What do those rankings really mean on Voice123?
If I had a dollar for every complaint I see about “Not Likely” I’d be pretty well-off. That doesn’t surprise anyone reading this. Let me tell you something that will.
People complain about “Finalist” just as much as they complain about anything else.
At first, I was surprised. “What are you mad about!? It’s good! They LIKE you!” Then I came to understand the reason behind the frustration. “What does it MEAN?” (Double rainbow guy just came to mind.) What do ANY of the rankings mean? After working with several voice-seekers and casting a few things with my own clients, I’d like to explain.
First, it is a pretty subjective process. There isn’t any one exact answer for each, but there are things that are true most of the time and clues to pay attention to when things aren’t clear.
Image on Voice Seeker page
FINALIST:
Obviously, if you see this, they liked you a lot. You are at the top of the list. “Finalist” is always a good thing. But what if you get a “Finalist” and then nothing happens? “Finalist” isn’t a guarantee that you are going to get hired. You will only know that you booked the job if and when you hear from the seeker, which could be immediately or in several months. Sometimes projects are cast and then put on the back burner for one reason or another. Or, they may end up changing their minds and going with someone else. Again, you can only be sure when you actually hear from them. One thing is for certain though, if you get a lot of “Finalist” rankings, you’re doing very well and likely being added to many people’s roster, even if no one calls you right away.
CONSIDERING:
This is also a good ranking. It means what it says. They like you enough to consider you for the project. Sometimes “considering” is a place holder until they make a decision. If you see this and you are tied with others for 1st place, wait a few days. You may see it change to second place if they choose someone else. If they choose you, it may change to finalist. Either way, it’s a good ranking. You made a positive impression.
MAYBE:
This ranking is very vague. It isn’t great but it isn’t negative. What it usually means:
- They don’t want to hire you but don’t want to hurt your feelings with a “Not Likely.” This happens more than you realize.
OR
- Your audition sounded just like all the others. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t unique and didn’t stand out.
NOT LIKELY:
This one feels like a kick in the teeth. Pretty self-explanatory, right? Well, not really. Your voice was either not at all what they had in mind or they liked your voice but it is just completely wrong for the project. I’ve even seen seekers give talent a “Not Likely” and then save them as a favorite. Others give it out because they truly did not like your audition and felt that you ignored their instructions. Don’t panic if you get this ranking from time to time. Again, everything is subjective. Only be concerned if you see it a lot. If you do, the following is likely happening:
- You’re having serious audio issues and are so used to your own sound that you don’t even hear it. Nowadays, when you audition online, even a little bit of echo or noise is unacceptable. Standards are higher than they were even a couple of years ago. If you aren’t doing too well, ask a professional to assess your audio. Even if you think this isn’t an issue for you, I encourage you to look into it anyways. Others can often hear things that you don’t. I have had talent tell me they thought their audio was just fine when in reality, the echo or noise was pretty overwhelming. There are fixes for these issues.
Need resources for this? Check out Dan Lenard and George Whittam
You are auditioning for things that are not a good match for you. You can’t be a match for everything! Stop wasting your time on auditions that are not your strength. You are causing yourself more harm than good by continuously making a bad impression on potential clients. Save your energy for the reads that you know you do well. It’s ok to try new things, but be cautious and always be honest with yourself about what you can and can’t do.
- You aren’t connecting with the script and are relying only on the beautiful sound of your own voice. You can have a wonderful voice but if you aren’t connecting to the message in the script, you won’t get hired. Is your inflection predictable? Does it always going upward in an unnatural way at the end of every declarative statement? Are you punching key words with an unnatural force? These are behaviors we default to when we haven’t really made a connection with what we are saying. Try a different approach or jump back into working with a coach.
WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED:
This one is pretty bad. When a seeker chooses this ranking, they have actually opted to block you from ever auditioning for them again. Many people wonder if seekers understand that. They do. On their end of things, it actually says “Never Again.” If you have received this more than a couple of times, something is seriously wrong. It may be a good time to stop auditioning completely and get back into training. I say “back into training” because I would hope that anyone auditioning has already been coached. I bring it up because I’ve seen many people under the impression that you can just start auditioning as long as you have a good voice. Nothing could be further from the truth. Plan on a good solid year of training before you audition. You should always be brushing up on your skills, even after that. Need a good resource for this? Check out Edge Studio.
Because of the ambiguity of rankings, “submit it and forget it” seems to be the healthiest attitude to take. Easier said than done, I know. I once got up during a root canal to grab my phone and check in on an audition I had submitted. Really though, the only time you should seriously be concerned with your rankings is when you see a pattern. Patterns are a sign that something is up.
