Have you ever looked at your diary and realised you’re not booked for any voice acting jobs?

It happens to every voice actor at some stage in their career – and it’s not a pleasant feeling!

Once you get past the initial panic of having no booked work, it’s time to get your mindset clear and focused.

Here are 3 things I advise my voiceover coaching clients to do when they hit a “rough patch’:

1 Don’t panic

There will always be quiet times in your voice acting career – it’s just that when they do come along, it feels like “everyone else” is working but you!

Feeling stressed and anxious and doubting your abilities is normal, but don’t let allow this mindset to creep in for too long!

Keep yourself fit and healthy and use the “down-time” to catch up with your friends and family.

2 Listen to your demo with “fresh ears”

Your demo is your marketing tool – it’s what gets you work. So if you’re not being booked, it’s time to listen to it.

As you do, ask yourself, “What types of work have I been booked for in the past and are there examples of this on my demo?”

It’s hard to be objective about demos, so allowing a colleague or coach to listen to it for you is always a great idea!

3 Research

During slower times, it’s a good time to listen to as many TV and radio ads as you can. Notice what’s popular at the moment – maybe you can add another track to your demo to represent this?

Next, go onto voice acting agents websites and listen to the demos there.

And remember, there are so many different styles of scripts – naturalist, character, retail and announcer, as well as narration for documentaries and the corporate world. This could be a great time to think about the oner areas of voiceover that you’re not working in , but would like to, and start to make a study of those styles.

And as you wait for your next voice acting job remember to breathe deeply and always have a positive attitude!