While producing voic eover work, David Bourgeois, the president and creative director of Voice Coaches, said he has done work with Nintendo, Discovery Network and HGTV.

Bourgeois said a voiceover is hearing a recorded voice and not seeing a person speaking.

“Get Paid to Talk: An Introduction to Professional Voice Overs” will be hosted by the School of Continuing Education on April 25.

The class will go from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in Room 2340 of the Doudna Fine Arts Center.

Bourgeois said he created the class to introduce people to the field of voiceovers.

“The class is an upbeat, realistic introduction to the field, and it’s a great fit for anybody who is in any way curious about the field,” he said.

He said many people first think of commercials when they think about a voiceover.

However, Bourgeois said the voiceover field is more narrative work than commercial work.

“That would include voiceovers that don’t directly sell products or promote services,” he said.

Narrative voiceovers include those in audiobooks, documentaries, video games and phone systems.

“There’s fixed installation voiceovers,” Bourgeois said. “It’s a voiceover you hear when you go someplace, let’s say, a museum or a theme park or a planetarium or a historical site.”

He said in the class, they will go over what a voiceover is, the work environment, what it’s like to do a voiceover, the types of voices are in demand, where to find work and how to put together a voiceover demo.

Bourgeois said the voiceover field used to be dominated by males with “announcer” voices.

“Today the field is 50/50 male and female,” he said. “Today, we are after sincerity and believability. We’re really trying to cast somebody that can be convincing. Our field has consequently opened up to a much broader range of voices.”

Bourgeois said many of the people who attend the class are usually curious or have an interest in the field.

“My goal in presenting a class like this is to present an educational, entertaining class but to also balance it and make sure it’s realistic so people who do have an interest in pursing the field understand what the field really is and what the field really isn’t,” he said. “If I can achieve that goal, I will be very happy.”

Bourgeois said the people who have come to class are usually in their 40s to 50s and want a sideline career.

“A broad range of people have become interested in the voiceover field, so we find ourselves asked more frequently to present the class to broader and broader groups all the time,” he said.

At the end of the class, everyone is encouraged to do a short recording to give them an idea of what it would be like to be a voiceover artist, Bourgeois said.

The class costs $25 for Eastern students and $40 for community members.

Those interested must register for the class no later than Tuesday at the School of Continuing Education office, 2201 Blair Hall, or calling 581-5114.

Amanda Wilkinson can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].