Talent Poole Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get represented by Talent Poole?
Can you help me make a voice over demo?
What are the costs involved in being represented by Talent Poole?
Do you represent children?
Do I have to have a professional photo?
Can you recommend good photographers and/or sound studios to work with?
Do you represent "out-of-town" voice talent?

How do I get represented by Talent Poole?

To be considered for representation for on-camera and print work, please submit a photo, resume and cover letter.

To be considered for representation for voice-overs, please submit a 60-90 second demo cd of your voice-over work.

Send these materials to:

     Talent Poole
     1595 Selby Avenue
     Suite #200, The Park Building
     Saint Paul, MN 55104
     Attn: Geanette

Once we receive your information, we will be happy to contact you regarding representation.

Can you help me make a voice over demo?

Here's an outline that will help you make an effective voice demo cd.

Demo should be no more than 60-90 seconds long.
You should have 4-8 "snippets" of commercials, narration copy, and any character voices or impersonations you do. (Not everyone will have those last two items).
Gather material by listening to the radio and tv and transcribing or recording commercials that you hear being done by someone with a voice quality similar to yours, or commercials with copy that is interesting to you.
You can also take material from newspapers, magazines, how-to manuals (those non-commercial, descriptive kinds of material are called "industrials" -- they are videos that would be made by, let's say, Medtronic, describing to their sales force how to present some new products, for example).
Make sure the material you take from print, if you use any, makes sense without the accompanying pictures or graphics. Your demo will only be heard, obviously; so the words have to make sense without the affect of the accompanying photos or graphics.
Once you've gathered your material, you want to practice it a number of times, so you get a smooth, natural-sounding read. People are not looking for big booming "announcer-types" these days. They're looking for the friendly, knowledgeable person next door. That's the tone we look for in your demo as well.

That said, we do like to hear variety. If you DO have a big booming voice, you can put one of those spots on your demo. Just make sure you have a nice variety.
Contact a studio with a professional engineer and set up a session to make your demo. You'll take your materials to the session, record each "spot" in its entirety. Then you and the engineer will sit down together and take out what I call "snippets" of each spot and weave them together with music and sound effects to make your demo.

The reason you record an entire "spot", even though you may not end up using the whole thing, is because the piece will flow better, inflections will be more natural,etc.

If you want an idea of what a demo should sound like, you can to go talentpoole.com to the Sound page and listen to the demos we have on there. Those are the people we currently represent for voice over work, and their demos are very competitive.
Then, you get some copies made of your CD with a label on it listing your name, date recorded, and your phone numbers. Send it off to agencies and see if you get any nibbles.

That's a run-down of how to make a voice demo.

What are the costs involved in being represented by Talent Poole?

If you are represented by Talent Poole, once you book a job (for any media -- voice, on-camera, print) and are paid for it, we take a 10% commission from the amount you earn for the job.

If you would like your photo to be posted on our website, we charge a one-time fee of $20 to post your photo. If you would then like the photo changed or updated at a later time, we charge a $10 update fee.

Those selected to be represented for voice work by Talent Poole, pay an annual fee of $25 to be listed on our website.

Do you represent children?

Yes, we do. We represent children from age five on up.

Do I have to have a professional photo?

We highly recommend it. So many of our clients begin their casting process by going to our website and looking at photos and resumes. The better quality photo you have, the better first impression you will make.

Can you recommend good photographers and/or sound studios to work with?

Yes, we sure can. Please give us a call, and we'll be happy to send you a list of our recommendations.

Do you represent "out-of-town" voice talent?

We have had limited success representing voice talent who live outside the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. We feel that as technology changes, and more people have the equipment to do long-distance voice overs, that our production community may become more open to the possibility.

You're always welcome to submit your demo, and if we think you'd be a great fit with the kind of work we do, we'll do our best to make it work.