Men in VO: Its Time We Hold Each Other ACCOUNTABLE

Are you going to break the silence and lead real change in the voiceover industry?

In this frank video, I get into the uncomfortable truths facing men in VO.

Discover why silence is the biggest threat to your voiceover business, why accountability matters, and how you can take actionable steps to build a safer, more successful community.

If you’re a part-time voice actor dreaming of going full-time, or a full timer looking to level up, your reputation and opportunities depend on what you do next.

Learn how to speak up, support victims, and lead by example because your legacy is on the line.

#voiceover #voiceoverbusiness #accountability #vocommunity #voiceacting #leadership #vopro #voiceovercoaching #industrychange

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About (Paul) Schmidt:
Paul Schmidt is a successful voice actor, community builder, and voiceover business coach. 

He's also the creator of the VO Freedom Master Plan, a voiceover marketing program designed to generate consistent opportunities for voice actors to book work, and the VO Pro Community, a private, professional, global community created to meet the needs of voice actors and audiobook narrators who want to take their careers to the next level. 

Paul has been a voice actor for over 25 years and full-time for the last several. He lives in beautiful

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Transcript

0:32

The biggest threat to voiceover isn't AI. It isn't low-ball clients. It isn't even a saturated market. It's the silence of good men. Yeah. The real danger to our industry, to our reputations, and to our futures isn't a handful of men behaving badly. It's the rest of us, the men who look away or rationalize or stay quiet or say, it's not my problem. If you're a voice actor, especially if you're a man, you need to hear this. Your business, your brand, and your community depend on what you do next. Now, I remember the first time I heard a whisper of inappropriate behavior in the voiceover industry. I asked a female colleague if she was going to attend a particular event. And she told me that one of the leaders of that event had made a couple of inappropriate comments to her and that she wouldn't be attending because she didn't feel comfortable around this person. Now, at that time, I don't know what I thought, but I can tell you it was probably closer to, well, maybe this is a one-off or a misunderstanding than it was to this is a problem. This needs to be addressed. And I wonder if this is happening to other women. But then the stories started to multiply and suddenly this wasn't a one-off. This wasn't a misunderstanding. This was not something that was out there. It was something that was happening in here, in our community, by somebody I know. And while, yeah, I was heartbroken to lose the relationship, but I had to cut ties. The cost of doing nothing, I came to realize, was just too high. Now want to be clear. about one thing here. If you're a victim of sexual assault, harassment, inappropriate comments, whatever it might be, coming forward is absolutely terrifying. And I get that. Victims, women especially, risk being disbelieved or ostracized, maybe even blacklisted, who knows? And this industry is built on relationships and reputations. So the stakes are sky high. There's number one, fear of retaliation. Will I lose work? Will people think I'm difficult to work with? There's shame and self-doubt. Will people think that I somehow brought this on myself? Did I do something to invite this? Am I overreacting? There's isolation. If I'm the only one speaking up, well then maybe I'm the only one this has happened to. And those aren't abstract fears. They are lived experiences for too many women in this industry. But what about the rest of us? Why do so many men, so many good men, myself included, stay silent when we see or hear something that's inappropriate. Number one, fear of fallout, fear of repercussion, right? If I call another dude out, will he be vengeful? Will he or maybe his circle of people make me out to be the bad guy? Secondly, loyalty to friends. Hey look, this dude's always been cool to me. Maybe this is a misunderstanding. That was the mistake I myself made. And third, think a lot of us think about uncertainty. We weren't there when this happens. What if I get it wrong? What if it isn't that serious? What if it really was a misunderstanding? And yeah, those excuses are human. I get it. Hell, I lived it. But they're not good enough. I wasn't good enough. So maybe you're sitting there thinking, Paul, I agree this is important, but what does it have to do with my voiceover business? The answer is everything. In a world where clients and colleagues and referrals and everybody else can choose who to work with from thousands of voices, your reputation is your currency. And if you're known as someone who tolerates bad behavior, you'll lose trust, credibility, and yeah, work. That's not my opinion. We're seeing this play out in real time. Look, most part-timers want to one day go full-time and the full-timers are constantly trying to level up their business and their revenue and income. But those steps are only possible with a strong network and a strong community. So if we let toxicity fester in the voiceover business, we all lose. Look, clients, agents, colleagues, no matter who it is. They all want to work with people who lead by example. So being a man who stands up for what's right isn't just good ethics, it's good business. So let's call it what it is. When we ourselves ignore or silence or sweep under the rug inappropriate behavior, we, myself included, are part of the problem. Every time we let a sexist joke slide, every time we look the other way, we send a message that this is okay here. Well, This is not okay here or anywhere. So if you just landed on a planet, you're probably thinking, well, how in the hell did we get here? And I think there are two main reasons. First