I’ve been thinking about trying to get into voice acting. But I don’t want to do actual acting. It’s just that’s the only term I know to use for what I’m interested in.
The things I’d like to do are non-dramatic voice overs for things like announcements, PSAs, certain types of audio books, hearing impaired material, etc. I’m not interested in dramatic voice overs for things like movies, animation and the like. I understand that some amount of acting might be required for some types of jobs in my list. But those aren’t the sort of things I would want to start with.
I work part-time as a radio dj and have a fairly deep voice. Not James Earl Jones, but sonorous. I also have a perfect American accent that sounds vaguely British. The tonal structure is very varied, but the point is that it’s the diametric opposite of monotone.
I’ve googled this question and all of the articles I saw talk mostly about learning to act. Since that’s not what I’m looking to do, these have been mostly useless.
What I need is to audition for someone with knowledge of this business and have them tell me if it’s worth pursuing. IOW, do I have a voice that people might want to use for specific types of jobs.
I’m in the process of contacting agencies to see if they even want hear me. If that fails though, I have no idea where to start.
First off, stop ignoring the advice of people who know more about the business than you do. Voiceover work is acting, and you need to develop the necessary skills before trying to audition.
I would make a demo recording of what you can do and send it to a number of agents who have vocal actors as clients. If they think you have talent they will tell you, and hopefully they can get you into some auditions. Do you happen to live in So Cal or NYC?
The “casual work” website Fiverr has a lot of people offering to do voiceover work for not much money. It might be worth a look to get a sense of what your (potential) peers have to offer, and maybe even hook up with someone who can offer you advice.
It’s a crowded field. Luck is unfortunately a major factor.
The people who “really make it” in voice acting (vs “did some voice acting on the side for a while”) seem to be either the ones who are instantly typecast and play their typecast role to a T every time, or the geniuses like Mel Blanc who can play many equally-arresting voice roles and who are typecast as “he’s the voice genius, call him”.
I don’t believe that incredible flexibility and wide-ranging general skill, by themselves, really get anywhere in terms of a voice career; I think it’s the people who bring a very attractive and very identifiable pre-packaged character for sale. “Deep-Voiced Action-Movie Announcer Guy” is a stereotype for a reason. He has a schtick that is exactly what somebody wants. (Well, a lot of somebodies, obviously.)
It seems to me you’re in the right place to do radio spots and ads. Radio work is sought after I am sure. Are you identifiable, by voice, in your locale?
That’s a starting spot, send your demos to local and just ‘out of range’ radio stations.
In 1995 the Washington Post ran an article on this topic for people with interests like yours. I have a copy of the article. It’s available online but I don’t know if it’s free. The gist of it is that you can get work but it’s a very competitive field and you have to do a lot of up-front training and preparation and then hustle for every gig. A lot has changed since 1995 but not the bottom line.
Here is an excerpt but it was geared towards people in the DC area and you give no clue as to where you are located. Twenty years later these business might no longer be around, but you can see that some investment of time and money will be required to get started. Add 20 years of inflation to these costs.
This right here. Your first step is to make a demo.
Put together some text that you feel comfortable with–maybe it’s a news report, a sports broadcast, or just plain advertising, from the soft sell to the hard sell (i.e. from “Skyway Airlines. Flying the way it used to be” to “Sunday Sunday Sunday, it’s monster truck madness!”). Try announcing a movie trailer, or do some “liners” (radio station IDs, for example, “KROK 104–classic and current hits”). Ideally, you’ll have four to six items that fit within two minutes. Practice the hell out of them.
Then, find a local recording studio, and buy some studio time. That will come with a producer, who should be able to coach you as you record (e.g. “Emphasize ‘Flying’ in your airline ad”) as well as adding any background music or sound effects (e.g. adding heavy metal music and revving engines behind “monster truck madness”). Between the recording and post-production, you’ll need about two hours of studio time to make your demo (at least, that’s what my experience has been).
Then, shop it around. To agents, sure, but also to local studios. Many of them have a roster of talent whom they will call upon for various jobs, depending on what the talent is good at. (“Hey Allotrope is great at what our client wants. Let’s call him.”) You may end up doing nothing more than the voiceover for a local car dealership advertisement; but hey–it’s work.
Like you, I have radio experience in my past, but I’ve done a lot of voice work since, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that without a demo. That’s your first step.
Just remembered–if you have a deep voice, you’ll want to check out the work of Don LaFontaine (“In a world where…”) and Thurl Ravenscroft (the voice of Tony the Tiger). I learned a lot, just by listening to them. Good luck!
Living in Vancouver or Toronto would help a great deal.
There are voice acting coaches around, here’s one.
Full disclosure: I’ve been in contact with that coach already and am part of her Facebook group. I keep hoping she’ll have a workshop in a location easy for me to get to.
The RPH network (Radio Print Handicapped) in Australia runs a network of radio stations, much of whose content is based around people reading out newspapers and magazines. Yes, including the horoscopes and trying to explain a Garfield cartoon. There may be something similar near you.
Actor friend worked there, but i think they only have resources for volunteer talent. He loved it as a way of developing his voice skills. Will not pay the bills, but i assume better training than being in front of the bathroom mirror talking into a hairbrush.
Back in the 1990s, I used to do reading for a similar service here in Chicago (CRIS Radio). At that time, I believe that all of the readers were volunteers, but even if that’s the case for such a service near the OP, at least it could be a way to get your feet wet.
That said, I work in advertising, and I have several friends who do voiceover work. My understanding is that it’s as Gatopescado, and others, have noted – it’s an extremely competitive industry, and seems to be very difficult to break into, much less to make a reasonable living at.
He specifically stated that he isn’t looking to be a voice actor; he wants to be a voiceover announcer or reader (and, yes, the title he chose for this thread isn’t entirely accurate). Certainly, it’s important to be located where the work is (though that may be becoming somewhat less relevant now, due to digital recording), but, for what he’s hoping to do, I’m not sure why being in a place where dramatic TV production is done (as it is in Vancouver) would help him.
