Auditioning Efficiently

Hey Reader,

Let's talk about the audition game. For many voice actors, especially those working on pay-to-play sites, the key to success isn't just winning a high percentage of auditions—it's auditioning for scale.

Think of it like being a sales rep. You have a good product (your talent), but you know you need to make X number of calls to get one client on the hook. In voice-over, you need to submit a high volume of quality auditions to keep your booking ratio healthy. It's a numbers game.

I also feel you shouldn't be spending more than 5-6 minutes per audition - TOTAL - once you are working at a pro level.

How do you do that? By auditioning efficiently.

The Efficiency Mindset

If you spend 30 minutes on every audition, you're only going to submit a few per day. If you can get that time down to 10 minutes per audition, you can easily triple your volume. Get it down to 5 and now you're really moving.

This doesn't mean rushing; it means eliminating wasted time.

Here are a few ways to "Audition for Scale":

1. Be Decisive on Script Analysis: Don't deliberate for five minutes on every word. Read the script once, get the core intent (who, what, where), and hit "Record." Your initial instinct is often the best. If you get direction later, you can fine-tune it then.
2. Template Your Delivery: Have your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) template ready to go. This means your track is already armed, your noise reduction is set (if you use it), and your preferred chain of processing (EQ, compression, limiting) is saved as a preset. You record or drop in your raw file, it goes through your processing chain, and you’re ready to export. Zero setup time per session.
3. BATCH!: Don't open the audition email, read through it, go record some takes, come back to edit, then process and bounce and name the file, and then send. And then go do all that again for Audition 2, and then 3, etc... Instead, batch these things. Record 10 auditions at once, then go edit them all, then bounce and name them all, then submit them all. Then divide how much time it all took, by 10, and I bet your "time per audition" starts getting much lower.
4. Use Your Warm-Up: Don't warm up before you start auditioning. Use the first one or two low-priority auditions of the day as your warm-up. This gets your voice and your studio reflexes engaged while still accomplishing work. They may end up being great reads, make sure you are doing them in front of the mic!

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The Math of Momentum

Remember, volume doesn't replace quality. You still need excellent performance and professional sound. But once those two things are solid, focusing on efficiency and scale ensures you have enough fishing lines in the water.

When you can confidently and quickly turn around a high volume of professional auditions, you shift your career from hoping for a booking to reliably getting one. It's simply a numbers game you need to play it well!

-Michael

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