Actor Checklist: 10 Things to do During a Slow Work Period

An unfortunate element of the voiceover industry is the unpredictable nature of how much you'll be working at any given time. You can have a week booked solid where you're going in for recording sessions every day and then doing auditions and work from home at night. And then suddenly...two weeks of virtually nothing. You're not receiving many auditions, bookings have dried up, and you're left wondering if you're doing something wrong because your friends are still booking. Sometimes this dry period lasts for months, and it's easy to start feeling nervous about finances (if VO is your primary source of income) or at the lowest point, even feeling like a failure.

If you're usually pretty busy, chances are a slow period isn't your fault. Even very established pros go through times where they wonder where their next job is going to come from. But the silver lining is that you can use that sudden free time to do something productive for yourself and your career, rather than sitting around wallowing (as tempting as that can be). And the best part is, most of these things won't cost you a cent.

1. Reach out to a business contact you haven't heard from in the past six months to a year. Give them a quick update on what you've been doing and let them know that you'd love to work with them again in the near future.
   
   
2. Sign up for a class or VO workout. If you don't have the money to do so due to the slow work period, set aside even a few dollars toward one you'd like to take in the future. Alternatively, a free solution would be to get a group of actor friends together for a workout where you read scripts and give each other critiques.
   
   
3. Follow and/or interact with five new people related to your field on Twitter or Instagram.
   
   
4. Send a "cold call" e-mail to 2-3 potential new clients or production companies you haven't contacted before. This can be a little scary, but a brief email introducing yourself and your credentials and explaining why you'd like to work with them can go a long way. Send it off and forget about it. Most of the times, if they don't have a need for you at the moment, they simply won't respond---but if they do respond, it's a pleasant surprise!
   
   
5. Invite another actor out to coffee. This can be someone new, or just someone you haven't seen in a while.
   
   
6. Put out a new sample of your work online---whether on YouTube, social media, a voice acting forum such as this one, or your own website. You'd be surprised how many people scout from posted samples and demo reels.
   
   
7. Do something completely unrelated to acting---take a class at your gym, go to a concert, take a day trip, learn a new skill or hobby, go catch Pokemon at the beach...you name it. Sometimes it's good to get your mind off acting altogether and de-stress. Hang out with some of your friends who aren't in the entertainment industry to keep yourself grounded and---as silly as it may sound---remember that there's more to life than whether or not you booked that gig.
   
   
8. Check out the demo reels/clips section of this board (or a similar site) and give another actor a compliment or critique. If you don't want to sign up for forums, surprise an actor you know on Facebook or Twitter with a random compliment on their work. ("Hey, I heard you in this and just wanted to let you know I think you sound great!")
   
   
9. Set two career-related goals for yourself: One short-term one, that you could realistically accomplish within the coming year (example: "book a commercial spot", "set up a decent recording space"), and one long-term one (examples: "do VO for my full-time income", "get a full home studio set up") that you hope to accomplish within the next five years. Outline a few concrete steps you can take towards making those goals happen. Want that studio? Look into the cost of materials and equipment and figure out how much money you'll need to set aside from each paycheck to have it in the next five years. Want commercial clients? Try submitting yourself to agencies. And so on.
   
   
10. Make a list of five career-related accomplishments you've completed in the past year, no matter how big or small. It's easy to doubt yourself during downtime and underplay how much you really have accomplished, so it's always good to take stock once in a while and remind yourself that you're actually pretty OK.
    

What's your favorite thing to do when work is slow? Let us know in the comments!

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