According to co-workers and friends, from 30 years ago to the present and in different workplaces, I have a great “FM voice”. These comments have surfaced over and over along with “you should get into radio” type remarks. My job for the last two years has had a lot of public speaking as an MC at large office functions and the comments keep coming. I am a 51 yr old male and wouldn’t be averse to trying something new, in radio or doing voice-overs etc. Assuming my co-workers etc are right (I’m willing to accept that they’re not), does anyone know the process of doing this? Do I make a recording of myself reading the news or playing radio DJ and send it out to the world? Do I get an agent? I honestly haven’t a clue about this but I assume someone out there does.
I would sincerely appreciate any advice or information about this.
There are lots of agencies, even in smaller markets, that specialize in voices for commercials.
I would look them up in your area, give them a call and ask what they require. Sometimes, just a short demo with you reading some commercials or other text - but call to see what their process is.
You might also call local radio and television stations to find out which agencies are reputable, and which are scams to get people to pay and never find work. They know who their advertisers use - and those would be the first I would contact.
You might not get rich, but commercial voice over can be lucrative for some people, or at least a source of some extra income.
Where do you live? If you live in a larger market, I suspect you definitely want to get an agent first. Studios in small markets might deal with talent directly. You should be able to look up agents on line, to find a legitimate one.
When my daughter was acting she got sent to a voice-over audition once. It was pretty much the same deal as a normal audition. That was New York, and I don’t know much about how small markets operate.
I do voice work as a side business. It’s not regular enough to do otherwise.
I too heard those words from co-workers, etc. I started by volunteering for the “Reading for the Visually Impaired” service at our local public radio station. From there I auditioned to get on the air proper… did that for a while, then used the contacts I made in radio to get a few demos recorded. From there I approached local production houses. There are a lot of small projects that need voices. I worked for demo…that is, I would do the voice work for free if they would help me record some demo tracks. Try to figure out a win-win.
I spent some time “under representation” from a local talent agent…but it only amounted to a few cattle calls.
Now I use Voices.com. The internet has allowed anyone to find, bid and submit jobs for and from anywhere. You don’t have to be located in a major market. The downside, of course, is that no one else does either. Lots of competition.
Local cable companies are a good source of work as well. Short local announcements, etc.
Drop me a note if you want to talk about it. Stop by MikeBorisAudio.com as well. See what you think.
MIke
I apologize for not thanking you all sooner as it’s been busy at work. Having said that, thank you very much for the advice. You have given me some good stuff to think about and, at this point, it would be a part-time thing as my employment for the next four years is secure and rewarding.