Udaipur Self Guided Tour
Voice Direction:
This simulated audition is to cast a voice actor to narrate an ongoing series of family tours; any gender, any age, any form of American English (neutral or accented). What’s important for us is clarity (especially important for our non-native-English customers) and friendliness (to keep customers feeling inspired).
Script:
Enjoy this self-guided tour from World Tours—over 1,200 cities await!
Welcome to Udaipur
Hey, fellow adventure seekers! Get ready to embark on an unforgettable self-guided journey to Udaipur, India's most enchanting city, featuring its perfect oasis—the best resort in town. So pack your bags and get ready to explore incredible views, luxurious amenities, and the ideal visiting season at your own pace.
During your tour, you'll enjoy:
• Stunning Views: Wander Lake Pichola's shores for palaces reflected in turquoise waters. Tip; visit at sunset for golden-hour magic.
• Luxurious Amenities: Check into Taj Lake Palace or Oberoi Udaivilas—indulge in spa treatments, boat rides, and rooftop dinners.
• Wondering when's the Best Time to Visit?: Aim for October-March to escape monsoon heat and enjoy festivals like Mewar.
Your Adventure Tips
Follow this route: Start at City Palace, cruise the lake, relax at your resort spa, then dine on Rajasthani thali. Replay the documentary vibe by noting "magical" moments in a journal.
What a fun, challenging script! We got a wide range of entries, from energetic and engaging, to slow and a little boring.
Many participants felt intimidated attempting to pronounce the Indian city “Udaipur”, especially because we learned the pronunciation shifts depending on the region of the speaker. We concluded it’s critical to check with clients on what pronunciation they are wanting, and to ALWAYS look up unfamiliar words to clarify the pronunciation.
Other participants mentioned that matching the tone and energy level to the length of the script was a difficult and delicate balance.
In longer scripts like this, clarity, flow, and pacing are necessary tools to create smooth, easy-to-listen-to reads. The voice actor wants to keep a calm tone, but not too calm, or the read will get boring.
Generally, we found the best reads made the voice actor sound particularly present, clear, and supported.
We also learned that a great voice does NOT equal the right voice. Many times, a submission sounded good, but was too announcer-y, too reserved, or too energetic. The submission and voice actor had a great sound… that did not match the prompt or tone the client was looking for.
It’s important to always keep the directions in mind, and make sure you:
a) include the whole script in your audition,
b) match the tone the client describes as close as possible, and
c) keep a sustained and supported voice throughout, so that the client can trust you can handle longer scripts.
Making sure your volume and audio quality are important technical elements of an audition. Simple things like poor audio quality or super low performance volume can immediately count you out of consideration. With how many submissions casting directors listen to, they don’t have time to listen to technically lacking auditions. With the 60 submissions we reviewed, we found the same thing.
Finally, in self-guided tours like this, it’s important not to push too hard to sound energetic or engaging enough. Relying on your natural voice and interest will help you sound present and engaging in an authentic way.
Watch the Contest Review for David’s full comments, and check out the winning submissions below!
1st place winner: Claire Gresham
Judge's Comments
1st place = Claire Gresham: Love her voice! And love her vocal-delivery: it’s peppy and completely free (vocally free, that is), with plenty of smile to influence customers! Her smile shines through… and even with music, her smile will be audible!
Two areas of improvement: She’s a bit fast at times – so if we hired her, we’d have her slow down at times. Also the word “documentary” (which is a few words from the end of the script) sounds like “doc-you-men-are-rey” (we suggest pronouncing the “T” for an international documentary. Her pronunciation was off on most foreign words (we verified with a native Hindi speaker).
2nd place winner: Wendy Wessel
Judge's Comments
2nd place = Wendy Wessel: A consistently warm, inviting, and engaging voice!
Although she sounds a little bit tight, as if she’s over-thinking and/or being a little cautious while reading. If she fully trusted her delivery and read with vocal-freedom, she’d be tied for first place. Her pronunciation was off on most foreign words (we verified with a native Hindi speaker).
3rd place winner: Lisa Torch
Judge's Comments
3rd place = Lisa Torch: we love how she kicked off the recording… with a bang!
However, after a few sentences, her energy waned a bit. Her pronunciation was off on most foreign words (we verified with a native Hindi speaker).
