How do I become a Voiceover?
It’s a question I get asked on a regular basis and one I always find tricky to answer. Partly because, although I am a full-time voiceover, I’m not a career coach and everyone’s history and strengths are different.
I do have some ideas which could be useful though, but like any opinion take these with a pinch of salt.
Let’s start with my voiceover origin story, in the hope it gives some insight.
I graduated from drama school (Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts to be precise) with a degree in Acting.
I moved home for a year and worked in a pub to raise enough funds to eventually move to London. The land of dreams, right?! I had the odd audition, but nothing major and life seemed a little meh…
I was introduced to a more established actor who kindly gave me some words of advice. One of those pieces of advice was to get a voicereel made with a studio that also has an online voice roster. She said voiceovers were a good thing to have on the side of acting… until this point it was a job I didn’t really think about existing (funny now as voiceovers takes up around 90% of my daily thoughts)!
Once I got my commercial voicereel recorded I was lucky enough to book several jobs through the roster and my name very slowly started to get out into the Scottish market. Over the next five years or so I got voiceovers (commercial more than anything else) but not enough to live off. I still had a part-time job. It wasn’t until I got my own studio and started to write off to people proactively that it became a career. I branched out into other genres, I began creating multiple voicereels, I got a good London voiceover agent, I expanded internationally and things began to roll.
So, what have a learned over the last 11 years? What advice would I give myself?
Well, here are my thoughts and musings, in no particular order.
Get home equipment. In my lowly opinion it’s not about the mic or software you use but having a very quiet sound proofed area is a must. I’m talking acoustic foam at the very least.
Find your niche – mine is my accent but it can be anything you like – genre, language, voice quality, extra services you can offer. If it’s genre, perhaps look into less known ones e.g., sleep apps, erotic audiobooks (maybe use a pseudonym for that one).
Focus in one area, smash it, then expand. Again, only my opinion but I say, one thing at a time. It’s a huge voiceover world out there and although you’ve got the enthusiasm to take over it all I’d advise pinpointing one area and going after that. Is that a certain geography or again, genre?
Know your voiceover rates - join Equity if you’re in the UK. They have a really helpful audio committee. Don’t underprice yourself and don’t be afraid to say no. Here’s a handy rate guide by Gravy for the Brain, to point you in the right direction. For TV rates enter the TVRs you’ve been provided with to UseFee.TV to calculate the usage fee. Then add your recording fee on top.
Network - join voiceover groups online, you’ll learn so much from just observing. Just to note: nine times out of ten the same question you’re going to ask has already been asked so use the search functions first. And never, ever criticise anyone online – you don’t know who knows each other. Some of these groups have over 10k members.
Be wary of AI - it’s an area I don’t personally know huge amounts about but I do know voiceovers who have been duped by getting into an unfortunate contract. That goes for all contracts really - understand what you’re signing and if you don’t, contact your union.
Google is your friend – you know this already but that’s where you find out everything in life, including who are your prospective voiceover clients.
And of course, a voiceover agent is a bonus although don’t be disheartened if you can’t get one as lots of clients work directly with voiceovers.
And that’s that, my thoughts on the subject. As I said, I’m not a career coach but hopefully it some pointers.
And, last but not least, my favourite cliché – remember, it’s a marathon not a sprint.
All the best,
Blanche, Scottish Voiceover Artist
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