These are the voice acting tips that come up again and again from directors casting on Casting Call Club: the stuff that makes people go "oh, that one" while they're sorting through a pile of auditions.

Performance

• Act, don't announce. Talk to someone. Picture who the character is speaking to and why.
• Find the feeling under the line. "I'm fine" can mean ten different things. Pick one.
• Use your body. Smile when the character smiles, tense up when they're scared. It comes through in the voice.
• Breathe like the character. A panicked breath before a line sells panic better than shouting.
• Vary the pace. Real people speed up, slow down and pause. Flat pacing is the quickest tell of reading.
• Commit to a choice. A bold read that's a bit off is more castable than a safe read that's forgettable.

Voice care

• Warm up for five minutes: humming, lip trills, tongue twisters.
• Drink water at room temperature. Skip dairy and lots of caffeine right before recording.
• Don't scream from the throat. Big yells come from the breath and the body. If it hurts, stop.
• Rest. Long sessions of creature voices wreck your voice. Spread them out.

Recording

• Fix the room before buying gear. Soft things kill echo. See the best microphones for voice acting.
• Stay the same distance from the mic for every take, so your volume stays even.
• Leave effects off. Send clean, dry audio unless someone asks for more.
• Name files clearly, like your name, the character and the line number.

Getting cast

• Audition early. On the site, voice auditions sent on the first day are more than twice as likely to be cast as ones sent after a week. There's more in how to audition for voice acting.
• Audition a lot. Twenty good auditions teach you more than one perfect one.
• Start where beginners get cast. Fan dubs and hobby projects cast newcomers all the time.
• Be easy to work with. Be fast, polite and on time. Directors cast the same reliable people over and over.