Your essential English voice for commercials, narration, audiobooks and announcements.
Sounds good? My simple guide to hiring the right voiceover
Know what a voiceover does
Voiceovers are everywhere, from adverts to documentaries, and from training videos to inside trains. If you’re new to hiring a voiceover and your idea of one is a young actor who’d rather be doing something else, or a famous person hired for being famous, think again! Many, like me, have other useful experience, like journalism, marketing and communications, teaching or public speaking.
There are different types of voiceover. I do voiceovers for commercials and promotions, information and training, documentaries, audiobooks and announcements. Other voiceovers specialise in other types, like gaming and cartoons.
You might think an acting or talent agency is the only place to hire a voiceover. Hiring a voiceover like me directly can save you time.
A voiceover is different to a brand partnership, where you pay someone like a celebrity or an influencer to post about your product on their own channels or website. These can be great if the person really believes in your brand or message. They can also mean people pay more attention to the celebrity or influencer than your message.
Know what type of voice you’re looking for
Are you looking for a natural, everyday accent, or a voice with character? The voice of a teenager from London, or a granny from Glasgow? This’ll depend on your audience and what you want them to do when they listen to your message or story.
A voiceover might work with a variety of accents, especially for animation or gaming work. If you’re looking for a voice that sounds natural, conversational and down-to-earth, I’d recommend choosing a voiceover to read in their natural accent.
My natural accent is RP or Standard English. Hopefully, you’ll know that from the video above! If not, listen to find out what I can do for you.
Know where you want the voice to be heard
Whereabouts in the world is your audience, and how are you trying to reach them – on the radio, online, or on TV? This will also influence what you pay for a voiceover (see below).
Know where you want to record
Like most voiceovers, I record most of my work from my home studio, giving you professional quality audio without the cost and hassle of hiring a studio.
I can also travel to studios in London or West Dorset, and recommend studios for hire.
For audiobook recordings specifically, I generally work in a studio, although there are exceptions, most obviously for international clients.
Know your budget
The cost of hiring a voiceover depends on the type of project and whether the recording is at home or in a studio. It also depends on where the voice is being used and for how long – known as Usage. A voiceover for a two-month ad campaign on national TV or an advert in the middle of a major sporting event will cost more than the telephone menu for the Wellhouse Medical Centre, for example.
Usage can seem confusing, but voiceover experts Gravy for the Brain have a handy guide to usage for voiceover hires.
It’s a good idea to have a budget in mind when you get in touch.
My fee always includes up to 2 rounds of revisions, which is usually the most that clients ask for.
Have a timeline in mind
Most voiceover jobs can be completed in 1-3 days, or sometimes the same day -just say what you need.
More about voiceover and me
How I became a voiceover (or ‘How I learned to like the sound of my own voice…’)
The short version…: I retrained with Gravy for the Brain after an earlier career in journalism, copywriting and communications.
The longer version…: Like many people, I grew up not exactly liking the sound of my recorded voice (or most things about myself, really, but that’s another story…). After university, I trained as a journalist alongside future broadcast stars Kieron Jenkins and Emma Barnett, and gradually got used to listening to myself while transcribing interviews.
A bit later, when I was a fledgling magazine journalist, a friend who’d been to drama school said I had a nice voice and asked if I’d ever thought of doing radio or voiceover. The first Google results for ‘become a voiceover’ said not to listen to friends who said that, so I didn’t take it any further. Shortly afterwards, I landed my first paid voiceover work, narrating another friend’s racy fiction (think Belinda Blinked, only, deliberately funny…). Sadly, he died before we were due to record and so the world never got to hear me be a sexy headmistress. Instead, I became a speaker about rather more earnest topics, alongside working as a content writer in the charity sector and working towards my lifelong dream of becoming a published author.
When my book’s publisher told me my book on dyspraxia and ADHD was going to be to made into an audiobook, I looked up ‘How to read an audiobook’ for advice, then, in very ADHD style, realised voiceover work was great fun, that I wanted to know everything there was to know about it, and that I wanted to do it professionally. That led me to the likes of Gravy for the Brain, Voiceover Kickstarter and BRAVA. And here we are…
Voiceover and neurodivergence
If you don’t know much about ADHD, dyspraxia or neurodivergence, those words might seem a bit daunting. You might wonder how they affect being a voiceover, or think they’d make someone a less good one. While not knowing you’re neurodivergent can make life difficult, neurodivergent people can bring unique strengths to work.
My hyperfocus – the less-known flip side to ADHD – means I won’t stop until you get what you need and am great at coming up with ideas or solutions. I grew up being great at some things while finding others much harder, so I can relate to people in both situations and understand why thoughtful customer service and design are important.
Although it’s become a bit of a cliche to say this, it’s true that there are a lot of neurodivergent people working in the creative industries. Lots of people I’ve worked with have recognised their own ADHD or dyspraxia from my descriptions.
Voiceover helped me find my voice. Let me help you find yours…
Looking for a speaker or broadcast guest?
Head to my Talks and Broadcast page.