After months of practicing and training your voice to find your range and the voices that work for you, you're ready to leap out into the world and make your voice acting debut! Except there's a slight problem standing in the way. What route do you pursue in terms of finding work for your fledgling voice acting career?

Well, you don't have to wonder anymore. We're here to give you this comprehensive guide to all the different kinds of industries that use voice actors for voice-over positions!

But enough preamble, right? Let's dive right into it!

Voice-Over for Film and Television

One of the big draws for voice actors is finding a role in film and television. Primarily, this happens with animation: voice acting greats like Rob Paulsen and Mark Hamill are famous for their iconic portrayals of classic characters. 

However, that's not the only application voice actors get in film. Narration is another key element of some films and TV shows, primarily documentaries or true-crime series. You can even snag the odd voice-over role in a live-action film (like Scarlett Johannsson did in the 2013 film Her). 

While this is one of the harder industries to crack, the rewards are worth the effort.

Video Games

As technology improves, video game designers are working hard to make their games more and more immersive to entrance a player into their world. And to make that world feel real, they need voice actors to bring their characters to life.

Video games offer a massive degree of role flexibility (you could be playing a pirate one week and a medieval town guard the next) and don't suffer as much from the need to attach A-listers for voice roles as films do. The recent addition of motion capture to video games could even let you embody the character, and there's no shortage of new games needing actors.

Commercials

Commercials are often a hot field for voice actors as they need persuasive people to sell their products. Whether you're the announcer for infomercials or the voice of someone like the Geico Gecko, commercials pay lucrative sums and often allow you to work from home. 

It's a bit different from the previous jobs however in that your main focus is not playing a role but selling something. Companies will pride that ability far over any acting ability you have.

Audiobooks

With the success of platforms like Audible, audiobooks are taking off as a format of getting literature on the go. Nabbing a voice-over job here gives you free rein to make the story your own and transport the listener into the world of the book.

Business Applications

Companies also hire voice-over actors to do voice work for training videos or promotional material for their company that isn't as "big-league" as a traditional commercial. If that's not your speed, think of the announcements you hear in a Broadway theatre or over the subway: someone got paid to record those. 

There's even a market for voice-over work for virtual assistance programs (think GPS's or virtual guides in museums). 

Off to the Races

So, now that you know all the different avenues you can take with your voice-over acting career, you're ready to hit the ground running and turn your career into something spectacular! And if you want to know more tips about becoming a voice actor, be sure to check out the other posts on our blog!