This week I’m taking a look at the practice of slating. There are as many different opinions on this subject as there are voice talents who are willing to share them. I’ve decided to explore all the sides of the conversation. From there, you can decide what works best for you.
Yesterday I shared 5 Reasons To Slate Your Demo. Today we’ll take a look at the other side of the coin. Tomorrow I’ll share a few different tips on how to slate your demo (once you’ve read the pros and cons and have decided which approach you’ll take.
5 Reasons NOT To Slate Your Demo…
1) It’s your first impression: Your audition should be your first impression… not your slate. The client wants to hear their script… not your slate.
2) It’s time consuming: Every slate a client has to listen to is an extra 5-10 seconds of audio they have to go through on every audition, which is already (on average) 60 seconds long.
3) They request no slate: How well do you read the instructions given by the client? It’s not uncommon for clients to specifically request NO SLATE. Miss those directions and you may have just cost yourself the job.
4) They hire your slate voice: A common practice among voice talents is to have someone else record their slate. Nothing worse than losing the job because the client liked your slate voice better than your voice.
5) Too much information: If you slate your demo with your name, your phone number, a comment on how much you’d like the job, the fact that you’re under the weather and the recipe for your grandma’s famous chocolate chip cookies, you’re doing it wrong.
Now we’ve looked at pros and cons. 5 reasons why you should slate. 5 reasons why you shouldn’t slate. Tomorrow I’ll take a look at some tips on how to slate your demo.
Have you got any reasons not to slate your demo that you’d like to add?
