The power of playfulness in a Voice Actor's toolbox.

Out of a desire to better myself at coaching people for Voiceover and Audiobook Narration, I decided last year to train as a Master NLP Practitioner (NLP means Neuro Linguistic Programming, and in a nutshell is about recognising limiting beliefs littered through a person's language, and choosing alternative patterns of thinking in order to model excellent behaviours in successful thinkers and do-ers.)

It dawned on me that so many performers struggle in their careers, in whatever guise, because they are scared of taking the next vital steps, or put so much pressure on themselves to achieve: so much so  that failure becomes a deep, dark scary place, that they are not prepared to enter.  That many performers who had entered acting because it allowed them to play, lost this sense of playful exploration when they entered a business world of trying to market themselves. This realisation was so strong that I have now qualified as a Master NLP Practitioner, Hypnotherapist and certified Life Coach, specialising in Creative people and most especially with Actors and Performers.

What if failure could be turned on its head to a happy place which allowed you to experiment further with different ideas, and be playful? What if you could see open doors of opportunity in any knock backs you receive. It can be hard I know, and I know that with my recent learnings I have gleaned so much awareness of the power of alternative ways of thinking.  For example, if fear of rejection stops you from sending an email or making a phone call one more time to a prospective agent or potential client, how much better would it feel to turn that sense of rejection on its head and choose to go about your day-today career with a playful 'What If' attitude. Not only does a 'what if' attitude take the pressure away from being accepted or your own version of what it means to fail in a black and white mode of thinking, but it can also create much healthier thought patterns, and in turn greater creativity.

Think about how this would impact on your time in the booth. At an animation or gaming audition, or commercial for that matter, how much more fun would that audition session be if you went in with these thoughts:

• It'll be great to meet some new people and find out all about them
• I can't wait to have a play around with some characters and have lots of fun
• I wonder what positive things will come from today

Compare this with a limited view, where failure is a possibility:

• I feel nervous around new people.
• I hope I do an ok job.
• What if they don't like my work, and today's been a waste of my time?
• I feel paranoid when I know the client and producer are discussing me and I can't hear.

I know which mindset would enable the best results for me. I know which attitude would mean that I was more up for connecting with the material, and which frame of mind would take me out of my own head of worry over how I am potentially viewed or judged.

Have a think about it - how do your thoughts limit you in the booth?

If you're interested in hearing about how my brand new Life Coaching and NLP techniques could help you as a performer to gain confidence and clarity, get in touch at anna@voiceoveranna.com.