Just Ignore Me.

It’s an odd thing sometimes, being a voiceover artist. Phil and I are employed because we need to be heard by many different people in many different environments, but sometimes it’s NOT being heard that’s the important part. I don’t mean that literally, of course, but what I do mean is that in some circumstances, it’s important to have a voice which doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb.

We record commercials for all sorts of clients  – much of the time we play different characters (for evidence of this, all you need to do is to hear our showreels) but the rest of the time, we need to play it as straight as possible. I’m often cast as a young mum, or a friendly announcer – Phil, likewise, frequently plays the “dad” character, or a straight, clear announcer (just wait until you hear those speedy caveats at the end of a commercial – an in-house speciality from both of us. And don’t forget, your home is at risk if you set fire to it.) But I digress…

It’s fun to record those commercials, because it’s nice to get in the studio and record something with our producer colleagues (many of whom have become good friends), and make an ad go from being words on a page to a real life sales pitch heard on the TV or radio all over the world. When we hear the finished product mixed together and broadcast over the airwaves, we still get a buzz from it, even after several years on the job – because that’s often the first time we get to hear the finished article, with the sound effects and all the clever stuff put on. Where commercials are concerned, our bit, really, is the easy part.

It’s another thing entirely when we’re recording voiceovers for corporate or on-hold use, or for public address systems (the train announcements being an obvious example.) A client of ours recently directed us to a number of internet discussion boards for rail enthusiasts (yes, they do exist!) who wax lyrical about the Phil Sayer announcements on the mainline rail network. The vast majority consider him to be far and away the best announcer in the country. The reason for this seems to be that he’s clear, well spoken without being posh or condescending, and authoritative without being bossy.  That’s harder to achieve than you might think, but we like to transfer this style into much of the work we do. While advertising is a hugely fun part of our business, the corporate market, for us, has boomed over the last few years. If you need a health and safety training module delivered in a clear way, but which never sounds boring, Sayer Hamilton have two voice artists in-house who can do just that. If you need to keep your clients on hold for longer than you’d like, here are two voices who won’t grate on them by being overly enthusiastic or affected… that is, unless that’s the brief and you WANT it like that!

As voice over artists, we can be as versatile as you like, or as straight as you like. Usually, we can tell what you need just on sight of your script, and sometimes (just sometimes) having a voice artist who sounds like part of the furniture and DOESN’T stand out like a sore thumb, actually makes you stand out more.