So you want to get into voiceover work...

My voiceover career did not take off until I moved the UK. I had made a voice reel in Canada but never landed a gig.

Since 2016, my work as a voiceover actor has flourished. With my natural accent (save for a few uber Canadian “outs and abouts”), I’ve voiced countless ads for major brands, which has been fascinating artistically, taught me so much about how to use my voice and freed up my time to devote to my writing. (Read more about my VO journey and initial set backs here.)

Voice acting is a realm in which actors are often treated really well, respected and remunerated for their skill set and talents.

This is me shouting it from the rooftops: LET VOICEOVER WORK BE SOMETHING YOU CAN DO!!

Here are the 5 steps to getting started…

1. Make a sh*t hot voice reel
   This is all you need to get started. You don’t need to take a load of classes and workshops or get coaching. Listen to some reels, listen to to ads, tune your ear to the musicality and then make yours. My lovely partner Robert (an amazing sound designer and audio engineer) makes reels for actors. Make yours with his company! Or do your own research and make one with someone you trust.
   Note: You need a reel for an agent to be able to get your work. And although you don’t NEED an agent to work as a VO agent, without one, it’s much much harder to be considered for high paying, high profile jobs.
   

2. Send it out to all the reputable agents in your city
   Write a VERY SUCCINCT (3 sentence max) email, introducing yourself and mentioning the qualities of your voice/areas of the industry you’d like to work in with a link to you reel in soundcloud.
   

3. Exercise patience
   Breathe. And keep the faith. It can take a l o n g time to hear back from agents. Be cool. Follow up in 6 months, ideally with a small career update — something new that you’re working on (doesn’t have to be voiceover related). Follow up again 6 months after that if you don’t hear anything. Be brief, breezy and professional.
   

4. Practice! Keep listening & mimicking
   Keep listening to ads. You’ll hear them before youtube videos, podcasts, on Spotify and of course while you watch TV. Tune your ear the musicality of the voices in these ads. Mimic it. Record yourself on your phone and listen back. Think about things like: Am I underlining the product name? Am I ending each sentence with a different intonation? And check out this amazing video on how to deliver tag-lines.
   

5. Meet with agents! Go with your gut.
   When you hear back from agents, enjoy taking meetings! Ask about commission percentages—make sure it’s standard in your city by asking other VO actors. Ask where they think your voice would sit well in the industry. Go with the agent you feel the best with.
   

If you want to learn more about all things voice reels and voiceover, Robert is truly the expert. Check out his free resources and offerings here.