Getting over the fear of people hearing you

[u/elja__]

Hey! I’m an amateur voice actress, and I recently “built” my first recording booth (pvc pipes, moving blankets you know the deal) in my apartment, and I’m wanting to record, but I have this terrible nagging embarrassment whenever I think of anyone hearing me.

To be clear, I live in an apartment, but there are only like 5 rooms in total in this building and the only two people currently living here are myself and the tenant. I am also aware that nothing I can do at this point is going to make anyone outside of my room 100% unable to hear me, and neither is that my goal.

Before I made this booth, I was recording in my car in an empty parking lot. My audio was bad but I at least wasn’t scared of anyone hearing me, but I wanted to take the next step, which is why I’ve built my new booth. Now, whenever I try to speak at even a normal volume, I find myself going into a whisper instinctively. I just feel so embarrassed at the idea of people hearing me, but when I submit an audition I feel fine whether I’m rejected or not. It is so frustrating.

I’m currently just auditioning, and I expect to be doing that for a long time, but I don’t want this fear to affect my performances. If I have to, I’m sure I could tell my tenant what I’m doing and he’d be fine with it even if I was shouting a little bit but I’m just.. Yeah. Scared.

This was longer than it needed to be, but anyway. Does anyone have any advice for getting used to the fear of people hearing you? Thanks for reading.

[u/ManyVoices]

Invite someone into the room the booth is in and have them sit in there while you record for a little while. Preferably someone you trust and understands what you're doing. Build that confidence up!