Join Voice Over Expert Bob Bergen as he guides you on "Preparing to Record a Commercial Voice Over Demo". Learn how to choose materials, build in variety, and promote your commercial voice over demo once it has been produced.
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Bob Bergen, Commercial Voice Over Demo, Preparation, BobBergen.com, voice overs, voice acting, commercials.
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Bob Bergen
Making a Voice Over Demo
Voice-over demos and a Eureka Moment
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Bob Bergen : Recording a Commercial Voice Over Demo
Transcript for "Preparing to Record a Commercial Voice Over Demo"
Julie-Ann Dean: Welcome to Voice Over Experts brought to you by www.voices.com, the number-one voice over marketplace. Voice Over Experts brings you tips, pearls of wisdom and techniques from top instructors, authors and performers in the field of voice over. Join us each week to discover tricks of the trade that will help you to develop your craft and prosper as a career voice-over talent.
It's never been easier to learn, perform and succeed from the privacy of your own home and at your own pace. This is truly an education you won't find anywhere else.
Now for our special guest.
Bob Bergen: Hi, this is Bob Bergen and I want to talk about the voice-over demos. The demo's your calling card. It's equivalent to the picture and resume for an on-camera actor. I can't tell you how many times a voice-over actor will call me up and say, "Hey, listen, I'd love to take your voice-over class and I'm in the process of doing my demo."
And I'll say, "Why are you doing a demo if you're still studying?"
They'll say, "Because I want to work." Well, it's the other way around.
In fact, I think the voice-over demo is not only your last stop in this journey of pursuing voice over, but if you make it too soon, you're not going to get a second listen. My personal opinion is: Take acting classes and improve classes first and then study voice over.
A voice-over class, for the most part, is not an acting class. It's teaching actors voice-over technique. Too often, people spin wheels in a voice-over class because they don't know basic acting technique. They're making guesses instead of choices.
So, with a solid acting foundation-be it Meisner or Stella Adler or Strassberg, I don't care what it is-with solid acting training, you're going to get more out of a voice-over class. And you'll be more prepared for your voice-over demo.
There are several different kinds of demos; you've got your commercial demo, your animation demo, your promo demo, trailer, narration, etc. The most important demo is the commercial demo. That is the one the agents will listen to first.
Nowadays, demos are on CDs. Most agents are asking for an MP3 email submission on demos, but you're best to call the agents before you submit to find out what they'd like. As I'm researching my book on voice-over agents, I'm finding they all have different opinions but, in L.A., most of them are asking for MP3 submissions.
Commercial demo-one minute, folks. That's it. If they don't love you in four seconds, they're not going to love you in four minutes. They're really only going to give you about a 4-10 second listen.
The thing that's most often missing from an actor's voice-over demo-they might be great actors, they might read well, they might know how to interpret copy-but the one thing that might be missing is who they are, their heart, their brain.
And, by the way, that's called branding. It's your brand, just like McDonald's is a brand, Burger King is a brand, and you're voice-over style, your personality- that's your brand. And if you can't reflect that brand in your copy, you're not ready to pursue it. You're still in the study stages.
What this business doesn't need is another voice. They've got all of the voices they need. What they do need is you, your personality [and] what you bring to the copy that makes it unique and makes it your own. If you can't do that with a toilet paper ad or a McDonald's ad, then you're not ready to pursue voice over; you're still in the workshop stage.
This is the hardest part of the whole journey-being real, being organic, being you. If you go to www.voicebank.net and you listen to some of the top commercial voice actors in the country-if you listen to Rob Paulsen, if you listens to Jack Riley-you will hear the people that would meet on the street if you were to meet them. You'll hear their cadence, their personality. You hear them-that's what you need to do with your voice-over demo. And if you're not, you're just another voice that they don't need.
I don't recommend writing your own copy, unless you're a copy writer. Magazines, print ads [are] the best place to find commercial copy.
