Hey there!
Whenever I start teaching a new set of students one of my courses, I offer them some advice to help things “stick.”
And it probably won’t surprise anyone to know that when I take a class, I have to remind myself of the same three things so I engage more deeply with the content.
Here they are:
(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
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
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
The Two Things Most Talent Try to Accomplish Way Too Soon
10,000 Hours To Become Good At Something? Not Really.
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
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?”
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
How You Can Use The MVP Model As A Performer
The Robocall Equivalent Of Unsubscribe
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
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
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
For Your Health: Not Perfect. Just Better.
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
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
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
Two Last Big Creativity-Crippling Fallacies
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
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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?
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How To Stop Jealousy From Killing Your Progress
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Create A Safe Environment For Self-Improvement
Why I Use One Single Channel For Crucial Communication
The Even Cheaper AT-2020 USB Plus Microphone?
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On Asking For Things Performers Can’t Do
How To Battle The Urge of “Efficiency”
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Raw YouTube Captioning
hey there it’s David H Lawrence the 17th
and I mentioned in another video that I
wanted to share with you some directly
applicable skills we started teaching
the ACX master class this week it’s week
number one as I record this video and at
the beginning of the classes that I
teach I offer three little tiny very
powerful pieces of advice about what not
to do when you first start a class or a
learning process or a skill building
process or some sort of ongoing
situation we’re gonna learn something
some people take classes about subjects
they know nothing about some people take
classes about things they know a little
bit about want to know more some people
take classes to brush up on skills in
areas that they know very very well and
these three things apply no matter what
so the first of the three things not to
do is to allow yourself to be distracted
and by that I mean this little dangerous
puppy right put it on silent and do not
disturb try to avoid the whole notion of
checking your email as you’re learning
because you never know when that golden
nugget is gonna come along right when
you’re trying to figure out if you’ve
replied to your mom about dad’s birthday
or who knows what you’re doing it says
some something happens a sports score
pops up who knows
try not to be distracted and it’s an
overt thing and it’s a really easy thing
you know hold the buttons down that you
need to hold down and slide that little
slider across that says you know turn me
off and just for the time that you’re
learning give your full and undivided
attention to the person speaking that’s
trying to help you out that’s one the
second thing not to do is to say the
phrase oh I knew that already yeah thank
you because
yeah you might know the concept already
you might know everything the speaker is
going to say already but you might not
the speaker might be presenting
something to you that in theory you
understand very well but they may
present a twist to it that gives you
that little tiny adjustment that makes
it all click or that makes things even
better for you or that enlightens you
about something that you didn’t quite
understand before and kind of let go
it’s like I don’t really need to know
that I mean I got the gist of it I I
understand enough of it to be able to
take advantage of it which is great but
what if you could take advantage of it
fully by that one little thing that
somebody said that you didn’t ignore
because you didn’t say I knew that
already I knew that already
and the third thing is something that
was hard for me to learn because we all
make instant judgments about the
filtering of information that we get we
get so much information coming at us all
day long we definitely have to put up
some guard and some filters some
barriers to adjust to what’s important
you know not everything that’s coming at
us has the same signal strength not
everything has the same importance and
we have to kind of figure out what
matters what we can let fly by us
what’s purely like nothing to do with me
so that’s the thing try not to say that
doesn’t apply to me
because you may be right it may not
apply to you but it might in a way that
you aren’t expecting so we’re teaching
people my method of editing and most
people don’t know that method already
the stair step method of editing audio
books they don’t know that already and
so they don’t usually say that part but
they do often say oh I already know why
that doesn’t apply to me because I use
punch and roll
okay but if you just let it be open to
you for the moment I mean look you’re
