Ever hear the phrase “made by the loving hands of home?”

People say it with a sarcastic twinge to refer to homemade items that are less than professional -like those ever-so-slightly lopsided business cards that are so easy to design on your home computer.

Hey, I’m all for saving a buck and packing your own lunch.

But when it comes to your voice over demo, cutting corners always shows and it can really undermine your voice over success.

For example, more than a few people try to get jobs with voice over demos recorded on smart phones or on cheap USB mics with hum and background noise. There are lots of those on Fiverr.

Voice buyers want to hire professionals and hear your voice exactly as it will sound on their projects, which certainly isn’t like you’re riding in a car with the windows open at 60 MPH.

OK now We’re going to talk about voice over scripts for your voice over demo this week and whether you should write them or not. So here’s the deal. If you are a trained copywriter, by all means write them. But if not, use the commercials that are on television and radio as a guideline. And people will often ask, “Is it okay to take something off the air? Aren’t you going to get sued for copyright violations?”

Well, there’s something called fair use. So I’ve actually checked this out with an attorney who said, “If you use a small snippet, 10 seconds or so from a spot that ran on TV and radio, you’re fine.” So the best source of voice over scripts is actually commercials that are running on the air right now, whether it be YouTube, TV, or radio. So to get access to a large database of commercials, there is a website called iSpot.tv, which is just that. These are commercials that are running on the air right now.

Now, a word of caution. When you choose demos, voice over scripts for your voice over demo, do not choose a voice over script that is famous, that is voiced by a celebrity voice actor because everybody knows it wasn’t you. And another thing that you can do is take a popular commercial and just change the product. So make it a different product than the one that was actually on there. But choose voice over scripts that are poignant, choose voice over scripts that are humorous, choose some upbeat stuffs, some things that are in the first person, some things that are in the third person. And all of that will be the foundation for a terrific voice of your voice over demo. Hope that’s helpful.

In this week’s “Inside Voice Over Video Training Blog” I talk about how to find the best scripts for your demo so you can put your best foot forward and increase your chances for success.

Watch this week’s short training video Here Now

After you watch the video be sure to leave a comment. I always love to hear from you so I can support you as you grow your voice over career.

To your voice over success,

Susan Berkley
Founder, The Great Voice Company

PS. When you’re ready, the best way to start your voice over career is with my VO Start Here training. It includes step-by-step instruction in my Perfect Performance method and a voice consultation with our talent advisor, all for only $47. Go here now to get the ball rolling: https://greatvoice.com/vo-start-here/