Commercials and Videos and AudioDramas, Oh My!
Today I was looking over all the different voice over projects I’ve done recently, and the scope and breadth of voice over never ceases to amaze me! In the past month I’ve voiced 4 commercials, 5 YouTube videos, an absolutely brilliant audio drama and, well, vomit noises for a video game! Everyday is an adventure when you are a voice over artist!
Interestingly enough, someone on TikTok reached out to me today to ask me what my favorite thing about voice acting is, and it really made me stop and consider the answer. I love voice acting, I love the excitement of a new project, I love getting to know the client and discussing their vision, I love being in my booth playing around with different techniques, kind of like a character trying on clothes in a dressing room - which one will fit this project the best? I love the excitement of finding that “perfect outfit,” the take where everything sounds “right.” And I even love when the client doesn’t think it sounds right, even if I may have thought so, because that gives me the chance to learn what their “right” is, because that is valuable information that will help me the next time I work for them!
I realized something that I love about being a voice actor is being able to play so many characters. I discovered how much I loved theater when I was young, and I think most of it comes from the fascination of seeing what it’s like to be another “person”, whether that is a human character or some other thing brought to life, it’s always so much fun to discover: how does this character talk? Ah but that’s end goal - first you have to consider how does this character walk, stand, dance? What is most important to him/her/it? What dreams or fears do they have? What’s it like to “be” them? Many people think voice acting is just about going into the booth and making a voice, and while sure, that’s it on the surface, there is so much more beneath it that is going on. The actor HAS to BE the character, or else the lines will sound like, well, just a human standing in a booth saying some lines.
And it goes for ALL voice acting - even with commercials, eLearning and corporate narration voice over has to sound authentic, and let me tell you - sounding authentic is ironically one of the hardest things to do! When you are in a booth and you know the audio software is rolling, even being yourself becomes being able to maintain a character. It’s surprisingly harder than it seems.
Many a voice actor coach will tell you that the term “actor” is more important that the word “voice.” You can have the best, smoothest, most amazing voice in the world and that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do voice over. It’s a skill, and while at times it’s glorious fun, it’s also a skill that needs to be learned and refined in the same way as playing guitar or being an athlete. Musicians and sports stars get a lot of satisfaction from being good - but it’s their skill and dedication to the craft that brought them there.
Overall, I think what I like best about voice acting is hearing the positive feedback from a truly satisfied client. Nothing makes me happier than reading that my work, my skill and performance was just what my client had in mind. I take a lot of time with my clients to make sure I understand what they need, and I often feel a genuine surge of delight when clients return to me for more work. That means I’ve done my job right, and that is a feeling that can’t be beat.
