ve been easy if
they’ve been easy what have you done to
make them easy what challenges do you
have you know what what are those New
Year’s resolutions that you wish you
could do but you just don’t feel you
have the ability to start is it hard for
you to start a whole bunch of questions
give me a comment below let me know
what’s going on I’m gonna put these up
on my
personal YouTube channel because they’re
gonna cover the waterfront they’re not
just gonna be vo to go go although
that’s where I’m gonna sort of put the
blog posts for this and I I’m looking
forward to this year I hope we come up
with a bunch of things together that
help everybody rise with the tide all
boats rise with the tide right and my
catchphrase is going to be this I’m
David H Lawrence the seventeen thank you
so much for watching and I’ll see you
tomorrow

24

How To Quote Turnaround Time on VO Projects

Hey, there!

This falls squarely in the category of Commerce in our Art, Commerce, Science framework. In class, Karen asked a question about turnaround of VO work.

She’d been quoting 24 hour turnaround for finished voice tracks. But now, a client wanted her to voice, and EDIT, an audiobook, and that would be considerably more time.

Plus, the client had started sending her copy at the end of the day.

How do you handle this? Continue Reading →

14