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melissa eX · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 12:22 pm Post subject: Medical Narration Demo - Length?

Does anyone know how long a medical narration demo should be? Is 2:45 too long?

thx

Philip Banks · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:08 pm Post subject:

Only needs to be around 1 minute. If a potential client needs more they'll ask.

Lizden · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:18 pm Post subject:

I agree with Philip.
...of course...who wouldn't??? Rolls Eyes

Liz
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Bruce · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:33 pm Post subject:

I had an English prof many years ago, who when asked how long our essays should be said, "they should be like a lady's skirt....long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to make it interesting."

I'm with Banksey, too. Since there aren't nearly as many styles to medical reading as there are to commercial or narrative reading, a minute should suffice. I'm working on mine right about now and I'm going to have maybe just four clips in it....a description of a surgery showing I can talk peer to peer to doctors and say body part names well, something about genetics for a more clinical approach, something with drug names showing I can say those, and something for patients showing I can explain health care to non-medical folks.

B
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Dan-O · The Gates of Troy Joined: 17 Jan 2005 Posts: 1638

My speech instructor in High School had a very similar saying when assigning a short speech. He called them "Mini Skirts." Then followed with "They're long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep your attention." In today's world, I wonder how fast the high school would be slapped with a sexual harassment lawsuit.

todd ellis · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 3:41 pm Post subject:

i agree with liz, who agrees with bruce who agrees with philip :60 sec. or thereabouts.
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Deirdre · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 4:00 pm Post subject:

Yeah.

Agree.

Me, too.
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bobsouer · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 5:55 pm Post subject:

Me six! (agree that is.)
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melissa eX · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 11:23 pm Post subject:

Wow - unanimous - everyone agrees EXCEPT the engineer who's helping me with this - Oh well - got a lot of editing to do before I turn it over to him for music & effects...

Thanks all!

M

jasbart · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:00 am Post subject:

Not to break the unanimity, but I've always felt that you can get away with a slightly longer narration demo, primarily so you can show your ability to sustain technical copy.

I don't think it matters how long a voice demo is if you don't care that the end of it won't be heard. A potential client isn't going to be offended...he/she will turn it off when they feel like it anyway, :10 in or :180 in. As always, pack your good stuff into the first 10-20 seconds.

By the way, a lot of online reps require demos to be :60 or less. That's the only reason I've ever found to edit a narration demo down to a minute.

Jim
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Dave · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 8:43 am Post subject:

I agree with Jim !
but of course I've always been a bit of a rebel.
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