Elearning courses are taking the world by storm. And with the rise in elearning platforms and courses, comes the rise in demand for elearning narrators.
But how exactly do you get into this niche? Let’s go through the steps to becoming an elearning narrator in this post!
Set up your home studio
The first step in the process is to set up your home studio. For this you will need a starting budget of at least $1000.
With this budget, invest in:
- A decent laptop or PC
- A microphone
- Audio interface
- Sound absorbing boards
Once you have these initial bits together, you have the toolkit necessary to start your narration career. The next step is to start practising…
Practise instructional tone of voice
The art of voice over is more than just merely recording your voice and calling it a day. Much like with any voice over role, tone of voice is key for conveying the appropriate voice required.
Instructional tone of voice in this case is key for elearning voice over artists, as you must command presence for your students, and take them through a learning process. Practise speaking slowly and concisely, and add a little pizazz to the delivery.
Once you’ve got a hold of how an elearning voice over should sound, now you can start building your portfolio.
Build your portfolio
Becoming a voice over is more than just having a nice voice and getting behind the microphone. The role of a voice over is much more nuanced than that.
To be able to get scouted by official companies, you must first have some type of portfolio on hand. As a newbie to the voice over game this can prove quite difficult to start out, but there are ways to put yourself out there.
You can find practice scripts online and rehearse them, recording some of your best examples. Ideally, you want a few examples of yourself reading out different texts in order to maximise your chances of getting picked up.
Next, you can look into cheap voice over gigs that are listed on Freelance sites such as Upwork or Fiverr, and get your first initial projects there. You only need like 2 or 3 to start out with, but you’re better off building your portfolio on these platforms.
Find an agency partner
Once you have a solid highlight reel of voice over examples, you can take this to an agency and they can do the rest. A voice over agency is a great way to get yourself out there without having to constantly market yourself.
The best thing about working with an agency is that they get 10s to 100s of requests on a daily basis, and regularly cast voices for roles, and are usually always happy to pick up new talent – especially if your voice has a unique flair about it.
For many a voice over, this is the final goal of building your career, to end up registered on an agency and making money from their voice. Paving your own way independently is also possible, be it a lot harder to do so.
For those who have a passion for teaching, but don’t like face to face contact, becoming an elearning voice over may well be the way to go for you!
