Something To Consider: Everyone’s Internal Menu

One Step At A Time
Five Ways To Have An Excellent Coffee Date With Me
Five Ways To Have A Crappy Coffee Date With Me
Taking Advantage Of The Wisdom Of The Tribe
How To Be A World Class Complainer
The False Nobility Of The Struggle
Watch Out – The Rules Are Going To Change
“Show Me The Secret, Daddy!”
Coaching vs Consulting vs Facilitating
The Perils of Live Performance And Why Jeremy Kappell Should Not Have Been Fired
Let’s Welcome To The Stage…Failure!
Don’t Confuse Price With Value
Whiteboards In The Hallways
Go Wake Up Your Luck
Playing and Planning
The Two Things Most Talent Try to Accomplish Way Too Soon
10,000 Hours To Become Good At Something? Not Really.
The Curse of Knowledge
The Trick Charlie Munger Uses To Make Better Decisions
Everyone’s A Customer, Not Just Your Customers
“What do you mean, you’re a ‘process guy’?”
Pay Attention To Your Storytelling, Not Removing Your Breaths
How To Conquer FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)
The Problem In Every Commercial Script
The Job In Every Commercial Script
The Secret In Every Commercial Script
How To Pick Your Stage Name
Voice Over Is REALLY Hard. Until It Isn’t.
Helping Make Resolutions Stick
ACX Jobs: They’re ALL SAG-AFTRA-Friendly
Non-Union? You Can Still Open An AFTRA H&R Account. What?
Who Says You Need To “Feel Like It?”
Are You Engaged?
Your Day Job Might Just Be Worth Keeping For A Bit Longer
Want To Learn Something Really Well? Teach It To Others
Don’t Confuse What Works With What You Like
The Lost Keys And The Microphone In My Elevator
My Insane Backup System Plus Two Helpful Tips
What Open Loops Are And Why They Work So Well
Two More Things For Which You Can Use Open Loops
Three Things Not To Say Or Do…When Trying To Learn Something New
Front Burner and Back Burner Project Management
How To Properly List The Accents and Dialects You Perform
My SAG-AFTRA Presentation On VO Demos (Part 1)
My SAG-AFTRA Presentation On VO Demos (Part 2)
A Simple, One-Word Decision-Making Question To Ask Yourself
Ready, Shoot…Aim
How You Can Use The MVP Model As A Performer
How Lazy Can You Be?
Avoid The Struggle Porn
The Robocall Equivalent Of Unsubscribe
Saying Goodbye To A “Failure”
Making Your Links Irresistible
HTTPS Is Not Just For Banks – It’s For You
The Threat That Made Me Create a New Page For LAME
The Resource You Must Guard Most Carefully
How New Media Is Using The Oldest Ad Model Ever
“You Could Be Hit By A Bus!”
Killing Customers With Kindness
I Found Out What She Was Podcasting About
How I Answered Voices.com’s Inquiry
Turning Mountains Into Molehills
Motivation: Your Three Big Needs In A Cool Little Package
Go Ahead. Multitask. But Try It Like This.
The Prodigy Game Doesn’t Deserve This Treatment
I Don’t Want To Go Blind
What Fair Markets Are, And Why Voices.com Isn’t One
Trevor’s Three A’s From Apple On Killing Customers With Kindness
Getting Ready vs. Getting Started
You’ll Never Believe Who Got Rejected By Harvard
There Is No Failure, Only Feedback
Who Is Your Most Dangerous Adversary?
73 Videos In, My First Hater Appears
If You’re The Smartest Person In The Room, Do This ASAP
Your Glasses And Crucial Laptop Positioning Info
One More Insanely Over-engineered Piece Of Gear: My UPS
The Crazy Backward Way IKEA Prices Their Stuff
Voices.com Complained To YouTube That I Violated Their Privacy
The Gig Economy: RIP?
For Your Health: Not Perfect. Just Better.
Celebrate Your Isolation!
Mr. Wonderful Is Actually More Wonderful Than I Thought
Let’s Finally Close The Digital Literacy Gender Gap
The Guaranteed Way To Completely Avoid Criticism
The Two Things People Judge About You Within Seconds
Prioritizing…Nashville Style
Are You Committed? Or Just…Interested?
Audible Retail Samples: Why They Suck And Why It Doesn’t Really Matter
How To Voice Copy That’s Set In Italics
Dyslexia, And The Palindromic Poem. The Wha?
Increase Your Chances Of Being Seen And Heard On Facebook
Jamie Has Some Thoughts About Fiverr
Is Simply Discouraging Distracted Driving Enough?
