By Gary Terzza
Here is an eye catching statistic: 80% of voice over work is done by just 20% of voice over talent. In other words the vast majority of voice jobs go to a minority of voice over artists.So why is this? Why does this successful elite seem to clean up when it comes to getting the work?
You are probably saying to yourself it is because all the good work goes to famous actors - you hear them all the time on TV and radio commercials. But in reality this simply is not the case. To begin with commercials constitute less than 10 percent of voice over jobs; most of the work is in other areas such as audiobooks, narration, trailers and especially corporate work.
Also, next time you are watching television flick through the channels and just count the number of famous voices you hear on adverts, programmes, continuity announcements and so on. How many can you name? Sure there will be the celebs whose voices leap out at you, but what about the rest? Do you know who they are? Probably not, but I DO know they are jobbing voice over artists. So replace the word 'famous' with the word 'working' - they are working voice over people. And they make up part of that top 20%.
When I started training people to do voice overs, I would try to guess who would be the most successful. I based my assumptions on who sounded the best and read the scripts with the most confidence. But after a few months it became apparent that my assumptions were very wide of the mark.
I discovered that the students getting the most voice over work and jobs were not necessarily the ones who had the finest showreels or demos. It was quite the opposite in fact. It seemed to be those who had marketed their talents well and really promoted their voices were getting the best jobs, but were not necessarily brilliant voice talents.
It is no good recording a cracking showreel if no one is going to hear it. Too many voice over artists just sit back and wait for clients to find THEM! Of course, it does not work like that; YOU have to go looking for the work. You can give yourself a helping hand by joining a voice over market place, but you must also start recording at home.
Most important of all be a business; treat your voice over career just like you would if you were selling software or motor vehicles. Sell, sell, sell.
These days you do not need a big, expensive recording studio to get going. You already have the basic bit of kit..... it is your computer. Recording software is freely available on the internet, so all you need to buy is a decent vocal microphone. You can even replicate studio acoustics by using pillows and duvets around the recording area.
So there is no excuse for being in that bottom 80%. If you have the drive, the tenacity and the desire there is no reason why you should should not earn money from your voice, become a star performer and move into that that top 20%.
With over twenty years experience, Gary Terzza is one of the UK's best known voices. His clients include Channel 4, BBC, Channel Five and ITV. He also runs voice-over training courses in London and Hertfordshire http://www.vomasterclass.com
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