Over the past three years since we started Indian Voice-Overs, which has become India’s leading Voice Agency today, we have naturally been overrun by new aspiring voiceover artistes from across the country. They all want us to give them their first break into the profession and many indeed have nice voices. The one BIG myth they all bring along with them is, that “their good voice” is all that they need to make it in the industry. Nothing could be further from the truth.

It is like saying, “I have a great 3 piece suit, so therefore I am qualified to run a business just like an MBA graduate”. When in fact to put the suit to good use, shouldn’t one must first train and qualify as a MBA graduate?

There is no magic or voodoo involved in becoming a successful Voiceover today. You basically need 3 main things:

You‘ll notice the “Good Voice” didn’t make it to the top three.

Before we get to that let us first visit these three points in a little detail now.

The Passion: It is indeed the start of pretty much any career, voiceovers are no exception.  Passion is the fuel for your push in to anything new. This is particularly true of showbiz, of which Voiceovers are an integral part. Like becoming a successful actor requires many things to come together and the process is not an exact science. Just like no one on the planet knows – What really makes a Super Hit Box-Office Blockbuster?  If they knew every movie would be one.

Proper Training: This is the make or break point. In other words very important to a successful Voiceover career. As things stand in India today, none of the Voice trainers teach an exact or time tested technique. We know this for sure because we have to deal with their pupils after they finish their so-called training in Voiceovers. Most of them, understandably want to be featured on Indian Voice-Overs. Unfortunately, the quality of new voice talent being churned out of most of the voice training centres in the country today is not up to the mark. One good listen to Radio Jockeys and News Presenters in the Indian Media today is testimony to this fact.

The Agent: After the proper training comes the “Selling” or “Marketing” of your skill and talent. You need an agent or agency that will reach far and wide within the country and across the globe to help voiceover work come your way. This profession is highly competitive and the spectrum and quantity of work needed to be done far outstrips the number of trained voice artistes required to do it. In other words there is a massive gap between the demand and supply of trained voiceover talent in India today.

So what happened to, “I have a good voice, therefore I will be a good voiceover”. To put it plainly every person’s voice is unique. Like a fingerprint. Hence, once you speak with the proper technique only you will sound like you. The characteristics of your unique voice will determine the jobs you will get. With the amount of work that needs to be voiced, there is enough for everyone to have a chance at breaking through. You just have to find your niche.

Today, the opportunities in India are limitless for new up and coming voiceover artistes. Globalization means that the world operates more and more as a single entity. The client could be in New York the agent in Pune and the artiste in New Delhi. It all works and is possible because of the spread of the internet. In India the Internet has still got a long way to go before it becomes a real tool in people lives. Having said that the journey to that place where the internet is looked upon more as a utility like electricity, rather than a luxury or a frivolous add-on in our daily lives, has started.

So to all those aspiring new voiceover artistes out there who can’t wait to get their voiceover careers off to a flying start, STOP and ask yourselves would you go and apply for a pilots job, just because you were licensed to drive a car?