“Young People Are Just Smarter.”
The Real Purpose Of The “Can You Hear Me?” Phone Scam
Beware Of Overkill
Laying Down The Perfect Slate
An AMA Preview: The Word “Ethnic” – A Slur, Or An Essential Adjective?
10 Rules of Profitable Self Discipline from Napoleon Hill
AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 1)
AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 2)
AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 3)
AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 4)
AMA Answers Part 5 Plus A Medical Warning
Last AMA Answers (#6): Gear, Services and Success
A 7-Word Reminder: “Don’t correct people when it matters little.”
Do You Have A Plan? And Is It The Right One?
What’s Your Next Big Move? Are You Ready?
Build Your Future On Your Own Platform, Not Someone Else’s
I’m Leaving Facebook: Why Groups and FB Live No Longer Spark Joy
Time To Accept That I’ve Failed At Something – Happily
Crowdfunding Without The Internet: Pulitzer And The Statue Of Liberty
The Amazing Power Of Recognition And Badging
Might We Have A Possible Cause For Alzheimer’s?
Why Podcasting And Radio Are Out Of Whack
Value Enthusiasm, But Value Persistence More
Ten Ways To Make Money With Podcasts Besides Ads
One Quick Question To Find Out How Important Something Actually Is
The Workflow For Producing These Videos (So Far) Part 1
Why Not Wade? And…Why Not You?
Audiobook Narrators: How Paymasters Work, And The One I Recommend
Why Gen Z And Millennials’ Love For Audiobooks Is Crucial
American Idol: It’s All About Story, Not Just Singing
Less Beating Yourself Up, More Talking Yourself Up
Resist Oversharing. Instead, Start A Dialogue.
Vocal Care: It’s All About What Works For You
3 Biases You Should Be Aware Of
3 More Biases You Should Also Be Aware Of
Wow. People Really Grokked Biases. Let’s Tackle Fallacies.
Three More Fallacies You Need To Watch For
What’s Your Imprint?
Fallacy Follies, Volume 3
Two Last Big Creativity-Crippling Fallacies
Fail Sooner To Succeed Sooner
A New Lead Source For Performers: Voice Assistants And Smart Speakers
A Great Way To Handle Trolls and Haters
Quantity Does Not Usually Equal Quality
Is Facebook Truly A Monopoly? No More Than Microsoft Was.
Fear Of The Unknown, Or The Day Before My Surgery
A Strange Aspect To Performing That Should Be Cause For Protest, But Isn’t
Want To Grow? Don’t Go It Alone.
How Am I Doing? I’m Gobsmacked. That’s How Am I Doing.
Why I Give My Agents 10% Of Everything
Not Just Explainer Videos, But Video That Explain Things Spectacularly
Mental Floss To The Rescue: Skills You Can Pick Up On YouTube
What’s Better Than Willpower? Grit.
Regarding Apple’s App Store: Be Careful What You Wish For, Pepper
Of COURSE You Wonder What Porter’s Five Forces Are. Who Doesn’t?
Don’t Waste Your Time: Talk Shows Aren’t Meant To Be Fair
Sooner Or Later, I’m Really Going To Tick You Off
Just Because You Can Do Something Doesn’t Mean You Should
Wait, What? Audacity Records In The Background?!
Enjoy Your First Booking. Pay Close Attention To The Next Three.
Pattern Interruption And The Musicality Of Voice Over
Do You Still Have A Landline? Is It POTS? Wait, What’s POTS?
Increase Your VO Accuracy, And You’ll Increase Your VO Profits
Age Range Isn’t Really A Valid Metric For VO
What Is The Overton Window?
How To Stop Jealousy From Killing Your Progress
Even The Bible (And Game Of Thrones) Has One-Star Reviews
How Much Is Enough To Make Per Hour?
With Royalty Share Plus, ACX Makes Hybrid Stipends Official
Wait, Vices Can Be Good For Your Health?
What A Lovely Thing To Discover: Praise From CourVO
I Figured Out What I Provide: The Onboarding Performers Don’t Get
You Don’t Need Permission To Care Or Contribute
It’s Not Just You. It’s The Superstars, Too.
Do You Sometimes Think Irrationally? Maybe. Here’s How To Stop It.
The Struggle Of Announcer-y Versus Non-Announcer-y Voice Over
How My VAs Support Me And My Team
What Exactly Is “The Cloud?”
The Often “Most Difficult” Concept I Teach
Please Unsubscribe From This List. But Don’t Do This One Destructive, Lazy Thing.
