The Art of Voice Acting: The Craft and Business of Performing For Voiceover 6th Edition James Alburger Updated 2025
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The Art of
Voice Acting
sixth edition
The Art of Voice Acting covers all aspects of the craft and business of
performing voiceover. Chapters include how to get started in voiceover,
performing techniques, setting up a personal recording space, voiceover
demos, the basics of running a voiceover business, unions, and much
more. Throughout the book are numerous contributions from some of the
voiceover world’s top professionals and website URL’s for additional
resources and reference. Additional content can be found on the Voice
Acting Academy website at AOVA.VoiceActing.com.
The Art of
Voice
A cting sixth edition
James R. Alburger
vi The Art of Voice Acting
Sixth edition published 2019
by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Publisher’s Note
This book has been prepared from camera-ready copy provided by the
author.
For more about James Alburger and The Art of Voice Acting,
visit our websites:
VoiceActing.com
VoiceActingStudios.com
JamesAlburger.com
Contents
Contents
viii
Contents
13. Long Form Narration: Corporate, Medical & eLearning
Telling a Different Kind of Story ................................... 213
Tips for Performing Long-Form Narration .................... 214
The Challenges of Medical Narration (Julie Williams) .. 215
Corporate and Narrative Scripts ................................... 217
14. Audio Book Narration
Telling the Long Story .................................................. 221
Tips for Performing Audio Books ................................. 224
Audio Book Scripts ...................................................... 224
15. Mastering Character Voices
Vocalizing Characters .................................................. 229
Pat Fraley’s Six Critical Elements of Character Voice .. 231
Finding Your Voice ...................................................... 233
The Character Voice Worksheet .................................. 233
Tips for Character and Animation Copy ....................... 235
Character Sides for Games and Animation .................. 236
Character and Animation full Script .............................. 240
16. Imaging - Promo - Trailer
Radio Imaging ............................................................. 245
Television Promo ......................................................... 246
Trailer .......................................................................... 247
Tips for Performing Imaging, Promo and Trailer .......... 248
Imaging Scripts ............................................................. 248
Promo Scripts .............................................................. 249
Trailer Scripts .............................................................. 250
17. Other VO Genres
What Is Your Niche? .................................................... 253
ADR and Looping ........................................................ 254
Pocholo Gonzales (The Art of Foreign Language ADR) 255
Anime .......................................................................... 265
Telephony .................................................................... 265
New Media ................................................................... 266
18. The Business of Voiceover: Getting Paid to Play
The Same but Changing .............................................. 271
It’s Show-biz, Folks! ..................................................... 272
The Many Hats of a Voiceover Professional ................ 273
Non-Union Voiceover Work ......................................... 273
Union work ................................................................... 275
Talent Agencies, Casting Agencies,
and Personal Managers ............................................. 282
Online Audition Services and Advertising Agencies ..... 284
Ad Agencies and Production Companies ..................... 287
19. Your Voiceover Demo
Your Professional Calling Card .................................... 291
Demo Rule #1: Don’t Produce Your Demo Until
You Are Ready .......................................................... 291
Demo Rule #2: Your Demo Must Accurately
Represent Your Abilities ............................................ 294
ix
The Art of Voice Acting
Versatility Is Your Selling Tool ..................................... 295
Demo Basics ............................................................... 296
Preparing for Your Voiceover Demos .......................... 297
Types of Voiceover Demos .......................................... 297
Producing Your Demo ................................................. 301
Your Demo Recording Session .................................... 309
20. Your Home Studio
A Million-Dollar Studio in Your Home ........................... 311
The Challenge of Recording at Home .......................... 312
Designing Your Home Studio ...................................... 313
Understanding Room Acoustics ................................... 318
Managing Your Computer ............................................ 325
Working with Clients Remotely .................................... 327
21. Home Studio Technology
Wearing the Hat of Audio Engineer ............................. 329
Digital Recording 101 .................................................. 330
Advanced Home Studio Technology ............................ 333
The Mysterious Decibel ............................................... 335
An Audio Recording and Editing Primer ....................... 338
22. How to Work in the Voiceover Business
Promoting and Marketing Yourself ............................... 345
Managing Your Time ................................................... 346
Business Basics .......................................................... 349
Dave Courvoisier (Using Social Media Networking to
Build Your Voiceover Business) ................................ 356
Working Internationally ................................................ 362
Andy Boyns (Working as a Global Voice Actor) ........... 362
Male vs. Female .......................................................... 364
Trends ......................................................................... 366
A Business Plan for Voice Actor You, Inc. ................... 367
A Business Plan for Voice Actor You, Inc. (Worksheet) 369
23. Managing Your Voiceover Business
Setting Your Talent Fee ............................................... 373
Negotiating Your Fee ................................................... 382
Getting Paid for Your Work .......................................... 384
How to Guarantee You’ll be Paid ................................. 386
Documenting Your Session ......................................... 390
Keeping Records ......................................................... 393
Banking and Your Business ......................................... 396
Voiceover and the Law ................................................ 397
24. Your Voiceover Identity
Present Yourself as a Professional .............................. 399
Words of Wisdom from Paul Frees .............................. 400
Defining Your Business ............................................... 401
Setting Up Shop .......................................................... 405
Print Materials ............................................................. 407
Your Website ............................................................... 409
x
Contents
25. The Talent Agent
Finding and Working with an Agent ............................. 413
The Changing Role of the Talent Agent ....................... 421
26. Auditions
The Audition Process ................................................... 423
Auditioning from Your Home Studio ............................. 424
The Live Audition ......................................................... 428
After the Audition .......................................................... 434
Union vs. Non-Union Auditions .................................... 435
27. You’re Hired! The Session
A Journey through the Creative Process ...................... 437
Types of Sessions, Setups, and Script Formats ........... 440
The Session: Step-by-Step .......................................... 442
Common Direction Terms ............................................ 444
Wrap it Up .................................................................... 449
28. Stop It!
What are You Doing to Sabotage Yourself? ................. 451
29. The Changing World of Voiceover
An Industry in Flux ....................................................... 459
J. Michael Collins (The Future of the Industry) ............. 459
Hugh P. Klitzke (So, What About the Future? A Casting
Director’s Perspective) .............................................. 462
Tom Dheere (Ignore the Noise) ................................... 464
Peter Bishop (The World-Voices Organization)............. 465
30. Wisdom from the Pros
Peter Dickson and Hugh Edwards (Advice on Considering
a Career in Voiceover) .............................................. 467
Shelley Cohen (Is This Business Right for You?) ......... 471
Dana Detrick (22 Jobs Every Creative Solopreneur
Must Be Able to Do) .................................................. 474
Marc Cashman (Twenty Crucial V-O Tips) ................... 477
Melissa Moats (A Day in the Life of a Voice Actor) ....... 479
Kelly Buttrick (Career Compass) .................................. 482
Kate McClanaghan (What You Should Know
When Meeting with a Talent Agent) .......................... 483
Lisa Orkin (Directing Radio Spots: It’s All About
the Playables) ........................................................... 486
Bob Bergen (Voiceover Demos) .................................. 488
Fred Frees (Advice from Paul Frees) ........................... 489
Index .................................................................................... 491
xi
The Art of Voice Acting
xii
Preface
Preface
James R. Alburger
The origins of this book go back to the mid 1970’s. At that time,
my life revolved around my work as a part-time professional
magician, my work as audio producer and director at the NBC-TV
affiliate in San Diego, and my side jobs of editing music for other
performers and working part-time at a local recording studio. I really
didn’t have much of a social life back then!
Although I was working with voiceover talent on a daily basis,
and I had an innate understanding of creating visual imagery and
telling stories through the medium of sound alone, I had no idea that
I would one day write a book that has become one of the standard
reference works on the craft and business of voiceover.
Each edition of this book has built upon the prior editions by
adding more techniques, completely updated information, and more
content from many of the top professionals in this industry. In
addition to this book, you’ll find a ton of supporting audio content,
and much more, under the Resources menu tab on my website at
VoiceActing.com. This area of my website can be reached directly
at AOVA.VoiceActing.com.
The business of voiceover is one that is in a constant state of
flux—and a lot has happened since the previous edition of this book
was published. Although the fundamental performing techniques
may be consistent, there are trends and performing styles that are
constantly changing. As voice actors, we must keep up with these
business trends, maintain our performing skills and adapt to a variety
of changes in order to keep the work coming in. But the reality is,
there’s actually a lot more to it than that.
What you hold in your hands is a manual for working in the
business of voiceover that will take you from the fundamentals of
performing to the essentials of marketing… and everything in-
between. Most books on voiceover talk about interpretation—how to
deliver phrases and analyze a script, or the book is more about the
author than the craft.
This book is different!
This book was written with the intention of giving you a solid
foundation in both the craft and business of voiceover. Within these
pages you’ll find dozens of tools and techniques that are essential
for success in this area of show business—some of which you won’t
find anywhere else. With this book, you will learn exactly how to use
xiii
The Art of Voice Acting
these tools, not just in voiceover, but in everything you do. Unlike
some other books on voiceover, I don’t focus on how I did it, or go
into boring stories of my voiceover career. No… I’ll show you how
you can do it! Every story and every technique you’ll read in this
book is here for a reason—to teach you exactly how some aspect of
this craft and business works, and how you can make it work for you.
The tools and techniques are just that—tools and techniques.
Without understanding how to use them, they are little more than
words on the page. But once you learn how to use these tools, you’ll
discover that they can be used to improve relationships, get more
customers, resolve problems, close more sales, make you a better
actor, improve your public speaking skills, and so on. You won’t use
every performance tool all the time, and some may not work for you
at all. That’s fine. Find the tools and techniques that do work for you,
take them, and make them your own. Create your own unique style.
If you can achieve that, you’ll be ahead of the game.
This is a book about how you can communicate more effectively
than you can imagine. Everything you experience in life holds an
emotion that can be used to make you more effective as a voice
actor. And even if you never intend to stand in front of a microphone
in a recording studio, you can still use what you learn here to
become a more effective communicator.
Performing voiceover is much like performing music: There is a
limited number of musical notes, yet there is an almost unlimited
variety of possibilities for performing those notes. The same is true
with a voiceover script. Words and phrases can be delivered with
infinite variety, subtlety, and nuance. A voiceover performance is,
indeed, very similar to the way a conductor blends and balances the
instruments of the orchestra. Your voice is your instrument, and this
book will give you the tools to help you create a musical
performance. You might think of voiceover as a “Symphony of
Words,” or “Orchestrating Your Message,” both catch phrases I’ve
used to describe the results of what we do as voice actors.
Acknowledgments
We are fortunate to be part of a community that is supportive and
generally operates under “the bigger pie” theory: “Instead of going
for a small ’piece of the pie,’ let’s just make a bigger pie.” This edition
of my book would not have been possible without the generous
support and help from so many people and companies who work in
the world of voiceover every day. As you read through these pages,
you will see names, web site links, and other references to the many
individuals who have supported my efforts with their contributions.
Please visit their websites and join me in thanking them for their
willingness to share their knowledge and experience.
xiv
Introduction
Introduction
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