Things are tight right now for a lot of people. Even if you’re not one of the millions of unemployed, you’re probably being a bit more careful about throwing your money at things these days.
If you’ve got money to burn, good on you…
Whether you are brand new to voiceover and looking for ways to dip your toes in and try it out without spending a ton of money to get started…
Or you’ve been at it for a while but just don’t have money for more coaching right this second, there are ways to keep improving your voiceover skills without spending a single cent.
HOLD UP THERE, BUCKAROO!
If you are just getting started, and haven’t done any coaching, there are definitely things you SHOULD NOT spend your money on right now:
Don’t buy a subscription to any website promising you can make $1000s from home
Don’t buy an all-in-one $5000 coaching and demo program that promises you marketable demos by the end
Don’t buy an expensive microphone or preamp
Don’t buy a WhisperRoom, StudioBricks, or any other expensive sound booth
Don’t buy any gimmicky gadget that promises it can take your terribly treated room and make it sound like a professional studio
If you haven’t had any coaching, these are all a waste of your money.
I hate to break it to you, but this business is the long game. You’re not going to make money overnight.
Anyone who promises that you will make money overnight is going to make money overnight themselves… on whatever they’re selling you.
If something SOUNDS too good to be true, it probably is
Don’t get me wrong: You will need to invest in order to make this a business.
But don’t spend your money until you have to. When you do, make sure you are spending it on the right things: professional coaching, a properly produced demo, and a quality home studio setup.
In the meantime, while you are saving up for these things, here are five ways to work on your voiceover skills…without spending any of the money you don’t have right now.
Read out loud
Read out loud every single day.
I’m not kidding. Acting is the most important skill you need in order to make it as a voiceover artist, but cold reading is probably a close second.
In fact, even if you’re a great actor already, if you have trouble with cold reading, you’re going to struggle.
In this business, you often don’t get the script until right before your session. You don’t have time to break it down, analyze it, make sure you understand the sentence structure. And many scripts aren’t written how people speak naturally, but you still have to read them the way the client wrote them.
Practicing reading out loud, with every type of material, will help you get better at cold reading. Read your kids’ books; magazines; the shampoo bottle; ingredients from your food labels; medical journal articles online; your car manual…literally anything.
Try to make it as fluid as possible. In the booth, time is money, so you can’t be wasting your client’s time with stumbles.
Record and listen to yourself
Everyone’s smart phone has a recording app.
Every day, record yourself reading out loud for five to ten minutes, then listen back to it. Your goal should be to sound as natural and un-stilted as possible.
If. Your. Sentences. . . Sound. Like. You. Are. Reading. You Need. To. Keep. Working. . . At. It.
Bonus points: Get a buddy to work with. Listen to each other’s reads and critique them. Be honest with each other about if/when you lose interest or stop understanding the meaning behind what is being said.
You’re not just speaking words out loud; you are sharing ideas with the listener.
Actually LISTEN to Ads
Most people skip ads, or find them annoying. But if you want to do VO, I suggest you make your peace with advertisements and learn from them.
Commercials are still the way in for the majority of voice actors. Most agents want a commercial demo before anything else.
If you still have TV with commercial breaks, stick around for them. If you don’t, go to ispot.tv and check out recent ads. Close your eyes, and really listen to different types of ads, so you start to understand the difference between the various styles of commercials.
If ads really aren’t your style, and you think you want to do corporate narration, audiobooks, video games or animation instead, then listen to those. But REALLY listen—not for entertainment, but to analyze what works.
Ask yourself: What makes something convincing? What makes something interesting? And when do you lose interest or stop listening?
If you tune out, it’s usually because the voice actor stopped truly connecting to the thought behind the words.
Eventually, between listening to yourself and listening to others, you should start to develop an ear for what works and why.
Learn new vocabulary
To be a great voice actor, a strong vocabulary is a must.
In order to cold read well, it is super important to not only know HOW to pronounce the words you are saying, but to also be able to carry the meaning of the words to your listener.
Knowing what you’re saying is as important as knowing how to say it.
Reading many different types of things will help with vocabulary. Every time you are reading and get to a word you don’t know, look it up, and then see if you can use it in conversation a few times during the week.
Another option is to subscribe to a “Word a day” email. You’ll get a new vocabulary word every single day, so eventually, you won’t need to look up the word “defenestrate” to find out it means “to throw out of a window” or “widdershins” to learn it means “counterclockwise.”
Click here for a few options to get a word a day in your email.
Strengthen your voice through singing
“But I’m not a singer!”
Doesn’t matter. It’s not about being able to carry a tune or belt out “I Will Survive” at karaoke night. Knowing how to keep your vocal chords healthy and happy is super important if you plan to use them for work.
Just because you walk every day doesn’t mean you could run a marathon tomorrow; similarly, just because you talk every day doesn’t mean you are prepared for hours of auditions or audiobook narration or a strenuous video game session.
Your voice is a muscle. Like any muscle, if you haven’t strengthened it, you risk injury.
And as a voice actor, if you strain a vocal chord, lose your voice due to vocal strain, or (god forbid) get a nodule, you lose out on work.
Working with a good voice teacher is the best way to make sure you are achieving proper vocal placement, avoiding vocal fry, and using proper breath support, but a free online course is a great way to at least learn the basics.
Click here for a list of free online courses to get started.
There you go! Five ways to practice skills that will make you a better voice actor. Start on these, and trust me, you’ll be worlds ahead when you really get going.
Have a great week, everyone!