of all, this sort of uh boys club mentality for decades, the entertainment industry, and it's certainly not the only one, but it's operated under this sort of unspoken code. Keep it in the family. Don't rock the boat. Protect your own. And especially in voiceover where so much happens out of public view, in home studios, private coaching, even if it's online, online chats and so on. It's pretty easy for bad actors to hide. And the second reason is this sort of myth of the good guy. And I say myth because I think men, generally see ourselves as allies. We think to ourselves, well, of course I would never do anything like that. But that's... That's the bare minimum. That's just table stakes, guys. That's not good enough. We all have to be more active allies. And that means we need to speak up even when it's uncomfortable. So what does accountability look like? What does that actually mean when we say we're going to hold each other accountable? And it's got to be more than just calling out the worst offenders because quite frankly, by that time, it's already too late. It's about changing the culture, one conversation at a time. First, speak up in the moment. If you see inappropriate behavior, whether it's a crude joke, it might be an unwanted advance or an inappropriate touch, or it might be an inappropriate comment, maybe it's something dismissive, say something. You don't have to get in somebody's face. You don't have to be confrontational. Sometimes it's as simple as, hey, dude, that's not appropriate. That can be enough to send a message. Secondly, I think we have to support victims both publicly and privately. When somebody confides in you. like my friend and colleague did in me. Believe them. Offer your support. Ask how you can help. Stand up for them publicly and privately when appropriate. Third, education for yourself and for other people. Don't wait for a scandal to educate yourself about boundaries and what's appropriate and consent and respectful behavior. Take an active role in educating yourself. Next, set clear boundaries in your own business. If you are any kind of a leader and you run a studio or have a podcast or you moderate a community, make sure people know what you stand for. Zero tolerance for harassment of any kind. Full stop. And finally, if you have one, use your platform. Doesn't matter whether you have 10 or 100 followers or 10,000 followers. Your voice matters. Make it known that you stand for accountability. So why is it that men hesitate, right? Just like I did. Well, number one, there's fear of backlash, right? We don't want to be that guy. And let's be honest, right? Calling out, especially if it's someone you know, somebody that's a colleague or a friend, that carries risk. You might lose relationships. You might be labeled as difficult. But the alternative And that is, letting this shit perpetuate is far worse. Next, I think a lot of us, we're hesitant to make a scene. We question ourselves, are we overreacting? Are we just gonna make things awkward needlessly? But the silence itself is what allows this bad behavior to continue. And if we have to get a little bit uncomfortable, I think that's a small price to pay for the safety of our entire community. And finally, I think most of us don't know what the hell to say, and that's... I mean that is what it is, it's okay, we may not know what to say. But what matters is that you give it a shot, give it a try, say, hey man, that's not cool, or let's keep it professional, or whatever is your natural language. There are simple, effective, non-confrontational ways to step in and intervene. Look, at the end of your career, What do you want to be remembered for? Do you remember want to be remembered for the best demos or the fact that you booked the biggest clients? Or do you want to be remembered for the difference that you made to real actual individual people? The men who lead the next generation of voice actors, they're not just going to be the ones with the biggest paychecks and the biggest clients and the best demos. They're going to be the ones who made the industry safer and fairer and more accessible for everybody. So how can you actually make a difference starting today, starting now. Number one, reflect. Ask yourself, have I ever looked the other way? What stopped me from speaking up? How can I do better? Secondly, make a commitment to hold yourself and other men accountable. Now, whether you tell a friend, whether you write it down, whether you post it online, it's not as important how you do it, but make that commitment real. Next, connect. Find a voiceover community that hold you accountable, find a coach or a mentor who will challenge you to grow in this arena. And lastly, and probably most importantly, act. The next time you see something or hear something, say something. Support the victims, share resources, lead by example. I honestly believe that VO is at a crossroads. We can either choose the easy path, the silence, the willful ignorance, the business as usual approach, or... we can take the harder road of accountability. Your success, my success, all of our success depends on a thriving, healthy, safe VO community. The gigs, the clients, the money, the lifestyle, the time freedom, it all flows from a place of trust and respect. It's time for men in voiceover to step up and hold ourselves and each other accountable. To build an industry that we all can thrive in. Are you ready to be part of the solution? I welcome your comments. Please let's have a dialogue about this. Let's keep it civil and respectful and exchange opinions. The more we do that, the more we shine light on this kind of stuff and talk about it, the better, stronger industry we will have for everybody. If this video brought you value, if you learned something from it, if it opened your eyes, maybe expanded your perspective a little bit, please share it with another voice actor, especially a man. Thanks so much for your support. We'll see you back here real soon.