paying to to be taught right whether
it’s with money or with your time or
with the opportunity cost in sitting at
a class and not doing something else
that could be fruitful for you so you’re
paying in some way shape or form why not
give that moment every opportunity every
ounce of potential that you can I’ve had
people who are dead set against learning
anything other than punch and roll this
is just an example but when they see how
my method works when they see how the
stair step method works they’re like
almost embarrassed to say wow I was
really ready to reject this whole sale
just didn’t apply to me because I
already knew how to do punch and roll
but boy am I glad I did because I mean I
I have some advantages now that I didn’t
have before and the other half of that
is when you say this doesn’t apply to me
that’s a defense mechanism to say I
already know what I’m talking about I
already have enough I have enough
knowledge in here and in my particular
case what you have to offer me is
worthless and it could be any shade of
that but the point is if you let your
mind say yeah this doesn’t apply to me
then you could be potentially leaving
some table stakes on the table you could
be leaving a golden nugget or two lying
around that could be useful because you
can’t predict what’s going to be useful
when you simply open your mind up to the
possibilities of what’s being presented
now is there a chance that yeah it
doesn’t apply to you and you did know
that already and you really wouldn’t
have been distracted all that much by
your phone there’s a chance I’m gonna
pause it that the chance is smaller than
you think and the potential upside is
larger than you think I can’t tell you
the number of times that I’ve been in a
training session where I felt that urge
to go okay I got that let’s move on
let’s go when the instructor has said
something that was like oh
okay I’m glad I just paid attention I’m
glad I didn’t try and figure out what I
was gonna have for lunch at that moment
right so do these things resonate with
you do these things make sense to you
any one of these things the don’t let
yourself be distracted
don’t say I knew that already and don’t
say this doesn’t apply to me has that
ever happened to you when you’ve been
surprised that maybe it did apply to you
and you didn’t know something already
and the distraction was larger than you
thought it would be or are you listening
to this and going yeah you know David
these these skills that you have that I
knew that already and they don’t apply
to me and by the way I need to check my
email let me know in the comments below
I’d love to hear from you if you want to
you know subscribe to my youtube channel
and know when these videos are being
released go ahead and click on my head
there and if you don’t see my head or my
face go ahead and find a subscribe
button somewhere on the page and
subscribe to my youtube channel if you
want to see the latest video I put out
then go ahead and click on that frame
there and they will play it for you hope
you’re watching this on vo to go go comm
that’s where I put them all I’m David H
Lawrence xvii I so appreciate you
watching these and I will talk to you
tomorrow
Well said. “Focused Immersion” is wonderful and when we allow ourselves to surrender to the moment and be open to it all, it can be so satisfying…almost blissful at times…especially if it’s something we are excited to learn about.
Thanks David
Thanks for the great advice David! I have found myself in each of those scenarios – 2 of 3 were certainly validated by your words. I’ve missed you, but I’m back and taking heed.
All three points apply. It’s so hard to get our learning environments devoid of distractions. Not just phones, but also if you’re on the train, or with a family member or a friend who knows you’re on the training, but has to share that cool YouTube video. Or your kid has an emergency because your other kid is looking at them. Or your dog suddenly needs to go out and you are his only hope Obi-wan. As to your other points, we need to open our minds to the training we are taking and to new techniques or old techniques being used in different ways, etc. Thanks for the tips!
Last week I attended a voice over workshop in my city, New Orleans. It was held by a local guy who is pretty “big”among voice talent here. I had to stop myself from comparing everything he said to you, David. I had to make myself stop being critical and just listen. I had to make myself stop thinking “I already know this”. As it turned out, when I opened my mind, I did learn a few things and got some practice with some copy in front of the class. It turned into a positive experience once I shut off my defensive thoughts. Still, he was no David H. Lawrence XVII !
Want to hear something funny? I had to listen to a few minutes of this video 3x because I was trying to listen and check my phone at the same time. I literally wouldn’t have realized what I was doing if you hadn’t mentioned it as #1. Clearly that’s going to be a toughie for me.
Hi David,
What you said is wise and true.
Thank you,
M.
I have been surprised at times. All great advice. Thanks for the video David.
Love this reminder David. I have been voice acting for 15 years, but I still take Group Work Outs occasionally, and every single time I drive away saying to myself ” I needed to hear that material today!” I learn a new tip every time and every time I get coached on a habit to break.