How do I find voiceover work?

Sometimes finding voiceover work when you are self-employed can come from the most unexpected sources.

Through a strategy of a good new website, advertising using Google Adwords and a great guy who does most of our search engine optimisation work (to get the website listed high up on the google free - or organic - listings), BigFish Media is now proudly on page one. It's very rewarding and has taken most of last year to achieve.

It is because of all these things that clients find our voiceover services. However, a great source of new unexpected work came through a most peculiar route: My partner had his hotmail account hacked and lost all of his contacts and emails. All of his contacts were then emailed with a link which threatened to do the same thing to them.

So, being the nice guy I am, I emailed all the contacts to tell them to ignore the email and delete it. One of them then returned the email offering me some lucrative presentation training work with an international law firm.

Even for voiceovers, its a funny old world eh?

How do I get to be a Voiceover Artist?

Every week we get many people calling or emailing for advice on a voiceover career, so I thought it worth posting this.

So how do you become a voiceover artist? How do you get to be as good as the people who do voice-overs for radio stations and provide the voices of so many commercials?

Well do you know who they are and what they do? Why do you want to become one? Why do you think you can do it as well or better?

Things for you to do and think about. What you need to do first?

Get involved with your local hospital radio station. It will give you technical experience, experience in front of the microphone: everything you will need to give you a thorough grounding in using your voice.

Do you have a local theatre group or amateur dramatic society? Find them and volunteer, voiceover work IS ACTING!!! Even the simplest voice over requires performance skills.

Do you have a mobile phone? Change the voice mail message on it every day, try to impress people with it. Make a note of what works for your voice-over and what doesn't.

Find someone to whom you can regularly read a story. If you're good at characters, well a good story will give you plenty of opportunity to prove it.

Do you want to go on a course and get some professional voiceover training? They'll teach you how to get the best out of your voice.

Enthusiasm is great and it will get you through the tough times, but a space shuttle pilot got to sit in his seat through a combination of training, experience, dedication, enthusiasm and hard work now you must do the same.

I suspect like most people keen to follow a career in voice-over work you would like to phone someone up tomorrow morning and be paid to voice something for them tomorrow afternoon. I've never known that happen for anyone. Now it's time for you to put in the work.

A good, clever or flexible voice is only rung one on a very long ladder. Imagine I am a producer and you need to give me a reason why I should use you in preference to someone else, what would you say? You can't say good voice, good impressions, good at accents; the other guy has got that already.

Work in the voiceover industry can be feast or famine and in the early days it will be thin on the ground, you just need to keep telling people that you are out there. Remember it is not a salaried job so if you don't work, you don't earn. There can be travel involved depending on what voiceover work you are doing.

With the right equipment it is possible to work from home but you will need to find the space for an office and voice-over booth. You can set yourself up for about £4,000. You will need to buy at least one computer and printer, an ISDN codec, editing software (eg Pro Tools or Adobe Audition), Microsoft Office and a decent microphone (Neumann are the best by far but very expensive).

Using ISDN technology you can be accessed live from around the world; most local radio commercial voiceovers are recorded this way. If you are working alone from home (especially without an agent) you will need the drive and determination to succeed, as well as being your own IT expert, accountant, office manager and marketing manager. Just having "a good voice" is not nearly enough.

You will then need to build up your voice-over contacts book, market yourself using the internet, the phone and email. It is possible to break in, and there are lots of people who will give you a first chance, but if you try before you are ready you could very easily blow it. Producers of voiceovers talk to one another so your first session could also be your last.

Practice reading aloud, record yourself, listen to voice-overs on TV, radio, film and ask yourself why they are good or bad. Could you have done better?

BigFish Media are happy to produce your voiceover showreel. Please contact us for details. Any demo longer than 90 seconds is too long. What are you going to put on it? That's up to you, but before you decide, get advice from the experts.

How do I find a good Voiceover Artist?

What do you normally do when your client comes to you and asks you to find them a Voiceover Artist?

Do you point them towards an agency and let them get on with it?

Perhaps you suggest hiring the voice you hired last time, to save the trouble?

Or maybe you panic about the best way forward, perhaps even by trying to convince them that they don’t need one for their project, and that it’s strong enough to speak for itself?

If any of the above seems familiar then you’re not alone, but it doesn’t have to be quite like that. In the same way that technology has revolutionised the business of making video in the last decade, that same technology has seen a quiet revolution in the world of the Voiceover Artist.

