How does a Voiceover Artist deal with difficult scripts?

Scripts, copy, words – whatever you call the information or concepts you are essentially going to narrate or tell a story. Our voiceover artists are such pros when they read copy but even with the best voices in the world some words can be tricky to say out loud.

However, what do you do when you get a difficult script or rather a tricky script to deal with? Firstly, what is tricky? In many cases the scripts are tricky simply because someone who wrote it, wrote it for the visual element i.e. to be read internally rather than to be heard externally. 

In this case, this is tricky because they haven’t appreciated the differences of the written and spoken word and how they differ. Length and timing, grouping words together so they (words and concepts) don’t get bogged down and muddy.  

As a first port of call, ask the client to clarify. They may not have realised and they may appreciate it when you do ask. This is also helpful if you sense that some of the figures or concepts in some texts are incorrect. If in doubt, shout.

Sometimes text is tricky because of the subject. Medical, finance and specialised material can often deal with names and concepts that are involved and convoluted. Again, check with the client especially with pronunciations of words and ideas as well as appreciations and other areas.

At times texts can be filled with a whole list of names and sometimes they can be in other languages. For example, at awards ceremonies you could be the voice of God and so you need to enunciate various names. So again, ask someone and as a VOG you are quite within your rights to ask for either a written or audio guide.

Again, text can simply not make sense and the client signs it off and you read it anyway. If so then go for it, depending on the application of the audio, it may make sense at the end. And if in doubt, offer to record an alternative so they have options later on.

Next time you face a tricky script get on of our voiceovers to record. 

Should I use a Genderless Voiceover?

With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and synthetic voices, another trend has also emerged. This is the use of the Genderless Voice. We explain how a genderless voiceover can be appealing to a target audience or those consumers that already buy your products.

What is a Genderless Voiceover?

This is a voice that could be identified by the listener as either male or female. They may be male or female sounding but be of the other gender. It may be that they have a gender-neutral voice. It has become a popular choice in the past few years as the discussion about gender comes to the fore.

At the latest NYC fashion shows in 2019, around 36 transgender or gender non-conforming models were chosen.

Many people now buy fashion from both traditional gender stores so there is an increase in swapping of gender clothes so there is a steer towards having this concept cutting through many areas including audio. The Dutch have even issued a gender-neutral passport.

Why use a Genderless Voiceover?

1.       Customer base – who is your customer base? Perhaps they are a younger and more inclusive demographic that feel the need to connect with a brand on a genderless basis given the trends.

2.       Product – what demographic is your product for? Maybe you design fashion clothing that is for any gender so very democratic usage.

3.       Attraction – maybe you have a product but want to change the audience and so need to attract new market.

Having a good clear vision about your brand and products will help you regarding your voiceover choice. We have many voiceover artists at BigFish Media and many of them will be suitable for your audio campaign.

Can having a pet help or hinder a Voiceover Artist?

We love our pets here and between us all we have a veritable menagerie of cats, dogs, fish, birds and even a few microphones. We love them all but can they help or hinder us as  voiceover artists?

At times we have found that voiceovers often find themselves talking about their animals in our recording studio while we wait to work with clients who dial in.

Most voiceover talent would say that their pet is a great asset to their mental well-being. After all, studies have shown that pets can reduce heart rate and encourage physical activities such as walking in the case of having a dog. In this case, you often have to get out because your dog will want to and well, at times they won’t take no for an answer.

However, some of our voiceovers, despite loving their pets, are either allergic to them or the pet can get a little feisty at not being heard while they are in the booth. Some voiceover artists that are allergic to pets may also be allergic to pollen and even the weather. So if this is you, then there are a number of things you can do when you are about to get into a voice booth and you get an allergic reaction:

1.       Keep the booth pet-free – if you or a visiting voice talent is allergic then ensure that you keep the recording booth pet free. Our recording booth once had a visit from a cute little pup and we needed a good fur clean up afterwards. You never know when you might be allergic.

2.       Consider medications BUT – it may be that you need to take medications but please discuss with your GP or even an ENT specialist about your work and how certain medications can dry your mouth or over salivate it causing many mouth clicks.

