Voice Acting: The Skills You Need Before Earning Your First Dollar

If you’ve watched an episode of The Simpsons, you must’ve heard the iconic voice of Homer Simpson. Did you know, the voice behind Homer is rumored to earn $300,000 per episode?

According to a report by the U.S Department of Labor, the average hourly wage for a voice actor is $17.50.

Voice acting seems like an easy profession to break into. As long as you have a voice, you can start voice acting. However, we hate to bring you bad news— it takes more than a voice to become a voice actor that actually gets paid.

The truth is, anyone can decide to become a voice actor but it’s earning the money from voice acting that’s a challenge. To get hired by people, you have to show that you can voice their message loudly, clearly and precisely.

After gathering tips and tricks from some of the best voice actors, we’ve compiled the skills you need to learn before earning your first dollar from a voice acting job in an infographic below.

To get you started, we covered a few things you need to need to master before starting voice acting.

Enunciation

Mumbling is a definite no-no when it comes to voice acting. Not only does it annoys listeners, no one likes asking “what did you say?” more than once.

Mumbled words can also cause phrase mix-ups and makes you look like you’re doubting your arguments— reflecting a lack of self-confidence which isn’t sought after by brands and employers.

Tempo Management

It’s important to watch your tempo and avoid speaking too fast since it can sound like you’re trying to sell something. In a promotional piece like an explainer video, the ideal pace is between words per minute and not any faster.

When voice actors speak too fast, it does more harm than good. Voice actors aren’t rappers and speaking too fast may lose the listener’s attention, create a negative impression, and lose clarity of the message.

Intonation and Emphases

Intonation is a simple yet vital element when it comes to verbal communication. Intonation may seem trivial but a slight change can create a completely different meaning.

Emphases or stresses have a bigger impact on verbal communication. Simple sentences can have different meanings depending on where the stresses are put.

Looking for more information and skills to know? Have a look at the infographic the folks and Breadnbeyond whipped up below: