How To Become A Voice Actor (2023)

Voice actors are in great demand, which means being a voice actor can be a good career option as well. To become a voice actor you should have good acting skills as well as a good voice too. There are many factors that would make you a good voice actor. Although, you have to keep in mind that just because your job would be to give voice to certain characters, that doesn’t mean it is going to be an easy job. There are a lot of things that you have to work on and also put a lot of effort into to become a good voice actor.

If you are here, you must be considering voice acting as your career. As we said, there are a few things that you should know before becoming a voice actor as well as to know how to become a voice actor. In this article, we are going to cover all these topics and provide you all the answers that you have been looking for.

But let’s figure out what a voice actor does and what are the benefits and disadvantages of being a voice actor so that you can make a fully informed decision.

What is Voice Actor and What Do They Do?

A voice actor is a performer who gives voice to actors or narrates a play or story behind the curtains. There are many places where a voice actor is needed such as to entertain, market products for commercials, narration, animations, audiobooks, video games, and educational content as well.

Voice actors would do many things such as mimicry or giving voice to many characters so they should have good acting skills too. Their voice has to be strong enough to express emotions and convey the feelings of the character. This is where they need training and the daily practice of expression.

Other duties of a voice actor would depend on the requirements of the project and they need to do a good job to meet all those requirements. There are many platforms where they can showcase their talent and earn a living as well.

Advantages of being a Voice Actor:

If you are not sure whether you want to become a voice actor or not then you should certainly know the advantages of being a voice actor. There are the following advantages associated with being a voice actor, take a look:

1. Work From Home – One of the biggest advantages of being a voice actor is that you can work from home. You can set up a studio for yourself at your home and record the voices to send your employer. This would mean you can work in the comfort of your home and without spending money on transportation.
2. Flexibility – Being a voice actor means you can make your hours and make sure that you get to work as per your comfort and needs. This can be your part-time job as well and you won’t have to give it all your time and efforts. You can also have a side business or work on other projects simultaneously. So in a way, you would be your boss and work at your convenience.
3. Good Money – If you get good projects like animation films or commercial advertisements then you can make good money as well. This won’t be a hardcore job where you have to work day and night, so with a few good projects on your hands, you can certainly make good money as well.

Disadvantages of Being a Voice Actor:

Every job and profession comes with its own sets of challenges and disadvantages and so does being a voice actor too. So before you make up your mind, here are a few challenges and disadvantages that should keep in your mind:

1. Unsteady Work – One of the biggest disadvantages of being a voice actor is that you would have unsteady work. You won’t be getting regular work and there will be a time where you don’t have work at all. So you need to make sure that you are going to have a side business or another job so you won’t be unemployed. It is like freelance work, sometimes you would have work, sometimes you won’t.
2. Heavy Competition – Another one of the disadvantages of being a voice actor is that this profession has heavy competition and you will always have to be better than others to get the project. This means you would be always struggling against the other aspiring and veteran voice actors.
3. It can be heavy on your pockets – If you decide to build up your recording studio at your house then you have to have a lot of money because it is not going to be cheap. So for starters, you will have to throw some money to get started.
4. You will have to go work on your voice – You will always have to make sure that your voice is healthy and clean. This means you have to keep yourself healthy and stay away from certain foods such as ice cream. It would be important that you take care of yourself and your voice.

Now we are back to our original question and we have made a list of things that you need to do to become a voice actor.
Take a look at the following steps and see how you can become a voice actor too.

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1. Take Acting Classes

One of the first steps that you need to take to become a voice actor is to take acting classes. As we have said earlier, one needs to be a good actor to become a voice actor. You will need to express the emotions and feelings that your character is going through. And even though you would be narrating a play, story, or tale, you need to have a good command of your voice as it would be expressing everything and connecting to the audience. By taking an acting class, you would learn how to express and act which would ultimately help you to become a good actor.

2. Hire a Voice Acting Coach

The second and most important thing you need to do to become a voice actor is to hire a voice acting coach. It is an important step and you can’t miss it either.

The catch would teach you how to act through your voice and how to have a proper command over your voice while you are giving voice to different characters. He would also teach you other valuable lessons and techniques. This would include having control over breathing, pronunciation, articulation, and delivery. You can’t know all these things on your own and would need an expert to teach you.

3. Listen to Professionals

One of the other things that would help you become a voice actor is to listen to the professionals. You should make a habit of listening to professional voice actors. This would include watching animated movies, commercials, movies that are dubbed in other languages and are narrated. Make sure you know how important it is to sound genuine and how you should sound when you are delivering dialogues. Listening to professionals would certainly help you to become a good voice actor.

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4. Record Your Voice as a Demo

One of the things you should do is to record your voice and see how you sound. A voice-over demo would give you an idea of your acting skills and the delivery of your voice. This would help you know your strengths and weaknesses so you can work on these things. You should try recording for different characters and perform different scenarios that require different approaches, different emotions, and dialogue delivery from you. Try out comic, emotional, and angry sounds for different characters.

Apart from this, it would be like an audition which you can send to different agencies or people who are looking for a voice actor.

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5. Keep Practicing

As an artist, you have to keep practicing and make sure you never leave your practice session. This would help you to become a good voice actor and perfect your performances and improve your talent. Keep making notes, practicing the vocal delivery, and working on your acting skills as well. You should leave practice even when you become a well-established voice actor.

6. Find Your Specialty

Since there are many areas where you can showcase your talent and be a voice actor. So you should be looking for a specialty too. Decide in which area you work in. There are many choices such as in commercials, animations, movies, dubbing artists, narration, and so on. You can also decide which kind of role suits your voice the most, such as a protagonist, villain, or comical roles.

To Get a Job As Voice Actor

Now that you have become a voice actor and know what it would be like being a voice actor, you should now work on getting a job and your first break as a voice actor. To get a job, you need to follow these steps:

7. Going to Auditions

Like the acting jobs, you would be going on different auditions as well. So you have to keep in mind that you would have to take a lot of auditions before you finally get your first break. Make sure you go to auctions for the roles that suit your abilities and strengths. So avoid going for auditions for the role that you can’t perform well. Know what you are best at and keep going for the audition for similar approaches.

Keep looking for auditions via the internet or acting agencies, whatever works best for you. You have to know about the auditions so that you don’t miss an opportunity. When you go for an audition, make sure you have practiced enough and are ready for the role. Also, dress appropriately and keep your appearance in the mind as well.

8. Build a Network

One of the other things that would help you to get more projects and voice acting jobs would be building a network for yourself. You should know who is hiring and which people would help you to get the jobs. It is a two-way street and you have to keep building connections and approaching the people to build a good network.

9. Find an Agency

There are multiple talent agencies that help aspiring artists to showcase their talent and make a mark in the industry. They would help you to get the job by providing you with the auditions and marketing you as well. It is important that you hire a talent agent who will take your career to the next level and help you to become a professional voice actor.

10. Make a Portfolio and Resume

Make sure you have a portfolio and a resume ready so that you can distribute them among the hiring agents. You should make sure that your portfolio and resume are well written and showcase your talent and expertise. It would be like having a resume for a regular job. Include a demo reel in it if you can.

How Much A Voice Actor Makes?

It is one of the most asked questions when it comes to choosing voice acting. The basic per hour rate is approx £250 per hour. It may vary slightly depending on the project and your location. Overall it would be a freelance career so how much you make would directly depend on the projects you would get.

Conclusion

Here we have come to an end for the article. It may not be the most stable job, but if you are talented enough, you would do good being a voice actor. There would be disadvantages and struggles, but they would be worth it. That would be all for now and we hope you got everything you have been looking for. Thank you.