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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.)

Hope this REALLY 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’?”

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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?

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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

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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

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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

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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!

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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?

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

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The Amazing Power Of Recognition And Badging

Might We Have A Possible Cause For Alzheimer’s?

Why Podcasting And Radio Are Out Of Whack

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Ten Ways To Make Money With Podcasts Besides Ads

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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?

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Age Range Isn’t Really A Valid Metric For VO

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How To Stop Jealousy From Killing Your Progress

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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

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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

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How To Create Useful, Organized Audition File Names

Where To Find Related PDFs For Audiobooks on Audible

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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

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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

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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

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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 today I want to talk to you about
something that you’re gonna think I’m
crazy for asking you to do but it really
matters it really helps if you want
great help from someone great support
you want to figure something out I’m
gonna give you three rules today on how
to complain and not just complain but I
mean be a world class complainer like
the kind of complainer that gets results
not by being you know a bitch err and a
moaner and a squeaky wheel but by being
good at seeking support good at being a
complainer I want you to be a Best of
Breed world class complainer okay
because it’s just gonna help you and
it’s from what I’ve learned I’m gonna
get you to where you want to be faster
and that’s that’s kind of what we want
right so the first thing I want you to
do when you go online and you post on
Facebook or you ask a question on
Twitter you go to a helpdesk site for a
piece of software or hardware please
please give as much detail as you
possibly can
don’t just say this sucks man it doesn’t
work or a can’t log in
you know I can’t tell you how many times
people send things like that to me for
rehearsal and I need to know why I need
to know what’s going on what exactly did
you try what didn’t work what happens
when you try to log into the the app
what errors do you get what browser are
you using what version of system
software are you using what message pops
up for a moment and then disappears what
happens
don’t just be general give as many
details as you possibly can because
eventually if you’re gonna get help
you’re going to have to give more
details because people will ask for them
they’ll say well what happens when you
log in or when you’re trying to log in
beat them to the punch give them as much
as you make screenshots figure out what
should be working or what you expect to
work and describe that you know I
thought what would happen is the whole
screen would become yellow and it said
it became green you know have you
restarted your device your computer or
your smartphone
did you try things that kind of worked
maybe didn’t work who knows what else
did you try so be as detailed as you
possibly can because eventually you’re
gonna have to cough up the details
anyway because all you’re gonna do is
delay the inevitable somebody’s gonna go
well what happens when you try this or
what happens when you try that or
whatever so that’s the first thing be as
detailed as you possibly can on our road
to being a world-class complainer second
I want you when you answer questions
when somebody asks hey does anybody know
how to do this do me and everybody else
a favor and don’t guess don’t post
something because you think you know
don’t post something because you’ve
heard that this works post when you know
for sure when you know exactly what the
answer is or when you know exactly where
to find the answer oftentimes people
will ask questions that make the website
let me google that for you com famous I
mean you can look an inordinate number
of things up to people post on on help
sites and on Facebook groups and and you
know in
timelines and stuff a lot of the stuff
that people post looking for questions
you can google that right but more
importantly when you are you get that
urge to go well I don’t know if this
will work but I’ve heard that don’t just
simply suppress that urge somebody else
will answer the question you’re not the
king of the forest this week you’re not
the the head of the class this week next
week you will be right next week
somebody will post something and you’ll
know the answer so if you don’t know the
answer please don’t post a guess ok so
that’s to be as detailed as possible
don’t post what you think you know but
post what you know the third one is and
this is something that kind of has
arisen because of the way Facebook works
because of the way Twitter works because
of the way many websites mimic that
posting comment reply comment reply
posting common reply don’t hijack the
thread
when the opie which is the the technical
term for the original poster the first
person to post something in a group on a
site you know in a comment thread
underneath a blog post whatever the
original poster of something asks a
question resist the urge to hijack the
thread oh you’re asking about
normalizing your audio to minus 3db that
reminds me what is a dB what does that
mean don’t do that don’t do that because
people are seeing that original post and
they’re reading through things and they
want the answer it happens all the time
with anything that’s remotely political
right you want to see this happen like
instantly go to any blog post about
politicians that are currently in power
immediately that’s a divisive thing
people hijack the post and call the
party that they don’t agree with the
people that are in that party idiots and
morons and it just immediately gets
hijacked doesn’t answer the original
question same thing happens with
technology somebody asks a question
about one thing and then someone kind of
hijacks the thread and moves asks a
different question I kind of reminds me
of you know this um plus if you do that
the chances of you getting your question
answered that new hijacking the thread
question answered becomes more remote
because it’s buried in all of the
comments so what do you do instead
instead of hijacking the thread start a
new one post a new comment don’t post a
new question after there’s been a series
of answers in a thread don’t hijack the
thread so what have we said be as
detailed as you possibly can right post
what you know not what you think you
know and don’t hijack the threat if
you’ve got a new question that something
has reminded you of post it originally
as new post a brand new comment so that
everybody else can can fall in line and
help you out so that makes sense
if you do these things I guarantee you
that you will get to the answer faster
if you can provide all the details you
can if you don’t post what you think you
know but you actually post what you’re
sure you know and even then you could be
wrong but at least you’re closer to the
to the to the point and then finally
don’t hijack the thread if you do all
those things I guarantee you you’re
gonna have a much better time trying to
figure things out okay so a little bit
of practical advice today I’m David H
Lawrence 217th if you want to sign up
for my my channel here on YouTube if
you’re seeing this on youtube or on VOD
go go comm you can just sign up click
buy ugly mug right there and also if you
want to see my latest video well that’s
the one that you want to click on the
one that I’ve just recently released and
in the meantime I hope you get your
problem solved
I do I’m David H Lawrence a seventeen
thank you so much for watching and I’ll
see you tomorrow

7 Responses to How To Be A World Class Complainer

  1. Leslie Anne Ligon January 5, 2019 at 6:46 am #

    Thanks, David! I always try to post facts, not fears.

  2. Jim Beliakoff January 5, 2019 at 8:08 am #

    All great tips David. I hate it when someone hijacks a post and I see it all the
    Thanks for informing people

  3. Cylinda January 5, 2019 at 3:34 pm #

    Thanks David that was great stuff and all so very true.

  4. Ali Harrington January 5, 2019 at 7:31 pm #

    Thanks David! Do you know if there is a way to find something like “posts by me” on a Facebook group instead of having to scroll through all of them to find a previous one you are looking for?

  5. Nikki Bryce January 30, 2019 at 1:18 pm #

    10-4
    Thanks.

  6. Bob McCoy May 4, 2019 at 9:33 am #

    Oh my! #2 drives me crazy. I hate speculative answers. If you don’t KNOW, bite your tongue, calm yourself, and let someone else answer.

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