I’d be happy to! I’m relatively new to the whole voice over world and even within it I am mostly concentrating time on audiobook narration. Depending on what interests your son there is a lot of avenues to explore. From eLearning to commercial to animation/gaming to audiobooks. For audiobooks the best place to get a feel for it is ACX.com which is part of Audible. It’s free for voice talents and authors to work on projects. There are some community FB groups too which are full of great advice: ACX/Audiobook Narrators and The VoiceOver Community have been invaluable. Some YouTube channels I’ve found helpful: VOPreneur, VoiceOverAngela, Red Baarns Audio.

The first step is to have the equipment and software. At a minimum a good USB mic, but even better an XLR mic with audio interface. The computer will need to run a software called Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) to record and master professional quality sound. Audacity is a free software anyone can start with. The next step is to have a quiet space with some degree of sound treatment to capture good quality sound. This can be a closet with foam on the walls or even just clothes in it. There’s a lot people that make recording booths with pvc pipes and heavy moving blankets. I recorded my first audiobook with an initial investment of ~$300 on all equipment using an oversized closet space.

If once he’s learned about what it takes to get into the type of voiceover work that interests him, then the best thing to do is work with a coach that can help him specialize while building a portfolio of samples or a demo. From there it is about marketing or getting on a platform to reach potential clients (ACX, Upwork, Fiverr, LinkedIn, Voices.com, Voices123 etc.)

The one thing I wish I took to heart sooner than later is the fact this line of work is a marathon, not a sprint. It may take another year to 18 months before I earn a return on what I’ve invested to this point and plan to invest this year. If your son is interested in audiobooks, I will say this – young adult males (teens to early 20s) are the highest demand voice actors by major publishing houses right now. They are also high demand for anime and gaming voice over. I hope this gets the wheels turning about the possibilities. If you/he has any other questions please reach out.