Don’t Mistake The Joy Of Knowing For The Joy Of Doing
Why Giving Yourself Some Simple Homework Can Be Life-Changing
One Weird Trick I Do That Makes My Note-Taking Superhuman
The Worst Thing About The Biggest Money-Making Entertainment Category
What Can We Grab From A Schedule This Strict?
Get Better At Executing Today’s Plan By Starting Last Night
How To Create Useful, Organized Audition File Names
Where To Find Related PDFs For Audiobooks on Audible
I’m Halfway Finished. What Have You Valued Most? What Can I Do Better?
Our Digital Attention Span Is Incredibly Brief
“Serves You Right!” She Actually Has No Idea How Right.
Create A Safe Environment For Self-Improvement
Why I Use One Single Channel For Crucial Communication
The Even Cheaper AT-2020 USB Plus Microphone?
Fred Willard (and Billy West) On Quickly Creating Authentic VO Characters
Leo Makes Your Searching Spectacular
On Asking For Things Performers Can’t Do
How To Battle The Urge of “Efficiency”
One More Best-Of-Breed Way To Brilliantly Complain
Changing Audacity’s Sampling Rate To 48,000 Hz
10 Words Of Encouragement When You’re Stuck
One More Best-Of-Breed Way To Brilliantly Complain
Why You Must Wear Headphones When Recording
Two Cases Where You Might Not Want To Simply “Follow Your Passion”
Having Fun With Headphone Volume
Please Stop Rushing To Perform
Something To Consider: Everyone’s Internal Menu
One Crazy Key To Creativity: Pure, Unadulterated Boredom
For The Sheer Joy Of It
The Most Commonly Consumed Media Is…!
What’s Dangerous For Us To Care About
Please, Clever Copywriters…Stop Using This Term
Wait, Wait…What? They Actually Listened?!
Why You Should Take The Same Classes Twice
How Your Character’s Menu Informs Your Performance Choices
What Shouldn’t Be Your Metric For VO Success
Someone Awesome Who’s Also Rising To A 365-Day Challenge
Union Or Not, Start With Union Rates
O. M. G. Look What Matt Zurbo Did!
So Where Will That Huge Facebook Fine End Up?
The Root Words of “Typecast”
Avoid That One Obvious “That Worked” Sound We Make
Why Union Members Can Audition For Non-Union Work
200 Auditions. 1 Booking. A Ghost. Really?
I Can’t Do One Thing I’m Asked To Do Every Single Day
One Of Your Secret Weapons: Agility
Do Networking Events Make You Anxious? Let’s Fix That.
The Difference Between Mansplaining and Advice?
Project X Is Just About Ready. I’m A Bit Giddy.

hey there it’s David H Lawrence the 17th
and this being our 200th episode I
wanted to share something with you that
I think is really important it’s
something that I didn’t really learn
until my mid-50s it’s maybe five to five
six years ago and I learned it during a
session with a coach and
[Music]
I was I was just stunned by it and I
want to share it with you in case it
might be helpful to you I don’t know if
you’ve seen the news this past week I
dig kicker stories I think kicker
stories are great human interest stories
crazy stories and I know that the
reaction when you hear this story could
immediately be you know I really believe
that parents need to be licensed I mean
that was the people around me said that
when I told them the story and instead
of thinking that it made me think yeah
that wasn’t a great thing to have
happened very very dangerous but it
reminded me of this this thing that I
wanted to talk to you about today so
this woman by the name of Janice Jaeger
was pulled over by cops in Dixon
Illinois and she was pulled over she’s
driving an Audi q5 and she was pulled
over because she had a swimming pool and
inflatable kids swimming pool on the
roof of the car and that was bad enough
it wasn’t tied down it was just being
held there and not by somebody from
inside the car holding her two kids were
on top of the car holding the the
swimming pool down somehow and her
reaction according to the several
different news reports that I I heard
and saw was something along the lines of
what I had to have them up there
otherwise the swimming pool would fly
off and you know again really is that
possible and this harkens back to that
thing that I want to share with you
today I’ve made no bones about the fact
that I didn’t get along with my
stepfather I was sort of extra baggage
that came along when he met my mom and
we never really had the kind of
relationship that one would consider to
be loving he made it very difficult for
me to go to college I mean there was a
whole bunch of things that happen in
terms of mental and and sometimes
physical abuse not nearly as bad as some
people have suffered so
it’s not like I’m crying victim but it
just was I hated him most of my
childhood adolescence teenage years
young adult years just really really
hated him and this came up in a session
again about five or six years ago with a
coach and he led me through a process
that I think is really really valuable
and he let me in on some things that
make all the sense in the world when it
comes to people who do bad things who do
abusive things who do good things who do
anything and here’s the deal everybody
has a menu of choices everybody has a
menu of choices you have a menu of
choices I have a menu of choices career
criminals have a menu of choices priests
parishioners scientists chemists moms
dads kids everybody has their own
personal menu of options things that
they can choose from when any situation
presents itself and requires some sort
