creating a demo reel for online voice acting

If you plan to submit to industry-level studios or agencies, then you’ve probably heard about the importance of getting a demo professionally produced. However, if you’re mostly submitting to entry-level online projects (such as indie, student, or hobby projects), and/or you do not have much professional acting experience yet, then it does not make sense to invest so much money in something you will outgrow within a year or two. In the case of online projects, it is generally acceptable to create your own demo reel.

Note that if you are still a beginner with no acting training or experience, you are probably not ready for any kind of demo yet. At this early stage of your journey, it is better to focus on learning and practicing your acting skills as well as submitting to open casting calls for hobby projects. While “demo drops” can be fairly common on social media casting calls, there are plenty of auditions on our server and other sites which do not require a demo reel. See this article for more info about when you are “ready” for a demo.

table of contents

• What is a demo reel?
• What to include on a demo
• What NOT to include on a demo
• Deciding on character types
• Coming up with a script
• The recording process
• Editing + mixing
• Where to post your demo
• Questions?

For the sake of this guide, we will be talking about creating a character demo, as that will cover most of your submissions for online indie projects (typically animation and video games). You will likely end up having multiple demos as you progress in your career—such as separate demos for commercials, narration, and/or audiobooks.

What NOT to include on a demo reel

Impressions (unless you are specifically making an impression reel)

Casting directors want to hear YOUR performance, not your imitation of someone else’s. Many beginner actors, when creating a demo, immediately jump to wanting to impersonate their favorite anime or cartoon characters. But unless you are specifically making a reel for the purposes of impressions/voice matching, this will immediately mark a demo as sounding “amateur”. If you’re only submitting to unpaid hobby/fan projects, it’s not a big deal…but generally it’s best to leave them off a reel that is meant to market and represent your own talent.

Do note, however, that existing characters and actors you admire can serve as inspiration to create a base for original characters you’d like to include on your reel!

Voices you can’t sustain

If you include a particular vocal print on your demo, it is assumed that you will be able to sustain that voice for a typical 2 to 4 hour recording session. Any voice type you include on a demo should be in a relatively comfortable vocal placement for you. If even just recording the spot for your demo is hurting or straining your voice, it’s best not to include it.

Accents/dialects that aren’t consistent or believable

Accents and dialects can be a great option if you or your family is originally from another region or speak another language. However, remember that voiceover is a global market, and many casting directors will be looking for either native/authentic accents or ones that are good enough to pass for authentic.

Nondescript “fantasy accents” are fine especially for video games (ogres, goddesses, vampires, fairies, etc), but the setting should be clear from how the spot is put together.

Questions to ask yourself before including a specific accent/dialect:

• Can I sustain this accent for an extended period of time without slipping back into my natural one?
• Can I still perform and make solid acting choices in this accent/dialect without focusing on my pronunciation the entire time?
• Does my accent sound consistent to a specific region, or like a hodgepodge of different dialects (for example, there are many types of “British accents” – which one are you doing?)
• Am I performing an accent that is specific to an ethnic group not part of my or my family’s heritage?
• Am I performing an accent that may be considered a stereotype or otherwise offensive?
• Would I be comfortable if someone who is actually from that region were to listen to that spot on my reel?

Cursing: YMMV

Most people these days won’t be offended by swear words, but it’s important to think about your intended audience. Using it sparingly on a reel tailored to video games or adult animation is generally not a big deal. But if you’re making a reel that you hope to submit to companies that produce children’s media, it’s safest to keep it clean. (And this should go without saying, but words that are considered slurs should always be avoided.)

Long slates

Slating is optional, but if you want to slate, keep it to your name only. If you have a long, rambling introduction talking about who you are and how you hope the person listening enjoys your demo, they’ll simply turn it off.

The exception is if you are based in a market where an introductory slate is the norm—in this case, it would be best to have one version of your demo keeping the long slate for your local industry and one without it for when you submit to the rest of the global market.