Make sure that you produce your demo with somebody who produces commercial demos; that's what they do. Not somebody with a really cool studio. Don't do it yourself to save money because you're going to get one listen per person. If they pass on you, it's very difficult to get a second listen, so you want to make sure that your demo is brilliant. Not good, not pretty good, not OK-but brilliant because it's the brilliant ones that get noticed.
When you're a working voice-over actor, the spots in your commercial demo are actual spots and they come from different sources. They might come from a CD. You might get them off of TiVo, etc. There's a variety from spot to spot because they were all recorded from different studios with different microphones with different engineers in different-sized rooms. And frankly, you, the actor, were in different moods. You need that same variety in your first demo.
This is the producer's job. Your producer needs to mix each spot like it were done in different environments. You can do one spot from about here and [changes microphone position] do another spot from about here. That's the same microphone. It adds a geographical variety that makes you sound more versatile than you really are.
You don't want stock library music unless it's contemporary and it reflects today's commercial market. Just because a studio has 16, 000 sound bytes, doesn't mean they're appropriate for a demo.
And if you're making a demo, you're competing with the big boys, so there's no such thing these days as a first demo. Competition's too stiff, there's too many people out there. So, you don't have that opportunity these days to make that first OK demo and then a year or two later improve on it because people have very, very long memories. They remember the bad demos, so you really want to make sure you're ready.
How do you know you're ready? When you don't ask yourself, "Am I ready?" You just know. It's instinct. It's as second-nature as brushing your teeth; you just know how to do voice-over copy-how to deliver the copy in an organic way that reflects your personality, your heart, your brain.
Keep in mind that my advice on anything is on the Los Angeles point of view-I really don't know markets outside of L.A. That said, I think no matter where you are in the country, if you approach your voice-over career with a bigger-city marketing point of view, you're bound to be one step ahead of those in your market who aren't approaching it in the same way.
So, even if you're not in L.A., Chicago [or] New York, use those cities as a marketing template for your voice-over career, as well.
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Julie-Ann Dean: Thank you for joining us. To learn more about the special guest featured in this www.voices.com podcast, visit the Voice Over Experts show notes at podcast.voices.com/voiceoverexperts.
Remember to stay subscribed. If you're a first-time listener, you can subscribe for free to this podcast in the Apple iTunes podcast directory or by visiting podcasts.voices.com.
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Your Instructor this week
Bob Bergen has been a working voice-over actor for over 25 years. Since 1990 he's been honored to be one of a handful of actors who share voicing the classic Looney Tunes for Warner Brothers, including Porky Pig, Tweety, Sylvester, Jr., Speedy Gonzales, Marvin The Martian, and Henry Hawk. Bob's voice has been heard in movies such as Space Jam and Looney Toons: Back In Action, to television's Tiny Toon Adventures and Loonatics, to The Six Flags theme parks, toys, commercials, games, recordings, and more. He's an Annie Award nominee for playing Porky/Eager Young Space Cadet in the twice Emmy nominated series Duck Dodgers.
Other credits include dozens of animated features, including The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Iron Giant, Toy Story 2, Shrek 2, The Emperor's New Groove, Cars, Finding Nemo, Spirited Away, Surf's Up, and Food Fight. As a promo announcer he's been heard on The Disney Channel, FOXKids, NBC, KidsWB, FX Networks, and CBS. Bob is the branding voice for radio stations throughout the country, as well as hundreds of commercials for such companies as Albertsons, H&R Block, Mitsubishi, Baskin-Robbins, Geico, Red Bull Sprint, Welches, Expedia.com, Jack in the Box, United Airlines, and Petsmart, to name a few. Bob is also one of the most in demand animation voice-over instructors in the US and Canada. http://www.bobbergen.com
What a great spot from Bob. I think what he has to say will speak to many of our members who are considering having their first demo recorded.
I think Bob's comments are invaluable especially, as one who is transitioning from a producer/editor to voice talent.
Bob identified all the same problems I encountered with training and a demo produced by a NYC studio... too soon, too little variation, inadequate backing tracks.