3.       Re-home the pet – actually no. Pets are for life, not just for Christmas as the saying goes so Fishy, come on here and let’s have a cuddle.

Some voiceover artists face issues with their pet interrupting a session or two such as purring or barking etc. Again there are some strategies that you can put in place that can help:

1.       Recording booth – ensure the pet is not in the voiceover booth when recording – we do have a few cats that wonder in and snooze and then get a little surprise when their owner records causing a few surprises of their own.

2.       Double doors – if you can, get a double door system so you have a door to the booth and a door to the room with a booth. This will help to reduce any extraneous noises such a barks, whines and scratching that can interfere with a performance.

3.       Food and water – ensure that before a voiceover session your pet is watered and fed and is happy that you will be out of sight for a bit.

4.       Sitters – some voiceover artist use a sitter such as a family member or friend to take a dog out for a walk or entertain the pet while they are in the booth.

5.       Editing – if the dog barks then as long as we all have enough takes around your audio we will be able to silence or cut out the bark and the final take will be fab.

So pets can both be a wonderful recording assistant and our voiceovers have a few tales (tails surely?) to tell about them all. Give the dog a bone or rather a fish a call and we can help you with your next audio project. 

Which is better: A human voice or an AI voice?

Each time you call out to that Alexa or Google Nest then you are likely to be met with a voice that tells you whether to take your umbrella, what time your train is or to play your selection of chillout music. (We all know it is that flow of Sail away by Enya)

However, a recent study found that human voices, that is a voice recorded from a human is still the most popular choice. Rather than hear the AI or synthetic voice, we, humans it seems prefer to hear another person. 

This is fantastic news and a choice that will make a good advertising agency a great advertising agency because we are people that still want to hear and connect with other people.

Here at BigFish Media we enjoy talking to and with our voices as well as recording, listening, hearing and editing them. We are all a little nerdy when it does come to sound but our voiceover artists are consummate professionals and hearing them talk really allows consumers connect with the words they are saying. How can they achieve this? It’s actually really easy.

1.    They are human – we vet each voice and we check that they can sight read and read in general.

2.    They are good listeners – we expect that you thought we would say they can speak properly but actually we need our voiceover actors to listen so they can take direction and understand what the concept is for the audio production they are working on.  

3.    They are good talkers – ah yes, here we go, yes, they need to talk however the client wants them to deliver the line.

4.    They are friendly – we spend a lot of intense time with our voices, going over words, repeating them over and over again and they all do that without complaint because they are professional.

So, when you need to hear a human, connecting with your consumers and the copy, then choose one of our voiceovers.

Should a Voiceover Artist sign a Work for Hire agreement?

We’ve written a lot about rights that voiceovers should be aware of. As a voiceover agency and recording studio we work hard to keep on top of all this for our voices. We are always aiming to get all the information from clients as well as educating them to ensure they know about intellectual property and copyright. 

Now Fishy will take us through the final rights (wait what? Oh right not that last rites, rights rights). Yes, let’s talk about Work for Hire agreements (WFH). Many voiceover artists have been asking about this and so here is the latest about it all. We’ve discussed creative work previously. Overall, in the UK and in many places such as the USA, copyright sits with the author of the work of art. So, Fishy voices the words in some copy. Let’s say Fishy is an employee of BigFish Media. So far so good. In this case the work that they create during their day job is subject to copyright. Note that because Fishy is an employee of BigFish Media and thus with rights such as holidays, sick leave etc then work would come under BigFish Media in terms of copyright.

However, in the situation that Fishy is not an employee and simply swims up and blows bubbles at the mic for an hour then we could suggest that we get Fishy to sign a WFH. It would make us, BigFish Media the copyright owner of those Fishy bubble sounds. So Fishy would relinquish their right to being that owner.

