When you’re ready to put your voice out into the world, a Voice Over demo is a powerful tool you can use to help showcase your talent.

In many cases, especially with online platforms, you’ll still be asked to submit auditions, however it’s quite realistic to also be cast from your demo, so it needs to sounds GREAT while also reflecting performances that you can replicate when cast for a job.

What exactly does that mean? Well the truth is that always anyone could walk into a recording studio and record a Voice Over Demo and with excessive coaching during the session and LOTS and LOTS of takes, PLUS clever editing and post production you can end up with a great demo. However this all comes undone very quickly when that person is cast for a job and struggles to deliver a performance that’s even close to what’s on the demo that landed them the job in the first place.

With that in mind, take a listen to this VO Demo created this week for Joshua Peter White.

Here’s the process I use to create a Voice Over Demo for someone.

Firstly I listen to an existing demo if they have one (or recorded voice samples)…or we just have a conversation so I can get a feel for what types of scripts their voice may be suitable for. On that note I rarely suggest that people choose their own scripts for a demo as in the ‘real world’ it’s the scripts that choose you, not the other way around.

Speaking of the real world, I also prefer that the ‘talent’ not spend too much time with the scripts in advance, again because with many voice over jobs there’s not usually much time between getting the script and recording it – no time for days of ‘practise’.

Once we get into the studio, the talent is directed, not coached through each script, recording no more than 3-4 takes on each script, which means their ability is well reflected in the demo recording and can be replicated when recording with others.

Following the session each recording (usually about 10) goes through post production and then a compilation of around 2minutes is created that highlights a variety of different styles that the talent can perform.

The result…is what you hear above.

If you’re ready for your first VO demo or looking to update your demo with some fresh material to fill some gaps in showcasing your talent, book in now to get started at https://www.voicesoftomorrow.com.au/voice-over-services/ or get in touch for a brief chat.

There’s now just TWO places available for the “Creating Character Voices” workshop that’s happening on the evening of Wednesday February 22 in Melbourne.

Here’s a short video of Cecelia and Andy talking about this upcoming workshop. Hope to see you there!

One of our goals here is to deliver a Voice Over Coaching experience to suit YOU. For some that means getting individual coaching, for others it’s about running a group workshop on a day and at a time that suits, while for some it comes down to ensuring it’s also affordable with the possibility of payment options. In more recent times, we’ve also been able to cater for individuals on an NDIS plan.

With all this in mind we’re now pleased to be offering a new Half-Day Voice Over Workshop on March 25.
This shorter format workshop is, like our other full-day workshops, designed for beginners, however we’ve scaled back one some of the content and amount of recordings to make this an enjoyable 4 hour session for $330 per person inc. GST.

The 4-hour session will focus on basic skills for voice over in the context of Commercial and Corporate genres. It’s important to note that there won’t be any discussion or recording of character voice over in this shorter format workshop.

We’ll be running 2 workshops on March 25. The first session from 9am to 1pm, and a second session from 2pm to 6pm. There will be 6 places available in each session.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out any time, otherwise we look forward to seeing you at a workshop soon!

Happy New Year everyone!

To kick things off for the year we’re starting to roll out some new workshop dates for the coming months, starting with the Voice Over for Beginners Workshop on Sunday February 12.

This workshop is perfect for anyone (Age 15+) who is interested in finding out more about the Voice Over industry and getting in a studio and seeing what they can do with their voice, guided by experienced Voice Over professionals.

Previously we had called this our “Introduction to Voice Over” workshop, however we were getting a lot of enquiries from people asking if it was suitable for beginners so have renamed the workshop just to make it clear that it’s PERFECT for beginners.

This group workshop runs with a maximum of 6 participants and is lead by Cecelia Ramsdale and Andy Wells, who are both working voice over professionals with decades of experience.

Places usually fill up fast for these sessions so we recommend booking early at https://www.voicesoftomorrow.com.au/course-dates/

If you have any questions about the workshop feel free to call the number above or drop Andy a message via the contact page.

You’ve done all the right things to get started in Voice Over.
Attended courses/ workshops and/or had some professional coaching/ mentoring and along the way putting in LOTS of practise, recording anything you could get your hands on. You feel like you’re ready to really put yourself out there and start pitching for some paid work so you jump onto some casting websites and start auditioning.

