In December 2022, we highlighted major trends and made data-based predictions around the audio content boom looming in 2023 in our Annual Trends Report.
This year we’re sharing how part time voice actors can elevate their career in 2023. If you’re a full time voice actor, we’re creating a successful career roadmap for you, launching next month.
Just like in 2022, we once again asked voice actors for their expertise and insights into the voice over industry. The key difference in this year’s voice talent trends report is that there will be two: One for Aspiring (Part Time) Voice Actors and the other for Professional (Full Time) Voice Actors.
This year’s results show that part time voice actors have so much potential and opportunities like never before in 2023.
Let’s break down the four trends from the survey:
- 2023 is Welcoming A New Generation of Voice Actors
- Investing In A Coach Books 20% More Work
- Auditioning 5+ Times Per Day Is The Baseline for Success
- Performing ‘Conversational’ and ‘Believable’ Are The Most Sought-After Styles
2023 Welcomes a New Generation of Voice Actors
According to our survey, 60% of part time voice actors have started the profession in the last three years. This very new group of talent may need a lot more guidance to make the most of what the robust audio industry is offering.
There was over 500,000 newly created voice actor accounts on Voices in 2022, and close to 2 million talent accounts have been created in the last three years.
This surge of new talent will need to be guided through how to grow as a voice actor and we’re here to help.
In the past 3 years, freelance options have increased and people are taking advantage of our platform, being able to work from the comfort of their home recording studio.
Our Advice:
You may be a new voice actor, who started into the profession during the pandemic as a way to earn extra income, while working from home. But now that the world is up and running again, you might be looking to elevate your voice acting skills and business but not knowing where to start.
We have plenty of resources to help you set up your studio, which microphones to consider buying, auditioning best practices and where to find a voice acting coach.
Working With A Coach Books 20% More Work
To elevate your voice over auditions and book more jobs, working with a coach is essential. The top voice actors on the platform are being mentored by renowned coaches, aimed at helping them refine their craft and perfect auditions. It’s time you also invested in a coach.
In this year’s survey, 35% of part time voice acting respondents said they have never worked with a voice acting coach. 28% work with a coach a few times per year.
Based on our survey responses, we found that a good voice acting coach can pay off and those who invest in coaches make more money than those who don’t.
Where Do I Find A Voice Acting Coach?
Our carefully curated coaches directory provides you with a comprehensive list of some of the best voice over coaches in the industry. Browse here to explore the many different voice acting coaches available to help you find success and the most suitable coach for your needs.
You can also connect with Voices Talent Manager, Evan Wiebe, to help pair you with a coach based on your skills.
How Much to Invest in Voice Acting?
Only 72% of part time voice actors are investing up to $1,000 annually on webinars, coaching and conferences. There is room for more money to be invested back into their passion to help build skills increase earning potential and cut down on audition times.
The difficulty for many new, part time voice actors is the idea of investing into their voice acting career sounds intimidating and expensive. The reality is that there are many low cost or free resources available to help aspiring voice actors grow!
Many well known voice actors direct their earnings back into talent development because, as coach Bill DeWees says: “It’s not your gear”.
Yes, having a solid microphone and sound-treated space will make a difference in the quality of your audio, but it’s your vocal abilities that book jobs, not all your gear.
Check out this piece on upgrading your recording studio as you grow in your career to get a feel for how success can still be achieved with beginner-level gear.
How to Estimate Part-Time Voice Actor Incomes
It can be slightly challenging estimating how much money you anticipate to bring in on a yearly basis if you’re a new, part time voice actor. We recommend creating a work back schedule based on the income you want to earn. Once you know that, map out your audition to booking ratio so you know how many auditions you need to submit in order to reach your income goal.
Our Advice:
“At Voices, we believe that coaching is so critical to a voice actor’s success,” Tara Parachuk, Communications Manager at Voices says.
Voice actors on Voices who have received training from coaches book 20% more jobs.
Here are some of our resources to help you start:
- Our Mission Audition podcast provides feedback from experienced voice over coaches on real auditions submitted by voice actors, participating and submitting auditions to this podcast will be a great experience.
- Voices Webinars: There are more than 40 unique webinars available on Voices YouTube Channel, aimed to answer the most common questions from voice actors of every level and stage.
Auditioning 5+ Times Per Day Is The Baseline for Success
Close to 60% of the voice actors surveyed said they only audition 1-5 times a day. Their reasoning was that they submitted fewer and selected jobs that matched their skills and budget.
However, our senior talent manager, Evan Wiebe says aiming for 5-10 auditions to start should be the baseline; but only 28% of part time talent are currently submitting 5-10 auditions per day. It’s clear that more awareness is needed for getting more auditions out there.
Full time voice actors had much different numbers as 61% submit close to 25 daily.
“A voice talent’s core moneymaker is frequently auditioning. If you don’t have a weekly or daily goal, that’s your first task: Create a goal and stick to it! We would recommend at least 5 per weekday submitted,” Wiebe explains. “This is the foundation of your funnel. Out of those auditions, the reality is that not all will be listened to by the clients, which is normal.”
A good booking rate is 3% to 10% of your submitted auditions, he adds.
The length of time to complete a voice over audition is another topic of conversation for aspiring voice actors.
Almost 40% of part time voice actors are taking ten or more minutes on their auditions (including editing and submitting), while nearly 70% of professionals are taking three to ten minutes on auditions.
Jesse Adam, a professional voice actor based in Canada, has some great advice for part time voice actors on how to improve on their audition times.
