The Gear Lust Problem in Voiceovers

We could preach about how important it is to learn performance skills all day long and most people who are just starting in voiceovers will only be interested in buying recording gear. Setting up a home studio is extremely important but think about it; if you don't put the same kind of investment into coaching and learning the skills, what good will your gear do you?

I saw a talent posting several pics of his new home studio setup on Facebook and then showed another pic of it months later, complaining he wasn't booking any work. I had a friendly chat with him and he said he's never picked up a commercial or narration script in his life. I told him he needed to stop focusing on gear, learn the required performance skills, and get a couple of demos professionally produced.

How are you supposed to convince a VO buyer to hire you if you don't have a demo or know how to read a script? The answer? You can't. I saw another post on Linkedin where a talent complained about not booking work after sending 100 clients pics of his studio. I asked him if he was also sending a well-produced demo and he said no.

I'm not here to pick on these various newcomers. I am here to reiterate what I have written in other blogs about the importance of learning the skills first! Trust me; you don't want all of that spendy gear collecting dust. I realize paying for coaching isn't nearly as fun as buying recording gear but it's necessary if you're going to get past just showing friends pictures of your equipment. It's like a stage actor purchasing the costume for a role but never learning the skills. It doesn't work!

When you're first starting in voiceover, learn as much as you can about the business and work with a coach on performance skills, marketing and a professional demo. There is absolutely nothing wrong with slowly putting the pieces together for a home studio while you're in training but don't blow off coaching and only focus on gear. It's a fast track to nowhere! A $1500 microphone isn't going to do any good if you can't read and execute a script the way a client would like it to be performed. You might impress your friends and siblings by posting pictures of your shiny new gear on social media, but it will soon collect dust unless you're willing to learn and master the craft.