I enjoy “collecting” voiceover direction that is well…kind of ridiculous.  Yes, I actually have a file on my computer labeled “Ridiculous Direction” where I save some of the best.  I thought it would be fun to share a few now and then and maybe bring a smile, a chuckle, a laugh-out-loud to someone today.  Or, it may just make you say “whaa…?”.

Disclaimer:  If you are a producer or talent seeker and find your directions included here, please don’t take it personally and think that I am making fun of you.  Think of it as a fun, light-hearted way of seeing the silliness of it all.  You know, amusing, but with a serious undertone…actually it’s pretty darn funny but with a hint of  somberness…try thinking Harrison Ford, but as a businesswoman with a slight Polynesian accent (which could be pretty hilarious, but we want to keep things calm and soothing, so don’t go overboard with it).  I hope that helps!!  : )

No spelling or grammar corrections have been made in these.  They are direct quotes from jobs or job postings.

Telephone Messages – Female

“Female, professional, corporate…with a touch of naughty would be perfect. 99% of our clients are male civil engineers. They need something to make their lives a bit more interesting (not too interesting though)”

75 Second Computer Promo

“Voice will be narration for a short, punchy animated promo with attitude.  What we are looking for is the feeling of a real voice behind the words, NOT a sales pitch.

Reading should be:
Simple.
Direct.
Matter a fact.

But with room for for quirky charm or a bit of wry edge and attitude to leak in around the edges. (Wow, I really love that line!) Just turn off the sales and lets hear the voice behind it.”

Corporate Video – Female

When you record your demo, imagine yourself as a European who spent time educated in the US. That should get you the accent we are looking for.”

:30 TV commercial

“I need a VO for the spot below. I want it to be good. I have no direction other than that.”

Video Narration – Female (yes, this job was posted for a female voice)

“It cant be voice of god, not too much like a movie trailer, NOT like mason adams on smuckers. NOT it was a cold and stormy night type. It needs to be approachable friendly asurring, not hard edged.  Looking for retired country judge character on his porch in a rocking chair, maybe smoking a pipe watching the sun rise as he waxes nastalgic about how new dawn has helped him live a fufilling life, deaply moved.”

Stay tuned…more to come!  If you are a voice talent reading this I am sure (it’s pretty much a given) that you have your own collection, so please feel free to share here.  We all need a little LOL each day!

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I mentioned in my previous post how tricky it can be to produce just the right voice over demo.  We have only a minute (maybe two) to demonstrate our skills and range of delivery styles.  And, realistically, it is quite likely that no more than 5 to 10 seconds will get heard before the producer or voice seeker moves on to the next one.  Unless they are “wowed” by the first piece, or at least hear something close to what they already have in mind, they probably won’t bother to listen to the whole thing, even though the exact read they want was the very next thing on the demo (which they didn’t hear, of course).

There is no way to please all the producers all the time.  And I’ve had to realize that I can’t and shouldn’t take it personally.  This business is quite subjective, and just because you weren’t picked for a job doesn’t mean you aren’t good, or really even that you weren’t right for the job. It just means that they heard something that was closer to what they had in their head that day.

So, how do I make my voiceover demo count? As I said in my last post, make the first thing on the demo something you do well, and hopefully it will be enough to get your voice listened to throughout the other samples. It would be an understatement to say that I put a LOT of thought into what to use on my demos and what order to place each piece. On my website, DianesVoice.com, I’ve actually created videos to go with my audio voice over demos. Sometimes having something to watch makes it a little more interesting, and I’m hoping that it keeps people watching (and therefore listening) a little longer. It’s an experiment, but I’m hoping I’m right. : )

I have more voiceover demos in the works now, but a few of them are good for a little while.  I try to re-evaluate them a couple of times each year, and update them as necessary.  These “generic” voice over demos have gotten me quite a number of jobs, however, most producers today would like to have “custom” demos or auditions of their own script instead.  I’ll give my thoughts on producing these custom voiceover demos in future post.

For now…check out my latest video VO demos. For more samples of my work, go to the demos page on my website, or to my YouTube Channel.

Tweet  Follow @DianeBeanVO