For any independent, self-recording voice over artist this is the hard part. You feel like you’re nailing the brief for each audition but you’re just not landing jobs. Here are some thoughts on why that may be.

Firstly, remember that Voice Over is competitive. There are a LOT more people doing it now, and while there is also a much greater variety of work you could be part of a very large pool of talent pitching for the same job.

Are you really ready? Don’t directly compare yourself with other Voice Over Artists but DO listen to them. Are you confident with your reads? How many times do you need to read a script to get a great take? Are you just reading the words and hoping they like the sound of your voice or are you truly delivering the meaning and feeling of the script. A voice that’s easy on the ear is a start but a voice that can really sell a product or make the listener feel something and take them on a journey is better.

Does your recording sound like it was done in a cupboard?
Yes. That’s a serious question.
As someone who regularly casts Voice Over Artists who record in their own studios I need to let you know this – If I can hear the walls in your recording it’s a deal breaker.
What I mean by this is that if you’re recording space isn’t acoustically treated, the sound of your voice will bounce off the walls (and other hard surfaces) and be captured by the microphone. An extreme example of this is when you sing to yourself in the bathroom and your voice comes booming back at you thanks to all those lovely tiled surfaces. Great for singing to yourself, not so much for recording.
When faced with the choice of voice talent who have the right vocal age/tone for a script and skills to deliver it. If the requirement is they are recording in their own studio, the best recording sound will win.

It’s not as hard to get right as you think.
Firstly, unless your home studio solution is one of the commercially available standalone booths, you’ll never achieve anything close to sound proof. I hear a lot of people talk about sound proofing but what they are really talking about is sound deadening, acoustically treating the space to absorb sound that would normally be reflected off walls and other hard surfaces.

Jump onto eBay and search “Studio Acoustic Foam”. A few packs of these on walls and the ceiling will make a big difference to your recording space and they’re not that expensive. Add to that plenty of soft furnishings, even stuffed toys and your rooms is going to sound much less ‘roomy’. You can achieve the same in a walk-in robe that has plenty of clothes hanging up in it also.
The key here is to experiment both with what you can do to change the sound of the room, but also in where you have your microphone placed in the room and even what type of microphone you’re using. For example a mini-shotgun microphone such as a Sennheiser 416 is much more forgiving than a larger diaphragm Rode NT1 in a less than perfect room as the 416 has a much tighter pickup pattern.

If noise is your problem then mitigation is your solution, not post-production. This may mean you need to record at times when there is less external noise (such as traffic) or turning the heating/cooling off while recording to eliminate ambient sounds. While there are some excellent noise removal tools available you need to understand that when they remove the noise they can also degrade the quality of your voice recording. If the person receiving your recording is an experienced sound engineer they will want a completely raw, unprocessed recording – so no noise reduction applied either.

Now that I’ve laid all that out for you it’s also important to know that it also works the other way. You can have a $5000 Microphone and a StudioBricks Voice Booth but if you don’t have the Voice Over Skills to go with the professional hardware you’re not getting your investment back any time soon.

Not everyone who attends one of our workshops or does 1 on 1 coaching chooses to pursue Voice Over, but it’s always great to hear back from those who are not only putting in continued effort, but getting some return from it.

Darcy was one of the participants in the June Introduction to Voice Over workshop. He really enjoyed the experience and let us know right away…

I’d also like to again extend my deepest gratitude for last Saturday as I really feel enthused to go forward with voiceover. 

Darcy via email 26/6/22

At the end of each workshop we encourage everyone to keep practising and if they feel confident start looking for opportunities to build up experience. Clearly Darcy’s enthusiasm paid off as we received this update from him in September.

I’m at the moment sitting in a quiet spot of my first ad read recording session, and it feels like it’s going well! I just wanted to take a second to thank you two for everything you taught me in the intro course, it’s proven truly invaluable both through my auditions and the live recording today. Seriously, thanks so much. I thought you’d want to know how much it’s done.  When the ad is released I’ll be sure to share with you!

Darcy via email 16/9/22

We wish Darcy continued success as he pursues voice over and encourage everyone else who is just getting started to keep on practising!

The next couple of months are looking busy here at Voices of Tomorrow HQ with workshops to suit just about every interest and experience level in voice over.

