There are times between reads where I take some time to regroup and regain some mental stability. During those times of vegging with Burn Notice reruns or Animaniacs on Amazon Prime I wonder if I should be taking a class and learning something new. Sure you can purchase a book, digitally or resale, but it lacks that interaction and discourse that helps really explore the researched topic.
So I logged onto my alma mater the University of Texas at Arlington and perused their selection of Continuing Education classes (just to clarify I am not being paid to write this) then I figured why not see what my first college has to offer. Then I logged onto Tarrant County College and I was astonished to find the latest added program. A certificate of completion for Voice Actor and Audio Marketing. I really shouldn’t have been so surprised, but I really was amazed to see this being offered by college.
Generally, when a person wants to work as voice over professional there a few ways to get get started. One way could be the path that I took which was to work in radio and then make the transition from radio to voice over. The other way is for a person to find a vocal coach or classes at an acting school. There have been some horror stories of unscrupulous coaches or schools taking advantage of people. Now, to be fair there a great number of extremely talented and highly regarded vocal coaches and acting schools out there, but being able to discern the good from the bad can get overwhelming. If you do a simple Google search for voice over, voice acting, or acting school the returned results are hundreds of pages long.
I am excited to see a traditional college offer formal training that gives individuals a solid foundation and a real chance to attain their dreams of being a voice actor. I am eager to see how this program grows and if other schools will follow suit and begin offering certificates maybe even associate and baccalaureate degrees.