In the evolving world of voice acting, talent may open the door, but expansion will determine how far you walk through it. Expansion as an actor isn’t just about landing bigger roles or mastering accents; it’s also about stretching yourself to deepen your emotional range, becoming more authentic in imaginary circumstances, and being more resilient. Expansion is about chasing growth instead of perfection. In this blog, we’ll talk about a fixed versus a growth mindset and go through ways of how to combat your mindset and start expanding your acting range.
A book I really enjoyed reading and have taken concepts from through my voice-over journey was Mindset by Carol Dweck. It goes through the perspective of:
- A fixed mindset assumes abilities are static: “I’m either talented or I’m not.”
- A growth mindset believes abilities can be developed through effort, feedback, and persistence.
In acting, a fixed mindset shows up in subtle but limiting ways. Some examples include avoiding auditions for fear of rejection, feeling threatened by other actors’ success, or interpreting criticism as personal failure. It suppresses expansion. It can make you believe that things like emotional depth, authentic characters, range, or accents are something you either have or don’t.
By contrast, a growth mindset reframes those examples. Auditions become practice arenas. Feedback becomes a roadmap. Emotional access and authenticity become trainable. An actor starts expanding when they shift from trying to prove they’re talented to trying to develop their craft. Below are some ways a voice actor can harness the power of a growth mindset to grow and expand.
1. Embracing Discomfort
If you’ve never done something before, whether it be voice-acting in general, working on a new character, developing a new speaking style, having more energy, being more conversational, etc., know that it should feel like a push! It’s not something you’ve done before, so it’s not going to be easy to pick it up right away. It can feel awkward or uncomfortable.
- If you have a fixed mindset, you can feel like you don’t know what you’re doing, so you assume you’re just bad at it.
- If you have a growth mindset, you know that discomfort means you’re growing and that it will start to feel more natural with repetition and practice.
2. Shift Your Inner Dialogue
Notice when you start having fixed thoughts:
- “I’m not good with comedy.”
- “Casting directors don’t like me.”
Replace with growth thoughts:
- “I’m developing my comedic timing.”
- “Each audition builds relationships.”
3. Fall In Love with Repetition
Treat exercises and practice in new areas like athletic drills. Mastery comes from volume and repetition. A football player doesn’t get into the NFL overnight. They train, see where they need improvement, and work on exercises in those areas. It’s the same with voice acting. If you’re developing a new character or way of speaking, practice. Embody the character or practice speaking in a new way every time you’re in your car, driving somewhere.
4. Track Growth, Not Outcomes
Instead of measuring success by bookings, track things like:
- Emotional flexibility
- Listening depth and self-coaching
- How quickly you can get into character
- Natural ease
5. Normalize Plateaus
Both mindset and expansion come in waves. Don’t sit in frustration for too long. If you’re feeling too stuck in one area, give it a break and come back to it. Feeling “stuck” often precedes breakthroughs.
When actors commit to a growth mindset, rejection starts to lose its sting. The fear and discomfort around expansion starts to replace itself with curiosity and growth. With each time you practice, take a risk, or reframe what you would’ve considered a failure, you start to stretch and become more present in your craft.
P.S. If you haven’t yet taken our introductory voice-over class, where we go over everything one needs to know about getting started in the voice-over industry, sign up here!
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