How To Become A Voice Actor Fresh Out of High School

Stephanie
So first off, as always, this is great info! It’s tremendous that the voice acting community and those curious about our field have an information resource as valuable and reputable as Voices.com.
As far as this article goes, one of the things that I find tremendous is the growing realization that voice acting is an actual profession that can provide a stable income. When I was in high school, I think my guidance councilor would have slapped me if i had even suggested VO as a career goal. Today on the other hand, I am delighted to regularly have high school guidance professionals from across the country call us for assistance in advising their students interested in this field. This is quite a change!!
One other thing I can add to all of your great info is that in addition to field awareness, education and preparation, professional quality demos, and consistent effective marketing… simply enjoying voice acting will go a very long way toward building success. It is enjoyment of the field that can help keep you in it long enough to build the success you desire.
My bottom line… if you enjoy it you’ll stick with it, and, if you stick with it you’ll have an enormous advantage in building success.
Best To Everyone
David at Voice Coaches

I would have sought out other voice actors and started networking right away. And used that to find representation that would have worked for me. I would have also taken more classes to develop my craft.

Tough question. I was IN high school when I voiced my first spot, and I encourage parents to assist any kid who wants to get into this biz to do it now…rather than later. The competition doesn’t get any easier, and the longer they train, the better. My son was under 1 yr old when he got his first commercial. He liked doing VO and on camera for several years…then didn’t … so he stopped.

First of all I want to thank you Stephanie for giving us always the chance to learn and share. I was born in a very little country and when I was 18 my decision to start a VO career was very strange for everybody around me, including friends, teachers and family. I was so sure about my dream that I didn’t pay attention to the negative comments.
The first thing I did was going everyday to a radio station to listen and see how they work. I was present at the live programmes and recording sessions. This was my first “VO School”. I was also curious about every voice I heard everywhere, tv, radio, cinema, theatre, music and even in the street. I was always practicing and enjoying it so I started my formal VO studies.. To the surprise everyone I quickly became a professional and I found myself starting a career in which I was able to create while was earning my own money. My beloved dream was coming true so now I can say – 20 years later – that the most important thing is to believe in yourself and ongoing training because you never stop learning.
This is the way to honor your gift.
As a VO talent I went through several experiences in unimaginable scenarios where I was able to learn always something new. 4 years ago I left my country and all my “secure” VO jobs so, in some way, I had to start all over again. My VO passion is supported on the basis of my conviction and my faith. Being older also means being wiser and having internet!!! This really increases job and learning opportunities so it means a great plus for new generations but never forget to believe in yourself. Everything in life is circular and the wheel keeps on turning. This is a wonderful career but you must keep yourself – with patience – in constant training and certainly you will find much more than you expected in the way.

I think that the information you displayed here was excellent! Thank you so much for posting this information with me. I’m only in my 8th grade year of middle school, however voice acting has really caught my eye. This information gives me a firm idea as to what I need to do. Not to mention, I am currently writing an essay for my English class as to which career you’d be interested in pursuing after high school and this information has really inspired me and helped me to write a better essay. Once again, thank you.

Hi Stephanie,
Thank you for posting this. I had been meaning to reply for weeks! Strangely this stayed on my mind. I had a lot of music training in High School and college (I have a Bachelor’s in vocal performance) and I think that it was all a wonderful foundation for voice work, however, I wish I did know then that I wanted to get into it. Merely for the fact that I would have taken studio engineering classes in college as well.
I wish that High Schools and Colleges offered voice-over training, not just “broadcast” or “engineering” because most people don’t realize that VOs are an actual career. I always wanted to get into the industry but had no idea how to until after I had finished school and met up with a voice-over producer.
With that said, however, I think that a lot of maturity and training and discipline goes into becoming a great voice talent, something I may not have been ready for when I was younger. I think that as the industry evolves more and more people are finding out about the field, at all ages, and getting into it, which is great!
I love what I do and I hope that anyone out there aspiring to be a voice talent, no matter what stage in life they are in, can work towards achieving that goal. You have some great tips here on learning about the industry – thank you for posting this!
All the best,
Heather Costa

Yo Steph:)
I’m a high school sophemore who just recentley decided I wanted to do voice over. It’s something I’ve always thought was cool but I had never decided to pursue it until now. I’ve been looking around awhile on the internet for anything that could possilby help me with voice over and this article did. Thank you so much and if there’s anything you have to offer that will benefit me it’d be greatly appreciated. I’m serious about this as a profesion.
-Emmie♥