The equipment to produce professional audio doesn’t cost what it once did, and this has meant that more “voices” than ever are working from home studios and marketing themselves either outside, or as well as, traditional artiste/agency relationships. I know because I’m one of them.

Voiceover Artists all over the world now use the internet to find, or attract, work,  whether through their own websites like BigFish Media, or via one of the online casting directories. 

If your client is on a budget, then cutting out both the agency fees, and the time and cost of taking your talent into a production facility with an engineer, could make an attractive difference to the balance sheet. Not only that, but the quality of the finished audio might well surprise you.

Of course you need to do your homework. The lower the bar of entry, the more any profession becomes attractive to those who don’t necessarily possess the skills to do it justice.

But the beauty of the internet is that you and your client can check out what you’re likely to get back before you engage a voiceover talent. You can even ask for a sample as an audition. Most voiceovers will be happy to record a part of your script and deliver it in a format of your choice.

If you get them to do that, then you’ll know exactly the quality of the end product,  including the voiceover artists delivery, technical quality and editing skills.

What should you expect to pay? Well, the price range varies hugely. On some casting sites you might be lucky and pay well under the £250 or so that’s still perceived to be the ballpark hourly rate you’d pay for taking your talent into a studio.

But make sure you do that homework: if you don’t, then that £45 voiceover track that seemed like such a bargain at the time might not turn out to be all it promised.

It’s still true that in voiceovers – as in life – you generally get what you pay for. Buy cheap, buy twice. And if you’re paying £250 for your voiceover artist, but not paying the traditional associated costs on top, that is still a huge saving.

Check that your agreed rate includes things such as preparation time, session fees, studio costs, de-breathing editing and file transfer. BigFish Media will do all these for you.

Check the talent’s policy on re-takes or amendments in case there’s anything that you or your client aren’t happy with. Don’t be afraid to ask for a written quote. And make sure you have agreed any usage fees, if appropriate.

It’s true that not every project needs a voiceover, but the next time that one does, take heart: With a bit of care, and with the help of the internet, Voiceover Artists from all over the world are now well within your reach.

A strange tale from our Voiceover Agency

Sometimes life as a voiceover agent is exciting: you never know how the day is going to turn out or what challenges and riches await.

Other days it is just bizarre.

We took a call from a guy who we will call Mark so claimed to be, let's say, Leeds. We have a chat: what's the voiceover price for a job and what's the project etc. We agree a fee and he will email me the script. He is surprised that I can deliver by tomorrow lunchtime, so I thought here's another potentially happy customer.

A few hours later there is still no email, so, after checking my spam inbox, I call him. Mark must have been on the phone because it was one of those annoying "I am busy, call back later" answerphone messages that don't allow you to leave a message. This is my first alarm bell.

A while passes and I call him back again and speak to the same guy about the voiceover he wanted (at least it sounds like the same guy) who denies being Mark. Bemused I hang up.

How do I write a voiceover script?

If you are looking for a voiceover artist to record a voiceover for your radio or TV ad, website or corporate video or podcast, for your finished product to be effective, firstly you need a good script.

No matter how good the voice talent is, if they are reading a badly-written script, your potential clients aren't going to get the most out of your project if they are unable to take in the information which you want to convey.

There is a huge difference between writing for a newspaper or online and writing for broadcast. Or to put it another way you need to write for the ear not the eye. And it's not as easy as it sounds. 

The voiceover script needs to flow easily, be conversational and not be full of sub-clauses or long, complicated sentences. Your sentences need to be short and to the point.

If you, while reading this blog, doesn't quite get a point at first or misunderstands an idea, you can simply re-read it. With the broadcast media, and your voiceover, you don't have that luxury.

How do Voiceover Agents earn their money?

One of the jobs of a Voiceover Agent is to go through all the voiceover reels that they get sent (mostly via email these days rather than CDs in the post). They then have to choose the voiceover artists, who they think, they can make money from.

The first thing - the very first thing - that you will need is a professionally-produced Voiceover Showreel. 

If you don't have one you will never, ever get a Voiceover Agent. Just because you are presenting programmes or reading news or travel bulletins on the radio or tv, doesn't make you a Voiceover Artist. 

