Voice Acting Tips: Exercises, Warm-Ups and Character Voices

The most useful voice acting tip is to act, not "do a voice": understand what you're saying, say it to one person, and trust that sounding like yourself is enough. Wear headphones, keep a steady distance from the microphone, warm up gently in whatever way works for you, and practise on text you're allowed to use. We put these questions to actor and voice-over teacher David H. Lawrence XVII.

Is voice acting really acting?

Yes, and that's the first tip. David told us the only thing that changes between stage, screen and booth is what captures your performance: a live audience, a camera or a microphone. If you want to succeed in voice over, be a great actor.

You don't need a deep announcer voice. What gets booked, he said, is three A's: authenticity (trusting you are enough), authority (taking on a job with confidence) and agility (delivering quickly, without days of preparation).

How do you connect with a voice over script?

Let the words do the heavy lifting. David's advice is not to push for emotion: understand exactly what you're saying, or selling, and the connection is already there.

Then talk to one listener, not an audience. Even if millions hear an ad, each person hears it alone, in a car or a kitchen. For a paper towel ad, he pictures someone cleaning up a mess in the kitchen or garage and speaks to them.

How should you prepare and mark up a voice over script?

Read it through before you say a word. David's steps: let the words speak to you, work out where you sit in the script (the hero of the ad, or customer number two with one line) and decide what from your own life you can bring to it.

Many voice actors then mark the copy in a simple, personal shorthand: the words that matter most, where to breathe, any tricky pronunciations and where the thought changes. Keep marks light enough that you're still reading for meaning, not for symbols. For audiobooks, David reads the whole book first for pitfalls, such as names and foreign words to look up.

Do you need voice acting warm-ups and breathing exercises?

Use what works for you, but don't let it become a reason to delay. David told us he doesn't do lip trills or scales before a session; he sits down and starts. If stretching your face out helps, do it.

For breath control, he knows of one simple exercise: breathing out slowly over a straw, or past a pencil held at your lips, so you practise a long, controlled exhale. Beyond that, he says, paying attention to being your authentic self does more for your breathing than any drill.

Look after the instrument too. The US National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders' voice care advice includes drinking plenty of water, resting your voice through the day and avoiding the extremes of screaming and whispering. If your voice is hoarse, strained or painful, stop and see a doctor or a qualified voice professional.

What microphone technique do voice actors need?

• Always monitor. Wear headphones or sealing earbuds so you hear every nuance as you record. If anyone tells you not to, David says, stop listening to them.
• Find your distance. Aim for good presence: not so close that you overdrive the microphone, not so far that you sound thin.
• Back off to shout. In animation, move away from the microphone a little for big moments, rather than doing a stage shout.
• Sit if you like. Most voice work is conversational; David sits at home and for audiobooks.
• Take off the jewellery. Earrings, bracelets and necklaces add noise.

Worried about mouth clicks? David finds very few people actually have a problem, and remedies vary, so find what works for you and stick with it.

How do you create character voices?

Start from real people. David's secret is to borrow from people he knew growing up, or performers today's audiences no longer remember, because nobody can tell where the voice came from. Beyond that, he says, it depends on the character and on your own life experience.

Match the size to the job. Animation and games can take bold, fast characters; in audiobooks David keeps character voices subtle. Don't add an accent the script didn't ask for just to stand out, and look after yourself on screams and grunts: ask for a break before you need it.

Where can you find voice acting scripts for practice?

Write your own, or use text you're free to use. Don't copy real advertisements word for word.

• Commercials: write a 10 to 20 second spot for a product in your kitchen, in your own words, in three different tones.
• Narration and audiobooks: use books that are in the public domain. As of November 2026, Project Gutenberg says its US public domain books can be used freely, but copyright differs by country, so check where you live.
• IVR: write a short phone menu for an imaginary business and read it as if on the phone.
• Characters: invent a two-line exchange and voice both sides.

Practise clarity too: most voice work wants natural speech, but David slightly over-enunciates for phone systems, busy produced spots and audiobooks.

How do you direct yourself and use playback?

Record, listen, then change something boldly. David's rule for a second take is to make a big, clear change, not a small one made for its own sake. Check your levels as you go: too quiet raises room noise when you boost it, too loud clips.

Then be kind in playback. As David puts it, we are our own worst enemies when we listen to ourselves, so judge the performance, not every breath.

What are the most common voice acting mistakes?

• "Suiting up" into a polished announcer version of yourself.
• Trying to make an audition "pop" with a wacky choice instead of being you.
• Putting on an accent nobody asked for.
• Adding music, sound effects or heavy processing to an audition.
• Recording on a laptop's built-in microphone.
• Spending more energy on gear than on performance.

Next, see voice acting jobs to put this to work, and how to make a voice over demo.

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