Take advantage of the many resources out there and improve your skills! Take action and things will change. Sit back and do nothing…and things will remain.
Good luck!
About the author
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Michelle Falzon is a Casting Ninja at Voice123 |
J S Gilbert
December 10, 2012
Michelle,
You get hired, you get hired. Anything else is speculation. If you don’t get hired enough to justify your time, then you need to do some serious thinking. I’d personally like to see a survey done that indicates how many homeless people tried doing voice over before they became homeless. (That however is another story)
Seriously though, if you audition enough and/ or over a long enough period of time via Voice 123, you can gleem some insights based upon your feedback, beyond the mutual admiration society that has other talent tell you “that audition was stellar, they don’t know what they’re doing.”
No matter where you are, the smart actor is constantly working on craft as well as double and triple checks things like their recording chain, to make sure they are not losing those auditions because they simply don’t know what good audio sounds like.
One feature I wish you would implement would be a “will not be considered” for the voice actor. Personally, trying to keep track of anonymous audition posters who for any number of reasons I would prefer notto read for requires quite a bit of effort. It would be great if when an audition came up it had a little
to represent somebody I would prefer not to read for.
michellefalzon
December 11, 2012
Hi J.S.-Yes, I agree. It is all speculation and subjective. That is why I say only pay attention to patterns. Patterns always mean something. If someone auditions and gets a ton of “Not Likely” and “WNBC” then they should probably just stop and have someone else (an experienced VO) take a listen to what they have been submitting. When someone complains about their rankings, the first thing I do is listen to their recent work, and usually, I instantly know why they are getting bad rankings. Some people refuse to take the criticism and better themselves. Other people take advantage of all of the great resources the VO community has to offer and benefits from it. So, I say “Submit it and forget it…unless you see a pattern”
I like the “will not be considered” for talent!
I will pass that along! Thank you!!
J.E. Burton
December 11, 2012
Hi Michelle,
I read your blog and like it. I appreciate the wisdom in learning that sometimes even when I’m ranked as ‘Finalist’ and ‘Likely Hiring’ (saw this last back in 2008), and I hear nothing back, it’s likely the client has gone with a talent on another site, has used an in-house talent (for a regional project needing a talent with SourceConnect as one project was in 2011) or has scrapped it altogether.
I had one project I nearly nailed for Edge studio in 2011 had it not been for the white noise my connection had. That issue cost me the job. It was good that it happened, because it forced me to fix that issue right away; I sought the help of a tech expert. He suggested I buy a digital cable and change my preamp outputs. I bought it, made the adjustments, and that problem disappeared!
In short, those consistent rankings mean something and it’s up to me to act on them.
J.E.
Michelle Falzon
December 11, 2012
Thank you J.E. That project was only a temporary loss, but a long term gain, because you learned from it. Good for you for addressing the issue and improving because of it!
Regarding Finalist rankings, I have had many clients contact me months after an audition, because they had added me to their roster for a job that I didn’t get. So, even if you didn’t get the job, there are still opportunities that may come your way.
Dave Roberts
December 12, 2012
My thinking is slightly different. If “I” were Voice123, I would get rid of “Not Likely” and replace it with “Nice try, but we’re looking for a different voice.” I would also get rid of “You won’t be considered.” That’s like a “smackdown,” a slap in the face, and for upcoming talent that are neophites, that’s the last thing they need to hear. Get rid of that category forever or change it to: “Thanks for your audition, but we’re looking for a different voice.” Young neophite talent will get the message that they need more training, more years behind the mike, more acting abilities and more understanding of the voice over business by themselves. If they don’t get hired month after month, year after year, then they need to get “real” on their own time and on their own dime.
Last but not least; the category “Finalist,” (whether hired or not) means the voice over artist hit a “mark” that the client liked. I would ask Voice123 to post a page where those “finalist” auditions can be downloaded and heard. It would give everyone a good idea as to where they are in this business…what might have gone wrong with their interpretation of the job posted…or what they were doing right…or what they need to do to improve…and/or what each and every client was looking for when they posted their gig. To hear “finalist” auditions would be (I’m sure) a big “ear-opener for everyone that has a paid subscription. And that goes for all Voice Over on line websites, not just Voice 123.
All my best, Dave Roberts.
