Many journals would tell you, “Just because you have a unique voice or you talk everyday doesn’t mean you are destined to be a voice actor.” Let alone state the obvious; of course you are not, not just yet.

These articles often make the mistake of suggesting that voiceover venture is strenuous and as rarefied a job to shoot for, seemingly overwhelming aspirants who searched for a read to help them that rather result in intimidation. However true, this article aims to heighten your hopes while building up your voice acting career.

Every Person Has A Unique Voice And Potential To Do Voiceover

Let’s go for the opposite side of the coin: Just because you do not have the perfectly modulated, orotund voice for radio plays or for explainer videos doesn’t mean you come to a dead-end in this career. As challenging as it is by nature, voice over world actually allows limitless possibility and is open to just nearly anyone who’s got the voice plus the will to engage himself in the career.

Voice over business branches to an array of industries: Advertisement agencies, Telecommunications, Podcasts, Event Announcers, TV & Radio Commercials, Explainer videos, Production Houses, Publishers, Video Games, Theater, Web Developers, E-learning, and the list goes on. Your voice might just be the next voice one of these agencies are looking for.

If you have a great voice and you have the cup of tea for acting or recording your voice be it for a song cover or a video blog, then it’s an edge to this career and a bright green light is waiting for you to take the plunge. The next thing you have to figure out is to what industry type your voice is best suited to. You may have a smoky or honeyed voice but eye for corporate firms. This way, you’re definitely setting yourself up for failure, being frustrated at lack of job opportunities. Some voiceover artists are great at doing radio plays, others outstand in ADR. Some voice are suited for audiobooks, others are for documentary series.

On the other way around, if you have an average voice or even a hideous one, here’s a good news for you: voiceover skills can be earned overtime with the proper training and voice lessons. By the same token, there is a myriad of characters in a movie, a short play, or a video game that could be many steps away from the exact voice type they are looking for and your voice, who knows, could be the endpoint of their quest.

So first things first, know your voice type, at least at the onset, until you get more experience.

Put Together Your Voice Plus Acting Skills

Now that you know your voice type and is confident that it is for you, it’s time to hone that voice accompanied by your acting skills. Just because you have a natural talent, doesn’t guarantee a splash when you upload your first voice recording. It encompasses many factors as dedication, multi-faceted skills and time.

Your job as a voice artist is not just articulating the script in your copy as long as it sounds pleasant. You bring the text into life. This means you need to make your voice skills jive in harmony with your acting skills — which is roughly the biggest challenge a newbie generally encounters when he does his first voice-over. Getting into your character is hard to do when you are alone in the room, talking to yourself. Because you try too hard to produce a first-rate demo, you tend to over-enunciate the words and try to sound like one of the radio announcers you look up to, and worse, you sound monotonous.

Consider Hiring A Voice Over Coach

To practice your skill would mean listening to established voice overs and hiring a voice acting coach. When you listen to sample demos or works of voice artists, you become familiarized from how they enunciate the words to how they give it inflection and mood. You try to mimic ones you find superb and compare your work to theirs, unlocking rooms for improvement and that is just a good start.

Getting access to the best voice over coaches that is your ultimate beginner kit to make your headway in the voice acting realm. In fact, even if you’ve had years of experience in the voiceover industry, coaching is essential as continuous learning is a necessity. Voice coaches are the ones who can expose you to techniques and concepts you would have never thought of otherwise. They can broaden your horizons in ways that help you become more connected with your talent, and then turn your upgraded skills into dollars.

One of reliable casting sites, The Voice Realm, offers a roster of professional coaches to choose from. Taking online training is also one of the best way to practice your skills as you have the freedom to learn at your own pace.

When you hire a voice over coach, feedback follows. Professional feedback aligns from insightful, motivational advice to noteworthy voiceover skills. Here are a few to take note:

Natural pauses – Just speak at your normal conversational pace for most clients just want a normal speaking pace.

Consistency of your volume – Don’t fade out on the ends of your sentences.  When we converse in person, we naturally fade our voices out at the end of a sentence to allow the other person a chance to talk. Don’t do this to your microphone! It will not talk back.  Maintain the same volume throughout your read.

Clarity – This is all about articulating each word so it is clear not mumbled, or garbled.

Control – A good voice actor knows how to control his or her voice: pitch, volume, prosody, inflection and breathing.

Cleanliness – This refers to reducing the noise made by your mouth so there aren’t any unnecessary clicks and other sounds. So watch out for plosive sounds created by air hitting the mic when you say sounds like the p, or even the wh sound.

Relevance – Your delivery should be in total harmony with what you’re reading. This makes it sound authentic and believable.

Characterization – You will need to be able to deliver emotionally authentic performances time after time.

Confidence – This comes from being prepared through learning and practice, understanding what is required and confidently delivering a great vocal performance.