Nominations and Awards – Do they really matter?

My son was in his school soccer team and their team competed in an inter-school tournament. The previous year they had brought home the trophy and each of them was given a medal. It was a sweet victory and the whole school applauded them during their assembly as they received their medals. My son felt elated. It was such a thrill. The following year, however, they decided they wanted it to be a ‘friendly’ series and decided to move away from competition mode. I guess the organizer could save on medal and trophy costs. The boys were really disappointed to say the least. Ok! So now that I had my chance to rant as the typical “soccer mom” on how that medal-less year was a major de-motivator for the whole soccer team, I can move on to the point of why awards, medals, plaques and trophies really matter.

As an artist or a company, applying to prestigious awards that have built up a brand and credibility of their own through the years, have been holding the award ceremonies for more than a decade preferably or at least a couple of years and have come to be recognized by industry veterans as “legit”, is definitely worth it!

Here are the top 5 reasons why….

#1 It inspires you, your team strive for excellence – It’s a great motivator and incentive to put in their best for each and every project or job where that driving ambition will lead to career progression and self-development.

#2 It validates you, your team and their most creative work. Creative work is so subjective and it’s often difficult to be the judge of your own work. It is a 3^rd party endorsement with a fresh objective perspective and one that is received from the best of the best in that particular field since the judges will always be selected based on their own stellar work and achievements.

#3 It allows you or your team to take time out from that endless treadmill and reflect on your best performing work in terms of market results where customers or viewers have appreciated the work and the numbers and stats speak for themselves. These ground results should be good criteria to enter a piece of work when thinking about which work to submit for an award.

#4 It builds visibility and puts your best work in front of people that matter within your industry. Judges, Organisers, Viewers, Fellow Artists and the whole network of eyeballs who will eventually see your work and register your name or your brand. It is bound to make a favourable impression.

#5 It’s a fabulous marketing tool – An award-winning artist or company builds credibility. It’s a brand statement that puts you in a league of your own and gives customers, clients or viewers the feeling that they are in the best of hands. It’s a reassurance that they will get their money’s worth for sure.

Putting your name forward for an award takes courage and conviction on your part. No matter whether you win or lose, you’re placing your bets on YOU! That means you already believe in yourself, you consider your work to be praiseworthy and award-winning material and regardless of the outcome you’re a winner in your mind. That’s HUGE!

The Prestigious Voice Arts Awards 2020. Click on the pic above to watch the award night nominee and winner announcement at the award ceremony.

The past year 2020 was the year of COVID-19 and a lot of us were under forced lockdowns. It gave us the opportunity to reflect, to self-evaluate, and to consider different and alternate ways to work, to market and to self-improve. Improvisation, re-invention and coming out of our comfort zones were all part of the learning experiences we went through last year.

As part of those efforts, besides taking online courses, upgrading my skillsets and working on a brand new Skills Future Credit Eligible course module, I decided to apply to a couple of Voice Over and Voice Acting awards and since they were all being held online, virtually, I thought why not give it a shot from the comfort of my home! I figured I had built up a decent body of work over the years in various genres of voice-over – commercials, interstitials, trailers, IVRs, VR vids, animated films and TV serials, radio spots, e-learning, museum walkthroughs, corporate films, explainers, e-learning, jingles, theme songs for soundtracks, intros-outros, documentaries – the works! So instead of hedging my bets and entering multiple categories, I decided to enter only one category – ‘Best Voice Over, Outstanding Body of Work, International’ at the prestigious ‘Voice Arts Awards’ (SOVAS) held in New York, USA. It’s being touted as the ‘Oscars’ for the Voice Industry and rightly so! It was such a slick and well-organized event with presenters like Tom Kenny (Iconic voice of Sponge Bob Square Pants) and George Lucas (Star Wars) and awardees like Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker, Star Wars).

My category was selected among 5 out of 90 categories to have been live-streamed and when the award was announced, us top 5 nominees, got to go live! I was tuned in on a Zoom call, miles away in Singapore and due to the time difference, it was early morning for me. Given that we VOs are used to being all drab, sometimes working in our PJs, that’s the earliest I’ve ever rushed to get all togged up. I had to make sure my audio, video and lighting were all on-point! The organizer made sure we had a test run prior to the show. It was an exhilarating, nail-biting experience and though I didn’t win, it was an experience of a lifetime being nominated and among such stellar and highly accomplished voice talent – the best of the best globally!

