Still, if voiceover is something you want to do, nothing will hold you back from learning what you need to know to do what you love to do.
If you are reading this, good, because that’s it for the harsh realities of voiceover.
The Good News . . .
The good news is that voiceover is tons of fun. How many other kinds of work can you think of where you get to play, pretend you are other characters and get paid for it? A common misconception is that you need a special voice for voiceover work. In today’s world of voiceover, you don’t have to have a “golden voice” - most people with a decent speaking voice and directable talent can do voiceover—and be quite successful. In fact, if you listen to today’s radio and TV commercials, you’ll notice that the most effective ads sound like real people in believable situations.
It takes some acting ability to create a believable character from mere words in a script. That’s why we call it voice acting - and that’s why you need to develop some acting skills! Actually, no one can teach you to act - you’re either born with acting ability or you’re not. What a good acting or voiceover coach does is give you performing tools and teaches you how to use them so you can develop your innate skills to become a better actor.
People often tell us that they are told they have a “strong, solid voice” (or something similar). Good vocal resonance can certainly be an asset in certain types of voiceover work, but we know of many people who have wonderful voices, but can’t act. And when they work from a script, they “read” the words, rather than tell the story. It’s not as easy as you might think to read from a script and sound like you’re having a natural conversation—especially if the script isn’t written very well. But that’s the reality of voiceover, and again, that’s where the training comes in. The critical skill is acting—which is why this website is VoiceActing.com, and the title of the book is The Art of Voice Acting.
But the single most important thing is that It takes a passion for wanting to do this crazy kind of work. Everyone we know who does voiceover work does it because they absolutely love it. They have also worked very hard to create a unique style of delivery and a niche for their individual talent—which means they’ve taken a LOT of training. If you have a passion for wanting to do this, then you absolutely can do it to. But you have to want to, and you have to be willing to first learn the skills of the craft and, second learn the skills of the business.
What can I do to get started?
As for training, the first thing we would suggest is to take every acting class you can find. Check your local schools or colleges and call local theater companies for recommendations on classes. If you’re still in school, start taking acting classes where ever you can find them. Not all schools offer acting classes, but most cities have community theater, professional theater companies, and acting classes of some sort. Don’t be in too much of a hurry - instead have fun and learn the skills at a leisurely pace. If you rush into producing your demo thinking you will instantly make your mark as a voice talent—and you’re not properly prepared—you’ll be wasting your time and money. Find good training and master the performing skills.
If there are any voiceover classes in your area - take them. We offer our “Art of Voice Acting Weekend Workshop” each year in San Diego, and try to take it to a different city each year, and we’re always looking for new places to visit. Check or Schedule for upcoming events.
We’ve tried to put as much information on this web site as possible for voiceover resources, and we are continually updating our resources, and we’ve spent a lot of time researching other voiceover coaches. You’ll find our list here. If you know of a VO coach not on our list (or have any comments you’d like to share about a coach - good or bad), please send us an email.
Another thing you might want to do is to subscribe to our free Art of Voice Acting Newsletter. Each month we feature an article on some aspect of voice-over plus lots of other info. Click here for our current newsletter. If you’d like to subscribe, just click here: www.voiceacting.com/elists.
Other things to do to get started in voiceover . . .
* Plan to spend a lot of time on this website, and come back often. You’ll find literally thousands of resources, dozens of voiceover-related products, training resources, business resources, and hours upon hours of downloadable audio.
* Read books on acting, singing, and dancing - and take related classes and workshops. “The Art of Voice-Acting” is a good start. You will find it in most book stores, on Amazon.com, or you can get an autographed copy from this site. There are also lots of other good books on the subject, most of which are available through this site.
* Don’t be afraid to talk to other actors and voice talent in your area to find out how they got started - you may get some interesting ideas.
* Keep at it. If voice acting is truly a passion for you, then you will reach your goal - just don’t be in too much of a hurry.
* Do an internet search for voiceover in your area - you’ll probably be able to find some interesting sites.
* If you are specifically interested in doing voiceover work for cartoons and animation, you’ll need to become very good at creating character voices. And you’ll eventually need to be in Los Angeles. Actually, all aspects of voiceover are about creating believable characters. Before that, though, you’ll need to master the basic performing skills used in all areas of voiceover.
* If you are unable to locate a voiceover workshop near you, and you can’t make it to San Diego or don’t want to wait for us to come to a city near you, you may want to consider purchasing one or more of our products. You’ll find several audio products for voiceover training, including our Art of Voice Acting Weekend Workshop 10-CD set. This CD set is our entire weekend workshop - nearly 12 hours of coaching - and includes the workshop workbook full of notes, scripts and additional material; plus an 11th bonus CD of every playback used during the workshop, additional exercises, and classic voiceover recordings. If the entire workshop CD set is more than you want to invest in right now, you might want to consider our “See it With Your Ears Seminar Series”. This is a CD-Rom compilation of recordings of guest seminar panels from our weekend workshop, our Comic-Con seminars, and much, much more. The information in these recordings is priceless! And if you really want to get started on the right foot, you can learn from some of the top voiceover coaches in the US who present seminars and workshops at our annual VoiceOver International Creative Experience.
* Before you produce your VO demo, we encourage you to study as many professional voice talent demos as you can find. You’ll need to be able to perform at their level if you are going to compete as a professional voice talent—especially if you plan to work in a major market like Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, or New York. You’ll find hundreds of demos at www.voicebank.net. Click on “House Reels,” choose a talent agent, and start studying.
Finally, all we can say is this: If you think voiceover is something you want to do—start learning about it now! Don’t wait, and don’t listen to anyone who tells you can’t do it or that you need to be in a particular city to be successful. Success in voiceover is what you make it, and with today’s technology, voiceover can be done from anywhere. As with most things in life, you will never know how far you can go if you never take the first step. Go for i