Many thanks!!! Now I'm off to find an acting class.
This whole site is fantastic! I'm about to attend the Connecticut School of Broadcasting and these podcasts are very valuable! Before I start creating any kind of voice over demos, I'm going to do a significant amount of practicing and learning from this site's tips as well!!!
I have voluntarily quit my full-time job to pursue acting and voice over work. Right now I live in Utah and am trying to research about how to get started.
Can you please provide or offer some suggestions?
Hi Crystal,
Thank you for your comment and I hope you are enjoying the podcasts.
The first thing you'll need to do is to create a business plan. Voice Over is a business like any other and you will need to be organized and ready.
Here's a link to an article we posted this week on how to write a business plan:
How to Write a Business Plan
Definitely subscribe to Voice Over Experts and VOX Talk to help nourish your understanding of voice acting and how to get started.
I also encourage you to check out the VOX Daily blog at http://blogs.voices.com/voxdaily/ to read up on everything you need to know about getting started in voice overs.
There is a wealth of information out there that you can access for free, so take advantage of everything that you can.
Join a chat group or a voice over bulletin board. The http://www.VO-BB.com is a great place to learn directly from other voice actors through previous discussions and via new topics once you are versed in what they have already discussed.
There are many things that you will need to do before you can truly get started as a professional. I hope this has helped.
Best,
Stephanie
Hi, the information here is wonderful, and as a new voice talent who is trying to break into the business, I appreciate it.
My problem is getting jobs. In order to get work, you need experience. In order to get experience, you need work.
I need a demo, but they are very expensive, and I was hoping to get a few jobs and save up for the demo.
Any advice for someone in my shoes?
Thanks!
Hi Lesleigh,
Thank you for commenting and asking a question about how to get voice over work.
The short answer is that you need to at least have something put together (whether on your own or produced by a friend / local studio) and the ability to record from home at a professional level. If you are unable to record at home for whatever reason at first, be sure to establish a good relationship with a local recording studio.
Investing in a career does take financial investment as well as a passionate heart. It's hard but it's the truth!
If you can get auditions in person, that is probably the only way to get around the whole spending money on a demo before acquiring work in the field of voice over.
Before making a demo, studying with a voice over coach is advisable. That will also have a fee associated with it but you will more than make your money back with a really well produced demo.
You mentioned that in order to get work, you'll also need experience. You can volunteer in a number of ways to gain that experience. Here are some ideas to consider:
Ideas on how to build your portfolio
You are welcome to use any of the resources here at Voices.com to help you get started. If you have any other questions, we're here to help.
Best wishes,
Stephanie
Lots of great advice here. I wish I had listened to this when I first started. Like most people I was in a rush and did a "starter" demo way too early. Having been in radio for years, I believed that would provide an advantage.
Still, I have made a part-time income using the demo. It has served its purpose, paid for itself and hopefully not caused too much damage to my career!
Rob Ellis
Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! As someone who produces demos, and also as someone who receives demos from talent (some of them obviously not ready), I can Amen just about every word Bob has spoken here. This is reality. Believe Mr. Bergen.
I have a serious question that I have not seen covered yet. Is it ethical to use a demo created for a client in a master voice over demo even if the client never purchased that service?
Something like:
Record demo
Demo not chosen
Hey I like how this sounds
I'm going to use it on my final demo
Very good advice! Thanks a bunch. The only demo I have posted is animation, it's no wonder I haven't gotten any requests for work, I haven't made any commercial demos! It's simple things like this I need to know.
Thanks again for the advice, I'll look forward to the next one.
Most people that earn money being an affiliate sign up with several Affiliate Programs. In fact, you have to realize several before you find people who will make you the most money. One of the more important items to consider when you will decide to promote products as an affiliate is to choose worthwhile products. If you wouldn't buy it or have any use for it chances are your customers won't either. Remember, even though you're selling online and not in person, no matter if you truly believe in the products you are promoting will show through in your marketing efforts. Choose products that you truly believe in if you're going to persuade others to buy them.
Regards,