The Magazine of Santa Clarita readers continue to send great questions about the voiceover business. Here’s a recent one:
Q: Hello, all my life I’ve been told I have a beautiful speaking voice and that I should get into voice acting. I’m 32 years old and I continue getting compliments on my voice. How can I get started in the business? – Sylvia G., Van Nuys, CA
A: Sylvia, a lot of people have asked me that question over the years and at the risk of repeating some information from earlier articles and answers to readers’ questions, it entails a few things to consider. Having a great voice is just one factor in having a successful voiceover career. In voice acting you have to be a convincing voice actor in order to really be successful in this business. The great thing about voice acting is that you don’t necessarily have to have one of those “Voice of God” voices. Of course, it helps to have a nice, resonant, voiceprint or to have a really unique one, but one of the fundamental skills you need under your belt is acting.
That said there are a number of other skill sets you need to bring to the table. You’ve got to have excellent articulation, no over pronunciation and no mumbling. You need great breath control, and you need to understand how to analyze a script, in particular commercial copy. Most importantly, you need to have what I call Eye-Brain-Mouth coordination: the ability to lift words off the page effortlessly and not sound like you’re reading. Most stage and film actors memorize their lines before an audition. Voice actors don’t have that kind of setup. They usually have 10 to 15 minutes to read and rehearse their copy before auditioning. So it’s imperative that your reading, articulation and performance are spot on.
I suggest you take a few voice-acting courses to get a solid foundation in this craft because it’s the only way to acquire these skills. A knowledgeable instructor will teach you the techniques and tools you need to compete with voice actors who’ve been working for 10, 20 or 30 years. And don’t expect to accomplish all this within one four- or six-week course. Any teacher who tells you that after one course you’re ready to do a voice demo just wants your money. So do your homework. Interview voice-acting instructors. Audit a class. Observe how the teacher teaches to see if that teacher is a good match for you. Just remember that you can have the most beautiful voice in the world, but if you can’t act, you’ll be relegated to simple announcing and you’ll miss out on innumerable voice acting opportunities.
And after you’ve been studying for a while, write back and tell me how you’re doing. I wish you the best of luck.
I’ll be sharing more voiceover questions and answers in the coming months. If you have any questions, please write to me at Ask The VoiceCat and I’ll get back to you.
Marc Cashman creates and produces copy and music advertising for radio and television. Winner of over 150 advertising awards, he also instructs voice acting of all levels through his classes, The Cashman Cache of Voice-Acting Techniques in Los Angeles. He can be contacted at cashcomm@earthlink.net or his website www.cashmancommercials.com .