It’s such a common feeling, as I’ve come to find out: not wanting to”bother” somebody.
A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh would express this annoyance with a simple, “Oh, bother!” That silly old Pooh (so wonderfully voiced in Disney cartoons by Sterling Holloway, and later by Jim Cummings) perfectly captures that dreaded reaction I wanted to avoid at all costs.
I still do. And it becomes an insidious roadblock for a lot of us creative people, whether we call it stage fright, or mic fright, or just fear of rejection.
Kicked Out of the Nest
Now I realize not everyone has this problem. I envy those in sales and promotion who seem able to start conversations effortlessly. It occurs to me that a lot of my generation got into radio so we could just be behind a door, behind a microphone. We had all those sales and marketing people to handle all that promotion and persuasion.
And then came the great awakening. Suddenly we became freelancers. I don’t think we were even aware of the terms voice actor or voiceover talent. It was hard enough just initially asking for that job…or (heaven forbid) a raise. Now we had to do it for every – single – project. Every – single – day. For a guy like me, already well steeped in staying in the background (to escape the attention of bullies), or avoid being sent out with those humiliating School Fundraiser Catalogues, or being the easiest target in dodgeball during gym class, or later on even trying to ask someone for a date… being a salesman, especially selling my own talents, was something I was never prepared for!
“Just Checking In”
I’ve been fortunate to have made friends both in radio and local recording studios over the years. But there was that one time a studio friend paused our in-person conversation to answer the phone. It was a short call. As he hung up, he shook his head and quietly said, “I know he’s talented, but I’m never gonna hire that guy because he’s constantly calling to ‘Just Check In‘!”
This kind of thing holds me back from effective self-promotion and marketing. I don’t want to be “that guy”.
Fortunately (as the pharmacy ads love to say), there is hope. Carefully using the internet, you can find good people with a happy combination of performing talent, tech savvy, and experience in sales and marketing. I’ve worked with several, and each has shown me something valuable. But I have to admit, I haven’t used most of it nearly enough.
So, in this last stage of my voiceover career, I’m diving into a very specific course of learning created especially for creative talent like me, who are always afraid of “bothering” people. We’ll see how well I can make it work.
Who knows? I may finally discover new media friends I could have been working with all this time…if I had “bothered” to make that terrifying First Contact.
Why Bother to Bother?
The day I heard Jim Henson had died…from an infection which could have been successfully treated…someone said they had asked him why he didn’t go see a doctor earlier. His reply was,”Oh, I just didn’t want to bother anyone.” An extreme example, I know. But it was a case in which the “risk of bothering” would have resulted in many more years of creative works. I know many, many, many of us were “bothered” that he didn’t.
How do you cope with this sort of thing? What do you do to overcome it? Comments welcome.
— over and out —
