| Radio and Television Imaging
Audition your voice! Let me ask you something. Do you test drive a car before you buy it, or do you purchase the vehicle based on the flashy bruchure the salesperson gives you, along with that free cup of coffee and a balloon.....? Auditioning your voice is sooo critical - and it surprises me that few people ever bother to do it! Why not have a listen to your voice talent with your creative elements. Sure, their demo (ahem, "brochure") sounds great, but you won't get a true feel for the voice talent until you produce and direct the product yourself. Any good, professional voice talent will audition script for free. Another thing that I don't understand, is why PD's almost never give any kind of direction for their audition request, or ask for a phone patch session for that matter. Why not? Call up the voice talent, ask for an audition - check out the quality of the voice and the studio while checking out how well the voice talent can take direction. Can you mold the announcer to the sound you want? Do they have a phone patch or ISDN service? How long did it take you to get a hold of them or to get the audition? Also, consider that you should determine the range of the professional voice talent you're hiring. Does he/she have a broad range, giving you creative writing and production flexibility? This is often overlooked. PD's fall in love with the deep thundering voice, only to find that's ALL they get. One read, one style, no character voices - regardless of direction. Sure, he/she has great pipes, but what if you need a character bit for your halloween promo.....whatever? Remember, you are paying for this voice and therefore, you are entitled to be able to use it for a bunch of stuff. Normally, this is unheard of in Radio or TV, because no-one thinks out of the box: they only hire the voice for the one purpose - Promo and Sales. So, what about character voices for the morning show too? What about other funny/creative bits and "bites?" Get more bang for your buck. Remember, your audition scripts should reflect the kind of voice range you want: Warm Promo, Hot Promo, Gritty, Quirky, Character, etc.   
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