Non-character work on a character demo

A character reel should encompass just that—characters. If you wish to showcase your commercial or narration work, those should be on separate reels. Having demos tailored to different types of work will also help you target your submissions (for example, a video game producer wouldn’t have much use for your commercial demo, and a company who produces corporate explainer videos wouldn’t have much use for your character demo.)

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Coming up with a script

The ideal scenario is to hire a demo writer to come up with copy (scripts) unique to you and tailored to what you want to showcase. You can find writers through word-of-mouth recommendations or in the #non-vo-services-wanted channel on our Discord.

However, if you cannot afford to hire a demo writer and/or are making a beginner demo, there are a couple of options:

Using existing copy

• Transcribe lines you like from books, comic books, games, shows, or movies. However, avoid choosing anything too recognizable or closely identifiable with that property, as this can be distracting and make people think you are doing an impression.
• Edit the lines a bit to make them flow better if needed or even to portray a totally different gender, age, or character type. Change any identifying names or terms. You can even simply use the original line/scene as inspiration to write something similar of your own.
• You can also take lines from projects you were in that have already been finished and released to the public. However, don’t use lines from work-in-progress projects that aren’t released yet, unless you have the client/director’s permission.
• Do not use audition lines from projects you tried out for but didn’t actually book. If the creator or casting director of that project hears your reel, they may find this misleading or be upset that you used their lines without permission.

Writing your own copy

• A word of caution: It’s best not to write your own copy if you have no clue what you’re doing. Poorly written or stereotypical lines can make a demo sound bad even if the performances are otherwise solid.
• Rather than just writing a couple of lines, think about each spot as if it were a complete scene. Write out additional context if needed.
• There are certain generic lines that are commonly overused on demos to the point where it’s best to avoid them. Examples include “You really think you can defeat ME?”, “They took EVERYTHING from me!” and “Mom, I’m late for school!”
• Think “show not tell”, “action rather than exposition”. It’s a waste of a demo spot to have the character simply explaining what’s going on in the scene without any sort of emotional journey. It’s okay if the listeners don’t immediately understand what the exact situation is—remember that part of the traditional idea of a demo reel is that it could be clips taken from actual performances.
• Make each spot distinct in terms of both writing and performance. You want to be able to showcase a variety of scenes and emotions. Remember that not every spot needs to be super high-intensity—some more conversational/intimate spots are good to have, too.

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The recording process

When it comes time to record your demo, you’ll be doing so on your own unless you’ve hired someone to direct you through the session. Having an extra pair of ears is great (perhaps even a friend may be willing to listen in for you), but if you aren’t working with a director, it will be crucial to keep on top of your acting process and try to listen back to your performances as objectively as possible.

Tips for self-directed recording

• Don’t attempt to record your reel in one go and switch characters “on the fly”. There’s no real reason to do this and you’ll be more focused on the transitions rather than committing to each character, plus some voices could bleed into each other. Focus on and record each spot separately.
• Even though each spot is only going to be a couple of lines, you need to have a clear idea of the scene. Do your “acting homework” – make sure you know where you are, who you are talking to, and why your character is saying what they’re saying. Otherwise it will sound hollow and like you are just “doing a voice”. Clear and specific choices are key to delivering a compelling read.
• Do look over your script ahead of time and try a few test readthroughs to get a general idea of where you’d like to take each spot. However, don’t overthink it. If you practice too much, you will lose some of that spontenaity that makes a read feel authentic. A read that sounds technically perfect, but too rehearsed, won’t connect with the audience as much.
• Try recording three options of each spot (an “A, B, and C take”), listen back, and either pick your favorite or see if any adjustments are still needed. Resist the urge to retake over and over without a clear vision of what isn’t working—this leads to overthinking.
• Remember that not everything needs to be projected or over-the-top in order to “have emotion”. There is sometimes a tendency for people to shout for every other spot on their reel because they want to show they can handle emotional intensity, but remember that quiet and more vulnerable moments can have intensity in their own way, too. If every spot is yelling, a casting director may wonder how or if you’d be able to handle more intimate scenes. Similarly, choosing moments to choke back tears can sometimes be more powerful than sobbing throughout the entire line.
• You don’t need to keep the whole spot on the same note in terms of emotion or dynamics. (One thing I tell demo direction clients is to think of “layers and levels”—your character may be experiencing different feelings throughout the spot and possibly even conflicting feelings at once. If you have three “parts” to a line, how can you transition between each in a way that is distinct but still flows together?)
• Listen critically back to your reads: are the intentions coming through?

