The Demo Session Matters
From both sides of the mic, as both a professional voice over actor and a voice over coach, I can tell you that how the demo session goes effects how the demo turns out. You’re investing a lot into the demo: time, money, effort. The demo should be nothing short of amazing, and the key to having an amazing demo, is an amazing demo session. Our job as demo producers is is to make you shine, and as the client it should be made easy for you. The work should be on our side and you should be made to look your very best, assuming that your voiceover knows to wait until you are demo ready. So, for our team between me and Dave Scott at All Systems Go AV, when your reads are bookable, we move to the demo phase and this is how we make you look awesome:
The Scripts
We create scripts that offer a range in two respects. First, in about 60 seconds, we want you to show a broad range of emotion in your acting ability. These will ultimately be lined up to show a contrast and keep the listener and or viewers interest. Next, and equally as important, the scripts also cast a broad net in range of industries you aspire to book work in. There is a secret sauce in selecting the right blend, and we work hard to custom fit these scripts to bring out your talents. We also are careful never to duplicate anything that another client has used.
It’s in the Prep
Another way that we make you shine is that we prep you really well for your demo session. Included in your demo package is two sessions (in addition to the demo planning session) to prepare the scripts. We work on the target reads, and talk about the different potential options for each read. By the end of these two sessions, you know your scripts. You know them intimately, and you are comfortable with them. We do not move forward until you can deliver them at this level, with joy, enthusiasm, and ease.
Our Relationship
They dynamic I have with coaching students plays a key role in how they develop as a voice talents. I work hard to get to know my clients. It is important to me to form a meaningful relationship. When there is trust, and the guard is dropped, I can bring out the best in you. I can also teach you strategies to prepare you for actual booked sessions, which is actually the goal. The goal is not the demo. Remember, the goal is booked work. By building a rapport with my students, and building on their strengths, we can get to a magical place with their reads.
So, What is Demo Day Like?
Well, some clients like the excitement of being in studio with me and Dave, so they choose to come to my professional home studio to record. Others are just as happy and comfortable choosing a remote but live directed session via Zoom, Zencastr, or Source Connect. Here is the run down:
Remote Session
Clients can choose their preferred way to patch in. Typically our top choices are Source Connect and Zencastr as there are not latency issues and the quality of the audio is outstanding. We typically set a time that is ideal for the client. When we first connect, we confirm the order of the scripts. Typically Dave does a sound check first and will either ask you to send him a quick recording of the audio to make sure your settings are correct or if we are using zencastr he will simply upload a sample to check. After making the necessary tweaks, we begin recording.
We typically take multiple takes of each spot, just was we practiced. We want options so that we can give you the most amazing demo possible. Before moving from script to script, I confer with Dave to make sure he has what he needs as well. We are listening on every single read for both the quality of the read and the audio quality. When we have what we need the session is over.
Sometimes waiting for the demo to come back is the hardest part!
In Person Session
If you choose to come to record in person, that is fantastic too! We try to make you feel totally at home, my booth is your booth for how ever long you’d like to stay. We sit jut outside in the work space and direct you via speaker. We go on mute while you record. There sure is an excitement and it is a joy to be able to collaborate in person. Again, as in the remote session, we make sure that in each read we have the technical read that we want and the audio quality that we need.
The Result: A Demo that Will Blow Your Mind
My work as the coach ends on demo day. I work with Dave to select the best takes, and we put together the order that highlights you range and showcases your talent. At that point. Dave and his team as All Systems Go AV work to create the magic. From video clip selections to choosing current music that draws the audience in, to working on branding, the team at All Systems Go AV creates fresh, vibrant content that you will be excited and proud to use to market yourself.
I also recommend having practical hooks in your book. I have a hook for my cans and a hook for my wires. It helps keep things neat and organized.
