ABSTRACT
What is Your Niche? There are many niches of voiceover work. Previous chapters have discussed the essentials of most of the primary voiceover genres. This chapter will briefly cover a few of the more obscure, but still relatively common niches. Even with this, however, there are still many other genres of voiceover that exist. Fortunately, the basic performing techniques are essentially the same regardless of the genre. Some of the more obscure voiceover niches include talking toys, real estate talking tours, in-store advertising, museum and selfguided walking tours, podcasts, and foreign language dubbing and translation. If you can think of something where you hear the voice but do not see the person talking, you’ve probably found a VO niche. One big mistake many entry-level voice talent make is that they want to be a voiceover “jack of all trades.” Although it certainly may be possible to develop a high level of skill in a few voiceover genres, the idea of being able to work in every area of voiceover is impractical, at best. Although the basics may be the same, each genre has its unique marketing and performance requirements. Diversification as an actor is definitely a benefit. However, as you begin to explore your talents and capabilities as a voice actor, you will discover that you are simply better and more comfortable working in some genres than others. You would be wise to find those performing styles in which you excel and focus on developing your business in those areas. If you’d like to read more about some of the many niches in voiceover, scan this response code or visit the AOVA Extras page at VoiceActing.com.
