From singing to acting to hosting, Laurie Burke has done it all. As a voiceover artist, Burke has been part of many different projects. You may recognize her as the voice of Google Voice, as well as doing work with the Emmy Awards and LinkedIn. A coach herself with a long career in voiceover, Burke took time as part of Backstage’s ongoing on-camera series, The Slate, to give tips and tricks to up-and-coming voiceover artists interested in joining the field themselves.
Voiceover 101 Burke implores aspiring voiceover artists to find their voice first.
“The key is to develop your voice to where you're comfortable using it and finding different ways of really hitting the other person and expressing yourself and making that unique to you and your expression—and following direction, of course, but really that's what it's all about.”
Find a coach to help form that voice, a coach that suits you.
“Please study with somebody. They should hopefully tell you what your strengths are, what they hear you as being cast for, and maybe what your voice lends itself to. Again, go with things that you're interested in…. [Pick a coach] that has the same like-minded energy as you and the same philosophy, and I would pick one that's actually working or at least has been, so they keep up on the trends of what is going on.”
Voiceover is a practice with no location barriers.
“I’ve done so many voiceovers traveling from Hawaii to Europe to wherever. If you learn the system of what you need and the concept of having a quiet studio, once you get the concept, you can do it pretty much anywhere. It has to do with the space. If you go to your car, you could go to a closet, whatever, but it is something to learn. That's what's so great about voiceover.”
Expanding your catalog of voiceover mediums can bring more opportunities.
“If you want to be a working voiceover artist, the more things you could develop, the better. If you only want to do audiobooks, that's great—that makes my job easier as a coach because I know exactly what we're gonna concentrate on. But I think most of us want to work and we want to work in the best creative outlet that we can that brings joy and fun, because that comes through in your voice, too.”
For more from Burke, watch her full YouTube Live session below, and keep tabs on who’s coming up on The Slate with our list of programming right here!
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