Mark Henson's Blog

The hardest thing for a VOice actor…

It isn’t performing a funny character that strains the voice or pronouncing a multi-syllable medical term that no one but doctors have ever spoken.

Nope, one of the hardest things for a voice actor?  Pronouncing two S’s back to back. As in:

“That’s when she discoverS Spic-and-Span’s true superpower, cleaning dirty dog dirt.”

One of two things typically occurs when two S’s are put together like this:

1. The S’s get slurred together. This can much two words into one weird hybrid word, or can make the voice actor sound drunk. Neither sounds appealing.

2. The S’s get over-enunciated. This sounds completely unnatural in almost every piece of copy, especially since so much copy calls for “natural”, “authentic”, or “conversational.” Over-enunciating sounds like reading, not conversing. 

It’s an easy fix!

Fortunately, there’s (usually) an easy fix. Just read the copy out loud, and if you run into a couple of Ss awkwardly hanging out together, see if you can change one of the words without changing the message of the copy. Here’s an example of how to fix the Spic and Span sentence:

“”That’s when she experienced Spic-and-Span’s true superpower, cleaning dirty dog dirt.”

Unfortunately, this is a very common problem. Fortunately, it’s also a pretty easy

The post Watch your S’s first appeared on MARK HENSON VO.

Do we really need another VO Blog?

The answer? No. And yes.

There are already a gazillion blogs, video channels, classes, courses, and webinars about how to become a voice actor, how to improve at the craft of voice over, and how to run your voice over business. Many of those resources are truly helpful…to the voice ACTOR. And there are so many that it can be like a giant echo chamber at times. 

But what about all the other people who affect the quality of a voice over product? You know, the writers/copywriters, creative directors, video producers, e-learning designers, and audio engineers that are often involved in projects that include a voice over component. As far as I can tell, nobody is helping THEM get the most out of the voices they hire. 

What Will I share on this VO Blog?

I will be sharing short, helpful tips for all those people I mentioned above — from the point of view of a successful, hard-working voice actor. As voice actors and voice over artists, we have been encouraged to be “directable”, easy-to-work-with, humble, and non-confrontational. I promise to be all those things, and a little more. I want to tell you things that many voice actors wish they could say, but don’t. We tend to take what comes to us, grateful to have the gig, and rarely offer up ideas or suggestions out of fear of offending someone and losing a client for life.

But I don’t believe it has to be that way. I believe ideas and suggestions can be offered up in a non-confrontational, non-critical way that is genuinely helpful and even downright friendly. After all, we’re all just people trying to do the best work possible. Why not do everything we can to make it even better?

I don’t have any grand plan or content calendar. I’ll simply post a tip whenever I run across something in my day-to-day voice over work that might work better with a little tweak. Or when something goes particularly well, I’ll explain why and give props to the people who made it happen. 

So, thanks for joining me on this journey. Let’s make some great VO together! And ALWAYS feel free to add your thoughts and comments. A conversation is always better when both sides participate!

The post What is this Blog About? first appeared on MARK HENSON VO.

I thought Stella was dead.

Stella is my neighbor’s new dog. She’s some sort of dachshund mix, weighs maybe 5 lbs, and looks like a squirrel.

My dog is a Great Pyrenees mix, weighs 90 lbs, and looks like the abominable snowman.

So when the little dog squeezed through the fence, the big dog took off after her.

I quickly intervened, scooped Stella up, and gently placed her back in her yard. Her heart was beating at least 500 beats/min. So was mine.

I looked at my neighbor’s house and silently screamed “I told you so.” I had warned her that Stella could get through the fence.

Her reply was “Oh, I don’t think she’ll do that.”

I had two choices: 1) Tell my neighbor to “fix” the fence on her side so Stella lives a long, happy life, or 2) Fix the fence on my side.

There is nothing wrong with the fence, FYI. It’s just that Stella is so darn small she can fit through the slats.

I chose option 2. I drove to Home Depot, bought some netting used to keep rabbits out of gardens, and stapled it to the fence.

