So you want to be a narrator? Or a voiceover artist? Here’s the bad news: we don’t hire unknown narrators. But we can help – read on…
You Can’t Just Throw Yourself At Us
It’s not that we’re being difficult though. Let’s take audiobooks first. Typically, authors either read their own material or, if they decide to pay to have the work narrated, they want the reassurance of an established reader with a track record on Audible. Also, in most cases where this happens, the material is fiction – a novel in other words. Novels need character voices – you need to be able to put on different voices for the characters. And you need to do this consistently and realistically.
With voiceover, it’s a different story. These jobs usually come to us from agencies who already have an artist assigned – and if not, they will have very tight guidelines as to the ‘voice’ they’re after. “25-30yo ethnic female professional, regional, upbeat” for example. If you take on a job like that, you’d better be sure you can walk in and sound just like that from the get-go.
You Need A Showreel
To get ahead in the narrating or voiceover game, you’ll need to create a presence on websites like acx and AhabTalent. These are where authors and producers will often go when looking for talent. And you’ll need sample audio, preferably in multiple styles, uploaded to those sites so prospective clients can listen to what you sound like.
If you’re serious about this, we can help.
Our Showreel Creation Package
We get a lot of enquiries from people hoping to become narrators or voiceover artists. Sometimes it’s a career ambition, sometimes it’s just an idea for a side-hustle. Either way, you don’t know if you can do it until you try it.
So in response to this, we’ve developed our Showreel Creation Package. For a fixed price (see our rates and pricing page) you’ll come into the studio and read three short scripts we’ve chosen to showcase different abilities. We will then edit and finalise your recordings and deliver them to you in a format you can upload to the various sites – or send directly to potential clients.
On the day, you’ll discover what it’s like to be working with a producer and learn about stuff like enunciation, intonation, cadence, pace and so on from an experienced director.
I’m afraid we can’t guarantee you’ll sound like a great narrator – that’s up to you – but we can promise you a top-quality professionally produced showreel that makes you sound as good as you possibly can.
Interested? Get in touch!