We don't want to hear you broadcasting because our clients don’t want to hear it. They want to hear what you might sound like selling or promoting their product.

There is only one instance in which this is useful - and that is in assessing whether we can make you a voiceover showreel.

Many voiceover agents won't even reply to unsolicited voiceover reels, so do bear with us if it takes a few months to reply. It's hard work - and long hours - running any business and this aspect of the job is a low priority. Don't be offended, that's just the way it is.

Voiceover Agents listen to many Voiceover Showreels from many “would-be” Voiceover Artists and make their decision to listen further within the first few seconds. If they like what they hear on your voiceover showreel and take you on, there is no guarantee that you will get any work -let alone regular work - as a voiceover artist.

The agent handles the details of the booking and negotiates contracts and your fee. Most Voiceover Agents take a 20% commission.

Potential employers rely on the Voiceover Agent as a “filter”; they know that Voiceover Agents are bombarded by people wanting to get into the voice-over business, most of which are not talented enough or ready to break into it yet.

Even as an existing voice talent, it’s still difficult to get a Voiceover Agent; most try to keep their pool of voiceover artists to a manageable size. They will also want variety among their performers; they won't represent a voice or style that they already have. These are the two main reasons for rejection.

However if you cannot break into our represented voices, you could invest in your career by gettting listed on some of the dozens of voiceover directories. 

Should Voiceover Agencies charge upfront fees?

Did you know that in April 2004 the government made it illegal for voiceover agents to charge up-front registration fees?

If you are seeking a voiceover agent make sure that you are not charged a joining or registration fee. Neither should you be charged a monthly or annual membership fee. 

There are a lot of websites which do charge a monthly or annual fee but these are either Voiceover Directories which ARE allowed to charge a fee. 

Or they are dodgy agents who will take your money and not find you any voiceover work.  Ever. They are not bona fide voiceover agents.

Do I need a showreel to get a Voiceover Agent?

As a Voiceover Agency we are often bombarded by Voiceover Artists and would-be Voiceover Artists seeking representation.

TV presenters, radio presenters, newsreaders, journalists, travel presenters, DJ's, actors and actresses send us their showreels. 

Some are good, some are bad. Most are average and the vast majority add nothing to the overall sound that we can offer our clients; they just sound similar to someone who we already represent. And then occasionally there's the great demo!

What has surprised us - though - is the number of appalling "voiceover showreels". Reading the news on the radio doesn't make you a voiceover artist, so why include it in your showreel? Reading the travel news doesn't count either. Or reading excerpts from a Shakespearean play.

Sometimes we will reply to an email from someone wanting to be represented, request a showreel, and then never hear back from them. Ever.

But often we hear voiceover showreels which aren't voiceover showreels at all: they're a couple of voice clips recorded on a bad microphone on a laptop or even - once - on the telephone! We hear from people with bad lisps, speech impediments or terrible diction.

Then there is the monologue showreel which sounds like it's recorded in the bathroom.

If you don’t have a great voice, or a great presence at the microphone, you will never make a great voiceover showreel. However if you have the first two we can make the great voiceover showreel for you.

But please, stay off the laptop. And out of the bathroom.

What voiceover moments have changed the world?

Fishy has reminded us that it is time we let you know of the top moments that we feel have changed voiceover and speech over the decades.  

Queen Victoria: This royal was seemingly recorded onto a wax cylinder. A clear regal voice is heard and if this should be Vicky then what a sound to have recorded. Other clear voices can be heard here, royally yours.

Kings Speech: No, not quite the film but that moment when the Kings Speech was recorded and played out. One of us fine fish has visited the British Library Archives and held the actual disc that the speech made by the king (sans stutters etc) is held. A giant, heavy disc, engraved as if it were a vinyl shield. We also have a few voices that deliver that sort of performance with gravitas.

Moon Landing: Oh now this is an exciting one – we heard a man on the moon speak out loud from the moon and it was transmitted from the MOON to EARTH (yikes) with technology much simpler than the phone you are using to read this and send pictures of your cat to your family whatsapp group. What a thing – to actually hear voices from outside our world. And another thing that is out of this world is our list of amazing American voiceovers. It’s one small click for you and one giant leap for your production.