However there are certain categories that can make the work exempt such as (1) a contribution to a collective work, (2) a part of a motion picture or other audio-visual work, (3) a translation, (4) a supplementary work, (5) a compilation, (6) an instructional text, (7) a test, (8) answer material for a test, (9) an atlas. Another point is that the work must be specially ordered or commissioned and have a written agreement where the parties use the “WFH” phrase.

So Fishy must have more than a verbal agreement on this. The WFH must be negotiated and though not necessarily signed before work on the project begins. Retroactive WFH is not permitted. 

It is not legally possible for a UK voice talent to sign away their copyright but many websites (based in USA or Canada) which insist on their voice talents signing WFH agreements have this term buried deep in their terms and conditions. 

If you sign a WFH agreement, then you are signing away your copyright. They own your audio and can re-sell your voiceover recording to someone else, or to another platform or application. They will get paid for the additional usage. But you won’t.

Here at BigFish Media we do not allow our clients to use the audio recordings of our voiceover talents for any platform and duration other than that which has been agreed by all parties. Voiceover recordings are not the work of the client or a third party, it is the work of the voiceover artist.

What microphone is best for voiceover?

Ah mic drop! Well not quite and actually never ever, ever never drop the microphone. Well unless you have another £500 (or more) or so to drop easily as well. Here at BigFish Media we take our microphones very seriously and we care for them as carefully as we do Fishy. Simply put our microphones are our BFFs, our pets, our loves and we really couldn’t do our job as a voiceover recording studio without them. So a few tips for you when you are in the booth:

1.       Do not touch the microphone – ok it might be tempting to twizzle and wiggle it so that it is closer to you and your mouth but please step away from the microphone. The only person that should touch that mic is the sound engineer. Never ever touch the microphone. Ever. The engineer has usually set it up and because they know the mic and its settings probably knows its “Just so” position so please don’t feel tempted to touch the microphone. Even if you are an experienced sound engineer – if it isn’t your mic, don’t touch it.

2.       Talk directly towards the microphone – well easier said than done especially if you have a lengthy script and you have a pop shield in the way and can’t quite get the last word in the sentence and….crane your eyes and head and keep your mouth natural stretched out towards the microphone. Depending on how you read your copy (paper/large screen device) ensure that you can see the words and sentences changing font size and spacing to ensure you can get a smooth read on any tricky to “can’t quite see areas” If you start to crane your head then you are likely to come “off mic” and the audio won’t sound great anymore, no matter how wonderful your voice is.

If you have your own studio then please take into account what microphone you should use for what piece of voiceover work. Here are BigFish Media we mostly work on advertisements, corporate videos, radio ads, IVR and much more. However the microphone we use is a work horse of microphones and is fantastic and is a generous living friend to many voices and their different pitches and timbres.

However please ensure you know your shotgun microphone from your condenser microphone and what works for what. We require voices to use a condenser microphone and really urge you to not use a shotgun or directional mic when working with us. This is because in our experience these mics are less forgiving and even if you move even slightly off mic you will lose a lot more vocal volume and you will more easily sound “off mic” than any other microphones. Our blog on a condenser or dynamic microphone is very useful if you are a voiceover artist who has their own studio please be aware about the use of microphone for what project.

Do Voiceover Directories Work?

In short: Mostly Not. Well not for well-paying voiceover jobs anyway

Many of the voiceover directories are over-subscribed and any producer who is trying to find a voice is not very likely to pick you. You are just one of hundreds or thousands of voiceover artists who are listed.

Then have a look at how many of these directories are on the first couple of pages when carrying out a search for voiceover. Apart from the widely-respected voiceovers.co.uk there were none. In fact, just searching today I got to page 5 before one voiceover directory was listed.

When I tentatively started pitching for voiceover work in 2002, I got listed on as many free voiceover sites as I could. Then plucked up the courage to spend some actual real money on voiceovers.co.uk; my first voiceover gig followed shortly afterwards.

There are dozens and dozens of directories: Voice123 (voiceover artists bid for the work - how low will you go?); Voices.com; Opuzz; BigTalent; thevoiceoverdirectory.com; the voiceworks; voicefinder.biz and Bodalgo. As far as I know I only secured one client (who spent thousand of pounds) from all of these websites combined. They are free for a reason.

