Additional Information
Voice-over performers come from all walks of the entertainment industry.
According to people working in this field, there is no standard educational
pathway for voice-over performers.
There are private voice-over consultants in most big cities that offer
workshops and seminars, but you won't have much luck if you're looking for
a major in voice-overs from a college or university.
Experts say a background in radio broadcasting or live theater is the best
preparation for voice-over work. "Both of these rely heavily on strong voice
performance," says voice-over performer Jim Winterson. "With live theater,
you need to really exaggerate your inflections to get the point across, and
it's the same with radio. Both teach you to use your full voice range."
Student or volunteer radio is a good way to approach voice-over work. It
might not offer experience in character voices, but many voice-over performers
started off in radio.
"Radio is a great teacher," says voice-over performer Brian Arnold.
Dan Sandor is an agent. He encourages people to research training facilities
thoroughly before handing in their tuition. "People have to be warned that
there's a lot of scams out there that will grab your money and run," he says.