I recently have been wanting to pursue a career in voice acting. I’m only a freshman in highschool, and I personally think that this is the best time to start preparing for this career. I’ve made a list of things I’ve done or plan to do to get my career of VA started.
1) I’ve been in local plays, and I’ve only been an “extra” once or twice (and don’t take this as me being arogant and saying “Yeah, I’m pretty damn good at acting. I left everyone else in the dust at auditions.” which isn’t what I mean at all.) I’ve even been called once to audition for a part in a play, and I didn’t get the role. But that just shows you that even if the best director or producer or whoever casts the roles thinks you’re the best actor in the world, someone else will ALWAYS disagree and not cast you. You have to have five inch thick skin made of diamonds for this particular career path, hell- for any career that involves visual or audio performances. So definitely get in on public performances.
2) Another good idea to get experience for voice acting is going to YouTube, and audition for videos. Especially movies that are made with the well known game, Sims. I’ve watched many, many Sims movies, particularly made with Sims 2, and those videos have some of the best voice acting I’ve heard, and most of the time they’re amateur, anime watchers that want to be a VA, too.
3) Another piece of advice from an aspiring voice actor is to select a voice actor who you think is the bomb diggity, and take notes of what they do consistantly throughout their career. My favorite voice actors are Crispin Freeman, (Alucard, from “Hellsing” and Itachi, from “Naruto”.) Vic Mignogna, (Tamaki Suoh, from “Ouran Highschool Host Club”, and Ed from “Fullmetal Alchemist” and Caitlin Glass (Haruhi Fujioka, from “Ouran Highschool Host Club.”) When I read a line I think to myself “How would Crispin Freeman read this line? Vic Mignogna? Or Caitlin Glass?” and I try to say it how I think they would, but don’t be a clone copy of them. Be yourself when you read a script. Well, obviously not yourself but your character…you know what I mean. XD
4) A lot of voice actors are also musicians, so you might want to take choir in school, too. And remember, you don’t have to be the best singer to be in choir, though you usually have to audition. Or atleast you have to in my school, anyway. I’m also in the school band, and we do breathing exercises that relax you and helps our breathing become smooth and regular.
5) Something else you could try is to do monologues and scripts for talent shows. It helps with being nervous about auditioning and being in front of an audience.
6) At my school they have “Senior Projects” which we start from our Freshman year all the way to our Senior year. It is the biggest project that we do at our school, (excluding college) and it’s worth your highschool diploma. If we fail the project, then we cannot graduate that year. This year a senior is doing an animated video for children, and he needed voice actors. I got the part of the giraffe, which was one of the main roles. For that role I had to completely change my voice. My normal voice is kind of alto-y sounding, (although my singing voice is a soprano) and I had to change the pitch of my voice to sound like someone who inhaled helium. Though it wasn’t really a challenge (Again, not me being bragging) because I talk like that to my friends all the time. So long story short: practice changing your voice so you sound like someone who inhaled helium or have a deep, relaxed voice like Crispin Freeman’s anime character, Alucard from Hellsing.
7) Lastly, practice different accents from all over the world. The main accents in the plays, movies, animes, cartoons, and video games that I’ve heard is American English, “Hillbilly”, Spanish, British, Irish, Russian, general Asian, Italian and Australian. Mastering accents isn’t all that hard to do. Sometimes I switch from talking like I normally do, (which is American English) to British or Russian, which is the two accents that I usually switch to unconciously. My grandparents immigrated to America from England, so when I visit them their accent becomes to normal that I sometimes catch myself speaking like them. Culture is all around you guys, just watch and listen.
It’s pretty late and I’ve been working on this comment for almost an hour. I’m not a profession, yet. But I hope to be in a few years. 🙂 And I hope that I helped another aspiring voice actor somewhere else in the world. And also, I’m sorry if I talked about something that was already in the post. I’m actually on my Wii right now so if I go back to see what you wrote I would lose everything I typed, so sorry about that.
– Claire E.

Hi Steph!
Thanks for the article, I think it might help to at least point me in the right direction. I’m 24 yrs old now, and I’ve been trying to find out how to get into this business since I was a little teenager. Where I grew up however the idea of setting out to become a voice actor was a little bit like trying to grow up to become a tornado. I’m just getting started with this but want it so hard!
Anyways, just wanted to say thanks.

