Prepare a demo that makes your voice stand out

As the talent availability grows on the NVE voice bank, how should the stations and their on-air staff prepare the demos so that their voice stands out? How do you prepare your sample so a production seeking just that right voice finds yours?

Travis "JT" McGinnis at Leighton Broadcasing in Minnesota has been making use of the voice bank quite a bit since he signed up with NVE, so we asked to share his thoughts:

Here are a few things that people should look at when creating a demo:

 1. What is the demo for?  If you're trying to get a job for station imaging, don't send an audio book demo.  Send an imaging demo.  NVE, at the moment, seems to be focused more on client commercials than anything right now.  Thought the system is capable of being used for imaging, phone messages or longer narrations, most people are using it to get voices for client commercial reads.  In light of this, a demo should showcase your commercial voice-overs.

2. Is your demo focused?  Similar to the above, a demo shouldn't be an "all-in-one" package.  You should have a separate demo for imaging, a separate demo for commercial voice-overs and a separate demo for longer reads, such as narrations and phone messages.  If someone is looking to use your voice for a specific project (such as a commercial spot) they don't want to have to listen to non-commercial audio demo material.

3.  What should you put in your demo?  Should it be your best work?  Should it be a complex production?  Should it be a piece you are most proud of?  Well, a demo should showcase what you are capable of doing today.  If you had a great ad that you did ten years ago and you can't do the same type of thing today, then it should not go into your demo.  A demo should also comprise a variety of material.  If your demo is ninety seconds long, try to get 4-5 segments from commercials you have done within that demo.  If you are capable of doing all sorts of reads, then your demo should include a mellow delivery, a high energy delivery, perhaps some voice acting or characters voices.  Just keep in mind that the demo should showcase what you are capable of doing today.

4.  Should it be produced, or dry?  Anyone looking to use your voice already has an idea of what they want the final product to sound like.  Your demo should only include finished product production.  If the finished product is a dry read, then leave it dry.  If the finished products is a complex production with sound effects and music, then put it in that way.  Your demo should have at least one piece in it that is a dry read so people will know what your voice sounds like without production.  Be careful not to over produce your demo.  You want to showcase your voice, not the production.  If you're looking to be hired for your production skills, then make a separate demo that showcases your production talents.

5.  What are people looking for?  Basically, if someone doesn't like what they hear in the first 10 seconds or so of a demo, they won't keep listening.  Also, web browsers don't let the user skip ahead in the audio file unless the file is completely loaded.  Keep this in mind.  If your demo takes too long to load, the user won't want to wait for it to skip ahead.  That said, you want to grab the attention right away.  As soon as someone hears the first few lines of your demo, you're going to want them to listen to the rest so they can hear it all.  The very first piece in your demo should be in the style that you want to be known for.  If you are capable of all sorts of reads and deliveries, but you prefer the mellow, laid back variety, then the first part of your demo should be a mellow, laid-back read that really makes you shine.  Just make sure you include other delivery styles into your demo so you don't get type-cast as "the mellow, laid-back" guy.