I also do love having Source Connect. So many clients and agents require it. I occasionally need to have support sessions, and they do offer great support from Source Connect. Again, like with Zancastr, there are no latency issues. There are, though, sometimes quirks connecting. Sometimes people are confused with how to use it. If you are not both connecting with the same sample rate, for example, you won’t connect smoothly and it will be an issue, so that all needs to be decided ahead of time.
I wish I know how important a good travel rig is. It took me five years to get my travel rig to sound as good as my home set up. That is WAY too long. If you are just starting in voice over during the pandemic, I realize it is hard to imagine actually packing up and leaving home, but when we do, the rig matters.
producers. If you want to catch the attention of both agents and thus who will book you, I urge you to invest in professional demos for several reasons. First, demo producers have a sense of what current trends are booking NOW. Trends do change. Next, there are certain standards that those who cast expect when listening to voice over demos. Trust them. Lastly, people who produce demos direct your demo session. They will bring out your very best reads and take your best takes, or blend together your best takes to make an awesome demo. They typically produce demos both because of their knowledge of the industry and their ear. You need someone who can bring our your best and push you beyond your own limits. It is amazing what a good director can bring out.
This depends. This depends on where you live and what your goals are. I happen to be an LLC. I live in the United States and I wanted to be able to bid on government contracts. In order to do that, you have to be an LLC. Being an LLC also protects your personal assets, so there are certain advantages. So, since every one of us as solopreneurs is in a unique situation, whether or not you incorporate depends on both your goals for your voiceover business and your family’s financial situation. Consulting either an accountant or an attorney is helpful.
P2Ps, or Pay to Play websites like voice123, bodalgo, cast voices and others are a great way to bring in business. Sure, there are plenty of voice talents who build their businesses without P2Ps. I am on voice123 and cast voices at present. I have built lasting client relationships from my vast bookings on voice123 and am thankful for the opportunity they present. Cast Voices is new to the scene and is in the launch phase now. I am extremely excited to see what comes of this new platform.
Yes. While it’s great to be on a Pay to Play or to post audio on YouTube, it’s hard to market yourself to clients with only these options because you are automatically sending them to places where they can immediately find other voice talents. It’s far better to have a website that you set up as your store front. This is your chance to make yourself stand out and shine. There are a lot of really good people in voiceover, so the question is, why are you different than other talents they could work with? Your website is your big chance to show prospects why they should hire you and look no further. You should have your demos, your contact information, and any stand out details obviously displayed to make it easy for those who cast to find you and hire you. Your demos on your site should be downloadable. 
Agents are wonderful and present you with the opportunity for work. Agents do not guaranty work. Just like with Pay to Plays, agents are a source of auditions. The auditions that agents send are typically more lucrative. The catch, though, is that the competition is much stiffer when auditioning for agents. Agents are far more selective, so it is less about getting on an agents roster and more about staying on an agents roster. Every agent is looking for something different, but at a minimum they want to see that you have trained and continue to pursue work on your craft, that you have a professional set up, that you can offer live sessions via Source Connect and/or ipDTL, and that you have solid demos that will appeal to your clients. Building a rapport with your agents is helpful, and doing quality auditions in a timely manner matters a lot!
commercial campaign, getting signed by an agent, and seeing an old friend. Why is a new demo so exciting? A voice over demo means opportunity. It is a new moment for us to say here I am, listen to this. This is what I can do for you! As a full-time, professional voice over talent, there are plenty of other female voice over actors booking lots of commercials. How do I make myself get noticed? The demo. So who you do your demo with, the coach and producer you choose to spend your time and money with matters, a lot. I have worked with some of the top coaches in the field, and I can tell you that I have had outstanding experiences and I have had experiences hat should have been better. Now that I am work as a voiceover coach and am on a demo production team myself, I am trying to educate my students along the way, so that they understand what to look for and how to advocate for themselves. Here are some questions you should ask every single time you do a new demo, whether it is a commercial demo or another genre:
that show both your range and are appropriate for your brand. If you have dream VO clients, this is the time to include those scripts. So for example, if you are doing an automotive demos, and you love Audi, you would include an Audi script. If you are doing a commercial demo and you love shopping at target, why not include a target spot? The scripts should not simply descend from above on demo day, be handed to you, and recorded. They should be meaningful to you and they should show both your range and what matters to you. They can be an interesting glimpse into your interests too! So, it is very important that you can easily talk to your voice over coach or demo producer about the scripts that you have.I find it to be the ultimate irony that we use our voice to speak for others, but often, even when we are making investments in our own business, if can be so hard to advocate for what makes the right sense for us. The strength of your demo very much depends on your scripts and you should love them!
