These are some of very common statements we hear from people who want to start in voiceovers.
So, is having a beautiful, melodious or booming voice a pre-requisite for being a good voice artist??
Not really!!
This was one of the many things I had learnt during first few months of my VO coaching and my career.
Having a voice which people compliment you for, might be helpful in your voiceover career, but what is more important and what ultimately helps you become a successful voice actor is, what you DO with your voice!
To have a sustainable career in this industry what is more important is that you know and understand your voice, your body language and how one affects the other.
How little nuances in intonation of your speech impacts what you’ve just said. How your inflection, your smile, your distance from the mic, all translates into the overall tone your audiences will hear when they will hear you speak. Afterall, you are a voice actor and how you can "act" through your voice, is what is the secret ingredient.
The ability to speak in different accents or different voices is another thing which might come in very handy in some genres of voiceovers but again might not be very relevant in few others. For example, for videogames or animations voiceovers, having an arsenal of accents or different character voices can prove to be very helpful. While for other genres like commercials or eLearning, maybe not so much.
If you listen carefully to a lot of successful voice artists, you will realize that while some have memorable voices others sound perfectly average. But once they are behind the mic, it doesn’t matter, because they all know how to bring out the exact message that the script is trying to convey and how to connect with their audience. And that is what makes them bookable and have so many faithful, repeat clients. That is what you need to achieve!
So, when you are deciding to have a career in voiceovers don’t focus so much on how your voice sounds naturally but pay more attention to what you can do with your voice box. Can you understand the script, identify the characters in it, pronounce all the tricky words while sounding knowledgeable, connect with your audience using the words you are speaking? CAN YOU ACT?
Don’t just focus so much on how you sound naturally, but instead pay closer attention to how you can use your voice to connect with your script and convey the right message for your audience.
Another important aspect that contributes in your being a successful voice actor is how well you can manage the "Business" side of things!
Yes, because being a voice actor is not just about being an actor, it also is about being an entrepreneur and how well you can handle the "business side" of things.
Because trust me, recording behind the mic is only a small portion of a voice actor's day. A lot of their time is spent marketing and networking with the right people, following up with prospective leads, generating and sending invoices or studying the marketing trends, so that they can stay relevant, not only from acting pov but also from business pov too.
So sometimes you might also want to take business classes to understand how to sensibly run your voiceover business. Trust me it will come in handy!
And off course you need to be professional and "easy to work with" if you want people to actually work with you!