The Art of Voice Acting: the art and business of performing for voice over (42 page)
Read The Art of Voice Acting: the art and business of performing for voice over Online
Authors: James Alburger
If you have practiced and mastered your voice acting skills, have your marketing plan in place, and are prepared and ready to work, your demo session can be a lot of fun, and an educational experience. If, on the other hand, you go to your demo session unprepared or without having mastered the necessary skills, your session can be very uncomfortable.
Because you are the executive producer as well as the performer, even if you have hired a producer, you are the one person responsible for making sure your demo is well-produced and that it will be a useful tool for marketing your talents. This means you will have the opportunity to supervise the entire process of your demo production. You won’t often have this chance when you are doing real-world sessions. If a producer insists that you leave during the postproduction process, I’d suggest finding a different producer.
Keep in mind, though, that when you are in front of the mic, you need to be focused on your performance, not on other aspects of your demo. This is where hiring a director or having an engineer who knows how to direct becomes important. Track sequencing, music, sound effects, duplication, packaging, and distribution can all be left for later.
In recording studios, time is money. If a session is scheduled to start at 10:00 AM and you don’t arrive until 10:10, that’s at least 10 minutes of wasted time and money—probably more, because it takes a certain amount of time for the engineer to prepare the studio. Recording studios usually bill for their time whether you are there at the scheduled time or not. The lesson here is to
be on time
for your session!
If you live your life in a constant mode of running late, you might want to set your clocks ahead, or do whatever is necessary to make sure you arrive at your session on time, or preferably a bit early. Arriving late for real world sessions will get you a bad reputation in a hurry, and no doubt will
cause you to lose work. Arriving late for your demo session will put you under unnecessary stress, costing you valuable time and money.
The same goes for being prepared. In real-world sessions, there is little more you need to do than to show up at the studio at the appointed time, ready to perform. However, for your demo session, you are also the producer, and you must be prepared with rehearsed copy and ideas to discuss with the engineer handling your session. If you hire someone to produce or direct your demo, you need to make sure that the two of you take the time to rehearse your copy to find the strongest material and that you both have a good idea of the results you want from your demo.
Here are some other tips to make your demo session a productive and pleasurable experience:
- Arrive at your session a bit early.
- Eat a light meal or snack before your session.
- Arrive in good voice, fully warmed up and ready to perform.
- Have a bottle of water with you.
- Rehearse your copy
before
arriving at the studio. - Make a note of which scripts you think are your strongest.
- Plan in advance for a possible sequence of scripts.
- Plan ahead for music and sound effects.
- Be ready to accept new scripts that the engineer might have available.
Aside from your producer, if you hire one, your engineer will be one of the most important people you work with during your demo session, possibly even working as your director. In any case, it is important that you and your engineer work together as a team on your project. Remain flexible and open to your engineer’s suggestions. If you are careful in booking the studio, you will probably have an engineer who knows much more about voiceover work than you do. You can learn a lot from a good engineer and he or she may even become a good contact for work later on.
Your demo will be useful for at least six months to a year, although you may actually use your first demo somewhat longer. As you begin doing paid sessions, you will want to get copies of your work and update your demo occasionally, perhaps every six months to a year. Your agent may request an updated demo or a cut-down version for their house demo CD or website. Each time you update or change your demo, you will need to book a new session unless you have mastered your editing skills. Fortunately, digital technology makes it easy to update your demo as often as necessary, especially if you or the studio you are working with has your original demo
project archived. If you are updating your demo, you will probably not need to spend as much time recording new tracks or in postproduction. And you will most likely not incur any additional music license fees, especially if you are simply inserting some of your recent work.
Plan ahead by budgeting for the studio time and have a good idea of the tracks you want to include. Send your updated demo to people you have worked for. A new demo is a good opportunity to stay in touch with past clients and to inquire about upcoming projects.
Whether you are producing your first voiceover demo, adding a new niche to your marketing plan, or updating an existing demo, keep in mind that you want your demo to feature your best performing abilities. Every script you select should be chosen for the purpose of demonstrating a different aspect of your performing abilities. Plan the content of your demo carefully to include copy you perform well and that is appropriate for the type of market you want to reach. A demo of commercial copy is not appropriate for a producer of corporate projects, and a demo of character and animation voices is not appropriate for a commercial producer.
If you intend to be seeking agent representation with your demo, be prepared to produce a commercial voiceover demo first. A well-produced commercial demo will demonstrate every performing skill that is used in other areas of voiceover such as narration, character, promo, and so on. If you intend to focus your marketing on a niche area of voiceover work, you should consider a second demo designed to focus on only that area.
Producers often listen to a demo with their finger poised, ready to move to the next demo. This is somewhat due to time constraints, but is largely due to the fact that dozens of poorly produced demos arrive in email and cross the desks of producers every day. Remember that producers make their decisions about a voice within the first 5 to 10 seconds of listening to a demo—some even quicker than that. If you are going to make it past that crucial first 5 seconds, your demo performance must be well-presented and highly skilled.