This is really important. Demo producers typically send you their preferred order, but at the end of the day the demo is yours to live with and their preferred order matters less than your preferred order. I personally have had demo producers make changes without any fuss, and I worked with others who refuse to make any changes at all and insist that it must stay the way it is.
It’s 2021. We’re still in a pandemic. We need what we need quickly. Laura gets it and she wants you to have perfect audio without a fuss at the click of your mouse. Let Laura know how she can help you!
In 2020 live sessions have been more important than ever. Sure some clients still want us to self direct, but as no one or barely anyone) is recording in person, the live session is more important than ever. What surprises me is that I would have guessed that every client would want the quality offered by Source Connect. This is not the case. Surprisingly, I am asked for zoom and given phone patch dial-ins more often than I am asked to use Source Connect. As a professional voice actor, most live sessions are for commercials, but I have done a few for eLearning clients recently. Interestingly, it has been so long that I have been asked for ISDN that I gave up my direct bridge through ipDTL as no one seemed to want that anymore. So, despite the quality that some connections offer, clients seem to like what is easy for them and what they are comfortable with.
Rates have been all over the place in 2020. I have had to turn down more jobs in 2020 than in the past 5 years combined. This may be because I am being found more, or it is because more people who never cast a voice talent are now casting and are not familiar with industry standard rates, or budgets are changing. As a working voice over professional, it is one thing to be flexible and have a range of acceptable rates, and it is another issue entirely to compromise one’s worth to pick up a new client. I have found that the biggest area that clients lack understanding in is usage for social media. They do not understand the difference between organic usage and paid placement, and they do not understand that usage across multiple platforms matters. My hope is that if voice talents continue to work together to educate clients this will shift in coming years.
The specs are changing and the buzz words that we are asked for have changed. When I started the millennial conversational read was the go to read. Now it seems that, for commercial voice overs, the authentic, natural read is what is wanted. A real person who sounds believable is the go to read. Interestingly, I think there has been a backlash from millennials who do not like or enjoy a lot of the characteristics that have been assigned to their generation, and the shift that we see is a direct response to that.
For those of us professional talents who are putting in the hours of work every single day, I am pleased and grateful for the abundance of work in 2020. Initially when the pandemic hit my business slowed in March and I panicked that everything would change. By April it seemed to bounce back and castings had picked up again. According to industry friends who are as established as I am or have been in the industry longer, this is the best year they have had yet. I realize it is Thanksgiving weekend, but I typically have an attitude of gratitude all year, whenever the bookings gods shine down on me. I realize that my clients have a choice and I am thankful when the choice goes my way, and this year it has happened more than last year. When so many businesses are struggling, in our industry and around the country, this is truly something to celebrate.
My direct bookings, bookings where clients come straight to me, are triple my pay to play bookings in 2020 and up 14% from 2019. I am really pleased with this. These direct bookings are a combination of clients that find my website, rosters that I am on because I found them, or repeat clients who were initially from a pay to play but not they continue to come back to me. I also have direct bookings from social media, including instagram and LinkedIn. The number of direct bookings being so high means that I am not dependent on pay to plays to survive. Instead, I use the pat to plays to add to my client pool. I am extremely thankful for all of the direct bookings.