Why Voice Actors Need a Professional Voice Reel

Yes, you may have some audio editing skills and have voiced real-life projects, but think carefully: Can you create a competitive voice reel that can win lucrative jobs against top-tier professional actors?

Most voice actors think they can, but being capable of producing audio to a high standard that can genuinely compete requires more than splicing together various past projects, and hoping that the client, casting director, or producer will be blown away.

Approaching your voice reel from that perspective is planning to fail.

Without some outside advice, you may have multiple blind spots and are missing out on opportunities. You will undoubtedly miss out on specific tones, or characteristics that casting directors specifically seek. You’ll find yourself booking some work, and you might feel on the right path, but there will always be a blind spot – and tapping into that blind spot, whether a specific vocal attribute or excluded medium that the client requires, is what could accelerate your success.

Firstly – Get Out of Your Own Way

Remember: You’re not making the reel for you. You’re making the reel for clients.

It’s practically impossible to distance yourself from your work and feelings so you can see things through the lens of an agent, a client, or a producer.

Of course, you already know your vocal strengths and weaknesses, and participating in voice reel production is vital. However, having self-awareness is only a starting point. You must strategically combine your voice acting skills with other elements to effectively showcase your skills to decision-makers in your voice over demo.

An unbiased editor’s eye will spot mistakes and opportunities for improvement in your work.

Book a free voice over consultation with the Voicereels team.

Secondly – Don’t Risk Being Skipped

Planning a voice reel and demos to generate quality enquiries for your voiceover business is challenging. Even with the help of vocal coaching and a director to nail down the tones and styles so your demos appear in more Voquent searches, you will be quickly passed over if the audio quality isn’t top-notch.

Many voice actors with home studios have basic audio editing skills and don’t always value what an audio producer can bring to the mix (no pun intended!).

But editing a reel yourself is a big mistake.

Unless you already have validated commercial experience in music or audio production, you’ll fall well short of what can be achieved. And when clients compare your demos with others who invested in professional voice reel production, you risk being skipped.

It takes years to master creative audio production, so don’t try to do everything yourself. Focus on your performance and let a producer focus on making you sound your best; you won’t regret it.

Thirdly – The Script Matters

The final reason you should count on a professional to produce your voice reel is for script selection and writing.

Many voice actors will attempt to write their own or source scripts from online libraries.

Whilst Voicereels’ library is extensive, someone else will likely use the same script at some point.

Voicereels’ extensive script library can be filtered via vocal tones, mediums, and style, so you can find the best scripts for the qualities you need to display.

First, think about what your best voice types sound like. Professional? Scary? Authoritative?

Then, you can use script libraries like Voicereels to find example scripts, but it’s worth tailoring these to make them personal to you.

Selecting music to match the scripts is crucial. Having these in the session helps set the timbre and pace of the read.

This is a lot to take on for anyone, which is where a team like Voicereels can benefit you. Our team will use their years of casting experience to put together the best reel for your voice within the expectations of your potential clients.

Summary

Think about it. If you were a casting director with your reputation on the line, would you risk choosing a voice with an amateur-sounding reel against one with audio production values that blow you away?

Focus on your performance and let others focus on making you sound your best; the investment will pay dividends for years.

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