A good demo keeps the producer listening and it has entertainment value with a new surprise, emotional hook, acting technique, vocal variation, or character twist happening about every 5 to 10 seconds. A good demo does not give the listener an opportunity to turn it off.
Here are some things to keep in mind while preparing for your demo:
- Don’t do a demo until you are ready. Make sure you have done your homework and have mastered voice-acting skills.
- A single workshop or class will not qualify you to produce your demo. A single workshop can only give you the fundamentals of
working in voiceover. Don’t rush into producing your demo after one class—even (and especially) if your instructor recommends it. - Do your homework: research your market and know your niche before even thinking about going into the studio.
- Have your marketing and business plan in place
before
you spend any money to have your demo produced. You should know in advance who you will be contacting to promote your voiceover talent. - It’s OK to recreate other commercials in your style and mention a few product names. Your demo does
not
need to be a collection of work you have actually done. - Your first demo should focus on the niche you will be marketing to primarily. You will need a commercial demo when you get an agent.
- When using magazine ads for demo copy, choose only those products or services that might actually advertise on radio or TV, and, more important, that fit your delivery style.
- Don’t be afraid to write your own copy or adapt commercials or print ads. Writing your own copy can help to make your demo unique and more effective.
- Each voiceover niche must have its own demo.
- Include a wide range of variety in style, attitude, and character, even if your demo is focusing on your voice style, rather than character. Keep the listener guessing as to what will happen next.
- Limit each “clip” to only a single, concise statement or few brief sentences. You only have a short time to catch and hold the listener’s attention. The content of each clip must be compelling.
- Focus on what you currently do best. Then revise and prepare new demos as your abilities grow and you acquire copies of projects you have worked on (usually updating once or twice a year).
- Keep your demo short—no longer than 1:30 for a commercial demo with a 1-minute cut-down version for talent agency compilation CDs and websites.
- Your strongest delivery style should be at the beginning. The producer is going to make his or her decision in 5 seconds or less.
- Have your demo professionally produced. Don’t think you can put a demo together at home and expect it to sound professional. A poor-quality demo—in either performance or audio quality—is a waste of your time and money.
- Work one-on-one with a coach or demo producer to hone your performance and make certain the copy you have chosen is the best for your delivery style and the type of demo you are producing.
- Keep your ego out of your demo. Your demo is not about you, it’s about what you can do with your voice.
- You do
not
need a demo to get voiceover work, and you
will
need a demo eventually. - Beware of any coach, business, or workshop that promises to produce your demo after taking their course. If you feel even the slightest “red flag,” trust your instincts and seek other training or a different producer.
You will be far better off with a solid 1 minute of fast-moving, well-produced, demo than with a slow-moving 1:30 lacking variety and range. If you have the appropriate performing skills, you can produce demos for virtually every niche area of the business. The actual length may vary depending on the type of demo and your market, so you would best be advised to consult with your local talent agents to find out what they are asking for in your market. As you gain a reputation and become more versatile, you may be able to justify multiple demos, or a compilation of demos on a CD or your website.
The primary categories of voiceover demos are discussed earlier in this chapter. This list is a breakdown of the many subcategories of voiceover demos. Although any of these might be worthy of a demo by itself, most often several of these related subcategories will be included within the context of a more general demo category.
- Accents and dialects (ethnic)
- Audio book
- Celebrity
- Character—animation and toys
- Character—announcer and tags
- Character—celebrity sound alike
- Character—real people
- Character—sound effects
- Character—video game
- Commercial—radio
- Commercial—television
- Commercial—web
- Dialogue—multiple voices)
- Documentary
- E-Learning (online training)
- Foreign language
- Imaging (radio)
- Industrial—training soundalike)
- Industrial—video kiosk
- Industrial—web learning
- In-store messaging
- Jingles (singing)
- Narration—corporate marketing
- Narration—medical
- Promo (television)
- Political
- Specialty
- Spokesperson
- Talking toys & games
- Telephony—IVR (Interactive Voice Response)
- Telephony—message-on-hold
- Telephony—phone prompts
- Trailer (film)
- Youth (children or children
Your Demo Is Done, Now What?
You’ve spent a good deal of time studying your craft, and you have made an investment in producing a high-quality, marketable demo. Congratulations… you’re in business. As you begin making contacts for voice work, you will be speaking to and meeting professionals who may have been in this business for many years. These people have seen it all, and have little time to waste on an amateur trying to break into the business. Your first impression needs to be memorable and professional.
Presenting yourself as a professional is important when you submit your demo to agents and talent buyers. A coordinated
brand
shows that you mean business, and take your career seriously. Your brand is the visual and/ or auditory representation of who you are and what you do. It sets you apart from your competition in the mind of your clients.
