Becoming a voice actor is a huge undertaking but at first glance you wouldn't really know. There is so much going on underneath the surface that it can be daunting at first. Nevertheless you tried it and now you've hit a wall. I was there, in some ways still am. Thankfully there are dozens of excellent, free resources for you to learn everything from performance techniques and personal experiences, to audio editing and marketing.

Here's a list of eight free online resources that I am still learning from even now:

8. Voice Acting Club

Starting at number eight, because that's what I'm told you're supposed to do with this sort of content, is Voice Acting Club. Their website is simply a forum that primarily hosts casting calls for amateur works, but hidden away is a Discord server filled with a thriving community of nearly a thousand users. This very active community consists of professional voice actors, amateur voice actors, audio engineers, indie game developers and just generally great people. Everyone there is immediately willing to answer any question in chat to the best of their ability and we all learn from each other. I'm proud to call myself a member of their community.

7. VO Buzz Weekly

If you've looked into voice over industry content on YouTube, you've no doubt run into one of Chuck Duran and Stacy J Aswad's incredible interviews. VO Buzz Weekly is, as the name suggests, a weekly interview and conversation with an industry professional. Many times, notable voice actors have appeared on this incredible series. Other times there have been professionals such as talent agents, casting directors and audio engineers, who give incredible insight to the inner workings of the industry. Chuck is also one of the most renowned voiceover demo producers in Los Angeles and has occasionally shown the process of creating high-end professional demos with big name voice actors like J B Blanc and Steve Blum.

6. Gift of Gab

Gabrielle Nistico has been running a YouTube channel for the past three years, making quality content that can be incredibly helpful for beginners and new professionals. Her most recent video, Are Your Voiceover Expectations Crazy? is a supportive reminder that sometimes, everyone puts a little too much pressure on themselves. She approaches unique topics about voice acting all the time, and discussions like these simply don't get mentioned enough. Her website, GabrielleNistico.com is a source for all kinds of helpful information as well as coaching and more. She has a podcast called VO BOSS where she and Anne Ganguzza discuss various voiceover business topics such as how much you should charge. She's been creating quality content for so long and it's a wonder how she hasn't gotten more attention.

- Photo credit: NerdNewsToday

5. Convention Panel Videos

It's no secret that YouTube has videos about literally everything. A quick YouTube search for "Voice acting panel" returns an endless wealth of panels featuring popular voice actors talking about their personal experience in the industry before a crowd of eager con-goers. These videos range from a mix of entertaining and educational and are just overall a really good time. Nothing comes close to actually being there though, so if you ever get the chance to see one of these panels in person you definitely should.

4. Booth Junkie

I've mentioned Mike DelGaudio briefly in a previous blog post but if you're trying to figure what microphone to get, Mike will no doubt give you so much information you'll never be able to pick just one. Mike's encyclopedic knowledge of microphones coupled with his enthusiasm for voiceover makes for some incredible content. On his channel you will find reviews and comparisons between microphones, an entire tutorial series for Reaper (DAW), and insight on how to treat a recording area even when all you have is a closet.

3. Voice Acting Mastery Podcast

Crispin Freeman has been in games such as Kingdom Hearts III, Overwatch and World of Warcraft. His podcast, Voice Acting Mastery with Crispin Freeman, involves lengthy conversations with other professional voice actors and is a great listen when you're working on other things. His intellectual background lends a unique perspective to the high end of voice acting and his own reactions to the lives of his fellow actors.

2. Instagram

If you want to make your way in the industry you have to market yourself, one way that I practice regularly is by creating content for Instagram, and I'm not alone. There are plenty of voice actors posting videos on Instagram every day. A few notable people you should look for on Instagram include:

Brent Allen Hagel who posts occasional clips from his trailer voice acting training classes.

Corey Dissin often shares marketing advice and will promote his voiceover colleagues on his own feed and if you send him an email he'll promote you too.

Drew Campbell who occasionally shows off his studio and plays some sick licks on the guitar.

Oh and me! I make content too, I'm funny and sometimes I share tips about voice acting.

Following the hashtag #voiceacting or #voiceover will land all kinds of posts in your feed with advice or promoting seminars and all sorts of things.

1. Bill DeWees

Bill DeWees has been mentioned in my blog before and there's a good reason. He's been handing out free information for longer than any other voice over artist out there, as far as I know. Everything he has to say is so helpful. His incredible backlog of videos can tell you nearly everything you need to know about the voiceover business. His background in marketing helped him to see success in voiceover very quickly, and he wrote a book about it called How to Start and Build a 6 Figure Voice Over Business, which is possibly the best five bucks I ever spent. He offers training, seminars, one-on-one coaching and all kinds of marketing and voiceover information on his website. Bill DeWees has been one of the most impactful people in terms of all I've learned, he taught me most of it and I've never even met the guy.

There you have it! That's eight amazing places for you to get quality voiceover-related content, to learn new things and keep in touch with the industry completely for free. There are so many more but jeez we'd be here all day! I know that if you found even one new way to learn about voice acting from this article you'll be that much closer to being a better actor because of it.