First demo (part of post in Newbies)

Anne Wright

Hi! I'm basically brand new to this, though I signed up a while ago. I've taken a voiceover class, and the teacher told me I had potential to make this at least a part-time thing.

Could you be brutally honest about my demo? I'm prepared to make a new one if I need to. The one up now was given to us for free at the completion of the class, when I had only been practicing for about 6 weeks.

Thanks for the amazing information I've already been able to read on this site - you seem to really care about each other.

-Anne

Scott Pollak · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008, 13:00 (GMT) Post subject:

Anne,

You need to upload your demo to this forum to encourage people to listen, rather than requiring them to navigate back to your V123 page, listen, then come back here to critique it. If you do that you'll probably get a lot of replies.

That being said, I DID go back to your page and listened. What you have is a starting point but it won't stand up against the pros you'll be competing against.

For starters the demo sounds very obviously made of non-real spots due to the music, the mix, the delivery, etc. Even if you've never done a real spot, it needs to sound like you have.

Next: all three bits (and you need more) sound exactly alike. I hear not a whit of variance, versatility or stretching in your delivery. And the delivery is pretty flat, too. You're reading. Yes, you read okay, but really, who doesn't? At points you almost sound bored in your delivery. Can you act? Can you emote? Can you feel what you're trying to tell me? Can you convince me? Can you win me over? Can you be my closest friend? I have to hear this in your voice and I didn't.

And finally, I heard a hint of nasality and a trace of that NE accent in places. Not much, but a hint. But being from the South with my own hint of accent, that's not necessarily a bad thing, since you do want to stand out from the pack.

Keep practicing, listening, asking, training, and plugging away. It's a long, hard road to success in this business, but if you're up for you, you might see the rewards.

Lee Kanne · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008, 21:19 (GMT) Post subject:

what Scott said....

you absolutely need to grab the listener in the first 15 seconds or so of your demo.....right now the spots are too long in addition to having no variety...

when you redo your demo definitely try to tap into the fun and playful side of yourself, along with the informative and serious...

Anne Wright · Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008, 01:11 (GMT) Post subject: