Where do I start as a voiceover?

On one of our Friday Voice Over tip about establishing your goal (Becoming a Voice Over Artist), we highligted how a good aggresive social media markerting strategy can be used to establish your voiceover career. From this, it easy to see that  a voiceover can start their career from nothing and as long as you have talent, you are half way there. We as Piehole VoiceOver know that getting a good head start is part of being a successful voiceover artist and with that in mind we encourage you to take the opportunity to do a test my voice that will help evaluate  your performance ability, your natural voice quality, how well you can take direction and interpret scripts. This will be useful before you invest in compiling demo reels. When you are ready and confident about your voice skills, its then you can record your demo reels of original work or characters that already exist  and you can do this on a low budget but remember your demo is the first audio potential clients get to hear from you. Most of the time, it is the thin line between being chosen or being passed over for voiceover work. Which is why we put so much emphasize on training and practising your voices. Learning how to control vocal chords goes a long way and helps when you have to record long narrations that would straining your voice. Special training, drinking  plenty of water(six to eight glasses a day is recommended) and consuming foods that contain vitamins A, E, and C also help keep the mucus membranes that line the throat healthy. This is an industry were you never stop learning therefore we recommend that voiceovers  continue practising and you should attend at least one workshop a year. You get a great opportunity to network,  handing out business cards and receiving some from potential clients or colleagues. This way when you send a link out to copywriters, producers and any contact you have made, it won’t be out of  the blue.  You might find a job this way. If you cannot attend any workshops, Piehole voiceover offers a home study course and a one to one study course that are a great help for laying the right foundation for your career. For more information email Nate Kent at  nate@piehole.ie or [email protected]

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Guys have a look at our latest explainer video featuring the voice over talents of Lance Blair and Jenn McGuirk. Awesome job you two:)

GAZEMETRIX explainer video – By Piehole TV from Piehole.TV on Vimeo.

Click here to listen to more of Lance Blair’s voice

taxback explainer video – by Piehole TV from Piehole.TV on Vimeo.

Click here to listen to more of Jenn McGuirk’s Voice

What was your first taster of voice over work?

It was a promotional clip for a nightclub in Edinburgh. Originally they brought me in to read 2 words and then asked me to voice the whole ad!

What has been your favourite voice over job to date and why?

I think i have 2 favourites. I recorded a TV ad for Ask Hugo and that was great as the majority of the VO work I have done has all been recorded from home, so it was fun to be in the studio and having people around. The other was for a book trailer – it’s amazing seeing everything come together with animation, scored music and a voice!

If you had to pick one style which you feel represents you best what would it be?

I would probably go with a more commercial style. My voice has a warm tone to it and is inviting for promotional videos and commercial style reads.

Have you been involved in anything interesting lately?

This year, I was chosen as the VO for a film trailer and a book trailer (different, unrelated projects). The two characters couldn’t have been more different! One was FiFi Parker, i suppose you could say she is a female version of Bond, but more outrageous, more boozy and definitely more wild. The other was Sophie, a character based on Sleeping Beauty, who is innocent and sweet. So it was fun adapting my voice to play such completely different characters!

Any advice for aspiring voice overs?

I’m still relatively new to the whole world of voiceovers so can’t yet offer many words of wisdom, except, keep at it. There have been times where nothing seems to come of anything, and then all of a sudden, i’m flavour of the month and things are going really well. So definitely keep giving it your all!

Listen to Jennifer´s voice here!

Establishing your goal (Becoming a Voice Over artist)

Voice over can be your only source of income or an additional source of income.  If your goal is to be a voice over artist full-time then your marketing effort will need to be significant but if part-time work is your goal, then marketing can be much less time consuming. Getting voice over work is  dependent on how visible you are to clients looking to hire voice over artist and since marketing has changed radically, internet  marketing is the best way to go.  Good internet visibility for when a potential client searches your name  is ideal.  In order to build your personal brand, you should have your personal page up to date. Keep your page work-appropriate;  do not post any unflattering photos, friendly looking black and white photo is always the best. Here are some good ways to improve your profile and to direct traffic to your page. Social media gives you the opportunity to add interesting links, articles, photos, or work that you have done. This way; people can see that you take the time to be knowledgeable about what is going on around the world, especially about the voice over industry. That is why you can never do enough networking, social media is your best friend. We are available on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn for extra support and that is how we also do extra marketing for our voice over artists, If you would like to do the video interview, then email us at [email protected]

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What was your first taster of voice over work?