of action or reaction and that menu is
gonna vary based on your knowledge and
based on your experience and based on
your attentiveness to detail and your
level of engagement and the amount that
you care and the amount that you’ve
educated yourself or been educated and
this is the thing about the menus that
we all have when we choose an action
when we choose a reaction to a situation
we always without fail choose the best
item on the menu the number one top of
the menu menu item and for some people
that menu item is a great reaction it’s
a great response it’s a smart response
it’s a thoughtful and caring response
for some people the choices on their
menu are so limited that that number one
choice can be horrific
can be terrifying can be disgusting can
be just the worst but that’s the best
they have lack of knowledge lack of
experience lack of caring lack of
empathy bad examples examples that were
given to them that made them think oh
this is the right thing to do
that number one menu item is always the
menu item that people choose and you ask
yourself well what about like you know
serial killers yeah their menu number
one item kill dismember eat whatever
it’s crazy
but it’s true and when you think about
the choices that you make in life can
you think of a time when you’ve ever
said to yourself what’s the third best
choice I can make
let’s go with that one and it’s not even
something that you say out loud or say
you know in that voice that you hear in
your brain you don’t say okay what’s the
best choice I can make here you think to
yourself what should I do
how should I do it and always implicit
in that is what’s the best choice and so
what do you do about that
well you’ve seen people who’ve changed
their ways you’ve seen people who have
gone into prison and come out better
people or gone into rehab and kind of
come out better people or gone to school
after not having had school one of the
disadvantages that my stepfather had was
that he never finished
I think the eighth grade he had like a
seven and a half grade you know
education so he didn’t have a lot of
options and I’m not making an excuse for
him because there are plenty of people
who have that level of education that go
on to do great things they they
recognize that they need help they
recognize that they need better options
they need a better menu and they go on
sometimes they get it from jail from
prison from getting the crap beat out of
them from being taken advantage of you
know
fool me once shame on you fool me twice
shame on me that kind of thing but when
they get better items to choose
they also instantly have to use them
they become the best item on the list if
they don’t get those better items they
keep making those bad choices now I
don’t know what this woman’s background
was her education was clearly she was
driving an Audi so and it was a pretty
expensive SUV so something’s going on
there I’m not quite sure how this led
her to this IIIi don’t know I don’t know
but it’s made me sensitive to moments
when it would be very easy to jump and
say oh jeez what a jerk what a crazy
poor and I still do it I do but I also
think about the fact that everybody’s
working with their own personal menu and
that everybody immediately chooses the
best choice they have on their arguably
sometimes very limited menu what’s your
menu like what do you do when you
encounter a new choice what do you do
when you encounter something that didn’t
work out so well for you and you know
you have to fix things what happened
what happens I mean you know this to me
earlier this year where I was making
really bad choices the number one choice
in my menu was eat sugar and then I got
the word that there was a better choice
to make and if I didn’t make that choice
the number one item on my menu was going
to be trying to find my guide stick
because I’d be blind so let me know in
the comments below how does this feel
how does this fit with you what do you
think is going on when you are presented
with something that didn’t quite work
out as best as you’d planned or when
somebody says to you what’s wrong with
you why did you do that why did you
think that well now you know it was the
best choice you had at the time even if
it was a horrible rotten disgusting
choice it was the best choice you had
are you willing to come up with better
choices in your professional life and
your personal life things like that it
just made me think about this and I kind
of wanted to give this I don’t know
there’s an artificial
you know reverence to the number 200 out
of 366 or 365 I’m not sure what year
this is I think I think it’s a regular
year so 365 but I want to know what you
think leave me a comment do so at vo to
go go comm we keep the conversation nice
and sane they’re very polite everybody’s
been very polite I appreciate that I’d
love for you to join my list if you’re
watching this on VOD bug or calm look
below this video and you’ll see a
subscribe form where you can jump on my
list and be notified when these videos
come out when I have new things that I
want to share with you that’ll help your
performance life be spectacular if you
want to see the latest video I’ve done
go ahead and click on that frame there
and YouTube will play it for you because
that’s what they do I’m David a Florence
the 17th I thank you so much for
watching and I will talk to you tomorrow.