Hi Devin,
I’m glad that this article has helped you. One thing I suggest you do is look for local drama or theatre groups that you can join. If there are drama courses at your high school, definitely take a class.
Also book an appointment with your guidance counselor and ask them to provide you with a list of schools in your area that offer acting programs at a post-secondary level.
One of the best things you can do is to practice, immerse yourself in the art and also read everything you can. This preparation, along with networking (many anime VOs are using social networks), will go a long way in your pursuit of voice acting as a career. Also, if you are interested specifically in working with Funimation (or any other company), learn as much as you can about them and follow what the company is up to. Make connections within the company and become known to them and their community.
Let me know how this goes for you! Enjoy your summer.
Best wishes,
Stephanie Ciccarelli
Co-founder of Voices.com

Hi there!
I have an interest in voice acting (otherwise I wouldn’t be here!) and just have a few questions.
Well when I was looking through the comments above I took note of David Boyll’s. He wrote about having natural talent to succed. I totally agree with what he is saying but, as a 16 year old, how am I meant to know? Like of course I have asked friends and family but it’s hard to tell whether their just saying it to be nice or not (you know how it is!) and I have never really tried anything drama related at all! I suppose I really should get involved in plays and stuff but next year is my final year (scary thought!) and I have other commitments. I guess this is no excuse but I really am uncertain about what career path to follow!
This kind of leads on to my next question….Can you do voice acting as a ‘side’ career? Like can you have your ‘main’ career and almost to voice acting as a hobby type thing?
Oh and also! I was also interested in Funimation but I live in Australia…does that mean I would have to move over to America?
Um, I hope these arn’t silly questions!
Thank you so much for your time!

Hi Aaron,
Thank you for commenting! Becoming a voice actor for companies the likes of Disney takes a lot of talent, hard work and knowing the right people. What I recommend doing is studying the voices of the talent who land roles in Disney films to see what they are doing and how you might be able to learn from their examples.
If you get the opportunity, studying with someone who has done animation voice acting on that level is important. Those people can also answer more of your questions and provide additional guidance as to how you can work toward achieving your goal.
Best wishes,
Stephanie

So, I have this voice I can do, and according to everyone I know and to everyone that has heard this voice, I sound exactly like the character Stitch. I usually practice it all the time when I have nothing better to do, and I have nothing to really do with it. A thought came to my mind and I was wondering what I could do with this? Got any ideas? Thanks!

HI ^///^
Last year I decided that I want to be a voice over actress. However, I’m only 13. My brother is a senior in highschool and had a hard time trying to find a college to go to. He picked one and can get in since his grades are good 🙂 . Since he started to look at colleges, I have too. I’m serious about what I wanna do with my life and I want to be prepared for when I become a senior and looking for a college and a good future. Thanks for the advice.
Love, Kendall

Hey this article was pretty helpful, I would like to say it helped inspire me to look more into becoming a voice actor and it helps to know there are people like you out there giving us tips and what not into becoming a voice actor thanks!
However I have one small obstacle in my way I am stuck in the middle of nowhere and don’t live anywhere near any major city or anime company so what should I do?

I’m only in Grade.7 but I’ve already been fascinated by voice-acting! I’m trying REALLY hard to become a voice-actor when I grow up, and I’m recording little passages/dialogues that I hear from TV and animated movies. However, I don’t know where to start after I graduate from high school, should I attend a normal university or one that mainly focuses on theater? Would they help me towards my dream job?
Can any pros please post how they became voice-actors? The information would be PRICELESS to me.

Hello!
My name is Jake and I am a senior in high school. I know it is probably too late for me to really get into voice acting, but recently found out about it and it seems like a great career. It is the first thing to be honest, that has really grabbed my attention and given me pause. I have no idea if I have any real talent for it, as I am too shy to go out and do Drama and such. My friends say I can do a few voices okay, but they may just be trying to make me happy.
Thanks for the blog though, it really opened my eyes to the job of VO.

Hello. i’m Kaydon Links, and I’d love to become a voice actor. I practice every day, and am always research where I can go or what I can do to become one. I’m doing a project on this career, but one of the requirments is to interview someone working in that career. (In this case, a fellow voice actor.) Do you know what I cando or where I’ll have to go in order to do that? It doesn’t have to be a famous perfesional like Tara strong or Yuri Lowenthal (Though that would be a dream come true.) it just has to be someone who work on it a bit, and can explain their experences while voice acting. It could even be a college student taking a class for it, or a web parody voice actor like shadyvox or Little Kuribo. i basically need someone who can give me a little bit of their time to let me interview them so i can get a little info about voice acting. reply as soon as possible, please.

Hi Jacinda,
Thank you for taking a moment to introduce yourself and request more information. I have asked a member of the Voices.com team to follow up with you via email to answer your questions.
Best wishes,
Stephanie

Hello,
Thanks for commenting! I’m glad you found our tips helpful. I would recommend downloading our Getting Started in Voice Overs Guide for further information about the industry and how it works. You can access that and many other guides here: https://www.voices.com/resources
I hope that helps!
All the best,
Lin