It's How You Say It: Voice Acting Classes Teach a Lucrative Side Gig

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D.C. IS KNOWN FOR for having its share of talking heads, but politics and punditry aren't the only ways to put your money where your mouth is.

Voice acting can be a fun — and lucrative — way to earn a living or extra spending money, says David Bourgeois, president and creative director of Voice Coaches, a Schenectady, N.Y.-based company that's bringing its expertise to Alexandria with "Getting Paid to Talk: An Introduction to Professional Voice Acting."

"One of the great positives of it is it's something you don't have to quit other things you're doing to do. You can build this around other things that are priorities," he says.

» The Basics
John Gallogly, the company's senior creative director and a voice actor since age 9, will teach the course, which is open to 20 students.
Participants will listen to examples of demos by professional voice actors and record a practice script of their own at the end of the class, such as a voice-over for an ad. The idea is to give students the chance to see what it's like to be on the microphone and take directions, Bourgeois says.

The class also aims to set the record straight about the difference between voice acting and reading. "Voice actors have a unique challenge," says Bourgeois. "They have to communicate every bit of the emotion and the intention of what they're reading singularly with their voice. It's more difficult than you might think."

» What You'll Learn
The class will cover the type of work voice actors perform. Although most people associate voice acting with being an announcer and doing voice-overs for commercials, "as much as
90 percent of the work that's available to voice actors is non-commercial voice-over work, also known as narrative work," such as training and educational materials, video games, audiobooks, documentaries and Internet content, Bourgeois says.

Gallogly will also talk about how to make a demo recording, how to set up a studio at home, where to find jobs in the D.C.-metro area and what types of voices are in demand.

"We have really moved away from always hiring the announcer" — the stereotypical gravelly, booming male voice promoting the latest blockbuster — Bourgeois says. "Today we hire females and males at an equal rate. We hire people with ethnicity in their voices. We've moved toward believability, the ability to be genuine and conversational."

» What's the Deal?
"Getting Paid to Talk: An Introduction to Professional Voice Acting" will be held Dec. 2 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Northern Virginia Community College's Alexandria campus (3001 N. Beauregard St.). The class costs $69. Register before Nov. 27 at Nvcc.edu/alexandria/continuing/courses/fall/allcourses.asp or call 703-845-6328.

Written by Express contributor Stephanie Kanowitz
Photo courtesy Voice Coaches