Article: This is a voice actor's way of showcasing his or her talents when looking for work. Your demo reel can be comprised of original work or imitations of characters/scripts that already exist. It is important to have a quality demo reel that represents you and showcases your range and skill set. You can record your own or have it professionally done. If recording your own, pay attention to sound quality and make sure to do it in a place without background noise. You don’t want anything to distract from your voice.  Getting a professional demo reel can cost hundreds of dollars. It doesn’t guarantee a good demo, just a good quality recording. The content of your demo is most important. With a good microphone in a quiet room at home, you can still make a quality recording. Start strong, with your best work showcased in the first 30 seconds of your reel. A potential employer will likely only watch about 30 seconds of your reel, so make it count. A demo reel should be fairly short, no longer than one to two minutes long, and it should be straight to the point, succinctly showcasing several voices.  If you are creating a demo reel for a specific job position that you desire, make sure the content of your demo reel is relevant to the job. For example, if you are auditioning for a male character, they probably don’t need to hear your old lady impression. . You often need to have work to get work, which can be challenging when starting out. Try to gain any experience you possibly can so that you can build a resume. Take acting classes, attend workshops,  make a YouTube channel featuring your original content, get involved in community theater, offer to be the announcer at your school, narrate an ebook, or simply find anything relevant to voice acting that you can do to get started. This will help you to look experienced to casting directors and will help you to develop your skills. Your resume is much more important than headshots for voice acting. Professional headshots are a nice touch, but they can cost hundreds of dollars and don’t help casting directors because your appearance isn’t relevant to voice acting. Just like any other kind of actor, a voice actor’s career will be helped by having an agent represent them. Your agent will notify you of casting calls in the area and help match you with the right jobs. They will help to market you and manage your career. They will help negotiate your salary and will earn commission from your jobs. They will know of jobs that you aren’t able to find on your own. Send your demo reel and resume to talent agents in your area. Choose one that you trust and feel comfortable with.  Getting an agent will help take your career to the next level. You already need to have your voice developed and determine what kind of voice work you want to do prior to getting an agent. Find an agent that specializes in voice acting. Decide whether you want to work in television, films, or radio, and find an agent that specializes in that industry. Find every studio within your area and mail them your demo and resume. If you are willing to travel, you could even send your demo and resume across the country. Be prepared to wait for an answer and to face a lot of rejection. Studios get hundreds of demos and you may or may not be what they are looking for. Just because they don’t respond right away, however, doesn’t mean they will never be interested. Maybe they don’t have a part for you currently but liked your demo and will consider you in the future. Having a strong online presence can help your career. You can  make a personal website using a service such as Wordpress, you can showcase your skills on YouTube, or you can  use social media sites by making accounts specifically for your career. Casting directors are looking more and more at the internet to find talent. If someone has heard of your work, you want it to be easy for them to look you up and see what you can do. Having pages online dedicated specifically to your voice work will help you market yourself. If you are seriously pursuing voice acting as a career, you may want to live in a city with a large voice acting industry. Although the internet has lessened the necessity of this, it can still be helpful to be right in the center of things. Some of the top cities in the US for voice acting are Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, and San Francisco.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Create a demo reel.  Build a resume Find a talent agent. Send your demo reel and resume to studios. Build your portfolio online. Choose the right location.