The clarity of your voice and a comfortable volume may be the most essential parts of great audio. If your voice over recording is fuzzy or muddy sounding, it will be difficult for people to understand. Audiences likely will be distracted and unable to absorb the information or may simply move on. Either way, they miss your message and you miss an opportunity to share what your knowledge.
Recording voice overs like a pro isn’t that difficult when you know how to do it. You may have noticed that the actual recording part plays little part when compared to the preparation. Taking the proper steps before you hit the record button and then taking the time to edit your audio appropriately will go a long way to ensuring your voice overs sound professional and engaging.
A demo recording of you doing voice-over work is your CV and your business card combined. If you're applying for a voice-over job, you can send the potential customer your demo via the Internet. Ideally you have multiple demos for different types of gigs. For commercials, clients want to hear 60 to 90 seconds of voice work. If you're auditioning as an audiobook reader, five minutes of demo proves that you can stay in character over a longer stretch of time.
You need to appreciate that there is a lot to learn and do before your first paid voice acting job. Yes, you want to get out there and start auditioning. But first, you’re going to need proper training, equipment, resources, and yes, some natural talent. The great news is that even though the voice over industry is competitive, there is plenty of voice over work out there for everyone. This guide on how to become a voice actor will give you a good idea of where to start.
At this point — unless you're tracking for broadcast applications (where they don't work to peak levels) — consider 'normalising' your recording to an optimal level. Normalisation can be used to push the loudest peak to around ‑1dB and increase the volume of the entire recording by the same ratio. Of course, you can also tighten up dynamic range (the difference between the softest and loudest parts of your recording) by manually reducing the loudest sections of the recording before you apply normalisation. On a final note, if you do plan to use a compressor, then you might as well add gain at that stage instead of normalising.
At the end of the day, we all need to have a baseline of what is an acceptable pay rate and what you may need to walk away from politely. This is a competitive market and when you have put in the training, financial investment, technical education in perfecting your studio sound, and countless hours practicing in the booth you must advocate for yourself and know your worth! If you have any questions, reach out to the SAV community. We’re here to be stronger together as you move through your voice acting career!

In other words, Mirek gave us all the information we needed to start the job. Unfortunately, though, that's not how it usually works! Usually, you'll need to work hard to get all the information you need from your client to do the job well. If you're at all uncertain about their expectations, whether about the performance, or about technical and organisational issues such as file formats or payment procedures, save yourself time and a headache by clearing up all doubts beforehand, and don't hit the record button until your client has given you the green light by email. With that sorted, you can more easily don your other hats and get on with the job.

Voice over is a production technique where a voice that is not part of the narrative is heard over the action. It’s often used in movies, TV shows, plays, or other presentations. Voice over is an effective way to convey information that doesn’t naturally fit into the plot or the other visual elements that are occurring. Voice over work is read by a voice actor who reads from a script, and it is added to the other elements during production.
^{Realistically as a voice over actor you make between who can’t make $50k – $100k by using online casting sites and local agents and of course hustling for work on your own. That’s right, you need to hustle. I often hear voice over actors say that they they are not good at marketing or selling. Yet every business owner has to do this to make money. So learning these skills can make a big difference to your earning potential.}
No place is totally silent, so find the best place you can — even if that means thinking outside the box. I have a friend who regularly records his podcast in his car. He lives in a small house with dogs and kids, so there really isn’t anywhere else quiet enough. He takes his laptop and mic out to his driveway, shuts himself in the car and records. The results are surprisingly good!
_{Even if you're mixing yourself, it's better to add EQ and compression only when you can hear how it will sit with the soundtrack or special effects. Ultimately, it comes down to knowing what your voice will be used for and making a judgement. For instance, if I'm recording a tagline for a TV or radio advert, I'll generally run a mic into a nice preamp (where I might add slight tube warmth, and subtle EQ or compression, just to give the recording a bit of 'body'), and I may do a little de‑essing using a plug‑in when performing any edits. However, for e‑learning jobs, corporate videos and so on, I'll tend not to add any creative processing while recording or editing, and will only use the de‑esser ever so slightly.}
First of all let’s dismiss the obvious – there is no such thing as a standard rate, there are only guide lines and even these vary by Country and type of work. The only standard rates are those set by some Union scale rates. One of the most notable differences is that between voice over union rates and voice over rates non-union. Unions provide a standard voiceover rate and therefore you can safely rely on the unions guide (depending on which Country you are in). However, non union voice over rates vary enormously and are often down to negotiations between the voice over actor and the client.

Voiceover-Services.com welcomes you to listen & consider professional voice actor Paul Fraley for your next campaign or project. Located in Los Angeles, Paul brings an excitement & unique point-of-view to his work. Whether voicing National TV commercials, explainer videos, creating character voices for international video game apps or as the signature voice for a mid-west grocery store chain – Paul always looks forward to telling the next story.

Voiceover actors that stay focused and build their network of relationships get more work. It’s that simple. This is the same for any professional in almost all industries. Marketing yourself as a voiceover actor is not a one off activity. To be effective you need to continually market and develop your personal brand. We cover this in more detail in this guide.
Understand that once you’re committed, you’re committed. Given the inevitable transparency of the Internet, if you get caught doing non-union work as a union member, you personal brand and your reputation will take a devastating hit once it’s splashed on discussion forums and professional networks. ‘Naming and shaming’ is a popular tactic these days.
Realistically as a voice over actor you make between who can’t make $50k – $100k by using online casting sites and local agents and of course hustling for work on your own. That’s right, you need to hustle. I often hear voice over actors say that they they are not good at marketing or selling. Yet every business owner has to do this to make money. So learning these skills can make a big difference to your earning potential.
You will never have to answer to a “boss”, but you will need to be your own boss and manage yourself. You will work on your own a lot of the time. So you need to embrace the benefits and the challenges this presents. Take courses in areas where you need to develop your skills. When you adequately prepare for running a business, you will succeed in its management, even if part of managing your business means hiring out, in areas that you know are not your strongest.

First, I like to listen to the entire voice over recording from start to finish. I may make notes here and there to remind myself of something I want to go back and edit, but this time through I really just want to concentrate on the overall pacing and tone of the recording. Does it sound like I hoped? Did I rush or speak too slowly? Did I flub any words, mumble, or misspeak? Are there weird silences or unknown sounds?

When you come to actually recording your voice, try to think of the mic as the ear of your listener. Picture your listener, have an opinion, and read the script as if the words were coming to mind that instant. The distance between your mouth and the mic should be about the same as the distance between your thumb and pinkie when making a hang‑five gesture (see the picture above). Move closer to the mic when you lower your voice and back off when you speak louder. On‑line dictionaries such as the Merriam‑Webster one pictured here, often include audio examples which can help you clarify pronunciation. Just make sure that you use an American English or UK English (or other language!) version as appropriate. (Remember, while you have your engineer hat on, to take account of this when setting levels.) Always use a pop shield, and I'd suggest trying to work slightly off‑axis, as talking to a point just to the right or left of the mic will prevent bursts of air and drops of saliva ruining your recording. I'd also recommend wearing headphones over one ear only, as this allows you to judge volume and listen for clipping and plosives on the recording, while also hearing your natural voice, which makes it easier to focus on that message we talked about. Simone demonstrates this technique in the picture on the next page. Hhe's working slightly off‑axis and has backed off an inch or two to deliver with more energy.Typically, you'd record with your mouth approximately the distance between your thumb and little finger from the mic, as pictured here.