If you have a golden voice, you might be able to rake in a good part-time income doing voice-overs — recording the words for commercials, cartoons, or movie trailers. In recent years, the boom in podcasts and audiobooks has created more demand for the work.
Plus, the rise of computers with digital recording software now allows voice actors to work remotely from anywhere. Voice actors often work part-time from their homes, and established professionals may take in thousands of dollars for a few hours of work.
Still, becoming a successful voice actor isn’t as easy as plugging in a mic. Winning voice-over gigs requires training and persistence. You also need to have a gifted voice.
Interestingly, your children might have a better shot at voice-over success. Many adults can artfully imitate children’s voices, but casting directors seem to prefer “real” children’s voices. Children have been known to make a few thousand dollars over the summer — and we’re talking about a child too young to legally mow lawns or wait on tables at your local diner.
Steven Lowell, community manager at the voice-over casting website Voice123.com, noticed that over the past two years the top-paying jobs have been going to children. One child, Lowell wrote in a voice-over industry blog, received $4,000 and a recurring contract to do a series of children’s audio books. In another instance, a voice-over professional told him her son made more money than she did in the past month.
Why Kids Get Good Voice-Over Pay
There are several reasons for the increasing demand for children’s voices, Lowell explained.
Studios demand real children. In the last couple years, Voice123 started getting emails directly from agents seeking child voices — from real children, that is. After an agent found that Lowell was 39, he never heard another reply.
The decrease in privacy in today’s online world has increased transparency, making it harder for grown-ups to hide their true identity — and their real age. Actors have been known to post a child’s photo on their profile. At one point, Lowell’s casting website banned children from creating profiles unless someone first spoke to their parents.
Online networks have made children more visible. Since they have more time for social media networking, they might be more visible online.
Does Your Child Have What It Takes?
Doing voice-overs can be great fun for the kids, and it pays much better than babysitting or mowing lawns. But children need more than just a flair for the dramatic if they want to succeed in the business. Getting jobs means work.
Children must be able to, or be able to learn to: read well, memorize lines, and enunciate well.
They must have patience. They’ll be reading lines over and over again in a sound studio. Sound work is typically not as time-consuming as traditional physical acting. Still, kids who can’t sit still for long in a studio don’t work out well. Sound equipment picks up rustling clothes of wiggly children.
Fame should not be your top concern. Voice actors don’t get much recognition. Sometimes they don’t even get credit.
Although their face isn’t shown, they still have to be good actors with a feel for timing and emphasis.
Having a unique voice will give them an extra advantage. Being bilingual, being able to sing, and speak in different dialects and accents are also advantages.
How to Break Into the Business
For children finding voice-over work, here are some tips to consider
Train
Enroll in classes with a professional voice-over coach or online classes. Practice reading scripts.
Produce a Demo
Make sure it includes a sample of voicing various commercials, cartoons, and so forth. In addition to teaching how to read scripts and audition, the coach can help prepare a demo to submit to agents.
Subscribe to an Online Casting Service
For example, Voice123.com or Voices.com, which might cost a couple hundred dollars a year. Some casting websites offer special memberships for children. The service emails you — and hundreds of others — notices of auditions.
Record the Audition
You can do this at a home studio or pay to rent a studio. Email or mail audio files to prospective clients. If you get the job, you record it, again either at a home studio or a rented studio.
Obtain Agents Who Also Market for You
This does take time. Some agents accept emailed digital files; others prefer physical copies. Some may make a hiring decision after hearing a demo; others want to hear you in the studio.
Keep Trying
Keep auditioning, sending demos, and following up.
