How Do Voice Actors Get Started in the Industry?
How Do Voice Actors
Get Started in the
Industry?
Understanding Entry Points, Training, and
Building a Sustainable Career
Jean-Francois Donaldson
The Deep Voice Guy
If you’ve ever watched a cartoon, played a video game, listened to a commercial, or heard a documentary narrator and thought, “I could do that,” welcome to club. It's fun we have snacks.
One of the most common questions I get is:
“How do I get started in voice acting?”
Unfortunately, there are a lot of people online selling the idea that voice acting is a quick-money side hustle. Buy a microphone, record a few lines, upload them online, and start making thousands of dollars.
That’s not how professional voice over works.
Voice acting
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Is acting | It’s storytelling | It’s performance | It’s business | It’s marketing | It’s networking |
And like any profession, it takes time to develop the skills necessary to build a sustainable career.
This article isn’t about shortcuts, or quic hacks.
It’s about what I would recommend based on my own journey and what I’ve learned working professionally in voice over for more than a decade.
How I Got Started
I came from an acting background. I’ve been performing on stage most of my life.
When I moved to Orlando and started performing at the theme parks, I found myself surrounded by working actors instead of hobbyists. That was the first time I was consistanly around people making a living through performance.
Since puberty, I was constantly told I should get into radio because of my naturally deep bass voice, but radio never interested me. Acting did. Performance did. Storytelling did.
One day, a fellow performer I was working with mentioned that his agent had received an audition that fit my voice. He suggested I submit for it.
At the time, I already had experience with audio engineering. Back in the early 2000s, everyone around me wanted to be a rapper. My cousins were incredibly talented, and while I wasn’t interested in rapping myself, I spent countless hours helping record their music.
Pushing record eventually turned into learning microphones, software, mixing, editing, and production.
By the time that audition came around, I knew enough to record myself.
I ran to a music store, bought a Presonus AudioBox bundle, set everything up, recorded the audition, and sent it in.
The next day, the agent started sending me more auditions.
That’s when I decided to pursue voice over more seriously.
Like many beginners, I immediately made one of the biggest mistakes in voice acting.
I made my own demo.
Technically it sounded great. Voice over wise?
It was terrible.
It was two to three minutes long, had every genre imaginable crammed into it, and showed very little understanding of what a professional demo should actually accomplish.
But I didn’t know any better.
I burned CDs, printed headshots, stuffed envelopes, and hand-delivered them to agencies around town.
One production company listened to my demo and told me it wasn’t very good.
Then they said something that changed everything:
“Your demo isn’t great, but there’s something in there.”
They gave me an audition.
I booked it.
For years I pieced together a living through multiple performance careers:
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For eight years, I earned my living through a combination of all of them.
During that time, I attended VO Atlanta three separate times.
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When I eventually retired from stunt work, I realized I had the time to pursue voice acting and started booking more. I left my theme park jobs behind and committed fully to building my voice over career.
The Biggest Mistake Beginners Make
Most beginners focus on doing voices.
They should focus on acting.
There’s a huge difference. Many people can imitate a character they’ve heard before.
They can repeat lines. They can mimic sounds.But when asked to create a performance of their own, the acting falls flat.
There’s no life behind it. No intention. No emotional truth. Clients don’t hire impressions. They hire actors.
Actors know how to:
Interpret scripts
Make choices
Create believable performances
Take direction
Deliver consistently
That’s what separates professionals from hobbyists.
The 3 Foundations of Voice Acting
Whenever someone asks me how to start voice acting, I tell them to focus on three things
Acting Classes
Acting classes help you discover whether you actually enjoy acting.
Script analysis
Character development
Audition techniques
Memorization
Storytelling
Performance fundamentals
ETC...
Voice acting is acting first. Everything else comes second.
Singing Lessons
Singing lessons teach you how your voice works.
Rhythm
Cadence
Pitch
Tone
Placement
Breath control
Vocal Health
Improv
Improv teaches you how to:
Stay grounded
Make choices
React honestly
Adapt quickly
Take direction
The best voice actors are flexible.
Improv helps build that flexibility.
My VO Timeline
If I had to start my voice acting career from scratch today, this is the path I would follow.
1. Learn Acting
Take acting classes.
Learn:
Script analysis
Character development
Audition techniques
Storytelling
Be Directable
Before becoming a voice actor, become an actor.
2. Learn Your Instrument
Take singing lessons.
Learn:
Breath control
Cadence
Mouth Placement
Pitch
Tone
Vocal health
Your voice is your instrument.
Learn how it works.
3. Take Improv
Learn how to:
Make choices
React honestly
Stay grounded
Learn to listen
Improv creates adaptable performers.
4. Perform
Do:
Plays
Musicals
Community theater
Short films
Social media skits
In person commerical
Movies
TV
Improv groups
Perform as much as possible.The goal is experience.
5. Make Voice Over Your Hobby
Listen to:
Podcasts
Industry interviews
Voice over content
Watch:
YouTube videos
Workshops
Industry discussions
Read books
Learn:
Recording software
Editing
Audio basics
Absorb everything you can.
