The voice over business is very competitive. In fact, there are approximately 5 times the number of people “doing” voice overs than there are actors trying to break into movies.
Even though it may seem simple, it takes time to learn the skills and get established once those skills are mastered. It can also be a fairly expensive business – mostly due to the start-up costs of training and demo production, the cost of building a home studio or purchasing a vocal booth or other types of acoustical treatment, and the on-going costs of marketing and continued training.
What Can You Do to Get Started and Become Successful in Voice Acting?
Success is when preparation meets opportunity. To become a successful voice over actor, you need the know-how (skills) and the means (voice over equipment) and of course the opportunity.
People who leaped onto voice over without proper research often discover that there is a great deal they should have learned before taking that first class or spending a lot of money on their demo.
- Read everything you can on the subject of voice over. There are excellent books that will give you a lot of information about how the business works, performing techniques, “tricks of the trade,” and scripts to work on as you develop your skills. What you will get from reading books about the voice over, is the critical information in order to make an educated decision as to whether voiceover is right for you. One example of a good book is “The Art of Voice Acting “ by 11 times Grammy winning voice over actor James Alburger. The book is considered by many top VO professionals as “the bible of voice over.” It speaks not only how to do the voice over and how to acquire skills, but also the business of the voice over and what you need to know and do to actually become established voice over actor and make a good living doing it.
- Training. Take every acting class you can find. Check your local schools, colleges and call local theater companies for recommendations on classes. 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 and you’re not properly prepared—you’ll be wasting your time and money. Find good training and master the performing skills first.
- Keep developing your performing skills. 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 can find hundreds of demos at www.voicebank.net. )
- Attend as many workshops as possible. Raise your knowledge and skill levels to their highest level.
- Private coaching. As you know by now, voice acting is a craft. Specialized classes and private coaching are the best way to learn and master these skills. A working knowledge of performing and communication skills is necessary to succeed. Good books on the voice over will get you started and give you a basic understanding of what you need to do, but the real learning comes when you work with a qualified voice acting coach. VoiceActing Academy, for instance, gives you access to the latest information and proper training ( www.voiceacting.com).
After you have considered and taken steps to get training and other ways to improve your craft, you will need to invest in proper equipment such as a portable vocal booth, sound booth or create your a home studio with sound blankets or other acoustical materials.
VocalBoothToGo.com can help you with this need and supply you with the right equipment to help make your audio recordings sound as clear and professional as you do.