Thinking of getting into VO?

Where to start

I receive quite a few emails, LinkedIn messages, and other social media messages, usually from strangers or friends of friends, asking for advice on the best way to start working as a Voice Over Artist. It’s a lovely compliment that people approach me and ask for my advice on the subject (my marketing efforts must be paying off), but the tricky thing is, that there is no right or quick way to get into it. All I can offer up is my experience and tips that have worked well for me.

I’ve always been very grateful for the advice I’ve received from Pro VOs I’ve followed and looked up to for a couple of years (many of whom have now become friends as well as colleagues). Not only are VOs a friendly bunch, but they’re also very generous with their time and happy to share their experience (often for free), so I feel it only right that when asked by other people who are now in the same position as I was, that I give them my tips for succeeding in what can be a very tricky industry to crack.

Firstly, before you part with any money for equipment, demo reels or even coaching, there are loads of great free resources for aspiring VOs out there to give you a better idea of whether this career is right for you or not (I’ll come onto those aspects in a later blog post, in more detail).

Gravy for the Brain is an excellent training resource featuring webinars, training courses, forums and in-person networking events, and they often have a 2 week free trial - so it’s definitely worth signing up to see what you can learn, without it costing you a penny!

Guy Michaels at Voiceover Kickstart (who produced my first Commercial Reel) is offering a free 7-day VO Course - you can sign up to The Recorded Voice, which is a really good intro to VO (covering many aspects of it), and once you sign up, you can go through the course at your own pace.

Podcasts: I was very late to the podcast party but there are many excellent ones out there by big names in the UK VO world, and here are a few of my faves - Nic Redman’s The Voice Coach, Samantha Boffin’s Talking Creative, The Voiceover Social with Nic & Leah, Scott Tunnix’s Voiceover Talks, and Liz Drury’s Small Business, Big Network.

If you’re reading this and are hoping to make the leap over to Voiceover, do check out the links above and let me know how you get on!