Doing voice-overs, or announcing, is a very difficult field to crack. TheU.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook lists some facts you may want to consider before plunging down this career path:
- Announcer jobs will continue to be hard to come by.
- The best opportunities are at small-market stations that don't pay well.
- Employment is projected to decline.
Not to mention that not just any old bozo with a good voice can be an announcer. Employers actually expect candidates to have other abilities like excellent pronunciation, correct grammar, good timing, proper diction, and, of course, some experience.
So where do you get experience? Formal broadcast training from a college, tech school, or private broadcast school is valuable. A degree in communications, journalism, or broadcasting can also help.
If you do decide to take the plunge, consider starting in a small market. As you gain experience, you may find other opportunities in larger markets. An agent may also help your career advancement.
Oh, and a little luck wouldn't hurt either.
What's a voiceover?
It's the art of using the voice to sell, inform or entertain on radio and TV commercials, non-broadcast narrations for corporate audio or phone lines, and animation or cartoons.
Since 1987 I've voiced thousands of Voiceovers for companies including: AT&T, Citibank, Dunkin' Donuts, Avis, Johnson and Johnson, Sprint, Coopers and Lybrand, and many others. I do this full time, and have my own recording studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Here are the answers to the questions people always ask about how to break into the field.
1. People always tell me I have a great voice and should do Voiceovers. It sounds like fun. How do I know if I have any talent? I don't want to embarrass myself or waste my time.
It takes much more than a great sounding voice to be successful in voiceovers. While clear speech is essential, you also need:
The ability to take someone else's words (the script) and make them sound believable and sincere, as if they were your own. This has more to do with acting ability and timing than voice quality. With proper training this skill can be learned. A strong desire to do this and the ability to persist. Some start up capital to invest in training and a professionally recorded demo tape. A solid marketing plan and a list of people to send your tape to. There are some people (male and female) who are born with what I call "the voice of god"... But in my experience, natural talent has very little to do with voiceover success. I've seen people who I thought would never "make it" book jobs. I've also seen those who were naturally talented never get work. In my opinion, what most people call talent is really a combination of desire, preparation and persistence.
2. I've heard that the same people (especially celebrities) do all the work. Is this true?
There are tens of thousands of television and radio stations in the United States. Each radio station runs an average of 12 commercials per hour and each TV station runs about 20 commercials per hour. That means each hour there are many thousands of commercials on the air nationwide.
It is physically impossible for a handful of celebrities or a small group of people to do all that work! The voices of celebrities just seem to be everywhere because we recognize them.
Producers always tell me they are constantly on the lookout for fresh new voices. Anyone with proper training, a good demo tape and enough drive has as good a chance as ever to break into this lucrative and exciting field.
3. Do I need to join a union to do Voiceovers?
Not necessarily. One can be quite successful as non-union voiceover talent but there are some risks which I will explain in a moment.
There are two unions which govern voiceover work: AFTRA (American Federation of TV and Radio Artists) and SAG (the Screen Actors Guild). The talent unions offer many benefits which members fought long and hard to gain. For instance, the client must pay you scale and residuals and contribute to a pension and welfare fund on your behalf. Should a client not pay talent for work done under a union contract, the union will sue for collection on your behalf.
Generally, union work is the only work that pays residuals so your earning potential is tremendous. Without a special waiver, union talent is not allowed to do non-union work.
To join the unions there is a substantial initiation fee of over $1000 for each union. This fee will vary depending on the size of your local market. Dues are paid annually depending on talent payments earned during the previous year. AFTRA is an open union, but SAG requires a contract to join.
There is a separate union scale rate for voiceovers on TV, radio, cartoons, and non-broadcast usage which differs by market size. Contact the local near you for rates in your area. Because union initiation fees are so high, I advise most people to wait until they book a union job before joining.
When you work as non-union talent, you are on your own. You negotiate your rate with the client and you are responsible for collecting your talent payment. Residuals are generally not paid for non-union work. Unless you negotiate your own contract, the client has the right to use your recording any way he likes without paying you another dime beyond what you received initially.
4. How much money can I make in this business?
A lot. Top voiceover talent make six and even seven figure incomes. If you are lucky enough to book a long-running national commercial you can make well over $10,000 in residual payments for just one spot!
But don't quit your day job. It can take many years of perfecting your talent and marketing yourself before you reach this level of success. Non-union jobs pay anywhere from $75-$400 a commercial depending on market size and whether your commercial runs on TV or radio. While these fees are not astronomical they are certainly good pay for something that's so much fun to do!