Problem solved in exactly 1 hour with $40 and a staple gun.

As I stepped back and admired my solution, it occurred to me how many problems I could solve (and relationships I could preserve/repair) if I just took immediate action when problems pop up.

Can you relate?

The post The Problem-Solving Power of Taking Action appeared first on A Superpowered Life.

In my last post I told you that you have superpowers. Ordinary Superpowers to be exact.

Discovering your superpowers is life-changing all by itself, however it's just the first step to creating what I call a Superpowered Life.

So what is a Superpowered Life? Here's the definition I've been using lately:

A Superpowered Life is a fulfilling life spent creating, collaborating, and contributing to your world with your Ordinary Superpowers.

That's a pretty simple, straightforward definition, however there's a little more to it than you might initially think.

While the definition of a superpowered life in theory can apply to anyone, it is not meant to be a blanket definition for everyone. It's meant to be very personal and unique to you.

I want you to interpret every word according to what you find meaningful.

What does a fulfilling life look like for you? In other words, what is the ultimate life reward for you? A trail of business success? A healthy, happy family? A pile of money in the bank? A life full of rich experiences? All of the above? None of the above?

What does creating look like for you? Do you like to build physical things? Are you an entrepreneur? Do you love building a network? Are you an artist?

What does collaborating look like for you? Do you love one-on-one partnering? Are you a team-builder? Do you love mobilizing the masses? Or building a following?

What does contributing look like for you? Does that mean time? Or money? Or resources? Or skills? Do you want to solve a world-wide problem? Or the life of one person?

There are NO wrong answers to any of these questions. Well, I take that back. Answering these kinds of questions to make yourself look good is a surefire way to never feel fulfilled. I'd also advise against "shoulding" on yourself — devising answers based on what you think you should be doing, rather than based on what your real, raw, true desires and feelings are telling you.

I don't know very many people living a Superpowered Life, do you? In a recent workshop I asked my partipants, "Think about the people in your life. How many people do you know  are living a Superpowered Life?"

The average number was two.

The highest was five.

Do you know how many people each one of us knows? Every one of us knows hundreds! Some people know thousands.

And yet, we only need one hand — hell, we only need half of one hand — to count the number of people we know who are living a fulfilling life spent creating, collaborating, and contributing to the world with their Ordinary Superpowers.

Can you see why I'm so passionate about helping people discover their superpowers?

We accomplish pretty amazing things as humans living mostly average, ordinary, fairly mediocre lives. Imagine what we could do if we were all living a Superpowered Life?

 

Imagine what YOU could do.

 

My heart just started beating a little faster when I typed that last line. Did yours when you read it?

I want to help as many people as I can while I'm here on this planet. More importantly, I want to help you. Because you're here, you're reading this, and I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that you can make such a powerful positive difference on the world around you AND feel so much more fulfilled doing it.

Stay Super!

Drop your name & email below and I'll send you a few superpowered posts like this each month! My mission is to help you live a more superpowered life, so you can be sure that everything I send will be focused on that one simple goal.

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SUPERPOWER ME!

Thanks for joining me on this journey! I promise to do everything I can to help you live a more superpowered life. To make sure you always get my messages, add mark@sparkspace.com to your whitelist or allowed emails in your email program. 

Stay super,

Mark

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The post What Is A Superpowered Life? appeared first on A Superpowered Life.

What is a superpowered life? I really want to answer that question, but before I do, we need to talk about superpowers first.

When I tell people that I believe everyone has superpowers, I typically get one the following reactions:

"Yes! I believe that, too!"
"I sorta-kinda-believe that, but I don't know for sure."
"Get away from me, you new-age hippie freak."

Of course, people don't actually say those things out loud, but their facial expressions and body language are usually quite clear.

So, I thought I'd tell you exactly what I mean when I say superpowers, or more specifically, ordinary superpowers.

Ordinary superpowers are the abilities, talents, and skills that you already possess that help you contribute the most to your life, the lives of others, and the world around you. Consider them your top two or 3 greatest strengths — the ones that noticeably stand above the rest.