And then there is another site which I discovered recently called voicejockeys.com with a 50 per cent commission rate and terms and conditions from the dark ages.You do wonder how many of these voiceover websites have your interests at heart. Or do they just treat you like a number as fodder for their own potential clients?

From my own experience, it's much better to spend your money on your own decent website and pay for Google Adwords. In the short term, this is the only way to get onto page 1 or 2 of Google.

However, the BigFish Media website is now near the top of page one of Google in the organic (free) listings - thanks to regular blogging, a good reputation (gained through hard work, repeat business and client satisfaction), using social media, (Twitter, Facebook, Linked In etc) and six months of dedicated work by the team behind our Search Engine Optimisation process.

And we don't have to pay for adwords for our voiceover business anymore.

Why do Voiceover Aritsts need to know about Copyright?

Copyright falls under intellectual property rights. For information on that please see here. Copyright is very important to any creator but especially to voiceover artists.  As a voiceover artist it is not legally possible to sign away your copyright. So you will always own the copyright to the material you recorded. Therefore your voiceover audio is only ever licenced for use on agreed platforms. You can find further information here. Intellectual Property Office

The laws have a framework so that people can see how work can be used. Responsibilities of people, as well as the rights of the owner are set out. What can you do with your work? Well you could copy, change, sell it, share it online, rent it or prevent other people from doing those things to it. When someone hears your voice played out whether it be online or downloaded to a device then they are interacting with copyright. The piece of work should be either original or tangible.

So for a work to be original you must have produced it yourself i.e. spoken it. Tangible means that the idea would have to be expressed in some sort of physical form so when you speak a phrase then it is only protected the moment you record it. Once recorded, it is protected.

But how do I protect my work?

As soon as your work is created or in voiceover world as soon as you have recorded it in audio form. There is no need to register this work unlike a patent or a trademark.

How long will your work be protected for?

A short answer is that it depends on factors such as the type of work created and when it was made. Generally the shortest length of time for protection is 50 years. But it could be 70 or more.

With the potential European relationship process underway, updates to legislation and copyrighted works will continue to be protected as there are other international treaties covering this. Examples of these treaties include the The Berne Convention and the TRIPS agreements.

Note that copyright may not cover all forms of creative work so Intellectual property may be more suitable. But do remember that it is illegal under UK law for a voiceover artist to sign away their copyright.

Why do Voiceover Artists need to be aware of Performers Rights?

How many voiceover artists don’t just merely speak the works on a script but actually perform? You all perform, we know you do. We watch and hear you deliver your copy lines and we know that you are performing. And with performances comes rights. Right got that?

There are a few and they include the following: reproduction right, distribution right, rental and lending right, making available right and the right to equitable remuneration. Now yes that is a lot all right but let’s continue. 

We will discuss equitable remuneration shortly here but let’s stick to this list first. The reason many of these rights were introduced was the advancement of technology. What now? Yes, as technology got nifty, smaller and easier to carry people started recording performances at cinemas and theatres and other places where people performed. These people then sold those unauthorised recordings. Oh crumbs – well that isn’t nice is it? Also the quality would be awful so again crumbs.

Rightly so, the government decided to introduce new rights. These are here:  Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (the CDPA as it is snappily known as). Look at the section 182. It covers the right of the artist to authorise a making of a recording of their performance. Then they can seek royalties for the usage of recordings of their performance. Yes we know, we know!

Then we find that as well as those other rights we have moral rights. But what exactly is this? Simply, this is the right to protection of the integrity of the performance against derogatory treatment. Yep so that recording of fishy singing cannot be taken and chopped up and made into a rude song to rival Baby Shark for example. These rights last for a while, 50 years from the end of the year in which the performance takes place.

But if then a recording of that performance is released publicly then the duration is extended for another 50 years from the year end of that year when it was released. Fishy, we will be hearing you decades from now. What a treat.

Show me the money! No, literally show me the actual remuneration rights please. And what are remuneration rights?  These are rights to ensure that performers get receive equitable revenues from the owner of the copyright in the sound recording or the film capturing their performance.

