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If you’re looking for a career that’s both challenging and creative, becoming a voice actor may be the perfect choice for you. While it takes hard work and dedication to make it a voice actor, the rewards can be significant. Here are some tips on how to get started in this exciting field.
Get Enough Training
To become a successful voice actor, you should start with acting, improv, and audition techniques. You can find courses on these skills at your local college or through workshops offered by talent agencies, acting companies, community theaters, or even the radio station where you would like to work if you’re interested in commercial work.
Once you have mastered the basics, you’ll want to begin developing a unique and powerful voice that will make people stop and listen. It’s helpful to study great actors of the past, like Marlon Brando and James Dean. Try recording your favorite movie-theater moments on a video camera or even with some friends if you don’t have one of your own.
Find a Platform to Connect with Potential Employers
Once you have done some training and have some experience under your belt, it’s time to find a platform to begin marketing yourself. As seen at https://www.voices.com/jobs/voice-over, you need to take your career to the next level. Study your favorite ads if you are interested in voice acting for commercials or on-camera work. Looking for agents who represent actors in your specific field to help promote and book your work. You can also create demo reels, short videos of yourself doing different voices to send to agencies or recording studios.
It would be best to find reliable sites on the connections and brands they work with. A perfect site is user-friendly and makes the connections legit.
Invest in Voice Over Recording Software
You can purchase the latest programs for a reasonable price at most music stores, and it will give you an excellent idea of what produces quality work. This type of software includes “sound-alikes” so that you can learn how to mimic different voices by using their inflections and accents.
Learn From the Pros
Once you think you’re ready to hit the big time, find out who is doing work similar to what you hope to do and record their performance on your voice recording software. You can imitate their voices to see if they apply techniques to your situation. It will give you a good idea of how you measure up.
Also, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Work with a voice-over coach or take private lessons to improve your specific talents like singing, dialects, or accents. At the same time, practice reading aloud every day, not only your favorite books but also newspaper articles and even cereal boxes. It will keep your voice in tip-top shape and help you maintain your vocal power.
Keep Working at It
If you aren’t ready for an agent or agency yet, find some local radio stations or acting companies in your area to offer free voice overtraining. You will need to make connections and find out who is doing similar work like commercial voice-over, audiobook narration, film dubbing, animation voice-over, radio imaging, video game narration.
Create A Voice-over Demo Reel
If you can get a few of your friends together to record different voices, create a voice-over demo reel. It should contain at least one minute of each character reading from a script or commercial copy. Have everyone do the same characters and even add some sound effects. Also, upload your demo reels on YouTube, where potential employers might stumble upon them while searching for voice actors.
It’s a competitive field, but if you like to perform and have a unique and powerful voice, you can achieve your dream of becoming a successful actor. Voice acting is just one of many ways to get into show business without being seen on camera.
Have A Range Of Voices Up Your Sleeve
A voice-over actor must learn how to perform the voices of different characters and shift between each one, depending on the situation. For example, you might need someone with a soothing voice for an instructional demo reel or someone more dramatic for a commercial audition.
Give Variety To Your Characters
Don’t be afraid to come up with a few comical or crazy voices. Your range of characters should make you stand out from other voice actors in your field and demonstrate the diversity you can bring to a job.
This helps you be prepared for roles you might not get. Just because you have a great demo reel doesn’t mean you’re going to get every job that comes your way. Sometimes there might be more qualified actors for the role, or it just wasn’t a good fit for your particular tone of voice. Keep practicing, hone your skills and stay positive, even if you don’t get the job right away.
Don’t Forget About Your Voice
Many newcomers make the mistake of trying to mimic a celebrity’s voice, but having a unique voice is always better for bookings in the voice-over industry. You don’t need to sound like everyone else, so be sure to always use your natural voice to have more opportunities for work.
Learn Timing and Pace
You also have to learn how to keep time with the beat of the music or the pace of someone talking on camera. You can practice reading aloud while watching TV or listening to the radio and record your voice-over on your phone.
Listen to Other Voices
Since you’re not going to be seen in a video, it’s probably best to ask family or friends for feedback on how you sound when recording some dialogue. Ask them if they can hear your normal voice versus the different characters you have recorded.
Maintain Your Voice In Good Health
Voice actors need to take good care of their voices by not screaming, smoking, or drinking too much alcohol. Also, being a voice actor requires learning how to talk with your diaphragm rather than just your lungs to project your voice better. You also want to make sure you are breathing when you perform so that your voice sounds great.
To be a successful voice actor, you need to have a wide range of voices up your sleeve, learn timing and pace, and maintain good vocal health. Most importantly, make sure you practice regularly and stay positive. A great demo reel is essential, but don’t forget to use your natural voice when auditioning for roles. Also, find platforms where you can connect with managers and employers in general.
