Volunteer Audition

Welcome to the Audio-Reader Audition! 

Thank you for your interest in serving our listeners. The audition should take 30-45 minutes of your time, watch the blue bar below to track your progress. 

If you are reading from home: set yourself up for success by finding a quiet place to read. We are not only auditioning your voice but your overall sound quality as well.

Remember Audio-Reader started with a friend reading to a friend. Visualize reading to a friend or family member, our listeners will be interested in listening to you if you sound engaged with them and the material. We are not only delivering news and information, the friendly voice of our volunteers keeps our listeners feeling connected and cared for by their community. 

Here are a few notes about reading:

• You are the EYES not the BRAIN of our listeners. Our job is to make the printed word accessible to individuals who are blind or print-disabled, regardless of what is printed. Your audition should be free of personal comments and opinions, don't let listeners know how you feel about a topic with your tone of voice. 
• If you don’t know how to pronounce something you can look it up. However, during a reading you may not have the time or resources to find out how to properly pronounce a name or location. If you don’t know the correct pronunciation be confident and consistent. Pick a pronunciation, say it confidently, and say it the same every time. Spell out people and place names that have more than one pronunciation.
• Do not say “quote” and “un-quote” when reading. Use inflection and tone of voice to indicate a different speaker.
• Read the headline and byline at the beginning AND end of each article.

What's in the Audition?

The audition consists of readings from 9 different sources that represent the variety of print materials Audio-Reader makes accessible to our listeners. Record all the sections of the audition in the order they are presented, you will not be able to go back and access a screen once you click “next”. 

1. 50 word pronunciation test
2. Local Editorial
3. Local News Article
4. Grocery Store Ad
5. Sports Article
6. Political Cartoon Description
7. Letters to the Editor
8. Cosmopolitan Article
9. Obituary
10. Picture Description

Please record all the sections of the audition in a single audio file, there will be instructions on how to upload the file at the end of the audition.

Ready to Get Started?

Have fun, we can’t wait to hear your audition! Click NEXT to begin the audition.

Pronunciation Test

Read the following words without the numbers. Do not look up pronunciations for this list of words, just do your best.

Small Town Paper Article

Audio-Reader volunteers record over 23 small town papers each day for listeners across Kansas and Missouri. For this portion of the audition we would like you to access and read a local article from the most recent issue of the Emporia Gazette.

1. Go to emporiagazette.com

2. Login with the email: audioreader and the password: gazette1

3. Select the print edition link under the masthead. We always read from the print or e-edition of all our papers.

4. Click on the image of the latest e-Edition, navigate to a local article (written by an Emporia Gazette reporter) and record!

Local News Article

Audio-Reader provides access to material that our listeners can't find anywhere else. Major news outlets do not cover school board or county commission meetings. In many cases Audio-Reader is our listeners only access to their local community news. Please read the following article, do not read the ads or the crossed out article.

Dillon's Ad

Grocery and other store ads are some of the most important content to our listeners. We record at least 10 different advertisements each week on both Telephone Reader and for our digital broadcast. Please record the following page of ads. You do not need to describe pictures or mention each price is "with card". Include the size and price of each item.

Sports Article

Read the following article.

Political Cartoon

Describe the cartoon below. The goal is to describe the cartoon so the listener can draw their own conclusions as to the artists message. You are describing what you see, not what the artist's message is.

Letters to the Editor

The publications we read cover the full range of political thought and ideals. Our job is to make the printed word accessible to our listeners, regardless of the message. Please read all three of the following Letters to the Editor.

Magazine Spread

We make dozens of magazines accessible to our listeners each month. They often have a-typical page layouts. Read this article in a way that makes sense to you. Feel free to mention the photos in your recording, but you do not have to describe them. 

Obituary

Audio-Reader is the primary source of obituaries for our listeners. Read the complete obituary. Remember, if you don't know how to pronounce a name say it clearly and consistently and spell it out!

Picture Description

Describe the picture that accompanies the article below. Include the caption in your description. Avoid judgmental words such as "pretty" or "disgusting," these are your opinion of the subject of the photo. Use words that describe what you see such as colors, shapes and position in photo etc.