What’s a voice over?

It’s the art of using the voice to sell, inform or entertain on radio and TV commercials, non-broadcast narrations for corporate audio or phone lines, and animation or cartoons.

My name is Susan Berkley and since 1987 I’ve voiced thousands of Voice Overs for companies including: AT&T, Citibank, Google, Dunkin’ Donuts, Avis, Johnson and Johnson, Sprint, Coopers and Lybrand, and many others. I do this full time, and have my own recording studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Here are the answers to the questions people always ask about how to break into the field.

1. People always tell me I have a great voice and should do Voice Overs. It sounds like fun. How do I know if I have any talent? I don’t want to embarrass myself or waste my time.

It takes much more than a great sounding voice to be successful in voice overs. While clear speech is essential, you also need:

The ability to take someone else’s words (the script) and make them sound believable and sincere, as if they were your own. This has more to do with acting ability and timing than voice quality. With proper training this skill can be learned. A strong desire to do this and the ability to persist. Some start up capital to invest in training and a professionally recorded demo tape. A solid marketing plan and a list of people to send your tape to. There are some people (male and female) who are born with what I call “the voice of god”… But in my experience, natural talent has very little to do with voiceover success. I’ve seen people who I thought would never “make it” book jobs. I’ve also seen those who were naturally talented never get work. In my opinion, what most people call talent is really a combination of desire, preparation and persistence.

2. How much money can I make in this business?

A lot. Top voice over talent make six and even seven figure incomes. If you are lucky enough to book a long-running national commercial you can make well over $10,000 in residual payments for just one spot!

But don’t quit your day job. It can take many years of perfecting your talent and marketing yourself before you reach this level of success. Non-union jobs pay anywhere from $75-$400 a commercial depending on market size and whether your commercial runs on TV or radio. While these fees are not astronomical they are certainly good pay for something that’s so much fun to do!

3. Can I do this if I have a “day job”?

Absolutely! In fact, it will probably take a few years before your voice over career is established enough to be your sole means of support. In the meantime, you’ll need to invest some of the money you make at your day job in things like classes, demo tape production and duplication, and marketing expenses to get your voice over career off the ground.

4. But how do I do both? Do they hold auditions and bookings on evenings or weekends?

Unfortunately not. Most voice over sessions happen during normal business hours.

Before you can get work, you need to market yourself. This is done by consistently sending out tapes and following up with phone calls. Tapes can be sent after hours and calls can be made during lunch time or breaks.

Even if you do this consistently, it will probably take several months before you get your first call for an audition or booking. When the call comes take a day off or make some other excuse to duck out of work for a while. Most voice over jobs take about an hour to do.

5. Do you need to live near New York City, Los Angeles or Chicago to be a successful voice over artist?

No. However, most agents will only represent clients who live and work in the same market, close enough to get to auditions and bookings quickly when the call comes in. However, if you are a good marketer and able to find work on your own, you can live anywhere you like as long as you have access to a recording studio, phone, fax, and overnight delivery service. Many voice over artists do extremely well in medium size markets.

6. How do I get started?

First, find a competent coach to train you in voice over technique and help you with your demo tape. Then, record your tape in a professional studio. Duplicate and distribute the tape to casting directors, agents and production companies. Then, follow up consistently on every tape you send. Keep practicing and working to master your craft.