Robin Williams: We all wish we had a friend like Robin because he was the GENIE!! This is one of the first time that a well-known actor took on a featured role in an animation paving the way for other famous actors to take to the booth. Previously the voice roles would have been done by a pool of talented actors who were mostly voiceover actors. Robin came, he recorded and he set the path of actors to act in animation. Hear our very own cheeky characters here and get your own 3 wishes.

Don La Fontaine: Pray silence for the voice you have heard every Saturday evening when you went to the cinema and your whole body shook as you heard those immortal words “In a world…!” A whole voiceover genre and standard was set and hardly any film trailer would be complete without his deep vocal cords flexing away. Come and find your own Movie Trailer voice here, in a world closer than you think. 

Ashley Johnson: The first female to win a BAFTA Games awards in 2013. Her portrayal of Ellie in “The Last Of Us” was iconic and shone a light just how far video games have come. To hear wonderful characters have a listen here.   

Do I need experience to be taken on by a Voiceover Agent?

Here at BigFish Media we get lots of enquiries about voiceover representation: things like "my mates think I sound like Barry White" but that doesn’t make you a great singer with star quality let alone a voiceover artist.

Ask yourself are you really the next Leona Lewis? Or are you more like Michelle McManus - or one of those deluded people, who we love to laugh at because they can't sing a note?

You won't stand a chance of making it without some sort of entertainment, broadcasting or acting experience. We do not take on voiceover artists who have no experience. Why would we? We could never get you a paying job.

Do you also have the ability to run a business? Can you do the paperwork, the accounts, the VAT returns? Do you have the determination to get the business in the first place let along chasing late-payers ? Do you have the technical ability - not only with your computer, but also your website and your studio?

Do you even have your own studio? Do you have the space to build for a studio? One which will meet the standards required? And are you prepared to stump up thousands of pounds on the equipment - upfront - before you have even earned a penny? It could be a huge gamble which doesn't pay off.

Having said that you could of course work without your own home studio but then you are reliant on using other peoples' studios or you have to be good enough (and famous enough) to get the really big voiceover jobs (which tend to use London studios).

There is plenty of money to be made by doing more jobs which don’t pay as much (or have as much glamour associated with them) - the best chance you have of making some sort of living in the voiceover business.

What do clients mean by a fast turnaround on a voiceover session?

Often here at BigFish Media we proud ourselves on being able to deliver voiceover files extremely quickly and meeting the most exacting of timescales but this week we had a request from a client which was hugely challenging.

The production company called us and asked for a "big voice" for a TV-trailer but they only had 3 hours left in the edit for the video and needed to add a voiceover to the video before they lost their edit suite.

I gave them a choice of half a dozen voiceover artists, they chose one; Richard, who scrapped his plans for the afternoon and was in our Voiceover booth within 90 minutes, did two takes of the script with 20 minutes that we had left on the clock.

Result: the client was delighted with the voiceovers and we made the deadline

What should I not send to a Voiceover Agent?

Are you looking for voiceover representation? Are you looking for a voiceover agent? As well as being a recording studio in Woking, Surrey BigFish Media may be in a position to offer you voiceover representation.

However we are a small agency and do not take on inexperienced voice artists. What's the point? We couldn't guarantee you any work and it is our reputation that suffers if you can't cut it in the booth.

If you are seeking a voiceover agent. Do not send us:

videos of you on youtube;

your radio presenter/disc jockey showreel;

you commentating on a football match or similar

or, and this one we had quite recently, a recording of you talking on the telephone. No agent will take you seriously again. Ever.

Just because you can present a radio programme doesn't mean that you will be any good as a voice-over artist. They are different, if related, skills. 

However it will give us some idea of your level of experience and what your voice sounds like. You will, though need to get a proper voiceover showreel made. This is something we can do for you. Please ask for details. 

Once you have your voiceover showreel made, then and only then should you think about approaching a voice-over agent

We have mentioned in previous blogs about how having a theatre, acting, radio or TV presentation or broadcast journalism background helps enormously – but you do need more. Can you take direction without getting uppity? Can you use your voice in different ways – albeit slightly. Can you read out loud and bring a script to life? Are you any good at sight reading? Sometimes you just don't get the time or opportunity to read a voiceover script beforehand.

If you are used to writing and reading your own scripts, how will you cope reading someone else's, badly-written, over-written or technical scripts. Can you read a voiceover script to time? This is often necessary to fit the words to the pictures of a video if it has already been cut. And - finally if you suffer from claustrophobia, forget it. Voiceover booths are often very, very small places indeed.

