First impressions are so important and it always amazes me how many people seem to forget this. The demos that arrive with my name spelled incorrectly on the address label have an instantly negative impact. Imagine that? My name is on our website and if the talent had done any research at all, this could've been avoided. You found our address so get the name right when sending out an unsolicited demo. At the very least, it tells me you put some thought into who you are sending it to. Don't get started on the wrong foot.

Finding out just a little bit about the company helps, too. Cover letters that mention some of our work get more attention. Again, it shows you spent a little of your time, since you are requesting I spend my time thinking about you. Don¹t go overboard, mind you ... but at least have an idea of the type of work WE do and design your cover letter to convey that.

If you are using sending an unsolicited e-mail with an attachment, bye, bye now! I¹ll delete it before I ever open it. With all the viruses and corrupted files floating around... think about it. I don¹t know you. I¹m not going to just open something blindly. First, write a nice note asking if you can send an MP3 version of your demo. Then we can start up a conversation to determine if we should go forward.

Now on to the actual demo. Over the years, I've noticed somewhat of an industry standard develop for voice talent demos. I get a lot of amateur demos with complete 60 second spots that sound like they were recorded off of a home AM radio. Quality matters. You need to sound as good or better than your competition. And you need to try to keep your demo to a modest one and a half minutes in length. Listen to other talent demos (you can find them all over the internet) and figure out your own style, but do something similar. That¹s what producers are used to listening to, as well. We want to hear all of what you can do, so put a bit of everything you do well into your montages. Labeling them as "Commercials", "Narrations" or "Characters" is also helpful.
A producer looking for a narrator doesn't usually need to hear all of your character voices. This enables a producer or talent coordinator to go right to what they're looking for.

Put your strongest performances first. If 'soft sell' is your strong suit, put it first. If you can scream like a banshee on car ads, put it up front. There is no correct order to showcase your different styles, but do go in order of what you feel you do best. And at the same time, make your demo entertaining. And don¹t just use the beginning of each spot you¹ve done. Mix it up. Use the best lines from the commercial no matter where it falls within the spot. If you have to rent some time in a professional studio to accomplish this, trust me, it will be worth it.

Mixing up the tempos and styles from different reads and picking the appropriate lines to help your montage flow will make the talent coordinator and producer want to keep listening through the whole minute thirty. If the first three samples are all the same style, we'll assume you're a "one-trick pony".

And finally, don¹t forget to have your contact information on EVERYTHING! This includes the CD label and separate packaging. If the CD were to get separated from it¹s packaging, how would someone find you to book you? And be mindful about changing your phone number. It may take a few months or even a year before you're given a call. Remember, when a producer decides to use you as talent, they not only pay your talent fee, they are paying the studio charges. It may take a while to convince them to go with someone unknown to us and when they finally say "Hey, this person sounds good, let¹s try them" and I call the number on the CD and it¹s "no longer in service" ... well, there goes your last 'first impression'. How much work am I really suppose to do to get you the gig? Believe me, I¹m not going to track you down, unless of course you are "all that". And that¹s rare!

Ours is a very competitive business. Give yourself the best chance by doing all you can. Build relationships through contact, be professional in your presentations, keep those you hope to work with up-to-date on information changes and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If someone helps you get a gig, thank them. It could lead directly to your next gig.