The thing with new demos is a lot like re-doing your kitchen.

With a kitchen, maybe you change out your cabinet knobs…which now clashes with your floor so you’ll have to change the floor. And you might as well change out your appliances if you’re pulling up the floor and before you know it you’ve spent $25,000 because you changed $20 worth of knobs.

Voice-over demos are a little like that too.

(Peter K. O’Connell NEW Political Voice-Over Demo – take a listen)
[audio:https://blog.audioconnell.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Peter_K_OConnell_Political_Demo.mp3]

When I re-did my TV promo demo (which really needed it) it started me to critically review my other demos (and my web site). One of the demos that needed tweaking (I felt) was my political commercial demo. So I did that (with a little audio support from my friend, the great Dan Friedman). Reviews have been positive (woot!)

But then I looked at the political demo page and felt something was missing. It didn’t call out “political commercials” well enough.

Then I look at the other demo pages and saw the same pattern. So I drafted some graphic image ideas and settled on a format that has a unified theme but still allows for unique execution for each demo page. A graphic example is on the top of this blog post.

The “brilliance” of all this likely won’t break the internet but it makes me happy and more importantly I believe will make for clearer concept comprehension for first time web site viewers.

Tags: commentary, Demos, political advertising // Comments Off on new voice-over demos deserve a new voice-over bow – political commercials

I just recently updated my Political Commercial Voice-Over Demo and I’m really pleased with how it turned out. My goal was to show my voice-over work in a variety of genres (for a variety of candidates and issues) most often heard in political commercials on radio and television (and now of course web too).

[audio:https://blog.audioconnell.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Peter_K_OConnell_Political_Demo.mp3]

Tags: Demos // Comments Off on check out my political commercial voice-over demo

This is my new TV Promo Demo.

My last voice-over demo for TV promo wasn’t as good as this (I’m not talking about me, but rather the overall quality of the demo).

Although I do think I sound better on this demo because I put time and effort in to studying with really good teacher and practicing what I learned. I’m glad I made the investment.

While I hope you like it, I hope promo producers like it even more 🙂

Tags: commentary, Demos, peter o'connell, voice over training // 4 Comments »

The last time I updated my narration voice-over demo before now was likely 2007 or 2008.

When that much time had passed, I think a voice talent needs to ask himself three questions:

1. Are you booking equally as strong off your narration demo today as when it first came out?
2. Has anything changed in your narration style that is not reflected in the current demo?
3. Has there been a change in preferred styles producers are looking for from narrators?

The answers to these three questions, in order, were: yes, no and no. Logic thereby dictated that there was no major reason to update my narration voice-over demo.

So naturally, I’ve changed and updated my narration voice-over demo. This is voice-over. Logic-schmogic.

A little background now regarding my opinions on voice-over demos.

First and foremost, voice-over demos are not odes to one’s self and “how great thou soundeth.”

They are a sales tool, nothing more or less.

There are at least ways (probably more, but it’s late as I write this and I don’t like to think much after 8:00 p.m.) to go about producing a new voice-over demo.

1. Hire a respected voice-over demo producer who can sift through your better work and also find scripts to produce for your demo that fit your voice (this is useful if you do not have strong audio production skills, if you need another set of ears to keep you honest or both)
2. Produce the demo yourself and have someone or “someones’ serve as a sounding board as you go along
3. Slap something together and call it done

For my narration voice-over demo, I chose option #2.

There are many talented folks who I would have been happy to work with on my new demo. I am, however, comfortable enough in my own demo production skin (having produced my own demos successfully in the past as well as demos for other voice talents) that production and performance quality would not cause me anxiety. I also know myself to be professional enough not to be hurt when/if the feedback from my sounding board universally pushed back against my own instincts.

This is where honest friends come in. Without them, a self-produced demo will likely not turn out well.

I should specify these friends to be NOT high school buddies or your neighbor. These need to be professional and talented voice-over friends. People who have been in the business for a while, who have made demos or had demos produced for themselves and who have listened to a fair share of demos themselves.

The collective knowledge in such a group of what “sells” in the industry (voice styles, “sound” and production quality) will keep a self-producer like me honest. But the onus on the self-producer is to truly listen, honestly filter majority opinions and be willing to change. The demo cannot become the self-producer’s “baby”. Babies are perfect, demos are not.

