A demo is your calling card. It’s a short, tightly produced audio reel that shows how you sound in real-world voiceover situations.

Agents and casting don’t want to imagine your potential — they want to hear proof. A demo answers three questions fast:

• Can you book?

• Do you understand the genre?

• Can you take direction?

Auditions get you work. A demo gets you in the room in the first place.

If you’re serious about pursuing voiceover professionally, you need one.

A professional demo is more than just a recording of your beautiful voice.

It includes strategy, coaching, direction, targeted copy, performance shaping, engineering, editing, and mixing — all aimed at making sure your demo actually works in the marketplace.

You’re not paying for “tracks.” You’re paying for:

• Knowing what to record

• Knowing how to direct it

• Knowing when you’re ready

• And delivering a demo that holds up next to working pros

Cheap demos sound cheap. Rushed demos get ignored.

If the investment doesn’t make sense yet, that usually means it’s not time to record, not that you should cut corners.

Here’s the litmus test I use.

If you were sent an audition tomorrow for a national network commercial or a lead role in a major animated project, could you record an audition at home that would hold its own against performers who’ve been working for years?

If the answer is yes, then it’s worth talking about demo production.

If the answer is not yet, that’s not a failure — it just means the demo comes after some focused coaching or training. For most people, that gap is shorter than they think, but rushing a demo almost always costs more in the long run than waiting until you’re ready.

A demo isn’t practice. It’s an investment. There’s no prize for doing it early.

That’s normal. Rushing a demo is one of the fastest ways to waste money and stall momentum.

If you’re still building foundational skills, learning how to take direction, or figuring out where your voice actually fits, the smartest move is to pause the demo plan and focus on coaching first.

A demo should reflect where you are, not where you hope to be.

If you’re unsure whether you’re ready, book a consult. We’ll talk through your goals, and map out the swiftest, cleanest path forward — whether that’s moving toward a demo or putting the right pieces in place first.

There’s no penalty for waiting. There is a cost to putting out something you’ll need to redo.

You don’t need prior bookings to make a demo — but you do need the ability to perform the work the demo is meant to represent, and the demo itself should be professionally produced.

A demo isn’t a highlight reel of past jobs, and it’s not a DIY project. It’s a performance sample designed to show how you sound on purpose, using scripted material, under direction, recorded and mixed to industry standards.

Experience like podcasts, internal corporate videos, or tech VO work can be valuable background — it shows comfort with a mic and storytelling — but those recordings usually aren’t appropriate as demo material. They weren’t created to showcase performance choices in the way agents and casting listen for.

For first-timers, the standard path is:

• Train enough to understand how commercial copy works

• Learn how to take direction and adjust reads

• Then record a professionally directed and produced demo

A demo is an investment of time and money. Rushing it, or trying to do it yourself, almost always means paying twice.

No. A demo should be professionally recorded, directed, and mixed.

Home studios are great for auditions and working sessions, but a demo is a different tool. It needs consistent audio quality, controlled direction, and professional mixing so it holds up when agents and casting listen back-to-back with other demos.

Even performers with strong home setups record demos in professional environments. The goal isn’t convenience — it’s credibility.

If you’re unsure whether you’re ready to take that step, a consult is the best place to start.

From our first coaching session to final delivery, most demos take 8–12 weeks, working weekly.

That includes coaching, copy selection, recording, revisions, and final mix. I don’t rush demos. The timeline exists to make sure what you put into the world actually represents you.

Demo production includes:

• Copy written by a working copywriter, specifically tailored to your voice and goals

• Direction during the recording session

• Professional editing, mixing, and mastering

• Industry-standard final files for agents and casting

• A marketing strategy and next steps for commercial demos; as needed for others

Coaching is included only in demo packages — not à la carte demo production.

To start out, you only need one demo: commercial.

That’s what agents listen to when deciding whether there’s a place for you on their roster.

Animation, video game, promo, and narration demos can come later — when there’s a reason for them. Anyone telling you otherwise is trying to sell you something.

No — and doing so usually works against you.

Industry standard is one demo per genre. Each serves a different purpose, goes to different people, and answers different questions. A mixed demo signals inexperience and makes it harder for agents and casting to quickly understand where you fit.

Clear, focused demos get listened to. Overstuffed demos get skipped.

You can absolutely make an animation or character demo. But if your goal is representation, a commercial demo comes first.

Agents use commercial demos to assess your natural voice, your instincts with copy, and whether there’s a clear lane for you on their roster. Once you’re signed, agents often send animation, game, or narration auditions even if you don’t yet have demos in those genres.

That’s simply how the industry works.

Once your demo is complete, we’ll talk about:

• How and where to submit it

• What agents actually listen for

• Whether now is the right time to reach out

A demo is a tool. I care about how you use it.

If VO is your entry point into the entertainment industry, I strongly recommend acting or improv training alongside voiceover work. Agents assume a baseline of performance training, not just mic skills.

Your demo should reflect that foundation. There’s no upside to skipping steps.

Yes — and no.

I work with beginners who are coachable, prepared, and willing to put in the work. I don’t rush people into demos they’re not ready for, even if they’re excited.