Without delusions of grandeur I would not have …
… Started a book, let alone finish it
… Jumped head first to become a professional voice over talent
… Or created Chapter & Voice, a cutting edge new business for writers

Nope, delusions of grandeur can be our best friend. Our delusions of greatness help motivate us to chase after our best life with abandon, even if it appears too ambitious to other people. Who cares if they can’t imagine our dreams of “what if” coming true? We can.

Someone asked me recently, “What would you do if you knew that you couldn’t fail?”

My answer, “Exactly what I’m doing right now.” It’s true and my delusions of grandeur helped get me here.

For delusions of grandeur to morph into reality takes long hours and hard work every day. Dreaming isn’t enough to make our delusions materialize – it requires diligent practice, unwavering focus, and skin so thick it resembles elephant hide.

Having delusions of a five-book deal with Random House keeps me taking classes, going to conferences, and plugging away on writing projects.

My earnest wish of finally becoming a narrator for the Discovery Channel or NatGeo keeps me auditioning and practicing my “conversational, natural” reading style.

Knowing an AudioTeaser (much like this one) will help writers market their books, fuels my dreams that Chapter & Voice will become the essential promotion tool that I know it can be.

Delusions of grandeur give us the strength to keep going.

LISTEN to the Audio Teaser of Embrace Your Delusions

When we want to give up and call it a career, delusions show us what is possible, if we just try once more. Our delusions of success help us shrug off the ten rejections we received via email to submit another day. Delusions tell us to get out of bed, fix our hair and slap on some lip-gloss, and go take the next risk that will breathe life into our dreams.

Believe in your delusions of grandeur and use them as a road map to where to want to go. Celebrate your visions of what will be “when you finally _____________.” Throw a party in anticipation of your impending success. Then, work your ass off to get there.

Our delusions of grandeur are only delusions if we don’t try.

No one wants to be shouted at during a commercial. There is a time and place for the hard sell — but most clients would rather have a happy, personable voice explaining their products as opposed to an aggressive one telling them what to do.

** Fun and Happy**

When hiring a voice talent, it’s important to consider who your audience is and then, what you want those people to do once they’ve heard your ad.  Do you want them to go to your website? Hit the showroom? Put it on their grocery list?  Once you know that…then hire your voice talent to match your call to action.

Here’s my advice: Friendly works better than “shouty.”  Conversational works better than stiff.  A smile sells more than a pointy finger.

**Natural and Confident**

Hire a professional voice talent when you want to talk to your potential audience because, chances are, you’ll get even more than you expected.

Contact me for more info: vo [dot] jojojense [at] gmail [dot] com

ABANDON SHIP… (character)

I FEEL SMARTER ALREADY (eLearning)

Mmmmm…BAKED GOODS (commercial)

FM or AM? (radio Imaging)

Need a customized demo? Just ask! Have Voice…will send it anywhere.

A little Mantra is good for the soul — and the hair!

As a sales flunkie, I sold T-shirts, greeting cards, candles and wired ribbon from Japan at the wholesales. I moved up the ladder to selling uniforms to public safety and fire departments.  After more then fifteen years as Sales Girl, I quit and became a voice talent and writer.  I thought I’d never have to be Sales Girl again.

HA!

I spend more time being Sales Girl now than I ever have before! Sure, it’s selling me and I’m the product, but still.

If you want to be successful with a hyphenated-life, it’s important to learn how to channel your inner Sales Person.

Here’s some tips:

• Write Down ALL your potential Markets
• Narrow the list down to your top 10
• Prioritize them 1-10
• Work your first potential market all the way through before you move on to the next one
• Write Notes on all your contacts
• Follow up
• Start again

Channeling your Inner Sales person requires perseverance and a thick skin.  Take a breath and go, go, go