Help with information on becoming a voice talent....?

Question

I have just come to realize that along with being a graphic design artist, I'd also like to be a voice talent... i.e. I'd like to be the next Billy West, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castalaneta, etc, etc.

Does anyone have any websites, or books I could look into aobut doing this, possibly?

I'm considering Minoring in Theatre at my college, will this help to increase my chances?

Answer 1

How random. I am a graphic designer and a part-time national voice talent!

The two things are wonderful. As for how I got into being a voice talent, I started in radio. There was a local station who needed a night-time board operator (boring!), but I was able to do the weather and eventually commercials as well. That was in high school.

I went to college for graphic design. After college, I met my husband--who was promotions director and production director at a 5-station medium-market cluster. I got back into voicing, and was the station ID liner on 3 stations, as well as an in-demand voice for commercials on all 5 stations. My husband left the company for one who specialized in a paperless production system that gives stations all over the nation access to a select pool of voice talents, of which I am a part. I've done commercials for Hertz Rent-a-Car, McDonald's, the Pittsburgh Steelers and other nationals, as well as hundreds of spots for businesses that are local to the 500 stations signed into the program.

I know my path was pretty random, but I think it should give you a pretty good idea of where to start. If you can't get an actual job at a radio station, you can always offer to do a few spots for free. Many small stations are in need of good voices, as they have very few employees. It doesn't sound good to have the same few voices in every commercial after all.

As far as a theatre minor goes, yes and no. Employers probably won't care about your minor. However, it should help you with your inflection and voice range. I will warn you not to get that standard "theatre voice". You need to have range, you need to have different read styles and personalities, and you need to be able to rinse any regional diction from your voice. I took a few theatre classes in college, and by far the one that helped me the most was Voice and Articulation. You should see if your college offers something similar.

Good luck!