Prepare a Voice-Audition Brief for a Commercial Pitch

A voice-audition brief should make a relevant performance possible under arrangements everyone can see. Give the performer a situation, a short piece of copy that tests the actual question, and a direction they can act on. Say what the sample is for, how it gets to you, when they'll hear back, and what the work pays. If you can't yet answer the last two, the brief isn't ready to send — however good the copy is.

That last sentence is the one people skip. Copy is fun to write. A fee is a conversation with someone in another department. So the copy gets polished for a week and the arrangement stays blank, and then a performer receives a request that is warm, specific, beautifully worded, and impossible to say yes to.

To keep this concrete, I'll use a fictional spot throughout. A 30-second advertisement for Kettle & Crumb, an invented bakery-delivery service, at the stage where the agency is pitching the account and nobody has approved anything. On screen: a man crosses a courtyard carrying an open box of pastries. A dog follows him. He's eleven steps from the door. The front corner of the box is separating where the cardboard got damp, and he hasn't looked down. One narrator speaks over eight seconds of it, watching. No performer has been approached, and the packet below is invented for the example.

Name what the voice is doing in the commercial

Start with three things: who speaks, who is being addressed, and what the speaker is trying to accomplish in this moment. Those answers do more casting work than any adjective list.

"Warm but confident" names a feeling and stops there. It doesn't say whether the voice is reassuring Dev, confiding in the viewer, or trying to sound certain and failing. Those are three different commercials, and a performer who reads the same words for all three is doing three different jobs. You cannot cast the middle one by asking for warmth.

The relationship to the image matters just as much. In our spot, the narrator can see what Dev can't, which is the whole engine of the last line. If the narrator could be heard by Dev, the same words become a warning shouted across a courtyard, and the scene changes. That's a fact about the world of the spot, not a note about tone, and the brief has to state it.

So the first paragraph of a real brief reads less like a casting notice and more like a situation: "One narrator, inside the courtyard, a few feet behind Dev, speaking to a single viewer standing beside them. Dev can't hear either of them. The narrator can see the dog and the box. The viewer can see the dog and not the box." That's a person, a listener, and a reason to talk. Now a performer has something to do.

Select a passage that tests the actual question

Choose the shortest section that contains the turn you need to hear. Not the whole script by default.

The question the Kettle & Crumb pitch actually needs answered is whether the narrator is a bystander with no history here, or someone who has told Dev about that box before. The eight seconds that answer it are the end of the copy: the turn from watching to speaking. The first half of the spot — the dog, the eleven steps, the courtyard — is setup the performer needs for context but doesn't need to audition. Eight seconds is proportionate.

Context is part of the selection, though. The performer should know that the box fails at 0:22.5, half a beat after the last word, in a spot where the copy runs from 0:14 to 0:22. Without that, a careful performer will play the last line as a surprised warning, and you'll have auditioned surprise when you meant to audition certainty.

Also name the wording you're still unsure about. A line you're about to cut shouldn't be a line someone builds a performance around. Either freeze the passage for the audition and say so, or say plainly that if it changes, you'll re-issue the sample rather than let people guess which version they were cast on.

What you must not do is quietly expand a casting question into a finished recording. Asking for a full read of the script, mixed, at broadcast quality, before the account is won asks for the finished commercial in exchange for the chance to be considered for it. That's a different request with a different price attached, and it belongs in a different conversation.

Give directions that can be performed

Write one primary direction, then a contrasting alternative if it earns its place. A direction is playable when it names a person to imagine and an action to take.

The primary direction for our spot:

You're on the courtyard steps, a few feet behind Dev, talking to one person standing next to you who can't see what you can see. You've been here before and you're not worried — you're entertained, and a little fond. Low, close, unhurried. The last line isn't a warning. You're saying it to the person beside you the way you'd say it to stop them from pointing at it. You already know how this ends. Play the certainty, not the surprise.

The contrasting direction should test a genuinely different premise, not a dial setting:

You're Dev's friend and you are not amused. You have told him about that box. The last line is said to the room, flat, the way you'd close a curtain.

Those two takes answer the same casting question from opposite sides: is this narrator a stranger, or somebody with history? A performer who gives you both is showing you the range of the premise, which is what a pitch needs. An alternative that asks for "slower and warmer" or "more energetic" doesn't expose a choice — it just asks for the same performance twice.

Pronunciation needs writing down. In our copy the character is named Dev: one syllable, rhyming with "rev," short for Devan. Not "Dave," not two syllables. Put it in the brief in plain words. If the client has an approved recording with the name in it, attach that instead of describing it — and if you don't know whether one exists, that's a question for the producer, not a guess for the performer. Never point at somebody else's performance and ask for that; you'll get an imitation and lose the audition.

State the arrangements before inviting work

This is the section that decides whether the request is real. It needs six things, in writing, before the copy goes out.

What you're asking for. Two takes, one per direction, of the eight-second passage. Neither performer nor client should have to infer whether a full read is expected.

How to submit it. Files, format, and what you don't want — no music, no effects, no heavy processing, a beat of room tone at the top so you can hear the space. Keep the reasoning visible: you want to hear the take, not the mix. Say that you want both takes, not just the one the performer prefers, because you're comparing one direction at a time.

What the sample is for. Internal pitch evaluation by the pitch team is the minimum. Whether the client hears it at the pitch meeting is a bigger use, and it should be written down before anyone records rather than discovered afterwards.

What you won't do with it. Say it in plain words, and let the performer decline.

The money. Record the actual arrangement for the sample itself. If the fee isn't settled, the brief waits.

The schedule and the contact. When it's due, when decisions are made, who answers questions, and what happens to the files afterwards.