Steven Lowell
December 12, 2012
Dave,
I understand your opinion. But it concerns me. Take a look back at the times of working offline, and today’s online perspectives:
Did a casting director ever say anything more than, “Thanks” or “We will let you know”….and did they ever tell you, unless you were called back several times? I know why they didn’t, too, and it has to do with what people expect now.
So lets say, Voice123 says, “Thanks for your audition, but we’re looking for a different voice.” What makes you think that is any more satisfying? I mean…What next?
Why did they want a different voice? What was wrong with mine? Why can’t they explain more? How can I be better next time?
The funny thing…I disagree with something you said. Younger voice talent have an easier time with rankings. They are used to online communication. They would probably prefer things like “FAIL” or “OMG – Talent FTW!”
Complaints about rankings, actually come from those who are of the belief it is a teaching tool to get better, forget its a subjective business, or believe it should indicate one will be hired. They are not used to such a simple way of saying “No thanks”. It’s also my opinion and experience, that its good voice seekers cannot say much. It spares more feelings than one realizes. Have you ever seen what people leave on Amazon reviews or Youtube comments?
The deal is…this career is not about “selling vacuum cleaners”. It never has been. You sell something very personal…Your voice. But seriously, taking it too far is worse. In my opinion, I dont like rankings at all. I am a student of Susan Blu. No voiceover hangover for me. I wish rankings were gone because silence is a great teacher…and voice talent shouldn’t care what others think. They should audition, forget about it, and hope to get hired. If you want to get better, take classes. But you know…it is the age of Google, so we all feel we deserve to know everything that everyone was thinking, even if it is just a warm and fuzzy tool that offers nothing educational.
I think you may also assume that voice seekers will act the way you want, if they had different choices and tools. I am not sure if you have ever hired from Voice123, but think about it…did people offline call talent to tell them why they werent hired…They had phones right? Why didnt they use them?
Just because you give someone the tools, doesnt mean they want to deal with sparing people’s feelings on top of paying another voice talent, and no one can be forced to do something on a website. Any assumption of “force” is completely the personal interpretation of the individual. I know some of the voice seekers on the site, and they neither know how to help you improve, nor do they have the time to do it. But you know what they do want….? A way to send a custom canned answer that says “Thanks for auditioning”. Nothing more.
You see, at some point, one must accept accountability for how others have reacted to them. And take initiative to change for themselves NOT based on others’ opinions. This is an industry that rewards rule breakers.
Perhaps that’s why those trying to follow too many rules forget this is a creative, subjective industry. I actually dont like rankings on other sites too. I think its a way to “make someone feel happy”, more than it helps a person get work.
It’s a tough business, and there is no fancy nice way of making that go away. Voice123 is a place to get work. It’s not school. If I book work, sorry, I don’t think I owe it to anyone else to find out what I did.
Years ago, I booked a national TV spot that aired during the Super Bowl. I was hounded by people to find out how much I got paid, and how I got the job, or what I did at the audition.
Work is hard enough to get…dont expect others to give away their secret recipes.
Ya know what I mean?
Steven
Michelle Falzon
December 12, 2012
Dave,
I do understand where you are coming from, but please let me explain.
The words “Not Likely” mean just what they say. It is actually a pretty neutral statement. People read into it too much and think it means something horrible. It isn’t offensive but it FEELS offensive because it is a rejection and rejection doesn’t feel good. I hate to say this, but you need some pretty thick skin to be in this industry. Rejection is a reality of being in voice-overs.
Voice123 is a place where people can hire professional talent, and talent can grow their database of clients. The clients are looking to hire, not teach. I do understand where you are coming from but let’s create a hypothetical situation. Let’s say a talent using a computer microphone, with no training comes along and completely ignores what the seeker was looking for. He submits an audition that sounds terrible, and then continues to do so for every other audition this client puts out there. Is that fair to the seeker? No. Do you think that seeker will want to use this site to cast their projects? No. That affects everyone who uses Voice123. We want to make it fair for both the talent and seeker, and we cannot do that without giving the seekers some options when trying to cast a real project. The wording has been changed on these rankings many times to try and accommodate talent and seeker alike.
Greg Antoniw
December 17, 2012
Hi Michelle,
This was helpful in understanding how the rankings work and I have adopted the “submit and forget it attitude” because most of the time there is no feedback at all. However, I can’t help thinking that some voice seekers must not understand what a “you won’t be considered” means because of the large number of other talents who have “received the same feedback” when I have also received this ranking. Aren’t they cutting a large number of people from their potential talent pool based on one audition? Doesn’t this seem odd? Here’s an example: on one project, I got “you won’t be considered” along with 47 others out of 97 auditions. Another was 10 out of 20 who received feedback.