6. Attend Workshops
Learn from working professionals. Not influencers. Professionals.
7. Attend a Voice Over Conference
Network. Learn. Ask questions.
Meet:
Coaches
Agents
Casting directors
Producers
Other voice actors
For me, VO Atlanta was a game changer.
8. Find a Vetted Coach
Work with someone who has:
Real experience
Real credits
Real clients
A good coach can accelerate your growth dramatically.
9. Continue Training
Work with multiple coaches. Every coach sees different things. Every coach helps develop different skills.
10. Research Your Demo Producer
Don’t rush this step. A demo is your calling card. A good demo producer will never make a demo before you’re ready. Demos are not cheap!
11. Build Your Marketing Materials
Create:
Professional demos
Branding
A website
Business cards/Virtual cards
Social media profiles/Marketing links
12. Start Marketing
Now it’s time to build your business. Reach out. Network. Audition. Create content.
Get to work.
Why Your Recording Space Matters More Than Your Microphone
One of the biggest misconceptions in voice acting is that success comes from buying the expensive equipment. The truth is simpler. Your recording space matters more than your microphone. You can have a world-class microphone. If you’re recording in a bad room, it will still sound like a bad room.
Whether it’s:
A closet
A corner of a bedroom
A PVC booth
A canopy booth
A prefab booth
A WhisperRoom
A StudioBricks booth
A custom-built studio
The important thing is creating a dedicated recording space. There are options at every budget level. Just make a space.
As for microphones, there are excellent options at almost every price point. Do your research. Save when necessary. Upgrade over time.
But don’t ignore your recording environment.
Why Networking Matters
Networking is incredibly important. And not just with other voice actors. Network with your peers to learn:
Industry trends
Coaching recommendations
Industry experiences
Network with:
Coaches
Agents
Casting directors
Take workshops. Build relationships. Learn what they’re looking for.
But don’t stop there.
Network where your clients are. Why wouldn’t a voice actor attend a technology conference?Why wouldn’t they attend marketing events? Production expos? Business conventions?
Companies constantly need voices for:
Commercials
Product launches
Training videos
Brand campaigns
Those decision-makers are often attending conferences and trade shows.
Go where the work is.
Why Most Beginners Quit
Most people enter voice acting believing it’s a quick-money opportunity.
Unfortunately, that’s often how social media “gurus” market it. The believe if they find the right site to just do auditions they will book work.
Voice acting isn’t easy money.
It’s a profession.
Many beginners quit because they:
Don’t learn the craft
Don’t learn the business
Don’t get training
Don’t prepare enough
Others rely entirely on their ability to “do a voice.”
That’s not enough.
Being able to imitate a character is not the same thing as being an actor.
Professional voice actors build careers because they understand performance, business, marketing, and storytelling.
Where Should New Voice Actors Find Clients?
It depends on the genre. You can find work anywhere and everywhere but in my experience I have found this to also be true.
Commercial Voice Over
Look at:
Production companies
Marketing agencies
Advertising agencies
Instagram
Video Games and Animation
Look at:
Steam
X
Bluesky
Many indie developers and animation creators openly discuss projects and opportunities online.
Corporate Narration and E-Learning
Look at:
LinkedIn
Production companies
Businesses constantly need voices for:
Training content
Explainer videos
Internal communications
Regardless of genre, don’t just look for voice over jobs.
Look for the companies creating the projects.
Because those companies are often hiring production companies and marketing agencies.
And those are the people we’re ultimately talking to.
If I Could Start Over...
One of the questions I get asked most is:
“What would you do differently if you could start over?”
Honestly?
Not much.
I did what I could with the finances I had, the training I had, and the information available to me at the time.
I knew I wanted to perform.
So I moved somewhere I could do that.
I performed at theme parks.
I did musicals and plays.
I became a stuntman.
I performed with a rock band.
I learned audio engineering.
I networked.
I attended conferences.
I kept learning.
And every one of those experiences eventually found its way into my voice over career.
The acting helped me tell stories and take direction.
The singing helped me understand my voice.
The improv helped me make choices and ground my acting.
The audio engineering helped me deliver professional recordings.
The stunt work taught me discipline. It also taught me to understand action (video game efforts, life scenes)
The theme parks taught me consistency. Wth certain characters I got to use the imporv with each family.
The networking taught me how this industry actually works.
None of it was wasted.
And that’s probably the biggest lesson I can leave you with:
There isn’t one path into voice acting.
Some people come from theater.
Some come from music.
Some come from film.
Some come from broadcasting.
Most come from completely different careers.
The goal isn’t to copy someone else’s journey.
The goal is to keep building skills that make you a better performer, a better storyteller, and a better business owner.
Because voice acting isn’t just a job.
It’s acting, storytelling, marketing, networking, audio production, and entrepreneurship all rolled into one.
And the people who succeed are the ones who embrace all of it.
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