One of the byproducts of the Pay to Play culture is fast auditioning. If you don’t submit your voice over audition within the first 10 minutes on some sites, you might as well forget it. At least fifty people will already be ahead of you.
What this means is, instead of submitting a quality audition, many voice actors are now racing to submit any audition at all.
Forget editing. Forget proofing. Forget quality. Just get it done.
Fast Auditions
I’ve posted jobs on Pay to Play’s in the past. I was shocked at some of the things I heard in auditions.
- Mistakes not edited out.
- Mouth noise.
- Clicks, pops and hisses.
- Background noise such as kids and pets.
- Mispronunciations of common words.
- Auditions that didn’t follow the script.
All of these things, in my book, are a great way to guarantee you don’t get hired for the job. Many of these things, in my opinion, are also the result of auditioning in a hurry to try and beat the crowd.
Bad Reflection
Your audition is your first impression. We all know about those. You never get a second chance to make one! Your audition is also going to be a reflection of your finished product.
If I hear background noise in your audition, why would I assume your final audio would be any different?
If you didn’t take the care to follow the script and proof your read to confirm such, I have to question your attentiveness to detail.
If you can’t bother to edit out an obvious mistake, like where you’ve stopped and started over again, how can I trust you’re professional?
Take Time. Take Pride.
I know you want to get your audition submitted quickly. I know if you’re not in the first 20 or so demos you’re much less likely to be considered. But if you want to be heard, and stand any shot at all at booking the job, take a little pride in what you’re submitting.
Think about your average 30 second audition. Honestly, how long is it going to take you to edit out the mouth noise and clicks? If the dog barks and it bleeds through, is another 30 seconds to record really going to kill you? If the audition took 30 seconds to record, it’ll take 30 seconds to listen back and make sure you follow the script to the word.
Even when it’s a race, which I don’t like, but on some sites is a reality, there’s no excuse not to submit a professional quality, fully edited and proofed demo. Unless of course you don’t want to book the job. Then, by all means, submit the rough cuts.
QUESTION: Do you fully edit your audition demos?
