The Sound of Silence*

When talking about feedback in the realms of audio, we are all familiar with what that sounds like!  In regards to feedback from our clients or boss, or friends and family for that matter, it’s a very different thing, but it can sometimes sound as excruciating!

Personally, I LOVE feedback… the verbal kind, that is.  This could be a result of growing up in a family where everything was judged, for good or for bad; you become addicted to it.  Even as a very young child, I would ask at the dinner table, “How am I doing, Oma?”  That was a bit of a running joke, but really, I’ve come to crave feedback as I was nurtured to think that I needed it.

I had to learn quickly that if I was interested in having my own business in voice-overs, I needed to put my need for feedback in check!

Indeed, I have some lovely quotes from clients that I hoard like nuts in the winter, precious comments of affirmation for my work with them.  However, working from home, in a business where I rarely speak on the phone with anyone, emailing work back and forth, I’ve had to learn that “no news is good news”!  After a day of sending out audio files, indeed I receive a good handful of thank yous, occasionally “Great read!” (Thanks, Barb!), but usually silence.  Thus learning … if I don’t hear anything back from a client, to simply stay optimistic.

All this to say … in my business of voice-overs, it is not uncommon to hear the sound of silence.

*song by Simon and Garfunkel