There's more to being a voiceover artist than you might think.

Do Voiceover Artists need to do Networking?

Running a voiceover business we know how important social media is to its success. You know: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Linked In etc.

I have met a couple of real life friends through Facebook. We have also made a good few business contacts (both as voiceover artists and clients) the same way.

But this week we met a potential business partner through Twitter. In real life. And there I was thinking no-one actually reads what is posted there. How wrong can you be?

Anyway Phil runs a video production company also in Woking so we met for a cup of coffee and a chat about the day-to-day running and the challenges facing media production and voiceover businesses. We exchanged ideas and discussed how we might be able to help each other - or indeed work together - in the future.

It seems to have become the norm for people who live and work very close to each other to meet through an international medium of the internet.

Even for voiceovers, its a funny old world isn't it?

How do I get started in Voiceovers?

So by now you either have some experience of being an actor or a broadcaster. You have done your voice training and made your voiceover showreel. So what next?

Get yourself a good professional photograph as agents and some "pay to play" voiceover directories allow you to upload one. There are a number of voiceover directories which allow you to list your audio for free. 

However many of the free sites may not generate much work for you (or they may restrict how their site functions until you pay a fee.) Some also require you to record an audition for every job that you bid for, thereby encouraging voiceover artists to constantly lower their fees to get the work.

We have dealt with the technical aspects of setting up your own home studio in other blogs on this site, but should you invest in your own home studio? Do you even have the space and peace and quiet for one?

Alternatively try to find a local studio (or another voiceover artist who lives close to you) who may let you use their studio for a reasonable price. Then at least you can find out if you are employable. If you find that you are getting lots of work it's time to invest in your own voiceover booth

 

So what next? Contact local radio stations and video production companies. It is a time-consuming marketing exercise, but by the time you have a dozen jobs under your belt you will know what your strengths are. Maybe it is obvious to someone else in the industry if not you.

If you get booked for lots of local radio adverts but no e-learning then maybe this is what you are best at and should focus your energies on pursuing radio and TV commercial work.

Unless you are exceptionally talented - and very lucky - you will probably have to get 2 or 3 years experience of the voiceover industry under your belt before a voiceover agent will consider taking you on.

In the meantime keep at it and update your voiceover showreel - as you should improve with practise. You should also not bother to approach advertising agencies as they only deal with the best voiceover talent via voiceover agencies.

And remember, there are very few full-time voiceovers  - most combine being a voiceover artist with production, writing, acting or radio or TV work.  

Why should voiceovers know about Intellecual Property?

In the United Kingdom there are different forms of intellectual property rights. They all individual and have different duration periods. They are all there to help you protect yourself against other people duplicating or stealing your work. 

The work could be the names of your products or brands, your inventions, the design or look of your products, the things you write, make or produce.  Among these is trademark, copyright and what we discuss in a subsequent post will be copyright. 

As a voiceover artist it is important you know what your rights are and as agents we work to protect those rights. We have turned down work if we cannot guarantee the client will adhere to IP rights. 

What exactly is intellectual property?

An idea by itself is not intellectual property. What is though, is what you do with it. So for example, it is something unique you create physically. An idea for a film is not intellectual property but writing the screenplay is. 

I have this idea for a plucky little fish that finds their voice and when I get around to putting pen to paper then it will be intellectual property. At the moment, then it is simply an idea swimming around my head. And now your head. 

So, who owns what?

There are three areas where IP rights can be owned. Specifically, you own it if you created it (and it meets the requirements for copyright, a patent or a design), you bought the IP rights from the creator or a previous owner, you have a brand that could be a trade mark. 

So I could have bought the rights to my Fish Story from someone else who either wrote it down or someone who had the rights themselves.

Also note that intellectual property can have more than one owner, belong to people or to businesses and can be sold or transferred.  

For example, my Little Fish Story could be owned by me and my fishy friend who collaborated on it, or a team who I wanted involved in it and should events happen that I find myself selling the story then I could decide that a business could own it.

If you are self-employed like many of our voiceover artists are then you usually own the intellectual property rights even if the work was commissioned by someone else. However, if you sign a contract, then that can change. 

This is why it really is important to read that fine print. We always check all contracts and NDAs so that you always retain ownership of your audio and we won’t sign our voices up to things if they are asking you to give up that particular IP right.

