The Unpredictable Life of a Voiceover Artist: Holidays, Auditions & a Vox Award Nomination

My Vox Award Nomination!

So, this is my first ever voiceover blog post!

After taking a little break from social media, I decided that rather than constantly scrolling, posting and wondering what on earth to share, I would start writing a blog instead. So, here we are!

And what better week to start with than one that perfectly sums up the unpredictable life of a professional voiceover artist?

Just As You Go On Holiday...Voiceover Work Comes In

I went away on holiday last week, which is always slightly stressful when you're a working voiceover artist.

There seems to be an unwritten rule in the voiceover world that as soon as you go away, all the really exciting jobs suddenly appear!

Of course, that's exactly what happened.

I had a couple of radio voiceover jobs come through that needed to be recorded live. Unfortunately, because I was away, I wasn't able to do those sessions. GUTTED!

Then a much bigger campaign came through while I was on holiday. Thankfully, the client was happy to wait until I got home, which I was incredibly grateful for!

It did, however, make the journey home just a little more stressful than I would have liked…

The Race to Get Home

I had in my head I must not miss this flight (as I had this big session the next day), got to the airport in plenty of time but...my flight home was nearly missed!

I'd gone through bag drop and security and was looking around the shops for a while realxing, then I ordered some food and was happily waiting for my Subway sandwiches when I suddenly realised there was another passport control to get through!!

And there was no time to waste.

I grabbed my sandwiches and ran!

Thankfully, there was no queue at passport control, but they told me that the last call for my flight had already been made.

Cue another sprint.

I eventually got to the gate and we were literally the last people getting onto the plane. They were already starting to remove the stairs!

Thankfully, I made it.

And I'm very glad I did because the following day I had this big voiceover recording session for Samsung…

Back in the Studio

The session went really well, and I really loved doing it.

It's always exciting to work on a commercial campaign for a big brand, I had worked on a project for them last month too, so being called back was really awesome.

That's one of the things I love about working as a professional voiceover artist. You never really know how long a particular job, client or campaign will last, so when you're the voice they choose, you enjoy it!

I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished spot.

Another Voiceover Recording… This Time for CTV

I also had a CTV recording to get done when I got back.

Again, the client was kind enough to wait until I was home, which isn't something you can always count on when you're working in the fast-moving world of voiceover.

Sometimes a job needs recording immediately. Sometimes you have a little flexibility.

That's one of the realities of being a freelance voice artist: you have to be adaptable, responsive and ready to jump into the booth whenever you’re called on.

Auditions, Auditions and More Auditions

I've also managed to get some voiceover auditions done.

And now… we wait!

That's another big part of being a voiceover artist. You can spend ages auditioning for commercial voiceover, corporate voiceover, narration, e-learning, radio and other voiceover projects, and then you simply have to wait and see what comes back.

But that's what makes it so exciting.

You never quite know what email is going to land in your inbox next.

I'm not going away again for a little while, so I'm looking forward to being able to properly get stuck into auditions and, hopefully, win some of those jobs I auditioned for.

Vox Award Nomination

There was another lovely piece of news last week too.

I've been nominated for a Vox Award for Best Human Performance in E-Learning/Medical Narration!

I'm absolutely thrilled.

I don't actually do a huge amount of e-learning voiceover work, so this nomination was particularly special.

The work that was nominated was for Reformer Pilates classes.

It was such a fun project because the voiceover needed to sound completely natural — as though I was actually the instructor taking the class.

That meant I couldn't simply sit there and read a script.

I had to really visualise the exercises, understand what I was talking about and, to an extent, actually carry out the movements while recording.

It was one of those voiceover projects where you really have to connect with what you’re saying. Really that is the case for every piece, but even more for this one!

You need to make the listener believe you.

What Comes Next?

So, that's my week and a bit in the world of voiceover.

A holiday.

A near-missed flight.

Subway sandwiches.

A Samsung campaign.

A CTV recording.

Auditions.

And a very exciting Vox Award nomination!

Not a bad week at all.

Now it's back to the booth, back to the a

uditions and back to wondering what will land in my inbox next.

That's the life of a freelance voiceover artist for you — unpredictable, occasionally stressful, but incredibly rewarding.

Right, onto some auditions today…

If you're looking for a professional UK voiceover artist for commercial voiceover, radio, corporate narration, e-learning, medical narration or other voiceover work, I'd love to hear from you.