If you don’t like to read, voice-over is not the field for you.

In addition to reading, interpreting and performing others’ scripts for pay, I am convinced that the most passionate and successful voice talent seem to have an inherent love of reading. For instance, my friend Bob Souer finds and reads all sorts of interesting things on-line, which he shares with us on his blog. I recently had a discussion with another friend Dave Courvoisier about the merits and pleasures of the Amazon Kindle wireless reading device.

I plan to buy a Kindle for pleasure reading, but I may also use it in the recording booth to perform some auditions and possibly longer material. Since I have remote control of Pro Tools through my handy TranzPort, I’m really thinking of setting up a second computer monitor in the booth…..but I digress.

Any reader of my blog would know that I love words and language. I frequently refer to books that I am reading or have read since they help shape my perspective as a person and voice talent.

I have loved books since childhood. I can remember my mother taking me to the library so I could check out armfuls of books. At that time, I could read 50 books in the summer. I still frequently utilize my library card although my time for reading is more limited. These days, I might read 50 books in a year, and I am in the midst of several books at any given time.

I can tend to read a lot by one author at a time and/or in a certain category of book. I constantly find myself reading books about marketing, success principles, the Law of Attraction, biographies, spiritual fiction like The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and other fiction and non-fiction.

I also avidly listen to audiobooks, especially for biographies and fiction requiring numerous characterizations. I think everyone who is or wants to be an audiobook narrator should spend time listening to and learning from others. In fact, whatever you want to do or be in life, you will find the blueprint for success by carefully reading, observing, and applying the success stories of those who have achieved your desired status.

I have often sprinkled quotations in these blog essays. Reading quotes from Emerson, Thoreau, and other great thinkers inspires me as I move foward in the life of my dreams. No matter what challenge I face in my voice-over career and life in general, I find encouragement and advice by reading the words of others:

Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve.
He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.
— Leonardo da Vinci

Write down the thoughts of the moment.
Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.
— Francis Bacon

The world belongs to the energetic.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Reading has been the underlying foundation for my every achievement. However, as Seth Godin reminds us in his blog entry describing how to read a business book, achievements also require action.

Godin maintains that business books are 95% motivation and 5% recipes for achieving success. He advises us to read business books with an objective in mind. Actively highlight and write down passages and ideas that inspire you to action toward the changes you wish to make. He states:

If three weeks go by and you haven’t taken action
on what you’ve written down,
you wasted your time.

In your voice-over career, you will spend time every day reading from scripts. I encourage you to read just as much, if not more, for your own improvement and enjoyment, as well as for the improvement of your voice-over business. When you read something that inspires you, write it down and take action toward the life of your dreams!