pleasure of giving, joy of receiving

How can I prevent my social media from resembling the monologues of an egomaniac who only talks about himself, saying 'me me me'? Thank you for asking me this question. Some answers below.

I was talking the other day with a voice actor colleague who couldn't understand why, on my Facebook and Linkedin accounts (where you can repost content easily, unlike Instagram and TikTok), I would publish posts sharing the work of my fellow voiceover talent or relevant content, related to our sector. He didn't understand my interest in doing this - he thought it diluted my feeds with content not directly related to me.

Nor did he understand why I spent time sharing what I'd learned during my career in my articles, even if he found them interesting to read. The oxymoron escaped him.

My answer, or rather my answers? Because I can. Because it's good for the colleagues in my network, by exposing them to mine. Because sharing best practice or interesting things about our profession can help to improve it.

We often read great things about benevolence. When I started out as a voice over actor 30 years ago, I was lucky enough to get help from people in the trade, including a sound engineer who helped me produce my first demo. I promised myself that I would pay it forward when I was in a position to do so one day. Benevolence, generosity, altruism... Words are beautiful, but without action they're hollow. Actions speak louder than words.

Additional answer: because for my business, it's common sense. Even after almost 30 years in the business, even with agents representing me all over the world, even with a sizeable network, even with an extensive, verifiable portfolio that can be consulted on my website and my Youtube channel, my social media accounts are important for ensuring my presence in the sector and sharing interesting things (my colleagues' work, relevant news...), which feed my news feeds with richer content than just what I've done. It's all part of the online marketing techniques I talk about in my article on voice over marketing.

Most of us are not egocentric, but the mistake is quickly made: we think about our business, our promotion, our marketing, and we stop there. But in a profession where people are expected not to notice us, but to listen to what we say, drawing attention to yourself in a 'me me me' way by appearing to want to take without giving in to a one-way conversation can quickly be misinterpreted.

My advice: keep posting your jobs on your social networking accounts because, after all, it's essential to get the word out about our work. But also - and just as importantly - share insightful content that might help, educate or inspire the people in your network. And, even more importantly, share the work of your colleagues that impresses you, touches you, moves you, makes you laugh or smile - it doesn't take anything away from you, it can help your colleagues, it's a generous act... and it's good karma: you'll soon realise that your colleagues will be more inclined to share your work, and your customers will appreciate your altruism - generosity can be heard in our interpretations.

In a purely selfish way (but you've got to eat!) it will feed your social networks, make them more interesting, and it's good for your bottom line. SEO. Sharing relevant content should be an integral part of any business's marketing - I develop the subject in this article on voice actors and social media, that I obviously recommend for you to read!

Tip 1: if you try to share two interesting things for each post about yourself, you won't necessarily succeed, but it's a good goal!

Tip 2: If possible, make it a daily routine. You may have noticed that the community managers in charge of the social networks of large companies post regularly - that's because it works!

Tip 3: Be careful, you're not influencers, you're voice-overs. Don't get the wrong audience when you post!

A feed filled with information not only about you, but also containing subjects that could be of interest to colleagues in your network, is not diluted, it's enriched. Social networking isn't a speech, it's a conversation. Make sure your feed doesn't remain a monologue.

You can start right now by sharing this article on your social networks, for example. Your colleagues will be grateful for your generosity, and so will I!

I hope you found this article interesting. I invite you to leave a comment, share your experience here and leave any suggestions or questions you may have. Don't hold back, I'll do my best to answer them!

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