Rick Arseneault Voice Overs: Want to get an "In" into VO work? Try volunteering. Part II

Around 3 weeks ago, I took an hour and a half drive up the road and went to audition for a charitable organization that provides spoken word articles for the vision impaired. Yes. I drove an hour and a half to audition for a volunteer gig. A gig that does not pay in dollars. It does, however, allow me to give back with something that I enjoy doing anyway and if it works out perfectly, I get to record from home. Which means I get practice voice over and reading scripts that are different from what I am usually used to doing. It also means that I can use my voice to make someone else's life a little easier and maybe a little more enjoyable.
For some reason when I try to learn something new, it takes a little longer for me to 'get it' if the "theory" of what's being taught does not specifically pertain to what I am trying to learn. I struggled at first trying to learn what spreadsheet software was for until I used it to figure out a problem in an electronics course then the bulb clicked on and I was all over it. Might be the tradesman blood that never found its way to my hands.

But I also think that most people want to be challenged to improve in the things they feel they are good at doing. This is a new challenge for me and its one that I believe will have a lot of benefits, one of them being that I will understand that much more about doing voice overs. A carpenter builds because he knows someone will eventually use his creation. I find Voice Over the same, its a lot more enjoyable when you know that someone will eventually hear it and use it in their day.

Keep your chin up, your ears and your mind open. There is gold out there.