Much like recruiting for any job, when you hire a voice actor, you have to be certain you've found the perfect person for the role. It sounds simple, but there are a few steps you must go through to ensure you tick every box required to make your animated series a success. 

For an animated series, you must hire voice actors that resonate with your character and connect with your audience. It can be time-consuming, but if you follow our tips, you’ll streamline the process and be on your way to finding the perfect voice actor.

How To Hire A Voice Actor

"Be Clear With What You Need & What You Offer"

Remember, not only does the voice actor need to be right for you, the animated series, rates you’re offering, and amount of work need to be right for them too. 

To ensure nobody is wasting their time, you need to decide your budget and refine your search for voice actors you can afford to hire. If you don’t you could go through the entire research, audition, and final decision process to find the person you thought is perfect actually isn’t. 

Listen To Demo Reels

Platforms like Academy Voices are a great place to find experienced voice actors. You can filter by multiple criteria to find actors specializing in the type of animated voice delivery your project requires. 

From here, you can listen to their demo reels, allowing you to create a shortlist based on what you’ve heard rather than casting a wide net and auditioning way too many voice actors.

Write An Audition Script With Directions

Now it’s time to get specific to your animated series. Either take a snippet of your finalized script or write something new purely for auditions. Either way, your mission is to hear the voice actors in the character you want them to play. 

For the best results, you should give the voice actors directions with the script. Tell them what emotions you want to be portrayed in each sentence if there are any pauses in delivery, and the overall tone of voice required.

Hold Auditions

Unlike auditioning for real-life roles, with voice actors, you need to disassociate their physical appearance from their voice. Remember, it’s only the voice that matters. Blind auditions are the perfect way to remove any unconscious bias.

Additionally, you could have the auditions recorded on video to watch back, enabling you to see how the voice actor engages with the character, how enthusiastic they are when recording, and to assess their body language. 

A Native Speaker Of Your Chosen Language Or Required Accent

Did you imagine your character having a specific accent or speaking a language? The majority of the time, it is best to select a voice actor who is a native speaker or already possesses that accent. 

According to research, people connect with characters with traits that resemble their own. If your target audience is a particular country or area, you should use a voice to match their locality, as it can be an important factor in resonating with viewers.

Review Past Experiences & Successes

You’ve found some voice actors who sound great for your series – amazing! Now you need to differentiate them.

Yes, their voice might be great, but what are they like to work with, and have they successfully delivered projects like yours before? 

Here, you should look at references and reviews and ask to hear examples of similar projects they’ve worked on before. 

You need to know that they’re able to deliver the voice over successfully. Additionally, it’s also important that the project runs seamlessly, allowing you to meet deadlines and remain within budget.

Onboarding Voice Actors

The audition and selection process is complete – you can now hire a voice actor(s) and get to work.

Now, You should map out a schedule for the project, finalize how audio will be recorded, edited, and delivered, and introduce voice actors to your team to open lines of communication. 

If your animated series has more than one voice actor, this is a good time to start building chemistry among the group. Set up sessions that break the ice and get them used to performing together. This will make recording your animated series easier, and the result will be much better.

Additionally, if you have a finalized script, you should share it, allowing them time to prepare for the role.

It’s Time To Hire A Voice Actor

Now you know what you need to do, head over to Academy Voices and begin the search for the perfect voice actor. It might be an overwhelming thought, but this site makes it as easy as possible for you to find the perfect person for your animated series.