3 Steps to Booking Your First Voice Over Gig.

Voice acting is by far the best job I've ever had... period. Not only has it helped pay the bills for the last 15 years, but a career as a voice actor can also be extremely rewarding, creatively and financially, if you do it right.

I consider myself very lucky to have had plenty of mentors in the entertainment industry who have helped guide me in the right direction and so I've always tried to pay it forward when fans on social media ask how they to can land a job as a voice actor. So let's cut to the chase and get to the 3 simple steps to becoming a voice actor.

STEP ONE: THE DEMO

You NEED a demo. Luckily, putting one together is actually pretty easy.

A voice demo is a 2 - 3 minute audio recording of your voice acting that you and your agent will use to submit to clients and casting agencies to book you an audition or a job. You should have at least one demo for each kind of voice acting you're looking to get into; commercial voice, animation & video games, narration, etc...

Don't be intimidated, you don't need to book an expensive studio to record your voice demo. A bluetooth microphone and a laptop will usually do the trick. If you don't have access to those, the voice recorder app on most smartphones is sufficient. Just make sure to record in a relatively sound proof room with little to no echo.

Commercial Voice.

A commercial voice demo should consist of a few 30 second radio commercials edited together with a few 4-5 second tags* for a total of 2-3 minutes at most. You'll want to use different kinds of products to showcase different tones. A nice mix would look like this: 1 Bank Commercial, 1 Car commercial, 1 Grocery Store Commercial, 1 Family Restaurant Commercial, etc...

*Note: Tags, sometimes referred to as slogan or taglines, are basically catch phrases that are typically used at the end of a radio spot like "Ford. Built tough." or "Chevy. Like a Rock.".

Animation & Gaming Demo.

An animation & video game demo should showcase a variety of characters, accents and vocal range. For beginners, I'd recommend taking a comic book or children's book and reading only the dialogue (not the narration) in character. Keep in mind that while professional animation & video game demos will be visual because they are using clips from projects they've already been in, yours can be audio only.

For more examples visit:

www.todfennell.com/#demos

STEP TWO: REPRESENTATION

Most actors and voice actors rely on their agents to book them auditions, gigs and to negotiate their contracts. Finding an agent is like dating and you have to make sure that you and your agent have the same vision and are a good fit. You'll want to find someone that has the same vision for your career as you do. Agents usually take anywhere between 10-20% of your salary and do not ask for any fees upfront, so be weary of any agents or agencies who do.

I recommend sending your voice demo along with a query letter to any and all agencies that are vetted and recommended by your local actor's union branch. (SAG/AFTRA in the United States and ACTRA in Canada). Here are a few resource links from the official union sites.

SAG/AFTRA (United States)

Agents & Managers:

https://www.sagaftra.org/contracts-industry-resources/professional-representatives

Casting Professionals:

https://www.sagaftra.org/casting-professionals

ACTRA (Canada)

Montreal: http://www.actramontreal.ca/our-industry/talent-agents/

Toronto: https://www.actratoronto.com/performers/agents-directory/

Contact your local ACTRA branch for more information.

(Please note that ACTRA, SAG/AFTRA and I cannot recommend agents or agencies.)

STEP THREE: HONING YOUR CRAFT

Practice makes perfect. Obviously, the more you book, the better you'll get, but you don't necessarily have to be in studio to work on honing your craft. Reading a book or articles aloud is an excellent way to work on your articulation and projection. You can also audition for a local theatre production in your area. If you're a parent or have nieces and nephews, read to them and have fun experimenting with the character's voices and accents. Singing lessons is another great way to get control of your voice and expand your range. If you don't have time for singing lessons, you can always sing in the car on your commute. Please feel free to skip this one if you use public transit ;)

Well, that pretty much sums it up. I sincerely hope that this article was the first step towards you building a successful and rewarding career as a voice actor. I wish you the best of luck! Get out there and break leg!

Tod Fennell

IMDB: www.imdb.me/fennell

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