Equitable is the key word here. It is a little like how long is that piece of string so always ask what equitable means to the client. It also means that there are measures such as the “20% fund” which requires record producers and companies to pay organisations representing performing artists 20% of the gross revenue generated by the commercialisation of sound recordings performances during the additional 20 years of protection. Phew fishy, this is getting complicated. Well yes indeed it is and that is why we work hard to ensure our voices get heard (we know right? The irony) and more importantly paid equitably.

So now you are thinking, well what exactly is a performance? Yes immediately we will think of Fishy on stage in a dance or a music act (I am thinking of Fishy wearing fishnets and shaking some shells on the sea shore) but it also includes reading or reciting a literary work or any performance of a variety act or similar presentation.

Now if it is for consumption by the public of a script for any sound recording you make then surely that is a performance? It can be complicated so it depends if the performance falls within the definition. It also depends on what the performer brought creatively to the table.

 Fishy and our voices are all unique which means they bring their experiences and creativity to the table. Not one person shares the same voice so we feel it would fall into this definition. Now then, I know what you are all going to ask. What exactly is a performance then? 

Is Fishy recording away thoughts and feelings and copy an actual performance. And that is where we first started. When we talk about performances in a sound recording then things change in terms of period of usage. There is an additional protection period following release to the public which is 70 years rather than 50 years. So in effect, they are granted an additional protection of 20 years in comparison to other recording types.

A note on a doubling up of roles. The same artist may be able to have both copyright and performers rights in their contribution to a creative piece of work. So Fishy who is acing in a piece as well as directing it or producing it means they get to enjoy the copyright of the text as well as the performers rights when Fishy records the voiceover of the text.

Why do Voiceover Artists need to know about Intellectual Property Rights?

Today we are going to take a look at rights and here at BigFish Media our voiceovers and their audio productions are our top priority. Ok let’s move right along – see what we did there?

What is intellectual property and why should voiceovers know about it?

In the UK there are different forms of intellectual property rights. They are 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.  Amongst these is trademark, copyright and what we discuss in a subsequent post will be copyright.

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.

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 all 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 voice talent up to things if they are asking you to give up that particular IP right.

Now, for those non self-employed workers. If you happen to 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 voiceover artists which is an intellectual property right.

How do I deal with embarrassing sounds in a Voiceover Session?

Oh now, hand on heart and cover Fishy’s ears (do they even have ears?) we’ve all let rip and not just in a vocal way in a voiceover booth. At times our own bodies can come to play and decide to pipe up at the most inconvenient of moments. Depending on the client and the situation it can feel mortifyingly embarrassing or actually a funny story to tell down the pub. In either case, let’s go through a few scenarios so should it ever happen to you then you will be fine.

1.       Letting Rip vocally – sometimes we can open our mouths and either nothing comes out or we make a funny sound such as a squeak or a growl. What can you do about it? Nothing, our bodies and especially when we speak things honk or squawk which is why the engineer is likely to ask for a second take. Not for any other reason than to get a second take without a nose whistle.

2.       Letting Rip from the belly – drinking water, gulping for air can lead to that tell-tale gurgle drain sound. Does the mic pick it up? Yes it can do. What can you do? Nothing and it is fine, we know this happens and are happy to wait until it bubbles down again.

3.       Letting Rip from the botty – well this one for some reason is always a little harder to cover up but it does happen. There can be many approaches to it but honestly, we’ve all heard it and it is fine. Either smile and laugh it away and do a second take.

4.       Letting Rip from the bones – well maybe it is actually your ligaments. Knees click, backs creak, neck bones crunch. Yep we’ve all heard them and we know about it. Sometimes the mic won’t pick it up and sometimes they will. In any case again a second take will be asked for.

5.       Letting Rip from the room – ok now sometimes the room, chair, desk you may have in the studio makes a sound. Either from weight shifting, building work in other buildings, traffic or even rain etc. Again the engineer will take note and if necessary will ask for a second take.

