12 short scripts picked for demo reels, each one a different kind of spot. All original, so you can put them on your reel.
Written by the VO Journey Academy coaching team. Updated 3 October 2026.
A demo is a short reel of you sounding like the jobs you want. Every clip should sound like a different real spot, in your natural voice. These scripts are short and easy to cut down. Pick 6 to 8 that sound different from each other. Record each one many times, and keep only the best line or two from each. Lead with your strongest clip.
15-second spots
Short and punchy. Good for the first few seconds of a reel.
Spooky Low Prices
Halloween, car dealershipAdult (40-55)Southern US1 (male)15 secondsabout 12s
The only thing scary at Lakeside Motors is how good these deals are!
Every truck on the lot is marked down through October thirty-first.
Lakeside Motors. No tricks. Just trucks.
Direction: Big local car-lot energy, fully aware it is corny What it is for: A hard-sell local read that winks at its own pun. Coach's note: Watch out for apologizing for the pun. Commit to 'scary good' at full volume, then drop to a normal voice for the date. What casting listens for: Casting listens for energy and a clear end date. Local car spots book the voice that sounds like a real person.
Fourth of July, fireworks standAdult (40-55)Southern US1 (male)15 secondsabout 15s
Thunder Jack's Fireworks is open! Big tent, corner of Route Nine and Miller Road. Buy one, get one on every fountain, sparkler and rocket.
Your neighbors are gonna love you. Or call somebody.
Thunder Jack's. Open till midnight.
Direction: Loud, friendly, a roadside showman who knows everybody in town What it is for: A regional hard sell with a location to land and one dry aside. Coach's note: Watch out for laying the accent on thick. Keep it natural so the address stays clear. The turn is 'Or call somebody', which goes quiet and sideways before the tag comes back up. What casting listens for: Casting listens for a real person, not a cartoon, and a location you could drive to.
Christmas morning. The fire truck is out of the box. The whole family is watching.
And it needs four double A batteries.
Embercell. The twenty-four pack. Buy it now, be the hero later.
Embercell. Power for the big morning.
Direction: A storyteller setting a scene, then the flat drop of bad news What it is for: Painting a picture in three short lines and paying it off with one. Coach's note: Watch out for giving away the punchline. Keep the first three lines warm and proud so the listener relaxes. The turn is 'And it needs four double A batteries', said like a parent who has just realized. What casting listens for: Casting listens for a scene they can see and a product line that feels like the rescue.
After my knee surgery, I told my grandkids I'd be back on the hiking trail by fall. They didn't believe me. Honestly, neither did I.
Stepback Physical Therapy built me a plan, and we worked it, week by week. Last Sunday, I beat my grandson to the top of Miller's Ridge.
Stepback has four locations across the valley, early appointments, and therapists who actually listen.
Stepback Physical Therapy. Ask your doctor for a referral.
Direction: Warm, determined, a little spark of pride What it is for: A testimonial-style local healthcare read from an older, active narrator. Coach's note: Watch out for making the injury sound tragic. The story is about getting moving; the lift starts at 'week by week'. What casting listens for: Casting listens for a real person telling their own story, with a genuine regional warmth.
My grandfather wore the same watch for fifty-one years. Through a war, a shipyard, four children, and one very unlucky fishing trip.
He wound it every morning, before the kettle, before the paper.
When he gave it to me, it was still keeping perfect time. I wind it every morning now.
Thorne and Vessey. Watchmakers in Clerkenwell since eighteen ninety-four.
Made to be handed down.
Direction: Gentle, a little husky, full of memory; a man at a kitchen table with a watch in his hand What it is for: Heritage story spot. Trains a slow emotional build without tipping into sentimentality. Coach's note: Watch out for playing the ending for tears. He's grateful, not grieving. The turn is 'He wound it every morning', where the memory comes into focus. Let the last line be warm and plain. What casting listens for: Casting listens for truth in the small details, and a tag that sounds like part of the story.
Okay, so I ordered the same jeans in three sizes. Don't judge me, it's the only way.
The middle ones? Perfect. Like they were waiting for me.
The other two went back in the same bag. Free. I didn't print anything, I just showed a code at the drop-off.
My mom was like, that seems wasteful. Mom, it's called research.
Seamrow and Co. Try it all. Keep what fits.
Direction: Quick, chatty, voice-note energy What it is for: Run-on, voice-note rhythm that still sounds relaxed. Coach's note: Watch out for making the run-on sentences breathless. Voice notes run on but stay loose, so breathe at the commas the way you would talking. 'Mom, it's called research' is a playful eye-roll, not a zinger. What casting listens for: Casting listens for a natural young voice that could be a friend's voice note.
High on the moors, the rain falls, and then it waits.
For years, it filters slowly down through layers of rock, until it rises again at a single spring in the valley below.
That is where we bottle Aldermoor. Cool, clear, and softly refreshing, with nothing added and nothing taken away.
Some things are best left exactly as they are.
Aldermoor Spring Water. Left as it is.
Direction: Calm, cool, spacious; a nature film more than an ad What it is for: The premium-water read. Trains stillness, breath control and letting images land. Coach's note: Watch out for rushing the journey of the water. It takes years; your read can take its time. The turn is 'Some things are best left exactly as they are.' What casting listens for: Premium brands listen for restraint. Casting wants calm that still feels alive.
