Pile Politics: Getting the Client To Vote for You

Many of us played the game as children where we would close our eyes, walk down the sidewalk or hallway, and see how far we could travel without bumping into something. Even though we knew the environment, trying to remember it in total darkness forced us to think about it differently.  

Voice-over auditioning can feel like walking blindfolded. You know how to put one foot in front of the other, but you don’t know exactly where the obstacles are. You may not be familiar with the environment. You know there’s some way to pass through the maze to book the voice-over job, but you wish you were more prepared. 

If you and a friend had to walk blindfolded through their house, they’d have the advantage because they’re more familiar with the environment. By the same token, voice-over talents who have more knowledge of what they are up against in the audition process have an advantage. 

Another way to frame this challenge is to think of voice-over auditions as what they literally are: a pile. In the past, they were a pile of cassette tapes or compact discs. The client who cast a voice-over job would play a pile of physical media. Today, voice-over auditions are a “pile” of digital files. Booking the audition can be analogized with making it to the top of this pile. 

When I coach voice-over students, I make a game out of navigating this pile. I call the dynamics of the total group of voice-over talents who audition for a job “pile politics.” I use the term “politics” because sometimes a voice-over talent who books the job makes strategic choices based on accurately assessing this pile and the client. This means that instead of walking blindfolded, they have intelligence and intuition about the space they need to navigate.

Here is a list of five obstacles you may encounter when auditioning for voice-over jobs: 

Talents Who Do The Same Thing Very Well 

Sometimes a job spec asks for a read, like “everyday guy/gal,” or a celebrity reference like “Morgan Freeman,” where a majority of professional voice-over talents who audition can deliver at a very high standard. This is an obstacle because in a pile of genius, brilliance can be fatiguing. The voice-over talent who beats this obstacle expects that excellence in one area will be common among talents who audition. Even if they may also be excellent in that area, they may decide to incorporate other types of excellence.

Talents Who Are Better Than You At What The Job Asks For

Sometimes, a voice-over job simply isn’t in your wheelhouse to audition for competitively. If your voice is naturally deep, you might not audition to play the role of a toddler. But most agents who represent voice-over talents will say unequivocally: sometimes jobs book on-spec, but just as often they book off-spec. This is a fancy way to say that the talent who “wins” the audition pile might do exactly what the job asks for. But just as often, the talent does an amazing but slightly different read and the client ends up liking it. The voice-over talent who beats this obstacle knows when they should submit an excellent read even if the job spec favors others. 

Super Early Bird Talents

As a general rule in voice-over auditioning, “early” always beats “due.” Sometimes, even if there is a deadline, a client will listen to auditions as they come in. Even if they wait until the deadline to begin listening to auditions, they may listen to those auditions in the order they were received. Auditions that get heard early are automatically competing against fewer auditions in the client’s mind. The voice-over talent who beats this obstacle submits their best performance early. 

The Skimming Client 

A lot of clients who cast voice-over talents do not listen to entire auditions. They may listen to the first five to seven seconds. In those seconds, they form their entire judgement about a talent’s aptitude for the job. They may listen to the first seconds of four-hundred auditions to decide on forty talents who make it to “round 2.” That’s right: just like boxing, the pile of voice auditions often gets whittled down in rounds. The client may only listen to the entire auditions of the second round. The voice-over talent who beats this obstacle understands that the goal of their performance is to get to “round 2.” 

By understanding obstacles in the audition process, voice-over talents can make informed choices that aid in booking work.