August 12th, 2010
Voice acting: What’s your favorite genre?
For many voice-over actors, having a career in voice acting is one of the most enjoyable ways to make a living. I mean, with so many genres to choose from, who could ever get bored? But honestly, some genres are more fun than others. It all depends on what gets you excited and your own personal level of "yeah, I can do that" for certain jobs that fall outside of your comfort zone.
In this post, I'd like to talk about what I think are the high points of some voice acting genres as well as my personal favorites. When all is said and done, I'd love to hear about your favorite (or not too favorite) genres as well!
A buddy of mine tipped me off to these four videos on YouTube about how to learn foreign accents for voice overs. While I'm not yet at a level in my voice acting journey to delve into practicing foreign accents (I'm still working on mastering my own accent! 
) these videos are still a great learning tool. If anything, they will help you to better understand your own accent just as much as other accents.
Anyone looking to become a voice over actor needs scripts to practice with. And since you can't just walk into any bookstore and pick up a collection of scripts complete with radio, television, telephony, narration, video game, multi-person dialogue and more, it might seem a little daunting. But never fear! Getting your hands on voice over scripts is only a mouse click away...
Have you ever had one of those slap-your-hand-to-your-head-and-say-"d'oh!" moments? You know the kind. It's when all of the facts have been patiently staring you in the face while your brain stubbornly refuses to acknowledge them. Then suddenly "WHAM!" the connection is made and you find the palm of your hand applied firmly to your forehead. You hear words like "Duh!", "D'oh!", or "I'm such an idiot!" flying from your lips.
I admit it, I love American Idol. Not the first few episodes where the weirdos and freakish fame seekers crawl out from wherever they lurk and attempt to be "unique", but anytime after the top 12 are chosen. It's during this time in the show's progression that one can truly see and hear talented individuals. Having a music background myself, I love to pit my opinions against those of the judges.
If you asked a professional voice actor to perform a script like a regular person reading out loud from a book, he or she could do it — and you would immediately recognize the poor performance. If you asked for a natural, conversational read, then you would immediately recognize that one as well (and be much, much happier with the result.)
Pretty much all of the 
It can be nerve-racking to the beginning voice-over actor: standing there in a small, cramped, sound-proof booth that pokes at the claustrophobic bits of your sub-conscience while your voice-acting coach seemingly bashes your ego time and time again with "That wasn't quite right. Do it again. But this time with more ABC and not so much XYZ." You long to hear the words "Good job!" or "You nailed it!" But those words hardly seem to ever come your way. You feel crushed — a failure. You feel that maybe voice acting just isn't your bag.
It's not too surprising to me just how many people nowadays are interested in becoming a voice-over actor. I mean, with the allure of being able to work at home and at your own pace coupled with the jaw-dropping amount of money that voice actors appear to make per session, who wouldn't want to hop on the voice actor bandwagon, too? And hey, all you need is a voice, right? And you've got one of those already.
