How to properly brief voice auditions to MAXIMISE casting call quality
Having been a professional voiceover artist for over two decades, I’ve done my fair share of auditions. I’ve discovered that the project's outcome often hinges on the quality of the casting call brief.
Too many people simply upload a script and leave it at that, without giving potential voiceover artists any idea of what they want. It's like going to a restaurant, asking the chef to cook you "anything," and then being surprised when they serve you anchovy and peach pie! The following is my guide to crafting a sure-fire brief to deliver you the best voiceover casting call possible.
1. Go bespoke. No croak.
Don’t cast from reels or compilation demos. You want to hear what the artist sounds like now. You do not want to award a job based on a ten year-old demo and then discover the talent just recovered from a throat infection. Voice artists can easily record custom auditions in their home studios, quickly and easily.
It also allows you to hear how they interpret your specific content. Instead of asking for existing demos or compilations of work, provide a sample script and request a custom demo recording.
2. Describe the quality of voice
Most voiceover artists are talented actors. Take the role of director from the outset. I love it when an audition brief allows me to flex my creativity and show my range. If you are going to direct the final session, knowing your talent has range and flexibility is going to be great if your client has a change of heart or wants to try something different than expected. When writing your brief, try to incorporate categories and descriptive words that frame character and evoke emotions to capture the desired tone, such as:
Accent and dialect: Do you need a specific accent? For voice artists like me who deliver in several accents, it’s important to know what you are looking for!
Tone and style: Should the voice sound warm, authoritative, energetic, conversational, or dramatic?
Emotions: happy, empowered, content, relaxed, grumpy.
Age range: Young adult, middle-aged, senior, etc.
Gender: Male, female, non-binary, or open to all.
3. Be open about your budget
Be weary of having champagne dreams on a beer budget. When hiring a voice actor, be open about what you want to achieve and can afford. This will ensure that the voice actor's fees align with your budget, preventing disappointment after hearing an audition you love. Be sure to include details such as::
Rate: Fixed price or per-spot/per-word/per-hour payment.
Usage: Where and for how long will the voiceover be used? E.g TV, radio, online organic, or paid-placement, internal use?
Duration: How long will the finished product be used for? 1 week? Or in perpetuity?
4. Match availability to deadlines
One thing that can ruin a recording outcome is needing a VO to do pick-ups and finding out they are no longer available! Specify important dates:
Audition deadline: When do submissions close?
Recording deadline: When is the final delivery / live session needed?
5. Be nerdy about the details
Align production expectations with the talent’s technical resources:
Naming convention: To keep files orderly, specify filename syntax, such as PROJECTNAME_VONAME_GENDER for example.
Contact details: Where and how should voice actors submit their auditions?
Preferred audio format: MP3, WAV, etc.
Recording or delivery platform: Such as SourceConnect - in case you wish to do a specific kind of directed session. More on that in my follow-up article - “How to run a live directed session”
The more we voice artists know, the better equipped we are to leverage our skills and experience to achieve the desired results. Therefore, transparency and creativity in the brief is essential.
A well-structured casting brief helps attract the right voice talent and ensures you get the best performances to choose from. You’ll increase your chances of finding the perfect voice for your project by clearly outlining your expectations, technical requirements, and deadlines.
