If you can't answer this simple question, stop now!

Know thyself. Dig? Seriously though, can you answer this seemingly simple yet sometimes complicated question? If you can't, then put everything down, stop it all. Let's find out... Who are you?

If you can't answer this simple question, stop now! - 4:50

Hey guys, thanks for joining me on another edition of the Gift of Gab. I have a question for you. You ready to go down the rabbit hole? Who are you? No, really... who are you?

So do you remember the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland? Kind of a cool character, right? Had one of the most memorable lines and exchanges in the movie, and it got me thinking about marketing and branding and one of my favorite quotes, "Know thyself" and how important that is and relevant it is to what we do. Here's the thing: everybody's so quick to jump into the doing and voiceover that they forget about the learning, they forget about the education, they forget about the stuff that has to come first, and the caterpillar, to me, represents this really important idea behind who you are in this industry. If you can't answer that question, who are you, then making a demo is premature, making a website, trying to find work, finding auditions, it's all premature, because first you have to be able to answer that question, who are you? Who are you in this industry? Who are you as a voice actor, as a business owner, as a performer, as a service provider? Who are you to the people who are going to hire you, to the clients who are going to use your services? Who are you to the consumers and the people who are on the other end, the listening end of the voiceovers that you are creating? If you can't answer that vocally, who are you, then everything has to come to us a halt -- literally. It's like stop -- stop, and sit in that question.

I know what I'm asking you to do because it's an uncomfortable question. I know, I know, I'm sorry, I know, I'm very aware of how uncomfortable it is, but it's essential. You've got to sit in that for a while until you can answer it. Who are you? Because if you don't know don't demo. If you're not sure, then don't spend any money on stuff. I see it happen all the time, I see fledgling voice actors, right? They make demos, they make websites, they make all of these things but they can't answer that simple question. Who are they in the industry? And what happens is, then they're at the mercy of whoever created this material for them, and they get pushed and pulled in different directions and these directions aren't necessarily the directions they want to go in, they're not necessarily true to who they are and who they want to be in the industry. It's just what other people tell them they should be doing. But later on, that turns out to be inaccurate. So you have to answer it for yourself because you have to be able to articulate that to other people so that they can do a better job for you in the long run. So who are you? I do not know. Do you need help? This is what I do, this is where I am probably the most sought out as a coach and as a mentor to other voice actors. I help people figure this out. I help people figure out who they are in the industry, what their brand and their marketing message is, what their overall message is in the industry, and how they are going to differentiate themselves from the sea of other voice actors that are out there. So if I can be of help, let me know. Reach out, I'd love to talk to you. I look forward to it. Thanks guys, have a good one.

704-674-8294 / GabrielleNistico.com / gabby@voiceovervixen.com

Gabrielle Nistico, Gabby Nistico, The Voiceover Vixen, The Business First VO Coach, #VoiceoverVixen #VoiceOnFire #BusinessFirstVOCoach Voiceover, Charlotte, North Carolina, Voiceover Demo, Voiceover Coaching Advice, Working Actors, Los Angeles, New York, How to Be a Better Voice Actor, marketing, know thyself, Hamlet, to thine own self be true, Alice in Wonderland, caterpillar