card-num-075-500x385

Your Glasses And Crucial Laptop Positioning Info

Hey there!

I’ve been going to physical therapy for about a month to take care of a nagging neck and shoulder issue.

You’re not going to believe the reason they think I got this way – and I don’t want to waste my pain without you checking your own situation.


(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 I just got back from a physical
therapy session I’ve been going to
physical therapy for about a month or so
and it occurred to me that when we
figured out the reason for the pain that
I’ve had in my neck and my shoulder and
my back and down my arm I would share it
with you just in case so these are new
glasses and they’re new glasses and
they’re actually aiding in the problems
with my neck and my back and my my
shoulder here’s what was going on so
this is these are my old glasses these
have these were what are called office
trifocals and so what office trifocals
are is taking the lens and dividing it
into three sections the top section for
me is looking off in the distance the
middle section for me on those glasses
was what’s called computer distance and
then the lower one was even closer for
reading so here’s a situation most
people have their laptop down on the
desk I have mine raised so that the
camera is at eye level that’s
appropriate for shooting videos right so
when your laptop is down at on desk
level rather than up at eye level when
you look at your your laptop you’re and
you look through the the middle part of
your glasses your head is normal it’s
it’s sort of sitting there and you’re
reading your thing and then if you need
to read something close you look even
further down through the bottom third of
the glasses right and then you use the
top third for off in the distance so I
didn’t understand I didn’t get why this
was happening until it was pointed out
to me but once I raised my computer up
so that the camera was at eye level
all of a sudden looking at the screen
with those glasses I was doing this all
the time because I was looking through
the second third the middle third of the
glasses and then if I wanted to read
something I could you know put it
wherever I wanted but I was constantly
my head was rocking back by about 20
degrees and
was constantly balancing it like this
even to do that now hurts but now that
I’ve got these new glasses where I can
look straight at the camera and I had
them adjusted I told them how high my
eight my laptop was off the desk they
adjusted the divisions and now it’s
awesome right so if you decide at some
point to do what I did because you are
doing a lot of on-camera video either
Skype sessions or zoom sessions or
you’re making videos like this
or you’re even doing self taped
auditions or you’re teaching with the
camera on or whatever and you wear
glasses or if you know somebody who
wears glasses then by all means make
sure that they adjust their prescription
to the height of the if you’re gonna
leave your laptop on the desk well
that’s great you can just do that and if
you already have a desktop computer
where the monitor is really big and the
cameras in the top of the bezel that
same thing could be happening to you
because computer trifocals assume that
your laptop is down on the desk so
nothing earth-shattering in terms of
productivity today or best practices but
I would love for you not to have to go
to physical therapy and hopefully this
will get corrected pretty soon what have
you done to adjust to your health
concerns or your health limitations or
your your health you know situation let
me know in the comments below wherever
you’re watching this video if you’d like
to join my youtube channel subscribe to
it go ahead and click on my head there
if there’s no head then there is a
subscribe button somewhere on this page
and if you want to see the latest video
I’ve done go ahead and click on that
frame right there and everything will be
great and this is me looking at you I
appreciate your watching these videos
I’m David H Lawrence 217 thanks so much
for watching and I’ll talk to you
tomorrow.

9 Responses to Your Glasses And Crucial Laptop Positioning Info

  1. Laurence Walosin March 16, 2019 at 6:35 am #

    For overall well being it’s important to simply move about. Seriously. Sitting for long periods is thought to be today’s smoking for health risks. It’s easy to lose track how long you’ve been in a chair while doing long recording sessions.

    The older you are, the more important it is to keep moving. I’ve made it a habit to walk on errands rather than getting in the car. A brisk walk for about 20-30 minutes a couple times a week is really all you need to help your cardio-vascular system.

    Even just getting up and walking around the house/apartment regularly goes a long way to keep blood from pooling.

  2. Vicki P March 16, 2019 at 7:09 am #

    Yes, this makes so much sense. Granted, I switched to dedicated “computer distance” glasses a few years ago (also “piano distance” for me, since I spend time at the piano), which keeps me from doing the bi-focal/tri-focal head tilt. However, I did notice my laptop is at a strange height on my desk, so I’ll be adjusting that today along with the swing arm that I got awhile ago (because the little mic stand doesn’t give me good height adjustment with my current work table).

