( 3 Votes ) When I was a little girl I was intrigued with voices. Not just any voice, but those of people you never see. I was particularly perplexed with the "Time Lady". Remember, there was a number you could call to get the most accurate time of the day. Back then it wasn't a computer generated voice reprint. Back then the time lady was an actual lady who had vocally recorded the time and had it played back on a general number. My inquisitive nature kept me guessing about this profession known as Voice Over for decades.

I went through grade school, high school and then college trying to find an answer to "How do I become the time lady." I didn't even know it was called voice over. I just knew I wanted to do it. Well, after decades of living life (military, corporate America) I decided to rekindle an old love; acting.

I was in San Francisco, CA and had decided to take an acting workshop I had seen advertised in the newspaper. The workshop was Auditioning for TV Commercials at the Beau Bonneau Studio on 2nd street. I loved the workshop but really didn't feel comfortable in front of the camera. Mr. Bonneau was teaching the class and tried (to the best of his ability) to make me comfortable saying and doing the commercials for the camera. For the most part it worked, "Gail, you have a beautiful smile. Let me see it. When you smile it can be heard in your voice."

When the class ended I was jazzed about the possibility of being in commercials. But, I still wasn't that jazzed about being in front of the camera. On the way out of the studio I picked up one of the trade publication's Beau keeps by the front door. I saw the words "voice over". A place called the Voice Trax was giving a workshop on "Getting into Voice Over". My heart actually skipped a beat. Was this it? Was this the dream I had been pursuing all of these years.

I called the Voice Trax studio and signed up for a class. Oh, this was 1995. Websites were a novelty and this information was more word of mouth. The class ran two days and was held at the studio in Sausalito.

What a rush. Not only did I enjoy gaining valuable knowledge about my new found passion, I really embraced the microphone. My instructor, Charles, just stared at me. "You really get this stuff, don't you?" was his comment as I exited the booth after one of our exercises.

I did. I really did get that "stuff"; stuff being the ability to perform a myriad of emotions strictly with my voice. He called me a "natural". But, truth be told, I had been using my voice for years to make things happen over the phone. Not all of them were on the up and up. But my voice has gotten me into and out of many sticky situations.

Don't tell anyone, but . . . I once called my high school and pretended to be my mother to get out of gym class. Yes, at 15 I could stretch my range to a 35 year old woman. I once called my boyfriend and pretended to be one of his buddies. For fifteen minutes I got valuable information out of this guy about a party he went to after telling me his parents wouldn't let him take me to the movies.

Now that I am older and more mature, I enjoy using my powers for good and am constantly helping others find their voice in voice over. So, without further a due, here's a breakdown of how to get into voice over.

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