The technical aspects

• While a demo reel doesn’t need to be representative of your home recording quality (that’s what a raw home studio sample is for), poor audio quality can be distracting to the listener and be a clear giveaway that it’s a homemade demo. It’s important that your source audio is recorded as cleanly as possible—some things can be smoothed over in editing, but it’s much better to get good audio from the start rather than attempting to “fix things in post”.
• Examples of distracting technical issues that can make a recording sound less than professional include: Room echo, clipping, noticeable background noise/hiss, pops, and going “off mic” during a recording. Most of these can be mitigated with proper mic technique and a quiet sound-treated space. It can be impossible to get rid of every source of noise, and something like a low-level hum can be filtered out with noise reduction later plus you’ll have music and effects over the top of a lot of it, but steps like closing windows and turning off AC and fans before recording can help minimize how much work you or your mixer has to do later.
• Setting your levels is important. If you were in studio, the engineer would be in charge of this, but if you’re recording your own reel from home then you’re on your own so it’s important to pay attention to where the peaks are and be sure to give enough room (your mixer will thank you later). You can, and should, be adjusting your gain for each spot based on what you plan to do. For instance, if you have a shouting line, you’ll turn the gain down, and if you have a more conversational line, you’ll turn the gain up. By this point you should already be comfortable looking at a waveform and monitoring your levels. If something clips, it’s no good. The distorted sound caused by the volume maxing out is practically unfixable, so you’ll need to just turn the gain down and record again. While you don’t want to record with your gain too low if you can help it, it can always be boosted in post, and it’s generally better to have room to work with.
• If you are working with a mixer, chances are they will have specific instructions for how they want the files delivered, so always follow those first. But unless they ask otherwise, send them uncompressed raw audio of the final takes you want included – do not do any noise reduction, compression or other processing to your files ahead of time as this will make their job more difficult.

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Editing + mixing

Once you’ve finished recording and narrowed down all the spots you want to include, the next steps are editing the audio to make sure everything sounds clean, processing/mastering the audio as needed, and mixing it all together with sound effects and music to make it sound as if these could be clips from real productions.

If you have a budget for your demo, you’ll ideally hire someone to do this for you (check the #non-vo-services-offered channel or post in #non-vo-services wanted on our Discord) as mixing can be daunting if you don’t know what you’re doing. There are plenty of freelance audio engineers involved in the voice acting scene who offer demo mixing commissions. However, if you don’t have any money to spend on this or are purely making a beginner reel, you may need to put it all together yourself.

General tips for production

• Use the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation, aka audio program) that you are most comfortable with. While free software like Audacity is perfectly sufficient for basic recording and editing and can still do in a pinch for mixing if it’s all you’ve got, a more multitrack-friendly program can make it easier to layer spots and add in music and effects. Reaper is a popular affordable option and offers a free trial.
• Watch free tutorials on YouTube or read them online to learn the basics of how to edit and mix in your program of choice.
• Avoid over-processing your audio, particularly if you don’t know what you’re doing. Compression and EQ are common when post-processing audio, and some programs will have presets you can check out, but if you just slap on plug-ins without understanding what it is these plug-ins do, then it can actually make your audio sound WORSE. If you’re not sure, then less is more.
• Even out the volumes between spots as best as you can so that it doesn’t sound jarring to the listener. You may even need to adjust volumes within the same spot (but make sure it still sounds natural).
• Remove overly distracting breaths or mouth noises. Breaths should still be left in when they are part of the emotional flow of a line, but loud breaths between sentences can be silenced, faded or removed as long as it still sounds natural.
• The general pace of a demo should be snappy. Spots should quickly flow into one another without extra pauses in the middle. There’s a saying that every second of a demo is “valuable real estate”, so make it count!
• Check your mix on more than one device if possible. You may be doing everything from your studio headphones, but other people might be listening on consumer-grade earbuds, laptop speakers, or a smartphone.
• Again, listening to professionally produced demos (on agency or demo producer websites) can give you some great ideas on the general format of a demo and how it should flow.