For three months, there was a folder on my kitchen counter labeled 'Medicare.' I was afraid to open it.
Then my neighbor told me about Silverbirch Medicare Guides. A licensed guide sat with me, went through my doctors and my prescriptions, and explained my choices, one at a time. For the first time, it made sense.
Silverbirch Medicare Guides. Your options, explained.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency.
Direction: Warm, down-to-earth woman in her late sixties; relief and a little humor; fast, clear compliance tag What it is for: Peer-testimonial Medicare spot with a compliance line. Trains warmth and credibility for an older audience. Coach's note: Watch out for playing it frail. She is capable and a little funny about the paperwork. The relief is on 'it made sense'. The compliance line is quick but crystal clear. What casting listens for: Casting listens for a mature voice the audience sees as a peer, not a spokesperson.
For a narration or audiobook demo. More in e-learning and audiobook scripts.
The Great Stink
Victorian, public healthAdult (40-55)Neutral British1 (any)1 minuteabout 64s
In the summer of 1858, London stopped being able to ignore its river. The city's sewage had long flowed straight into the Thames. Then came a hot June. The water dropped, and the smell rose.
The newspapers called it the Great Stink. In the new Houses of Parliament, on the riverbank, the curtains were soaked in chloride of lime to keep it out. It did not work. Members who had spent years avoiding the cost of a sewer system found they could not bear to sit in the chamber.
Within weeks, the money was approved. The engineer Joseph Bazalgette built more than a thousand miles of sewers.
Parliament had acted to get rid of a smell. Most people believed disease travelled on bad air. It did not. Cholera was in the water. But the sewers took it out of the water anyway, and after a last outbreak in 1866, in a district not yet connected, London's cholera epidemics were over.
What it is for: Popular history with a comic edge and a serious payoff. A lighter read with a real twist. Coach's note: Watch out for playing the whole thing for laughs. The curtains are funny; the cholera is not. The turn is 'Cholera was in the water.' Say it flatly, then let the last sentence land as good news. What casting listens for: Casting listens for a narrator who can be witty and accurate at the same time.
Welcome to Hollis. You're in!
Here's the quick tour. On the left are your channels, where team conversations happen. In the middle is your inbox, with anything that needs your attention. And on the right is your calendar, so you can see the day at a glance.
Say hello to your team in the general channel. That's it. You're ready.
What it is for: A quick welcome video that orients a new user without overwhelming them. Coach's note: Watch out for reading it like a user manual. It's a welcome, so the first line is a smile. Keep the three areas distinct. What casting listens for: Casting listens for friendliness and ease.
[Earpiece crackles. DEX, a teenage hacker, chews gum on the line]
Okay, I'm in their system. Wow. Their password is "password one." Adults, honestly.
Cameras on floor three are looping. You've got ninety seconds before the guard comes back from his snack break.
Vault is on your right. Code is four, four, nine, two.
[beat]
Wait. Somebody else just logged in. Like, right now.
Move faster. Please.
What it is for: A teenage hacker talks the player through a heist. Trains fast, confident, natural young energy. Coach's note: Watch out for playing 'teenager' with a whiny voice or slang overload. Make them smart and quick, a bit bored with how easy this is. Pick up the pace on the tech talk and drop it on the warning. What casting listens for: Casting listens for a natural, modern young voice with speed and confidence.
[A sunny windowsill. FIONA, a very droopy potted fern, speaks like a fading movie star]
Darling. Look at me. Look at these fronds. I used to be the star of this windowsill.
[beat]
Now I get water whenever you remember. Which is Thursdays. Some Thursdays. I've been living on ice cubes and hope.
[breath]
Leafperk Plant Food. One capful a month, and I'm back. Lush. Green. Magnificent.
[Fiona perks up]
Oh, yes. There she is. Hello again, gorgeous. Leafperk. Feed the drama.
What it is for: A droopy fern playing a fading movie star. Trains a big, old-Hollywood diva character with a clear sell in the middle. Coach's note: Watch out for staying droopy after the product line. Fiona revives when the plant food arrives, so the voice has to lift and fill out on 'Lush. Green. Magnificent.' What casting listens for: Casting listens for a glamorous comic voice that can play a transformation within thirty seconds.
Your strongest, most natural read. The one that sounds most like you.
2
A contrast. If clip 1 was warm, make this one bright or quick.
3 to 5
Different industries and moods: a real-person read, an authority read, a smile.
6 to 8
Anything that shows something new. If it sounds like an earlier clip, cut it.
Ready to make it sound like broadcast? Our demo team produces commercial and audiobook demos.
Questions
Can I use these scripts on my demo?
Yes. Every script here was written by VO Journey Academy, with invented brands. Record them and put them on your reel. Just don't resell them as scripts.
How many clips go on a commercial demo?
Usually 6 to 8 short clips, each sounding like a different spot. Cut each one down to its best line or two.
Should I record my demo at home?
Record your practice takes at home as much as you like. When you want a finished reel with music and a proper mix, a producer helps. Our demo team does commercial and audiobook demos.
Should every clip be a different voice?
No. Every clip should be your real voice in a different situation. Different mood, different industry, different listener.
Use these freely. Every script in this library was written by VO Journey
Academy. Practice with them, record them, post them as demos, reels or social clips, and use them in auditions.
Please do not resell them or publish them as your own scripts. A credit is always welcome, never required.