One voice performer, Toby Ricketts, writing about casting calls on his own site, describes briefing a short relevant sample with performance direction, intended use and delivery information rather than relying only on an existing reel (tobyrickettsvoiceover.com). The useful part is the shape of the request: current material, a specific job, and information a performer can work from. It's one practitioner's account of his own calls — not a rule about fees, and it settles nothing about whether audition work is paid. That question belongs with whoever holds the budget, answered with real numbers and a real use, not with a line about how good the exposure will be.

The packet, assembled

Here is what Kettle & Crumb's packet looks like with the copy, the note, the two directions, and the fields marked honestly. Nothing about it has been sent anywhere, and the closed fields are the reason.

Sample copy (0:14–0:22):

Eleven steps to the door. Eleven. Come on, Dev. That dog is not going to help you. [beat] Okay. Nobody look at the bottom of the box.

Pronunciation: Dev — one syllable, rhymes with "rev." Short for Devan. Not "Dave."

Direction A (primary): as written above — the fond bystander on the steps, speaking to one viewer, playing certainty rather than surprise.

Direction B (contrast): as written above — Dev's friend, exasperated, who has warned him about the box before.

Timing note: the front corner of the box gives way at 0:22.5, just after the final word.

Two of those rows stop the packet from going out. The fee and the dates aren't details to fill in later; they're the terms a performer needs in order to decide whether to do the work at all. Everything above them took an afternoon.

Review the performance against the brief

Listen first for the one question the passage was chosen to answer. Is this narrator beside the viewer, or someone with history with Dev? Compare A takes with A takes and B takes with B takes. Ranking a strong A against a weak B measures nothing, because they're answering different questions.

Keep interpretation separate from recording craft. A clear performance captured in a kitchen with a truck going past is still a clear performance, and it may be enough to decide whether the premise works. Fix the sound later, with a proper brief, if there is a later.

When several performers make the same mistake, the note was unclear — not the performers. If three takes play the last line as a warning, the direction didn't land, and the fix is a rewritten direction and a second, honest request. Route the decision through the people authorized to make it, and don't tell anyone they've got the job before the agreement exists. If a new direction would materially change what's being asked, that's changed work to be discussed on its own terms, not a revision folded into the original sample.

Directions are decisions, not delivery options

The two directions in that packet aren't a footnote to the brief. If the narrator has history with Dev, the spot may need a second presence on screen, and the pitch deck can't be finished until someone chooses. Writing both down doesn't delay the choice; it forces it into view while there's still time to change the spot.

So the test for a finished brief is short. Can a performer read it and know what to do, who they're imaginary-talking to, what the file is for, when they'll hear back, and what it pays? If any of those is missing, the brief isn't finished. And if the missing answers sit with someone else — a producer holding the fee, a client who hasn't confirmed the pitch date — the right move is to hold the request and say so, rather than send the copy out and hope the rest sorts itself out. The copy was the easy part.

Frequently asked questions

What must a voice-audition brief include before it can be sent?

It needs a situation, a short passage that tests the actual question, directions a performer can act on, and the arrangements written down: what you are asking for, how to submit, what the sample is for, what you will not do with it, the money, and the schedule and contact. The situation should say who speaks, who is being addressed, and what the speaker is trying to accomplish. If the fee and dates are not agreed, the brief is not ready to send, because those are terms a performer needs in order to decide whether to do the work at all.

How do I choose the audition copy?

Choose the shortest section that contains the turn you need to hear, not the whole script by default. In the invented Kettle & Crumb spot, the question is whether the narrator is a bystander with no history or someone who has told Dev about that box before, and the eight-second end of the copy answers it. Give context that matters: the box fails at 0:22.5, half a beat after the last word, in a spot where the copy runs from 0:14 to 0:22. Without that, a careful performer may play the last line as a surprised warning when you meant to audition certainty. Either freeze the passage and say so, or say plainly that if it changes you will re-issue the sample. Do not quietly expand a casting question into a full read, mixed, at broadcast quality.

What makes a direction performable, and what should a contrasting direction do?

A direction is playable when it names a person to imagine and an action to take. The primary direction in the example places the narrator on the courtyard steps a few feet behind Dev, talking to one person standing beside them who cannot see what the narrator sees; the narrator has been here before, is entertained and a little fond, speaks low, close, and unhurried, and the last line plays certainty rather than surprise. The contrasting direction should test a genuinely different premise, not a dial setting: for example, the narrator is Dev's friend, not amused, has told him about the box, and says the last line flat to the room. 'Slower and warmer' or 'more energetic' does not expose a choice; it asks for the same performance twice.

How should pronunciation and references to other performances be handled?

Write pronunciation in plain words. In the example, Dev is one syllable, rhymes with 'rev,' short for Devan, not 'Dave,' not two syllables. If the client has an approved recording with the name in it, attach that instead of describing it; if you do not know whether one exists, ask the producer rather than guess. Never point at somebody else's performance and ask for that, because you will get an imitation and lose the audition.

How should I review audition takes?

Listen first for the one question the passage was chosen to answer: is this narrator beside the viewer, or someone with history with Dev? Compare A takes with A takes and B takes with B takes; ranking a strong A against a weak B measures nothing because they answer different questions. Keep interpretation separate from recording craft: a clear performance captured in a kitchen with a truck going past is still a clear performance and may be enough to decide whether the premise works. When several performers make the same mistake, the note was unclear, not the performers; fix the direction and make a second honest request. Route the decision through people authorized to make it, and do not tell anyone they have the job before the agreement exists. If a new direction would materially change what is being asked, that is changed work to be discussed on its own terms, not a revision folded into the original sample.

Further reading

• Describe the Performance You Want, Not Just the People You Want to Cast — For the part that writes two directions: this separates the performance paragraph from the casting line, so a direction answers how the moment plays without promising who plays it.