I often hear from, and read about, voice talents who are submitting dozens upon dozens of auditions and they’re not converting any of them into booked work. As a talent, when this happens, it can be confusing and frustrating.
“What am I doing wrong?” That’s the question they’re all asking.
I’ve posted projects on voice casting sites before. I’ve also listened to demos from voice talents asking for my advice. From these experiences I have one easy fix that could lead to more work.
Best Foot Forward
If you’re planning to renovate your house and you hire a contractor or designer, they’re going to meet you with their portfolio. It’s an opportunity for them to showcase their skills and for you to see their work first hand. I’m sure you’d expect that their portfolio would contain samples of their best work. Not mediocre work or projects gone wrong.
If you were hiring a wedding photographer which photos would you expect to see to showcase their work? The ones straight from the camera? Or the ones that have been colour corrected, airbrushed and painstakingly perfected?
If you were putting together a resume for a new job, would you tweak it until it was perfect? Or would you slap it together in a hurry and send off the first draft?
Quality Auditions
Your audition is your first impression. It’s entirely possible that it will be your only impression. Which means, if you’re going to showcase your talent and what you can offer the potential client, you better be offering your best work!
I treat every audition like it’s final audio for a project.
I will never submit an audition with hum, hiss, clicks or pops. There will be no breaths. You won’t find any mouth noise. I spend time making sure every audition sounds like finished quality.
I’m surprised how many auditions are submitted that sound like they were recorded and delivered in 30 seconds. They have background noise, clicks, breaths and every other ambient noise under the sun. I’ve actually listened to auditions where mistakes weren’t even edited out. You can tell that very little care or effort was put into them. They’re literally rip and reads with hopes for the best.
I’ve actually listened to auditions where mistakes weren’t even edited out.
If this is what you’re submitting, truthfully, it should come as no surprise that you’re not booking work. If you do this sort of thing, you waste your first impression.
Take The Time
One simple way to convert more auditions into booked jobs is to treat each audition like it’s a booked job.
Take the time to edit the audio. Make sure the file is clean. This is a more accurate showcase of your ability and competency. This is what clients are looking for. It’s like the designer bringing their portfolio to the meeting, with only their best work.
QUESTION: Do you edit your auditions? Or do you only submit raw audio?
