The voice over artist is the person that brings scripts to life for visual media and audio ad productions. You hear them on the radio, TV or internet ads, at the till at the supermarket, training videos online, sat nav directions, audio books, reading children’s stories on the train, telling you when your next bus is due, or even when you call your service provider to ask why they are late. It’s hard to know who it is because they’re usually not visible and you can’t see them either, but you trust their words because they are convincing and they are professional. They’re the people behind the voice of many of our favourite characters like Buzz Lightyear.
As with any career choice, the voice over industry has a mix of semi-professionals who pick up work as a supplementary income and successful top professionals who can make a living from their voice talent alone. Those that choose to pursue voice overs often start out with little or no previous performance experience and are drawn to the promise of flexible, portable freelance work.
A key skill for voiceover artists is articulation, the ability to clearly deliver every word from a script without losing the message. In addition to that, a strong work ethic is important because it can take several auditions before an artist will land a job. As a result, the competition is heavy and it’s easy for aspiring and intermediate voice actors to get discouraged. voiceover artists