Weirdly enough, it is often difficult for us to even recognize these strengths/superpowers because they feel so natural to us that we don't see them as what we do, we see them more as who we are. And we tend to think everyone has them. To us, they don't seem special. They actually seem, well, quite ordinary.

But they are not. They are not ordinary. They are not natural to everyone else. They are not possessed by the masses.

My ordinary superpowers are 1) Exploring new things, 2) Simplifying stuff, and 3) Communicating ideas through writing, speaking, and coaching.

When I explored my strengths and identified these as my superpowers, I had a hard time believing they were super at all, even though I recognized them as strengths of mine! It took me a minute (ok, weeks) to admit they were more extraordinary, more unique to me than I initially thought. But the more I proactively used them and witnessed the results, I noticed that I was the only person I knew with that set of strengths who used them the way that I did. I also quickly realized that the more I used my ordinary superpowers, the happier I became. After all who wouldn't be happier doing what they're best at doing and getting great results?

I started paying attention to how other people were succeeding in life, and especially those who seemed to be most fulfilled. What I discovered through this observation was that everyone has their own winning formula, or secret sauce, that allows them to create positive impact.

I also found that even those who seemed to have dialed in and dialed up their superpowers didn't usually do it on purpose. Many just happened to be in the right place and the right time for their powers to shine, or landed in a job that truly tapped into their greatest strengths. Some got there by years of Goldilocks-style trial and error and exploration until they found a place or a job or a career where their powers were "just right".

So, the whole idea of a Superpowered Life is based on a single and awesome"What if?" question:

What if you can intentionally create a superpowered life simply by discovering your Ordinary Superpowers and using them more proactively, more intentionally, or simply just...more?

I'll share more of what I mean by a superpowered life in my next post. And in the coming weeks I'll be sharing more about how to discover, articulate, activate, enhance, and even multiply your powers.

Until then, start paying attention to the abilities, talents, and skills that you already posses that create the greatest impact. Hopefully, you'll start to see that you are already more superpowered than you think!

 

Stay Super!

Drop your name & email below and I'll send you a few superpowered posts like this each month! My mission is to help you live a more superpowered life, so you can be sure that everything I send will be focused on that one simple goal.

Please enter your name.




Please enter a valid email address.








SUPERPOWER ME!

Thanks for joining me on this journey! I promise to do everything I can to help you live a more superpowered life. To make sure you always get my messages, add mark@sparkspace.com to your whitelist or allowed emails in your email program. 

Stay super,

Mark

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The post You Have Superpowers (Yes, You Do) appeared first on A Superpowered Life.

I am taking the next two days off. I've promised myself that I will not do any work-related activity.

My mini-vacation hasn't even started and it's already killing me.

Sounds crazy, I know. Seems like it should be easy to take time off. My business has been dead-in-the-water since April, and now it is clear that it will be that way for months and months to come.

I literally have all the time in the world to NOT work. And yet I have worked every single day since COVID hit — 4 straight months. Sure, some days I "work" only a few hours. But as any business owner knows, you never really stop working because your to-do list could fill a filing cabinet, and even if you were to get to the end of it, you never EVER stop thinking about your business.

Multiply that 10X when your business is beat up, bleeding, and dying on the side of the COVID highway.

The feeling that there is more to do — more you CAN do, more you SHOULD do, more that you DESPERATELY NEED to do — never goes away.

If you think I'm being dramatic, tell the next business owner you talk to to just "let go" of those feelings, then prepare yourself. They will likely laugh in your face.

So, yeah, taking two days off is beyond stressful.

And exactly what I need the most right now.

See you on the other side.

The post Why Taking Time Off Is Super Stressful (For Me) appeared first on A Superpowered Life.

One of my favorite things to do is sit on my dock as the sun comes up.

The light illuminates the trees on the other side of the lake, starting at the top and slowly working its way down to the water over the course of an hour or so.

It strikes me that this is the way most illumination (and change and growth) occurs – starting in our head as a thought, then slowly working its way down through our being, body, and finally action. So slowly that we often don't perceive it, or if we do, we want to rush it.

