First time demo, any pointers would be great.

Vincent Jones

Hello all, I’m just starting out as a voice actor and need some one that will give me straight review on the demo that I’ve done up. Any pointers would be great since I maid a home studio with a sound proof booth. So I can fix anything that needs to be done.

Vincent

Scott Pollak · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006, 15:41 (GMT) Post subject:

Vincent,

Well, for starters, the music on your demo overpowers the voice in many places, especially the tea spot and the Christmas spot. I hope you're open for total honesty here, and if you are, it can help you toward the career you're trying to get into.
I noticed several things that would turn me off as a producer if I were looking for voice talent...
- There's no emotional connectivity in your reads. You're just delivering script. There's no connection between you and the listener. This is something you can only learn with experience and training.
- I detected what I'd call a slight lisp in your demo. It may merely be the demo quality, but it's noticeable.
- You seem to have one voice style only and it's a very soft one that will greatly limit you to ONLY a spot where someone is looking for a very 'gentle' voice.

Now... what can you do to improve?
- Take some classes and training, either locally or remotely. Julie Williams on this site is a professional v/o trainer and I've heard she's terrific.
- Re-do your demo. Start by listening to some really outstanding demos elsewhere on this site to get inspired. Make your samples shorter with MUCH more variety. Make the demo move forward. That doesn't mean everything has to be UPtempo, it means that you leave the listener hanging as one clip ends (wanting more) as you surge into the next clip, and be sure to show variety and versatility.
- Take time to get to 'know' your scripts. Try to really connect with the subject matter. Again, this is HARD and I'm no expert (I'm really not), but it's critical to achieving success in this industry.

For whatever it's worth, I'm attaching one of my simpler demos that may help in terms of the 'connectivity' thoughts.

Good luck and I hope some of this helps.

Paxton Greene · Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006, 01:03 (GMT) Post subject:

Hey Vincent!

Scott makes some really good points. Maybe change up some of the reads to diversify your demo. Best of luck.

Pax