During my final semester of college, I decided to take my education into my own hands. Because there was no regularly scheduled voice-over course offered, I decided that it would benefit me most to complete a dependent study in professional voice talent.

After much reading, practicing, and receiving feedback from industry professionals and mentors, I have compiled a list of the ten most important things I learned from this unique experience.

1. Find one style that fits your voice when starting out. I think I tried to stretch myself too thin at first instead of focusing on one concentration.
2. Consonants can be the death of any work. Harsh “f,” “s” or “p” sounds can damage a track beyond repair. Identify them in your work, then you can highlight potential problem areas before recording to reduce frustration while editing.
3. Mouth noises are equally irritating and can be hard to remove if they occur in the middle of a word. These can be caused by either over salivating or a dry mouth. I found that by finding a happy medium, you can avoid picking up excessive amounts of mouth noises. Additionally, finding the right distance from your microphone is also important.
4. Find that microphone that best suits your voice or project. Want a deep, resonant sound? Try a cinematic shotgun mic. Need a cleaner, more pleasant sound for the audience to listen to? Use a quality condenser mic. Like any artist, a voice talent needs his arsenal of tools.
5.  Create a list of words that you may habitually mispronounce. For example, I had a hard time pronouncing “often” without a “t” sound. Once I built my list, I was able to highlight the words before recording (see #2) to avoid mistakes during the process.
6.  Record copy how you think it should sound. Then record it a completely different way (i.e. tone, inflection, pace). You might be surprised which one you like more!
7.  Always record an extra version of copy for safety! There’s nothing more relieving than finding a mistake while editing that can be easily replaced with a phrase from another take.
8. Music and sound effects can’t fix your voice-over, but they can enhance its power and effectiveness!
9.  Listen (and pay attention) to as many commercials, narrations, and other examples of professional work as you can. You never know what you might learn from someone else and apply it to your work!
10. Critiques are some of your most powerful weapons! When you get a second opinion on your work, especially from a professional, you are able to uncover some of those little habits that may hinder you from moving from good to great!