These must-haves are based on the demo production method we employ when producing my voiceover demos in my business and since my demos have played a huge part in my direct marketing efforts with clients, I wanted to share a little bit about how we make this happen on the backend.

Let me start by saying, I know EXACTLY what it’s like to feel totally stuck when it comes to starting out in the world of VO and wonder – what’s the big whoop about demos?! 

Because you want to know the one thing that held me back from gaining some momentum in my voiceover business? My demo. Specifically, my first commercial demo. I was TERRIFIED to try.

Why? Because I was told I should be prepared to invest at least 10K to get my foot in the door if I wanted to be a legit, professional Voice Actor and that producing my own demos was… not acceptable. What I’ve learned since then, is that idea is what has been said about the VO industry for years and it’s pretty outdated for the WFH Professional, which is what I consider myself and many others to be: Voice Actors who live and work by our own rules and claim financial freedom and flexibility doing something we enjoy. However we still have clients to serve and businesses to conduct using our voice, and a commercial demo showcases what we can bring to the table. What does this mean for you? Spoiler! You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on your demo to get started in voiceover. Period. So please throw that idea out the window right now. This also means, that with some experience and practice under your belt, you can create one of the most powerful voiceover business assets yourself and it’s way easier than you think.

Demo is literally shorthand for demonstration. And in voiceover, a demo is a demonstration of your vocal abilities, including your unique tone, pitch, style, and range.

Why do Voice Actors need demos? Think about it, when we’re beginners, we don’t have any work in our portfolios to share with our network, our peers, or future clients to help get us work (and GET PAID!).

A demo offers us a bridge between starting out and making money as a professional Voice Actor.

But before we can have a shiny new demo to share on our website and with potential clients, we have to put in time, practice, thought, and intentionality into producing a demo for our businesses.

Why not use work I get along the way to make my demo? While this has been the traditional approach for actors who perform on stage, in film, and through voiceovers, this is simply not the way demos are looked at nowadays in the voiceover realm. 

Why? It’s most likely because producers saw an opportunity to add demo production to their list of products to sell to talent and eventually the old compilation method for voiceover demos didn’t really make sense anymore. What is needed or desired in ads for industries across the board changes all the time, so if a Voice Actor has a well-produced demo reel from 5-10 years ago, it’s already outdated. Therefore, made up spots for demos has become commonplace because the evolution of the industry simply demanded it.

Why start with a commercial demo in particular? Commercial demos offer up the most variety in our vocal skills and abilities and they show our potential clients the most accurate representation of our voices and what we can actually deliver them for their projects.

Why take the DIY route? Learning this invaluable skill set will not only help us get better at our craft of audio production as we are literally creating audio assets for other companies to use – think of your voice and audio files as a product you sell. Getting better at producing that audio, allows us to be the self-sustaining professional Voice Actors we desire to be. 

I have been hired specifically for the voices and styles I showcase in my commercial demos and I know you can too. 

What if I’m just starting out, you ask? If you don’t have any experience with audio production learn the basics of recording, editing, and submitting files first by auditioning through Casting Call Club, Behind the Voice Actors, and even Twitter, then use the companion guide PDF to help you get started when you feel you’re ready to start building your voiceover business.

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Alright, here are the 5 Key Elements Every Commercial Voiceover Demo Needs.

#1: Specific spots

The first thing a commercial voiceover demo needs is five to six specific spots selected by you that best showcase your vocal range and abilities. “Spots” are the individual pieces of audio used to construct your demo. 

Choosing one or two spots that you feel most comfortable with is a solid way to start, since you probably already have an idea of what types of jobs you want to pick up or voices you’re really good at. The rest will require you to think outside the box and stretch your acting skills. 

You’ll be surprised at what you can do when you play outside your comfort zone and just go for it!

When brainstorming the spots you’d like to showcase in your demo, think of:

• The industry your voice will be representing i.e. finance, beauty, lifestyle, technology, etc.
• Auditions you’ve come across that are similar to a particular spot you’d like to have in your demo.
• What is currently running on TV or the radio.

Some questions to consider as you work through this step: 

• What type of voice or style do you hear regularly? 
• Could I replicate that style or tone I’m hearing in one of my spots?

Having these questions on your mind as you move forward will help you avoid producing obsolete spots on your demo.

#2: Characters with stories

Spots are made up of “characters”, characters with their own storylines that will take the listener on a journey even though that character only lives in a 10-11 second space and may be talking about topics like personal finance or cybersecurity threats. 

Each character’s journey will revolve around the tone and style that best showcases your current vocal ability and range.

Through our production process, we’ll start to build characters and their stories by focusing on:

Your Strengths – Characters that strike you as what you think you’re best at.

Incorporating Balance – Characters that stretch your range. Think “different than” your strengths.

Showcasing Range – Characters that you don’t think fit your voice. This is particularly important as these spots will best showcase your range. And yes, you’re better at it than you think, you just haven’t tried yet.

When you have an idea of the characters you want to work on, start thinking about their story nuggets – small bits of something that strike you as interesting for each character. It can be an image, a piece of information, an interaction, something someone said, it can be anything that sticks with you. 

Here are some things to consider as you’re brainstorming your character stories:

One Voice: Try to keep each spot focused on one voice (one character).

Setting: Where is this taking place?

Character : Who is the person you’re writing about? What motivates them/scares them/excites them? 

Action/Plot: What is going on in the scene (the spot)?

#3: Good quality audio

The ability to provide good quality audio is a learned skill and one that requires some time, energy, and lots of practice, but it is essential to building a competitive demo.

Providing “broadcast-quality audio” is really what we’re after, not only for our demos but for our auditions and client work as well.

According to Voice123’s blog, here are some elements that constitute broadcast-quality audio: 

• Clear sound, as opposed to muffled sound.
• Noise free, i.e. no hissing, buzzing, etc.
• Lack of environmental sounds like others talking or dogs barking in the background.
• No echo or reverberation of the voice.
• No distortion i.e. peaking.
• Seamless editing i.e. no obvious breaks in the audio.
• No breaths or mistakes.
• Loud enough for the listener to hear and understand.
• Overall, the audio needs to be listened to easily, “good sounding”.

#4: Priority placement

After your spots are complete, it’s time to think of strategically placing each spot in the demo.

Remember, clients may only listen to the first few seconds of your demo, so, for placement, consider:

1. Best: Think about which spots show off the best features of your voice.
2. Relevant: Refer back to commercials you’ve heard recently or jobs you’ve been hired for recently. What tones/styles/pacing did that spot have? 

3. Variety: In what order does your demo showcase that you have range and can offer variation?

4. Different: Which spot or spots show off a more unique style or tonality you can deliver that works well with the rest of your demo?

#5: Feedback for adjustments

Whether you’ve taken the plunge to create your demo yourself or hired out the job, once you have your final commercial demo, it’s a good time to seek out feedback from others you trust. You may not want or feel like you need feedback and that is ok, but we highly encourage you to get a second opinion or two, especially if you’re new to the VO space. It’s important to note here that not all feedback is good feedback, this is ultimately an asset in your business – you get the final say. And down the road, you may want to rearrange the spots, take out certain spots, or create new spots altogether, and you totally should! But before you start sharing your demo with potential clients, get some additional ears on it and ask your producer for adjustments or make them yourself if the demo is your creation.

To Wrap Up

Being aware of these 5 elements will ensure your commercial demo is fit for what you can offer to your clients in the current market. And while the “current market” can shift from here to there and everywhere given time, having this skill set in your back pocket will not only make you a better voiceover professional, but it will allow you to keep up with the times without having to rely on someone else’s creative license or schedule.