As a successful voice artist, people often ask me for advice on how to succeed as a voice over actor. As voiceover coach, I daily hand out tips, tricks, insight, and exercises I’ve picked up over my 30+ years of crushing it in the industry. Here’s a list of some of the things I advise people to do.
1. Learn how to breathe – From the diaphragm and really learn to control it.
2. Stay hydrated – Little sips all day long. Limit coffee and alcohol.
3. Protect your voice – Don’t shout or scream unless you know how
4. Get enough sleep – Voice work requires energy.
5. Stay healthy – If you have a cold, you can’t work.
6. Enunciate – So you can choose not to for effect (i.e. conversational, relaxed reads).
7. Be confident – It comes out in your read.
8. Commit – Believe what you say. If you don’t know one else will.
9. Excel at cold reading – ‘Cause you need to
10. Practice – It takes work to make it sound effortless.
11. Relax – It helps open you to deliver your best sound.
12. Learn all you can about the industry – It’s your industry after all.
13. Get voice over training – This is a craft. You need to train to improve.
14. Get more training – Don’t stop. I’ve been at this 30 for years and still train.
15. Invest in a home studio – And reinvest in better equipment as soon as you can.
16. Get a professional demo – It makes a HUGE difference.
17. Get a VO agent – They have access to jobs you don’t.
18. Do auditions – Every day. Make a weekly target number & stick to it.
19. Promote yourself – People can’t hire you if they don’t know you’re there.
20. Learn about marketing – It’s show business, after all.
21. Learn about accounting – Stay on top of that, so you can keep doing what you love.
22. Attend voiceover conferences – For the learning and the camaraderie.
23. Join an accountability/mentoring group – It pushes you to grow.
24. Play with your voice – Learn what you can do with it.
25. Learn accents – Pick one, perfect it and move on to another.
26. Try impersonations – Even if they’re bad, they’ll help you expand your character bank.
27. Stay fit – It helps you stay positive. And we all need that.
28. Read standing up – you have better access to that diaphragm.
29. Improv and adlib when appropriate – It keeps you authentic.
30. Understand how to adjust your smile – So you can better flavor your reads.
31. Mark up your script – With reminders and self-coaching icons.
32. Stay in the moment – It makes your performance snap (crackle & pop).
33. Do tongue twisters – So you don’t trip on your script.
34. Learn how to analyze a script – Verbs, adjectives, intentions, place, all the good stuff.
35. Become part of a voice acting community – The support is life-changing.
Which one of these tips resonates most with you?
All of them! 😉 Thank you so much, Kim!