Creating an identity, or brand, for your business is not always an easy thing to do, and it is something you might not want to tackle yourself. Fortunately, there are quite a few talented graphic design artists in the business who you can hire to assist you. Even if you hire someone to help develop your brand and design your graphic image, you still need to provide some input. You might even want your graphic designer to hear your demo to get a better idea of what you do. Graphic designers can get their inspiration from just about anything, so be as thorough as possible when presenting your ideas.
Your graphic look should reflect your individual personality. It should be consistent in all printed materials and carry through to your website.
Your visual image is an important part of your marketing campaign. It can help set you apart from the crowd and ultimately work toward establishing you as a “brand name” in the world of voiceover.
There are two elements of your marketing that can set you apart from others who do what you do. The first is a
UPS,
or
unique positioning statement
. This is a short one- or two-sentence statement that clearly defines what you do, for whom you do it, and your unique solution to an urgent need. Writing your UPS can be a challenge because it requires you to fully understand the value of what you do and the critical needs of your clients. This may require some research on your part and a great deal of thought as you hone and refine your statement. It’s not as easy as it looks. There are many excellent books and Internet resources that discuss this aspect of business development, and that can help you create your UPS.
The second element is a
USP
, or
unique selling proposition.
A USP is a refinement of the UPS into a short statement that communicates the specific benefit of a purchase. It says: “use our services and you will get this specific benefit.” The essence of the USP can then be crafted into a
slogan
that can be anything from a single word to a short phrase.
Here’s the unique positioning statement for our coaching and training services website
www.voiceacting.com
:
We teach powerfully effective communication and performing skills that we’ve developed over more than three decades of stage, television, recording studio, and advertising experience. We work with people who want to break into the business of voiceover and with business professionals who want to improve relationships with their customers, increase sales, improve their communication skills, create more effective advertising, or become better presenters and performers.
This positioning statement is intended to give us a clearly defined focus on what we do, who we do it for, and the results that can be expected from using our services. It positions us as expert performance coaches and as a business that understands business communication. An orchestra conductor is our logo, representing the process of combining several core elements of communication to achieve effective results. For marketing this aspect of our business, we refine the positioning statement to a single phrase that is more concise, yet conveys the story we want to tell. At first, we successfully marketed our performance coaching under the VoiceActing.com banner graphic and used the USP:
We make you sound great!
Our original VoiceActing.com graphic, which is still used, looks like this:
As we began to produce the VoiceOver International Creative Experience (VOICE)
(
www.voice-international.com
), the world’s only conference for voiceover talent, we realized that, although our positioning statement still conveyed what we did, our USP was limiting and no longer accurately reflected the way we were perceived by the voiceover community and our clients. We spent a considerable amount of time brainstorming and testing various ideas and slogans. As a result, we expanded the VoiceActing.com brand by creating the VoiceActing Academy. A new graphic was designed, retaining the orchestra conductor, and a new USP was created that we believe more accurately positions who we are and what we do. Here’s the new VoiceActing Academy graphic with our updated USP:
You can create your own UPS, USP, and slogan by taking a close, hard look at what you do, who you do it for, and what makes you different. Only by close examination will you be able to discover what makes you unique from other voice talent in your area. When you discover what that is, write it out in a sentence that describes it clearly and concisely. It should describe who your primary customer is and what they gain from using your services. Use our examples above to get started. This process can take up to several hours or several days and will usually result in numerous variations and possible statements. Once this creative exercise is complete, you’ll have a much clearer picture of your role in the world of voiceover. With this understanding in mind, you can now begin to explore various ways of refining the essence of your work into a concise USP and slogan.
Here are a few examples:
- A Penny for your $pots. She just makes cents!
(Penny Abshire) - Changing lives one voice at a time
(VoiceActing Academy) - Orchestrate your message!
(James R. Alburger) - My Voice, Your Way!
(Debbie Munro) - Aural gratification guaranteed
(Lani Minella) - Guaranteed to round up more business
(Bob Jump)
As you work on developing your UPS, USP, and slogan, be creative and let your imagination run wild. Come up with as many ideas as you can and narrow them down to a few that work for you. Pick the best one and use it everywhere. Your slogan and logo, if you use them, should be included in every piece of print material, as an email signature, and on your website.
Building your business as a voice talent can be a daunting task that can be made easier when you understand that you don’t have to do everything at once. Take things one step at a time. As you complete one aspect of your business development, begin working on the next. Approach your business development from an organized and structured foundation, much like you have done with your performance craft.
There are dozens of excellent books available that can help you develop your USP and business identity. One of my favorites is a small book by Mark LeBlanc titled
Grow Your Business
. This little book provides the tools and processes to give you the focus to create a powerful defining statement for your business. With that in hand, the world is yours! Mark’s website is
www.smallbusinesssuccess.com
.