So You Wanna Answer a Voice Over Ad.

As with any professional position, a call for voice over talent is a request for responsible talent.  A call for voice over talent is not a come-on-down-for-fun-times request.  Voice over artistry is not something that anyone can do.  It is, however, something that many people think they can do.  Anyone can cover a wall with paint – not everyone is a paint artist.

Here are some points to consider when responding to a classified ad for voice talent.  These points are from the point of view of the person who receives your response to the ad.  In other words, this person has the power to flag you in for a reading and a paying gig – or laugh your application right into the trash.  These pointers are from a purely human-resources and talent-management point of view.  For in-depth technical and vocal training advice, you’ll consult with a skilled sound producer such as Steve Bartolotta.  For self-promotion techniques, you’ll read through this blog entry.

Yes, everyone has to start somewhere, and you may be one of those people who is truly talented but has not recorded a demo yet.  How am I to distinguish you from the video game potato who thinks it would be “fun to try”?  Hey, performing surgery would be fun to try, but when I take an honest look at myself, I discover that I am slightly under-qualified.  Please refrain from responding to our ad with “I got a good singing voice,” misspelled and lacking any identifying information, such as your name.  This angers the email gods in a mighty way.

You might list your character impersonations, foreign languages, and accents in your email response, but once you are in the booth, what amuses your friends and family might turn out to be something that makes our ears bleed.  The simplest, most straightforward way around this problem is to give the studio a call on the phone.  It’s a mini-screening, and it helps the recruiter get a better idea of your vocal range.  This saves us a lot of time, and gives an inexperienced voice talent a chance to prove him or herself.  

On the other side of the coin, there are some beneficial rules of practice that apply to experienced voice over artists seeking a gig.  First of all, send your demo with your response to the request for talent.  Just do it.  Don’t send me to your website and insist that they can all be downloaded, because we will be sending four emails back and forth to each other: I tell you they can’t be downloaded; you tell me they can; I explain in greater detail that they can’t be downloaded; you finally send me a demo.  Just send the demo.

If the request for talent specifies a language or accent, send a demo showcasing your talents in that exact language or accent.  Here’s the key to success, however: Split your demos.  Do not send an entire reel of you going through your repertoire, from narration to character to accent to announcement and everything in between.  This is because your particular submission will be much stronger if it is not diluted with extraneous examples of your voice.  For instance, let’s say a client is seeking a voice to speak English in a German accent, and they insist on an authentic accent.  If you submit a demo that contains your German accent, a shaky British accent, and your impression of Spongebob, you’re not getting the job.  It becomes glaringly obvious that you are imitating the accent, and the client loses their ear for you, so to speak.  They are distracted by your lack of qualifying factors and will not be able to imagine your voice reading their script.  The client's ideal in this case is a native speaker of the language, reading an English script.  Your challenge is to convince the client, with your voice talent, that you are a native speaker.  That is the essence of (voice) acting.  If your German accent is indeed precise, practiced, and authentic-sounding, that will come through in your individual demo.  Your voice will literally speak for itself.  Bundled together with other accents – especially if those accents are not exactly crisp – that German accent you’ve worked so hard to perfect sounds like a cheap knockoff, even if it is pronounced with perfection.

To be a successful voice over artist, you need talent, skill, and the proper equipment.  To be a successful job candidate, you need some marketing savvy, business knowledge, and people skills.  If you are just breaking into this business, you will eventually have all of these qualifications – but you will never gain experience until you get your foot in the door – or your lips near our mic.

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