Anyone ever do this kind of work & have success? I got to thinking lately that when you hear people doing radio ads & the voices that read audio books, etc., someone has to do them & I think I'd be perfect! It can easily be an at-home job too since you just have to send the recording via email. I know I probably won't have a recording studio in my home, but I'm sure that's not a necessity. I bookmarked a few websites on it a little while back. I think it's so interesting & would love to do this. I've always had a nice tone to my voice w/ crisp articulation & people have asked throughout the years here & there if they're talking to a recording when in fact it's me. Actually, the little bit I've looked into, it's going to be much more difficult than one would inititally think.
it's a very lucrative market for the mostly already well known union actors who work in it...having said that it's always worth giving it a try. Two suggestions. both are volunteer. If you live in a city or near one check out the local agencies for the blind that might have a studio available to those who want to read. The other one os on line - librivox.org I don't really know anything about them, but might be worth checking out. In terms of making money on it you need a sample of your voice on tape. Don't try for odd character voices - go for clean clear crisp speech. No plosives, no glottal fry. Then just send it out to production companies in your area that work with non union talent. I don't do any of this - Once upon a time I read bargain fliers from the supermarket at my local cable station - just a volunteer gig - even those without sight need to know when apples go on sale. Good luck! And If anyone tells you anything different from what I said ignore my advice - It's probably outdated and what do I know - I'm a teacher.
I think that I have a pleasant voice, but I have too much of an accent to ever be able to do this sort of work.
I would love to do that! But I have a thiiicckkk accent (yay Tennessee!) and my voice is extremely girly. So I wouldn't qualify.
It's always been on my bucket list to do voice-over work. Two years ago I took a class at the local community college taught by none other than Terry McGovern, the voice Launchpad from Ducktales. It was aw-some. We read scripts and he gave us the scoop on the industry. He runs a business helping you create a demo cd, and he gives them straight to the agency he works with. Granted, this was about 15 minutes from San Francisco, so there was quite a bit of work in the area. The video game industry is also apparently a lucrative opportunity for work. The demos were pricey (around $500 when all was said and done), so I didn't have one made. But I've thought if I ever came in to some money I'd like to have it done and toss my hat in the ring. You can certainly set up a studio in your home, but you would want to make sure the microphone was of good quality, the soundproofing was sound and your computer software was correct. My friend's aunt is an actress and does voice-over work out of her bedroom closet.
The location of the workshop is not too, too far a drive, but $500 for 2 days. But, it seems very interesting & informative.
If you want to test the waters, you could volunteer to read and record books for services like LibriVox.
I definitely couldn't do it because of my accent but my dh could. He has no accent and has a deep voice. He gets told all the time about his voice. He did do a gig one time with the evening news anchor for NBC. Wish it could have led to more. Besides having a great voice, he's a great speaker too.
I thought you were studying to be a Speech-Language Pathologist. Won't that fill your time once you get your degree?
Well, atoz, I'm still studying to be an SLP & working part-time at it now & no, I didn't want to do it full time because that won't give me much time to venture to learn/do other things. I'm constantly looking to see what else I can do. I'm definitely no one-trick pony! My mom always told me to learn as much as I can about many things because you never know what you'll have to end up doing in life (or what you'll have to fall back on if plans A or B don't work out). I got my notary public certification years ago, took a real estate class, got my Speech-Language Pathology Assistant license, which is a totally different license from being an SLP. Years ago, I had an online store selling self defense and personal protection items (tasers, pepper sprays, alarms, etc.). I started being a restaurant mgmt recruiter the end of last year & I've got another project that I'll be starting up soon. I just love learning new things. When my grad school is over & I'm not reading textbooks all the time, I'd like to learn to speak Japanese...I do know some basic vocab words, but not nearly as much as I know Spanish. Even when I was a child, my parents took me to all kinds of classes: Calligraphy, cartoon drawing, art, tennis, piano lessons for a decade, etc. I tried tap & ballet. When I was a senior in high school, I took this modeling/acting class for several weeks where they showed you how to get started in the industry. I probably won't be pursuing doing voice-overs.
I don't think being an SLP has anything to do with a side job or hobby. People FIND the time to do things they like to do. Good luck Ms. I. I think it would be a fun thing to do.
I agree TeacherNY. It just seemed atoz felt that SLP is all that's going on in my life & that's definitely not the case. I seek out doing other things that are profitable & my goal is that they're not a hobby. I don't really have hobbies, unless you count shopping. Don't get me wrong, SLP takes a lot of hard work & dedication & I definitely don't undermine that at all! I know how hard I've worked since 2008, which is when I first started any courses that had to do with this field. I've mentioned before on this board, but my goal is to actually find work at home jobs (to live comfortably) to where I don't have to commute outside of the home at all for work. Now that may not involve SLP work, but frankly, I'm so burnt out from going to school, I don't even care. But I've come too far to up & quit it now. At this point, I wish I could, but I won't. I'll graduate eventually.
I know some great SLPs from my area that run a private practice out of their homes. You say you want to do something lucrative, but with the cost of going to school, if you don't pursue an SLP career, wasn't that a waste of money since it isn't as if SLP transfers to other fields easily. It is very specific. Now, I don't want to sound as if learning new things isn't a good thing to do, but it just confused me that you spent all of this time pursuing a degree which probably cost a good deal of money to not work in the field in some capacity. Notice I didn't say a waste of time because you said how much you value learning new things.
Yeah, I know SLPs can have their own practice or do it in their homes or make house calls to the clients' homes. When I started taking classes for this field in 2008, sure, I was very interested or else I wouldn't have done it. It was only just recently, like this past several mos to a year that I've really felt burned out from going to college altogether. My heart's not in it anymore honestly. Yes, SLP is an excellent, high demand field! But I think anyone who's literally been going to college from ages 18 (the following fall from graduating from HS) through age 23 to get the undergrad, which of course is what most people do & then I went to grad school from age 26 through 31 to get my first Masters & 2 credentials. Then, decided to switch gears to SLP & go back to school at age 33, in which I had to do about a year of undergrad communication disorders classes before being accepted. Then, I wasn't accepted the first time, so rather than twidle my thumbs, I got my SLPA (assistant) license & then right after, I got accepted to grad school where I'm still in school now & just turned 39 last week....well, I think just about anyone would start getting a little tired after all that, don't you? That's why after this, I'm sure not getting my PhD. Yes, that was a thought at one time a few years ago, but heck not anymore! When I got my first grad degree in special ed, that's just the field I strongly thought I wanted at the time. Yes, if I could redo it, I would have done the grad school for SLP during the time I did grad school the first time. But oh well, those two fields go hand-in-hand since many kids who need speech are in special ed too. All while I was in school, I was into some other things too. Sure, I'll be the first to say it's never too late to go back to school, but anyone would be tired if they had been going pretty much all along like me!