Whether or not this specific narration demo I have completed turns out to be successful or not rests solely on my shoulders. But my ability to complete it to my ultimate satisfaction would NOT have been possible without the help and opinions of the following professional and talented voice-over friends.

Dan Friedman – has some of the best ears in the business, in addition to his well-respected talents as a voice-over artist. He heard the first draft and the last as well as many in between. He also hated one mix so much he fixed it…and it was better after he did. Thank you for your patience.

Doug Turkel – some years ago, he took me to lunch in Miami at a hot dog stand very near a major modeling agency’s office which, it turns out happened to be unloading a bus full of supermodels about next to our table. He listened to my narration demo too…but it was a BUS FULL OF SUPERMODELS!!!! Thank you for the supermodels. 😉

My Agents – these are people who sell me to the world so it would be beyond stupid not to include these people (who live and breath demos and auditions daily) as a sounding board. Thank you Erik Shepard, Toni Silveri, Stacey Siegert, Lynn Heyman & Laura Von Holle, Stacy Hofman and Sharon Murphy.

My FaffCon Stand-up Group – these poor people have to listen to me every week and then I put in the extra work request to help review this demo. So thank you again Kelly Brennan, Kelly Klemolin, Diane Merritt and the aforementioned Mr. Friedman.

My Buffalo Voice-Over Meet-Up Group – the unfortunate souls only have to listen to me monthly but they too were gracious in their insight: Dan Lenard, Leslie Diamond, Chris Nichter, Maria Pendolino, Jodi Krangle, Fran McClellan, Fred Filbrich, Elaine Singer and Bev Standing.

I am grateful for all their help. Thank you.

Tags: agents, commentary, Demos, faffcon, voiceover meet-ups // 3 Comments »

Before I begin, I feel I must disclose that I was a past-member of Media Communications Association -International (MCA-I) and a national board member.

That’s right, the poor group (at the time) must have been in such desperate shape that they put me on their national board. And I have friends who are still on that board (and who are making it a great association today). I like the group but I was the only Buffalo-member, and with kids, I couldn’t build up the group locally — no time. But we did some great stuff of the national group.

With all that cleared up, I feel I am ready now to address that MCA-I has gotten a brand new logo for the association.

For any of you who have ever served on a not-for-profit board, you know that getting marketing stuff done like a new logo is like passing a kidney stone…difficult and painful, there will be vomiting and crying and the positive result will be a relatively small outcome from a lot of work.

But in MCA-I’s case, the new logo was TOTALLY worth the effort. It’s awesome!

I don’t know who designed the logo but it’s great.

I suppose I actually ought to give some historical perspective on why this new logo came about.

The old logo sucked.

OK, enough with beating around the bush, eh?

Well, I liked the colors of the old logo and the font but it was altogether too odd. It looked too much like one of the drawings CBS might have thrown out when they were first designing the CBS Eye logo. This is just my opinion of course, but since they have a new logo, someone in power over there agrees with me.

Allegedly.

This new logo (specifically with it’s icon) speaks to the heritage of the media professionals who started the association, working initally in film, evolving with the medium into video, straight through to the new generation of digital media producers who make up much of the MCA-I’s current memberships (certainly there are still many filmmakers still in the group).

For all of them, that icon totally works.

The font and capitalization of the word mark is sharp with rounded and pointed corners. Just nice. And they held on to those great, unique colors.

Plus I have seen some different versions of the logo for different uses and it is really flexible.

So congrats to ALL who were involved in the design of this new logo and the marketing plans that go with it. Job well done. I hope your group continues to shine.

Tags: advertising, branding, logo design, marketing // 2 Comments »

I suppose if you’ve been involved in an internet business long enough, have been posting long enough and have been referenced as a source enough, something like what you’re seeing here is bound to happen.

We’ve all seen weird stuff on the internet but let me tell you, having a news site plaster my face across a page and label ME the head of a UK women’s college was beyond weird.

I know what you’re thinking. But this is not something that was photoshopped or any thing like that. This was a page on the internet from a purported news site.

The nice woman in the below photograph likely studied hard, rose up through the ranks and is a fine educational leader. The gentleman on the left “allegedly” never went to class before noon.

So how does this happen? There is no way any human confused me for the leader of this college, so it’s my guess that some news bot botched this.

But too many people take what they read on this internet as gospel so heed this warning – this article proves it is not!

Tags: commentary // 2 Comments »