One of these was my first audition, so I’m not saying it wasn’t warranted, but surely there isn’t that high a proportion of truly awful auditions.
I have also received “finalist” and a couple “considerings” in my short history here, so I’m confident I am addressing issues with my own submissions, but something still seems strange about voice seekers applying “never again” so liberally as in the examples I’ve cited above.
Cheers,
Greg
Brian Atwood
December 17, 2012
Michelle & Steven -
Would you consider adding something like a “Talent Has Been Hired” feature to the Voice Seeker’s job postings system? It could be used to “close out” the job listing. In that way, everyone involved would know that the process is over. Talent wouldn’t have to forever wonder if they’ll get hired.
Maybe Seekers could get a “pop-up”-type of reminder every time they log on that they should “close out” any “open” postings, along with a 10 second, easy satisfaction survey to help you folks at headquarters.
Also, since many Seekers never give ANY feedback at all, what if Seekers were somehow REQUIRED to give a “Finalist” ranking to at least one person before someone is hired? Perhaps talent contact info could somehow be tied to the ranking system.
aaronp82
December 17, 2012
Hey Michelle,
Great article, well composed and a smart approach! I think, though, that it doesn’t address the most confusing aspect of the rankings: “There were 3000 talent(s) who received the same feedback as you.” I think I’ve finally got a grasp on what that means, but I feel like that’s the number one question I see in the forums regarding rankings. It was certainly the only bit I was truly confused over for a long awhile. I’m talking specifically about the question, “Does that mean the other talents received the ‘finalist/consider/maybe/etc ranking? Or the numbered ranking I received?”
Might be worth adding? Or maybe just explaining here for the folks that still don’t quite get it.
Thanks again for a great article!
A
Denise Fleener
December 17, 2012
Great article, thanks! Something that would be extremely helpful would be if I could listen to the auditions that were hired for postings I submitted to. The biggest improvement I’ve found since I started doing VO work is that my ear has become much more sensitive–I hear things now that I never heard a couple of years ago! So…..if there was a way that I could hear the audition that got hired, and compare to what I hear in my own audition, it help me refine and sharpen my listening skills even more……which is a critical VO tool!
Ali Shore
December 17, 2012
Hi Michelle,
Do you know if there a Dan Lennard or George Whittam equivalent in the UK? I
Many thanks
Ally
Steven Lowell
December 17, 2012
Hi Greg,
I was just checking these comments…
In truth, it does not sound odd at all. I think you are assuming that someone gets that simply because of the audition quality. There is so much more that goes into it.
I am not sure if you ever hired, but if you saw some of the things that happen, you would not be surprised.I would rank someone Never Again, for example, if…
They left remarks that insulted me
Were not even right for the job (meaning they lied on their profile)
Said or did something that told me, “This person may be a handful”.
As such, why in the world would you want to work with someone like that? Anyways…I love looking into these matters. Write me to steven@voice123.com. Maybe I can shed some light.
Michelle Falzon
December 17, 2012
@Greg-When a voice-seeker assigns a “Will Not Be Considered” to an audition, it actually says “Never Again” on their end. Unfortunately, as Steven said, there are some people who do things that warrant this. SmartCast also knows how to detect if a voice-seeker is abusing the system, and will not penalize talent for that. Good question!
@Brian- I really like the “Talent Has Been Hired” idea. It seems like a quick and easy way for the seekers to let everyone know that a job has been cast. Every job that posts right now has to have a deadline. Many seekers will manually close their projects once it has been cast, but not all of them do this. Not sure about requiring the Finalist ranking, because, as Steven said, forcing seekers to do something tends to not go over very well.
@aaron-I was going to address that but decided to write about it in a separate article. It is a very good question though, so let me briefly explain. Whenever you see that you are tied with, say, 4 people for any given rank, that just means that you and 4 others received the exact same ranking. That part is simple enough, but it gets confusing when it comes to placement. Let’s say you get a “Not Likely” but are in first place tied with 4 others. How can you be in first place and have a “Not Likely?” All that means is that the seeker did not rank anyone higher than “Not Likely.” That is why you will see “1st place.” You and 4 others all received “Not Likely” and the seeker did not give out anything higher than that. At that point, being in first place is not really a compliment. Does that make more sense? It is a very good question!
@Denise-I would love to be able to hear who booked a gig I auditioned for too, but many artists do not want to give out their secrets.
I completely understand the desire though!
