Voiceover coaching challenges me all the time to find new and creative ways of teaching students how to access their best instincts. I find many books that have helped me offer my students something more than just the standard voice over strategies. I referred to voiceover strategy via The Artist’s Way a few weeks back but that was just one of the many goodies. I was looking back at my book collection and came across one i saved because i knew i would be using it again someday for reference, i just knew it. Validation! The book is called The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. It’s a gem. It converts the writings of Pooh and his pals to something much deeper, or perhaps it already was that deep and insightful, and this book is just clarifying that for us better. I am constantly trying to get my students to stop being so analytical and to start just BEING instead. The constant criticism, especially when it comes during the actual performance, can actually hinder a performance in many ways. Students will start self-censoring during a read and stop in the middle! What is happening here is they’re thinking, “I just said that word too soft,” or “I didn’t emphasize that point enough.” The problem with this analysis DURING the read is that the student is then attached to the read as a performance and they are “being” that person with those ideas. The listener wants to hear emotional attachment to the words, nothing more. So I look to The Tao of Pooh for guidance. I tell my students all the time, think first, but then just be. Or perhaps switch it around – Do first, think later. Either way, over thinking a script during the script is no good. It’s just more fun to hear this from Pooh, though, don’t you think?
“Rabbit’s clever,” said Pooh thoughtfully.
“Yes,” said Piglet, “Rabbit’s clever.”
“And he has a brain.”
“Yes,” said Piglet, “Rabbit has Brain.”
There was a long silence.
“I suppose,” said Pooh, “that that’s why he never understands anything.”