Getting Into VO

Oh, the stories we can tell. How easy people think it is to do voiceovers, how they know they can do it because they’ve been told they have such a great voice. The hordes that are out there with a cheap mic and Garage Band, thinking it’s so easy to break in, to get jobs, to make a living, to make a fortune. Why is VO suddenly the flavor of the month? VO is a tough, competitive business, especially if you’re a woman. I’ve had a lot of jobs, and several careers, and NONE has been as challenging to me as learning the craft and art of VO. It has taken me to places inside myself that I’ve paid good money in therapy to get to. I’ve literally been in tears with pain and joy in the course of my career in VO. It can be damn painful to be a VO . And I love it more than anything I’ve ever done in my life. It’s challenging and fun and joyful and frustrating and ecstatic and infuriating . . . all at once. I would never do anything else.

But why the general perception that it’s easy? It’s not, and it’s also expensive. Good equipment and training aren’t cheap. Neither are marketing materials and good demos. But if you MUST do VO (and I’m right there with you), here is a good, realistic article about it. And here’s another one (thanks to Bob Souer for that one).