Stop Perfecting, Start Submitting: Why Volume Is the Secret to Voice Acting Success
If you're sitting at your home studio agonizing over a single audition for the third hour in a row, I need you to hear something: you're doing it wrong.
I don't say that to be harsh. I say it because I've watched countless voice actors stall out at the starting line, convinced that every audition needs to be a masterpiece before they hit "submit." Meanwhile, the actors who are actually booking work? They're playing a numbers game — and they're winning.
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The Hundred-Audition Mindset
Here's a truth that surprises most new voice actors: the people booking roles aren't necessarily more talented than you. They're just submitting more. Way more.
I encourage my students to aim for at least 100 auditions as a baseline when they're getting started. That's not a typo. One hundred. Some of my most dedicated students have submitted 400 or more within their first several months. At a pace of two to three auditions per day, you could hit 1,000 in a year. That kind of volume builds something no amount of solo practice can — real-world experience reading cold copy, making fast character choices, and learning what casting directors actually respond to.
The math is simple. If you're submitting one carefully polished audition a week, you're giving yourself roughly 52 chances a year. If you're submitting two or three a day, you've got over 700. Which actor do you think is going to learn faster, get more callbacks, and ultimately book more work?
The Three-Take Method
So how do you audition efficiently without sacrificing quality? I teach a three-take approach that keeps things moving while still showing range.
Take one is your strongest, most instinctive read. This is the delivery you'd bet money on. It should honor the script directions and give the casting director exactly what they asked for.
Take two bumps up the energy. Push the performance a little further — more intensity, higher stakes, bigger emotion. This shows you can go bigger if the director needs it.
Take three pulls back. Dial it down from your first take. More grounded, more intimate, more conversational. This proves you have control and subtlety.
This method does two things at once: it gives the casting team options, and it trains you to modulate your energy on command. Over time, that flexibility becomes second nature.
Respect the Script First, Then Play
One of the biggest mistakes I see in newer voice actors is jumping straight to their "creative interpretation" before they've nailed what the writer actually asked for. The audition description exists for a reason. If the character is described as stern, your first take should be stern. If the direction says ominous, give them ominous.
I like to use this analogy: if someone asks you to draw a tree, draw the tree first. Once you've proven you can deliver exactly what's on the page, then you can add a squirrel to the branch on your second or third take. But if your first take ignores the brief entirely and goes off in your own direction, you're telling the casting director you either didn't read the instructions or don't know how to follow them. Neither is a great look.
Start with the writer's intention, then experiment.
Your Accent Is a Superpower, Not a Limitation
If you have a neutral accent, that is great, it makes you very easily castable in a wide variety of roles. You may think you need a wide variety of alternate accents to get roles, but realize that much of casting these days is finding the right person for the role, not changing yourself to fit the role. If you have a great accent in your arsenal that’s awesome, but if it’s weak, the casting director will just find someone from that background to play the character with their natural accent.
If you speak with a regional accent (Southern, Boston, New York, etc.) or a non-American accent (British, Russian, Indian, etc.), I want to reframe something for you. Your accent isn't something to hide — it's a niche that can set you apart from thousands of other auditions.
Animation and video games are full of characters who need authentic accents. Folk Heroes, Researchers, villains, warriors, mysterious elders — the demand is real. I advise actors with distinct accents to actively search for roles that match their natural speech patterns. Make it a weekly habit. Filter casting calls by accent tags, seek out characters whose backgrounds align with yours, and lean into that authenticity.
At the same time, it's worth developing range. Working on a more neutral delivery opens up additional character types and widens the pool of roles you can realistically compete for. Think of it as adding tools to the toolbox — your natural accent is the specialty tool that nobody else has, and a neutral read is the all-purpose one you'll use every day.
Don't Overthink the Character — Trust Your Instincts
Here's where volume and speed become your friends. When you're only submitting one audition a week, every single one feels precious. The stakes feel impossibly high. You start second-guessing every choice, rewriting your interpretation of the character, recording take after take after take.
When you're submitting two or three a day, that pressure evaporates. You read the description, make a quick character choice, record your three takes, and move on. Not every audition will be your best work, and that's completely fine. You're building a body of work, not carving a monument.
Some practical tips to keep things moving: when you see a project with multiple open roles, audition for more than one character. It's efficient, and it shows the casting team your range. Read the submission instructions carefully — nothing kills your chances faster than mislabeling a file or ignoring a formatting request. And if a character description calls for a specific identity or background that isn't yours, respect that and move on to the next role. There are plenty of characters out there waiting for your voice.
Get Your Technical Setup Right (But Don't Let It Stop You)
I've seen actors spend months perfecting their booth before ever submitting an audition. Your recording environment matters — aim for a noise floor of around -60 decibels for professional quality — but don't let tech setup become a form of procrastination.
Get your space reasonably quiet, do a test recording to check your levels, and then start auditioning. You can refine your booth over time. What you can't get back is the months of audition experience you missed while rearranging acoustic panels.
Once you have a DIY booth setup, you can test your noisefloor here:
Supporting Roles Are Where the Work Is
One more mindset shift that makes a real difference: most voice acting work isn't the lead. It's the supporting characters, the side NPCs, the background ensemble. And that's great news, because supporting roles often allow for more creative freedom and quirkier character choices.
If you're only auditioning for lead roles, you're ignoring the vast majority of available work. Practice delivering natural, grounded performances for everyday characters — the shopkeeper, the soldier in the background, the neighbor with three lines. These roles build your reel, your resume, and your confidence. And they pay.
The Bottom Line
Voice acting success isn't about waiting until you're "ready." It's about getting in the arena and learning by doing. Set a goal for how many auditions you'll submit this week. Make it a number that feels slightly uncomfortable. Then go do it.
Your perfect audition isn't the one you spent six hours on. It's the one you almost didn't submit.
Now go record something.
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