Switching Career Paths?
- Written by Marc
- 1:17 PM
- Add Your Comments (1)
Ready to trade in your toolbelt for a microphone? Read this interesting take on going from a labor intensive job to radio or voice acting.
Dear Marc,
People tell me, especially females that I have a very cool voice and I should be a DJ on the radio. I know it's different, but people, total strangers included, comment a lot on it and I'm wondering if I
should capitalize on it.
To give you an example, the likeness of my voice is similar to whiskey and cigarettes, or the oldschool rapper tone.
I have a very physical job and I'm getting real tired of the physical pain that comes with it and I'd like to try something out that may put my distinctive voice to use but I do not know how or where to begin.
Can you help?
Johnny,
you're a smart man to realize that you won't be able to do physical labor forever, whereas you can be using your voice for a long, long time.
But the fact of the matter is that having a beautiful voice will not guarantee you success in a career in Radio or voice acting unless you possess certain critical skills.
As far as Radio goes, if you wanted to become a DJ, or on-air personality, you'd have to have the "gift of gab," the ability to talk and think on your feet, interact with callers, have an intimate knowledge of the music you're playing, have the ability to multi-task, read copy cold, understand time limits,
know how to find the sweet spot in the microphone, among many, many other skills.
If that kind of work interests you, I'd strongly suggest you find a Radio school, a company that instructs students to prepare for the wonderful world of Radio.
If, on the other hand, you'd like to be a voice actor, you also need a number of skill sets, among them:
the ability to articulate and interpret copy, read copy without "stumbling" through it, acting skills, breath control and most importantly, the ability to tell a compelling story, whether it's a commercial, a corporate video a website narration, audio book, whatever.
If that's what you're interested in doing, then voice acting classes are the thing you want to pursue, because they'll give you the solid foundation you need to compete with professionals already established in the field.
You could have the most beautiful voice in the world, but if you can't enunciate correctly or put two words together, you don't have much of a chance of making a career in the world of the spoken voice.
James Earl Jones, as gorgeous a voice as he has, would be nowhere if he couldn't act or articulate beautifully.
We only have one go-around in life.
If you're hearing from total strangers that you have a unique voice, why not find out if you have the attendant skills to give you a whole new career?
Sincerely,
Marc
If you have any questions, please write to me and I’ll get back to you on the blog with my answers.
MARC CASHMAN creates and produces copy and music advertising for radio and television. Winner of over 150 advertising awards, he also instructs voice acting of all levels through his classes, The Cashman Cache of Voice-Acting Techniques in Los Angeles, CA.
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Cashman's classes are quite affordable considering all he includes, and he offers the class several times throughout the year. He also is pretty easy to get in touch with directly if you have any questions ahead of time.