@Ali-I think they Dan and George can help you over Skype, however, you can also check out “Voice Artists United.” They are located in the UK. Best of luck!
Jeff DeMuth
December 18, 2012
This is great stuff Michelle. I really appreciate your point of view. I am going to keep this and re-read it several more times. I am also going to take your advice and re-evaluate my deliveries each time. Thanks.
Michelle Falzon
December 18, 2012
Thank you Jeff! I truly hope the information helps.
Paul Rogan
December 19, 2012
Just a note about the phrase “not likely” – and I’ve given this feedback to you guys before and it’s been ignored – Michelle in a posting above says that “not likely” is a neutral phrase. Well, it may be neutral in the US, but in England it’s a very insulting and sarcastic way of saying no. It has for me that extra feel of a slap in the face when I see it. I know it shouldn’t, but we can’t help how we react.
Michelle Falzon
December 19, 2012
Hi Paul,
By neutral I meant that it does not always mean what people read in to it. We see “Not Likely” and we know it means “you didn’t get the job.” Rejection never feels good, so we project further negative meaning into those words. If we were to change it to “thanks, but we are looking for another voice,” people would still see and project the same negativity regardless of the words. However, if “not likely” is truly an insult in England, then I am inclined to say maybe it should change.
Gary Terzza
December 27, 2012
What wise words and thanks for shedding a little more light on this misunderstood area. My own personal experience may be of some further interest to readers; a month or so ago I got a ‘Maybe’. Nothing unusual in that, except a week or so later I received a missive via Voice123 announcing that I had been selected for the project! It was a big paying TV commercial too. Interestingly I checked my Audition box again and the ‘Maybe’ was still there. So don’t over-interpret the client’s remarks, even though it is tempting to do so.
In a similar vein one of my voice over students received a ‘Finalist’ ranking in the summer and then heard nothing until the following February when he was officially notified he had been awarded the gig.
At the end of the day voice overs are a highly human activity; it is one person choosing the sound of another. Try doing that yourself and you’ll discover just how hard it is.
Michelle Falzon
January 8, 2013
Hi Gary!
Thanks for the comments. Yes, it is amazing how things can change. I have had a ranking change 3 times on one audition. It went from Not Likely, to Finalist, then to Considering (where it stayed!). I have also had clients contact me so far after the fact that I barely remember the initial audition! I am probably one of the few people who actually likes the rankings. Many people want to do away with them, but personally, I feel they are helpful (even when they are negative). I want to know what the seeker thought of my auditions. If they hated it, then that information is more valuable to me than not having a clue as to what they thought. If I start seeing a pattern emerge, I know something is up.
noniecraige
January 17, 2013
Good article…. just want to share…weeks ago I received a Not Likely response, then got the job recently. Confusing feed back. Someone definitely didn’t like me and someone definitely did. I guess there is always hope, even with a negative response.
On Mon, Dec 10, 2012 at 3:27 PM, Voice123′s Blog – Voice the Dream wrote:
michellefalzon posted: “What do those rankings really mean on Voice123? If I had a dollar for every complaint I see about “Not Likely” I’d be pretty well-off. That doesn’t surprise anyone reading this. Let me tell you something that will. People complain about “Finalist” j”
claudia apicella
January 21, 2013
Hello Michelle.
You have helped me before so thank you for that.
But, where on earth do you get these rankings? I have never been told about them and have never known how my reading was received?
Of course, I am fairly new on the website and often get disappointed as I have never been hired. it would be good to know why.
Are the reecordings bad? Is my voice wrong? etc. etc. etc.
And, by the way have never used a watermark and wonder whether any company can use my voice without anyones’s knowledge?
Michelle Falzon
January 26, 2013
@NonieCraig-I love when it works out that way! There is usually more than one person in the decision making process, which can sometimes work to your advantage (or disadvantage).
@Claudia-your feedback can be found by logging into your account and clicking on your “Invitation Inbox & Audition Outbox.” Once you have clicked there, you will see a blue tab that says “Audition Outbox.”
Click on that tab and you will see all of your auditions, along with the ranking you received from the voice-seeker (if they provided any). As far as seekers using your audio without permission, the best way to guard against that is to record all but one or two lines. That way, they cannot use it for anything other than an audition. We screen all voice-seekers who use the site, but it is still best to be safe. Please feel free to email me at Michelle.Falzon@voice123.com for further information.
Steph Bower
February 9, 2013
Hi Michelle, @garyterrza great words as always. @paulrogan I do have to agree that Not Likely is a rather harsh phrase in British English.