Now, if you are employed and you create something as part of your work while you were employed by someone else then you do NOT hold the intellectual property rights. 

In our next blog we will talk about copyright for voiceovers which is an intellectual property right.

How do Voiceover Artists train?

It is easy, all you need to do is read out loud and boom! In the can right? Well no. If only our world of voiceover recording were that easy. There is much more to it than that and we take time, a lot of time to reel in voices that will work for you and work well. It is a never ending process and we pride ourselves on making sure our voices are experienced, personable and great at voicing.

The process is long and with good reason. We listen to each reel, meet and greet voices online or in person and record the voice so we can see how they handle direction as well as being in the recording studio.

From our vast ocean of voices we have actors, performers, radio presenters, singers and voices that have a unique quality to them. Each has a place in our portfolio and each brings experience and abilities that make them unique and able to help you when you need a voice for your audio production. We have asked many of them where they learnt their trade and these are the top answers.

1. Acting Background: Many of our voices are actors and many still focus on film, TV or theatre. These voices are great for when you need character work and can bring a variety of intentions easily to each read.
2. Performance Background: Whether it be dance or song, these voices are great at delivering solid reads and if you need singers then we have those for those all important jingles.
3. Radio Background: We have a rich heritage in radio and we have many voices that have worked at national and regional level. They can handle pretty much anything because they've seen it all before.
4. Presenters: These voices have lived their vocal lives in front of audiences or the camera and are great voices that connect quickly to target audiences.

As we meet as many of the voices as we can then we make sure we know their strengths so we can always give you the best voices for your productions. Call us today to book your voiceover artist.

What are the latest Voiceover trends this year?

It is finally summer which means that all the BigFish Media recording engineers sit down to have a natter (well of course we do) about what trends in voiceovers we have seen so far this year. As we record hours of audio from our voices over the year we clearly see patterns of what clients want. This summer is not exception and as we enjoy the heat we drew up a list of what we have heard this year.

1. The youth chatter - this is a style that many of our clients have been asking for lately. It is used to target millennials and talk to them as if their friends were talking to them about cold brew, vegan options (we very much agree with not eating Fishy or his friends) and their favourite new payment apps. We have heard clients suggest to voices that they use a "if you like" intention. As if the voice is a friend but when they deliver the lines the intention is very much "well if you want to, I'm OK either way". This makes for a genuine authentically zeitgeist read with little or no heavy emphasis on anything, not even the brand name, product or service.

2. The genuine article - this is a favoured style of read by our clients. This is when the voice is your friend and is advising you like a friendly voice mother or father about getting a new car, insurance, holiday. They aren't selling it to you, just letting you know about it because they thought about you when they heard about this product. So its a warm fuzzy hug of a read. A genuine voice that cares about you for you.

3. Farewell RP, hello neutral - our clients love to take our British voices and just rub their accents a little so it is less RP and much more accent less or neutral. This is an especially good read when the product is for an international market and they don't want to sound American or British but something more less distinguishable. At times it does mean we have actually used Scandinavian voices as they are hard to pin down to a place aurally.

And there we have it, after considering, articulating and drinking much tea this is what we have heard most in our trend updates. What will the next few months bring for voiceover artists? We can't wait to hear.

How do I prepare for a long voiceover script?

Finally, as a voice actor you get the script and you realise its long. Really really loooooonnnnnggg! When a script is this long how do you use your voiceover skills to ensure you get through it all?

Many times scripts are written for visual effect rather than audio - we can always tell when this is the case. It means that sight reading and plenty of breaths are the key to get your through it all. Then there are scripts that keep on going and going and going with no punctuation in sight.

• Learn how to breathe: Why is it important in the voice over world?  We need to breathe to give us enough breath to get through those tricky sentences/paragraphs so that the sentences make sense and it doesn't become too breathy. There are many exercises that you can practice so you can achieve optimum breathing capacity for narration. You need to do diaphragm exercises daily to keep it in top condition, because like anything if you do not use your diaphragm properly on a daily basis then your muscles will lose their ability. You need to breathe deep down, not just short breaths but deep breaths feel those lungs fill up. Try not to lift the shoulders but focus on your belly expanding moving in and out. Count up to 5 breathing in  then let the air slowly out, then 10 etc doing this for a good few minutes if you find it helpful focus on a spot on the wall. When you are in the booth remember your exercises and when you come across those tricky sentences use those muscles in your diaphragm. They will get you through.