Narrowing down your spots + choosing the order

• Put your most marketable voice up front. The very first spot on your demo is the first impression a casting director or potential client will have of you, so lead with your strengths! It’s also generally advised to avoid leading with a “wacky cartoon voice” unless this is truly your specialty and where you tend to get cast—these days, a lot of productions are favoring more realistic sounding reads. Leading with a spot that’s in your natural range can help casting get a good baseline for where your voice sits.
• Avoid placing two similar sounding spots next to each other in the demo. Whatever order you choose should showcase a nice variety in terms of characters and emotions.
• If there are spots you are still proud of but you think aren’t quite as marketable, you can put them towards the end, but the last spot on your demo should still be a strong choice—if someone does listen through to the end, you want to leave them with a good lasting impression.
• What happens if you put it all together and it’s too long? This is a common problem! It can be difficult to choose which spots to cut, but try to keep your demo down to not much longer than a minute. Even if you like all the spots individually, which one do you feel is the weakest link when it comes to the demo as a whole? Are there any that sound too similar to each other or accomplish the same general goal? Remember that each spot needs to fulfill a distinct purpose in your demo. You can try asking your peers to take a listen and give you feedback if you still can’t narrow it down.

Music and effects

• Unless a “dry demo” (a demo with just the VO, no music or sound effects) is the industry norm in your country’s market, then it’s common to have these elements included a demo mix. The original idea behind it was to make it sound as if the clips on the demo were taken from real productions. Though it’s fairly common knowledge now that most voice demos consist of material created specifically for the demo, music and effects play two roles here: 1) to paint a more cohesive picture in the listener’s mind as to what is going on in the scene, and 2) to enable listeners to imagine what your performance could sound like layered into a real production.
• LESS IS MORE! The star of the show should still be YOUR voice and YOUR performance. Some people (even some professional demo producers!) will put in so much “production” that the performance – which should be the whole focus of the demo – becomes secondary. Also, remember that no amount of flashy effects and loud music can cover up poor acting. Any post-production should enhance, not detract from, the vocal performance.
• If you wish to use vocal filters, do so sparingly. Examples of these include effects used to make it sound like you are on a telephone or police radio, or vocal effects often added to portray robots or monsters. A little of this here and there can be okay if it helps to sell the scene, but if the effects muddle your voice too much then it defeats the whole purpose. And again, filters aren’t a substitute for strong acting!
• To find sound effects or music to use, you can search online for royalty-free music libraries or free sound effects. Avoid using – for example – recognizable music from a TV show or anime as this can be distracting to the listener, unless you’re specifically making an impression reel.

Exporting your demo + file formats

Generally speaking, voice demos should be exported in mp3 format (choose the highest quality settings, if possible). While yes, wav is considered the “gold standard” in terms of things like delivering audio to a client, it’s used for exporting high-quality uncompressed raw audio to further be mixed/edited. So while if you’re working with a mixer you’ll be delivering the raw audio to them in wav files for further editing, your finalized voice demo should be saved as an mp3.

Why? The very subtle quality difference in “lossless” audio will be nearly imperceptible to most listeners. Similar to how you send mp3 files for auditions, a voice demo is meant to serve as just that: a demonstration of your abilities.

Keep in mind too that .wav files are exceptionally large. In some cases, you may be asked to attach your demo via email, and wav files will blow up the recipient’s inbox for no good reason, and may take longer to stream or download from your website for those on slow Internet connections.

Important note: If you are doing your own mixing, always save your “master session file” – not just the finalized mp3 audio – in case you want to go back and make updates or changes to your demo later!

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