Vox Daily

What is the likelihood that a parent would hand the keys to the car to their teenage child before instructing them on how to drive?

If you've ever been in a car with someone who doesn't know the first thing about gearshifts, how to steer, indicate, or parallel park, you know just how difficult it is to achieve the desired objective when the person at the wheel has little to no experience driving a car.

The same could be said for cutting an audition or voice over demo without any training or direction.

In Bob Bergen's lecture this week on Voice Over Experts, Bob made it clear right off the bat that he doesn't produce voice over demos for students until they have studied and are ready to do so.

Acquiring knowledge and skill is a primary goal. Application of those skills is the next step and shouldn't be rushed.

In essence, investing resources into making a demo prematurely would be a waste of time, money and also it is important to note that the performance would be shy of where it could be without the application of specific techniques and a polished performance.

Also, I'd add that the initial results may be somewhat disappointing, so it would be best to hold off on making a demo that you promote to agents until you are ready to make that next step.

To reiterate another tip Bob gave, it is hard for agents or producers to get passed that first impression, so you'd better make it good.

Some sound advice, wouldn't you agree?

7 Steps to Take Before Making a Voice Over Demo

So, baby steps you can take to make sure that you are ready are:

• Invest in regular vocal training with a professional voice over coach
• Practice
• Have confidence
• Set achievable goals
• Have realistic expectations of yourself
• Listen to demos of established voice actors on Voices.com
• Take advantage of every free resource you can

There are many elements of interpretation and performance that when combined create the presence you are aiming to achieve in order to make a killer demo.

For starters, you can go back and listen to other episodes of Voice Over Experts to pick up some quick tips and techniques including how to color your words and find the music in copy.

On Friday, I'll be releasing a review that I wrote on Pat Fraley's "The Gypsy's Guide to Professional Home Recording" that will hit on a very important aspect of production and performance where auditions are concerned.

Be sure to read that one :)

See you on Thursday with some Tech Talk,

Stephanie

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