Firstly we have our most popular workshop, the Introduction to Voice Over Workshop, happening on October 16 and November 27. No experiences is needed to take part in this workshop – it’s made specifically for beginners or those with limited experience.

Then, for those exploring the world of video games on Tuesday October 4 (from 6pm) we have Aimee Smith running a workshop on “Booking multiple roles in Video Games“.  She’ll discuss the role multi-casting has had in her career, the perks of being able to book many roles, the rates for video game work and some of the strategies that can be utilised for vocal and performance differentiation.  
There will also be a practical part to the workshop that involves some character recording.
Cost: $220 inc GST.  Only 1 place available.

Then on Saturday October 22 we’re running the Voice Over: Next Level Workshop.

This workshop is aimed at those of you who have already done some coaching or have some experience but want to improve your performance by tackling more challenging scripts and recording scenarios.
As part of this workshop, along with your raw recordings you’ll get 2 fully produced recordings.

Cost: $550 inc GST.

Bookings for both of these workshops can be done here – https://www.voicesoftomorrow.com.au/course-dates/

Andy Wells – Director / Voice Over Coach / Sound Engineer

As we move into the final quarter of 2022, there’s still a handful of opportunities to get started in Voice Over with new workshop dates planed out for September, October and November!

Our most in-demand workshop, the “Introduction to Voice Over” is running on September 10, October 16 and November 27.
This workshop is perfect for anyone (age 15+) with no, or very little experience with Voice Over. You’ll learn what’s it’s all about in a professional studio setting, coached by 2 very experienced, working Voice Over artists. We explore commercial and corporate voice over styles and even a little character work to keep things fun and interesting, and it’s all recorded!

If you’ve already done a workshop/coaching with us or someone else or have some experience with voice over but want to push yourself further, we have the “Voice Over: Next Level” workshop happening on October 22. In this workshop we’ll help you improve your performance by tackling more challenging scripts and recording scenarios.

Specifically interested in Character Work for Video Games and Animation? We have a workshop for that too!
On October 4 (6-9:30pm) we’re hosting the “Booking Multiple Roles in Video Games” workshop with Aimee Smith. Aimee gives advice on this subject while also including a practical element to the workshop.

Remember that with all workshops, limited places are available so booking your place sooner can help you avoid the disappointment of missing out.

Bookings are now open for all the mentioned workshops here – https://www.voicesoftomorrow.com.au/course-dates/

If you have any questions about the workshops or would like to discuss some 1 on 1 coaching, feel free to get in touch via the contact page.

With Covid-19, Flu and plenty of winter colds making the rounds, we realise that while our August 28 Introduction to Voice Over Workshop is currently fully booked, there’s every chance that someone may need to pull out due to being unwell.

That being a real possibility, we’ve opened up a standby list for anyone who may be keen to come along should a place open up at the last minute.

See below to get on the list.

Come and discover Voice Over with our Introduction to Voice Over workshop on August 28 or September 10, and learn more about performing multiple Video Game Character roles with a special workshop run by Aimee Smith on October 4.

If you don’t want to read on and are ready to book your place in one of these workshops you can do that HERE, otherwise here’s a little more information.

Our Introduction to Voice Over Workshop has been running since May 2018 and was developed as a practical way for people to explore the world of Voice Over for the very first time. Most of our participants in this workshop have never set foot in a recording studio or even made a recording of their voice. We also find that people who are already involved in Music or Stage and Screen acting also seek out Voice Over coaching to help widen their existing skills.
The next two dates we’ve set for our Introduction to Voice Over Workshop is Sunday August 28 and Saturday September 10. The workshop runs from 10am to 4:30pm and the minimum age for participants is 15.

If your interest is in acting for Video Game Characters, we also have a very special workshop planned for Tuesday October 4 with Aimee Smith.

In Booking Multiple Roles in Video Games, Aimee will discuss the role multi-casting has had in her career, the perks of being able to book many roles, the rates for video game work and some of the strategies that can be utilised for vocal and performance differentiation.

In the practical part of the workshop, participants will be selecting a range of roles from some practice audition scripts to record in the booth. Participants will be given access to these recordings after the session ( for personal reference only, not to be published ).

There will also be Q&A at the end of the session.

This Workshop is for a maximum of 8 participants and is only open to those aged 18+.