Voice-over demo scripts.

I’ve written on this subject before, and it’s a popular topic of discussion. My comments here deal primarily with commercial and narration demos.

Selecting the right pieces for your voice-over demos is of critical importance, because these are the words that will showcase your voice. Producers will use the demos to help them find the right voice for their project, and the more the words reflect you, the better you will be able to make them sound wonderful.

What does it mean to "reflect you"? What interests you? What are you particularly good at? What kind of voice-over work do you most enjoy, or would most like to be doing? What is your "money voice"? Like it or not, certain kinds of voices evoke imagery in the mind of the listener. This is cultural conditioning, of course, and maybe you don’t want to buy into it in every spot you record. For a first voice-over demo, however, I would advise the beginner to go with the flow unless he or she has a very good idea about how to swim upstream. If you’re a woman and your voice is low and smooth, with a cultured and classy sound, you might include a spot on diamond jewelry or a high end cruise line. That same voice might not be as convincing in a piece on fast food or baby products, but if you can pull it off, go for it! The more versatility you can show in your demos, the more work opportunities those demos can bring you. I hate rules, but I would offer two to keep in mind in creating your demos: don’t hold back vocally, and don’t offend anyone.

Things to think about:

• As well as showing vocal versatility, you should also try to display product versatility. Don’t put 3 car commercials in your demo. Some combination of cars, food, travel, the arts, electronics, family-oriented products, cosmetics, tools, or finance would be good. Only one of each. You don’t want to bore the listener, nor do you want to suggest that you would voice for competing products (it’s fine to do that, just not in the same market).

• The question of whether to include nationally known brands in your demos - brands you were not actually hired to represent - is controversial. My first demo was entirely national brands (what is sometimes ignominiously called “fakes”). One voice-over instructor in a Continuing Ed class I attended 2 years ago commented on it. I don’t see a problem with it, myself, provided you don’t simply use the same words that are airing or have aired in a broadcast ad (show some imagination!). I adapted magazine ads for use in my demo, re-writing to make them work for voice-over. A year later I made a new demo and used primarily work I had done, except in one case where a national product offered a better avenue for displaying a certain style of delivery than anything I had done up to that point.

• If you have specialties, make sure your demo(s) reflect them. If you do or want to do medical narration, use medical scripts. If you’ve never done a medical narration, you’ll have to find your own copy which you can easily do via the internet by looking up abstracts from medical journals or descriptions of medicines from pharmaceutical company websites, and adapting them to your use. If you want to narrate nature documentaries, adapt some copy about a unique animal or plant or natural phenomenon. If you don’t like to write, get help. Don’t let your words fall into the hands of amateurs!

Dos and Don’ts for voice-over demos:

Don’t use scripts from other voice-over demos (especially famous VO demos)
Do use “script vault” copy for practise, but don’t use it on your demo
Don’t copy a broadcast ad unless it's yours. Rewrite the copy!
Do get help with writing if it isn't your strong suit
Do choose interesting subjects and interesting copy (your listeners will thank you)
Do include a (short) dry and dull piece in your narration demo but make it fascinating!
Do represent a variety of vocal styles
Do represent a variety of consumer products on your commercial demo
Don’t use offensive language or ideas and if you’re in doubt, leave it out
Do enjoy yourself
Don’t stop having fun!!