Working to get your next voice acting gig should involve a lot of practice, and by working with voice application sample scripts, you’ll have your voice ready when the client wants it. The following scripts (and advice) are great for anyone to practice with or use to create their own practice scripts.
Practice is Part of the Voice Acting World
Voice actors know that practice is an integral part of success. Football players know the art of practice, as do violinists, yoga practitioners, bakers, and anyone who else is perfecting a skill. If you don’t practice, how do you expect to get better? Also, practice can make your skills broader, say, for instance, you can add an accent or dialect, or even a new age range or style to your skill bank through practice.
Maybe you are working on your demo script, and sample scripts will help perfect this, too. Don’t get the two confused, though. Your demo script is something you’ll send out to a prospective client or have on your website, but a voice application sample script will be a tool you’ll use for practice. It may be something a client offers to get you ready to read, or you can find different ones, like the ones you’ll see here, to use to work on your skills.
There are loads of ways to practice your voice skills from singing in the car or the shower to reading bedtime stories to your nephew. Some voice actors like to repeat fun lines or lengthy monologues to hone their voices. And of course, use sample scripts. Let’s take a look.
Short Length Voice Application Sample Script
Sometimes you’ll be asked to read or send a script that is quite short. Like 15 seconds short. That’s going to be just a few words so you’ll have to put everything you have into this short script. Let’s take a look at a good one to use to practice.
Script one
Let’s say this client wants a reading for the commercial for their new barre workout location. The voice will be a twenty-something female; she’s energetic and excited, but not too overboard:
Ready to change up your workout? Ready to get toned and strong? Join me at Barre Point to lengthen and tone, add balance and coordination, and feel great overall.
Think about the voice here. We know it’s a young adult female voice. We want to hear the excitement she has for this workout, but not intimidation. She’s welcoming and strong, but she won’t make you feel bad about yourself for trying something new.
Script two
Here’s another short script to work on. This one is for a tutoring service specializing in working with kids with learning disabilities. This voice could be male or female, but we want to hear compassion and trustworthiness.
You feel like you’ll never get it. Numbers swirl around; letters blend. We understand. But we’re here to help you. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done before. It matters what you’re going to do.
This voice inspires trust. It sparks the empowerment that there is help. But it’s a modest voice that has a deep knowledge and compassion ready to share. The age or gender of the speaker is not as important as the trust it conveys.
The fun thing is that you can always change a script and give it your own spin. Add a fun accent or dialect. Read it in a Shakespearan accent or a Micky Mouse voice. All of it is practice. But don’t forget to practice in your own concentration, too.
Medium Length Voice Application Sample Script
As mentioned, there are all sorts of ways to practice voice overs and refine your voice. You can do tongue twisters, read poetry, recite commercials when you watch TV. You can emulate accents and read books with different dialects out loud. But you also need to work on practicing voice scripts. We have some here for you to practice, and you can find others around the Internet, like on voiceactorwebsites.com. You can plug in what kind of script you’re looking for and get some great ones to use for practice.
Script one
As far as a medium length script, these are both good practice for a 30-second spot promoting suicide awareness.
Have you noticed a loved one acted differently? You can’t put your finger on it, but they’re just not themselves. Maybe they’ve seemed reserved, angry, distracted, or distanced. Do you notice them sleeping more or not doing things they used to love? If you’re worried about a loved one, don’t hesitate to reach out. Call the Suicide hotline and speak to someone. We can help get your loved one the help they need.
Script 2
Voice 1: I’m worried about Jake. He’s been so angry lately, and I can’t get him to go to the gym anymore.
Voice 2: I’ve noticed that, too. He’s like a different person, but I don’t know how to describe it. Or talk to him about it. He’s sleeping a lot, too.
V1: I said something to him, and he blew it off as feeling pressure from work. I really don’t believe him, though. I’m concerned.
V2: Yeah, is there anything we can do?
V1: Let’s find out through the Suicide hotline. If there’s help, I want him to get it.
Now all of these voices should be compassionate. But other than that, you could practice in any ethnicity or gender or almost any age range. You could add a dialect. And here you can really polish the compassion and concern in your voice. Also, the drive to help a friend in need is crucial. remember, in audio, you have to share the emotions through your voice. You’ve got an important job here.
Longer Length Voice Application Sample Script
You don’t think of voice acting as an endurance activity, but it is. Think about some of the work you could be doing. Audiobooks take hours of speaking, and there are the rehearsal and practice that goes into that to get the voice right and consistent. Some pieces have an out of breath voice or loud one which both take a lot our of the voice and the voice actor. By practicing longer sample scripts, you can work on your endurance.
Sample script
Let’s look at a piece from a short story to practice for a minute’s sample script:
The fall sun was gleaming through the leaves, and she was hoping that the dragon would know where to find her. She hadn’t seen him in ages and worried that he had met trouble. After all, who wasn’t out to get one of the dragons. Whether they wanted him for his magic or his scales, or simply to tout his beauty through the village and make some measly gold, he was always in danger. But then she heard a distant sound that still brought chills to her skin. The gentle flapping of giant wings, the smooth flowing sound grew louder and the air began to gather around her in a tender breeze, soon to turn ferocious. He was coming. The dragon was all right.
Think about how much fun you can have with this voice application sample script, especially if you are looking to get into the audiobook market. Play with it. read it at different speeds, with different emotions, and add dialects and accents.
As you are looking for more scripts to practice in a longer length, take this advice to heart from one of our Bunny writers from this article:
Find scripts that you can practice for a while. Better if you try to practice through a varied palette of script types. Try ads, documentaries, audiobooks, narrative videos, character voices; explore your whole range and you’ll be ready for a wider variety of projects!
Practice Can Help You Find Your Niche
The more varied types of scripts you can practice, the more well rounded you’ll be. As you practice different styles, you are bound to find something you love. You can fall into a niche without even looking for it. Perhaps you try out a Game of Thrones dialect on your next practice script and boom, it sounds fantastic! You may have just found yourself a place in the fantasy genre. And that means audiobooks, video games, and narrations.
From practicing different length scripts, you may find you do have that voice endurance and want to work in documentaries or audiobooks. Or maybe you don’t have that, and shorter commercial segments are better for you. You may love announcing or animation. You just have to try different scripts to know.
A Word to Clients Looking for Voice Application Sample Scripts
Sample scripts apply to you as well. You may choose to have your actors read scripts cold or offer them early so they can practice. It’s important to make sure your specifications are clear so you don’t waste the actor’s time and they don’t waste yours. Try to provide as much information as you can. This also helps if you are working with a service like us at Bunny Studio. The more you can narrow down your voice needs, the better we can help. Think about these characteristics when searching for a voice actor:
- age
- dialect
- gender
- ethnicity
- emotional tones
- style
- accent
You can also share details of the project to include things like:
- word count
- time span
- what it’s for
- the artistic direction involved
- dates needed
- target audience
- purpose of the piece
- is it a single script or will there be more
The Big Takeaway
Like most things, practice makes perfect. The more you can practice your voice acting skills, the better they’ll be. And yes, things like tongue twisters and recitations are very important, but so is reading sample scripts. Find different length scripts and ones of varying tones and emotions and voice. Hone in your great voice skills, and you’ll see how in-demand you’ll become.
