How to get a voice-over agent

A Voice Over agent is a must in the British Voice Over industry, in order to get the big money gigs. It is still possible to get work without an agent, but obviously you have to do all the leg-work.

Firstly, get training. This does not have to be as intensive as traditional acting training, but is still a necessity so that you get good mic technique and get the feedback you need to be told whether or not you will make it. A good voice over coach will give you lots of microphone time in the session, and will provide copies of your voice as MP3s or WAV files afterwards.

Secondly, invest in two great demos; one commercial, one narrative. Most studios, which provide voice over demos as a service, will have scripts available - otherwise you need to source your own (watch adverts on TV and listen to the radio). They will then fully produce and add music, FX etc. (In addition, a cartoon or PC Game demo would also be a good thing, as these will demonstrate more your ability as an actor, rather than a plain straight forward read.). Each demo should be no longer than 1min.

Then, try and think of how you need to market your voice. Describe how it sounds, what jobs you think it would be good for, the age-ranges you can do, etc. Only claim to do accents, languages, dialects, if you actually can.

Finally, get on the internet and check out the voice over agents available; Send off your voice description and samples, and market yourself.

DO NOT ACCEPT AN AGENT WHO ASKS FOR MONEY UP FRONT (this seems more common in Australia than the UK). If this is the case....they are more likely to be casting sites than agents and should be avoided.

And finally - good luck! You will find someone, because you are fantastic!!