Why use a professional voice artist for your business?

Before I became a professional VoiceOver artist, I honestly didn’t know the industry existed.

Of course, I heard voices everywhere. I just took them for granted.

I hadn’t really thought about the fact that the voice I was hearing on a television advert belonged to a professional VoiceOver artist. I didn’t realise that the people voicing radio adverts and imaging were VoiceOver artists. I hadn’t thought about the voices in the children’s animations my kids were watching, or the huge amount of VoiceOver that surrounds us every single day.

It was an entire industry that I hadn’t realised was there.

And then, once I got into it and completed my training, the next thing I realised was just how much there was to it.

I think there’s a common perception that VoiceOver is something anyone can do if they have a nice-sounding voice — or perhaps even if they don’t!

But professional VoiceOver is about so much more than simply having a good voice and reading the words on a page.

It’s about believing what you’re saying, understanding the intention behind the words and communicating that message in a way that connects with the listener.

So, why use a professional VoiceOver artist for your business?

I often think back to the very beginning of my own journey.

I voiced some children’s stories for a friend’s YouTube channel, and when I sent the finished audio files back to him, he was amazed. Not just by the quality of the recording, but by the way I had used my voice to tell the stories.

That experience really made something click for me.

I realised that the skills I had developed weren’t necessarily things that everybody had — and that there was real value in knowing how to use your voice effectively.

As VoiceOver artists, we train ourselves to hear the difference between simply saying something and communicating it.

We learn how to bring out nuance, change our delivery, understand emphasis, pace a script naturally and convey the intended message to an audience.

And, like any skill, it develops with experience.

In fact, I think VoiceOver has probably seeped into my everyday life more than I realise.

Even when I’m reading something to myself, I find myself thinking about how the words should sound!

It’s more than just reading the words

A few years ago, I spoke to someone who was looking for a VoiceOver artist for a series of corporate videos. They had tried having people within their organisation record the scripts themselves, but they just weren’t happy with the results.

And I completely understand why.

When you’re involved in a business, you know your subject inside out. You know what you want to say. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re used to communicating it through your voice in a way that will engage an audience.

I’ve experienced this first-hand on a project where an organisation had decided to use members of their own staff to voice a corporate animation.

The animation itself was fantastic. The production team had created something they were really proud of — but the voices weren’t quite doing it justice.

The delivery lacked some of the life, flow and personality that the animation needed.

They ultimately asked me to record the VoiceOver for their own records because they wanted the finished piece to feel as good as the animation deserved.

And thankfully, I was able to bring that extra element to it.

Sometimes you only hear the difference when you hear the two together

I think that’s the interesting thing about professional VoiceOver.

You might listen to someone reading a script and think, “That sounds perfectly fine.”

Then you hear a professionally performed version alongside it, and suddenly you understand the difference.

It isn’t necessarily about having the most unusual or beautiful voice.

It’s about what you do with it.

A professional VoiceOver artist brings experience, interpretation, performance and an understanding of how to communicate with an audience. We’re not just reading your words — we’re helping you tell your story.

And when the voice is right for the project, it can elevate everything around it.

Whether it’s a corporate film, animation, advert, e-learning project, podcast, explainer video or something completely different, the voice is often one of the things your audience will remember.

That’s why I believe a professional VoiceOver artist can make such a difference.

Because the right voice doesn’t just say your words.

It brings them to life.

Check out this video - 'A Voice' to see more of my thoughts on this.