Bodies pop, gurgle, bubble and snap. That is totally normal and we’ve all heard it, all seen it and we are totally ok with it. Our voiceovers are all professional and know that it is part and parcel of life so embrace it. You can always do a second take. 

How do I work as a Voiceover Artist?

Here at the BigFish Media HQ we love anything audio at any time (ok enough alliteration Fishy. Ed.). And so, do our voiceover artists. And we would love to book all of our voices either a lot of work all the time or one off huge well-paid jobs. However, it can take years and years to get picked (oh yes, it’s a little like being picked at sports at school) and you many never score that huge commercial. (In any case the way advertising is going, a global buyout for you to pay off our Aquarium mortgage is unlikely). So how do you as a voiceover actor keep yourself afloat when waiting of juicy voiceover jobs to come in after fishing around for them?

The simple answer is that you get a job. Yes. There is absolutely no shame in doing so. All of us have jobs, all of us have to have jobs (Fishy likes to eat us out of house and home and we have bills, bobs and brendas to pay). Recently there have been some reports about an actor from the well known and long running TV show Eastenders being papped working as a security guard. Well now, there seems to be a rule for big fishes and little ones and so we repeat again that we all have jobs. Some of us even two or three other jobs to keep us going. 

Here is a list of jobs that we Fishes are do either at HQ or freelance;

1.     Sound Engineer

2.     Copywriter

3.     Producer

4.     Director

5.     Social Media curator

6.     Role Player

7.     Sound Designer

8.     Trainer

9.     Coach

10.Consultant

The list goes on and on. We are proud of being slashers and having one/two/three jobs or more. Its what we enjoy, what we do and who we are. We actually revel in the constant flux and flow of our lives. Yes we all voice but yes we do so many other things that we would chat your ear off at dinner parties when you ask that “So what do you do?” question.

You may be asking yourself why would you have to work all these jobs – and the answer is that unless you are a well-known personality or celebrity or acclaimed actor then chances are that you won’t be voicing all day and all night all the time. (Though if you do narrate audiobooks then you probably are and we applaud you, as that is a long slog). The reality is also that your voice will voice what it can. So Fishy won’t be able to voice Cat or Dog (well Fishy can try but let’s face it Fishy can’t). And Cat and Dog won’t be able to voice Fishy. It means that your voice won’t be on trend all of the time.

Also working means that you gain insight and experience of real people which is incredibly important as a performer. When you get cast in any role, you can think about experiences that may have been similar and then get into character more easily and get it more.

However, if you happen to book a regular equitably-remunerated voiceover gig then yep give up the day job (well if you want to – I mean it might be quite fun right Fishy?!). Many voiceover artists work real jobs because they need the income, they might need to because of their life situation or they might not need to because of their life situation and voicing is their only income. The point is that we are all different fishes swimming in the sea and we all need to pay the bills and there is nowt wrong with that. It means you are a grown-up who knows that this is what it means to be a working professional voiceover artist.

How often should a Voiceover Artist record a new showreel?

If you are inexperienced or if you’re on your first or second voiceover showreel, wait until you’ve done a few paying jobs. 

That extra experience will help, because with voiceovers, there is a very steep learning curve in the beginning. 

Your next voiceover showreel will already be much smoother and your skills will be improved even after such a short time.

I’ve worked with many voiceovers who are still new to the game, and after a few rounds in studio, it’s like they’re a different voiceover. 

More confident, better and really starting to find their own style.

Once you’ve had a certain amount of experience, the learning curve isn’t as steep anymore. Now you just have to make sure your voiceover showreel is “acting your age”. You don’t need to re-record your showreel every year.

You can refresh your existing showreel every couple of years or so. Do some simple editing, adding new voiceovers you’ve done and take out some of the older work.

Then, completely re-record a new voiceover showreel every four years. Too often I’ve heard people sound really young on their demo, and then when you get them in studio, they sound nothing like they do on their showreel.

If your voiceover showreel is letting you down, if you recorded a showreel that you were never really happy with or if you aren't getting booked any more, do it now!

