Female Voice Actors
Have you ever thought about who’s the voice behind famous animated characters like Anna from Frozen or Ariel from The Little Mermaid? What about that female voice-over talent that you hear during television promos for Dateline on NBC, The NBC Nightly News, or the Today Show? Kristen Bell was the female voice actor in Frozen and Jodi Benson was the female voice actor in The Little Mermaid. Valerie Smaldone is the female voice talent behind those television promos. In the voice-over industry, your voice represents a character or relays information to the listeners. As a professional female voice actor, you may be a voice for radio or television, video games, commercials, promos (like Valerie Smaldone), narrations, movie trailers, or cartoon characters (like Kristen Bell and Jodi Benson). This is only just a small sampling of all the opportunities for female voice-over actors in the industry.
Where are female voice-overs needed?
There have been studies done that suggest that the female voice is easier on the listener’s ears, which means their voices have more impact than men. This means that female voice talent is in demand for all kinds of voice-over work these days. Beyond that, female voice talent is also needed in any commercial arena where women are more likely to be the purchasing decision maker. Food products for children, beauty products, and interior design are just a few markets that tend to target women. Any narration that fits a female character role needs that female voice talent touch. Female voice actors are needed to be the next Anna or Ariel. If you’re auditioning on a platform like Voices.com, you can search by gender and age range to find specific jobs for women. The possibilities are endless. There is sure to be a perfect job waiting for you assuming you dig in and do the training and marketing required to be a successful female voice actor.
Is it easier for male voice actors?
Voice-over was once a male-dominated industry, but women are making their way to owning bigger pieces of the voice-over pie. One trick is to promote yourself to companies that create products for females. Another trick is to market yourself to companies with products that you care about as an individual, no matter if your voice is male or female. If you can talk about something that you love then you can sell it! As one of our voice-over coaches, Rosemary Chase, says, “It’s easy to sell what you believe in. Do I love Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon? Like nobody’s business. I believe I like it enough to beat out any male voice talent in an audition for that product.”
How to get started as a female voice actor
If you have the desire to become the newest female voice-over talent on the block, then you’ve come to the right place! First, you’ll need some professional voice-over training and we’re super excited to offer you that! Check out our shockingly simple secret to success in the voice-over world. Your voice is your instrument and you need to learn how to fine tune it especially during recording. Can you connect with a script and make it your story rather than just reading words off of a page? We’ll give you techniques to hone in on this necessary skill. The process of becoming a female voice talent requires practice, time, and research. The perfect starting point is with our shockingly simple secret to success!
Marketing yourself as a female voice-over talent
You’ll have to learn how to market yourself, too, and we’ll help you with this process! When you break into the voice-over world, you’ll also become a female solopreneur. You’ll need to learn how to market yourself and how to run your own voice-over business. Don’t feel intimidated, though! You have the ultimate freedom to choose your own path in voice-over, to market yourself to companies that you care about, and to send your demos to clients whose interests match yours.
Ok, I’m hooked! What do I do next?
First, sign up to get in on our secret to success.
Then, if you’re as jazzed as we are about voice-over, you can enroll in our webinar, You’re on the Air: How to Really Make it in Voice-Overs, which is our version of an introductory voice-over course. In the webinar, our voice-over professionals will teach you about voice-over techniques, types of voice-overs, the union and how it works, how to market yourself, the perks of working in the comfort of your own home recording studio, and the importance of your professional voice-over demo for your future clients. At the end of the class, you will also get the chance to talk to your instructor one-on-one over the phone and do a live voice evaluation as well. This is a great way to see your potential as a male voice actor and decide what voice-over training classes you want to pursue next with Such A Voice.