Let’s Finally Close The Digital Literacy Gender Gap

hey there it’s David H Lawrence the 17th
I want to talk to you about something
that I think is one of the most
important issues we face as a planet
these days we face a lot of really
important issues don’t get me wrong
but this one in particular holds a lot
of meaning for more than 70 percent of
my client base I just I just did a
little internal dated jiggering around
and found out that 70 percent of my
clients are women 70 percent I had no
idea and one of the things that I’ve
noticed is something that has now been
borne out by a worldwide study and a
report by a division of the United
Nations called
the International Telecommunications
Union and that is I’ve observed over the
time that I’ve been teaching voice over
that I’ve been mentoring clients and
students in both on camera acting and in
voiceover and it turns out in tech and
productivity it it just was very obvious
to me very early on that there is this
digital literacy gender gap that more
women than men struggle with technology
and sometimes tend to just give up you
know they’d rather wear the badge of I’m
digitally illiterate and try to wear it
proudly oh I just you know me and tech
we just don’t get along then do men I
think for men it’s kind of an
embarrassing thing if they’re not really
into tech but for women it’s the kind of
thing that can be really debilitating
and it also can be something that’s an
enabler but the real big problem here is
that if you choose or find yourself in a
position to be digitally illiterate
struggling with technology
you are at a distinct disadvantage in
terms of success when it comes to what
we do for a living
performance these days and you know it’s
been this way for at least a decade or
two relies not only in knowing the art
of what we do you know how to do
on-camera work how to do on mic work the
the joy of the acting of it but also two
other things and these are the three
things that we teach in VO de gogo and
in my other courses and that is running
your business so having a bit sense of
business I don’t sense that women really
struggle when it comes to a sense of
business any more or any less than men
do but the third piece is the science
and that is the technology of what
people do and do well to succeed as
performers you know in the old days you
don’t have to go online to get auditions
your agent would send you information
about auditions or you’d find out via
the magazine or the newspaper you know
backstage that we had but today it’s
almost impossible for you to pursue a
career in our business without being
adept at technology and pursue that well
and I want to do something about that
and I want to start with education you
know I do everything I can in the
classes that I teach whether it’s vo to
go go
or with rehearsal which is a piece of
technology or the a CX masterclass or
the upcoming podcasting class package
that I’m putting together or with the
camera ready you package that I’m
designing I just can’t imagine ignoring
the idea of becoming comfortable with
and then adept at technology and I know
it’s really scary I know it can be scary
if you don’t understand it there’s a lot
of dangers you know there’s hackers and
there’s identity theft and all that sort
of thing you know if I make a mistake
I’m gonna break the computer I get that
I get that but what I’d like you to do
is start with this
idea that it can be taken care of and a
case in point is a really dear friend of
mine
Carol Herman who is older I don’t know
if Carol’s in her 70s or 80s but she is
certainly older than I am and she’s now
kicking butt on her Mac and with I think
she’s done over 20 audiobooks all by
herself she didn’t do that didn’t farm
out the technology and I always point to
her as an example of somebody who really
decided they weren’t going to let this
define them this challenge of digital
literacy she was gonna go get help and
she got a lot of help from me she got
help from people like one of my other
clients Brian who helped her out a lot
Brian Smith um don’t be afraid to ask
for help
you know when if you’re one of my pros
you know there’s a whole track in what
we teach dedicated to the technology and
the labs area and all that stuff but I’d
like you to familiarize yourself with
just how big of a problem this is I’ve
got a link in the blog post at vo2 gogo
comm where I’ve this video lives you
could be watching it on YouTube or
someplace else but if you go to vo to go
go calm and look for this particular
episode you’ll find there’s a link there
for a report and the results of action
being taken by the itu to help close
this digital literacy gender gap and i
want to do anything I can to help close
this I want to know what struggles you
have I want to know what challenges you
I want to know what makes you afraid of
technology or what makes you
uncomfortable with it and what you are
doing about it if anything or if you’ve
just thrown your hands up and said yep
I’m gonna wear that badge that badge of
digital illiteracy I hope not because
without understanding how deeply
technology effects what we do it’s
adding to the burden that’s already huge
of success in our business so check out
the link it’s uh they’ve already helped
over a million women around the world
gain the knowledge that they need just
to be digitally literate we’re not
talking about coding here we’re not
talking about building websites we’re
talking about the ability to use the
internet to function in today’s world
and to use your computer and to use your
mobile devices and so on that’s like a
first second and third step that can go
a long way towards making you happy and
satisfied and successful and profitable
right so go check out that that report
and see what they say you can do and if
you are someone who isn’t challenged by
technology I urge you to help anyone
whether it’s a man or a woman but
especially women to help them get up to
speed we are about 30 or 40 years into
the digital revolution and in the grand
scheme of things that’s not a lot but
it’s enough that we should not be
questioning whether or not we need to be
literate when it comes to the digital
nature of our world if not for success
if not for what you’re doing as a
performer just your own safety you know
you can’t help but use cards that have
chips in them and mobile devices like
smartphones and tablets and if you don’t
understand how to stay safe that can be
a real problem then knowing how to use
things to be successful can be that
second layer the point is I want to help
and so in the comments below let me know
what challenges you if anything let me
know what makes you happy let me know
what makes you scared tell me what I can
do what we can do what you need to get
this done and know that those of you
that are pros you have the vo2 Go Go Pro
Connect space on on Facebook private
space for my pros to share things like
this to share their challenges and most
of you do but if you’re not taking
advantage of that now please do so
please do so and let me know your
thoughts on what I’ve said here today if
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will play it for you I’m David H
Lawrence the 17th I so appreciate you
watching these videos and I will talk to
you tomorrow.