Not only is it a process, but a cycle. Just when we are fully enlightened, another round of darkness falls and it feels like we have to start the illumination process all over again.

But here’s the thing: each new darkness does not erase the progress you’ve made as a human being. Trees don’t start over as seeds every day and neither do we.

We are never really starting over. We are starting over and above where we started yesterday.

Many of us are experiencing what feel like darker and longer nights these days. Which is why we must recognize and soak up as much light as we can every chance we get.

Consider that every round of illumination actually strengthens and prepares us for the next round of darkness.

And when you’re in darkness, never ever forget that light will shine on you again.

The post Darkness & Light appeared first on A Superpowered Life.

I cringed, yet said nothing.

It was a quick comment about an entire ethnic group, spoken with a “just between us” kind of laugh. The kind I’ve heard a million times.

Except now I’ve committed to noticing. To saying something. To standing against racism and racist comments large and small.

And, yet...

I let the fear of conflict rule in the moment. I gave a hall pass in exchange for years of friendship. I allowed my brain to invent a “that’s just how he is” rationale.

And I stood there and allowed the scale to stay tipped in racism’s favor.

My first real test since the world turned upside down. And I failed it.

I thought my eyes were opened, but now I plainly see one way I continue to contribute to racism. And, sadly, I know it’s not the only way.

The reality is that speaking up would likely only train my friend to not make those comments around me. He will keep testing the waters and finding others who will allow it.

However, if we can shrink the pool of acceptance enough, there will be nowhere for these forms of racism to hide and it will be much more difficult for them to spread.

I am disappointed in myself for sure, but I am still committed to doing my part. I’m also recognizing that this is a marathon of baby steps, and this shit is harder than I thought.

The post A Marathon of Baby Steps appeared first on A Superpowered Life.

Never underestimate the power of having a "Plan B."

During the last recession, I was so stressed out about the possibility of losing my business that I couldn't think straight and I couldn't sleep.

And then I formulated my "Plan B."

One night (at, like, 3am), I finally asked myself, "If my business/job/career all went away tomorrow, what would I do then? Where kind of jobs would I apply for? What companies would I want to work for?"

The answer came quickly to me: I would immediately apply at The Container Store, Crate & Barrel, and local hardware stores — places where I've always thought it would be fun to work.

I didn't believe any of these were "career" choices (although, who knows?), but they'd keep some money coming in and I probably wouldn't hate going to work every day. And it would buy me time to formulate my next "Plan A."

The night I got clear about my "Plan B" changed everything. I relaxed a lot. I slept better. I focused better at work. I can't tell you what a relief it was to admit to myself that I'd be ok and life wouldn't have to completely suck if I had to get another job.

I'm reminding myself of this right now for very obvious reasons , but I'm also sharing it in hopes that it might help a few others as well.

The post The power of a “Plan B” appeared first on A Superpowered Life.

I'm the problem.

Yes. Me. I have racial bias.

How could I not? I grew up in an all white community, went to an almost all white college, and have lived my entire adult life in predominantly white communities.

Every time there is black civil unrest I look at it through my white eyes, my white history, my white present, my white future. And I often cannot comprehend or understand the reality happening "out there."

But my heart hurts. And my guilt rises. And I suffocate the shame caused by my perceived lack of ability and my real lack of action just so I can function and keep pretending that it doesn't apply to me because "I'm not a racist."

But I wonder, where is the extremely fine line between racial bias and racism. I don't hate anyone. Isn't that ok? Isn't that enough?

My heart says no. That's not enough. Not anymore. Not ever.

So I admit I'm the problem. I've been part of the problem my whole life. Unconsciously early on, but now with full awareness.

Knowing this I can no longer hide behind "we" and "us" and "they".

There is only me. I can only change me. I WILL change me.

And hopefully I can lead by example and encourage others to do the same.

I'm sorry that I've ever thought and acted otherwise.

The post I’m The Problem appeared first on A Superpowered Life.