Voiceover, or voice over, or voice-over is the narration you hear on videos, films, documentaries, commercials and so on. It’s that voice you hear, but you don’t see. Sometimes an on-screen presenter will ‘voice over’ some of the footage when they are not actually in shot, and other times you never see the voiceover artist at all. Voiceover is much broader than this though – see ‘what are the different genres of voice’ over below.
We hear voiceover artists all over the place! Here is a list of some of the common types of voice over:
If you want to read more about the diversity of voiceover jobs here’s a link to a blog post I wrote about it.
In a nutshell a voice over artist reads out a script and brings it to life. They make use of tone, pacing, pausing, intonation, emphasis, and emotions to lift the copy off the page and make a connection with the listener.
If they are working from a home studio, they will also be recording the audio, and probably editing it too.
Read more here.
Don’t panic! I’ve worked with lots of clients who have never worked with a voiceover artist before. Check out my handy guide to what you need to know.
Arguably not a lot on the face of it! The terms are often used interchangeably and I would say I often see the terms voice actor and voice acting used more on the other side of the Atlantic, with people referring to themselves as VA’s (which I always associate with virtual assistants). I tend to refer to myself as a voiceover artist as my work is generally more towards the corporate than the dramatic end of the spectrum. If I was working mainly in animation, games, or audio drama, I would probably call myself a voice actor.
If you’d like a little more info on the subject, here’s a blog I wrote earlier.
Yes you can! As long as I’m not using it of course (but nobody can voice for a whole day). I have rented my studio out to authors who want to narrate their own work, coaches and hypnotherapists who want to narrate guided meditations, and even a famous actor who lives locally to me and needed to record a national advertising campaign.
You can read more about it here.
Yes you can! I love being directed, it’s a great collaborative process and it means the client gets exactly what they want without lots of back and forth.
I have the paid version of Source Connect if you want to be able to record at your end, or Cleanfeed is another option for remote direction and recording. If you just want to be able to hear me and are happy for me to deal with the recording side of things, then we can use Zoom, or Teams or Google Meet.
Here’s a blog post with a bit more info.
There are many voiceover artists out there, so why should you choose me? Well, if you’re after an adult female with a British accent then I tick all those boxes, but there are a few more reasons you might pick me over someone else.
If you want more reasons to work with me, please check out my testimonials, and have a listen to my demos and previous work.
This depends very much on how the voiceover is going to be used. A voiceover for a 5 minute internal company video that will only be viewed by a handful of people is going to be cheaper than a 30 sec TV ad that will be seen by millions.
I use a couple of rate guides to help me price my work and you can have look at them too. The Gravy for the Brain rate guide has pages for various countries and the GVAA guide is mainly for the USA.
You can find a potted version of my prices on my website.
Yes I can. I prefer not to, as when I’m taking a holiday I don’t really want to be working! However, if it’s an emergency that can’t wait until I get back, I do have a mobile studio set up that I can take with me.
I work from a gold-series booth from VocalBooth (apparently Madonna has the same one in her house), with a Neumann TLM103 microphone, Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface, and Macbook Air with Adobe Audition software. I have a MacBook Pro for editing, and two pairs of Beyerdynamic headphones – closed back and semi-open back.
I have the paid version of Source Connect for remote direction and recording, and other options are available too.
Voiceover connects your audience to your content. It can convey emotion about your brand. Many businesses spend lots of time and money on making their brand look good, but fewer think about how it sounds. Here’s a blog post on the subject.
Voiceover can also make your content more accessible – for people who are visually impaired for example, but there are other people who might miss out if there is no audio. Read more about that in this blog post.
This depends of course on how long your script is and how much other work I have booked in at the time you hire me. However, for something short like voicemail greetings or on hold messages then I can usually record those the same or next day. For longer projects such as e-learning courses then a few days are usually required. For a really long project like an audiobook, it could take a few weeks.
Yes. I always want my clients to be happy. Any mistakes made will be rectified free of charge of course. If there are minor changes to the script after recording I will usually incorporate these in the original cost. If there are substantial changes to the script or direction after the recording then I may need to make an extra charge. If you feel it’s likely that you may want a second recording (if you’re not 100% sure about the script or direction before the session) then we can build this into the price from the start.
Yes! I’m always happy to record a custom demo of a few lines from your script so that you can hear how I would sound for your project.
Yes! You can either send me some music of your choice (as long as you have permission to use it), or I can help you pick some, from a library of royalty-free options. If you want something more bespoke, I have a couple of composers in my network that I can connect you with.
I have a variety of voice over showreels and links to previous work on my demos page.
I am often asked this question and two projects spring to mind. The first one was recording a narration to go alongside a sculpture that was installed at York Minster. The second was recording the voice of the train taking children to see Santa at a farm park!
Lots of people ask me this! The answer is you might not have done! Then again, you might…. Read more about the answer to this question here.
Anyone who knows me will know that I love networking, and this has definitely brought me work, but there are other ways I find work too. Here’s a blog about it.
You’ve probably heard the term ‘explainer video’ a few times – but what exactly is an explainer video, and why might you want one?
Put simply, an explainer video is a short video (usually under 3 minutes) that explains a company’s product or service. They are used for marketing purposes on landing pages, websites and social media.
Find out more about explainers here.
IVR stand for interactive voice response. It’s those prompts you hear when you call a business that says, ‘for accounts press 2’ or ‘in a few words tell me why you’re calling’.
If you can’t answer your phone when a potential new clients rings, your voicemail greeting is going to be the first impression they get of your business – so make sure it’s a good one!
If you’re one of those people who hates recording themselves and you keep putting it off, let me do it for you!
If your clients are likely to be left on hold for any length of time, I would highly recommend having some on-hold messages. Otherwise, you are missing a marketing trick! This blog post explains why.
Over the years many would-be voiceover artists have approached me for help and advice about how to get started, and I am always happy to give it! I have now distilled my wisdom into a handy e-book to make it even easier.
The Small Business Bing Network podcast launched in January 2021.
My listenership is not huge, but it is consistent at about 250 downloads a month.
Yes! It has reached number 5 in the Apple charts for marketing podcasts.
No, I don’t charge people to be guests, but you are welcome to give me a tip!
Yes you can! Sponsoring the Small Business Big Network podcast costs just £99 for 2 episodes. Podcast advertising is really effective. Research by Acast found that 72% of listeners said they visited an advertiser’s website after hearing a host-read sponsorship, and 62% made a purchase. If your target market is small business owners, then sponsoring my podcast might be ideal!
As well as a thank you message at the top of the show you get an advert partway through the episode, your links in the show notes, and a mention in the social media posts associated with the episode. Just drop me an email if you’re interested liz@lizdrury.co.uk.
I am always looking for great guests for the Small Business Big Network podcast. Ideally my guests are small business owners who are using networking effectively to grow, and can tell interesting stories about networking, or share useful tips to help others with their networking. It helps if you’ve got an interesting business story to share too! I also interview people who run business networks. Book a 15 min chat to see if you might be a suitable guest.
Oh yes! Lots. Read my blog post!
I don’t think it will. AI will never be human, and voiceover is about making a connection between one human and another. Businesses who really care about their products/services and customers will continue to use real voices that can convey this.
Real voiceover artists can spot problems in a script – typos that change the meaning of a sentence for example (this has happened to me multiple times) – and can point them out to the client. An AI will just read what’s there.
An AI voice sounds too perfect – we never say the same words in the exact same way twice, but AI will.
You can read more about my thoughts on this here.