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Lately I’ve been getting out of my home voiceover studio and doing something old-fashioned: networking. Meeting local business owners around Raleigh, Durham and the Triangle in North Carolina. They have been getting a lot of Peter K. O’Connell, Your Friendly Neighborhood Voiceover Talent lately at various small networking groups, and honestly, they seem fine with it.
The reactions when they find out I’m a voice actor are nice. There’s always a “wait, I knew your voice was familiar.” Always a few wide eyes. And then, right on cue, somebody says one of three things:
- “I’ve always wanted to be a voice actor.”
- “People tell me I have a great voice.”
- “How do you get started in voiceover?”
Every. Single. Time.
Look, I love the enthusiasm. I really do. But if I had a nickel for every time someone asked me that last question, I would be networking from a much nicer zip code.
So rather than answer it for the four hundredth time over a business card and a lukewarm coffee (well, Pepsi, and mine is always properly chilled), I finally did the responsible thing. I wrote it all down. You’re welcome in advance.
First things first: how do I get started in voiceover?
I’m going to start off with the bad news first: now is very probably one of the worst times to begin a voiceover career, in my opinion – hey, I’m honest. Why is it a bad time?
First reason is for a while technology has allowed any jackass with a computer microphone to label themselves a voice talent. The work most produce doesn’t even rhyme with the word talent, yet that silo of fakers keeps filling, not diminishing.
But the latest knife in the back of voice talents is AI, artificial intelligence. AI allows almost anybody to take a purchased voice computer made or a voice actor that has sold their voice (yes there are people who sell their voice and, in my opinion, their careers) to free AI voice generators. Those nasty (in my opinion) but perfectly legal companies then mix an AI voice with a downloaded script and that fake voice is now the narrator.
Good, fast and cheap – pick two. With AI, good is not necessary. Humans are a time and financial nuisance to those media producers who use AI voices and they are glad to tell you that.
I haven’t even mentioned those devious, unscrupulous individuals from around the globe who just plain steal human voices from previous recording (completely unauthorized) and sell them as their own. That kind of CRIME has taken place at the HIGHEST levels of business.
I don’t feel like this tornadic truth of the current voiceover climate will be changing any time soon. I HOPE it does but I don’t have that crystal ball and I promised to be honest.
THAT’S the world new voice talent are coming into.
So. Still want to swim in our pool with those sharks? OK. Here’s how you do it right.
Find a qualified voiceover coach, an actual working professional voice actor whose primary business is teaching, not someone whose real business model is selling you a demo. That distinction will save you thousands of dollars and a whole lot of heartbreak. Take individual lessons. Consider group voiceover workshops. Build your foundation before you build anything else.
Now. The other questions.
How do I make a voice acting demo with no experience?
You don’t. Not yet. A voice acting demo is a result of training, not the starting point. A demo produced before you’re ready is an expensive way to tell casting directors you aren’t ready. Why? Because voiceover is not just talking, there is acting, performance technique, script interpretation…so much stuff that you have not been trained in. As an example, if you can find a group voiceover class of voiceover professionals (not beginners), audit the class. Watch and listen to what they do. Then you will REALLY know how NOT ready for a demo you are. Be humble, not eager. Invest in professional voice over coaching first. When your trusted VO coach tells you it’s demo time, that means something. When a voiceover demo production mill tells you it’s demo time after one phone call, that means something too. And it’s very *not* good.
Do I need professional recording equipment to start?
No. For voiceover training and practice (first and foremost), a decent USB microphone and a quiet closet will do just fine. Don’t let gear anxiety stop you from starting if you really have the drive to be in voiceover. That said, as you progress toward auditioning and booking professional voiceover work, your home recording studio setup absolutely matters. Clean audio is non-negotiable for clients. But right now? Record. Practice. Learn. Save your money for lessons.
How long should a voiceover demo reel be?
About :60 seconds for a commercial demo reel. A qualified demo producer will help you on that, you don’t need to obsess about it. More importantly, I recommend that your first demo ALWAYS be your commercial demo. 99% of the time, your first paid VO jobs will be commercials. Even the famous character voice actors will tell you that. Yes, you can do an audiobook demo next (if that’s your passion), but start with commercial. Casting directors and voiceover agents are not sitting around hoping your demo is longer. They decide fast – honestly you have about 15 seconds or less before they know whether they want to consider or hire you.
Should I have different demos for different genres?
Yes, eventually. A commercial voiceover demo and a corporate narration demo serve completely different audiences. An audiobook narration demo and an e-learning voiceover demo are not interchangeable. As your voiceover career develops, separate demos for separate genres signal professionalism and make it easy for the right clients to find the right version of you.
What should I include in a voice acting portfolio?
The more you train, the more you talk with voice over teachers and the more you hang out with fellow voice talents (or just check out the content of their websites) it will become clear. Since you’re just beginning, you don’t need to focus in your portfolio now…but when you’re ready, my recommended areas of focus (ranked by priority are):
- On-going, professional voiceover training – (many, many months, not weeks and certainly not in a weekend)
- Commercial Demo – (with a professional coach and demo producer with scripts and styles the coach thinks you not only excel at but also differentiate you from many other talents)
- Voiceover website – if you’re hot to do something to do right now for your voiceover career, go to a domain registrar (think Go Daddy or someone like that) and see if you can secure your name as a dot com domain. If not your name, then yournamevoiceover.com or yournamevo.com. Then later, when you’re ready for a website…you can start with a one page with an audio player for your demo and some text (and build from there). You just need a landing page when you start out.
- A business card – doesn’t have to be fancy….doesn’t have to be perfectly branded. Name, website address, email address and phone number — something you can hand out.
What about a bio? What about a headshot? What about….knock it off. You’re just starting.
OK, you need a project? You want to feel like you’re doing something for your burgeoning voiceover career?
Start an excel spreadsheet. Save it as voiceover database. Across the top, left to right, label the cells “First Name”, “Last Name”, “Company Name”, “Business Address”, “City”, “State”, “Zip Code”, “Email Address”, “Web Address” & “Phone Number”.
Then research and fill out those cells for your regional ad agency Creative Director, Video Production Company Owners and or Producers, Recording Studio Owners and Engineers….this document, more than anything else I have told you, will be the start of your voiceover business.
What do you do with it?
That’s a blog post unto itself. Hope this helps.
Tags: commentary, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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