I started doing voiceover at about 5 years old, and I’ve been approached more and more recently as a kid’s voiceover coach. I wanted to talk a bit about my method of coaching so you can assess the skills required if your children are interested in voiceover and voice acting.
Voice acting is acting. It’s not about the quality or sound of your child’s voice, it’s about if they love to use their imagination and fully immerse themselves in imagined worlds. Does your child love to talk, make up fun stories and make their toys talk? That may be a good start on their voiceover journey.
Taking direction and listening is important. These are helpful and necessary skills (that can be learned), but some sort of natural inclination is helpful. Your child will have to be able to hear how they’re saying something, listen to the direction given, and be able to change their way of speaking to mimic or follow the story the director is giving them.
The easiest way to coach children is just to have them mimic the way I say a line. I prefer to do that trick as a last resort, as I often find that the kids are not as truthful or intentional in HOW they say the line if they’re just mimicking my intonation. Instead, I like to set the scene for them so they are set up to say the line in the way that they would naturally say it in that situation. If you think your child may be good at voiceover, start having them practice reading out loud so they can read their own copy (scripts). If they’re not great readers yet, that’s ok! Have them mimic you and try seeing how well they can take direction when you give them a different way of saying the line.
Ready to book private coaching?
I teach one or two child sessions via zoom, and we can can start with a 45 minute session depending on your child’s attention span.