Kay Christine
March 2, 2013
I’ve been doing voiceover since reel to reel, and still have a great career. The ONLY thing that has kept me sane over the years is the attitude that the audition IS the job. You audition, you move on. A booking is the icing on the cake. I don’t remember what I’ve auditioned for from day to day and that’s a good thing. There is too much life to be lived (life which brings wonderful depth to a voice actor’s read if you really live it) to sit around and wait to see what a producer “thinks” of you. If you love to audition, keep doing it. Eventually you’ll either make money or you won’t. That’s the clue that will determine whether you should cultivate your v.o. business or find a new one.
Michelle Falzon
March 2, 2013
@Kay-I love your comment. That is the absolute BEST attitude to take. You either book it, or you don’t. This industry is extremely competitive. If you get too wrapped up in getting angry because so-and-so didn’t rank you well, you won’t grow your career. I can certainly understand wanting to book work and looking for patterns in feedback in order to improve, but taking things personally every time you audition will give you health problems. It certainly won’t help your career. Use feedback to identify patterns, improve your skills and move forward. Thank you for the great advice!
Craig
March 7, 2013
My apologies if some of this was mentioned but I didn’t have the patience to read every comment.
First, and most importantly, in my mind, is that I believe clients do NOT know in some cases that “Never Again” means that the talent will never receive a smartcast invitation from that client again. I just did an audition this week. I was ranked 9th out of 43 auditions and 34 talent received the same feedback as I. It’s very hard for me to believe that the client intended for auditioners 9-43 to be blocked from audition for him or her ever again. This type of statistical breakdown has happened once to me before. What I think is needed is some pop up or confirmation when a client chooses “never again” confirming exactly what they are doing to the talent when choosing that feedback.
I do believe it’s ok to have that feedback choice. A live casting director has the option of telling my agent that he or she always wants someone other than me for an audition so why not have it in V123 also. But based on my experience, it needs to be made much clearer what that means.
Some more comments about feedback. I’ve booked jobs where I’ve been 1st but got a maybe. I’ve not booked jobs where I was alone in first place as a finalist. In my experience in casting, what is happening in many cases is that the person handling the post, listening to auditions and providing feedback is probably getting together the auditions he or she liked the best and is sending them to his or her client for final selection. I often get feedback of “finalist” where I’m 1 of 8 or so who received the same feedback. that means that the client has chosen 8 finalists and I have a 1 in 8 chance, certainly no guarantee that I’ll book it. I’ve also booked jobs where I’ve had no feeback.
One more thing. I’ve done a few castings for voices on V123 myself. I can’t speak for anyone other than me and a couple of my coworkers who seem to feel the same way but there are things in auditions which totally turn me off no matter how good the voice or read are. On one audition I received, the talent said (name changed), “Heyyyyyy, this is John Smith, and…I’m gonna give ya 3 takes here since this is just a short one” read in a very affected DJ sounding voice that was completely disconnected from anything conversational. I never listened to his audition. I also tend not to pay much attention to auditions that have mispronunciations or editing mistakes. I once received an audition that was 7 minutes long. The last 5 1/2 minutes were of other auditions the person recorded at the same time. TAKE THE TIME TO EDIT YOUR AUDITIONS.
I’ve gotten auditions with no name and only one take. That’s a turnoff. What I like is to hear a slate (and saying “3 takes” or “2 takes” after your name is good so I know what I’m listening to) and a slate between takes. For those who are used to giving one take, you’re not giving the client any option to select you if their direction changes. And that’s assuming you got their direction right in the one take you did. If they don’t want to listen to 2 or three takes, they don’t have to but to me, it’s imperative that I hear that the talent can give me two or three takes that all come from a different perspective. Perspective is important. I want to hear that a talent can give me different approaches to the copy, not just a different volume or a change of pace. Everyone can do that. Not everyone can give a different perspective on one piece of copy.
A friend’s startup company posted an audition that had the line that read something like, “call us at AT Liss IT solutions. My friend heard so many variations on this, the worst of which was “Call us at Liss It Solutions.” The talent read the word IT as it rather than I-T and left out the at. The line should have been read as, “call us at Atlas I-T Solutions” Everyone can make these mistakes but my friend said that only 4 people out of 50 read it the correct way and he said he only considered those auditions for the booking.
Geez, I never planned on writing that much but I hope some of this helps. I can’t say that every client on V123 is as hard on the auditioners as I might sound but I thought it might help to hear a perspective on what kinds of thing keep you out of the running.
Best,
CW