SYNOPSIS
A reality of the VO world is that even before getting heard, all auditions get sorted into two groups: the NO List and the MAYBE List.
Want to understand how to get your audition past the gatekeepers? Join industry veteran Hugh P. Klitzke for insight into this process.
In part one of this popular workshop, Hugh will discuss the practices that greatly increase the likelihood of your work getting heard. He will share ideas about slating, labeling, casting, direction, the read and much more! In part two, Hugh will play a selection of auditions submitted by class participants, discuss in which group the submission would likely land and why. Hugh will also offer live redirects for some submissions that made it into the “MAYBE” group.
All participants will receive a packet of commercial audition copy a few days before class. If you wish to make a submission, you will be asked to choose one piece of copy and follow the submission instructions. Audition submissions are encouraged but not required to attend this session. Please know that submissions played will receive respectful but honest feedback.
IMPORTANT: DUE TO TIME CONSTRAINTS, SUBMISSIONS ARE NOT GUARANTEED A LISTEN. SELECTED SUBMISSIONS WILL BE PLAYED IN RANDOM ORDER DURING CLASS TIME. IF SELECTED, PARTICIPANTS WILL NOT RECEIVE NOTICE AS TO WHEN THIER SUBMISSION IS GOING TO BE PLAYED. PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT AN AUDITION IF THESE CONDITIONS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE TO YOU.
REQUIREMENTS
Members must remain for the duration of the session. Members are invited to attend to watch and listen without submitting an audition. All participants will receive a packet of commercial audition copy a few days before class. If you wish to make a submission, you will be asked to choose one piece of copy and follow the submission instructions. IMPORTANT: DUE TO TIME CONSTRAINTS, SUBMISSIONS ARE NOT GUARANTEED A LISTEN. SELECTED SUBMISSIONS WILL BE PLAYED IN RANDOM ORDER DURING CLASS TIME. IF SELECTED, PARTICIPANTS WILL NOT RECEIVE NOTICE AS TO WHEN THIER SUBMISSION IS GOING TO BE PLAYED. PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT AN AUDITION IF THESE CONDITIONS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE TO YOU.
INSTRUCTOR BIO
Hugh P. Klitzke is a conversational voiceover coach and commercial demo producer in New York City. He brings 15 years of experience as the voiceover booth director at Buchwald NY to voiceover workshops, lectures, private coaching and demo production. Directing and coaching voiceover talent at every level, Hugh has worked with Emmy, Grammy, Tony, Reed and SOVAS winners, Audible Narrator Hall of Famers, the work-a-day VO hustlers and the newly curious. And to date, Hugh has directed over 127,000 auditions and counting.
After going solo, Hugh released The ConversationalVO Open Studio - a one of a kind workshop in voiceover coaching. Thousands of attendees - voice actors, podcasters, audio producers, engineers, talent managers agents and more come to see Hugh coach voiceover talent live on Zoom.
Hugh regularly teaches workshops for the SAG / AFTRA Foundation, was nominated for Best Commercial Demo Production Female at the SOVAS Awards, has presented at NEVO, VO Atlanta and OneVoice UK, is on the organizing committee for the WoVO UNconference and moderated the Agent and Casting Director panel at MAVO 2025.
Hugh has also been the head of sound for Penn & Teller, an Equity Stage Manager, a producer at the Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn (now Detroit), an award winning composer and lyricist for theater, film and digital media, a music theory lecturer at SUNY Purchase, assistant to a Baroque trumpet scholar, a certified K-12 music teacher and two time marathon finisher.