My very first was putting a cartoon voice on an animation series for a producer in Barcelona. I had very little experience in VO, but LOVED doing character voices. That was my first taster in projecting my voice in different ways.

What has been your favourite voice over job to date and why?

I liked a commercial I did for McDonalds Saudia Arabia recently, because I had to put on a wide range of voices expressing contrasting moods and mind-sets. It certainly made me get out of my comfort zone!

If you had to pick one style which you feel represents you best what would it be?

Straight forward commercial reads and animation voices!

Have you been involved in anything interesting lately?

Yes, there are a series of Facebook cartoons spearheaded by a Bulgarian producer which requires at least 10 voices (all done by me)…there is a teaser on my web page….but more info when they’ll be fully produced!

Any advice for aspiring voice overs?

Be really intent and serious in wanting to be a VO, and NOT just because you think it is cool, pays well, or you think you have a lovely voice. It is a beautiful profession to get into, but it takes a lot of dedication and hard work.

Anything else you would like to let us know?

Being able to sound natural in two languages and speak without a trace of an accent of the other one has been something I believe I have perfected in English and Spanish. If you want a little sample/demo, I would be very happy to provide you one!

Listen to Ramesh´s voice here

Our amazing voice over Kevin Parr voiced three characters for a student project for the dare to be digital competition in 2012. The team went on to win a Scottish BAFTA for the game in the new talent awards held in March 2013 for their game Mr.Montgomery’s Debonair Facial Hair. The iPad app is aimed at children aged 10-13. Kevin voiced three of the seven main character voices as well as all of the other noises which included crows, clowns, frogs and dolphins.

Kevin you rock!=)

Listen to more of Kevin’s voice here

Listen to Chris´s voice here!

What was your first taster of voice over work?

Wow, my first taste, huh? Well, years ago, I took a class through a local university with Alice Whitfield. It was a wonderful experience. She saw that I had some potential and took it upon herself to train me. I attend her Master classes to this day. It’s exhilarating to analyze a piece of copy and deliver it.

What has been your favourite voice over job to date and why?

My favorite jobs are the educational apps for SmartyEars.com. I have a background in education, so when I get to voice an app that will help kids learn, I get that warm fuzzy feeling inside.

On a side note, part of my past job at an elementary school was to create and send home the nightly phone calls en masse. My colleagues use to tell me that they never knew it was me until I told them. Once they found out, they would make their significant others listen to the calls. No one believed that it could be me. That was a lot of fun.

If you had to pick one style which you feel represents you best what would it be?

The jobs I book tend to be educational or training in nature. I have a great voice for that. It is soothing and calm yet authoritative.

Have you been involved in anything interesting lately?

I just finished an iPad app called Apraxia Ville. Again, I get to voice an app that helps children. It can’t get better than that.

Any advice for aspiring voice overs?

Don’t get discouraged and you need to have a thick skin. “No” can’t have any power over you. Just keep plugging along.

Anything else you would like to let us know?

This business has been very good to me over the years. I love doing it. I can’t think of a better job to have.

Listen to Kiersten´s voice here!

Listen to Adam Justice’s warm versatile voice discussing the wonderful world of voice over!

Listen to more of Adam’s voice here

If you would like to do the video interview, then email us at [email protected]

• Golden Rule

• Remembering that your voice is your business, you need to have a marketable product.  That means you have to keep training. Voice overs who do long narrations, need special training to avoid straining  their voices when recording over long periods of time.
• Drink plenty of water, six to eight glasses a day is recommended. Foods that contain vitamins A, E, and C also help keep the mucus membranes that line the throat healthy.

To Sign Up Click Here