Voice acting jobs come from four places: casting sites and marketplaces where you audition from home, audiobook platforms such as ACX, voice agents for the biggest jobs, and clients you find yourself. Most beginners start on the sites and audiobooks, then add agents. We put these questions to actor and voice-over teacher David H. Lawrence XVII.
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Far more than cartoons and ads. Fourteen of David's classes cover different categories of voice work, and new ones keep appearing. The main ones:
Kym adds two that agents can open up: long-running brand voice contracts and loop group work, where voices are recorded for the background of film and TV scenes.
Everywhere at once. David calls it your portfolio of opportunity: agents, casting sites, audiobook platforms, past clients, referrals, friends and family, and content you make yourself. For him, his own content brings in the most, and ACX comes second.
Don't rely on any single strand. The actors who struggle, David told us, are often the ones more worried about gear than performance, or waiting for someone else to bring them work.
David pointed to Voice123, Bodalgo and Actors Access for commercials and narration, Voquent too, and ACX for audiobooks. Here is how each describes itself on its own site, as of November 2026:
| Site | How it works, in its own words |
|---|---|
| Voice123 | Clients post projects and Voice123 invites voice actors who match; clients review custom auditions, negotiate directly and can pay through its secure payment service. |
| Bodalgo | Clients post a casting and voice actors reply with offers, often with a custom read; talent in more than 80 languages, with every profile reviewed before admission. |
| Voquent | A managed voice-over and dubbing agency: free for voice actors to join, with vetted demos and engineer-approved home studios. |
| ACX | Audible's audiobook marketplace: narrators build a profile, search titles and audition for the ones that fit. |
Check each site's current plans and terms before you sign up. For on-camera sites, see casting sites for actors.
Yes, but you still need acting skill: David's view is that voice over is acting with a microphone. The beginner-friendly routes are audiobooks on ACX, auditions on the casting sites, and work you create.
That last one is underrated. David once phoned a sandwich shop, was put on hold in total silence and hung up thinking they'd cut him off. The manager said they'd been trying to sort out their phone system for years, and David picked up a client. Think like a small business: who near you needs a voice?
Your natural accent, a second language and your age can all help. Native speakers usually win foreign-language work, and David says there's work at every age when a producer needs a voice like yours.
Yes, and most auditions are recorded at home. Your recording needs to be quiet and professional with good presence, but not pristine; a laptop's built-in microphone isn't good enough. Our voice over demo guide covers a starter kit.
Large files can go by cloud links. Remote studio connections such as Source-Connect and ipDTL have replaced the old ISDN lines, but David's advice is not to set one up until a client asks for it.
Fast, clean and simple. David's checklist:
Expect silence. Listeners often decide within about three seconds, and you usually won't know whether you were heard. See voice acting tips for the performance side and how to slate.
There's plenty of both. David says union work usually pays better, can carry residuals or royalties and has better conditions, including newer safety rules for vocally stressful sessions in animation and games, so make SAG-AFTRA a goal. Union minimums are on our voice actor pay page.
If you also do on-camera commercials, check any exclusivity in your contract with your agent. Shaan Sharma told us some advertisers pay to stop you voicing for a competitor.
Not to start. Agents unlock the biggest advertisers and studios, and it's normal to have several in different cities. Our guide to getting a voice over agent covers when and how.
Watch the money flow. As of November 2026, the FTC's job scams guidance says honest employers never ask you to pay to get a job, and that any offer where you deposit a cheque and send part of the money back is a scam.
David added a voice-specific one: if a commercial audition insists you record to an exact time, pass, because, he said, it can be a sign they plan to use the best audition in the finished ad.
Train as an actor, set up a quiet home recording space, then audition on voice casting sites and for audiobooks on ACX. Look for local businesses that need a voice too.
Yes. Most voice auditions are recorded at home on a good USB microphone in a quiet, dampened space, and many jobs are recorded and delivered the same way.
On casting sites and marketplaces such as Voice123 and Bodalgo, on ACX for audiobooks, through voice agents, and through past clients and referrals.
Commercials, audiobooks, animation, video games, documentary and corporate narration, explainer videos, promos and trailers, and phone systems (IVR).
Not to start. Most voice work doesn't require one, but agents give you access to the biggest advertisers and studios.
Be very wary. The FTC says honest employers never ask you to pay to get a job, and depositing a cheque then sending money back is a scam.
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