Use Your Foreign Language Skills to
Become a Voice Over Artist
Looking to broaden your horizons as a voice over artist? This article will explain why learning a foreign language is essential.
Did you know a whopping 43% of the world’s population speak two languages?
As we all become more linked thanks to cheaper travel and the internet, many businesses looking to expand into new countries and markets are seeking professional voice-over artists.Whether it’s a new language voiceover of existing marketing materials, or even just adding the right accent to appeal to a particular target market, voiceover artists are certainly in demand.
With the above in mind, it makes sense to learn a second language that could help to fulfil your voice-over artist dreams. And if you’re already fluent in a second language, there are also great reasons to add even more languages to your collection to become truly multilingual.
What Does Multilingual Mean?
Bilingual means speaking two languages fluently. Multilingual means speaking more than two languages fluently and the term ‘polyglot’ is sometimes used to describe a person who can do this.
Which Language Skills Are Most Sought After By Voice-Over Agencies
Whilst it’s useful to be able to speak any foreign language as a voiceover artist, some languages are more sought after than others. Just because Hindi, Bengali and Mandarin Chinese are amongst the top ten most spoken languages in the world, doesn’t mean they are the most useful in the voiceover industry.
Deciding which languages are the most useful within the voice over industry depends on lots of factors. If you work for a voiceover agency that commonly works with big industries, more worldwide languages may be sought. For voiceover agencies working in advertising or entertainment, it may be popular languages on certain platforms are needed more than others. The best thing to do is approach some voiceover agencies and ask them advice on which languages they consider the most sought-after within their industry.
How to Become a Successful Multilingual Voice Actor
Becoming a voice actor is a challenging career path alone, without adding a bilingual or multilingual aspect to it. However, adding a new language will put you ahead of the competition and set you apart in the industry, so it really is worth the extra effort.
If you already speak another language, the easiest thing to do is highlight those skills on your CV and portfolio. You should also include other accents and languages you may be learning. By doing this, you’ll almost certainly boost your chances of being hired. To push this more, do include these accents and languages on your demo so that potential clients can actually hear what you can do.
Remember however if you’re still just learning a new language it’s probably best to avoid auditioning in that new language just yet. As in so many other walks of life, reputation is important in the voiceover industry and you don’t want to spoil your chances in the future when you do get that new language nailed. It’s also important to ensure you sound great speaking the language too. It’s one thing learning the language and another sounding convincing when speaking it. Giving yourself a little time to master the sound of your new language will only boost your chance of being hired further down the line, so it really is worth hanging on just a little bit longer rather than jumping the gun.
It’s also important to note that sounding convincing in another language doesn’t have to mean sounding native to that location. You should sound confident and your pronunciation should be good. However, unique sounding voices are fantastic and if you have a native accent that comes through, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Being Multilingual Could Mean More Success When It Comes To Your Voice-over Career
If there’s a special skill you want to harness in today’s competitive voiceover industry, it should be knowing at least one other language. It can make you stand out amongst the competition, opening up more opportunities, and boosting your career success overall.