“I wasn’t able to do 20 to 40 when I started, it was three or four a day. But as you do it more and more, it becomes more comfortable,” he explains.
“It’s about working hard and realizing that auditioning is actually the job, and landing jobs is the bonus. When you look at it as auditions are your job and that’s what you’re supposed to do, it makes it that much easier just to check through them and to get them done.”
Adam says it’s about finding a good groove, when you’re at peak energy and “in the zone”, which has allowed him to submit an impressive amount of auditions each day.
“My goal is to get between 30 to 40 auditions done a day. Some days are 20, some days are 50, but that’s my goal to get 30 to 40 each day.”
Part-Time Voice Actors’ Auditioning Strategies
When it comes to strategy, part time voice actors are split into three approaches.
The majority (45%), however, follow a strategy of submitting fewer auditions but ensure the auditions they are submitting somewhat match their voice acting skillset.
Thirty percent of part time voice actors submit auditions to job postings that fully match their skillset, while 25% submit as many as possible.
Our Advice:
In our ‘Beginner’s Guide to Voice Acting’, we suggest you only audition for jobs you’re truly qualified for, that you truly want to do, and that you think you have a good shot at getting hired for.
Read the full strategy in Chapter 6 of the Guide, ‘Auditioning from Home’
Here are our top 10 auditioning tips:
- Make sure to carry out your vocal warm up routine before you start recording.
- Go over any creative direction provided in the job posting, rehearse, and time your read before you begin recording.
- Rehearse your copy standing up, while speaking at the same volume you’ll be speaking when recording. If the particular audition that you’re recording requires a lot of energy, read standing up.
- Use your hand and arm gestures to enhance your performance. If the spot is, on the other hand, relaxed and laid back, feel free to sit comfortably on a stool or chair.
- Audition early and often, but have the discernment to recognize when a project isn’t right for you, in which case you should move on to another audition right away.
- Unless you’re performing a read of a shorter script, read only a portion (about 20 seconds) of the script.
- Keep your voice fresh by staying hydrated and maintaining good vocal health habits.
- Have water in your booth at all times and properly hydrate an hour before your session.
- Convert your audio file to MP3 and label it correctly.
- Be honest with yourself. Only audition for roles that you and your voice are truly suited for.
Performing ‘Conversational’ and ‘Believable’ Are The Most Sought-After Styles
In 2022, the most requested voice over styles were ‘conversational’ and ‘believable’.
Thirty nine percent of survey respondents said they were asked to perform their voice over in a ‘conversational’ style. While 24% of part time voice actors were asked to sound ‘believable’. The other two major styles requested were: ‘Engaging’ (9%), and ‘genuine’ (7%).
All of these roles have one common element: Authenticity.
We predict this will continue to be the case going forward into 2023. So in order to not miss out on any potential work, it’s important to make sure you can find your unique version of these styles.
In 2021, the conversational read was the most requested style of read in 2021, followed by the believable read (14.1%),
Another interesting item to note: This year, 37% of part time voice actors said the role they were most hired for was ‘narrator’. Coming in second was ‘real person’ at 27%, third was ‘character’ at 13% and ‘announcer’ just under 10%.
In 2021, 23% were hired for ‘narrator’ voice over roles. While 38% were hired for ‘real person’ voice acting roles in 2021.
While ‘real person’ and ‘narrator’ competed for top spot over the past two years, it’s clear that aspiring voice actors need to focus on honing and crafting these two roles, as well as their ‘character’ and ‘announcer’ voices. Mastering these top four roles will help you book more work in 2023!
Our Advice:
“A conversational and believable read helps a voice actor deepen their connection with their audience,” Voices CEO and Founder, David Ciccarelli said. “The ability to give authentic performances will be vital to achieving your 2023 career growth goals.”
Brands and organizations are still looking for ‘real-sounding’ moments that tap at the listeners’ emotions; whether that’s from audiobooks, video games, or even an online video ad.
Read more here about how to deliver a conversational read.
Start Planning 2023 With These Resources
- The Only Voice Acting Strategy You’ll Need in 2023
- What Are the Best Voice Over Microphones?
- How To Measure Your Success in 2023
- How to Find Voice Over Work Online in 2023
- Want to Explore more About Audiobook Narration? Read Becoming an Audiobook Narrator with Ilyana Kadushin (Narrator of the Twilight Series).
- Video Games more up your alley? Read How to Get Into Video Game Voice Acting in 2023
The top earners on Voices are finding any edge to shave down their average audition time, allowing them to audition more and thereby have more opportunities to make more money as a voice actor. With so many software and hardware advancements, the technology that is available to part time voice actors is unlike any other era. Finding what tools and how to use them to help you stay relevant in a faster moving industry will be key in 2023.
Methodology
Voices deployed a qualitative survey targeting registered client users of Voices, ranging in industries from advertising, broadcast media, entertainment, film, education, and training. The survey looked to understand current market trends and how the landscape of the audio industry and freelance talent has changed over the last year.
2,473 survey respondents answered the survey that consisted of 12 questions. 1,446 respondents completed the survey in full. There was an incentive of the chance to win one of five $100 Amazon gift cards for the completion of the survey.
About Voices
With over two million members, Voices is the largest audio marketplace connecting talent and clients in the world. Since 2005, the biggest and most beloved brands have entrusted Voices to help them find their voice. Headquartered in London, Canada, Voices helps service clients and voice talent in over 160 countries.