How to make a Voice Reel

There are lots of solutions out there when it comes to creating an effective voice reel that gets you noticed.

Once you’ve decided which areas of the VO world you’d like to focus on, then you can decide what kind of samples you would like in your voice reel: commercial samples, corporate samples, audiobook samples, documentary samples… and so on. Then you can choose the type of reel you would like to make.

If you’d like us to do the heavy lifting, check out the different types of voice reels we make HERE. We offer Industry Specific voice reels, for those who want to focus on one of Commercial, Narrative or Character work. And we offer a variety of packages for those who want to focus on more than one sector.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or unsure of which kind of reel to make, drop us a line to set up an absolutely no pressure free consultation call. We’ll chat about what your hopes are as a voice actor and listen to your voice to make recommendations.

Should you wish to make a voice reel yourself, we offer some free resources to help get you started. We’ve also put together our ‘Create Your Own Voice Reel’ Ebook. This book walks you through every aspect of creating your own commercial voice reel from beginning to end including: Sourcing Your Scripts, Sourcing Your Equipment, Creating the Best Recording Environment, Reading Commercial Copy Effectively, Recording and Editing Your Reel, and Sending Your Reel Out To Agents.

A small word of caution about the DIY approach.
When it comes to creating your own voice reel, there are three main ingredients:

1. YOUR VOICE
2. YOUR SCRIPTS, and
3. GOOD AUDIO PRODUCTION.

And, though you might be able to control your voice and your choice of script , if you are not a sound engineer, the Good Audio Production part of this equation can make things a little tricky.

Bad audio production and music can completely undermine the quality of your voice, your voice demo and your potential for work as a VO artist. VO agents listen to countless voice reels over the course of a given year, so your demo has to stand out as something they can send to casting directors, producers and directors to get you gigs.

In the UK, many commercial and corporate VO jobs are booked entirely off your reel, meaning YOU DO NOT HAVE TO AUDITION! This is amazing. But it also means your reel needs to showcase your voice in a professional context, especially in terms of audio production, so that the people casting the jobs understand how your voice will sound should they hire you.

While we encourage and celebrate you saving some money and making your own reel, we want to be transparent about the challenges. Audio Engineers (like us) are highly trained in Audio Production. Teaching yourself to do it is absolutely possible, but it will likely be very time consuming. So if you’re thinking of going the DIY route, this is a tiny tough love moment, where we ask you to consider “Is it worth it”?!

Should you want to save some money AND have your reel professionally produced we offer a special service. You choose your scripts and record them, then send us the audio files and we find the music and edit them together for you. Learn more about that service HERE.

However you choose to create your voice reel, the most important thing is that you do it!

The most sure-fire way to obtain work as a VO actor, is to begin by creating a quality voice reel that demonstrates your amazing voice and its unique qualities. And you’re going to either pay for this with your time making it or in money for someone else to make it. That’s entirely up to you. Consider your budget, skillset and time.

If you’ve got questions, drop us a line. We’d love to hear from you.

And if you’d like to make your voice reel with us, sign up to our Mailing List below and receive a code for 10% off all of our Beginner Voice Reel Packages.

Wishing you all the best with creating your reel!