    Thank for the great reminder to check heights and comfort levels.

    Vicki

  3. Melissa Benson March 16, 2019 at 7:36 am #

    YES YES AND YES! As a medical massage therapist I found the majority of my client’s pain came from their daily posture. Sometimes that posture was head tilt, head forward or just plain slumping. So glad you found the root cause of your neck pain. Your mother was right. Sit up straight This really IS a best practices video because your body is your tool in this work.

  4. Trenton Bennett March 16, 2019 at 8:08 am #

    I know more about this subject than I ever wanted to…

    First, congratulations on identifying the problem, AND getting physical therapy AND your glasses adjusted. These little things combine for huge benefits!

    So…this is one of the reasons I like to record standing up. My screen is just above the mic and I get to log some time with my chin tilted a bit up to offset the many hours I spend at my desk fighting “tech neck” I stand and I’m mindful of my posture so I don’t hunch over the mic. Yes, that tilt you’re talking about is so common it has a name: “tech neck”.

    In my production space, I have a Herman Miller Embody chair. It’s extremely expensive, but it was worth it for me because sometimes my last job would have me sitting in it for 16 hours on end, which is terrible, terrible, never want to do that again.

    With your laptop being on your desk, are the keyboard and mouse in a comfortable position? If not, consider adding a keyboard tray underneath so you can lower the position your hands are in when you type & point & click! This one lets me freely move it just about anywhere, tilted or flat, and then easily lock it in place. https://amzn.to/2F6fxZS

    I also use an external monitor sometimes, because I can raise it higher than the laptop screen (and it’s a 21:9 monitor so editing is easier).

    I hope you feel even better soon! Really glad you posted this video for people to learn such an important lesson.

  5. ed waldorph March 16, 2019 at 8:49 am #

    So happy to hear that you have a diagnosis and a treatment plan. We’d like to keep you around and healthy for a long time.

    Now that you bring it up, I have been concerned for a while about those of us who have gone through the ACX Master Class. You teach not only a particularly effective method for recording long manuscripts but also how to place and address the microphone to enable an intimate and relaxed narration for audiobooks.

    What I have noticed is that many narrators who have adopted the method, along with the desk stand for positioning the mic, have a tendency to place the stand and laptop too low. As you note in this video, you have raised your laptop from the desk.

    What I see is, instead of raising the laptop and mic (or lowering their chair) many folks are leaning forward and hunching slightly to get into position to address the mic. This is the worst position to maintain for long periods and has the added drawback of unconsciously causing the narrator to ease back away from the mic to get comfortable.

    As you explain here, even small changes in position can have extreme effects on the human body.

  6. Paula Faye Leinweber March 16, 2019 at 5:08 pm #

    Hi David,
    I have been thinking about your glasses the past week or so, every time I watch your videos, that they looked new, and that I really like them! They suit you. As for the trifocal issue, bleah! Yuck! I tried them when I had to go that way a couple years ago. My solution was to have two pairs of bifocals instead, one has distance/mid-range and the other has the mid-range (or computer)/reading. Plus the computer/reading pair has the non-glare coating which really helps when on the computer for a long time. That constant having to move the head up and down to look through the various sections gave me a neckache, so that was my solution and it works very well for me. Thanks for sharing your tips!

  7. J Rodney Turner March 17, 2019 at 7:37 am #

    I have a special set of glasses for when I’m in the booth recording . The full lense is the same strength allowing me to see the screen at whatever angle I need

  8. Shelley Stephen March 21, 2019 at 1:43 pm #

    I gave up on the trifocal/bifocal thing and got separate glasses for different applications. My prescriptions of nearsightedness and astigmatism are so high it makes it really tough to get that type of glasses that work. So instead I have one pair of glasses for driving/distance. I have a seconds pair of glasses for the computer. I don’t actually read a lot anymore unless it’s on the computer so I just put my glasses on my head for that one.

  9. Heather Leavens August March 22, 2019 at 2:57 pm #

    I put my monitor on a riser so I can record standing up.

Leave a Reply