Rhonda Williams - You Don't Know What I Can Do

 

As part of my day job, I make riveting, action packed, sexy, institutional films. [audience laughter] I'm talking those films that your company forces you to watch about compliance, security and fraud. [audience laughter] So, on my last project, they asked me to do the voiceover for the movie. I'm known for delivering. I'm known for coming in under budget. And if I did that voiceover, I was going to save a big chunk of change, because I wasn't going to pay for voiceover talent. I didn't really care if I did the voiceover one way or the other, but I'm known for delivering. So, I said, “Okay. Sure.” 

 

Now, they picked two of the four voiceover talents, but they said, “Who we really want is you.” So, I said, “I'll talk to the director, I'll let you know.” [audience laughter] So, I email the director and I say to him they love the film. They have a couple of graphical edits that they want to make, and then they pick these two of the voiceover talents, but their top pick for the voiceover is me. I got an email back almost instantly, and he said, “Glad they liked the film. The edits shouldn't take that long. Just send over the artwork. About the voiceover, in my professional opinion, this project requires a professional voiceover talent. Somebody who's going to bring the spirit and energy to this project. But ultimately, it's your project, so we can talk about it.” 

 

I thought to myself, oh, he probably thinks I'm trying to fulfill some bucket list thing. He just doesn't know. I don't really care one way or the other. I just got to deliver and I'm bringing this project in under budget. [audience laughter] I'll just call him. So, I call Mike and I say, “Hey. Yeah, about the voiceover. I mean, the project team just wants me to do it. I just want to deliver. Either way, it doesn't matter to me, I'm going to go with your recommendation one way or the other.” This is a five-minute conversation. And in that five-minute conversation, he tells me three times that I'm not a professional voiceover talent. Three times in five minutes. 

 

First time he said it to me, I knew he was just telling me his professional opinion. Second time, little annoyed. [audience laughter] Third time, I thought, what the flagstone? You know what? I don't even care about making this thing, but now hear you say, I can't do it? Oh, I can do it. And you know what? I'm going to do it. [audience laughter] And you know what else? When I do it, I'm going to make you drink a big cup of shut up. That's what's going to happen. [audience laughter] But what I say on the phone is, [audience laughter] “Mike, the project team wants me. So, let me know when you book the studio and then I'll be there.” [audience laughter] 

 

So, the day comes to do the voiceover, and I arrive at the studio. What you need to know is everything that's happened has been through email. Nothing has been face to face. So, this is our first face to face. So, I come to the studio and he says, “Hey, I know that voice. Glad to meet you.” I say, “It's good to be here.” [audience laughter] I remind him about that five-minute conversation, where he told me three times that I wasn't a professional voiceover talent. I said, “You know, you told me three times I wasn't a professional voiceover talent. The first time, I knew what you were trying to say. Second time, I was a little annoyed. Third time, I thought to myself, ‘You know, he's right. So, yeah.’” 

 

I have a friend that does voiceover. So, I worked with her and she helped me work out my script, and she told me a couple of tips that I can do. And then you know what else you told me during that conversation? You said, “Oh, I don't know, maybe you have some hidden talent.” “Well, I do.” [audience laughter] “You know what, Mike? I sing. And to sing, you need to do breathing exercises. So, I work with my voice coach and I did a couple of breathing exercises. So, I'm ready to do this. If you want to do it right now, let’s just go in the booth.” He says, “I didn't mean to offend you. I mean, you have a nice voice. So, why don't we just do a read through?” I go, “Yes, let's do the read through.” [audience laughter] 

 

So, we do the read through. And that's just basically I'm just reading the script and he's coaching me. “Hey, can you say this, a little more force? Hey, can you say this a little softer?” And then, we walk over to go do the booth. As we're walking over to go into the booth, he casually says to me, “Yes, you know professional would like knock this out in 15 minutes.” Again, with the professional. [audience laughter] 

 

Here's the thing. When I worked with the professional, she let me know that projects like this for the size of text that I was going to have to read, those usually come in under 60 minutes. And after 60 minutes, people start getting nervous. So, there you go. 15 minutes, 60 minutes. She told me I was more than competent to be able to do this in 60 minutes. So, we go into the booth. And the engineer is trying to work through some things, get things ready, he's testing, “Hey, Rhonda, can you say a couple things?” So, I make sure my instruments are working. He goes, “You know what? I'm not getting everything. Can you just keep talking?” I said, “Sure, I can just keep making some sounds.” So, I sing. 

 

And the director looks and he's like, “Hey, you're pretty good.” And I was like, “Oh, thanks.” [audience laughter] So, then they say, “Okay, we're ready.” And so, I read that text, and I do it in under 30 minutes. And then, my friend had also told me that I was in a unique position, that I was not only the client, but I was the talent. So, when I came out, that I had the opportunity to tell him what I liked and what I didn't like. And so, I came out and I told him exactly what I liked, what I didn't like and it was in the can. 

 

Here's the thing. When I look back on that experience, that's one of those things that in corporate America, we would call a learning opportunity. [audience laughter] So, here's what Mike learned. [audience laughter] You don't know on first pitch if somebody's capable. And what I learned is that champions embrace the challenge. Champions don't skip the steps. They do the work. And champions, they don't back down. They stand their ground. And so, the next time somebody comes at me with, “You're not a professional,” I'll be ready to serve them a big cup of shut up. [audience laughter]