How do Voiceover Artists unwind?

Being a Voiceover Artist is the greatest job in the world (ok, ok we are all totally biased). And we could do this day in and day out and night and weekends as well. But actually, steady on. As much as we love to voice, record the voices, edit and direct our huge aquarium of voices we actually also love to sleep, eat, chill, love, watch films, read books, listen to podcasts and a whole lot more.

Despite loving our voices and voiceovers with a passion we also realise that we need to take a step back and have a break. Here at BigFish Media each of us and our voices have different ways to relax and recharge. It is really important to take a break. It is a great way to get out of your head – which is all the more important if you are a character voice actor where you play different roles and emotional states.

Some of the activities we do to relax and change our perspectives are archery, trampolining, going to the cinema, making music, going to the theatre, going for long walks in the woods, dancing, reading, writing, shoe shopping and sometimes having long naps with the dog. And these are all fantastically wonderful hobbies to have and practice. The reason we all need a break and/or a hobby is to have a break and a change. The change in perspective is great for then coming back to work as you can fresh new insight and experiences that will benefit your work.

What sort of hobbies do you have? We love chilling out and it helps us to better producers, directors, engineers and voiceover artists. When we watch films, we take in new worlds and how the film was made that can help directing. When we play music, it helps us with timing and musicality. When we dance, it helps us with breath work. And well when we have a snooze with our pup it really helps us totally unwind so we can wake up all bright eyed and scaly tailed.

Voiceovers are our passion but we also ensure that it doesn’t become a stressor in our lives. We work hard to ensure voices don’t get stressed either. We ask for scripts and copy to be sent in at least 24 hours before hand and we try and ensure the voice knows what the clients want so they can deliver their needs. Come and listen to our Voiceovers, all sustainably sourced and chilled.

How do voiceover artists deal with late payers?

If your day to day billing system is in order then collections can be a very easy process. Most voiceover artists waste time dealing with collections because they are not prepared to collect late payments. That part is easy to fix. What may not be so easy to fix is your mindset about collections. Never assume that a client is going to pay you on time.

Firstly, have a clear policy regarding clients who fail to pay for their voice-overs in a timely manner. This policy should be available on your website or by request. Make sure that all new clients receive a copy of this policy along with their first invoice. You may even want to ask them to sign and return it or otherwise acknowledge that they received it.

A typical policy might state:

All first time clients are expected to pay in advance of the first voice-over.

After first successful payment, clients will automatically have a 30 day credit system to use for placing future voice-overs. 

Future jobs must be paid within 30 days of the date of the job. If a client’s account should become more than 90 days overdue their account will be shut down and all voice-over work suspended.

Should a client bring their account to good standing after a 90 day period, all credit privileges will remain revoked. If the client wishes to re-instate recording privileges, all future jobs will require payment in full, in advance.

Next, create ready to send, draft collection letters. You’ll need three total; one each for accounts that are 30, 60 and 90 days past due. Each letter should be cordial but firm in an attempt to collect a debt. If you’ve never seen a collection letter search for samples online and check Microsoft’s template website for examples.

Once your drafts are complete you will need to set aside about two hours a month to review all the outstanding accounts in your billing system. Start with 30 day past due accounts.

This letter should be the mildest as it is a reminder; perhaps they forgot to pay or the original invoice was lost. Send this letter via email and attach a copy of the original invoice for your client’s convenience.

Then move to the 60 day past due accounts and repeat the process. This letter should be a little more forceful. Lastly come the 90 day past due accounts. First send the letter stating that their voice-over account has been shut down after two prior attempts to collect. This letter should be sent via certified mail.

From that point forward 90 day past due clients should be called and email at least once per week until the issue is resolved.

After six months of attempting to collect a debt you will need to make a decision; either, turn the account over to an outside collection company or attorney, or write it off as bad debt on your taxes.

Writing it off is usually the better option as further collection attempts will only cost you more time and money and aggravation. You’ve lost enough of both by this point.

Depending on how large your database of voiceover clients is, you might want to consider outsourcing your collections all together.