Many people aspire to be voiceover artists, drawn to the flexible, portable freelance work this career path can offer. But if you hope to join the ranks of successful top professionals who make their living from the work, you’ll need more than a dynamic, ear-catching voice. You’ll need to build a portfolio of experience, record a demo reel and develop a suite of soft skills that can help you thrive in the competitive world of professional voice acting.
Although a voiceover artist often works in a studio, seemingly isolated from their audience, the job is still a performance. The ability to interpret and recite scripts with genuine emotion is central to the job, as is interpreting direction from the client and recording engineer and often working well outside one’s comfort zone. Some voice actors have gone through formal acting training, and many continue to build their acting skills with ongoing coaching and practice.
Depending on the nature of a project, the voice over artist may be expected to create a specific character or tone of delivery. For example, a voice actor might be asked to sound genuinely excited and cheerful for a commercial, or authoritative and knowledgeable for an educational video. Similarly, a voice actor might be asked to narrate an event or document, or give life to a fictional character, such as the iconic ‘Terry’ in video games.
The voice over industry is very much a community, and networking plays a large role in getting a new voiceover artist to work on projects that are right for them. Attending VO workshops and other events (virtual or physical) is a great way to meet fellow VO artists and begin building your network of support and referrals. voiceover artists