Voice Actor/Voice Actress
Voice Actor/Voice Actress
Career Overview
Voice Actors bring characters, stories, and ideas to life using their voices for animation, video games, films, television, commercials, audiobooks, podcasts, and other digital media. They use acting, emotion, timing, accents, and vocal expression to connect with an audience.
Education
A diploma, degree, or specialized training in acting, theatre, voice performance, broadcasting, or a related field can help prepare you for this career, although a specific degree is not always required. Training in acting, voice, improvisation, characterization, and audition techniques can build valuable skills, while a strong demo reel and practical experience are especially important.
Work Environment
Voice Actors work in recording studios, production facilities, and professional home studios. They may record for animation, games, commercials, audiobooks, podcasts, or narration, often working with directors and sound professionals. Freelance and project-based work is common.
Future Outlook
Voice acting is changing quickly as AI-generated voices become more realistic and widely available. Some traditional voice work may be replaced by synthetic voices, while new opportunities are emerging in AI voice direction, editing, licensing, and creative production. Strong acting ability, emotional range, distinctive voices, and the ability to bring characters to life can remain valuable in a changing industry.
Recommended High School Courses
- Communication
- English
- Drama & Theatre
- Media Arts
- Vocals
- A Second Language
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
- Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Memorization - The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
- Selective Attention - The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Collaborate with others to prepare or perform artistic productions.
- Entertain public with comedic or dramatic performances.
- Study scripts to determine project requirements.
- Practice athletic or artistic skills.
- Audition for roles.
- Perform music for the public.
- Collaborate with others to determine technical details of productions.
- Promote products, activities, or organizations.
- Write material for artistic or entertainment purposes.
- Inform viewers, listeners, or audiences.
- Construct distinctive physical objects for artistic, functional, or commercial purposes.
Related Careers
References
PayScale, Inc., https://www.payscale.com/.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections, https://www.bls.gov/emp/.
"voice actor." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2020. Web. 8 Oct. 2020. https://www.definitions.net/definition/voice+actor.
“How To Become A Voice Actor.” Career Igniter, https://www.careerigniter.com/careers/voice-actor/. 15 Nov. 2018.
“27-2011.00 - Actors.” O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/27-2011.00. Accessed 8 October 2020.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.