• Twist your tongue: Whilst you are in the booth or before you go into the booth, make sure that the voice is properly warmed up too. Use tongue twisters- our favourite of course is about fish "Fresh fried fish, fish fresh fried, fried fish fresh, fish fried fresh." Give your mouth a good work out and stretch it out by making exaggerated smiles that make you grin like the Joker. 

• Read the script: Before you go in the booth, sit down, digest and understand what you are trying to say, who you are talking/selling too. Find the important words you need to highlight in your script and underline them and mark the pauses.  It is your time so use it wisely. Settle down make sure you have water available and don't rush through the script and if there are words you don't know how to say or understand ASK. RELAX, take a deep breath and away you go. MOST OF ALL ENJOY. Because if you are enjoying reading it out loud your audience will. And that could make a voiceover artist out of you yet.

What happens in a Voiceover recording session?

Over the past 15 years we have worked on hours and hours of audio and produced audio projects for clients ranging from corporate videos to fun commercial sounds and even long form narrative video game content. With a team of six sound engineers we pride ourselves on being able to bring copy to life. But how do we produce this audio using one of our many voiceovers on our books?

Firstly we look at the script and ask what the client wants in terms of a voice. They can either have some suggestions that fit in with their brand ethos and we can shortlist a selection of voices to that. Or we can supply demos when a client wants to listen to hear what different ages and voices would sound like to specific copy. We also tend to cast voices when a client leaves the decision to us. We read the copy, understand the clients target audience and then make a selection of the voices based on those choices.

Once we have an agreed and signed off script as well as a signed off voice we check in with everyone's availability. We love having our clients listening in on sessions and directing if they want to. We encourage them to listen in as we feel that it gives a better experience and a better final audio product at the end as they are listening live and can ask for safety and other takes as well. Our engineers are also skilled directors and can encourage the voices and speak their language so that clients get the best performance from them.

Once the session time and date has been agreed we ensure that our equipment and studio is ready for the voice. To voice copy is hard work. Recall presenting in front of people or talking for long periods. That is similar to working in a voice over studio. We ensure we make the voice as comfortable as we can with water, regular breaks and a seat should they need it. We set the microphone and video to the height that the voice over artist needs as well as ensuring all parties have the correct copy of the script.

Once in a session we take the time for the voice and client to get to know each other and then talk to the other one so they understand the style, tone and pace. After a demo take we go for a full take and record each take. We have delivered projects that have all the takes so that the client can have many options or in some cases we deliver the winning takes as the client wants one final finished product. Either way we can deliver.

The use of the voice over track really emphasises what a client is trying to promote, be it a brand, project or service or procedural process. We love audio and we encourage all our audio clients to work with our voiceovers for a unique audio production. Please get in touch to book.

How do Voiceovers deal with Audition Anxiety?

As a voiceover artist auditions are part and parcel of this freelance life. However auditions can be a nerve-wracking process. It can seem like you submit hundreds of auditions, and never get a role! This may be true, but it’s more likely to be appear to be worse than it actually is. This is what we call “Audition Anxiety”, and we have some techniques to get through it.

1- Confidence

Auditions are similar to job interviews. You are trying to convince someone (agency or even the end client) that you are the best fit and voice for the role. Being confident brings conviction, which adds psychological weight to your performance. The confidence shows you are also used to the process and are a professional. In short; you’re actually more likely to get a role when feeling confident than you would if you approached the audition with NO confidence.

2 - Prepare

“Fail to prepare – prepare to fail”. To give yourself the best chance of getting a role, it pays to be on top form. Vocal exercises and techniques will help keep your voice in good condition, and getting familiar with the script will help your understanding, and help you perform it. Think about the script and the context and nuances behind it. What is the point of it? Additionally, you’ll get the additional psychological benefit of FEELING prepared from doing these exercises too.

3 – Persistence

Auditions are an inevitable part of being an actor, particularly if you’re just starting out. So, it’s more than likely you’ll be one of several people auditioning for a particularly role. You can’t win them all. But don’t lose faith. Remember the old adage, “throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick”.

We can ask our voiceovers to submit demos and auditions free of charge once you have let us know your criteria. Please get in touch to hear our voices for your next project.