How to Become Voice Over Artist in India [In 2022]

Sankar’s Voice is a platform started by Subho Sankar Chatterjee meant to cater to all your voice-over needs in one place. Whatever you want, however you wish, Sankar is there to help you with all your desires. With years of experience as a podcaster, content marketing professional, and life and leadership coach, he believes that a voice is not just a means of communication but a vehicle to touch the soul.

Simple Steps to Become a Voice Over Artist in India. 

Doctors, engineers, and architects, we have all considered these professions at least once in our lives. Why? Because these, traditionally, are considered to be the most paying and respected jobs by our families. And they might very well as be.

But as technology is shifting and globalization is rapidly knocking on our doors, no matter in what part of the world we reside, our horizons are slowly broadening, allowing more opportunities to find their way to us. And that too in every aspect of our lives, not just our professional ones.

Voice over artist is one such job that has slowly crept up from underneath the rug and evoked an interest in many individuals in the last few decades. Although it isn’t a profession that just materialized because of the rapid digitalization and changes in the business world, for instance digital marketing, it indeed is something that has started to gain importance as a profession fairly later than its introduction as a career path.

So, if the colorful and creative world of voice over is something that has piqued your interest and you are eager to know more before you take a step into this world where you create entities and memories using just your voice, this is precisely the place to be. Let us see in this article how to become a voice over artist in India step by step.

Who is Voice Over artists? 

Step one to how you can become a voice over artist in India is to understand what or rather who voice over artists are and what they do as professionals.

According to Target Study, “Voice-over Artist is a professional who narrates documentaries, and corporate videos from product use to joint venture presentations, from safety videos to cell phone prompts and TV serial intros and recaps and radio commercials. In simple words, a voice-over artist converts the written words to audio. They need to sit in front of a microphone, say some words and get a desirable remuneration.

It is also considered an off-camera commentary; voice-over is a technique wherein the voice is modified and changed to complement the visuals of a telefilm, documentary, advertisement, television serial or news, so broadcasted,”

From the above explanation, it is reasonably straightforward that the voice over artist is simply the voice behind the screen. From memorable commercials to great animated movies, these people bring them to life with their incredible creative talent.

Like acting, voice over artists also read and enact from a pre-written screen. The only difference is that while actors stay in front of the screen and use their facial features to express a large variety of emotions, voice artists get all but their voices to carry out their assignments.

The skills needed to become a voice over artist in India. 

If you want to become a voice over artist in India, it is even more important than step one. And here we deal with the question, do you have the necessary skills to become a voice over in India or just about any part of the world?

And what exactly do I mean when I say skills?

To thrive in any profession, every individual needs a certain skill set. The same goes for becoming a voice over artist. As explained above, from sorrow to fear, voice-over artists train their voices to evoke various emotions and cater to the audience. An experienced voice over artist does this with such precision that often, their craft stays in our minds forever.

And hence, to enter this industry, they need to train their voices to get to that level of expertise. To do that, one can always opt for voice coaching, which is not mandatory but is an excellent way to start training your voice to get the best out of it. Voice coaches will give effective exercises and methods to ensure that you use your voice to the best of your ability and evoke versatility.

Apart from this, there are also certain other skills that you will need to pave your way into the voice over industry and become a voice over artist in India. Hence, without further adieu, let us see the skills you need and whether or not you possess them already are?

#1 A smooth and attractive voice- Acting is a feat in itself; doing it with your voice is absolutely some work. Your voice does all the job here, so of course, the first requirement for the industry is to have a smooth, attractive voice. If you already have one, congratulations big time; you are a step ahead in the game already!

#2 Creativity: Being a voice-over artist doesn’t mean just using your pretty voice to read out from scripted pages. It would be best if you had the creativity to succeed, lots of it. Just like regular artists mold themselves into their characters, voice artists must do the same.

In fact, as a voice artist, you always have a challenge. You can not use your facial expressions to convey your emotions and sentiments; it all flows through your voice. So, creativity is an incumbent part of this industry and provides voice-over services. The more creative you are, the better you grasp the characters, and the more success you will get.

#3 Clear Reading Skills: A voice actor’s job is all about reading. You read the scripts and grasp the characters, and your reading skills will ultimately reflect your creativity. The proper understanding of exclamation marks, full stops, and other tiny details are fundamental to your voice actor’s efficiency.

#4 Acting skills: Of course, voice actors are also actors. So, you need to possess acting skills to flourish. Voice actors act through their voices, but you need to adapt to a character, their traits, and personalities regardless. It is essential to be flexible and can transform from one character to another quickly because many a time, voice actors juggle many roles at a time. Continuous training and practicing can soon help you achieve that.

#5 Cold reading skills: Actors don’t always get a thousand years to practice and improve their skills. Sometimes they have to do an impromptu reading with only a few sides and titbits of a script. It is called cold reading. As a voice artist/ actor, and especially if you are an aspiring candidate, it is very important to know how to do cold-read acting. Most of the time, interviewers exactly use this technique to test candidates. Hence it is always possible to practice the skill beforehand.

How to become a voice over artist in India? 

Now that we have covered the basics, we get to the final step: how can you become a voice-over artist in India? What is the eligibility criterion for becoming a voice over artist in India or in general?

The good news is that you don’t need a major academic qualification to opt for this profession which is the first and foremost need of some of the career choices we pointed out above. However, to notch up your game and have that edge, it is preferable to have taken some short-term courses related to voice acting and voice coaching to train your voice right from the start.

The second part is the skill set you need; we have already covered that above. To become a voice over artist, you need to have firm control over your voice, and you should know how to modulate your voice as per the demands of the script and how to portray myriad emotions using the same.

Once you have passed the short-term courses and honed the skills mentioned above, you are ready to enter the world of voice-over acting and pave a brilliant career.

Of course, it’s easier said than done, but with the right amount of zeal and a knack for exploring your creative boundaries, one could easily succeed as a voice-over artist. 

And last but not least, how much can you expect to earn as a voice over artist in India?

Depending on your skills, you can earn between 5k- 8k per episode for a TV serial. And somewhere around 15k-20k for documentary and corporate films. And for a proper film, one can earn somewhere between 25k to 75k.

Of course, the numbers may vary based on your experience and talent as a voice over artist, but with the way the industry is growing now, it is undoubtedly going to see a promising rise for those who choose to opt for this profession.