You’ve done it! You booked the big gig. Your days as the persistent voice actor have finally paid off. Whatever your particular flavour of voiceover may be, a big videogame role with plenty of intense emotive performances and strenuous efforts maybe? Or perhaps the odd bombastic larger than life or monstrous creature. Or perhaps it’s that audiobook you’ve been waiting to sink your teeth into with its long hours of consistent recording and long cast of subtly differing characters.
Whatever the project may be, we all know the importance of good prep. The homework of the (voice) actor. We even know the importance of proper warmups in that final countdown before hitting record. This allows you to rock up to the microphone with your best foot forward, ready to rock this job. So, why didn’t it quite go as you’d hoped? Did your voice give in halfway through? Maybe you just ran out of puff. Was the sound of your space not quite up to scratch?
A Voice Actors Career
Okay I’m not trying to give you massive anxiety about your next session over here. The point is just this, the world of voice acting can be hugely exciting. As a performer, your sole focus may be on bringing the words on the page to life, or do a well-loved character justice, and rightly so! But there is more to this life than the big things, and more to you than just belting out a killer read on the day.
You may have heard the old adage “If you take care of the little things, the big things take care of themselves.” You’ve probably also heard voiceover compared to being a “marathon, not a sprint”, but this doesn’t just refer to the long journey of your career as the persistent voice actor.
Persistence and Top Tips
Like any marathon runner, you can know your route back-to-front. You can stretch all you want on the day. You can even buy the best running shoes going. But ask yourself, is that enough when you get out on the track? It’s not just about your performance, it’s about how you treat yourself. Read that again. The little things are everything.
They are what you do with your mornings, how you talk to yourself, what you choose to watch or read, and surrounding yourself with supportive people. It might not be as sexy as talking about the big roles and the best microphones, but nurturing yourself is key to being the best voiceover artist you can be. So here are a few very unsexy tips, stupidly simple in form, and yet oft forgotten or avoided.
Persistent Voice Actor Lifestyles!
Create a habit of your vocal warmups and hydration routine! Like I said above, simply stretching those muscles on the day and chugging a pint of water won’t cut it. The best practice? Remember your Shakespeare; “tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow…”. Warm up for the you that needs to perform 24 hours from now, hydrate for the voice that might otherwise be strained tomorrow, and keep it up! Its all about persistence.
In this business, we never know when we might be called upon for a last minute emergency session so, better safe than sorry, right? It’s never too late to start when you’re preparing yourself for tomorrow. The persistent voice actor is always on call. So, why stop there? Don’t just focus on your vocal health; stretch, exercise, limber up, it all informs the voice! Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. Check out Nic Redman for oodles of knowledge on this.
Diversify the geometry of your studio space. A blanket fort is great and it gets the job done, but there’s nothing wrong with a little foamy decoration now and then. Bring in your lovely ridgy basetraps, your concaved eggcarton-y foam, jazz it up! Make it weird! Imagine you’re a sound wave and build yourself a super convoluted maze to try and escape through, watch your sound go from boxy to beautiful (and a little more interesting to look at.)
Voice Actors Deserve Rewards Too!
Above all, treat yourself kindly at every turn. I’ve spoken to so many voice artists who use phrases like “back to square one” after an audition doesn’t go their way. Or who compare themselves endlessly to the other false avatars we unknowingly deify in our curated social media feeds. Here’s another saying you’ve probably heard: “comparison is the thief of joy.” Know that every step and perceived misstep is still one forward, and never back, so just dust yourself off and keep moving forward. Being the persistent voice actor is hard work but you deserve a reward too.
When it comes to your auditions, even the ones you didn’t quite score, remember the work it took for you just to be “in the room”, so to speak. Retool that disappointment into gratitude, because how cool that you got to be considered. As Michael Keaton puts it “the audition is the job”, the rest is just a happy bonus. You’re not going to argue with Batman, are you?
The Persistent Voice Actor Wrapped
This article may have gotten a little preachy, at times mothery, and very much off the rails. But it bears repeating, so let’s bring it home. Strive as we might, we are but little things in this industry, and in this world. So take care of yourself, and the big things, also known as what you’re very much capable of, will take care of themselves. Good luck out there.
The Persistent Voice Actor – The Little Things – Luke S Jones more articles are available here.