I felt like a winner irrespective and my well-wishers and community of voice artists, friends and family really made me feel elated with their outpouring of encouraging compliments.

I had also entered some of my work to the ‘India Voice Fest 2020’ and was thrilled when I received a call one evening, early December 2020, to let me know that I had won ‘Best Voice Over – Corporate Film English Female’ for Barclays Japan’s 50^th Anniversary video. I got to prepare

At the prestigious India Voice Fest 2020. Click on the pic above to watch my winning acceptance speech streamed during the live online event.

and deliver a speech and was nominated from among 500 entries overall in various categories. To win was truly the stuff made of dreams! The India Voice Fest was well curated with stalwarts of the Indian Voice Industry joining in as presenters, panelists, speakers and awardees. There were edutaining live events, streamed over a week, that benefitted the whole community and the live performances on the award night itself made it quite a fantastic show. I particularly enjoyed the ‘Dubbing Voice Talent Hunt’ which brought a spot-light on aspiring voice talent.

All-in-all it was a wonderful opportunity to see the winning work of the best international voice talent at these events and to see where the bar is set at and to evaluate my own work based on that benchmark. It was insightful to say the least!

I was able to get my work evaluated and in front of the best names in voice over and made some great new connections on social media. Incredible mileage and value I would say.

I am a believer in immersing myself in new experiences, pushing myself out of my comfort zone occasionally and to diving into good opportunities that come my way head-first even though sometimes I might feel insecure, inadequate and perhaps not quite ready. I say this because we tend to be our own worst critics, always second-guessing ourselves and thinking of the worst-case scenario. It’s like a self-created yoke around our necks that we’ll be free from if we but choose to unlock it and throw that heavy burden into the ocean to sink forever….never to surface again! Ok! I’m being dramatic but seriously I share this from myriad experiences, that have turned out pretty amazing in hindsight. I tell you with a certain amount of confidence that you’ll do great and whether you win, succeed or even FAIL, you will be richer for it! The platform is like a spring-board and truly gives you a voice and an opportunity to make a difference to a wider audience. The life-learning is immense and your memory bank and portfolio of relevant experiences are bound to hold you in good stead in the future.

You’ve figured by now that I am all for awards and trophies and good old healthy competition. It keeps you ticking, relevant and eager to improve, striving for excellence and it raises the bar higher and higher.

For Best Voice Over, Corporate Film English Female

My India voice fest plaque arrived by courier, all wrapped in red ribbon, sent all the way from Mumbai India across the miles to me in Singapore. It has taken its pride of place on my desktop right next to my microphone and cans in my Home Studio. I eagerly await my plaque from the Voice Arts Awards as well. I look forward to running out of display space in the future! 😉

So, wanna see your name engraved on a plaque one day?

Can’t wait to thank your parents, your mentors, voice coaches and the good Lord above in your acceptance speech?

or strut your designer wear on that red carpet (after all this social distancing and mask-wearing madness has finally ended for good)?

Then you’re all set to come out from behind the scenes, emerge from the dark recesses of your mole-like studio and take a well-deserved bow in the spot-light! Thank goodness you now have the platform to take your place on that coveted center stage. Go ahead! Don’t let ANYONE stop you……Especially YOU!

For more information about the Voice Arts Awards Click here

For more information about the India Voice Fest Click here

For more information about the Asian Academy Creative Awards Click here.

To watch Noella’s voice over for the winning Corporate Film English Female award at the India Voice Fest Click Here

To watch a short snippet from Noella’s ‘Outstanding Body of Work, International’ nomination entry for the Voice Arts Awards Click Here

For more information about Noella and to see her award-winning Voice Over work Click here or do follow her on her social media pages IG @Wonders_of_the_voice FB @voice4ads Linkedin & Twitter @noellamenon

For more information on her Skills Future Credit Eligible / PA affiliated five star rated voice acting and voice-over course ‘Wonders of the Voice’ Click Here