Creating Accents and Character Voices

Kids Enjoy Character Voices

I love voicing characters and breathing life into stories. One of the things I do to promote myself as a voice actor is reading children’s books. I especially enjoy lending my voice to stories that inspire imagination. Children like to hear parents or grandparents read to them and add different voices to each character, and many people are using the internet to tell stories to kids. So as part of my marketing strategy, I decided to animate a few popular children’s books and read them using my talent to give each character a voice of their own. I find it very satisfying to post a new book on my YouTube channel and watch the number of views start to climb.

In the months before I had my voice over demos in hand, while being trained by my first voice coach, my wife suggested I produce a few Read-Aloud books for elementary school teachers. Teachers are always online looking for new resources and read aloud books provide a way for teachers and students to enjoy following a story to learn sight reading skills. Teachers do not have to read the book out loud themselves to share the story with their class. So when I started putting together children’s popular stories with different character voices I discovered a niche for voice acting that allows me to practice my craft and build an audience. It’s a win-win.

For the book “The Scrambled States of America” by Laurie Keller, I voiced several different states calling on accents that fit the region to help kids understand how people speak in different parts of the country. Along with the narration by “Uncle Sam” I provide 10 different voices for the states that are featured in the story. It is amazing how accents change from one place to another and just how much I have taken for granted my own ability to blend my voice comfortably with California, Texas, Hawaii, New York, Maine, and Minnesota, which each have their own unique sound.

I put a great deal of work in providing quality productions for the stories I upload on YouTube. In addition to voicing characters I also do all of the scanning, cleanup, added animation, and video production to ensure that children, parents, and teachers are watching the best interpretation of the authors’ original work. While I do have demos for different accents and celebrity impressions on my website, I find it rewarding to read the stories that light up a child’s imagination by including different character voices or accents into each book I present.

You can hear a selection of my character voices by visiting https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt6Ob7oI2iTiGGdVr9fyTvg?spfreload=5

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Inspired by Bono from U2

In moments of clarity there are things surrounding us that point the way for the direction our lives may take. While searching for an answer to the question, what am I going to do with my life? I received inspiration from a profound source. I was at a concert for the internationally renowned band U2 when inspiration hit. Lead singer and songwriter Bono was on stage talking about his inspiration and how when he was a boy of age 14 his mother had died unexpectedly. Bono went on to say that his mother had encouraged him to be who he wanted to be, to do what he wanted to do, and that no one could tell him he wasn’t good enough, lacked the ability, or would never be successful. She let him know that he could do anything he set his mind to doing and be whatever he decided. When she died, Bono began writing songs and he attributes his success as one of the world’s top performers to the advice and encouragement he received from his mother.

Hearing Bono speak about how at age 14 he became an artist and how in spite of growing up with very few prospects he overcame the odds and formed a band with his friends from school that are still together to this day. His words of encouragement inspired me to chase a lifelong dream I had set aside many years ago; the dream to be a voice over artist. Ever since I can remember I have had a gift for creating different voices. As a child living in England I was exposed to a number of different dialects from my homeland. At the age of 7 my parents moved from England to Scotland where I learned how to speak with an accent very different to my native one. When I was 10 my parents immigrated to the United States and once more my accent changed. At the age of 17 I lived in Germany for six months and age 19 I lived in Florida, Venezuela, and Minnesota where I picked up more accents and dialects.

I have always had a good ear for accents so imitation comes easily to me. Along the journey through adolescence into adulthood I started doing impressions of famous people. My heroes growing up were Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Hank Azaria, and Jess Harnell. I listened intently to their voices and was able to mimic the characters they portrayed. I loved watching Saturday morning cartoons both as a child and as an adult and wondered what it would be like to voice a cartoon character.

I never imagined that being at a U2 concert would have such an impact on my life. Bono’s words lifted my soul, they inspired me to go after a dream that I had left in the past decades ago. Immediately after the concert I embarked on a journey to live out my dream of being a voice over artist. One year has passed since that benchmark event changed my life. I have been trained by a voice coach, produced demos, practiced and exercised my voice and I continue to audition and gain experience in voice over. The road thus far has not been easy and I know that nothing worth doing comes without cost. I still have a long way to go to reach my goals, but I am following my dream. I am a voice over talent. My name is Paul Cuthbert and this is my story.

My Journey into Voiceover Acting

Voice acting has always fascinated me. In my teen years I began mimicking voices of celebrities and imitating accents that I heard.  I have often thought about becoming a voice actor, but never knew how to start or where to seek work. How does someone break into voicing animated characters? Do I move to Hollywood and start sending out demos to studios? Where do I record a demo? Am I even good enough to record a demo? All of these thoughts and more raced around my brain as I transitioned from high school to college. Not knowing anything about acting, and even having stage fright, I never followed my ambition or developed my natural talent for character voices and celebrity impressions.

30 years have passed since I graduated high school and I look back on my life and realize that I was never truly happy in my work, because I never honored that part of me that wanted to perform. One year ago, I left a well-paying corporate job and began pursuing my lifelong ambition in voice over work. Frustrated and feeling unfulfilled with my employment, I followed a strong inspiration to resign, but I had no idea what I was going to do to support myself. I only knew I had to change my work environment before it completely crushed my spirit. Then the answer came for an unexpected source….

I was attending a U2 concert where Bono started telling the story of how he became an artist. He talked about his mother, who always encouraged him to follow his dream of becoming a musician. He profoundly stated, “Free yourself to be yourself, only you can see yourself.” Then he went on to say that you can do anything you dream of doing and he would not be who he is today with the support of his mother who died when he was 14. I left the concert inspired to follow my boyhood dream of voicing characters with accents and impressions.

One week after hearing the message Bono gave me, I was sitting in a workshop, learning about the voice over industry and finding out if I had what it takes to be a voice actor. From that introduction I found a voice coach and began training as a voice over talent. My coach told me, “You are a natural” when it comes to reading and analyzing scripts. He also said I am one of only a handful of people who has the talent to be the voice of television and movie trailers. My coach believes in me, which inspired me to work harder to develop my talents. I recorded my first demos in October 2015 and began auditioning immediately after receiving the finished tracks.

One year has passed since I began my journey as a voice actor. I formed an LLC, licensed my business with local, state, and federal regulatory agencies and am establishing myself as a voice over talent. I have been working full time doing voice over for six months now and I continue to learn all I can about recording quality and sound engineering. My career in voice over is still in its infancy and I have a long way to go before I reach my goal of providing character voices for film and television. I am excited to be on the path toward that goal and to include you on my journey.

My name is Paul Cuthbert and I am a voice over talent.